A Poblano for Cinco de Mayo

Here's my friend, Augustin, former US illegal immigrant, in front of his shop in Puebla.


All 4 of his brothers from Puebla, and himself, illegally immigrated to Houston.
One ran the kitchen for Armando's for 2 decades.
One worked at the River Cafe on Montrose Blvd, (remember that one?) for about the same length of time.
One worked in maintenance for an apartment complex.
These 3 all gained amnesty during the Reagan administration, and went on to US Citizenship.

Somehow, Augustin didn't make the cut.
Maybe he couldn't prove his employment.
Ni modo.
As a busboy, lunch and dinner, 6 days a week,
he put his oldest daughter through
Mexican universidad,
then medical school
and she is a doctor,
practicing medicine in Chiapas, for 15 years now.


Agustin is back in Puebla, now.
His wife suffers 
from Empty Nest Syndrome.
She runs marathons, He runs the shoe repair store.
Their townhome, in colonia Amalucum, (google it!) is about 45 minutes from the grand Zocolo of colonial Puebla. 

Augustin told me a funny story about his days working in a factory in Izucar de Matamoros.  That's a town in the "hot lands", south and west of Puebla.  He worked there through the week, only coming home by bus on the weekends.  One time the bus barreled down into a steep and rocky ravine.
People died on site.  Augustin lived.
The bus company put survivors on a different bus, to take them home.  That 2nd bus had a serious traffic accident in Puebla.
Buses freak him out, now.  He prefers his bicycle.
.

He used to have a saying that I could never quite figure out.
If I asked him a question, and he wanted to say "Never" in no uncertain terms, he would respond "Nieve, Nieve de Limon, Nieve!"

"What? I don't get it"

Well, to his ear, when Americanos  say "Never", it sounds just like the raspa salesman chanting his sales pitch for the Lime flavored ice, in the streets of good ole Puebla.
Nieve de Limon, Nieve de Zapote, Nieve de Nuez.
Limon ice, made with fresh squeezed juice.

And when I strolled the Puebla Zocolo, and first heard that wail from the ice man.....ooh, shivers! and memories of conversations and stories shared with my friend, Agustin, from Puebla, Puebla.