News from Around the Hemisphere, Jan 15, 2014 (reposted from original location)

article from January 15, 2014
By Jamie Douglas

First off, an apology to my readers: I have not been writing as often as I would like, as I am not well... but not ill enough to refrain from occasionally spouting my opinions and pointing out interesting facts.

Mexico’s continuing problems

Poor Mexico! After the recent elections, there was hope that the violence would subside somewhat, but it is only getting worse in the states that have been flashpoints in the unfortunate war on drugs, which has cost over 100,000 lives over the past few years – one of which is the state of Michoacán, where I used to reside until I went to buy the newspaper for my morning coffee at Pátzcuaro restaurant where expats, artists and criminals alike would mingle.

Since that morning eight years ago, when I was shocked to see photos of 22 mutilated corpses on the back pages of La Voz de Michoacán, things have gotten progressively worse. In a recent article in Proceso [spanish], it is revealed that the Knights Templar, successors to the Zeta crime syndicate, have now entered politics on behalf of the PRI, the hyper-corrupt Mexican political party that bled the country dry for generations. After a brief respite, the PRI is back in power, with a little help from their usual election fraud along with the Knights Templar, who have become an economic force to contend with, as they have made hundreds of millions of dollars running the port of Lázaro Cárdenas and illegally mining iron ore.

As a result of long-standing collusion between the local, state and federal government and the cartels, Michoacán has come close to being an ungovernable failed state, and the neighboring states up and down the Pacific coast may follow.

When will the powers that be realize that the unfortunate war on drugs had the same results as the prohibition in the United States did? It enabled criminal elements to take over the country with diluted and dangerous unregulated alcohol, corrupting most major police forces by flooding them with money.

Panama and Nicaragua race for a wider canal across the isthmus

In 2006, Panama’s then-president Martin Torrijos announced a plan to expand the Panama Canal so it could accommodate today’s VLCCs. He boldly stated that this project would turn Panama into a first-world country. Perhaps he did not anticipate all of the corruption that would inevitably follow this proposal. Perhaps he underestimated the larceny of the Martinelli administration. But one thing is glaringly obvious: The conglomerate that bid on the work grossly underestimated the cost and time for building this ambitious project – and therein lies the current problem. The Panama Canal Authority is refusing to pay for the cost overruns and has threatened to take over the project by force mejeure.

Regardless of what will happen in this chapter of Panama Canal history, Panama will not be a first-world nation until it rids itself of all the scams that are at home there, including the banking and real estate sectors, much of which is run by American and Canadian expats, con men and women and convicted criminals trying to sell anything they can think of.

Meanwhile, a Chinese investor has put together a consortium of wealthy business people from China to build a canal clear across the isthmus in Nicaragua. This project is slated to begin in December of this year; and if successfully completed, it will be quite a thorn in the side of the Panama Canal Authority. But with the enormous nature of the project, one should not hold their breath. China may be riding high at the moment, but nothing lasts forever. The Chinese economy is already feeling the pain of the costs of their armed forces and high-speed rail networks.

I wonder why Mexico has not pursued the logical choice of building a trans-isthmus canal from Tehuantepec to the Caribbean. Perhaps the cost and logistics are too prohibitive, along with the opposition of the indigenous people.

Venezuela and crime

Venezuela’s sweetheart, actress and former Miss Universe Monica Spear, and her husband, Thomas Berry, were brutally murdered a few days ago when their car broke down. Their little 5-year-old daughter was also shot but survived.

Venezuela is a spectacular nation, blessed with abundant natural resources and stunning beauty. From Angel Falls to the Caribbean islands, nature has blessed this nation with abundant and fertile lands, not to mention the crude oil reserves in Lake Maracaibo and the gold in the ground.

Unfortunately, the riches of the nation have been distributed unequally to the point of forcing many into a life of serious crime. The homicide rate is near the top of world statistics, and the prisons are overflowing. The staggering amount and wide distribution of serious crimes is affecting everyone from the very poor to the very rich. Ironically, Monica Spear and her family moved to Miami out of fear for their safety. Nearing the end of a holiday vacation, fate caught up with them.

If there is one good thing that can be said about it, it is the fact that thousands of people came to her funeral and thousands more protested the senseless violence the Bolivarian nation is confronting.

And now the weather

After an early spring followed by another cold front, the Southern Cone countries of Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina have been hit with several waves of severe weather, which included some of the most intense lightning and thunder this observer has ever witnessed.

