Cooking Pasta Part III - Hands-on Tagliatelle

This is the final post on my Pasta Making adventures. It's funny how the sequence of events was actually backwards but I guess sometimes it's cool to see the end before the beginning so, here it goes...

Tiziana had mentioned that her “baby” was a tuna lasagna. Yup, she’s so proud of making this one up! I was dying to try it out as it sounded so unusual. I asked her to bring me one of those the next time we met for yoga which would be on a Thursday. She had asked me to give her a call the day before to remind her.

OK, so it’s Wednesday and I had a midday interview with a new prospect for my English communication business. It so happened that my interview was not too far from Lasagna e Via so, I gave Tiz a call suggesting that I could actually swing by and pick up the lasagna. I made it there, dressed to impress while Pat, Tiz, and Lola (one of their employees) were busy making dough for the pasta. My eyes lit up.

Unlike last time, it was around noon and the place was hopping with customers picking up their phoned-in orders. In case I forgot to mention, Lasagna e Via is a take-out only business.

So, dangling an apron with one hand and pouring me a glass of white wine with the other, Tiziana asked if I wanted to get my hands dirty and learn to make pasta. I quickly responded “for sure!”
So, this time, as if going backwards, I was to learn how to mix the ingredients to make the dough. The process involved mixing flour and egg in a food processor. Since all eggs are not made equal, I was to use my judgment in determining if the dough was moist enough before kneading. So we kept some water in a cup nearby.

Pat instructed me to mix 300gm of flour (using a cup measure) with 3 whole eggs. I was to mix it up in the processor and then decide if additional moisture was needed. After that, I was to spread the mix on the counter and proceed to knead it out until it had a tight but soft-to-the-touch consistency. Once the ball of dough is good, we quickly store it in a plastic bag to conserve moisture. At this point, the dough can be frozen for later use. I had no idea it was this simple!


I went through several rounds of this process. I found it extremely relaxing. The kneading was a very nice stretching exercise for my writs. Pat and Lola would occasionally stop by my station to supervise, naturally, trying to abide by their quality standards and to give tried and true tips for preparing "beautiful" dough.

Once I made like 10 balls of dough, I could learn how to make tagliatelle, the short, flat spaghetti. But first, I needed to learn even more basics! Pat asked me if I’d like to make the dough from scratch without using the food processor. “Bring it on!” I thought. So, now she taught me how to make a volcano with the flour on top of the counter and then add the eggs in the middle. Then mix and knead by hand. To ensure I had the right level of moisture, I was to either add water or add a little flour. Fun stuff, indeed! I felt like a little kid with play-dough.


With all the dough ready, it was time to make pasta! Pat *strongly* suggested not using the pasta machine at all and instead roll it out using just the pin. I was up to the challenge!

Pat taught me how to do it mostly to show me the appropriate thickness for tagliatelle. By now, I was remembering an incredible dish I once had in Venice of tagliatelle with fresh crab meet, garlic and olive oil. Ahh, the possibilities when you make your own pasta!

Working and talking, I finally told them the story of the Dominican Lasagna in New York. They just chuckled as they went about their tasks.

I made several sheets of pasta, getting them ready for cutting them into the tagliatelle. We used a special pasta cutting knife (see photo) and Pat taught me, several times (I was slow on this one), how to first roll up the pasta sheet like a tube and then use the knife to cut the roll into segments of the desired width for my pasta. Pat explained to me how in old Italy, the job of being the pasta cutter was very, very important. I can see that. “What do you mean there’s no fresh pasta today?” A brief panic rushed over me.

Each segment of the rolled, already cut pasta is gently unbundled with the fingers. The end result looks like a small bird’s nest. Once unbundled, we placed each nest in a tray lined with a cloth napkin and then we covered them with another cloth napkin. Unlike ravioli, the tagliatelle needs to dry out a bit before cooking, so these guys were going to sit in the tray for a while.

