Easter? No, Thanks. I Think I'll Passover That One.

I'm a bad Jew. There, I fully admit to it and am quite willing to state it as fact before anyone with strong opinions feels the need to do it for me.

Our conversion to Judaism was a bumpy one. Well, mine was. TJ was apparently sure of himself from Day One. Me, I took some convincing. In the end, I determined that the things I had learned about Judaism over the course of our one year of study were more in synch with how I had always perceived the world than the previous 30 years of not practicing Christianity had been...and moreso than any length of time actually practicing Christianity could ever hope to be.

Christmas was always the sticking point. I've said it before, but it bears repeating: I LOVE Christmas. It was the hardest thing for me to give up, and honestly, if our belongings weren't so late in arriving here in Guadalajara, I'm not sure what would have happened this past holiday season. In the end, I settled for some volunteer work and a friendly meal with coworkers. Nothing to be ashamed about there...nothing except the not-so-secret longing I had for a Christmas Tree surrounded by presents.

I've never understood why it was such a big deal. I mean, *I* know that I only care about the secular aspects of Christmas. Isn't that all that matters? TJ didn't think so, but I thought that I had found my justification when, on the night of our "Introduction to Judaism" class's holiday discussion, I asked the rabbi the following question:

"We're all adults. We know what Christmas is supposed to mean. But nobody here is clamoring for Easter, which is by far the more important of the two holidays in the Christian faith. So why does it matter if we want to hold on to a little Christmas?"

...and she didn't have an answer. She said she would get back to me, but never did. I felt as if I had one that battle.

I was wrong.

Over the course of the past two weeks, as people began making their Easter plans, not one, not two, but THREE separate people have engaged me in the following conversation.

"Are you doing anything for Easter?"

"No..."

"Why not?"

"...I'm Jewish."

"But you went to Christmas parties, right?"

"...yes."

"Well, then, what's the difference?"

"..."

There is no way to credibly respond to such a statement. I'm guilty as charged.

My rabbi may not have had an answer to the Jews-and-Christmas question...but, now, I do. Or maybe she did have an answer, but knew that I wasn't quite ready to hear it.

Jews that allow themselves to get publicly wrapped up in Christmas (in all its secular glory) put themselves at risk of being pigeonholed as bad Jews.

The same people that will gladly tell a Jew in December that it's ok to let himself enjoy a little Christmas cheer because, "hey, we all know it's a nonreligious holiday, anyway" will be right there in March or April letting him know that he's already slipped up, so he might as well enjoy the Easter Egg Hunt and baked ham, Passover be damned because it's not like he consistently practices his faith anyway.

I say none of these things as a criticism against these three people. No, I say it as a criticism against myself. Why would I fault them, when 1) I'm the one that slipped up, and 2) prior to my conversion I would likely have said the same in their shoes?

I don't resent their observation. I embrace it.

It's going to make me a better, stronger, more sensitive Jew.

In related news, TJ and I conducted our first ever self-led Passover Seder this evening....and it wasn't half bad!

11 Feria Internacional Gastronomica

One of the greatest joys of being a diplomat, or a diplomat's spouse, is that you are able to participate in so many philanthropic events that are not only rewarding but also highly entertaining.

One of the greatest sorrows of being a diplomat, or a diplomat's spouse, is that sometimes this means your alarm clock goes off at 8AM on Sunday morning. This was one such day.

Today, SNDIF, or the Sistema Nacional para el Desarrollo Integral de la Familia, which is usually shortened to just DIF, or Desarrollo Integral de la Familia, and in English would be known as the National System for Integral Family Devlopment, unless you prefer to shorten it to just Integral Family Development, hosted the 11 Feria Internacional Gastronomica, which in English would be the 2011 International Gastronomic Fair.

See? See why you wouldn't want the alarm clock going off so early? I need a nap just typing that. Whew.

The International Gastronomic Fair is basically a low-key, low-budget version of what my beloved Floridians would know as the EPCOT International Food & Wine Festival.

I don't say low-key and low-budget as a slam against the event. Far from it. The reason that it's low-key is because it's a charity event, not the workings of a multi-billion dollar corporation. The reason that it's low-budget is that all labor and supplies are donated.

DIF is a social assistance program that operates with the mission of strengthening and developing the welfare of Mexican families, and today's event was held as a fundraiser for their ongoing programs, with 100% of today's profits going to support DIF.

