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.
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For some, illegal immigration is a simple equation, what you risk for what you get.
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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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.
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We do not operate an all-inclusive five-star resort. We do not live in a gated gringo enclave. Our home is in a genuine Mexican village, suburban Jocotepec, west end of Lake Chapala in the exciting state of Jalisco. Our street is bumpy and emits dust. We have no central heat or air conditioning. We do offer spectacular sunrises over the lake and a great view of Mount Garcia.
We are pleased to report there is no steady flow of guests.
Children, grandchildren and other relatives cycle through at their and our convenience. Close friends and next-door neighbors from East Tennessee have come and gone, one or two or three each winter, and another now and then when we return for the rainy season.
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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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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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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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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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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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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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Questions and answers about life in Mexico.
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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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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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Quite by accident, I recently ran across a website that lists Talpa de Allende as a sacred power place. Martin Gray spent years visiting and photographing every place he heard was a sacred site, and one of his pilgrimages brought him to Mexico. Apparently, there are different types of sacred sites. Martin classifies Talpa as "miracle-work site."
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We usually think of weddings and baptisms as rites of passage we attend on separate occasions. But November 27, 2008, marked the celebration of both in San Lorenzo Albarradas: the nuptials of a couple in their early twenties, and the baptism of their three-year-old daughter. What resulted was a melding of highly organized custom...
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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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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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Questions and answers about life in Mexico.
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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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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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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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"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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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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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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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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