Mexican Groceries in Elmira, Ontario

My hometown is Elmira, Ontario.  Upon returning to Canada, I found this calendar hanging in the house where my family is renting.  Notice the juxtaposition of contrasting features:

A Calendar From Elaine's Mexican Groceries

·         The calendar advertises a Mexican grocery store.

·         The store is in the small, white Anglo/Mennonite town of Elmira; when I was growing up there, I think the closest we had to “Mexican” was Taco Bell in the city (sad, but true.)

·         The calendar itself is in German; I suspect that this is to appeal to the area’s growing Old Colony Mennonite population, also known as Mexican Mennonites, because of their strong presence in the state of Chihuahua.  This is confirmed by the fact that the actual calendar pages are printed in Manitoba by Klassen’s Printing.  (Zoom in if you can.)  My family is originally Old Colony Mennonite.

·         The picture is of Villahermosa, Tabasco; I don’t think any Mennonites live in Villahermosa, and I don’t suspect that any Mexicans from Villahermosa live in Elmira.

I haven’t been to Elaine’s Mexican Groceries yet, but I’m guessing it’s pretty small.  In any case, it’s a good thing.  Mexican food is great, and a little taste of Mexico would be a nice touch colour and flavour for Elmira.

I’ll write another post after I go to Elaine’s some time down the road.

The Tortilla Factory in Detroit - A Little Taste of Mexico for a Canadian Child

A package of tortillas from Detroit.

While much of what I've written about my experience living in Mexico as a Canadian has focused on the past few years of my life - when I've actually been living in Mexico - my Mexican experience actually goes back to my very early childhood.  During my entire life, my parents have made several trips a year to Detroit's Mexican community to buy authentic tortillas, mazapans, canned enchilada sauce, and other authentic Mexican products.  Since Detroit has by far the largest Mexican population anywhere nearby, it also has the best supply of items straight from Mexico.  My parents continue this habit to this day.

In fact, a week or two ago, I went to Detroit with my dad again.  We bought 100 packages of tortillas; my parents freeze them and heat them as they need them, in the microwave or stove top.  The freezing part seems absurd to any Mexicans I mention it to.  But the tortillas are cheap, and very authentic, made directly from soaked, ground up corn, rather than the instant "Maseca" brand corn flour which is even become standard practice in many parts of Mexico.

I remember the tortilla factory looking small and sketchy, like the rest of the community. The tortilla factory is now very successful, likewise reflecting the community's extreme transformation, which is currently an island of radiant and hopeful success in what is otherwise a decaying and lifeless city (the old part of Detroit.)

More on this community to come.

Back to the Blog - My New Canada-Mexico Experiment

I'm finally back to my blog, and hopefully I can put a post much more regularly again.  The reason for delaying my posts is that I've started a new experiment with my life.

After a few weeks of travels around the Mexico City area during late March, my family and I got on an a plane and flew to Canada.  This time, it's not vacations.  We're here semi-permanently; our new experiment is to live in Canada 6 months (summer) and Mexico 6 months (winter.)

Many retirees do it, so why can't we?

I've been fortunate enough to get a job that I can do online, so I can do the job from either location.   So far, so good.

For the next while, more of my posts will probably be looking the other way - what Canada looks like to a Mexican (my wife) or to a Canadian who's been in Mexico for a while.

I'm excited about it.