Like any good gastronomical event, there were several booths set up featuring food and drink from a number of different countries. The USCG Guadalajara volunteered to run the American booth at this year's event (hmmm...hot dogs!), and TJ and I signed up to assist with set-up and decorating. Which began at 8:45. Sooo early on a Sunday. Sigh.

(Oh! Quick plug! Although all you can see is photo after photo of Pepsi product placement, I would like to give a quick shout out to the fine people at Costco who generously donated 350 hot dogs and buns, plus an overwhelming quantity of condiments for today's event.)

The original plan, I'll admit, was to work the early shift so we could get on with our day afterward. We were only scheduled to be there for about two hours, but ended up having so much fun that we stuck around to help until 12ish. After running home for a quick power nap, we headed back to the event mid-afternoon for some serious eating.

The Set-Up Crew...

Who can spot the typo?

It wasn't us! Signage provided by DIF!!!

You may be asking yourself what fares were provided by the other booths. Well! Let me tell you!

Bratwurst and Sauerkraut from Germany

Oh, Potato Salad and a Pretzel, too!

Pernil y Arroz de Colombia

Rusas de Mexico

Tamales de El Salvador

Wrapped in Banana Leaves Instead of Corn Husks

There were many more booths available, offering food selections from Argentina, Chile, The Czech Republic, The Dominican Republic, Greece, Peru, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, etc...but our poor tummies couldn't handle the pressure, and we at last had to admit defeat.

In addition to the food (which, unlike EPCOT, was served in huge portions at reasonable prices), the festival also offered several tchotchke stands as well as live musical performances representing the styles and sounds of the participating countries.

Not sure what these cute old ladies were going to do. We missed their performance. After 6 plates of food (We shared! I promise!), we had to roll ourselves home. But not before making them take a picture with us. Please note that we look happy. They do not.

Maybe they had to get up at 8AM, too.

Them's Fightin' Words!

I recently posted, quite jokingly, the following statement on my Facebook wall:

"Dear State Department: I LOVE my house. But could you please consider installing central heat & air throughout the house? I don't want to hide in my bedroom all summer. Sincerely, Aaron"

It was met with polite and sympathetic comments from a few of my friends, but one of my old friends from college, whom I have not seen since 2002 and have only exchanged the occasional polite Facebook or Myspace conversation with since, took it upon herself to express a rather strong, rather loud, rather uninformed opinion on the matter.

I will spare you the details, but let's just say it started with her sharing her unwillingness to have her taxes increased to further support my life of luxury, escalated into an accusation that I mooch off of my partner's success, and culminated with a chastising remark about my living the high life while surrounded by the poor citizens of a war-ravaged third world country.

Any attempt to explain the miniscule tax impact the Foreign Service has on American citizens, to remind her that I work full time and therefore do not "mooch," or to educate her on the fact that Mexico is neither war-ravaged nor third world, fell on deaf ears.

She found it easier to "defriend" me than to respect me. Oh well. I think I'll survive.

But this conversation did pose a few interesting questions.

1) Do my non-Foreign Service friends understand what it is that we're doing here? If not, is it because I didn't explain it very well? Did I not explain it at all? Did I explain it but you didn't listen? Did you ask so early in the process that *I* didn't even know what we'd be doing?

Well, if the answer is any of the above, I truly apologize. If you have any questions, ask me here, ask me in person, or shoot me an e-mail. I'll tell you whatever I can. Ill try to post more about the Foreign Service part of life from time to time. Just be patient and understanding. This life is full of interesting, frustrating, humorous things that, sometimes, are just not appropriate to share.

2) What happened to the introspection?

I used to blog about my thoughts and opinions, not just the activity-of-the-moment. Whatever happened to that? I guess I got wrapped up in playing tour guide. I wanted everyone to have the opportunity to see things that they might not otherwise. But maybe I forgot to share more of the day-to-day. This, too, can be worked on. Why, look! I'm doing it now!

3) Do I present an accurate picture of Mexico?

Well, yes and no. I certainly show you a lot of the fun stuff we do. But it's not like I've ever blogged about the street performers, window washers, or beggars that I see on every street corner. There haven't been any posts about the violence that occurs every so often, or the restrictions it places on our daily lives. I haven't shared any recipes (they're coming!), told you about my favorite restaurants, or expressed my awe that Wal-Mart could take over a country even more than it did the United States.

I suppose that's my fault. I wanted to only show the fun and exciting suff. But it's not an accurate representation, and I'll work on that.

I know for a fact that some of the officers that will be arriving at post soon have read this blog. I don't want anyone to think it's all fun and games. There's work. There's an element of danger. And, yes, there's a hell of a lot of adventure to be had. But mostly, life is the same as it was back home. It's all about finding a balance. I've found that balance in life...but maybe I haven't found that balance in print. But I think this is something I can work on, too.

