I was going to write on my one-month anniversary, but alas, I am five days late (and now, even later in posting this). But here I am, addressing you from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, where I am living, working, exploring, making friends, experiencing funny things, getting sick, etc.
I read through some of my previous blog entries recently and decided that I might need to explain myself a bit, because although I ended up in another country, I am not exactly dedicated to art travel, at least full-time. Currently I am a Human Resources Analyst in a Tequila company, which entails working on whatever comes up or gets directed toward me. For the first week my objective was teaching people to pronounce my name (let’s be honest, that is still a constant task) and making it clear that I will be living and working here for a while (but I don’t know how long). The next weeks were devoted first to perusing all classified ads for departments for rent and calling each and every one that was within my budget, and then visiting all the ones that passed initial muster. I saw one with a “fully-equipped kitchen” and “new” furniture that had a two-burner stove, a mini fridge, and a well-worn bed frame and mismatched kitchen chairs. There were others that were certainly not as “precious” as they were purported to be, and one that was a three-story funhouse that should be a hip café or nightclub, but most likely won’t ever be anything as long as they refuse to clean the dog poop and dead insects from the rooms.
After all that adventure, I had to decide between two winners in the area of town that I had liked most, and I settled on the apartment that you see in the pictures. Even nearly three weeks after renting it, the apartment still offers quite a bit of free space. The bulky looking blue thing is a strange desk that was left by the previous occupants, which serves to put things on. The first piece of furniture that I purchased was a bed, for most obvious reasons, and it happens to be one of the nicer beds I have ever owned. I found a chair in the upstairs patio/service area, and then my boss lent me a very large decorative table and an even larger refrigerator, which is located in the living room because it does not fit in the kitchen due to a protruding portion of the counter. I went to Tonalá, a crafty area to the southeast of the city to buy furniture, and I finally decided on a fairly two-tone living room set (three couches) which finally arrived after having to harass the salespeople almost daily for two weeks and taking my second choice color combination. Related to that and leading up to my first actual piece of furniture is the inspiration for the desired color scheme, a square seat. I was really hoping to go all modern and minimalist, but I really like sitting and lying down on couches, so I will have big couches and a couple of square imitation leather seats and eventually some other furniture like a bar and stools. The guest bedroom is empty and hasn’t been much of a priority since I have not had any guests (hint, hint), but that eventually will be equipped as well. I have no real further purchasing priorities, as I use my laptop from work as a DVD player (thanks to my Blockbuster membership) and therefore have no real need for (or, honestly, any interest in buying) a TV, and I hope to paint some pictures and design some huge pieces of glass, wire and bead jewelry to hang on the walls. I have bought and acquired some plants: one that looks like the leaves are covered in yellow confetti, one that hangs, and one that is just a nice leafy plant. And also, I have an agave plant that the Field Supervisors cut out of the ground for me last Friday, called a “hijuelo” because it is one of the baby plants that grows up beneath the big mother plant.
Speaking of agave, that’s the reason I came, or at least on account of the product that comes out of the distillation process. But I have to say, agave country is beautiful. The only type of agave that can be used to make tequila is the blue agave, and like bluegrass, it has a nice smoky blue tint when you see it from afar. The plants take 6-8 years or more to reach maturity for harvesting, but the land doesn’t need to rest between plantings so there are always nice landscapes. The Plant for our company is in Amatitán, which is about an hour outside of Guadalajara and a short jaunt in car from Tequila, Jalisco where other renowned tequila producers are.
Our Plant is on the property of a large, well-cared for hacienda, sort of like a southern plantation, complete with stone entryways, a stable, a private chapel, horse stables, a large house and, of course, the production facilities. I am going to take you step-by-step through the process of turning agave into tequila.
1. Plant the hijuelos, or baby plants, about 1 meter apart in fields that have always been used for agave, but only in the states of Jalisco (all areas), Nayarit, Guanajuato, Michoacán and Tamaulipas (those four, only in areas designated by the Mexican government, since the conditions aren’t right for good cultivation in other areas).
2. Wait a couple years and spray them below the leaves with non-toxic products to keep things from attacking the roots. Continue to keep the fields clear of other invasive species. If it is a big tree-like thing is growing out of the middle, cut that because it would eventually be necessary in sexual reproduction, but it makes all the sugars leave the middle of the plant and go to that part instead, which is not good for making tequila. Anyway, the asexual reproduction produces the hijuelos, which is more efficient.
3. After about 6-8 years, take your team of Jimadors out to harvest. The Jimadors use a flat, round metal tool on a large wooden pole called a coa to shave off all of the big aloe-like leaves and to shape-up the piña (pineapple, cause that’s what it looks like) that is left. That is the heart of the agave and what contains all the good stuff. Cut the piñas in half and help carry and load them into the back of a big truck (or, if you planted on the side of a big hill, toss them into baskets on the backs of donkeys and send them down the hill to the truck) which will transport them to the ovens. Keep in mind that each piña can weigh between 80 to 120 pounds or more.
4. Get a team to help load the several tons of cut piñas into the ovens, which are huge rooms made from clay from the side of another nearby hill. When you finish loading, seal the oven door with the straw-like fiber that is left-over from other cooked piñas, and seal it with a wooden door. Pump in heat and cook the piñas for 24 hours, then leave them to cool for another 24 hours before unloading the leftovers.
5. The aguamiel, or honey water, goes to the fermentation process, where it sits in large vats and naturally ferments. When you look in from the top it all moves around as if it were being churned by something, but it is just the movement of the liquids interacting with oxygen and yeast.
6. After that the mosto, what we bourbon people call mash, goes on to distillation, where it is processed two times to become clear and more like something you would want to drink. The white tequila is normally finished there process there, and is sent on to bottling. Tequila reposado (rested) goes into barrels for a couple of months depending on the brand. Tequila añejo (aged) sits in barrels for a couple of years. The color changes come from sitting in the barrels, which are once-used charred white oak bourbon and whiskey barrels exported from the US. The longer the aging, the smoother the tequila.
7. Then comes the bottling, the marketing, the distribution, the sales, etc., which of course are jobs done by people, which gives me a chance to work in Human Resources. And also to enjoy tequila.
So that’s my day job. It actually feels longer than a day, since here they like to work 9 hours a day. So that means that I work 45 hours a week. I am not too keen on the fact that I work more to earn less, so one of my major objectives is convincing the company to adopt a 7.5 hour work day, like the parent company observes. My other major projects right now are planning a series of Corporate Communications and Product Tasting events, featuring tequila and products from Brown-Forman, like Jack Daniel’s, Early Times, Finlandia Vodka, etc.
Related to those drinks, this weekend I am hosting my first house party and will be featuring those items, and then I will be writing weekly entries. Feel free to ask questions to spice things up.
Check in the link section to see photos of all this excitement!
