A Mexican local bus

I swear the laws concerning size are suspended when Driving in Mexico

Mexican driving continues to astonish me even after cruising the country for over fifty years. Like most newcomers, I used to be amazed by driving differences ranging from speed to taking stop signs with a wink. Most of those alternative driving methods have not just grown on me, but I’ve adopted them and even prefer […]

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So, you know Spanish and Mexican culture concerning languages? A bit of advice

Unless you are one hundred percent fluent in Spanish, expect the Mexicans around you to know more English than you do Spanish. Bob, a friend, retired to Mexico and opened a small maintenance business. He didn’t need to know the simple or common Spanish words for chair, table, or car for his investment. He instead […]

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Passenger Train (Wikipedia)

Railroad Ride Through the Jungle Fifty Years Ago

Who would have dreamed a train from hell could slice through pristine jungle for two days? We’d have gotten off, escaped, even tried to walk out, except for two problems. We didn’t know where we were, and most of the Mexicans spoke Indian languages, not Spanish. The preceding weeks of restful, carefree travel hadn’t prepared […]

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Thatch roof shelters are the perfect pace to socialize at Quinta Alicia Trailer Park on the Emerald Coast of Veracruz. © William B. Kaliher, 2010

Wild Bill discovers Mexico’s Costa Esmeralda — the Emerald Coast of Veracruz

Wild Bill is a seventy-six year-old expatriate enjoying his motor home and life in relative seclusion at Quinta Alicia Trailer Park on the palm covered coast of Costa Esmeralda, Mexico. Retired from both the military and a career in aviation management, Bill is a widower with five grown children. We sat at a concrete picnic […]

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Waiting for Los Abuelos restuarant to open, its waiters befriend the dog. The restaurant in Tecolutla, Mexico, is a 1950s-style hamburger hut. © William B. Kaliher, 2010

Retirement in Paradise: a ’50s burger drive-in on Mexico’s Emerald Coast

Retiring in Mexico means different things for different people. But an American couple in tiny Tecolutla on Mexico’s Emerald Coast have forged a unique and fulfilling lifestyle by taking the road less traveled. I’d been through the area many times before learning of this unlisted, unadvertised restaurant. I’ve enjoyed it over the four years since and hope […]

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Set inside a cavern, the wine bar at La Osteria in Catemaco combines fine wines with fine and authentic Italian food off the beaten tourist track in Mexico. © William B. Kaliher, 2010

Catemaco, Mexico: home to an eclectic group of international expats

The producer of Medicine Man, starring Sean Connery, found Los Tuxtlas, as did Mel Gibson when he filmed Apocalypto. Being the home of the mysterious Olmec civilization, which predated the Mayans, makes it the perfect base for Mexico’s witches and medicine men who still produce curative powders and drinks from native plants based on ancient lore. Beyond historical sites, […]

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