All Aboard the Tequila Train!

The long-awaited trip to Guadalajara was this weekend! Jess and I hopped on a bus Friday morning and made the 6-hour trek to Guadalajara, Jalisco to do the tequila train and to have a Friendsgiving dinner. When we arrived on Friday, we got a tour of Kendra’s pad, where we stayed, and we walked around downtown Guadalajara a little bit but not before eating at La Chata. It’s one of the most famous restaurants in Guadalajara. The line was about 30 people long and it was a sit-down restaurant! Thankfully, the wait wasn’t too long. The food was delicious. I had the best horchata I’ve tried here in Mexico! When we got back to Kendra’s we met up with more people and headed to a bar for a little bit. It was nice to be reunited with fellow Fulbrighters! Needless the say, the night ended in street tacos.

Saturday was tequila train day! When we got to the station, they had complimentary pan dulce, juice, and hotchata and mariachi music while we waited to board the train. The train left at 11AM and got back around 8PM. When we boarded the Jose Cuervo Express, we were offered complimentary drinks the whole ride to Tequila, Jalisco. They served bottomless caballitos (tequila shots), palomas (tequila with Squirt), vampiros (tequila, Squirt, and sangrita), and frozen margaritas. We were on the train for about two hours to get to Tequila, admiring all the agave plants we passed on the way (what tequila is made from).

We were greeted in Tequila by a mariachi band! We went to a band shell where there were two small glasses of tequila, coffee beans, and the fibers of the tequila plant waiting for us at each seat. We learned how to drink tequila in a way that it doesn’t burn your throat as much. Then we toured the tequila distillery to see the process of making tequila, while rocking hairnets. Once the leaves are off the plants, they burn the root, take the liquid from burning it, and ferment it. Depending on how long the liquid is in the container for, that’s how the different kinds of tequila are made. There’s 5 different kinds and the longer it’s preserved for the darker the color and richer the taste. We were able to have samples along the way.

After the tour, we were given about an hour of free time to eat and walk around Tequila, which is a pueblo magico. There were street vendors selling jewelry, shirts, jams, everything. We found a seafood restaurant and I tried birria for the first time, which was recommended to me by my landlady. It’s beef in a thin sauce. It was good! When we returned to the distillery, we watched a man show us how they cut the leaves of the agave plant, listened to mariachi, and watched a folkloric dance. Then we boarded the train and headed back to Guadalajara (again, with unlimited tequila drinks). We even played bingo on the way back!

At night, we went to a salsa club called Gran Salon Corona! It’s like Mambo Café in Toluca expect better. The entrance fee was less, the music was better, there were dance performances throughout the night, and there were guys with shirts that said “dance with me” in Spanish! We stole some of their moves. There was even a raffle and we won!

Sunday was Friendsgiving! Once we started our day, we found a church in downtown Guadalajara to go to mass then we hunted for postcards for a good 30 minutes. Then we headed to Charllotte’s house for Friendsgiving! There were about 25 people in total from Fulbrighters and their Mexican friends to tutors and their families. We started the meal by going around the table saying was we are grateful for. It was great to be able to share our tradition with people who have never heard of or celebrated Thanksgiving before. They were very thankful for the invitation. It was potluck style so we had tons of delicious food. I made candied yams (for the first time) and they turned out pretty well taste-wise. I might have completely melted the marshmallows on top. Oops. We ate turkey, gravy, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, yams, salad, mini sandwiches, rolls, Oreo balls, pumpkin pie, apple crisp, Oreo pie, and more! It was nice to be able to celebrate with our American and Mexican family and friends.