Surviving Mexico

July 6, 2018 · 12:00 pm

Guest Post –Candid video captures Mexico’s raw street life

Recently I was contacted by Darrel Trueman. He shared his video with me, which I found humorous and true to life. So today I’d like to share this video and a little bit form Darrel.

Television producer Darrel Trueman never imagined he’d shoot a short film using only a smartphone.

The result is ‘Mexico and Me’, a quick-paced montage that’s been widely shared on social media. It captures the exuberance and raw energy of life in a Mexican town—life outside a gated community, that is.

“All this amazing action was taking place on the street right below me,” said Mr. Trueman, who was living in a rental apartment on Calle Libertad in San Antonio Tlayacapan, Jalisco.

“Mexico and me” captures an eccentric street in small town Mexico

“Up until that point I hadn’t intended to film anything in Mexico. I was just enjoying spending time with my retired parents, Sid and Terry.

“I was also taking time to edit a reality series that I had shot in Australia for network TV. Nevertheless, whenever there was something happening on my street, I’d grab my smartphone, hit record, and step onto my balcony to shoot the action.”

“I’m glad so many people like the film and have posted positive comments. Making it has helped me realize there are interesting stories everywhere,” said Mr. Trueman. “And also that I need to find a quieter place to live next time I’m there.”

“Speaking of which, in early 2019 I’ll be back, looking for people with an engaging story that can be developed into a reality TV series.” For more information contact me below,

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Thank you for your response. ✨

Buying Chicken in Mexico

You can buy live fattened chickens where they advertise Venta de Pollo Gordo. You can get a chicken here for about $100 pesos. Some places will kill and pluck it for you for a higher price. Others won’t.

So the next best bet is going to a pollería which gets its chickens from the chicken fattening places. These aren’t organic or free range chickens. If you want organic free-range chickens, you’ll have to raise them yourself but remember it’s much easier to eat them if you don’t give them names.

Incubated hatched peeps can be bought in area from veterinarian/feed places. The last time we bought some, the price was 6 chicks for $100 pesos.

At the pollería you can buy an entire chicken. The price will vary depending on the kilo size. An averaged size whole chicken currently is about $120 pesos. You can ask to have the chicken cut into smaller pieces, which is usually done with a huge pair of scissors or just buy 60 pesos of individual pieces which you can pick out yourself. You can also find raw chicken at places that advertise Pollo Fresco (fresh chicken), or at stands in the tianguis or markets.

If you want chicken already cooked, you can go to a rosticería and get rotisserie chicken or pollos a la leña which are cooked over the open flame. You can buy whole chickens, pieces of chickens as part of a combo, sometimes with rice and mole or floppy french fries, or an order of pescuezos (chicken necks).

You can also get “American style” or “Kentucky” chicken in our area, which is fried (empanizada). Unbelievably the family packs are often served with coleslaw. UGH! Fortunately for our family, if you ask they will substitute the coleslaw, which NOBOBY likes, for an extra wing.

Where do you get your chicken?

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Filed under Southern Comfort Food Mexican Style

Tagged as buying chicken in mexico, empanizada, how to request chicken pieces in mexico, kentucky chicken in mexico, polleria, pollo frescho, polos a la lena, rosticeria, venta de pollo gordo

June 29, 2018 · 7:00 am

Greenhouse and Backyard

About a month ago, I noticed that they were opening up a road in San Lucas, a little town near us. I mentioned that it would be really nice if we could have some of that lovely black dirt to fill in our backyard. So my husband made a deal with the dump truck drivers. Two loads of rock-less dirt, $100 pesos a load, delivered right to our front door. Awesome.

He and my son spent several days moving the dirt one wheelbarrow at a time. The dirt is still bound together in bit clods yet but we expect once rainy season starts, that will fix itself. We added an apple tree, a lime tree, an avocado tree and a papaya tree to our mini-huerta (orchard). The chickens ate all the leaves off the papaya tree within the hour. Then Lil’ pup gnawed the trunk to the ground. So much for that tree.

Since the chickens are always a problem in the backyard no matter how many lectures I give them on not eating the plants, I thought we could make an upstairs porch specifically for plants. Therefore, that was the next project.

My husband and son made steps down to the area that had once been Joey’s roof. Then they did one full wall and two half-walls to enclose the area in. The herrero (ironworker) who made the solar panel base made two sets of bars for the front. I think we might get two more for the other side eventually because I’m still not happy with our security updates.

For the roof my husband wanted to put regular laminas (corrugated tin) but I insisted that for the good of the plants we needed the clear ones. Of course, they cost more. So we went to Salvatierra to a lamina warehouse to get them at a reduced rate. We got enough laminas to cover the area of 4 meters x 7 meters for $3000 pesos. Up they went.

Then another load of dirt to fill in the planting area. It’s still quite bare as we are waiting for the rainy season to plant more. Although the chickens won’t be able to get at these plants, Kitty has decided that this area was made for her exclusive use. She’s been laying on my strawberry plant and beneath the grape plant and using the other side as a litter box. This is infuriating to my husband. Now he knows how I feel about the chickens!

The last outdoor updates were the sidewalk from the backdoor to the animal area and the path to the ajibe (water storage area). I’ve been asking my husband for 10 years to made a walkway so that in the rainy season we can get to one area to another without tromping through the mud which is then tromped through the house. He finally did.