In January Omar and I shot an episode about molcajetes
with the History Channel in San Lucas Evangelista. We're famous! The exact airdate hasn't been set yet,
but we will appear on the "Mexican Food" episode of the new series "Food Tech." See the
post below and stay tuned for updates!
Our faithful readers
know we love Mexican Spanish—so expressive, so colorful, so down and dirty! We’ve collected in these posts several
words and sayings that are indigenous only to Mexico, and everybody loves them.
Well, we just learned of a website that concentrates on Mexican
Spanish, and it is really neat. MexSpan has grammar, phrases—everything you need to understand and speak Mexican Spanish in everyday
situations. There are even recorded real-life conversations and newscast videos to let you test your understanding of spoken
Spanish. A translation widget further helps with your studies.
All in all, www.mexspan.com is a fun and useful site. It receives the Dan and Omar seal of approval.
Check it out!
Devils and Virgins, Katrinas and Mariachis:A Visit to
Mis Amores
April 6, 2009
You’d think
you were in “The Nightmare Before Christmas.”Scarlet devils and smoking skeletons come at
you from all sides.Lovely ladies turned to bones primp and model for dead mariachis, as a befigged Adam
and Eve look on.It could only be one place—Mis Amores.
I don’t know how we missed it.Omar went to
grade school a block or two away.We are looking at hotels and bed and breakfasts all the time for 365.But until Stan wrote us a while back, we had never heard of Casa de las Flores.
Man, what we were missing.
I was just about
to fly to New York when we got an email.“We were looking for the cactus garden in Chapala, and found
365Mexico.We have a bed and breakfast in Tlaquepaque.Would you like to come for dessert
and visit?”
Omar and I will appear on the History Channel’s new series, “Food Tech,”
in an episode about Mexican food! We make our debut sometime in May--stay tuned for the exact airdate.
Make sure you see all photos of the shoot in our exciting post!
We’re
On the History Channel!
March 15, 2009
We’ve always been fabulous here at 365Mexico, but now we’re famous as well.
A while back, the people who
make Modern Marvels for the History Channel decided to do a new series on food—people love food programs, after all,
and everybody eats.It will be called Food Tech and debuts in April of 2009.
Want to know if you would be a good traveler in Mexico? Maybe
thinking of moving here? Take our personality quiz to see if Mexico is for you! It's brutal. It pulls
no punches. But it is honest and will give you an idea if you will be comfortable in Mexico.
Batman, the Joker, and Journey to the Center of the Earth
August 10, 2008
I know everybody is saying it, but boy is Heath Ledger good
in the new Batman movie.
Omar and I went a couple of weeks ago, and both agree that Heath as the Joker gives an amazing
performance.He is at once repulsive and beguiling, creepy beyond words and funny as all get-out.The scene where he is dressed in nurse drag, mumbling and lip-smacking and fiddling with a malfunctioning control to
blow up a hospital is both nightmarish and hilarious.Rarely has surrealism worked so well for a character.
A black and white bolt of lightning streaks through the house, knocks the speaker off the wall,
unplugging computer cables as it goes.
Bruno is better.
Thank
goodness.Bruno is a great kitten.Cuddly and loving and a lot of fun.I
think she used up at least five of her lives with her tummy tumor and the incision that wouldn’t close, but she sure
is full of energy now.
As you read in our last post, Bruno had a large tumor pop out of her tummy.The
patch of dead skin was so large it was hard to sew her back up, and the stitches kept popping open.Bruno
says she had nothing to do with it, but we saw her tugging on them a few times.
The last we left off, Bruno’s
belly was open from her sternum almost to her knees.Of course it was Sunday and the vet’s was closed.She slept wide open on my pillow, looking like a rabbit ready for the pot.I didn’t move all
night, afraid to disturb her.And she would look into my concerned eyes and say “What?”She never once complained.She didn’t even bleed.
The hardest
part for Bruno is that she had to stay at the vet’s for two weeks.They put a diaper on her so she
couldn’t pull out the stitches, and any that popped where quickly resewn.With all the stitching
and antibiotics and two weeks of care, the bill came to $35.
We visited Bruno frequently, and she
always told us long stories about how she wanted to come home.
Finally the day
came.She still has an open area about ¾ inch long in her groin, but we put on an antiseptic spray
that looks like yellow blown-in insulation and she is thriving.She eats like a horse, and plays endlessly
with Coco.Coco drags her around by her tail, and then they charge each other on their hind legs like sumo
wrestlers, wrap their paws around each other, and try to bite an ear.
We should
charge admission.
Just wanted to let you know the good news.Bruno thanks everyone for the
kind thoughts and get well cards, and says to send sardines.
Dan and Omar
The Crisis in Mexico II
August 11, 2008
With the rise in food prices and the dollar slump, we are spending about 25% more than
we were a year ago.
What effects the United States, effects us here in Mexico.
So of course
we are in an economic crisis.
Not with gas.The government is subsidizing gas prices, which are around $2.50
a gallon.The cost has gone up a little recently, but only by a couple of pennies.Gringos
are still crossing the border to fill up.Lots of good that does my folks, who live a couple of hours from
the border—with Canada.
The real problem is with food.Corn is a staple here.We eat
tortillas like we ate potatoes in my New York childhood—they appear on the menu almost every day.Tortillas
provide nutrition, round out the menu, and fill you up.Combined with beans, they provide all the amino
acids we require—a complete protein for a population that eats little meat.Tortillas have always
been the food to fall back on when the money runs out in the middle of the week.Tortillas and beans.And when things are really tight, folks eat tortillas and hot chile peppers.And then just tortillas.
Bruno the Kitten has needed the visit the
vet's several times recently, and we wanted to take this opportunity to talk about veternarians and animal care here in
Mexico.
Read Bruno's story and please send us kind thoughts for her speedy recovery--she's a very brave
little girl.
It isn't
particularly hard to travel by air with a small pet. We've found the airlines to be very helpful and considerate
of our pet's needs. You will have to find the rules and regulations for your country and the airline you are flying,
but with a little planning and a little more money, little Tulip can fly with you. Here are our experiences.
365Mexico readers know that food is pretty much central to
our lives, and that Mexican food is at the top of our list.We often post on restaurants we like and dishes
we recommend.
A while back we got a note from Cristina at Mexico Cooks!, inviting us to take a gander
at her website, which she describes as “Mexico: A Culinary Travelogue, An Adventure for the Palate, Mind and Spirit.”
Well.We would be green with envy if Cristina wasn’t so friendly and knowledgeable.Mexico Cooks!
has fast become one of our favorite sites.If you are deeply interested in Mexican food and travel, it
is a wonderful resource.
Cristina has lived in Mexico for going on 30 years, so she knows her way around.Along with cooking she is interested in Mexican history and folklore and festivals, and she gives private tours that
go far off the tourist route.
Her stories are interesting and her photos are really wonderful.
We think
Mexico Cooks! is a great companion site to 365Mexico—check it out, and tell them Dan and Omar sent you!
Hairpieces
in Mexico
July 9, 2008
Everybody in my family is bald.Dad was bald, Ma has thin hair, all
the grandparents and aunts and uncles, all bald.Talk about dominant genes--we have bald dogs and cats.You should see our family portraits.
Nowadays being hairless as a Chihuahua is in.Cool guys like Becks shave their
heads, and as long as you embrace your baldness and don’t do the comb over or the Bozo look, being without hair isn’t
really a liability.
But we are talking me in the 80’s, when everyone walked around under hair bigger than
Dolly Parton’s.Bald was definitely out.
We are in rainy season,
and loving it.After last year’s measly attempt at rain, this year we are really getting our share.Chapala is full, for the first time in ages.There are floods, of course, but they put in new drainage
along our long road to civilization, and now rarely is it below water, and then only for short stretches.
But there’s
always something, isn’t there.
Omar mentioned a while back that he had seen what looked
to be a tornado forming in the clouds. He was driving.It was far away.I was, well—skeptical.
We don’t have tornados in Mexico.This
isn’t Kansas.We don’t have the right conditions, they say.
Well,
evidently we do, since global warming kicked in.About an hour ago Omar said “There’s another
one.”And sure enough, in the valley below our house was a small funnel sticking down from the clouds.It came and went for a half hour and was gone.It didn’t touch ground.
I’ve
mentioned our dust devils, which were particularly strong this year.They appear in clear weather on hot
days.This was not a dust devil.
So tell
us, experts out there—is this what a really small tornado looks like?
Dan and Omar
We’re
On-Line Again
July 7, 2008
Ah, life in Mexico.
As you know, we had a storm.It was nothing
unusual for this time of year.And we had a blackout for half a day—no big deal.
But the
storm or the blackout did something to our cable service, and that was earth-shattering.
Two weeks with no phone,
and no Internet.
We called, we cajoled, we complained.At the end of two weeks we were ready
to threaten.Not only did I have to travel outside the effected area to post to 365—I also was unable
to do the Internet auctions which help keep us afloat, and I couldn’t keep in touch with Ma in New York.
What
was the problem?A genera failure, they told me—until I found out that Ceci and Pablo had service
in their house 50 feet away.They are recabling Tlajomulco, they told me—although the “old”
cables have only been in place a year.Our connection at the road was bad, the repairman told me—but
the system still didn’t work long after he “fixed” it and left.
