Monthly Archives: December 2009

Flashback to Puerto Rican Grocery Stores

Britton and I received a few “Welcome to the Neighborhood” coupons from about three area grocery stores after we bought our new rental. One of them was the Wholesale Food Outlet or its new name Avanza. Avanza advertises itself as “serving the growing Hispanic community” of Greeley. I had been in there a few times, but I didn’t like that they add 10% on top of the bill at the end, so we don’t shop there too much. However, with the coupons we received (free food and $10 off an order of $25) we decided we would try it again.

It was such a trip. I felt like I was having a flashback to the Puerto Rican Econos and Mr. Special stores. If anyone is interested in being a Locavore in the Greeley area, this is the store to visit. Almost everything was from the northern Colorado region. It was awesome.

Cassie and Beans
Look at this HUGE bag of Peruvian Beans!

We also found all the ingredients to make tamales, although we thought we would research how to do those a little more. Like pasteles in Puerto Rico, tamales are a traditional Christmas food in Mexico and Central American countries. They are made with corn husks (banana leaves in PR), corn masa (yuca or cassava  meal in for the pasteles in PR) and filled with meat, spices and veggies.

It was busy, colorful and noisy and full of bulk food. The parking lot was so full we had to park in a non-designated spot. The taste-tester people encouraged us in Spanish to try various foods. We saw “beef cheek meat” and menudo bowls, pico de gallo and horchata. And piñatas were everywhere!

Store Full of pinatas
Lots of piñatas and people everywhere

It was a lot of fun and we will probably go back more often, especially if we get the hang of tamale-making. When we compared it to our shopping trips at King Soopers, King Soopers was so much more bland. It also made us eager to get back to Puerto Rico to learn about and eat more traditional foods. Of course, it is nice to know that in Greeley we have all of our favorite “American” comfort foods right around the block unlike in Puerto Rico, but still, what an adventure.

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I’m on the News…again! And other synchronistic events

Last night we had a huge H1N1 clinic that was open to the entire public where we worked to vaccinate almost 2000 people.  The Greeley Tribune as well as Denver Channel 4 News covered the story. When I came in to work today, a couple of people said, “I saw you on TV last night.” I thought I’d better check it out. Sure enough, a little ways through the clip I am standing there with my yellow vest smiling and greeting people. You can check it out here. Just click on the video to the side of the story.

This isn’t the first time I’ve been on the news. About two years ago I was involved in helping to create an ordinance that eventually eliminated free tobacco from being given away in the city of Greeley. It was a great accomplishment, but a very stressful time in my life. I have finally been able to get a copy of the video for you all to see. I had to record it off the computer, but I think it turned out ok. What do you think?

What was even weirder about last night was that the Greeley Tribune reporter was one of the very last people to go through the line and get vaccinated himself. We had already started cleaning things up and so I just walked him back to a vaccination station. As we were walking back he asked me if I had ever taught a sociology class at UNC. I said, yes, during my graduate program. He said he was a former student of mine! I was like, wow, what a small world. After he got his vaccine, I asked him how he was doing and how he liked working at the Tribune. We chatted for a while but I still couldn’t remember his name, so I asked him. Colin Lindenmayer.  Man that names sounds familiar, I thought. Then it rang a bell in my head. The chicken article! Of course. He had been the reporter on the chicken article. We had talked on the phone, but because I had changed my name after getting married to Britton, he hadn’t recognized my new last name.

A series of strange events like this keep happening to Britton and me lately. I am taking them as good omens. You never know who you have touched and the impact you made on them. And that they make on you. Maybe it is a simple glance, a word, or even just a tidbit of information you picked up on the nightly news. 🙂 Whatever it is, sometimes I really feel that we are truly all connected.

Is it synchronicity if just a few days before I finished reading “Hypnotizing Maria” a book by Richard Bach? Or that Britton and I found out that we had a renter at the very moment we pushed play to watch the Pixar movie “Up” a movie that summarizes how we feel about life in so many ways, not to mention is a throw back to our first date watching “Toy Story 2”?

Life is strange. Sometimes I don’t think I would believe it if you told me it was real and it feels like a dream I need to interpret to make sense out of it. But dreams are always in metaphors that only you can understand. Maybe that’s how life is. A series of stories and challenges that teach you lessons in unexpected ways. Or maybe not. All I know is that it is weird in a cool way. Or as the saying goes, “What’s the difference between fiction and reality? Fiction needs to make sense.”

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Puerto Rico Tourism and Mad Men Advertising

San Juan
Vintage style Puerto Rico Adversting

Britton and I have been watching the show “Mad Men” lately and have found it pretty interesting to see the changes in what was normal from the early 60s to now. The most noticeable of course is the rampant smoking and drinking in the office and really anywhere, but also the sexism, racism, and lack of safety for kids (in one scene the mother has a minor accident and the small children are flung into the floor of the car, in another the kids are playing around with plastic bags over their heads). However, while there are a lot of things that have changed as a result of research, laws and social norms evolving, some of this period still seems magical to me. The books When I was Puerto Rican by Esmeralda Santiago, The Time it Snowed in Puerto Rico by Sarah McCoy, The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson and Telex from Cuba by Rachel Kushner were all set in that fascinating time.

So, anyway, when I saw that the Puerto Rico Tourism Company was modernizing an advertising campaign that connected both the Mad Men style advertising with a refreshed artistic look at Puerto Rico, I was intrigued. Apparently, as the NY Times article relates, a young “unknown” photographer by the name of Elliott Erwitt was sent to Puerto Rico in the late 50’s/early 60’s to cover an ad campaign about Puerto Rico for the Madison Avenue Company Ogilvy and Mather. Now, 50 years later, he has gone back to do it again as a well-established and esteemed photographer. The website: http://www.seepuertorico.com has many of the photographs as well as video of his time there. While it is mainly centered on the San Juan area, I think it is a beautiful portfolio of how much things have changed and how much they remain the same.

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Rental Before and After Pictures

Now what you’ve all been waiting for…a makeover! Here are some of the before and after pictures of the new rental we have been working on. We even showed it tonight to a prospective tenant. I think the kitchen and bathroom are the most impressive changes.

KITCHEN:

Colorful Kitchen
Before

kitchen demo
During

Kitchen
After!

BATHROOM

Pink Bathroom
Before

bathroom halfway through
During

Bathroom
After

TUB

tub halfway
During

Tub with tile
After

LIVING ROOM
Living Room
Living room before

Wood Floors and Fan
Living room after from other angle

BEDROOM

Pink room with Fan
Before…No…not….pink!!!

Bedroom with Fan
After -Actually we have the closet doors back on and curtains up too!

We felt tonight like we had accomplished the whole thing. There are a few things remaining (like fridge and oven are to be delivered this week), but overall, it is move-in ready! How quick a month goes when you are this busy! Fun but hard work on top of our 40++ hour jobs and various activities.

Here’s a walk through the house:

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