I did not grow up in a normal “Mexican” home.
I did not grow up in a normal “Mexican” home.
a Madhouse Blog
My parents rarely spoke Spanish in our home. My Mom was born in Zacapu, Michoacan, Mexico and came to the States when she was 5 years old. My Dad was born here in Yuma, Arizona. His grandparents had emigrated from Mexico in the early 1900’s and settled in the Gila Valley. My Mom spoke fluent Spanish and my Dad spoke broken Spanish…well let’s just say he spoke “Spanglish”. When I was born they decided that they would only teach me English-a decision they both now regret. I was never taught Mexican culture. I can remember when I was little my Tata Valdez telling my Mom that she needed to teach me about where her family came from. He and my Nana Valdez were not happy that I was not taught Spanish. My Nana and Tata Quintero (my Dad’s parents) spoke Spanish and English to me so I could at least somewhat understand it when I was younger. I spent more time with them because they lived here in Yuma. The two of them would take me out to Gila Valley & Mittry Lake, show me where they were born and tell me stories about their family growing up. My Tata Q would always talk about Cesar Chavez and his work for the rights of farm workers –Cesar was his cousin who was also born in Gila Valley. My Nana would point out where houses used to be out in the fields & near the mountains and tell me what families lived there. The one room school house that they both went to is still standing-but now it is occupied by tractors and other farm equipment.
I was an only child. I grew up attending an Independent Baptist Church. I never went to a public school. I attended “church school” from K-12th grade. When I was in 2nd grade my Dad decided there was too much “junk” on cable and that I needed to ready more-so we said goodbye to cable television and hello to the local library. When I did watch movies-they were mostly all in black and white. I think the last movie I saw in a theater before I was an adult was Beauty and The Beast. I did not listen to the radio, my parents did not play Mexican music. I listened mostly to classical music. Beethoven, Bach, Mozart and Vivaldi were all on my playlist. If I was being a little on the “wild side”-I would listen to The Glenn Miller Orchestra. My parents did not drink or “party”…I never had a quinceanera …and much to my PIC’s horror-I never learned how to dance.
I guess you could say I grew up in a sheltered little world. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. I grew up with a love of all music, books and an appreciation for things of old. I can wonder a thrift store for hours. I love wondering through antique stores, used book stores…I love old things.
My love of old movies tends to frustrate The PIC. He is quite often amazed at the list of recent movies I have never seen. He dislikes reading…I love to read. He loves to dance-I have two left feet.
This past week The PIC has to be in Phoenix for work and I was able to tag along for a quick road trip. If anyone can cram things to do into a last minute road trip-it’s the two of us.
First stop was for business. You don’t care about that meeting-trust me, you are not missing anything. Made it to the meeting on time, business completed-off we went.
Second stop was The Heard Museum. They currently have a Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera exhibit (it runs through August 20, 2017-if you haven’t gone yet-go!). The PIC had taken me to the museum for the first time last year and I loved it. The Frida & Diego exhibit was awesome. The paintings…the pictures… the clothes…all of it was amazing.
(photo credit: http://instagram.com/gadzooksaz )
(photo credit: http://instagram.com/gadzooksaz )
Third stop of the afternoon was Gadzooks Enchiladas & Soup. I would like to take a moment to thank the guys from Playworks for introducing this place to us. This glorious place allows you to customize your enchiladas…you pick your fillings and your toppings and it’s baked all together in a cazuela. The PIC topped his enchiladas off with a fried egg and I had mine with crema and Mexican cheese. Oh why did no one ever tell us about this place of happiness sooner? This place made my belly happy.
Our fourth and last stop of the day happened kind of by accident. Earlier in the day we were driving down 7th Street and we passed a sign that said “vintage store”. I used to walk by this place when I lived in Phoenix years ago when I was pregnant with my oldest son. I always wanted to stop there but I never did. I was always in a hurry to get to my doctor’s appointment or home so I could rest. As I was driving to get on the freeway to head home I decided to pull into the parking lot to check this “vintage store” out. O.M.G. I was in vintage heaven. I cannot believe I passed by this place for years and never walked in!!! Not only is it a store-it’s also a diner and soda fountain. Be still my vintage loving heart-this place is made my day. The have everything-furniture, glassware, pictures, toys, signs, jewelry, purses, shoes, clothing and more. I could have stayed there all day just looking at everything. It was almost overwhelming-but all in a good way. Even though we were stuffed from just eating dinner-we had to have desert. How could we not? We were in at a soda fountain! They had fresh pie, phosphate, egg creams, French soda, real milkshakes…it is dessert heaven on earth! I had a phosphate with lime syrup and Naughty Pecan Pie with salted caramel topping. I guess it was kind of an odd combination-but it was delicious. Oh and for those of you who don’t know what a phosphate is-it’s soda water with tart citric acid & syrup added to it. The PIC settled for a strawberry milkshake. While we were sitting there enjoying the sugary goodness we started talking about old TV shows and I brought up The Wallace & Ladmo Show. It was a children’s show that was aired on KPHO-TV in Phoenix. I grew up watching this show (well, till my parents got rid of cable) and dreaming of getting a “Ladmo Bag”. My poor PIC apparently never watched it. He knew nothing of Wallace, Ladmo and Gerald…or those magical “Ladmo Bags”. I think I am going to have to look the show on YouTube and make him watch it. We will definitely be returning to MacAlpine’s Diner & Soda Fountain for more pie and I am praying that black vintage purse is still there waiting for me.