I would have been more satisfied
with a shrug of the shoulders and a frank “It’s going to take a while to find the problem.”The frustrating part is not knowing if they are really working on something, or just hoping you will go away.
Friday
evening, almost two weeks after the blackout, the phone rang, and we’ve been connected ever since.I’m
catching up on mail, and will start movie magazine auctions on eBay today (search seller mexicanmemorabilia@yahoo.com).
The cable company gave us a voucher for a partial refund
for the weeks we didn’t have service.That’s nice.But they never once said
“We’re sorry you had this problem.Thank you for staying with us, we appreciate it.”And we do stay, because when the service works, it’s the best around.
Being connected is an important
part of living here.I am in the Mexican countryside, but can still read the New York Times and news
magazines and blogs and stay in touch with family and friends.Otherwise I don’t think I would have
stayed in Mexico, wonderful as it is.It is important to maintain your roots.
Dan and Omar
Can
You Be Vegetarian in Mexico?
July 3, 2008
Can you be vegetarian in Mexico?
The answer is a resounding “YES!”—if
you cook for yourself.
If you are traveling and eating in restaurants, the answer is a resounding “SORT OF.”
We recently
had a wonderful family come to visit us.Educated, interested, with two bright boys ready to experience
Mexico.The only thing is, they are rather strict vegetarians.
Now,
our faithful readers know that our world revolves around breakfast, lunch, dinner, and drinks, and that we eat a varied diet—a
little of everything.We have certainly eaten vegetarian in Guadalajara, and enjoyed it, but this is the
first time we were required to search out a true, 24 hour a day Vegetarian Diet—and it’s hard.
Puerto
Vallarta is probably the most popular tourist destination in our part of Mexico, and with good reason.There
are tons of things to do, great food and hotels, an extensive night life, and lots of day tours you can take to make your
visit memorable.
When we go to the beach we generally head a little north of Vallarta, where things are sleepier.While we can give general advice on the town, we’ve been looking for Puerto Vallarta experts who are knowledgeable
and eco-friendly, so when you leave us in Guadalajara and head for the coast you are in good hands.
We found them.
Puerto Vallarta Tours atwww.vallartadiscovery.com offers jungle walks, dolphin and whale watching, birding
expeditions, tree canopy zip line tours—and even air trips to places like Talpa and to Guadalajara (come visit us!).There are so many exciting offerings on this site, the trouble is to fit them into the time you have.
We are
very happy to be working in cooperation with VallartaDiscovery.com to make your visit here the time of your life—tell
them Dan and Omar sent you!
The Guadalajara Boys
How to Learn Spanish
June 30, 2008
So many people write.They know that their trip to Latin America will be richer and more meaningful if they can speak Spanish with their
hosts, but they are finding the learning an uphill battle.
Or they are moving to Mexico,
and even though they might be living in Ajijic or San Miguel Allende where most people speak English, they realize they are
missing a big part of the experience if you can only talk to other ex-pats and fluent Mexicans.
What do you
do?What is the best (which usually means “easiest”) way to learn Spanish if you’re not
a native?
Here it is.
Start early, preferably at two years old, before the language-learning center of your brain has fossilized,
and practice, practice, practice.
Already petrified?Join the club.It’s going to take work.
One more item
you need to know about swearing in Mexico.It isn’t swearing, exactly, it’s more a tune or
a ditty.
When you knock on your neighbor’s door, do you tap out the old, familiar “Shave and a
haircut, two bits?”
Don’t try it here.
Now, this is a family site so I’m not going to reveal what
the words to the tune are in Spanish.Just let me tell you that it suggests what you might do one day with,
say, your mother.
Better not go there.
You know, we need a video camera.Then Omar
and I could do a course in Mexican gestures.It is a rich vocabulary, and some of them can even be used
in polite company.
Dan and Omar
Blackout!
June 28, 2008
I am writing
from the murky world of pre-Internet.
Sunday night we had a blackout.We lit candles and talked, and finally blew them
out and went to bed.The ‘fridge started back up sometime in the early morning, and I rolled over
and went back to sleep.All’s well.
By daylight Monday the lights
were out again—and the water.It hardly seems fair to be denied two services at once, but there you
are.
I spent the day doing quaint non-electricity things, like cleaning house.It was
educational and primitive and kind of fun.By evening, both water and electric were back—but no phone
or Internet.
What’s the use of electricity if you can’t have Internet?
I waited, and
checked, and re-hooked up all the Internet wires.Maybe I loosened one of them with the broom.The last time I’ll be sweeping…
Two days later I was frantic enough to walk an hour and a half (ok, that’s round trip, but
still) to the Megacable office, where they told me my phone and Internet are off, and what I can do about it is keep checking
to see when they come back on.I thanked them warmly.
It is now Saturday.Houses a block away have service.I have Internet envy.We went to another Megacable
office, and they said they would report my complaint on Monday.
Ah, patience.I’ve
learned a lot of it living in Mexico.But this really hits home.I have auctions running
I can’t check, people writing I can’t answer, and the Times is getting stale.Omar can’t
call home from work, and I’m out of touch with Ma.
As a foreigner living outside
my country, I depend on the phone and Internet perhaps more than most to keep me informed and in contact with the world.
It will get
fixed.I will be connected again.I went to an Internet café and wrote 20 letters
explaining we’re down for a bit, and feel a little better now that folks know I’m not ignoring them or something,
like dead.
I’ve been trying to get Ma by cell phone the past few days, and no answer.I
know things are fine at home, but when a week goes by and no one can get in touch with me, I’m concerned.
It was Ma’s
note I read first at the Cyber—“All’s fine.Kyle has a hockey game in Rochester.Will be back maybe Monday.”
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
How did we do it in the distant past?When I first started traveling, I
called home once a month.Sometimes.I had to go to a phone office and stand in line
to give a woman the number I wanted dialed.When Mom picked up, maybe ten minutes later, there would be
general shouting and motioning and pointing, and I would run into a numbered booth and listen to clicks and whirs until the
familiar voice came across the line—“Alright, where are you?Just the continent is fine…”
And
the prices.For a while we were paying $4 a minute.That’s $40 for ten minutes,
which passes in like 40 seconds.I could fly round trip for the price of a 90 minute phone call.We were reduced to talking in telegramese—“Is everyone ok?I’m ok.San Jose.No not California—Costa Rica.Mail?Not important.Not important.Pay it, please.It’s hot.Still snowing?Love you bye.
$40.
So today I’m disconnected and frustrated.Re frustrated (re is the cool
way to say ‘very’—pronounced ‘ray’).But you know what?In a few days I will have phone and 3 mega Internet again, and can call the states for 20 cents a minute (!).
And I’ll
be able to post to 365 again.
Note:It is now Monday and I am posting from Ceci and Pablo’s.Megacable promises they will come to the house sometime between Monday and Wednesday and I have to wait at home.
I'm practicing swearing in Spanish...
Dan and Omar
Swearing in Spanish
June 24, 2008
We’re
teaching how to swear in Spanish?This is a family-oriented site, isn’t it?
Of course it
is—but there are many different types of families!
Why is it that the first words
many people want to learn are the colorful ones?I did a fun stint this past winter subbing a High School
Spanish class in New York.Some of the kids couldn’t even say “My name is…”, but
they all wanted to know what “Cab..put..dejo” means.Perfect pronunciation, too.
Swearing
in Mexico is more fun than in the states—it’s much more common, and (almost) everybody does it.It
is often used more in a joking sense, and it doesn’t seem to make you sound quite as illiterate as swearing in English
does.
It’s hard to believe anything with a goat in it can be glorious, but that’s the only word
for birria.If you haven’t eaten our bearded barnyard buddy, you haven’t lived.
It’s
not too surprising that in some parts we don’t eat goat.When I lived in Upstate New York all I knew
was that they like to head butt, they have funny looking pupils, and—if the cartoons are to be believed—they like
to dine on clothes lines and tin cans.Oh—and they live on the sides of cliffs.
My Dad grew up
in rural Ohio before electricity and indoor toilets came through, and if he ever went too long without a shower he would make
a face and say “I smell like an old goat.”
No wonder I wanted nothing to do with the animal, much
less eat it.
Well, times change.
In northern Mexico they make chivo tatemado.The entire, cleaned goat
is splayed on a board and leaned over a bonfire until it is golden brown.The resulting meat is crusty
on the outside and juicy on the inside.There are no big cuts on an animal the size of a goat, so your
order will either feature shredded meat picked from the nooks and crannies of the skeleton, or will be still attached to rib
bones and joints.It is good, greasy, finger-licking food for the adventuresome carnivore.
When you visit us in Guadalajara or Mexico City
or the coast, we can often recommend a hotel you’ll enjoy.This is our stomping ground, after all.But it’s tough to keep as current as we’d like with the hostelry all around Mexico—in Oaxaca, say,
or Chihuahua, two places you shouldn’t miss.
It
would take all our time to do hotel reviews, and that’s not the goal of 365Mexico.Our goal is to
eat and have adventures and meet interesting people in Mexilicious places and then make you jealous with photos and fine literature
describing our fun.
We still feel bad, though, if someone writes and asks where to stay in Tlalnepantla or
Parangaricutiramicuaroand we can only give general advice.
