In a scene that would have given Donald Trump heart palpitations, 200 flag-waving Mexican troops breached the U.S. border outside Laredo, Texas, 10 years ago and advanced unopposed up Interstate 35 to San Antonio.

It was the first time a Mexican army had marched on San Antonio since 1836 when Gen. Santa Ana massacred besieged Texas independence fighters at the Alamo.

This time, however, the Mexican soldiers were on a relief mission to feed tens of thousands of homeless and hungry Americans displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

Setting up camp at a former Air Force base outside San Antonio, they distributed potable water, medical supplies and 7,000 hot meals a day for the next three weeks.

If this doesn't sound like the Mexico you've been hearing about lately - the one that has been ripping America off, the one that sends rapists and criminals across the border - you might want to consider this little-known gesture of humanity from our abused southern neighbor as you think about Katrina 10 years later.

I was serving as the No. 2 at the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City in August 2005 when Katrina made landfall on the Gulf Coast. The storm's track posed no danger to Mexico, and we followed events like most expatriate Americans - aghast, but at a distance.

But not Mexicans. They were watching the same scenes of floating corpses and botched relief efforts in New Orleans. My chief contact at Mexico's Foreign Ministry called to say the Mexican army had two field kitchens that could feed storm victims who had made their way to Texas, and the navy had two ships that could help with cleanup efforts in New Orleans.

I told my contact the offer was very generous, noted that many countries had offered assistance, and added that the State Department and the Federal Emergency Management Agency would decide which offers to accept. He said it was too late for that. The convoy had already left Mexico City on its way to the border, and the ships were ready to steam from Veracruz.

To put this in context, the United States likes to think of itself as the country that does the helping, as we had done when Mexico City was struck by a devastating earthquake in 1985. But few had contemplated the possibility that Mexico would be coming to help us.

The next 48 hours were a mad scramble to get Washington to say yes, to figure out how to admit more than 200 military personal without passports or visas, and to recognize that the Mexican army, traditionally one of the most nationalistic and anti-American elements in the Mexican government, was making an extraordinary gesture.

It worked. The 45-vehicle convoy crossed the border at Laredo at dawn on Sept. 8 and arrived in San Antonio later that day. The only glitch was that the U.S. Department of Agriculture would not allow the Mexicans to serve the beef they had brought because they couldn't prove it had been produced in a mad-cow-free facility. Undeterred - and un-insulted - the Mexicans bought their beef locally.

By the time their mission in San Antonio ended Sept. 25, the Mexicans had served 170,000 meals, helped distribute more than 184,000 tons of supplies and conducted more than 500 medical consultations.

Mexican sailors also assisted with clearing downed branches and other storm debris in Biloxi, Miss., where they posed for photos with President George W. Bush, who thanked them for their help.

Nobody was more surprised by this humanitarian mission than the Mexican military itself. Perhaps pumped up by its unexpected display of competence and compassion, even for a normally haughty northern neighbor, the Mexican army became far less defensive, and more willing to cooperate with its U.S. counterpart.

Stephen R. Kelly, a former U.S. diplomat who served in Mexico from 2004 to 2006, teaches at the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke University.

Then the cuisine morphed: "During the 1960s, the Mexican-born children of these Lebanese migrants ... start opening up their own restaurants, and they start to create a kind of a hybrid cuisine," Pilcher says.

"They take the technology that they grew up with in these Lebanese restaurants, the vertical rotisserie - but instead of using lamb, they use pork," Pilcher says. "They marinate it in a red chili sauce, which gives it that distinctive color, and they cook these up and serve them and call them tacos al pastor."   

Even the term "al pastor," which means "in the style of the shepherd," is a nod to the original Middle Eastern lamb version of the dish.

When Mexico's economy boomed after World War II, tacos al pastor moved from small towns to bigger cities and eventually into the US.

The fact that this classic dish was a relatively recent import from the Middle East doesn't necessarily make it any less Mexican, adds Pilcher, the taco historian. "Authenticity isn't always something that dates back to the ancient Aztecs and Mayas," he says. "That meaning of Mexico is continually being recreated in every generation."

But whether it's lamb or pork, tortilla or pita, Jerusalem or Rocky Point, the essentials have remained the same: Fat and fire, a handful of spices, a quick meal - and a taste of tradition.