Because I certainly do not want some uneducated fool to think I'm living the good life while everyone around me is dying on the streets.

Happy Birthday To Me!

Okay, okay, so my birthday was three days ago. I can't help it, I've been super busy and this is my first chance to post about it. Busy doing what, you may ask? Well, apparently, I thought 31 was a big deal, and have been officially celebrating since last Friday.

And in some ways, 31 IS a big deal to me. I certainly didn't freak out over 30. In fact, 30 was so anti-climactic that I stopped blogging for a while. Don't get me wrong, the party was lovely. The presents were amazing. I just couldn't believe how utterly underwhelmed I was by the alleged milestone that is the big 3-0.

And so I am quite happy to say that 31 caused quite the visceral reaction...a panic attack that lasted for a week and a half. You see, last month it suddenly occurred to me that 31 would mean I am officially closer to 40 than I am to 20. TJ, ever helpful, was kind enough to point out that this has technically been true since the day after last year's birthday, but that didn't matter to me. What mattered was the actual number. And frankly, I found 31 to be a lot scarier than 30.

Fortunately, my short attention span prevailed and I got over myself before I went out and bought a Ferrari or got some sort of unpleasant body piercing.

There's nothing all that insightful to say about 31, but I've learned from last year, so I'm not going to go on a blog strike or anything. Instead, I'll just say that I hope to be fortunate enough to have another 31 wonderful years. Well, I'd actually like 62 more, but you catch my drift.

This has truly been a remarkable birthday. I hosted a well-attended happy hour and dinner with friends from work (Thanks, everyone, for not getting too annoyed by my indecisiveness on when and where to go). I got serenaded by a Mariachi band. Mom and dad sent a truckload of goodies. I sent myself some goodies (Thank you, Amazon.com!). TJ and I tried some new restaurants and discovered our new favorite mall. We hit the clubs with some local friends. My co-workers showered me with red velvet cake and song. And that's what I will leave you with tonight. Song, not cake. I don't know how to share cake on-line.

Without further ado, the Mexican birthday song, Las Mañanitas. It's a fun, happy song. Unless your coworkers insist on singing it every time they make visual contact with you...which they did.

This Is Us

Barely two week had passed since TJ and I dragged our sick carcasses to Auditorio Telmex to see an even sicker Enrique Iglesias, and yet last night we found ourselves returning there to watch the Backstreet Boys in one of the final performances of their "This Is Us" world tour.

We weren't sick this time. Fortunately, neither were the boys, and they sang and danced their hearts out to a nearly sold out crowd.

But this was not our first experience with the BSB.

On September 17, 2004 the Backstreet Boys and Boyz II Men performed a benefit concert to raise money for the Red Cross Hurricane Relief Fund at the House of Blues in Orlando. Brooke Hogan was the opening act. She was sporting red hair extensions that looked horrendous and weren't glued in very well. But the two boy bands were amazing...and complete. In June 2006, Kevin Richardson left the BSB to pursue other interests. If not for that ridiculously active hurricane season in Central Florida, we would have never seen the band perform as a complete unit. Thanks, Mother Nature!

Alas, the remaining BSB have gone on to record two respectably successful albums, and Kevin was never heard from again. Kind of like when Wil Wheaton left Star Trek: The Next Generation.

"This Is Us"

Set List

"Everybody"

"We've Got It Goin' On"

"PDA"

"Quit Playin' Games With My Heart"

"As Long As You Love Me"

"This Is Us"

"Show Me The Meaning of Being Lonely"

"All I Have To Give"

"She's A Dream"

"Nunca Te Hare Llorar (I'll Never Break Your Heart)"

"The Call"

"The One"

"Bigger"

"Shape of My Heart"

"More Than That"

"Undone"

"Incomplete"

"Larger Than Life"

"All of Your Life (You Need Love)"

"Bye Bye Love"

"If I Knew Then"

"I Want It That Way"

Encore

"Straight Through My Heart"

Joining us for our second BSB encounter were several friends and coworkers, two of whom are pictured here...and all of whom were completely horrified when Brian Littrell made the observation that the "boys" had been together for 18 years. "Eighteen years? Oh my god! I was barely a teenager then!" was the type of thought that ran through our aging heads at that very moment. Notice the look of shock on my face. Yes. We will call it that, instead of just a goofy grin.