As payment for my work, Pat sent me home with a *small* care package including:

• some of the pasta I just made
• bolognese sauce to-go
• frozen dough for making empanadas at home
• an assortment of fresh-out-of-the-oven empanadas (eggplant, homemade sausage, and kale with cheese)
• and of course, the tuna lasagna that I originally came for.

On the way out, Pat revealed that that the “crack” in the empanada dough are tiny bits of homemade sausage and fresh oregano.

On the ride back home the car smelled of something wonderful. I’m weak. I couldn’t wait to get home, literally…I reached for the empanadas and snarfed two of the down. I drove home happily and ready for a nap after all my hard work.

In the evening, I boiled my tagliatelle for 4 minutes and mixed it with the bolognese sauce. It was heavenly. The next evening, I tried the tuna lasagna and it was wonderful! It had a Mexican twist as the sauce had chilli peppers.

And, yes, the new prospect hired me!

Cooking Pasta Part II - Adventures in Ravioli Making

It was one of the loveliest evenings since I can remember. The specialness of this one laid in its spontaneity.

But first, a little background:

Tiziana was one of the first, and certainly most eager students who came to my yoga classes here in GDL. After class, one day, we started talking about our mutual love for food. She seemed more excited and excitable than your average GDL resident. She casually blurted out that she had been born in Bologna, Italy and came to Mexico as a young child. For work, she runs a lasagna shop with her sister Patricia.

“Lasagna, you said?” I asked and without waiting for an answer I bragged about my lasagna. We both got so excited to have this other thing in common. We agreed to exchange lasagnas. It was understood that hers was artesanal and mine was rustic.

At the start of the next yoga class, lasagnas were exchanged with relentless giddiness. I went home ate mine and loved it! Tiz explained that the pasta was made from scratch at her shop. I lamented how much I missed good Italian food since moving to GDL. Whining, I confessed my desire to learn to how to make ravioli.

“Easy!” She exclaimed. “How about you come over to the shop and my sister and I will make it happen.” I nodded with excitement. Then she added “Oh, we like to drink red wine while cooking. Is that OK with you?” By now I was ready to hug this woman and declare her my new best friend.

And so, the night came. It was a Thursday night. I like to go out on Thursday nights because of its unpretentious way of almost being the weekend. The air was festive already. The shop was small and beautifully appointed -- efficient, with clean lines, gorgeous white roses in a couple of places, and the smell of deliciousness was unquestionably the most important guest this evening.

Tiz and Patricia were hosting and two of their friends joined: Tere, a happy, energetic woman, who brought the white roses and was ready to crack some jokes, and Lorena a warm woman of wise words, thoughtful questions, and a good record as a world traveler. So, on to the business at hand: Ravioli making! I mean, look at my face in the pictures. Do I not look just so excited? Sometimes, it amazes me how little it takes to get me to this state. I like this sort of high.

Patricia was full of charm and ready to “teach” me. She handed me an official "Lasagna e Via" apron. She really meant business. Her patience and methodology told me: she’s done this a lot of times so I was eager to be learned. Oh, and don’t mess with her!

The dough had been made and ready to be rolled out. Pat kindly offered to teach me how to mix the dough but in the interest of time, we continued with what we had. First, we mixed the very simple filling:

1 tbsp of parsley
2 cups of Requesón (the Mexican version of Ricotta)
1 egg yolk
Salt and pepper to taste

Next, she introduced me to the process of prepping the dough before using the pasta machine so, she instructed me to massage it out a bit and then use the rolling pin to make the starting, albeit thick, sheet of pasta. fter that, the pasta making machine came out and I was taught to put the dough through, starting at the highest setting, cranking the handle, and continuing the process, lowering the setting until the pasta was thin enough for ravioli. We were to make two long sheets of pasta. As soon as you’re done with the first sheet, you cover it so that it doesn’t lose moisture.

For the last sheet, Tiz taught me how to stick a parsley leaf and put it through the machine and see how the leaf becomes big and thin; it looked like a cool tattoo.