Recipe:   

Directions:

Peel the onion, cut it into quarters. Cut the bottom and top off of the pineapple and cut the skin off. Slice long pieces of pineapple off until on the core is left and discard the core.Place half of the pineapple in a food processor along with two quarters of the onion, and squeeze the two oranges into it until you get all the juice out. Peel the garlic cloves and discard the papery skins. Process the garlic, fruit and onions for a couple of seconds, then add in the vinegar, chile powder, salt, oregano and cumin.

Process the mixture for about 10 seconds or until smooth. Place the remaining pineapple and onion in separate, air-tight containers and refrigerate.

Cut up the pork into thick slices. (Tip: This is easier to do when the meat is partially frozen.) Place the cut up pork into a large glass bowl with a lid.  Pour the mixture over it and toss the meat to coat it.  Add the lid and refrigerate overnight for best flavor, or at least 6 hours at minimum. Toss the meat a couple of times during marination time to enhance the flavors.

Prepare your grill and get it warmed up over medium-high heat. Place pork slices onto grill and turn them often, brushing additional marinade on the outside once or twice during the first few minutes of cooking.  Discard remaining marinade. Place remaining pineapple and onion on the outer portion of the grill and cook until softened and it begins to brown. Cook the pork slices until they begin to brown and blacken a bit and the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees.

Remove pork from the grill and let it rest for about 5 minutes. Place the pork, onions and pineapple on a chopping block or cutting board and use a heavy cleaver to chop it all up into small bite-size pieces. Toss to make sure pineapple and onions are evenly combined with the pork.

Serve immediately with a stack of steaming hot corn or flour tortillas. Also have the usual Mexican garnishes available, chopped onion, chopped cilantro, fresh salsa and lime wedges.

                                                   Enjoy!  

In Spanish, the Tiny Word "Vez" Packs a Punch with Multiple Uses

 

• Mil veces te quiero, Maria. I love you a thousand times, Maria.
• Llegamos cuatro veces a la final. We made it four times to the final.
• Ser� la �ltima vez que me veas. It will be the last time you see me.

• Se toma una vez por d�a en un nivel de dosis decidido por el m�dico. It is taken once per day at a dosage level decided by the doctor.
• �Te has enamorado dos veces de la misma persona? Have you fallen in love with the same person twice?
• "S�lo se vive dos veces" es la quinta entrega de la saga James Bond. "You Only Live Twice" is the fifth installment in the James Bond series.

Veces can be used in making comparisons such as the following:

• Es una pila que dura hasta cuatro veces m�s. It's a battery that lasts up to four times longer.
• La envidia es mil veces m�s terrible que el hambre. Jealousy is a thousand times worse than hunger.

• Alguna vez voy a ser libre. Sometime I am going to be free.
• El gato de Schr�dinger sigue estando vivo y muerto a la vez pero en ramas diferentes del universo. Schr�dinger's cat was alive and dead at the same time but in different sections of the universe.
• A mi vez, no puedo comprender el tipo que dice que la casa es tarea de la mujer. For my part, I can't understand the type who says housework is a woman's job. (Also used are phrases such as a tu vez, "for your part," and a su vez, "for his/her part.")
• Cada vez que te veo me gustas m�s. Every time I see you I like you more.
• La actriz tolera cada vez menos la intrusi�n en su vida. The actress is tolerating the intrusion in her life less and less.
• De vez en cuando es necesario perder la raz�n. Once in a while it is necessary to be wrong.
• Estoy fantaseando en vez de estudiar. I am daydreaming instead of studying.
• A veces sue�o que est�s conmigo. Sometimes I dream that you are with me.
• Los baratos muchas veces salen caros. Cheap things often sell for a high price.
• �Por qu� el mar algunas veces se ve verde y otras veces azul? Why does the sea sometimes look green and other times blue?
• Hab�a una vez una gata viv�a en una casita blanca. Once upon a time a cat lived in a little white house.
• Una vez m�s Einstein tiene raz�n. Once again, Einstein is right.
• La red otra vez fuera de l�nea. The network went offline again.
• La felicidad se encuentra rara vez donde se busca. Happiness is rarely found where it is looked for.

Enjoy your month. See you on November 1st!