Enter Different
World .The friendly folks there run a gorgeous website (www.differentworld.com) that not only describes hotels all around Mexico, but takes
you right into the rooms and restaurants, lobbies and pool areas, so you can get a good idea if the place is for you.They quote prices, try out the food, and let you know which hotels are the best deals for the money.
Actually, Different World contacted us first—they are fans of 365Mexico!—and proposed
that we would be a good match to work together to make your Mexican experience more complete and enjoyable.We
are exchanging links (they said wonderful things about us at http://www.differentworld.com/mexico/useful-links.htm) and are going to give us a mention in their
newsletter at the end of the month.So you better go to their site right now and sign up for the newsletter,
so you don’t miss anything good.
We
can’t wait to see what they say about us.They haven’t asked for our photos yet, but of course
they will….
They even have a toll-free number.Your can reach them at 888-582-9848.
One thing to keep in mind is that many of the hotels reviewed in Different World are
at the high end of the luxury spectrum, and are priced accordingly.If you are on a splurge, you’ll
find some great places.And even if you are traveling more economically, sometimes it is nice to arrive
in a strange town with a reservation in hand and a shuttle bus to pick you up at the airport.Once you
get your bearings you can always look for other digs if you want.
So if the boss hasn’t caught you looking at 365
yet (we hear from lots of clandestine cubicle readers!), why not head over to www.differentworld.com and check them out?They have a lot of
good information to offer.
Tell them Dan and Omar sent you!
The 365 Guys
Storms in Guadalajara
June 18, 2008
As you know, we love the rainy
season—but boy are we getting some storms!It seems like every day on the news there are reports
of houses under water and washed away roads.The storms are often very local.We may
get a drizzle here, while they are inundated a few miles away.
That’s what happened night before last, when a real
lollapalooza hit parts of Guadalajara, including the Periferico, the beltway around our city.On that highway
just to the north of us they had mudslides that mired cars up to the floorboards, along with 40 centimeters of hail.That’s 16 inches of ice.In the tropics.
The news showed the Periferico littered with blocks of ice over a foot high.
Now we
get hail, as you’ve seen in previous posts, but we’ve never seen anything like this.
Should you cancel your
trip?Heck no!Like I say, storm events tend to be very localized.Ten
miles away from all the hail and mud, we only got light rains.But we like to keep you up to date with
odd climatic events.The weather seems to be changing everywhere!
Dan and Omar
Thanks 365Mexico Readers!
June 12, 2008
Big hugs to everybody for making our site so popular. We are now getting over 6000
clicks a day, and are really excited with all the kind comments and questions you send.
We have lots more interesting
and fun posts planned for the future, so stay tuned--and tell all your friends!
Okay.Everyone on earth is writing about their Sex and the City experience.How could we resist?Plus we share everything, right?
The movie opened here in Mexico
on June 6, last Friday.Omar had an exam to study for over the weekend, so we decided to wait until Wednesday—it
being two-for-one day having NOTHING to do with it.Yarightwhatever.
Tochimani
was unfaithful and went without us on Saturday, but she repented and repeated with us yesterday and she described all the
good parts to us ahead of time so we forgive her, this time.
We also went with Nena and Reina,
the gals who went with us to Mexico City.If anyone knows shoes, it’s Nena.
So the movie.Bottom line—I’m glad it exists, and you have to see it to catch up with
the girls.It’s plenty good, but is it as good as the series?
In the cycle of the seasons, April and May are often frustrating months where I grew up, in
Central New York.You have six months of winter weather behind you, and just ache for warmth and blue skies
and flowers and green.In these days of global warming, we’ve recently had Spring in April.But when I was growing up, we had the last snows in May and it wasn’t warm until June.The
wait seemed interminable.
We dreamt about the Tropics.
Now we live in the Tropics, and we ache for the rains.
April and May
are the hot months in Guadalajara.We are a mile up, so we don’t get the triple digit temperatures,
but most days have a high of between 90 and 95 degrees (up to 34 degrees C).And yes, it is “dry
heat.”But there are no clouds, and no rain, and everything is dusty and brown and sere.
In the
middle of May there are usually a few tantalizing sprinkles.Count 22 days from the first sprinkles, and
that’s when rainy season starts.It is as scientific as measuring caterpillar bands, but it keeps
us occupied.
What an incredible photo of stingrays, migrating off Key West,
Florida. Not credited, but thanks for the heads up at wwww.towleroad.com, who says these may be "cow-nose rays,
which swim in large groups close to the surface." Not Mexico, but Gulf of Mexico is close enough for us, and we
like to share... Would love to swim with these guys!
Locos for Locavores—Eating Local in Mexico
June
3, 2008
It’s finally Springtime in Upstate New York, and, for the 49th consecutive
year, Mom is putting in her vegetable garden.For an area with a short growing season—we’ve
had tomatoes and peppers frozen out in early June--an amazing tonnage of food has come from that 20 x 20 foot plot over the
years.
When we were kids we didn’t know that we were locavores.Maybe
everyone ate more locally produced food in the 1960’s.But we were epicures, all right.We didn’t need to be told the difference between the hard, pink tomatoes in the grocery store and the incredibly
juicy and fragrant fruits fresh from the vine.Whenever we got hungry we would stop playing with our plastic
dinosaurs to wade like T-Rex into the tomato patch.Tomato plants glisten golden in the sun with thousands
of tiny hairs, and the smell as you brush by tickles your nose and makes you almost sneeze.
And
as you bite into that sun-hot tomato, it is impossible to escape the juice as it spurts over your chin and runs onto your
tee-shirt.
Fresh Mexican Shrimp Cocktails in Guayabitos and Sayulita
May 26, 2008
Omar and I just got back from a few glorious days down at the beach.
Every
trip is different, even if you go to the same place with the same people (Ceci and Pablo came too, and their new daughter
Tere.And of course Coco).This time we just wanted to kick back and relax.
We
started out after breakfast on Sunday morning.It is the hot season here, and after a month of temperatures
in the 90s we were all ready to do some serious splashing in the Pacific.We passed through Guayabitos
on our way to Los Ayala and the Villas Minerva, where they gave us a third floor ‘bungalo’ facing directly to
Japan.They even gave us a discount, probably because I’m cute..
Ah, the beach!At low season we had the place to ourselves.The water was placid and warm, and we swam and floated
and dove.
But we didn’t snorkel.One of our very favorite activities was kyboshed
by an algal tide.In water usually crystal clear, you could barely see your feet.
In which
we climb high above Mexico City at the Villa, visit Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera in beautiful Coyoacan, eat (all we do is
eat!) at an incredible and classy buffet, and explore the Zona Rosa at the Angel de la Independencia and get lost in a shop
of miniatures!
In which we go to the market for a great breakfast (with an outstanding waiter!),
to an old-fashioned candy store, and to the Villa to the site of the Virgin of Guadalupe's visitation to San Don Juan
Diego.
Omar and I at the Angel de la Independencia, symbol of Mexico.
We look photoshoped in. Truth is, we came out too dark, but I like the picture, so I lightened us up. We are so
Jetsons at 365Mexico.
Our Huge Mexico City Adventure: Part I
April 24, 2008
We LOVE Mexico City.Adore it.It is the capitol, the
center for art and culture and history for all Mexico.Television and movies come from there.The antiquing is great.The food is amazing.There are ruins in the subway stations.Did I mention we love it?
And to think that when I first came to Mexico, I was terrified of Mexico City.I
don’t mean nervous.I don’t mean apprehensive.TERROR-FIED.
It was those
damn travel guides.Frommer’s, Fieldings, and Foddors.In those pre-Internet days—the
early 1990’s—that’s where your travel information came from.And while chapters on war-torn
El Salvador were subtitled “Land of Flowers and Smiles,” the Mexico City section was peppered with dire warnings
about robberies, kidnappings, and earthquakes.
“Ignore the people who smear mustard on your sleeve”
(I’m paraphrasing, but the stories are real).“They will then offer to help clean you up, and
will steal your wallet in the process.”“Always have your hotel phone for a cab.All too often cabs on the street assault tourists and dump them on the outskirts of town, sans baggage.”“Don’t rent a car.Driving is insane in Mexico City traffic, and when you stop at a
light men have been known to throw hungry rats into the vehicle.When they bite your legs and you boil
out of the car, the thief jumps in and takes off.”“If you do drive, wear our watch on the
right arm so it is harder to steal through the window.Still, people have been known to jab your left arm
with a pin, so when you reach over with your right arm, then they can steal your watch.”
Read on for all the really wonderful things about Mexico City!
Liza this week in
Guadalajara. She's happy to see Omar and I. Photo from El Universal.
Liza Minnelli Visits
Us in Guadalajara
April 28, 2008
We’ve mentioned
there is some great culture in Guadalajara.So much so, that we have to miss
some great concerts—Lila Downs, Enrique Iglesias, the Three Tenors—because when you are on a budget (and who isn’t?)
you can’t see them all.
So when Omar got
home last week and was practically jumping out of his skin with the latest news, I knew it was big.He’s the calm, non-excitable type.
“Guess who’s
coming to Guadalajara!”
“Don’t
tell me.Do they sing?”
“Yes!”
“Madonna.”Madonna is probably the biggest difference between Omar and I.He loves her.