Now, we’re ready to put the ravioli together. By now, wine’s been guzzled down. With everyone abuzz, the room was getting warm thanks to the laughter, my hard, happy work, and for the big pot of boiling water for the pasta to cook.

I laid out one of sheets in front of me, cut it in half, and then trimmed around the edges to make them into rectangles of the same size. One half-sheet stays on the counter and we spoon the cheese filling in little gobs leaving enough space to comfortably sew the ravioli together. This is a good time to decide on the size of each ravioli. Will it be ravioli, raviolini, or raviolocho? The one with the parsley tattoo will have to be a raviolocho.

With the bottom half-sheet all set with the filling, we evenly set the second half-sheet on top and iron out any pockects of air with our fingers. Then we use the special pasta cutter to cut while sewing the edges off leaving the familiar ridges all around.

We set the ravioli on a tray lined with a cloth napkin and then covered them with another cloth napkin. We try to minimize exposure to the air. With the water boiling, and ravioli ready, we throw them in to cook for no more than 3 minutes. By now, Tiziana was busy making the sauce:

2 cups of butter
2 tbsp chopped sage

With the ravioli out, Tiz tossed them in the butter sauce. She had already made a caeser’s salad. We sat down to eat, another bottle of wine was as necessary as the next gasp of air after so much laughter. We accompanied the pasta and salad with sausage bread as well as sausage empanadas all previously made on-site and by hand. Can you feel the love?

With food in tummy, head abuzz, and an air of teamwork satisfaction, we all agree to do this again. Like a dinner club.

Since this is an Italian feast, there has got to be a simple dessert and a memorable after dinner drink. Tiz had made poached pears with raspberry sauce. Patricia surprised us with home-made mandarin limoncello – she called it mandaretto. I called it “OH MY GOD!” That’s all I can say for now.

Check out the slide show (click on the photo to see the title, hover toward to the top to get the previous and next buttons):



I went home with care packages, a bunch of white roses, a big smile on my face, the anticipation of learning more about making pasta and perhaps meeting the ladies for a mid-day Campari sometime soon.

On the ride home, I marveled at finding Italy in Mexico -- I would’ve never imagined it. I love peculiar coincidences like these; it fed my spirit and my tummy. What else can I ask for on this fine day?

A few weeks have gone by and when I see Tiziana, a little bit of the world reveals itself to me through her mediterranean spark . Pat will forever be my pasta making teacher. She already holds a prominent place along with all my other spiritual teachers.

Cooking Pasta Part I - A Dominican Lasagna in Mexico (recipe)

After a short, stress-free day at work, I brewed myself a nice cup of chamomile and lavender tea, tuned in to NPR’s Fresh Air podcast, and whipped up a lasagna. This, I call meditation in motion.

I am not really sure how lasagna became a staple of the Dominican diet. It’s actually a staple of Dominicans in New York. From my childhood in the Dominican Republic, I recall people talking about lasagna as one of the most popular dishes at dinner parties thrown by the very rich – I had never seen nor tasted one. All I knew is that it was fancy, and therefore, a very expensive dish to make. Not too mention a bit weird, right?

In the late 70’s, as thousands of poor Dominican folks immigrated to the United States, mostly to New York, lasagna-making became accessible to everyone thanks to the easy availability of so many cooking ingredients at relatively inexpensive prices. These Dominicans were ready to bask in the grandeur of being able to afford lasagna in their newly-adopted land.

I moved to New York in the 80’s, a teenager not that interested in food though my mom made sure that she served her now world-famous lasagna frequently. Her signature lasagna is made with ground turkey and lots of fresh vegetables. Since I can remember, her lasagna is served in every special ocassion including thanksgiving, christmas, and birthdays.

So, what is a Dominican lasagna? I have no idea! A good American friend of mine used to say that any self-respecting Dominican girl in New York must be able to make a mean lasagna…he was right! My mom used to size up my brother's Dominican girlfriends by the quality of their lasagnas. Anyway, I have invented my own recipe mostly from the memory of my palate after having enjoyed them so much living under my mom’s roof.