Torrential rains in Brazil took their toll in human lives, and Uruguay also had several casualties, including a police officer who was killed in downtown Montevideo when hit by a swinging door he was trying to secure during one of the storms, which packed winds of up to 100 km/h.

Argentina also suffered one of the worst heat waves in their recorded history that was compounded by the failure of the electric grid in Buenos Aires, causing brownouts, blackouts and several heat-related casualties. The worst incident happened in the small beach town of Villa Gesell, where four youngsters were killed on the beach by lightning and another 22 injured. The tragedy happened so quickly that the victims never had a chance to escape.

I will not opine on the cause of all this severe weather, from the polar vortex to the unseasonably severe cold in Antarctica that caused an Australian tour boat to get stuck in the pack ice, forcing other important scientific programs to be interrupted when several additional ships had to be sent to their rescue. The Australian organizer of the trip defended his expedition as having valid scientific value by explaining that the lay observers on the ship were qualified to make observations of the current conditions in the region.

Antarctica, being the last frontier on this planet, has been exploited for high-end tourism for several years, and this latest problem is no different from any other for-profit organized tour.

Jamie Douglas

At large in Uruguay

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Mexico’s July 2012 Elections

article from July 2, 2012

By Jamie Douglas

Mexico just held elections this past Sunday, July 1. There are no surprises in the outcome. The PRI, which ruled the country for about seven decades, is back in power after sitting out two terms, during which the opposition parties managed to throw the country into a civil-war-like chaos that has so far cost the lives of over 55,000 people, turning a formerly happy, laissez faire population into a bunch of paranoiacs, removing the happy face of Mexico to be replaced by daily graphic images of the victims of Reagan’s war on drugs, something that was happily adopted by (soon to be former) President Felipe Cálderon.

Large areas of the country have no security to speak of, as the billions of dollars in illicit drug money have corrupted all the law enforcement agencies. Like other Latin American nations, the experiment with a more democratic administration was short lived. Cálderon’s pig headed approach to the problem, to please his North American overlords, allowed the former dictators from the PRI, which spent three generations robbing the country of its very soul, to return to the helm of the Aztec nation, unfortunately, justifiably so, as the two main opposition parties have failed miserably in their stewardship of the great nation.

Cálderon was so intent on winning the unwinnable war against the narco-terrorists that he failed to prepare his nation for the looming economic downturn. Mexico has become an economic giant, thanks to NAFTA, and the wealth and income distribution was improving. From a few maquiladoras along the US border, it has gained worldwide clout as a manufacturer of quality goods. From Ford to Volkswagen to Chrysler, Nissan and Honda, along with European and Chinese manufacturers, everyone realized that by having factories in Mexico, it would grant them easy access to the US and Canadian markets, as well as opening the door to exports to the rest of Latin America.

The last two years have seen a marked slowdown in the GNP, exports and employment. Instead of focusing on his nation’s growing internal business problems, Cálderon followed the road to self-destruction by continuing his alliance with the DEA, ICE, the FBI and the Obama administration’s guidance in general, practically giving up the sovereignty of his nation in order to continue to receive massive military and law-enforcement aid from his northern neighbors. It is, of course, those very same northern neighbors that make it possible, with their fanatical pro-gun stance, to supply the gangsters with the latest in weaponry.

It is no wonder that the PRI will once again rule the mighty nation south of the border, but one can only hope that common sense will prevail and this race to the bottom against the narcos will cease. The slaughter in the neighbor nation must stop! I am not sure that legalization is the answer, but one thing is certain: The current approach is not working!

The problem was created by the huge demand for cocaine and heroin, and more recently, methamphetamine. The only way to reduce the violence in Mexico is to reduce the demand of the consumer nations. That goal will not be accomplished by the current approach, to criminalize the users and small-time dealers. The US has more people in prison than any other nation in the world, and many are there because of relatively smalltime offenses such as possession and distribution of small amounts of these drugs. The prison industry is being privatized (Ronald Reagan’s dream) and huge profits are being made by the US Prison Corporation, Wackenhut and several others that have direct connections to Congress.

Presently, those in charge of moving the large quantities of drugs to the US, Canada and Europe, as well as Australasia, are sitting on billions of dollars worth of cash, which corrupts virtually all law enforcement efforts. Fifty-five thousand people in Mexico alone have died, along with untold others from Argentina to Guatemala. The result is that today, there are more cheaper and more potent drugs entering the consumer nations, and they are being consumed in ever-larger quantities. What is the answer to that? If you have it, please send it to President Obama and Eric Holder. They could use some new ideas.