“No.I wouldn’t be so excited if it was Madonna.”I gaped.This WAS big.
And you know, Liza
Minnelli crossed my mind, but I thought, “Nooooo….”
“It’s
Liza!”
Now, you can’t
imagine the magnitude of the event.Liza Minnelli, in our town in Mexico.Unthinkable.
Ceci and Pablo with Teresita and the godparents--Pablo's cousins.
Teresita—A
Mexican Baptism
April 21, 2008
I missed Tere’s birth while I was in New York—Ceci and Pablo had her in October, without
benefit of medicine or anesthesia, I might add.So I was glad to be at her baptism, the day after I got
back to Guadalajara.
Mely, Omar, and Tochi.
Lots more photos after the jump!
Chai—A Mexican
Café
April 17, 2008
There are many Mexicos.
Tijuana and Cancun
and Cozumel are geared toward tourism.Monterrey is business.Small villages snooze in the midday sun, while millions of people rush for the subway in the capital.
Mexicans laugh at
the popular image of a man in a sombrero asleep under a cactus, although they are the first to admit that in many places the
slow paced, agricultural lifestyle still persists.We have often met burros or
long-horned bulls in the middle of the road in our travels.
I think the Mexico
that most surprises our visitors is the modern, metropolitan one.Culture is
everywhere, especially in the big cities.We have high speed internet, cable
TV, and see the latest movies.Here in Guadalajara we are visited by luminaries
as diverse as Antonio Banderas, Bjork,Liza Minelli, and John Waters.
And if you want
to go out to be with friends, you’re in luck.There are plenty of nightspots
and bars and discos.
Omar and I are more
morning people, though.We love to go out for breakfast.
In a step in the
right direction, Mexico City has banned smoking in public places, effective immediately.
It won’t help
much with the city’s air pollution, which is some of the worst in the world, but it sure makes it healthier and more
pleasant in restaurants and bars and cafes.
Putting up with
cigarette smoke is something we’ve had to get used to in Mexico.Cigarettes
are cheap here, and you can buy single smokes from most magazine racks and candy stands, so lots of people smoke.Many restaurants and stores are open to the elements, so it isn’t as bad as if you are in an enclosed
room with a rabid pack of smokers, but there are times you breathe more recycled smoke than you’d like.
Not any more.Hats off to Mexico City.Now we need
smoking laws in the rest of the country.
Of course, some
people are less than pleased.A smoke and a tequila are God-given rights in these
parts.Now, we certainly are against taking away people’s rights—as
a matter of fact we have a long history of going out on a limb to gain acceptance and rights for everyone.But since second-hand smoke can kill you, smoking in public becomes less of a right and more of an inconsiderate
act—a health hazard.And in fact, now in Mexico City, it is a crime.
Speaking
of Mexico City; we just came back from several days there, and it was the cleanest we’ve ever seen it.Not only were there new and well-maintained plantings everywhere, but the air was so clear that from our
fourth floor hotel room we could see mountains to the north, south, and west.
Dan and
Omar
A Molcajete, with dinner bubbling away inside. The heated lava rock will keep the food warm throughout the meal.
Molcajetes—Mexican
Cooking and Lava Rock Pigs
February 3, 2008
One day Omar and
I set off looking for lava rock pigs.You would too, if you knew how indispensable
they are in the kitchen.
Molcajetes aren’t
always in the shape of pigs, actually.Most of them are round bowls of various
sizes, from tiny to grand buffet, raised on three legs.They are carved from
a solid block of igneous basalt, black and heavy and rough-looking.As the molcajete-to-be
rises to the surface as molten magma, gases inside the stone expand to form bubbles.The rock cools and looks like black foam, but is as tough and heavy as, well, a rock.This porous basalt outcrops in several places in Mexico, including just south of our house, in San Lucas Evangelista.That’s where we headed on a warm Sunday, looking for molcajetes in the shape
of pigs.
As folk art, molcajetes
are unusual mementoes with a rustic beauty and charm.As cooking utensils, they
are pure magic.
An exciting New York Times feature on adventure travel in
Mexico--hiking, rock climbing, kayaking. Lots of exciting ideas--and we can help you get there! Write us at mexicanmemorabilia@yahoo.com!
A great essay on seeing the world by foot. This is the
kind of traveling that really gets my blood racing. By Henry Shuckman.
Ladies of the Night
in Mexico
January 6, 2008
Well, we do share
everything, don’t we?
When I was doing
a lot of traveling around Mexico and Central America, I often ran into women working late.I’m a farm boy from Upstate New York, so even though I was in my mid-30’s, it took me a little time to
wake up and smell the cheap perfume.
I had met a friend
in Chihuahua, and we made a date to get together at some bar at 10 o’clock.Now,
I had just gotten into town and had no idea where anything was.Plus I’m
usually in bed early, so to say I was a little disoriented stumbling around Chihuahua in the dark is putting it politely.
Just when I decided
I was good and lost, a 45-ish lady standing on the street corner in a tight dress asked me where I was going.“Oh, how nice!” I thought.“She sees that
I’m lost and she wants to help.”Oh brother.
People are always
surprised to learn that not all of Mexico is year around steamy tropics.As a
matter of fact, only the coastal regions and the southern states are really tropical.Much of Central Mexico is a high plateau, and the towns there can get good and cold in winter.
Guadalajara is the
same longitude as Hawaii, and a mile up.As I’ve mentioned, National Geographic
says the best climate on earth is at Johannesburg, South Africa and Guadalajara, Mexico.We won’t argue.Even in the hottest months (April and May) it rarely
gets above 90, and then it is a dry heat, with very little humidity.Omar never
really experienced humidity until we cooked for friends one 98 degree, 100% humidity day in New York, and poured sweat into
the mole sauce.
Here we are kayaking in Guayabitos. If you look closely, you can see a red Snapper behind the kayak. I am
lying. This is a shark researcher who became the researchee off the coast of South Africa. What an amazing photo.
Personal Space in
Mexico
January 6, 2008
Do people from wide-open
spaces stand farther apart in line than folks from say, Mexico City?Or does
the comfortable distance between you and the next person depend more on the size of the family you grew up in?Can’t tell you.What I do know, though, is that personal
space—the distance you keep between you and others in line, at parties, and while talking on the street--is much smaller
in Mexico than what I grew up with.
I used to let it
upset me.I’d be in line at the bank, and somebody would squish in ahead.It isn’t poor manners. Well, yes it is if they don’t ask you if you are
in line, but let’s rule out courtesy for now.What happens is that I habitually
stand about 20 inches behind the guy or gal in front of me.I just measured.And Mexicans generally stand much closer—about half that distance.They aren’t exactly doing “spoons,” but they aren’t far from it.So when someone sees a double-size break in the line, they feel free to scoot right in.And lines are much more common in Mexico than in the States.We
often half to stand in line at the bank for a half hour, and anything involving paperwork—visas, passports, insurance—will
require a lot of shuffling along and waiting.
A while back we wrote about the artsie cows which descended
upon Guadalajara. Here is a video of many of them. They are really quite clever and humorous!
Dan and Omar
Nicknames in Mexico
December 30, 2007
One of our hobbies
is collecting interesting Mexican names.Not like Parangaricutiramicuaro, which
is a town, but people names.
My favorite is Primitivo.Somehow I find the idea of a guy named Primitive hugely appealing.
Omar’s father
is Hilario Guadalupe—two woman’s names, and he hates it.It’s
not as bad as John Wayne’s real name (Marion) but it is hardly butch.
Panfilo is cool.I sometimes introduce myself as Semaforo (which is stoplight) and Omar hits me, because
there is no such name is Spanish.I’ve always wanted to present ourselves
with pet names (“Pleased to meet you.I’m Snowball, and this here
is Ruff) but Omar won’t do it.And he’s usually so much fun…
Do we celebrate
New Year in Mexico, they ask me.We celebrate everything—there is
a National Day of the Taco—so yep, of course we celebrate the start of a New Year.
Now,
at the folk’s house in New York, everyone goes to bed at 9.On New Year’s
Eve, we make an exception and turn in at 9:30 or 10.
In Mexico everyone
stays up late anyway, so it is no novelty to be up a midnight.Family gets
together, and the tequila comes out (usually mixed with Squirt—pronounced Aye-squeert).Mexicans can’t believe Gringos are so boring that they watch a ball drop in Time’s Square.Instead, just before midnight everyone is presented a wobbly paper plate with twelve huge, seedy grapes
rolling off it.The object of the game is to eat a grape at each stroke of the
clock, which will bring prosperity or many children or acid reflux or something.It
is an ideal opportunity to bone up on the Heimlich maneuver.The joke is, it
is physically impossible to eat so many big grapes in such a short length of time, but it is fun to watch Gramma choke trying.Those Mexicans are real kidders.
We don’t see
too much Champagne in Mexico, but bubbly cider is very popular and economical in the family-size bottles.
It bears repeating
here that the Spanish ñ and the n are not interchangeable.Therefore “Feliz
año nuevo” is “Happy New Year,”and “Feliz ano nuevo”
is “Happy New Anus,” which is almost never what you really wanted to say, except for under rather specific and
unusual circumstances.
Happy 2008 to all
our 365Mexico readers!Drop us a line at mexicanmemorabilia@yahoo.com and tell us your Mexico stories or let us know what you’d
like us to post about.We love hearing from you!