Now that I live in Mexico and have taken up cooking as a hobby, my Dominican lasagna has caused quite a stir amongst friends and acquaintances; some have even suggested that I market it. I’m calling mine a Dominican-American lasagna because it’s influenced not only by all the versions I’ve had in the Dominican community but also by all the ones I’ve tasted in notoriously Italian neighborhoods in New York and Boston. I've also had them in Italy. In making this dish, there’s a lot of room for creativity and I really encourage experimentation.

My lasagna is definitely “rustica” and it has a sweet and hearty flavor…so without much ado, here’s the recipe (serves 4 very large or 6 medium sized portions):

Ingredients (in order of appearance):
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 large cloves of garlic diced or crushed
- ½ cup white or yellow onions
- ¼ cup celery, diced
- 3 plum tomatoes, very ripe, chopped
- 1 tbsp oregano (preferably fresh), chopped small
- 6 fresh basil leaves, chopped small
- 3 fresh sage leaves, chopped small
- 1 medium carrot, thinly sliced,
- 1 medium pear squash or chayote, cubed medium (if not available, use more carrots and zucchini)
- 1lb ground beef, lean (or turkey)
- 1 medium zucchini, cubed medium
- 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
- ½ cup of red wine (I use port)
- 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tsp baby capers
- Salt and pepper to taste

- Lasagna noodles – I like the Barilla 20-minutes pre-cooked noodles
- 2-3 cups of pasta sauce – I either make my own or buy a jar of Classico or Barilla Tomato Basil sauce
- 1 cup ricotta cheese (requesón in Mexico)
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese (adobera o oaxaca in Mexico)
- ½ cup parmesan cheese (cotija in Mexico)

Step 1 – Make the filling:

1. In a large sautee pan, heat up the oil then add the onion, garlic, and celery. Sautee and stir until lightly brown.



2. Add tomatoes, herbs, and some salt and pepper. Stir until tomatoes cook down and start to make a paste.



3. Add carrot and pear squash then sautee, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes.



4. Add the meat, crumbling it up with your hands but leaving some big chunks. Let it cook, stirring occasionally until it stops looking red.



5. Add the zucchini and mushrooms.



6. Add the wine, Worcestershire sauce, and capers.



7. Let the liquids simmer, stirring occasionally, until the alcohol cooks down a bit.



8. Taste the meat filling and see if you need to adjust the flavor.



9. If you plan to bake the lasagna, preheat the oven at 225°F.
   

Step 2 – Assemble it!

1. Spread the bottom of a medium-size square Pyrex dish with a little bit of pasta sauce and one teaspoon of olive oil. You can use any other type of glass dish that is safe for baking.



2. Line the bottom with a layer of noodles.



3. On top of the noodles, spread one cooking spoon full of the meat filling.



4. Evenly spread 4 heaping tablespoons of the tomato sauce.



5. With your hands, crumble up and spread 1/3 of the cup each of the ricotta and mozzarella cheeses.



6. Repeat steps 2-5 to make another layer.



7. Add the last layer of noodles.



8. Spread the more sauce of top, making sure some drops down on the side (inside) of the dish since the noodles need the moisture.



9. Add the remaining of the crumbled up cheeses.



10. Sprinkle the parmesan cheese on top.



11. If you have any meat left-over, you might want to save and use it as a base for a Bolognese-like sauce.
    

Step 3 – Bake it and eat it!

1. At this point you can cover and freeze for later or bake it now.



2. To bake, put in the oven at 425°F for 20 to 30 minutes depending on how brown the top gets. You might want to cover it at the beginning to get keep it nice and moist.