Jamie Douglas

Expat in the Land of Tannat

[Image of Mexican President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto via Wikipedia]

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Mexico v Argentina Trade Relations

article from June 29, 2012

By Jamie Douglas

First off, I would like to give my sincere thanks to the many of you that sent me good wishes after my accident a few weeks ago. I was really overwhelmed by how many of you dear readers sent me their emotional support. Thank you very much; Mahalo nui loa; Merçi beaucoup; Grazie mille; Vielen herzlichen dank; Domo arigato; y Muchas gracias a todo mis lectores!

Now to the lead story: Back in 2002, Mexico and the Mercosur nations signed bilateral trade accords governing the importation and exportation of automobiles and auto parts. As has become the norm with Argentina and to a large degree Brazil, treaties are made to be broken when they are not to their advantage anymore, and such is the case here.

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner recently announced that the treaty between the two nations would be suspended. Figures released by Mexico’s economic ministry show that in 2011, exports of automobiles and auto parts reached almost a billion US dollars, while Mexico imported almost US$300 million in automobiles and parts from Argentina.

That is a more-than 3:1 ratio in favor of Mexico. On the surface, it seems very unbalanced. But when you consider what an economic giant Mexico has become, with the help of the North American Free Trade agreement, it is a small wonder that the imbalance is not greater. Manufacturers from the United States and the rest of the world have set up shop in Mexico to take advantage of the lower labor costs and easy access to the North American market.

Mexico’s captains of industry, of course, realized that excess production could be marketed to the rest of Latin America, increasing employment as well as driving up the GNP. They sent trade representatives everywhere, from Guatemala to Argentina, as well as to the European Union, Japan and China, and they came back with very lucrative trade agreements that boosted Mexico’s economy and provided many new, good-paying jobs for the Aztec nation.

At the same time, Argentina and Brazil built up their automotive industries, exporting what they could, building up their own foreign reserves, creating jobs and making the politicians look good.

But that was then, and this is now. A nationalistic imbecile is running Argentina, continuing in the tradition of going from economic disaster to economic disaster, something I refer to as “Argentina’s circular history.” It runs in cycles of about 10 years from complete meltdown to utter chaos, and we are nearing the latter.

Cristina’s meddling with Mexico has awakened the fighting spirit of the Aztecs. They are not taking her lunacy lying down; in fact, they are getting ready (along with many other nations) to take this lunacy to the World Trade Organization.

Now, to add to the chorus of nations reaming Argentina for their protectionist measures, the USA has demanded that Argentina immediately put an end to their illegal import- and export-licensing regulations, which have turned major multinational corporations such as BMW into exporters of rice in order to expatriate their income.

Already, the USA and others have filed complaints with the WTO in Geneva. US attaché Rachel Bae took a much harder stance against Argentina, which already is the subject of several lawsuits filed by the European Union over the completely outrageous steps the administration of Empress Cristina Fernández has taken to freeze imports wherever she can.

Cry for Argentina! Once a nation of such great wealth and promise, it has been subject to incompetent and corrupt leaders. Why is it that a nation that has such an abundance of wealth and natural resources has been exploited by its own leadership for over 201 years? Argentineans, as a whole, are a wonderful and lively people; but they have fallen for the bullshit being dished out by their leadership for all that time. And the beat goes on!

Jamie Douglas

Safely across the Río de la Plata, in the land of the lovely Tannat wine

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Elections in Mexico: A Primer

article from May 9, 2012

by Julie R Butler

A brief political history of Mexico

The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI, by its Spanish initials) came into power in Mexico in 1929. It began as a leftist revolutionary organization, but by institutionalizing itself, became conservative of its own power through corruption and election fraud. The PRI dominated Mexican government at every level for 71 years, with large majorities in the Federal Congress as well holding all of the state governorships.

The National Action Party (PAN) was founded in 1939 by Roman Catholics and other conservatives hoping bring an end to continued post-revolutionary violence and chaos through political representation of the opposition to the PRI. But in order to do this, an agreement was made with the PRI that left them with little real political power until 1979, when President López Portillo allowed official registry of opposition parties and created positions in the lower chamber of Congress for them to be able to participate in governance of the country. Vicente Fox was the PAN member who finally broke the long presidential reign of the PRI in 2000. He was succeeded by the current president of Mexico, Felipe Calderón, also of the PAN, in 2006.

The Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), founded in 1989, was begun by former PRI members and other left-wing and center-left politicians as a coalition that included communists, socialists, and workers. Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas was a former PRI member who had dared to challenge the party’s habit of allowing the president to handpick his successor; and upon being expelled from the party, he ran as an opposition candidate in the 1988 elections. He is believed by many to have won the presidential election, but after the electronic election system mysteriously shut down, PRI candidate Carlos Salinas was declared the winner. In 2000, Cárdenas came in third place.

Newer Mexican political parties are the Labor Party (PT), the Green Ecological Party (PVEM), the New Alliance Party (PNA), representing the National Union of Educational Workers, and the social democratic Convergence for Democracy, which was re-formed as the Citizens’ Movement in 2011.

The 2012 elections

Currently, Enrique Peña Nieto of the PRI is the frontrunner, with the ruling party’s candidate, Josefina Vázquez Mota (PAN) coming in second and Andrés Manuel López Obrador, representing a coalition of leftist parties led by the PRD, in third place. In the last presidential elections in 2006, López Obrador lost to Calderón by the slimmest of margins – just over half a percentage point – resulting in large protests that occupied Mexico City’s Zócalo from July until the Federal Election Tribunal declared the matter settled in September.

Unlike in many other Latin American nations, there is no runoff election if no one wins more than 50% of the votes. Rather, it is like in the United States, where whoever (supposedly) gets the most votes wins.

So the idea that the PRI, which Mario Vargas Llosa called “the perfect dictatorship” in 1990 (yes, this is the same Mario Vargas Llosa who so famously compared the 2011 Peruvian presidential candidates to the choice between cancer and AIDS), is a welcome change from the current government is rather surprising. But even former President Vicente Fox has acknowledged the major changes in the politics of Mexico that Peña Nieto represents:

“Today, we have a different Mexico,” Fox said. “We have a legislative branch and a judiciary that each day give us examples of independent postures and rulings. So against that (old) PRI is this new democratic reality of Mexico. It gives me confidence. It gives me peace of mind.”

One of the main motivations for change is, of course, Calderón’s War on Drugs and the extraordinary level of violence that is fatiguing the nation, leaving many Mexicans longing for the days when the government was more in bed with the narcotraficantes than at war with them.

Despite the distrust that many Mexicans hold for the PRI, their new candidate seems to be succeeding at projecting a new image of the old, corrupt, institutionalized party. New blood is bringing in new ideas, including the possibility of opening Pemex, the state-owned oil company that was the golden cow for the PRI for much of its reign over the country, to private investment.

The general elections will be held on Sunday, July 1.

Julie R Butler is a writer, journalist, editor, and author of several books, including Nine Months in Uruguay and No Stranger To Strange Lands (click here for more info). She is a contributor to Speakout at Truthout.org, and her current blog is Connectively Speaking.

email: julierbutler [at] yahoo [dot] com, Twitter: @JulieRButler

Lucky Mexico: 7.9 Earthquake

article from March 22, 2012

By Jamie Douglas

As one who was in Mexico City 48 hours after the disastrous quake in 1985, I was extremely concerned when I heard the first reports of a 7.9 earthquake hitting the home of the Distrito Federal. As sometimes happens, first reports do not convey the full extent of a catastrophe like the one in 1985. It was through a network of HAM radio operators that I first received word and, together with a friend, set out from Brownsville in a station wagon loaded to the hilt with bandages, sutures, plaster cast materials, antibiotics and whatever else the good people from the region donated when we urged them to bring supplies to the international bridge, where we were waiting to depart.

Nothing could have prepared us for what we encountered when we got to Mexico City. The destruction was amazing and a layer of dust still hung over the city. Individual citizens were still digging by hand in the ruins looking for loved ones. Just like the earthquake that shook the nation a couple of days ago, it was centered off the coast of Guerrero state, and Mexico City, being built over an old lake bed, suffered the most, as soil liquefaction caused many of the tall buildings to lean and collapse.

There were scenes of absolute horror everywhere, most hospitals were destroyed and there was no water or electricity, so when nightfall came, there was just an eerie collection of fires burning in the street and one could still hear the cries of some of the buried victims.

