Swedish Pancakes : Who Knew they'd be Such a hit in Mexico?

I get a kick out of it when Mexicans ask me, "What foods do you eat in the U.S.?" and then answer the question themselves, only half jokingly: "Hot dogs, hamburguesas, pizzas, y Puro Pan! (Pure White Bread!)..." Well, yes, you can find those foods, I reply, but there's lots more to it than that.  I try to explain how foods people eat in the U.S.  depend a lot on the particular family's lifestyle, economic class, and heritage and less on the location in the U.S. where they live.  As I explain, I realize the multicultural identity of the U.S. is reflected in the foods we eat.  In major cities and small towns alike, restaurants often reflect a variety of cultures: Chinese, Italian, and Mexican restaurants are easy to find in many places, for example.  While in many of these restaurants, these cultures' foods are americanized, they still reflect some base connection to another culture.  I also explain how there is growing interest in locally grown and organic foods, in my hometown and beyond, and that many people are seeking ways to eat healthier for themselves and the environment, lower on the food chain.  Here in Mexico, each state is known for particular types of foods, and then this gets even more specific with foods common to regions, towns, and then families.  Many Mexicans here ask frequently, "And what do you think of the food here in Mexico?" And I reply that I like just about all of it. "And do you like spicy food?" they want to know.  For reasons unknown to me, since arriving in Mexico, I've happily spinkled spicy salsa onto almost everything (my Scandinavian, Scottish, Dutch, English ancestry certainly does not explain it.) I am already thinking about carrying around limes and chilis in my purse when I get back to the U.S. because I've gotten used to putting lime juice and chili on just about everything!  In spite of common foods across much of Mexico, like limes, chilis, and what often comes to mind in the U.S.: tacos, there are diverse, rich and rooted culinary traditions here, and food is an important part of sharing among Mexicans and foreigners.  "Para que lo pruebes," "So that you can try it," Mexicans and market vendors will often say as they offer to share something with me that I've never tried. Many Mexicans love to share their eating traditions, and are delighted when foreigners share the food they eat with them in the way they eat it.  When I first walked thru markets, I was super surprised to see things like pigs' heads, pigs's feet, whole unskinned fish, whole chickens with vendors pulling off feathers, and intestines hanging from the market booths.  Just yesterday, I ate a handful of grasshoppers (smothered in lime juice---which makes everything go down easier) for the first time.  Now in some strange way, I appreciate this whole hearted approach to meat - it gives me a more of a sense of connection to the animal I eat.  In the U.S., sometimes the meat we buy in the store has been so processed that it loses its raw animal-ness.  A piece of chicken that has no bones, no feathers, no blood, makes it easier to forget that this meat used to be a living breathing creature.

Many Mexicans also have asked me, "so what did you eat in the U.S.?"  and before they can answer for me, with their assumptions of white bread and pizza, I explain some of my family's favorites: goulash, chili, soups, salads, stir fry chicken, homemade bread, and, in attempt to show how the U.S.'s multicultural heritage is reflected in foods, I tell them about Swedish pancakes, a family favorite on my mom's side.  I've made Swedish pancakes in Mexico for my coworkers, host family, and many other family friends, on several occasions.  Esther, my host mom, shares the name of my Swedish great grandmother on my mom's side, and so I think its a funny coincidence that she happens to be the biggest fan.  
Its a simple recipe.  I've realized Swedish pancakes end up kind of like tortillas, but I have yet to try putting lime and chili on them!
Here's the recipe (this makes enough for 6 hungry people or so):
4 dry ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cups of flour
a pinch of salt
a few shakes of ground cinnamon (optional)
Mix these three dry ingredients together.
3 wet ingredients:
6 eggs, beaten
3 cups milk (any kind will do)
a little bit of vanilla
Mix these wet ingredients together.
Then, mix the wet and dry ingredients together gradually.  The batter should be runny and bubbly.
Then, pour oil into a pan, let the oil and pan heat up.  Then, pour a little bit of the batter into the pan, and pick up the pan and move it around in a circle so the batter spreads evenly.  Put it back over the heat, and wait till you see bubbles on the top, then flip the pancake! Walla! Swedish pancakes.  You can eat plain or top with yogurt, fruit, jam, sweetened condensed milk, butter, syrup, limes and chili, peanut butter, or whatever else you want to try!