Dan and
Omar
Kissing in Mexico
December 30, 2007
Now, you’ve
got to understand that I grew up in the farmlands of Upstate New York, of northern European heritage.We aren’t exactly as cold as the climate, but almost.My
family are not real big kissers.For billing and cooing it’s ok, and a
kiss on the cheek for Ma when you haven’t seen her for a while, but that’s about it.
Which makes Mexico
seem like the land of the Hoovers.Man, everyone kisses.Not French kisses now, but that cheek peck thing.Completely
different species than a lover’s kiss.It takes a guy some getting used
to.
Years ago I started
working in Mexico, and celebrated my birthday soon after.I doubted anyone at
work even knew it was my big day, which was fine by me.Until I was called into
a hall with a table and a cake.And a line.Everyone was waiting for cake, I thought.No.They were waiting to plant one on me.
I went to New York
City to see the Virgin of Guadalupe.
First off, let me
say my last report was a little off.Friend Bill had sent me an article from
a NY paper saying that the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe—the original, on Don Juan Diego’s tilma—was
going to be on view at Saint Patrick’s.Come to find out, the pilgrimage
bearing the torch from Mexico City to New York carried several images of the Virgin—but the original stayed in the Villa.
I still didn’t
know this when I arrived in NY a day early and went straight to Saint Patrick’s (well, after Macy’s and the Rock
Center tree) and asked when the Virgin was arriving.“Uh, there are masses
twice a day all this month” I was told.“That’s nice, but I
understand the Virgin of Guadalupe will be here for her feast day tomorrow…”Blank stares.“You know, the Virgin…Mexico City…”They had a distracted look on their face, keeping a watch on me while dialing 911
under the information desk.
If you’ve
read about our adventures with Australian Leanne, you know she mentioned some limes in the men’s room.It’s a good story, so I thought I’d expand on it.
After a hard day
hiking and another one shopping it off, Leanne and I went to Rojas for fish.It
is a great, airy restaurant in Tlaquepaque with wonderful seafood.
We ordered tostadas
de marlin and de ceviche, and incredible seafood cocktails with shrimp, octopus, and scallops.We washed it all down with limeades made from mineral water.
As wonderful
as the food was, Leanne was fixated on a plain little dish of sliced limes.
“Those are
limes.”Her eyes looked funny.
“Yep.We squeeze them on everything.”
“They are
$20 a pound in Australia!We can’t buy them!”
“Well, they
are 40 cents a kilo here.Would you like me to request another bowl?”
“There must
be five limes there.”
“Oh, at least.”Leanne squeezed one reverently over her tostada.
Shortly afterward
I found the need to visit the men’s room, and went back to our table with a huge grin.
“Uh, Leanne…You just HAVE to see the men’s room.”
It says a lot for
Leanne that she didn’t think I was insane.“Oh yah?Why?”
“Because they
fill the urinals with ice, and arrange sliced limes in designs on top.”
“WHY?”
“So you can
pee on the limes and it smells nice.”
“You’ve
got to be…. I’ve got to see this!”
So up she pops and
walks nonchalantly to the little boy’s room.She might have made it too
if she hadn’t looked around suspiciously in the last few feet.
“No No No
Señora!Caballeros!”The entire
wait staff stopped whatever they were doing to point to the door with a lady doing the Mexican Hat Dance on it.Leanne smiled sheepishly and disappeared into the girl’s room.When she finally came back she was a little put out—there were no limes as deodorant in the woman’s loo.
Traveling is to
have new experiences.You have to be open to them and adventurous if you are
going to learn and have good stories when you get back home!
Dan and
Omar
Hitchhiking to Hot
Rivers—Travels with Leanne
December 3, 2007
One of the best
parts about living in Mexico is that we often get to show nice people around.Leanne
from Australia wrote one day, looking for adventure.She came to the right spot.Leanne is a great traveler—adventurous, flexible, and eager for new experiences.Plus she has a wonderful sense of humor.She
wanted to go to the boiling river in the Primavera.
Omar needed the
car for the day, so Leanne and I set out by bus and foot, and even hitchhiked a ways, to get deep into the Primavera forest.I’m sure it was a bit different from Leanne’s day-to-day life in Australia,
but she never complained, even when we ended up hiking several miles and got sunburned.
We had a good laugh
because Leanne had written her husband back home that she was in Mexico going swimming in a hot river with a young man she
met on Internet.He almost came through the wire, until Leanne explained that
I’m taken and we are just friends and I’m acting as a tour guide.
If you are planning
a trip to Mexico, or thinking of moving here, or even if you are an armchair traveler, talk to us before you come!We often have good ideas of things to do or places to go that only the insiders know about.Or if you want to have an “off the beaten track” experience, we can tell you how.From visiting a Mexican school to volunteering in an orphanage or home for street kids, to photographing
orchids and birds in the wild to climbing volcanoes, we can give you ideas and tips.If you are like us, you won’t settle for a week lazing around a fancy resort!You’ll recharge better and have more fun if you do something exceptional.Mexico is an incredible country—get out and experience it!
First you have to
get over your fear of leaving the Tourist Zone.So many people tell me they went
to Acapulco or Cancun, got a little off the beaten path, and ran panicking back to the Hilton.That’s fear of the unknown, and perfectly understandable.Mexico
is different.It is exotic.There
are people who speak a foreign language and live lives far removed from yours.That’s
the wonderful part!If you want NY strip steak, a hotel bus at the airport, and
a cookie-cutter hotel room, you can save yourself a lot of travel and go to Cleveland.(Nothing against Cleveland, but there are no nice volcanoes there).The
people who best appreciate Mexico are adventurous, open minded, possibly willing to face a phobia or two, and eager to live
life!
If you are a regular
365Mexico reader (or even a rather irregular 365 reader!) you are already familiar with the real Mexico, and are ready to
fearlessly go out and explore.That is our main goal at 365Mexico—to give
you the information you need to experience Mexico with confidence and understanding.
So write us with
your questions!Tell us what topics you’d like us to cover in 365Mexico.Now that it is winter in the northern hemisphere, a warm vacation looks even more
appealing. 365Mexico is often getting 4000 hits a day, so we know you want it!
Omar and I love
to welcome visitors and new friends and show them around our country.We are
based in Guadalajara, but can often travel to meet you in Mexico City, Oaxaca, or the beach—anywhere in Mexico and Central
America.It really makes a difference to travel with someone who speaks the language
fluently, understands the culture, and knows the best spots.And if you are coming
on business, it is absolutely vital to know how work is conducted here if you want to make the right impression and close
the sale.Our rates are flexible and surprisingly reasonable—and we are
lots of fun to travel with!
So what are you
waiting for?100 million Mexicans are looking forward to your visit!(There’s one old guy in Chiapas who really doesn’t care if you come or not, but the rest of
us are excited).
Dan and
Omar
Our eBay Auctions
December 2, 2007
Did you know that
along with hosting 365Mexico we also hold auctions on eBay?We usually sell movie-related
material from Mexico, much of which can be seen at www.mexicanmemorabilia.com.But
since I’m cleaning out the attic at Mom’s, I’ve decided to offer lots of neat treasures—including
several items I picked up in Mexico and Central America while traveling in the period chronicled in our book, “Wandering
Magical Lands.”
Make sure you see
our auctions—just in time for Christmas!—especially the aljibrejes, or carved wooden animals from Oaxaca and Guatemala.They are just wonderful, and should be up in a few days!
Time lapse image of Popocatepetl--no major eruptions in this video but lots of minor activity. Popo erupted again
Friday and yesterday.
Popocatepetl Volcano
Erupting Again
December 2, 2007
For the last 13
years, since December 1994, Popocatepetl volcano has been erupting with some frequency.This Friday and Saturday it erupted six times more, spewing steam and ash more than a mile into the atmosphere.
Popo is 40 miles
southeast of Mexico City, which sounds like a long way away until you see it’s smoking summit dominate the horizon at
17,886 feet.
I was in Mexico
City one December a few years ago while “Don Goyo” (another name for Popocatepetl) was blowing its top.It was like being in a sandstorm.Ashes rained down constantly
and dusted cars, pedestrians, and dinner alike.My eyes were constantly gritty,
and my nose ran like I had a cold.
While minor volcanic
eruptions are a nuisance in Mexico City, there are several villages clinging to the very slopes of Popocatepetl, and they
frequently need to be evacuated.People are used to it.It is just like getting three feet of snow at Mom’s house in Upstate NY.No big deal—it comes with the territory.
I can’t
begin to tell you how important the Virgin of Guadalupe is to Mexico.She is
an iconic part of our national image.Carlos Fuentes said that you can leave
behind your Catholicism and no one really cares, but if you don’t love the Virgin of Guadalupe, you can’t be Mexican. He's right.
Our patron Saint’s
feast day is December 12—the Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe.Schools and
businesses close, and people make pilgrimages from all over Mexico—often on foot—to visit the Virgin in La Villa,
the Basilica built where the Virgin appeared to Don Juan Diego from December 9 through December 12, 1531, almost 500 years
ago.She left her image imprinted upon his tilma (a rough cloak), and that is
the same image that can be seen in Mexico City today.