When I first heard about the current seismic event, it was from friends in Michoacán who related the severity of the shaking, while at the same time assuring me that there was little damage. As the reports started coming in from the D.F., it became clear that, at least for the moment, the megalopolis was intact. Obviously, strict new building codes put in place when 1985’s rebuilding began saved the day.

The Mexican newspaper El Universal stated today that the damages were hovering at about Mex$45 million, and likely to go up some, but Marcelo Ebrard, the head of government of the D.F. announced that most of the damages were covered by insurance. As of last night, March 21, 99% of electricity has been restored, 300,000 households were still without water and a force of workers were repairing the A Line of the subway, where approximately 120 meters (400 feet) of track has been displaced by the massive seismic event.

Overall, for an event of this magnitude, things are returning to normal quite rapidly, the streets have been cleared of most debris and fortunately, aside from a few isolated but sometime serious injuries from falling bricks and mortar, there has not been one single fatality reported.

The countryside nearer to the epicenter is mostly made up of small towns, many of the buildings being mud bricks. But since the 1985 quake, much more steel-reinforced concrete is in use, which was able to resist the force of the tremor. The epicenter was about 100 km straight east of Acapulco. The governor of Guerrero state announced that about 800 dwellings were destroyed, but there were no casualties there or in neighboring Oaxaca state, where US President Barack Obama’s daughter Malia was on a class trip.

Jamie Douglas

San Rafael, Mendoza

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Less Than Eleven Months Until The End, My Friend

article from January 26, 2012

By Jamie Douglas

...And everyone wants to get in on it.

As most Westerners know, your pets don’t have a soul, so they will not be able to accompany you in the coming Rapture on December 21, 2012. I have already offered to be a refuge for all those pets left behind, in exchange for believers leaving me all their worldly goods. (See the PayPal “Donate” button on this page!)

The government of Mexico has announced plans to take advantage of the so-called Mayan Prophecy to bring hordes of tourists on a Doomsday vacation of a lifetime to all the Mayan sites. In spite of the denial of the elders of the current Mayan people that the date carries such significance, those living in the affected areas fear that Doomsday tourism could contaminate their sacred sites by thousands of tourists with their digital cameras at the ready, time-and-date stamp and all.

Artemio Kaamal, general coordinator of Kuxa’ano’on, which is Mayan for “we live,” stated that the government failed completely to consult with the indigenous peoples of the region. Mexican President Felipe Calderón has allocated US$49 million to promote the Maya World Program, which it is hoped will lure some 52 million tourists to the Mesoamerican region. Of course, all the other prophecies proclaiming the coming Apocalipsii have come and gone, with the various prophets having returned to obscurity. Remember the good Revered Camping? He predicted The End with absolute certainty, not once but twice – talk about stamina for a 90-year-old man!

The simple fact is that on December 21, 2012, a cycle of 144,000 days in the Mayan calendar will end, and another will begin. The current cycle started August 11, 3114 BC, about 1,300 years before the advent of the Mayans.

The believers in this end-of-the-world scenario would be just as justified in proclaiming the end of the world at the end of the year, decade, century or millennium. Remember the year 2000, when thousands sold or gave away all their worldly goods? Or the millennium computer bug that was going to make airplanes fall out of the sky? Well, we are still here as a species, and once again, I urge you to click on the “Donate” button to send me whatever you can spare, so that we may go around taking care of all the soulless pets that will be left behind.

Jamie Douglas

San Rafael, Mendoza

[Image of Pyramid of Kukulcán, Chichen Itza, Mexico via Wikipedia]

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Central America News Roundup Sept 20, 2011: Mexico, Belize

article from September 20, 2011

By Jamie Douglas

Mexico’s oldest person

There is hope for me yet. Leandra Becerra Lumbreras of Zapopan, Jaliso, celebrated 124 years of being on the planet on August 31, 2011. That’s almost twice my age! And listening to her talking, she may yet have a few years ahead of her. She has lived in the house she is in for over 40 years, outliving all her children and most grandchildren. Her great- granddaughter Miriam Albear Hernández showed pictures of a lovely young girl, an old photo of Leandra from the turn of the century. On Sept 16, Mexico celebrated its 201st anniversary since independence, making the Aztec nation a mere 77 years old when she was born. During her lifetime, she witnessed the Mexican Revolution, which lasted from 1910 to 1920 (some say 1917), killing between one and two million citizens, as well as the 1918 flu epidemic, which was responsible for another 300,000 casualties. Two world wars passed, along with major changes brought to Mexico by the constant march of time. From very primitive peasantry to very modern cities and superhighways, this woman witnessed so much history from the sidelines.

