Today I decided to throw caution to the wind and try one of the most famous Mexican customs — the siesta. Of course, not being entirely familiar with the culture, I had to try it twice. I can report stunning success. I will be bringing this back to Portland as a cultural exchange.

It was also laundry day. This house has a rooftop washer and dryer, though the dryer is entirely superfluous because hanging clothes to dry on clotheslines is infinitely more effective. The perfect storm of sun, wind and bone-dry air at 7,000 feet dried my clothes near-instantly. My jeans were dry in less than an hour. My synthetic quick-dry travel clothes were dry while they were still in the rinse cycle.

In between siestas I walked into town to go shopping, visiting the “super” to get soap, shampoo, paper towels and other sundries. All the toothpaste here comes in different flavors than the USA, including lime-flavored Colgate. I ended up getting manzanilla-flavored Crest. I have no idea what that is, but will report later.

I also bought 15 more fresh, hot tortillas, of which I have eaten, er, 13 today. I may need a 12-step program to deal with this addiction. Although it appears that the first 12 steps involve eating a tortilla.

I also bought eggs, which, charmingly, are individually stamped with the date and the eggery (I’m sure there’s a correct word for this):

One final observation about Guanajuato for today: This is an absurdly clean city. Not only are there trash cans everywhere (which people use), but there seems to be a squadron of city trash-picker-uppers who regularly roam the downtown taking care of anything on the ground. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a city (especially a downtown) that was so spotlessly trash-free. They really take civic pride to the next level.