Inspiration from the Borderlands: Learning from a Border Patrol Agent, and a Former Coyote...

We heard from border patrol agent, Jared Allred, who patiently answered our many questions while taking us on an informative tour of the Border Patrol Headquarters in Douglass, Arizona, where the BP employs hundreds of agents. He explained how principles of honor and integrity guide his work, and how his job is to enforce and uphold the law, whether he agrees with it or not. We later learned from John Fife, one of the founders of the Sanctuary Movement, that police and soldiers have a legal obligation (through international laws in place since WWII) to disobey authority or the law if it interferes with basic human rights.  However, if I imagine myself in the border patrol's shoes, resisting authority and a border policy that is supported by many U.S. officials would not be an easy task.  Agent Allred said several times he knows that a lot of immigrants migrate out of economic necessity. He explained that migrants who cross are in huge danger and risk, because coyotes who guide them through the desert are often also smuggling drugs, and many care more about money than the people they are guiding. By enforcing border patrol he said he is helping deter migrants from taking that potentially deadly journey. When asked what message he wants to share, he said, "A lot of people think that border patrol agents are against immigration, but that is not true. We are only against illegal immigration." While many (including myself) may want to pit the border patrol agents as the "bad guys" in this situation, it is just not that simple. Border Patrol agents also can be credited with saving lives of some who may have died in the desert. However, there have also been many human rights abuses commited by the border patrol.  Learning from a human being puts a different perspective on the issues and has made me reflect on the importance of creating humane systems.  Learn more about this complex, growing organization on their website:
http://www.cbp.gov/
We also listened to Pastor Mark Addams, who is one of the leaders of Fronteras de Cristo, or Frontiers of Christ, who you can also look up online http://www.fronteradecristo.org/. He explained the link between the border patrol and coyotes (people who lead and organize groups of migrants through the desert). During the 150 years before the border patrol, seasonal migrants would simply cross, and there was an unspoken recognition that migrant labor was part of U.S. economy. As border patrol and border security has gotten more complex, so have the coyote's human smuggling techniques. Coyotes now take more and more extreme measures to keep their human smuggling business going, and migrants pay coyotes thousands of dollars each to guide them across the most dangerous parts of the desert.
Again, it would be easier if we could say that the coyotes are the bad guys in this whole situation. Yet, on our trip, our group met a former coyote, who was an animated storyteller, a friendly man who shared his experiences openly with us. We spent an afternoon with 3 guys (whose names I'll leave anonymous) who are part of CRREDA, an organization of recovering alcoholics and drug addicts in Agua Prieta, Mexico. These men do a variety of community service projects as they recover from addiction with the support of the CRREDA community. We participated in one of these projects with them: filling water tanks on the Mexican side of the border, very near to the border fence. We walked over sandy and rocky paths, winding through all types of thorny shrubs, and arrived at the high wall, where we peered through rusty metal poles to see desert stretching out in an unknown hilly expanse. We watched as border patrol trucks rumbled by and then camped out on the hill, waiting out in the open to deter or detain immigrants.  While there, I wondered about dear immigrant friends I had met in the U.S. and gave thanks they had survived. Had any of them crossed here?