On October 7th
the Virgin started a pilgrimage of her own, through 9 Mexican and 13 U.S. states, to be in New York City (probably in Saint
Patrick’s Cathedral) on December 12.Runners have carried a torch all the
way from Mexico City to New York City to commemorate the event.
The Virgin of Guadalupe
is a big part of our lives. Omar and I met through her intervention (I’ll tell you the story some day—its
a real miracle) and she has guided and nudged and helped us ever since.We have
visited her tens of times in Mexico City.
Omar is working
in Mexico and can’t get away, but I’m with my folks in New York and wild horses couldn’t keep me from the
city on the 12th.I want to give thanks for all the wonderful things
in our lives and to ask for new directions in these changing times.
If you are at Saint
Patrick’s and happen to see me, please stop and say hi!I’m a tropical
boy, so will be dressed up like Ralphie’s brother in “A Christmas Story.”
And if you aren’t
familiar with the Virgin of Guadalupe, read up in advance—her story is fascinating and is absolutely essential to understanding
Mexico.
Dan and
Omar
The Virgin of Guadalupe in La Villa, the Basilica at Tepeyac in Mexico City. Only 26 seconds of grainy video, but
it is neat because this is exactly how you see her on a visit--there are several "lanes" of moving walkways, like at the airport,
and you bend back to see her from below, all the while trying to maintain your balance as the floor scoots you by. Of
course you can get off at one end, change lanes, and ride the belt in the other direction, or stand back aways on solid ground
and visit from there. Even with the modern advances (and the bomb-proof plastic guarding her image), a trip to La Villa
is incredible-- a moving experience even without the magic walkways!
Elvis looks VERY happy to be in Guadalajara.
Elvis in Guadalajara
November 25, 2007
Actually this is probably Culver City, but it is fun seeing Elvis dubbed into Spanish and
singing our song. The author, Pepe Guizar, was born very near my first apartment in Guadalajara.
Guadalajara, Guadalajara. Guadalajara, Guadalajara. Tienes el alma de provinciana, hueles
a limpio, rosa temprana.
A verde jara fresca del río, son mil palomas tu caserío: Guadalajara, Guadalajara, hueles
a pura tierra mojada.
¡Ay! Colomitos lejanos, ¡Ay! ojitos de agua hermanos, ¡Ay! Colomitos inolvidables, inolvidables
como las tardes, en que la lluvia desde la loma, irnos hacia hasta a Zapopan
¡Ay! Tlaquepaque pueblito, tus olorosos jarritos hacen mas fresco el dulce tepache para la
birria, junto al mariachi, que en los parianes y alfarerías suena con tristes melancolías.
¡Ay! Laguna de Chapala, tienes de un cuento la magia, cuentos de ocasos y de alboradas, de
enamoradas noches lunadas; quieta, Chapala, es tu laguna, novia romántica como ninguna.
¡Ay! Zapopitan del alma, nunca
escuche otras campanas como las graves de tu convento, donde se alivian mis sufrimientos. Triste Zapopan, misal abierto, donde
son frailes mis pensamientos.
You'll notice the song mentions birria, goat in chile sauce. It's one of our favorites!
And tepache is a drink made from lightly fermented pineapple rinds. Very bracing!
Dan and Omar
Ricky Martin in
Guadalajara
November 22, 2007
Our wonderful friend
Mario—you can see him in the photos of my birthday party—works at the Hilton, where he was voted in the top 10
Most Valuable Employees worldwide.He’s really an incredible guy, sweet
and intelligent and funny and looks like an ad for some Italian perfume company.
One day not long
ago Ricky Martin—talk about incredible guys—passed through Guadalajara, and Mario met him.If Mario wasn’t such a good friend we would be like, mad jealous of his good luck!But we are really happy, especially since he gave us this picture of the occasion.Not often that 365Mexico gets a world-exclusive photo of Ricky Martin.You saw it first here!
Dan and Omar
Thanksgiving in
Mexico
November 22, 2007
There IS no Thanksgiving
in Mexico.At least not like folks from the United States celebrate it.That’s not to say we aren’t thankful for the many, many wonderful things
in our lives—family and friends, our health and out little house in the country, chiles en nogada and ice cold Coronas.It’s just that in Mexico we don’t have a specific Thanksgiving Day.
Omar and I have
pretty much stopped trying to celebrate Thanksgiving.Thursday is a work day,
of course, which puts the kybosh on day-long festivities.Plus it is tough to
find good turkey in Mexico.You would think that turkey would be very popular
here.After all, they are easy to raise, full of meat, and taste de-amazing-liscious.But no.We get processed turkey ham,
and smoked turkey legs that look like they are from some archeological dig, all dried out and with knotty-looking flesh.We can now find whole frozen turkeys around the holidays, but they are always way
too much for just Omar and me, even if the neighbors pop in.
For years cranberries
were never to be found in Mexico.A few years ago a few cans of cranberry sauce
appeared on the shelves, and dried cranberries show up in the markets on occasion.Last
year was the first time we ever found fresh cranberries, at $5 a pound bag.Thank
you, Wal-Mart.
But don’t
feel bad for us.Mexico doesn’t lack parties and holidays and reasons to
get together with the important people in our lives!
Dan and Omar
Omar in Guanajuato
Guanajuato:Adventures with Mummies
November 12, 2007
Some towns have no ‘there’
there.No character, no personality.Not
Guanajuato.A small colonial town smack in the highlands of central Mexico, Guanajuato
has loads of charm to spare.
Our anniversary is January
1, and one New Years Omar and I decided to take the bus to Guanajuato.As often
is the case with us, it was a last minute decision, and we didn’t get going until late afternoon.We had no schedule, no reservations, and no plans.Sometimes
that’s the best way to go, if you want to discover.What freedom!
The bus takes about three
and a half hours, passing through the industrial city of Leon, which is famous for shoes.
We finally landed in the
Guanajuato bus station about 9 o’clock at night.After a five-minute flurry
of activity during which our bus mates met families and friends and were whisked home, we were left standing in an abandoned
terminal in the middle of nowhere, in the dark.Down the street there was a family
standing on the corner, and we headed for there, hoping for a local into town.We
waited almost an hour, but finally caught a bus for the quick ride into Guanajuato.
What a ride.To our amazement, we entered a tunnel on the outskirts of town and tooled through a maze of passageways,
finally coming to an underground stop reminiscent of the sewer set from ‘Phantom.’
"TRAVELERS don't know where they're
going and TOURISTS don't know where they've been."
PAUL THEROUX
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Coco the Sea Dog
Dia de los Muertos—Day
of the Dead 2008
November 4, 2007
Omar sent a couple
of photos of an altar he made for Day of the Dead in one of his schools.This
is a very simple one—many altars soar way over your head and are very complex, with photos of the dead, their favorite
food and drinks, and lots of marigold flowers and colored sawdust and crepe paper in purple and pink.This alter is for a pre-kinder, so it is scaled down a bit.
When I was a professor
in Junior High in Guadalajara (I taught history, chemistry, and biology—but not English!) we made an altar for each
homeroom, and some were quite spectacular.All the altars feature candles, and
every year at least one would burn to the ground, without fail.
I remember one altar
to King Tut (you can dedicate an altar to passed relatives, to dead movies stars, or even to historical characters, as in
this case).We wrapped a volunteer boy in meters and meters of gauze until he
could barely wiggle, and he lay under the altar where he would bolt upright and scare visitors.
Of course it was
this altar that decided to catch fire.
“Profe Dan!Profe Dan!”I turned around to
find Egypt ablaze, with students throwing handfuls of sawdust at the fire.Under
this roaring conflagration our wrapped up mummy, little Tavo, did frantic sit-ups, his eyes wide as saucers.A bunch of students and I grabbed his feet and pulled him out of danger in a rush, while I yelled that
maybe the sawdust was feeding the flames instead of smothering them.
I’ve always
wanted to do an altar to Bela Lugosi, with lots of bats—maybe next year!
Dan and
Omar
Mexican Food:Chiles en Nogada—A Holiday Delicacy
November 3, 2007
How Omar and I love
chiles en nogada!It is an unusual and unusually attractive dish, usually prepared
around Christmastime, when the pomegranates are ripe.Some restaurants make them
all year long, but they are a special treat whenever they show up on your dinner plate.
Nogada is a nut
sauce with brandy and cream.Nogales are nut trees, hence nogada.
Medium size poblano
peppers are roasted on top the stove until their skins darken and blister.We
have a gas stove and set the peppers directly in the flame, turning them frequently.The trick is to loosen the skin and cook the flesh without losing its firmness.
Congratulations
Ceci and Pablo!They recently gave birth to baby Teresita, our beautiful little
niece.
Ceci was pregnant
when we went to Guayabitos and went kayaking—luckily she was the only one of us that didn’t get dunked.She a country girl—her dad is a sugarcane farmer—so she took her pregnancy in stride.The last week the doctor said the baby was breeched, and that Ceci might need to have
a c-section.Not for Ceci.Luckily
the baby moved into position in time (with a little coaxing) and
was born naturally.
Ceci and Pablo had
ultrasounds right from the start, and Pablo shot them on video with his cell phone.But they never wanted to know the sex of their baby.My Mom wanted to
make them a baby quilt, and ended up making two—a frilly pink one and a blue one with ducks.
