Mexico sounds, scenes and suppositions
My survey says half the households in Mexico have a dog or cat.
Our neighbors have two small, yappy dogs and one cat the color of a pale pumpkin. Another cat, mostly white, comes and goes but is not regarded as a permanent resident with full privileges. If it arrives when the food dish is full, it eats and stays a while. If its timing is bad, it apparently moves on.
Small children sometimes throw the pets around as if they were stuffed toys. I shudder. Somehow, all survive.
read moreSneaking north: an illegal immigrant returns to Mexico with honors
Luis Alberto Martinez Gomez became an illegal four years ago. He was 16.
The family concluded Luis might be better off in the United States. There was an uncle who once made a promise to help the nephew if ever needed. He came through with cash for a border coyote.
Going north sounded so simple.
It wasn't.
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Ask an old gringo: crime, sports, Starbucks and the Mexican roof dog
Question: What is a Mexican roof dog?
Answer: Glad you asked. It is a low-budget form of homeland security, a four-legged alarm placed on flat roofs of homes and businesses to look down on and discourage intruders, door-to-door salesmen and other nuisances.
read moreMexico house guests
Shopping in Mexico: the gentle art of bargaining
I bought another watch the other day. I didn't need it, but there is great joy in negotiating with the watch salesman. A chunky, little man works the villages along the north side of Lake Chapala in the exciting state of Jalisco. His specialty is watches with fancy faces, famous names and very ordinary insides. He always has make-believe Rolexes and sometimes Cartiers and Movados.
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Seat belt, cell phone and speed limit laws are enforced in Oaxaca
Driving in Oaxaca, Mexico, became a little more difficult in September / October, 2009. That's when federal, state and municipal governments actually began enforcing the law, at least in the City of O...
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Ask an old gringo: symbolism, police, education, and the Virgin
This old gringo, from time to time, receives a flurry of comments and questions. Many are predictable. Where should I visit? How much does it cost? How's the weather in January? Is it safe to drive?
...
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Politics and women's changing role in Mexico
In Talpa de Allende, there is a neighborhood girl who calls me her quasi-godmother. We have studied English together for the past few summers, but I find her attention span jumping about like a monkey....
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Josefina: you got to know when to fold 'em
When Kenny Rogers sang, "Ya got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em … " in his hit, "The Gambler," he was singing about more than playing cards, he was singing about life with Josefina.
...
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An immigration success story
A funny thing happened the other day to one of my favorite Mexicans. He was invited to speak at a college, which, once upon a time, slammed the front door in his face.
Rodolfo Calva Marquez
© Marv...
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Ask an old gringo: economy, retirement and the drug business
Questions and answers about life in Mexico.
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Swine flu at Ground Zero (Mexico City): life in a masked city
People are still going about their business as usual, only we're all wearing surgical facemasks. I can't decide if this whole fear campaign is a massive media beat-up or if it has some credence.
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Crossing the carretera
As everyone who has been to Chapala lakeside knows, there is only one major roadway that encircles the fabulous lake. One of the small but essential journeys required of any lakeside residents on a regular basis is to go from one side of the carretera to the other as a pedestrian.
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Sacred places around us: Is Talpa a "power place"?
A wedding and christening in rural Oaxaca: The mandate of tradition
Wishes Instead of Resolutions
For a change, this year I'm not going to fool around with a list of resolutions to alter my behavior, resolutions that have always been elasticized by my characteristic rationalization. There's always ...
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Where The Butterflies Are
Our two friends from AmSoc told Mary and me about going to see the Monarch butterflies. Every year the Monarchs migrate from Canada and the US to their winter home in central Mexico. As they migrate, s...
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Ask an old gringo: health care, bureaucracy, bike paths and Christmas gifts
Questions and answers about life in Mexico.
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A Mexico mountain feast
In 1985, there were four Americans living in Talpa. Guy and Bill invited a small group living in Puerto Vallarta to share a weekend with them. The flight usually was about eighteen minutes long, but when folks used to ask me about the flying time, my answer was, "Long enough to say ten Our Fathers and fifteen Hail Marys, if you pray fast."
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Memories of Morelia: Tall buildings, Janitzio and a hamburger
I was nine years old the first time I visited Morelia, in 1973. I was living with my family in Xicotepec, a small town in the north of the State of Puebla. We spent our summer vacation that year with m...
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Zoning Laws And Peacocks
Question: Can you hear a peacock's screech over the roar of city buses?
Answer: Yes.
Question: What's a peacock doing in city traffic?
Answer: No zoning laws keep...
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Friends You Make On The Corner
"Ya gotta start working early," five-month old Pita would tell you if she could talk. "Take my brother, Chavita, he started working when he was only one month old." It's true. Two years ago Chavita - n...
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Roustabouts For Hire
It was like following three battleships. The shoppers rolled away like bow waves before the three
"cargadores" who churned toward them with two hundred pounds of produce on each of their hand ca...
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Gringos are changing Mexico
Southbound gringos of retirement age have the uncanny ability to immediately identify changes that should be made in Mexican lifestyle. Maybe you've heard the laundry list.
"Punctuality is in desperat...
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Expatriate writers in Mexico and the six-word memoir
Some expatriates muse knowingly that retirement is a state of bliss, while others declare emphatically that it's the State of Jalisco. So much to do and for once, so much time in which to do it. Many r...
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