Inspiration from the Sierra Club Borderlands Campaign

Walking through the desert, I was amazed by the striking sharp beauty of the unfamiliar landscapes, filled with spirit-like cactuses, strong, spiny plants, and bright yellow and blue skies becoming brighter in contrast to earth tones. We realized the beauty and fragility of the desert landscapes even more as we heard from Dan Millis of the Sierra Club, the largest and oldest environmental organization in the U.S. Dan gave us a presentation about the Sierra Borderlands Campaign.
This campaign was started by a group of volunteers in Tucson, Arizona who were disturbed by wall construction in protected national wildlife refuges. The Borderlands cross mountain ranges, 2 of North America's 4 deserts, and host many threatened & endangered species. The Borderlands include rare coastal habitat and one of the last big saltwater marshes in California. The Sky Islands form a unique desert border landscape marked by mountains rising out of big, open plains. Desert dunes hold centuries of alluvial deposits. The Lower Rio Grande River Valley is a vital ecological link. Horned lizards, diamondback rattlesnakes, mountain lions, roadrunners, sonoran desert tortoises, jacarundi, extremely rare jaguars & ocelots, quails, javelinas, desert deer, and many more species live in these lands.
We learned how in the mid 1990s, walls began being built in San Diego and urban areas. The walls shifted where migrants cross, but didn't stop them from crossing. The Border Patrol themselves have said that the wall is not made to stop immigrants from crossing, but to slow them down so they can be detained. The Border Patrol estimates that the wall slows a migrant down by 5 minutes. Yet, billions of dollars have been poured into wall construction and maintenance. In addition, roads, towers, and high voltage lighting all take a toll on the environment, especially noctural animals, and migrating species. The wall itself is approximately 650 miles long with 350 miles of 15 foot walls and 300 miles of 6 foot high vehicle barriers. The wall costs taxpayers an average of 4 million dollars per mile. The cheapest sections of the border fence cost about $700,000 per mile. The most expensive at $16,000,000 per mile can be found in the Otay Mountain Wilderness, California, an area which many say forms a natural barrier due to steep, dangerous terrain.
The Sierra Club is against the environmental degradation that has occurred because of Border policy and wall construction. The wall is an impenetrable barrier to many species of wildlife. The presentor we heard, Dan Millis, explained that for many creatures, large areas of desert are like their house. They roam to one large area to eat, another to mate, another to sleep. What if someone built a wall in your house and suddenly you were stuck in the kitchen? Where would you sleep, go to the bathroom, mate? The Border wall not only affects animals, it has also changed land contours and caused sediment and water drainage problems.
The Sierra Club is for following the laws, with special attention to environmental laws. Yet, in 2005, Michael Chertoff, the former secretary of Homeland Security, signed the Real ID Act, in which Section 102 gave those constructing and maintaining the border permission to waive all local, state, and federal laws. Waiving 40 years of environmental law is an abuse of power and a danger to the environment, according to the Sierra Club. This disregard for these law has taken away border communities voices, many of whom are impacted most by these policies. Another issue is that sometimes border patrol have intended to resolve problems caused by lack of ecological understanding, and caused more harm and wasted more money. Many are concerned that very little has been invested in monitoring the effects of wall construction on the environment. The Sierra Club advocates a border policy that works for the environment, tribal nations, and local and global communities, with attention to the laws meant to protect, preserve, and build sustainably in harmony with the environment.
The Sierra Club Borderlands Campaign grew out of pure environmental concern, but as the issues have evolved, Dan explained that the campaign needed to take a political stand. This is an example of how human rights and environmental justice are inextricably linked and highlighted through human migration. The Sierra Club's position is that we need to address the root causes of migration and see migration as part of a larger web of interconnected issues, as an ecologist looks at the interconnectedness in the environment.
To learn more, visit www.arizona.sierraclub.org/border. You can also watch a 5 minute short version of a longer video on youtube called, "Wild Vs. Wall," http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vIx0h8njok which highlights some of the environmental issues with current border practices/policy. You can also look up www.sierraclub.org/borderlands/googleearth in order to get a better sense of the geography in the borderlands. Write to U.S. senators and representatives, and hold them accountable to follow environmental and civic laws especially in relation to border policy. Urge them to repeal section 102 of the Real ID act. Its important to follow through on doing studies of the environment impacts of border policy.