3. When done, let it sit for about 10-15 minutes to cool.



4. Serve with yummy warm bread and a side salad.



5. Enjoy!
   

If you plan to make the sauce, here’s what I do:

Ingredients:
- 3 cloves garlic, large, oven roasted then diced
- 5 basil leaves, whole
- Fresh oregano and/or rosemary to taste
- ½ medium onion, chopped
- 8 plum tomatoes, very ripe
- 2 cups of water or chicken stock
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- Salt and pepper to taste

To make the sauce:

1. Mix all the ingredients in a medium saucepan.



2. Bring to boil, stirring occasionally.



3. Boil on high to medium heat for 30 minutes.



4. Taste to see if it needs salt, pepper, and sugar.



5. If you’re pressed for time, you can mash the tomatoes down a bit while they’re cooking. I like my sauce a little chunky and watery.
   

Mexican Children Channel Madonna!

A few weeks ago, I went to a “concert ensemble” honoring Madonna at a university campus in GDL. I admit that I wasn’t sure what this was about. My best guess was that it would be an outdoor dance party with Madonna music and videos amid some cool lighting. Boy, was I wrong!

The set up was outdoors alright, but judging from the size of the stage, we were in for a real spectacle. It struck me that there was seating for roughly 200 people though the set design had more ambition than that.

The show was indeed a performance-based ensemble of Madonna’s most memorable concert performances starting back with 1989’s Blonde Ambition tour and finishing up with 2006’s Confessions. Much like Madonna’s productions, this show did not lack in props, lighting, a large number of dancers, a live orchestra, a back-up gospel-style choir, video, and all sorts of visual treats.

I assumed all the performers were college students though they all looked like junior high school students to me. I think some of the songs performed might’ve been older than the performers. What’s cool about this is that Madonna’s popularity transcends several generations and it shows. This didn’t feel like a retro-tribute; it definitely felt like it was the “now” thing to do.

So, how was the show? Well, it was pretty good. There were some major flaws in my opinion but first, let’s talk about the good stuff. I was most pleased to see men perform some of the songs, most notably Rain, Live to Tell, and Jump. It was so refreshing to see guys be so open and free with their interpretations. The sheer number of dancers and performers on stage made the concert very engaging though at times, it felt like there were more performers than audience members. By far, the most impressive feature was the flawless choreography. OK, most of it was imitated directly from Madonna’s performances but the stuff is physically demanding and requires a lot of coordination and cooperation – not an easy thing to pull off.

As for the flaws, believe it or not, the Madonnas were the worst part. There were like seven of them who performed different numbers. What was wrong? Just like the real Madonna, most of them couldn’t sing well though the biggest mistake was that these Madonnas weren’t slutty enough. Yeah, you heard me right! These girls were a little too nice. You can’t play Madonna without getting a little nasty! The brilliance behind Madonna’s performances is that you cannot take your eyes off of her. It doesn’t matter what else is going on stage, she commands your attention at all times. The costumes for these Madonnas didn’t stand out enough and the fact that they lacked in stage presence made them pretty forgettable, almost undistinguishable. There were two Madonnas that did get a lot of our attention: One of them was a little sluttier than the rest performing Vogue and the other, unfortunately, was carrying a little extra weight and wore an unflattering white body suit while dancing not very well to la Isla Bonita. That was the closing number.

What I found most strange about the whole thing is that when you get almost one hundred people on stage and most of them look similar – same skin color, same hair color, similar height, and uniform-like costumes – the show loses a lot in its visual appeal. In other words, the troupe was not diverse enough but that’s not the fault of the performers. The stage director should’ve paid more attention to that particular detail. It definitely would’ve helped the show to have the Madonnas wear some blond wigs or to be more inventive with the costuming; in the end, from a certain distance, everyone looked the same. That was a shame because obviously a lot of work went into making this.

I’m not sure what the objective of the school was in doing this as I would wager that they didn’t collect enough revenue from ticket sales to cover the production expenses. The tickets were about USD $15.00. If the goal was to showcase their modern dance program, then this was a brilliant way to present it.

As it’s the norm here in GDL, the audience didn’t feel like dancing, cheering, or screaming and, as expected, I was the loudest person in the whole concert. It was surreal to see such an elaborate upbeat spectacle take place while the audience stay put in their seats only clapping on cue. Will I ever get used to that?