The photo of the
happy family is at the corner of Chapultepec and Vallarta—you can see that the roads are closed off for the Sunday Via
Recreativa, when everyone comes into town to bike, roller skate, and stroll for miles.We like to go for Sunday breakfast, the antiques market, and a little exercise. Very civilized and nice!
Dan and Omar
“Wandering
Magical Lands” Halloween Offer!
October 28, 2007
To celebrate Halloween
(one of our favorite holidays here at 365Mexico) we have thought up a great deal!
We will send a free
copy of our ebook “Wandering Magical Lands” to the first five people who write and tell us what you like best
about 365Mexico, and what else you’d like us to talk about.
AND if you aren’t
one of the first five writers, we will offer “Wandering Magical Lands” at the discounted price of $6.99 to anyone
who emails us before midnight, October 31, 2007 and says what they like best about 365Mexico.That’s a $2 savings!
If you enjoy 365Mexico,
you’ll love “Wandering Magical Lands,” where you can experience the adventure that started it all!The ebook is in Microsoft Reader format, which is easy to download and use.You will receive your ebook as an email attachment, so there is no shipping cost.
I wanted to get into Belize City as early as possible, to avoid running through the streets clutching
my bags after nightfall.In Mexico everybody picks their noses.In Guatemala they spit.And in Belize they rob you--but with
much better manners.
I had gone to the Cancún station the previous day, and looked on the boards for the earliest morning
bus.4:30 AM.Miserably early, but
better than arriving late in Belize.
"May I have a 4:30 ticket to Chetumal, please?"
The woman at the window looked glum, and sold me the ticket without speaking.I was set.
In the morning I stumbled out of bed after three hours of sleep, packed up the rest of my things,
dragged everything downstairs and out to the street, and walked bleary-eyed through the darkness.I stepped over people sleeping on the pavement, into the yellow-lit station interior.I watched bolts of lightning streak through the fluorescent bulb above my head, and hoped it wouldn't explode
until sometime later.Again I wondered just what the hell I was doing with my
life.
Batty bus (that was the line, really) disgorged us at their rundown wooden terminal just as dusk
was settling over the land.The last rays of the sun glinted off the nearby canal
that serves as waterway, larder, washroom, and open sewer.
I had hoped we would arrive in daylight.Everyone
recommends that you do not walk the streets of Belize City after dark.It’s
just too dangerous.With luggage, in search of a hotel, you are a target even
in the daylight.But there was no choice now.
I had no idea where I was going.I was beset by self
appointed "guides" even before I stepped off the bus, some of whom looked as though they would guide me to the nearest dark
alley.I would clearly need a taxi.
It seemed I wasn't the only person at a loss.I had
avoided four French tourists on the bus—they looked like a bad lot.Now
were going to share a cab, and looked considerably better to me.I don’t
know what they told the cabbie, but the groping “guides” were getting so insistent, I just climbed wordlessly
and uninvited into the back seat of the crowded station wagon with my newfound friends.Hopefully the driver would ferry us around to a number of hotels until we found one that would be suitable.I threw $2 in the pot and said, “Let’s go!”
I got my first real glimpse of Belize City from the back seat of that station wagon.
Here is another action-packed chapter from our book, "Wandering Magical Lands." We have climbed many
volcanoes over the years, but none more dangerous or more spectacular than Guatemala's Pacaya, which was in full eruption.
Climbing Volcanoes in Guatemala
October
9, 2007
During this time I became increasingly interested in climbing the volcanos.Brooding giants cradle sleepy Antigua.To the west crouch
double-coned Acatenango and fiery Fuego, belching billows of smoke into the blue sky.Much closer, beautiful Agua rears her majestic summit 12,000 feet above town, her stone grey presence commanding every
view.Slash and burn fires rage out of control on her rugged slopes, sending
up billows of dense, black smoke.But most days, in the predictable way of tropical
weather, Agua's flanks are crystal clear every morning, clouding up in mid-afternoon.
The volcanoes
represent a potent distillation of all that is good and all that is terrible in Guatemala.They are at once distant and exotic, beautiful and dangerous, obvious and complex.In the back of my mind I knew that the only way to truly know Central America was to see her from the rim of a smouldering
caldera.
I resolved
to scale Agua at first opportunity, despite frequent reports of renewed guerrilla activity in the area.It was the nearest--and most likely the safest--volcano in the Central Highlands.A risk to climb, to be sure, but a reasonable one.
(As it turned out, I ended
up climbing an unreasonable--even crazy dangerous--one. Click to read more!)
Bela Lugosi.
They say this photo is from a late 1920's stage version of 'Dracula,' but the bat looks like the one used behind
the titles in the 1931 movie. Fans live for such details!
Bela Lugosi’s
125th Birthday
October 9, 2007
Bela Lugosi will
be 125 on Saturday, October 20.I could say “would have been” or
something like “we’re celebrating the 125th anniversary of his birth,” but we at 365Mexico like
to think Bela’s still around and just taking a well-deserved break between films.After all, a little thing like being dead never kept him down in his movies.
We love
Bela Lugosi (well, Dan does.Omar is patient and relatively understanding about
the whole thing and will even watch a Lugosi film if his insomnia is acting up again).
Why Bela?He makes all three of my hairs stand on end.
Bela trivia—in
what movie does he say “Look vut you’ve done to my STRAWberry shortcake!”?
Happy Birthday,
Bela—thanks for everything!
Dan and Omar
Traveling with Children
in Mexico
October 2, 2007
At first glance,
you might think that children and Mexico don’t mix.Ice-cold Coronas, volcano-hot
foods and romantic getaways aren’t very kid friendly, you reason.
But you’re
wrong.
Mexico is an incredible
destination for kids of all ages.There is so much to see and do that, with a
little advance planning, children will have the time of their lives.
“But isn’t
Mexico a little dangerous for kids?”
Come take a look
around at all the beautiful, happy and healthy Mexican children who live here, and that will answer your question.
Marcel
Murceau died this past week.Omar and I want to give him a huge thank you for
his wonderful art and, on a more personal level, for introducing us--in a roundabout way.If Marcel hadn’t been performing outside my kitchen window (how likely is that?!?) in Parque de los Fundadores
in downtown Guadalajara on December 30, 1999, who knows if we ever would have crossed paths.
Just a reminder
that the smallest decision—to walk on the other side of the street, to wear a blue shirt, to smile back, to watch a
mime in the park—can change your life forever. You just have to be open to it.
Mil gracias por
todo, Marcel!
Dan and
Omar
Walking to Tequila
Part III
September 23, 2007
Westward from Arenal
was the most open, beautiful country we had seen so far.The Tequila Volcano
soared in the distance, and as it grew larger all day we watched the road covered in tiny yellow butterflies and traded travel
stories.I never feel freer or more alive than when I’m walking.
We hiked 15 miles,
enjoying the spectacular scenery and the sense of adventure.Amatitán turned
out to be a gorgeous little town, tucked in at the foot of a cerro and guarded by a cross at the top of the steep hill.A trail led to the top, and it is said that an image of the Virgin Mary can be seen
there in the rocks.
I was in no shape
for mountain climbing.The Virgin would understand.My feet hurt.
We explored the
plazas and cobblestone streets of town, and ate huge platters of Chinese food at a spartan restaurant.Stomachs full and content, I wondered if there was anything I could do for my feet.
“Antonio,
how do you say ’Dr. Scholl’s’ in Spanish?”
It was on the way
to Arenal we found the boa constrictor, stretched out in the ditch.He was about
six feet long and rather dead, evidently having been run over by a car as he crossed the road.I didn’t know we had boas nearby, but I later learned they are found from the coast all the way up into the Primavera.Dead snakes smell real bad and this one was no exception, but we were sorry for the
boa’s bad luck anyway.We often kept to the ditches ourselves, to stay
out of the way of the big trucks and tourist buses barreling down to the beach towns and back up to mile-high Guadalajara.
We didn't want to end up flat as the boa.
Just
outside of Arenal we found a roadside restaurant and practically fell through the door.We had walked 30 miles, and my feet felt every one of them.We were covered
with sweat—April is a hot month in Jalisco, our state—and caked with road grime.
We were
alone in the restaurant, and the motherly owner asked us where we were heading.“But
why don’t you just take the bus to Tequila?”Exactly the same question
my Mom would ask.She shook her head, and started cooking up some heavenly
shrimp sautéed in butter and garlic.
I’ve always
been a walker.Seeing the world at 3 miles an hour is just the right speed for
me.
As a
kid I used to walk miles through the fields and forests of Upstate New York—always barefoot.There was a dirt road—the Hacadam—about 4 miles to the east, and I used to like to walk there
to wade through swamps and pick blueberries.Hot tar, stones, and thistles never
bothered me, but once I stepped on a broken bottle in the swamp and had to limp to a farmhouse with my foot sliced open and
call Ma to drive me home.In those days you didn’t have to worry about
your kids being out alone in the forest all day.
Did you know we
run other websites along with 365Mexico?
If you are interested
in movies, check out www.mexicanmemorabilia.com, where we offer all kinds of movie memorabilia from Latin America—posters,
magazines, post cards, movie-related books, and other treasures from Hollywood and Mexican cinema.Mexican Memorabilia has been up for 8 years, and we are just now doing a major overhaul—there are
about 3000 items pictured.It looks great!And being us, you just know the site has to be different somehow.All
the items are for sale, but you tell us the price.