Undiscovered archeology

When going back in time, there are, of course, many archeological sites throughout the country, some fully restored, but many more are still waiting to be explored or discovered. Emiliano Gallaga Murrieta, an official with the National Institute of Archeology and History (INAH by its Spanish initials) estimates that there are over 40,000 such sites in the state of Chiapas alone. The terrain of Chiapas is very rugged and covered in jungle, making the rediscovery of the sites very difficult. I have stumbled through the jungles of Chiapas on several occasions and was always taken by the fact that there were signs of civilization everywhere. Being an archeologist in Mexico is one profession with good job security!

US-Mexico bilateral relations

In bilateral relations between Mexico and the USA, Felipe Calderón and Barack Obama signed a multinational agreement to promote transparency and combat corruption.

Does that mean that all the lobbyist and corrupt politicians in the USA will be exposed for the crooks they are? Wishful thinking!

Belize butane problem

Belize is suffering from a butane problem. The government of Belize is in a dispute with regional butane companies that refuse to use authenticated scales in distributing their product in Belize, so those companies are on strike against selling in Belize. Several other companies have stepped up the effort to keep Belizeans supplied with butane imported from Mexico, but this is a more expensive product. The public is being advised to remain vigilant about the prices being charged, which are supposed to adhere to a controlled price listing that is dependent on the source of the butane.

Cell-phone crime in Belize

While consumers suffer through this debacle, crimes committed with cell phones as well as cell-phone theft are about to suffer a big blow of their own. A new law is coming into effect requiring all citizens to register their cell-phone numbers or risk having their SIM cards deactivated. Theft of a person’s cell phone must be reported immediately, otherwise the owner will be held liable for any crime that can be traced to that phone. Prosecutors expect this to greatly enhance the ability of the police to investigate crimes. At the same time, they assure that a set of Supreme Court procedures are in place to protect from the invasion of privacy of the country’s citizens. If I lived in Belize, I would be among the first to register, because the police need all the help they can get!

Jamie Douglas

San Rafael, Mendoza

Where the Malbec Wine is always Fine

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

The Importance of Having the Correct Uniform

article from July 28, 2011

By Jamie Douglas

I learned a small but important lesson a few years ago while living in Patzcuaro, Mexico.

After the many years spent coming and going from Patzcuaro, it was inevitable that my wife and I would lose some of our friends to the grim reaper, as well as seeing the parents of our friends sliding down that slippery slope of debilitating diseases and loss of memory.

One such person was Doña Maria, whose loving daughter Zelda took excellent care of her for many years. Unfortunately, Doña Maria became afflicted with Alzheimer’s. But in spite of being bedridden for the last few years of her life, Zelda brought her out to parties and get togethers as long as she could walk short distances. She seemed to enjoy the company, whoever we were.

Doña Maria never realized how bad off she was and would occasionally sneak out of her bedroom to walk her palatial home. It was after one of those walks that we arrived at her house, only to be ushered into her bedroom. She was lying on her bed, bleeding from a wound on her forehead. I was told of the circumstances surrounding how she got the wound and had a good look at it, deciding that she would need a few stitches. The local hospital was out of the question, as she was in no shape to be transported.

So her granddaughter, Laura, and I set out to find a doctor who would make a house call at midnight. We knocked on many doors and went to the pharmacies that had to stay open late, all to no avail. Finally, we were directed to the local morgue, where the coroner was busy with the victims of an automobile accident. Laura explained the situation to the coroner, and he agreed to go with us, as he was a friend of the family. Pointing to the corpses on his tables, he stated calmly, “They will not be going anywhere.”

He followed us down to the house and made a quick examination, and it was at this point that Doña Maria started to get combative, so we had to hold her down on the bed. The good doctor needed to go get sutures and assorted other items. He returned about half an hour later with a sack of goods and proceeded to scrub his hands in the sink. Going back to his bag, he extracted all that was necessary, plus what looked to be a white lab coat. But when he began to put it on, we saw that it was actually a gas station attendant’s uniform bearing the logo of the national oil company, PEMEX, which he put on inside out and then slung a stethoscope around his neck.

I looked at him half-laughing about the PEMEX logo, and he explained to me that he felt the white uniform lent him authority and made him look like a real doctor. With that, we went back to Doña Maria’s bedroom where, by now, the whole clan was part of the restraint team. But what a magical transformation occurred when the PEMEX guy entered the room: Doña Maria got visibly excited and stopped fighting, turning into a little girl and murmuring over and over, “doctor, doctor.”