Yoga en Español

I am finally working as a yoga teacher here at the local Pilates studio. I don't know if I can call it work since I don't actually get paid. I'm not authorized to work in Mexico teaching yoga so, how did I fanagle this? Hmm, I proposed them a barter deal. En Español, it's called a "trueque." It took a few tries, but basically they agreed to hire me in exchange for free pilates classes.

It's a pretty good deal since they use the high-end pilates reformer machines and the instructors are well trained. In the end, clients pay around USD $150 per month, which is a fortune here. I teach two classes per week on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8:15AM.

I love the experience since I get to practice my Spanish with Yoga, which is something that I've been wanting to do for a long time. My students are very eager and disciplined, and because they have a good pilates foundation, I can do all sorts of fun stuff with them. I am actually surprised at the good turnout and the perseverance everyone is showing. This is a blessing as I started to worry about the Yoga scene here. Part of the reason why I got hired is because there's a severe lack of teachers in the area. Someone should start a teacher training program here!

Other than the clientele being all nice and shi-shi, I'm surprised at the diversity...there as many foreigners as Mexicans. I have Brazilian, Italian, and American students. It's awesome plus when I make mistakes in Spanish, no one hardly notices. Hehehehehe.

Another good thing about this is that I can see me expanding and doing some private lessons in the area. Some clients have suggested it already but I haven't had a chance to formalize it as I'm trying to get my English teaching business off the ground. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

As for my personal Yoga practice, I do it mostly at home with free video that I downloaded from http://www.yogatoday.com/. They have excellent, 1-hour lessons in there. I also do some Yoga on my own at the gym at the risk of looking like a fool to the natives. I don't care! 8-)

That's all for now.

Cirque du Soleil - Quidam

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of seeing a live performance of Cirque du Soleil's Quidam. That is their current show now touring Mexico. They stayed in Guadalajara for about a month.

While the "circus village" set-up seemed identical to other shows I've been to, inside the big tent it definitely felt more intimate than I remember.

Quidam's tagline is "Lose Yourself." The story revolves around a young girl, Zoe, who seems disconnected from this world and is forced to dream up a new world around her. I didn't feel that the theme was terribly coherent but that could be because my seat was to the side of the stage and my view was obstructed at times. That's not to say that it wasn't an excellent show.

I love Cirque du Soleil's performances because you can really lose yourself in the mesmerizing effects of whatever is on stage. The creativity and attention to detail that go into the shows makes the expense worth every penny.

The most recent performance I saw live was "Corteo" in New York, which was, in my opinion, more ambitious in its performances and in its well-balanced use of costumes, props, music, and humor. Quidam felt less ambitious in comparison and the case may be that the show was probably trimmed down here in Mexico. I felt that they didn't have as many "overhead and hanging from the ceiling" types of acts.

In terms of the numbers featured, I tend to favor the ones where great physical strength and flexibility are primarily showcased. We had a few of those and it left me hungry for more. I particularly enjoyed "Statue - Vis Versa", featuring a couple who seemed to defy every law of physics with their act. I was really taken by the hypnotic power of the visuals. Another favorite, called "Contortion", featured a young woman contorting around and traveling up and down a long red swath of fabric hanging from the ceiling. Lastly, in "Handbalancing", a woman performed a set balancing acts around the stage using some interesting sticks.




Part of the reason I enjoy acts of great physical feat is because I can often see, step by step, how you can put together some basic Yoga poses to get your body to do amazing things. In the case of Cirque du Soleil, the simplicity and beauty of these numbers speak highly to both the discipline and sense of play that is necessary to make their act fresh and appealing to audiences worldwide.

On the funny side of performances, I enjoyed a couple of numbers in which one of the clowns pulls in audience members and have them participate on some hilarious games, all done with silent directions. This stuff was hysterical. Also, another sort of light and happy number involved a large number of performers jumping rope and trying all sorts of configurations, many of them perfectly synchronized.

