little discoveries

following my mantra of exploring the cities I live in, I've been shyly driving around fort worth on my own a bit. one day I went chasing after a pink and purple sunset and found myself driving next to a field full of horses. I've had some mishaps of going off track and missing exits on highways. but another day I drove around the historic stockyard region and guess what I found. a hispanic collection of strip malls. I still have to explore all the places in here but so far I've found a grocery store with the colors and shapes of produce foreign and alien to me, with some 30 types of dried red chillies in a corner, and cacti and strange fruit.

and the strangest thing of all, despite existing in the US, this whole area has a feeling of having crossed the border. its difficult to find people on the other side of the check-out counter here who speak English. and because I am an ignorant brown person from across the world who cannot differentiate one Hispanic country from another, my first reaction was to think of them all as Mexicans.

but I also found this little market and restaurant there, that has heavenly meat, easily the best frita chicarron I have ever sampled. its so crisp on the outside and so tender when you break it, it almost feels like chunks of fried fish. there's a wide menu with a long list of pupusas and I have yet to sample 80% of what's on it, especially all that seafood. and yes, the freshest of jugo de naranja, freshly squeezed minutes before. and if you forget to specify 'pequena' then you will end up with a huge soup bowl sized glass on a stick. and of course, I am yet again trying to learn Spanish, and using this place as an incentive and practice platform. the other day some guy behind me in the check-out line went on for about 10 mins saying something about the broccoli that I was buying, looking at it with disdain and shaking his head in a warning-to-not-eat-it kind of a way, while I kept trying to catch a single word that I would understand, smiling all the while, not wanting to give away that I couldn't understand. and yet another day I saw some dancing in costumes, right inside the grocery store, on a wooden stage, with all that tapping of heels on wood. amazing energy.

oh yes, and then I figured out that the restaurant wasn't Mexican at all but Salvadorean, explaining why I hadn't eaten that chicarron frita anywhere else. because Mexican cuisine is abundant here, not so much Salvadorean. still have to try the Taqueria a few steps away, and still have to learn more Spanish than 'para illevar'.

btw a digression, I always wonder why potato fries are so popular all over the world when they are nothing compared to those golden fried yuccas.