The coroner proceeded to give her the once around brightly, not paying too much attention to her wound, until he pulled out a very small syringe and filled it with Xylocaine, a local anesthetic, continually talking reassuringly with her and holding her hand. And when he felt the time had come, he quickly sewed up the wound with three or four stitches.

Doña Maria did not flinch and neither did she want the doctor to leave, so he stayed around until she fell asleep. He refused payment except for the materials he had to buy, which excluded the white jacket. He had just gone to the gas station and borrowed one from one of the attendants.

Mission accomplished, and I learned that sometimes, the uniform does make the man!

Jamie Douglas

San Rafael, Mendoza

Where the Malbec Wine is Always Fine!

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

The Myth of the Mexican Driver

article from April 20, 2011

By Jamie Douglas

For years, there has been a myth, in the USA primarily, that Mexican drivers are the worst drivers of them all, a myth born in the 1940s and 50s, when few people in Mexico had cars, the trucks were held together with bailing wire and had barely, if any, brakes, and were always overloaded, belching black diesel exhaust while going uphill at 2 miles per hour.

Those days are long gone! In local rural traffic, you may still encounter some of those dinosaurs, but other than that, things have drastically changed, and I feel very qualified to elaborate on that subject.

Having driven well over 100,000 miles in Mexico since the late 1960s when the above conditions existed, until relatively recently, I am still amazed at the rapid changes that were made in the infrastructure and in the quality of the vehicles. Most long-distance trucks are as modern as their US counterparts because, for the most part, they are Freightliners, Volvos and other world class brands are well maintained.

Drivers of both passenger cars and trucks are well mannered and careful because, under Mexican law, in every accident, there is a culpability involved, and the party who is responsible, even in a single car accident, will be hauled off to jail and the vehicle impounded.

Of course, you occasionally hear of that horrific bus crash where many people died or were injured; but we hear the same on the news from the USA. With increasing frequency, there have been bus crashes with multiple fatalities, where it was found that the driver was intoxicated or fell asleep or that the cause was just simple mechanical failure. A recent crash in New York state serves as the most blatant example.

Without going into the details of the horrific crash that killed a half a busload of Chinese gamblers on their way home from an Indian Casino, what is truly frightening is that those casino junket buses, along with church buses, have accumulated a very scary statistic as being the most unsafe vehicles on the road. In the aftermath of that New York accident, the New York State Patrol set up safety checkpoints where all the buses were pulled over for driver and safety inspections – and the results were staggering.

Out of 61 buses checked, 60 failed, either mechanically or the driver’s logbook had been falsified or was just incomplete. Over half of those had to be towed away, while the rest were driven away by substitute drivers.

And considering the amount of bus miles driven in Mexico vs. the United States, I would venture to guess that travel by bus in Mexico is far safer than in the USA.

As for regular passenger cars, I rarely encountered the rudeness or incompetence as I did in two specific locales: Santa Fe, New Mexico, and South Florida. In Santa Fe, it seems that myopia is a prerequisite for getting a driver’s license. As you are approaching someone getting ready to pull out of a parking lot, they seem to always squint at you until they can see you, and then they pull out right in front of you, causing your passenger’s feet to go to the dashboard. Drunken driving is also a part of New Mexico’s cultural heritage, causing untold misery to victims and their families every year.

Then there is South Florida, where you have overcrowded expressways and recent immigrants from third-world countries who feel that the cell phone is an integral part of driving. These drivers drift all over the road, changing lanes without signaling because their hands are holding the phone, even if by some rare chance they know what that lever behind the steering wheel is for. Easy credit allowed them to buy large SUVs and pickup trucks, but being as this is really the first time that many of these recent immigrants are behind the wheel, it’s like setting a drunken soldier driving a tank down a suburban street. To experience what I am describing, I (don’t really) recommend an outing on the Palmetto Expressway on your next visit to Miami.

Mexican drivers by comparison are courteous, often giving you the right of way, and stopping for pedestrians in crosswalks. Mexico City’s taxicabs are the exception, and they seem to be exempt from all rules, as you will quickly discover if you are ever a passenger in one. They will do anything to get you to your destination in a hurry, including racing down one-way streets backwards, as happened to us.