But watching the concert, and seeing that they are still willing and able to get out there and shake their moneymakers regardless of their increasing age is more a reminder of how great life is than it is of how horrible those new wrinkles and gray hairs are.

I have to wonder, though, if that's a fair comparison. I mean, yes, my life is far better now than it was 18 years ago. Hell, 18 months ago. But unlike the BSB, I'm not now, nor have I ever been, nor am I likely ever to be, a multi-millionaire or a teen idol.

...and don't get me wrong. Those wrinkles and gray hairs suck.

BSB...still Larger than Life

Guadalajara is the fifth-to-last stop on a tour that has spanned over 120 performances, 5 continents, and 1.5 years.

The boys must be tired, but they can't rest yet. They are about to embark on a multi-city tour with the New Kids on the Block, aptly called NKOTBSB.

Will it come to Mexico? Time will tell!

In the meantime, enjoy a small sample of last night's festivities.

Huaxtla Hot Springs and Hiking Adventure

This past Saturday we had the immense pleasure of being invited by some of our colleagues to accompany them on a "great outdoors" adventure with some locals they had met the week before.

The backdrop for this adventure was a small town called Huaxtla, which is located in Zapopan, one of Guadalajara's seven municipalities. According to the limited information I could find online, Huaxtla has a modest population of approximately 135.

The day's itinerary was to consist of a hiking expedition on a local ranch, followed by a cook-out and a bit of swimming in the hot springs.

After three or four wrong turns, in which we began to doubt our hosts' knowledge of the area, we arrived at our first destination, only to discover that the ranch was closed.

As it turns out, this was perfectly fine. After 15-20 minutes of hiking in the vicinity of the ranch, we all decided it was too hot, thank you very much, and that we were all reasonably inclined to move on to the water portion of the day.

I managed to snap a few shots before our

faux heat strokes set in...

Given how hot the weather is at this time of year (and, oh goodness, it's only going to get worse), and how dry the landscape has become, we were a bit horrified when the road signs indicated that we were approaching the springs...and suddenly came across this...

Overcoming our momentary fear and letting reason dictate that this was merely a retention pond of sorts (though why there were tortillas floating in it, we may never know), we sojourned forward and eventually came across this...

Balneario Huaxtla is literally a secret island of happiness hidden in one of the most desolate places I have ever seen. If that sounds harsh, just remember the population fact from earlier. We were in the mountains. It was hot. It was dry. There were maybe 135 people up in them thar hills.

Actually, there probably weren't. They were all here. There were several pools, all at varying degrees of temperature (depending on proximity to water source) and depth (depending on where the ground was), and they were all full of happy families seeking a reprieve from the heat.

And can we just take a minute to appreciate that view from the pool? It's just beautiful. Not the mountains, silly. I'm talking about us.

Some Things Just Shouldn't Be Experienced With Your Coworkers

Our Foreign Service motto from day one has been "Hey, if we're living overseas, why spend all of our time with Americans?" To our credit, we have developed a fairly decent social network based on this philosophy. While we are on friendly terms with the other officers, and do attend functions both private and consular related, most of our personal time is spent with our local friends.

But...maybe this is to our detriment. Or maybe not. I'm not sure, but I do know that we've developed a reputation at the Consulate as "Aaron & TJ: They're probably busy." Apparently, our ability to befriend the locals is admired, but also has the unintended consequence of making us look, at best, unavailable, and at worst, disinterested. This definitely isn't the message we wish to convey, and it was with this in mind that we invited several coworkers to join us for the 5:25 viewing of "The Black Swan" after work today.

Surely there could be no harm in this, right? It was a popular movie this year. Natalie Portman won an Oscar for it. Why, she even got raving reviews from Mike Huckabee. Well, he raved, anyway. But other than the critical acclaim, we weren't very familiar with the movie. Living in Mexico does, unfortunately, cause one to be a little behind on American pop culture.

And so, there we were, the two of us, two other FSOs (Foreign Service Officers) one MOH (Member of Household), and an LES (Locally Employed Staff). We had our popcorn. We had our nachos. We had our sodas. We had four Consulate-affiliated friends beside us, proving that we aren't always busy, and we are interested. This was going to be the start of something great.

And then we sat through 108 minutes of Natalie Portman alternating between either going insane or doing things to herself and having things done to her that should have relegated this flick to a minimum rating of NC-17.

Everyone left the theater feeling a bit awkward and I must admit that, although I enjoyed the company immensely, I do have to consider the possibility that we may have been better off hanging out with our local friends tonight.

Next time will be a Disney flick, guys! I promise!