Writing with Writer's Block – There's No Time to Waste
The Couple at the Gordito Stand
Shall we say they’re from Sweden? Denmark? Finland! I’m reading The Witch Hunter by Max Seeck (creeeeepy—police procedural, not horror—at least not the supernatural type), which takes place in Finland, so let’s say Finland. Both tall, thin and blond with pristine skin. Their language sounded Scandinavian to me—I teach English as a Foreign Language—and their Spanish was better than mine. I wish I had spoken to them.
I saw them a year ago January when I came here to Guayabitos, Narayit, Mexico. It’s on the Pacific coast near—a bunch of other small towns such as La Peñita and Lo de Marcos.
Most days the couple and I bought breakfast at the Gordito food cart. They brought their own clean reusable glass plates with them every day, while I accepted the foam ones and requested a “tapa” as well, so when I tripped on my one block walk to the hotel, my gordito wouldn’t become pigeon food.
A gordito, by the way, is a sandwich-like dish made with thick tortilla-like outsides, and the choice of a bazillion different fillings: various meats cooked in yummy sauces (I’m assuming—I don’t eat meat), cheese, beans, chilis, potatoes, maybe seven or eight choices. You chose two or three and you were handed this food mountain which you had to try to eat by hand. You could have coffee with it, or get some juice from a different nearby vendor–a variety of fresh juices, squeezed and blended in front of you. The cost–around $1.00 US for the gordito, and a little more for the juice.
I was reminded of this couple when I saw plates like the ones they had used in the “Super-Mini Aborates” nearby—perhaps in combination with the novel I’m reading. This, though, is not a travel-food story. Rather, it’s about regret.
A gordito, by the way, is a sandwich-like dish made with thick tortilla-like outsides, and the choice of a bazillion different fillings: various meats cooked in yummy sauces (I’m assuming—I don’t eat meat), cheese, beans, chilis, potatoes, maybe seven or eight choices. You chose two or three and you were handed this food mountain which you had to try to eat by hand. You could have coffee with it, or get some juice from a different nearby vendor–a variety of fresh juices, squeezed and blended in front of you. The cost–around $1.00 US for the gordito, and a little more for the juice.