365Mexico is one
year old this week!Omar and I want to thank all our faithful readers and everyone
who writes to us with questions and encouragement.
We are averaging
almost 2000 hits a day, with peaks of 4000 hits a day, and growing all the time.For a niche website just one year old, that’s great!
Looking at our statistics
is fun.Our readership is low in the morning, hits a high at lunchtime, and then
peaks again between 11 pm and 1 am.People are visiting us in their leisure hours,
as it should be.We are a fun site, and encourage people to dream about visiting
Mexico or living here.
There is more action
on the days I post, so I try to write at least two or three times a week.If
I ever miss posting for a few days, it’s not because I’m taking long siestas!
As everyone knows,
I’m with the folks in New York, running in ten directions at once trying to get things done here.Omar is holding down the fort in Guadalajara, working and rebuilding his parent’s kitchen from scratch
(he can do anything).He’s building the cabinets himself, from imported
maple.
Dan and Omar
Why Guadalajara,
Part II
September 15, 2007
I was several months
traveling through Central America, and then several more working as a park Ranger in Costa Rica.I would have like to travel farther south, but around Christmas, on the Panamanian border, I found myself
a little short of money.Just a little.Like, I would never make it home.
So I started the
long trek north.It was obvious by the time I hit Mexico I would need to do some
work before I could continue on.I aimed for Guadalajara.
“Hi Ma!”
“Hi Honey!It’s great to hear from you.Where
are you?”
“I’m
in Guadalajara.”
“That’s
good.Is that a country or a place or what is it?”
Guadalajara is actually
four cities rolled into one, kind of like the five boroughs of New York City.Guadalajara is in the middle, with Zapopan to the west and Tlaquepaque and Tonala to the east.We live just south of town, in the agricultural town of Tlajomulco de Zuniga.
Omar was born in
Zapopan and grew up in Tonala.
I was born in Upstate
New York, and how I settled in Guadalajara is a long story.
Although Guadalajara
is Mexico’s second largest city, and even though it is known as the most Mexican city, home of Tequila and mariachi,
I admit I had never heard of it when I started traveling.
Every once in a while you
need a silly story, and here it is.It shows how if you have a sense of humor
and are open to experiences, life can take some fun turns along the way.
Years ago while working in
video production, Chuck and I were sent down to Washington D.C. to interview Daniel Patrick Moynihan.Chuck was the cameraman/editor and I wrote the scripts and did the interviews.
On the way back up we were
in a good mood—it was sunny and warm, the job was behind us for now, and we were tooling around somewhere in Pennsylvania.We stopped at a diner in the middle of nowhere.
Now Chuck could be a jokester,
especially around attractive young ladies.He could always be counted on to get
us into an adventure.When I saw I waitress, I knew something was bound to happen.
I like to travel
alone.That’s not to say that I wouldn’t rather travel with Omar
or friends and relatives, but I still enjoy traveling by myself.It opens you
up to adventure.I am much more aware of what’s going on around me when
I’m on my own, and I see more.When I am with someone I’m usually
talking (ask Omar) and could pass under an elephant without noticing.That’s
fine—a good conversation is one of the joys of life.But I do find I’m
more part of my environment when I’m alone.
Traveling alone
isn’t for everybody.If you feel uncomfortable eating by yourself in a
restaurant or going solo to the movies, it probably isn’t for you.But
traveling alone can be a wonderful experience, exhilarating in the freedom to come and go with the wind, without a word of
explanation or hint of disagreement.It’s really very exciting and liberating.
I’m with the
folks in Upstate New York, and every day we wait for the mail.
It’s not like
we stand at the front window.But mail is an important part of the day, and we
notice if the mailperson is late.We always get at least 10 pieces of mail, and
five pounds worth is nothing out of the ordinary (the folks like catalogues).Mail
is punctual and secure in our part of the world—a good thing because our movie paper business Mexican Memorabilia depends
on it.
I once had a nervous
and grouchy boss in Mexico, who was planning an event and asked for my help.“We
will need 50 “refrigerios,” I was told, and off he stomped to do important boss things.
Now, this was in
my early days, when my Spanish left a lot to be desired.“Refrigerios”
are basically “box lunches,” which I suppose makes sense.Of course,
I thought the man wanted me to order 50 refrigerators, which I admit doesn’t make much sense at all.Nevertheless, I went about seeing how I could procure 50 fridges, until a kind soul set me straight.
And then there was
the time I went shopping for baking trays of “acero inolvidable” instead of “acero inoxidable.”Omar finally told me that instead of “stainless steel” I was asking for
“unforgettable steel.”
Adventure, Adversity and Amazing Good Fortune—The “Wandering”
Review
August 29, 2007
We will continue to post to 365Mexico while we are visiting
the folks in New York.
365Mexico readers are enjoying “Wandering Magical Lands,” our book
about Dan’s amazed and slightly dazed first months of traveling through Mexico and Central America (see our ad at the
top of the 365 homepage).
The idea for an open-ended trip started on a vacation to California.While we were there we lucked upon an inexpensive trip to Hawaii.In Honolulu there was a package to Tahiti, and I was ready to go on traveling forever—but I foolishly went back
to work.The idea of traipsing wherever the wind takes me took root, however,
and Latin America seemed like a great place to start.I traveled overland from
Upstate New York, crossed into Mexico at Nuevo Laredo, and have never been the same.
Traveling in Latin America leads to lots of adventures—some dangerous,
others touching, and many of them funny—and they are all there in “Wandering Magical Lands.”
But don’t take my word for it.We
are thrilled to announce that Melissa del Rio, who says she is one of our biggest fans, has written a review of “Wandering.”We are happy to post it below.
We often go downtown
on Sunday mornings to wander through the antiques market and stroll along the Via Recreativa.Guadalajara closes miles of streets on Sunday morning, and cyclists, skaters, and walkers take over the city, dogs
and babies in tow.It’s a wonderful event, and we are happy to see that
it has turned into an enduring tradition.
We often have the
$55 peso ($5 dollar) Sunday morning breakfast buffet at classy Chai, just off Chapultepec on Avenida Vallarta.We enjoy mole, rajas con crema, tortas ahogadas, chorizo con papas, quesadillas, fruta con yogurt, and
fresh pastries with coffee while sitting on the front patio, watching the world skate by.
Avenida Chapultepec
closes to traffic too, and art shows—especially photographs and sculptures—are an ongoing feature there.In the SpringtimeLala Dairy (we highly
recommend their milk products) sponsored the Cow Parade, in which local artists designed and constructed full-size cows in
different styles.It was an amusing exhibit, and we loved watching children get
their pictures taken in front of their favorite cow.
Omar and Tochi are laughing because they know how
much I like the Mexican custom of "Mordidas"...
Mexican Birthdays—Mine!
August 16, 2007
I
will continue to publish posts about our life in Mexico while I’m visiting family in New York.
Any excuse for a
party.We just love to get together with family and friends in Mexico, especially
on birthdays. And with a big family, you can count on a birthday practically
every week of the year.
One nice thing about
parties here is that family and friends mix effortlessly.When we invite friends
they often bring a sister or their mother or a cousin.Omar and I count as friends
the mothers and fathers of most of our buddies.Iris, especially, always arrives
with her Mom, her aunt, and a couple of cousins in tow.Tochi’s parents
are great friends.
We’ve all
been reading about the rigors of air travel this summer—long lines, delays, high prices.I’m glad to report that with patience and planning, the situation isn’t always so bad.
As I
mentioned earlier, my round trip ticket including taxes and fees cost $365, the best price ever.
On Tuesday I flew
from Guadalajara to Newark, and had a speedy and reasonably comfortable flight.
The flight from
Newark to Atlanta is always very quiet and civilized.Business people with those
space alien phones sprouting from their ears, talking into space.Older couples
visiting the grandchildren.The plane boards in an orderly fashion—“We
are now boarding rows 14 through 25…”.Everyone lines up by seat
number, greets the pilot, carefully stows their overhead luggage, and sits down with a book.
The same atmosphere
prevails in Atlanta.Lots of bustle, but with people going places in an orderly
fashion.Smooth.
I have traveled
from Upstate New York to Mexico by train (classy), bus (economical), and car (looooong).But in my 15 years of going back and forth, I’ve usually traveled by plane.
Economics is always
a factor in our travel plans.The bus and train may be a little cheaper (or not—you
have to check), but once you figure in some food and the effects of traveling overland for three and a half days non-stop,
sleeping in your seat, flying is almost always the way to go.I learned the hard
way, on a $69 Anywhere We Go Greyhound special from Utica to San Diego.Gruesome.
Mexicans probably
think Gringos are insurance crazy.We have friends here who think nothing of
driving without insurance or a license—and I’m not talking juvenile delinquent-types either.House insurance?Virtually nobody has it.Your insurance is your family.If the family is big enough,
you always have a doctor or a lawyer or a police chief to look out for you—it’s your aunt or cousin or granpa.
But one insurance
that everyone thinks is important is health.Although doctors are less expensive
here than in the states, a minor health problem can still wipe you out.
Need information on a specific topic or locale in Mexico or Central America? Want us to show you around?
Need a translation? Write us at mexicanmemorabilia@yahoo.com !