I spotted several mistakes, most notably in "Diabolos" when a set of 4 adorable Chinese girls balanced and juggled their prop on a string. Nevertheless, you can see how hard these girls seem to work to make it look easy. I was also disappointed in the music. It wasn't up-tempo enough for my taste.

Despite its minor flaws, I've yet to see any other performance-based show that comes close to Cirque du Soleil's. I will gladly go back for more!

The show lasted about 3 hours including a 30 minute intermission.

Car Racing in Toluca

It was a perfect Saturday morning in Toluca. It started really early for me, around 5AM. To get to Toluca, we hopped on a chartered jet from GDL for the 50-minute flight.

Toluca, the capital of the state of Mexico, is an up-and-coming city about 1 hour’s drive from Mexico City. The area is surrounded by beautiful green mountains, and more famously, Toluca is home to the Nevado volcano, aptly named after the snow covering it. From the feel of it, Toluca has the perfect weather conditions. There was no time to explore though. The trip was a one day jaunt with fun things to do.

The occasion?

The SAAB dealership in GDL, where I usually take Sam, was part of an event hosted by General Motors to showcase the 2008 models of their line of sporty cars. This event took place at a car racetrack and they promised a day of fun.

I, however, felt slightly skeptical imagining that we’d be cornered on the plane by eager salespeople and that during the event they would try to get to yes before the end of the day. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. It truly was a fun day with no arm-twisting pitches to get you to buy a new car.

From the airport, the Pegaso racetrack was a 15-minute bus drive away. Upon arrival, we registered and went in a big tent where we had to listen to the only sales pitch of the day. It was actually interesting and quite exciting to hear the head of the GM luxury line in Mexico talk about all that is in store for the future. The speech was short and sweet and we were introduced to the SAAB Performance Team – three pilots flown in from Sweden who would be performing some cool stunts for us in what they swore were “normal” SAAB 9-3’s. Imagine that being your job…bring it on, I say!

The show was spectacular! I have no desire to pull any of those stunts in my car but I guess my testosterone kicked into high gear. I might’ve also been the loudest person in the entire racetrack as Mexicans are so, so reserved. Imagine me. Loud. Hooting and hollering at some Swedish pilots. Sigh.

One of the most impressive stunts was when they set up a short metal ramp in the middle of the track. The pilot drove up the ramp so that one set of wheels (on the side) was on the ground and the other set up the ramp. From there the car stayed on its side wheels for what seemed to me like *forever*. Yup, he went 300 meters like that and on his way back, his co-pilot crawled out the window (on the up side) to stand up holding a Mexican flag. By now, I wasn’t the only one cheering. It was really very cool.

After the show, we were treated to a free, fast-food style lunch of burgers and fries. After lunch, we stood in line for like 30 minutes to get to drive one of the cars around the track. This was also a lot of fun since people drove in packs of five cars, lead by a professional pilot in the front car who gave us instructions via a radio system wired into the car. The most exciting part was keeping up with the rest of the pack as not to fall behind. There were some tricky curves, by the way.

As many of my friends know, it doesn’t take much for me to have a good time. So what else was in store? Well, they also had demos of Segway Personal Transporters. That was also so much fun! They gave us a quick tutorial and off we went! I actually found the ride on the Segway quite relaxing, probably because the perfect weather and beautiful sorroundings. To kill time until the flight back home, I went for several rides on the Segway getting to test drive the different models they had…one of them seemed perfect for rough terrains. I later found out that GM and Segway have some sort of future joint development deal.

The return home was uneventful and they treated us to unlimited drinks on the flight. Everyone seemed charged up from the excitement of the day and all shyness went away as the flight attendants rolled by their fully stocked carts. I settled on vodka and grapefruit soda. It was lovely!

Apart from all the fun, the best part of the trip not being hassled to buy a USD $40K car just like that! They haven’t called to follow up either. OK, I’m happy about that BUT, how are they going to recoup the expense of this event? Maybe a little prodding would be OK, after all. I almost feel guilty for having gotten something as cool as this for FREE????