Doña Estela makes the best quesadillas and pambazos. She closed her stall on March 19th, now she is open again. Yesterday we had dinner with her and she asked me to take her picture working, right next to the comal. This is a hard working woman who loves her job, every time I visit her she takes time to show me her mushrooms, -look how beautiful they are - she says while she hands me a spoonful of perfect mushrooms, she talks about her veggies as if they were her grandkids. Doña Estela took some time to sit with us, when I asked for the bill she was like... -Are you not having your usual flan Roci?- And of course I had the flan, how can you say no to Doña Estela? She then proceed to tell us some childhood stories. - I don’t like sweets, when I was little all the kids used to have those big 5cents coins, I wanted one to buy my favorite lemon cookies, the big ones, those were the best. But we didn’t have any money so my mom gave me fruit, some apples or Limas. I love fruit but never got hooked with sweets like the other kids, it was not by choice but it is what it is. - Doña Estela is from Pinotepa Nacional a town in Oaxaca. She spent the pandemic there, visiting her family and remembering her childhood. She has money now after 26 years working hard making quesadillas, but life is tricky and the lemon cookies that were so desirable before now doesn’t appeal to her, she prefers savory dishes like rice with fried eggs and of course tortillas. - I can live without bread, but never without tortillas, tortillas are the best- she says while she fixes her apron. And we left happy and with a full belly, I told my boyfriend that Doña Estela wants us to have children. She wants to be their nanny while I work on the tours. We don’t want kids and I never have the heart to tell her this, but I appreciate that she is willing to take care of my imaginary children so I can continue working with Eat Like a Local’s guests. At the end, this is what life is about, having a community that takes care of you, feeding you amazing mushrooms, taking care of your future children or making sure you don’t forget to eat your flan. #doñaestela #flan #mexicanwoman #mexico #womenpower
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