We have also crisscrossed Mexico in our own vehicle as well as on buses, covering every single state in the country, and never experienced any outlandish problems, such as the lore of yesteryear claims. In fact, I feel safer driving in Mexico City than I do in Miami or Santa Fe, having become comfortable with the level of aggression that is expected of all drivers. The biggest problem is that I just can’t breathe as easy in the DF.

So in closing, I urge all of you to slow down and smell the diesel exhaust of the truck in front of you. I hear the particulate matter in that exhaust is really good for you, (if you are in the funeral industry).

Jamie Douglas

Patagonia, Argentina

[Image of Mexico City via Wikipedia]

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Semana Santa in Pátzcuaro

article from March 15, 2011

By Jamie Douglas

Now that we are past the debauchery of all the various carnivals celebrated throughout the hemisphere and elsewhere, we have a few weeks to prepare for Easter – which leads me to the first question: Who the hell came up with the Easter Bunny? You can probably Google that.

But since we are a few weeks away from that grand celebration, may I suggest an incredible destination?

Pátzcuaro, a relatively small city on the shores of a lake with an island in the middle that features the statue of Morelos, one of Mexico’s many heroes. You can climb up to the top of it (ladies, wear trousers – the voyeurs will be disappointed), which will give you a great view of the entire surrounding area.

Located 45 minutes from the capital city of Morelia, Pátzcuaro is one of the most scenic and colonial of Mexican cities, occupied by mainly Purépecha “Indians,” the original inhabitants of what today is the state of Michoacán, and Semana Santa is celebrated there in grand style.

Hundreds of artisans congregate around the two main plazas, and there are several solemn parades where the faithful carry statues of the local saints as well as Jesus, himself, in a glass coffin, though the streets. Up by the Basilica, there is a carnival, with street vendors selling all kinds of goodies, from great little tidbits cooked on the spot to plastic items and house wares. The amount of noise is typically Mexican, and so is the potential for pickpockets. But it is a weeklong celebration that one must experience, especially when it culminates with the full moon rising over the Plaza Grande while the processions are in full swing.

It seems that a large portion of Mexico congregates there for the celebrations, and accommodations are hard to come by, so my recommendation is to contact Monica Gray, the daughter of an American expat who arrived there in the 1940s, at deptosvicki@hotmail.com. She has a large assortment of apartments available within walking distance of the center of town that come fully furnished with kitchens and bedrooms, large parking areas, and vistas over town, a settlement that has been around since pre-Columbian times, and the magnificent architecture reflects this. 

Go to Departamentos VICKI on Facebook for more.

While in Pátzcuaro, you are likely to fall in love with the place and consider it for retirement or as a second home. Real estate prices have never been better, and houses in the center of town, which have 300-500 year histories, are always available for reasonable prices, but as always, use a reliable local real estate attorney or agent to assist you in your quest. Monica Gray, being native born there, knows everybody and will be able to hook you up with whatever needs you have. (She is neither an attorney nor a real estate agent.)

Lake Pátzcuaro is a haven for artists, having hosted John Steinbeck, Judith Deim, and many others. Today, the region is home to many writers and painters, including my good friend Vatche K. Geuvdjelian, a world-renowned artist whose expat experience had him cover half of the planet before finally settling in Pátzcuaro.

The local artisans produce a large selection of handicrafts that includes jewelry, pottery, furniture, and lacquered fineries. Copper goods are made in a neighboring town of Santa Clara del Cobre. Many of these artisan goods are all available in the Casa de los Once Patios, a Dominican convent that has been turned into a cultural center, where you can actually watch the artisans at work as they produce their superb crafts. Weaving is also very prevalent, with blankets, tablecloths and other textiles.

There is so much to do and see in Pátzcuaro that it is a blessing that it is an early town – by 10 pm, everything is pretty much closed and the streets are empty. Some of the main attractions are the many convents and churches. Not to be missed is the Basilica de Nuestra Señora de la Salud, which, after almost 500 years, is still unfinished and probably never will be finished according to its original design. But the interior is something to behold, whether you are Catholic or atheist. It is always a mysterious place, where many Purépechas come to be healed, and during Semana Santa, they have the monopoly on setting up their stands to sell everything from milagros, to handicrafts, to made-in-China toys, to food.

I highly recommend that you contact your travel agent and make bookings to fly to Morelia, the nearest international airport, located on the very far side of Morelia from Pátzcuaro. You can hire a taxi to take you to Pátzcuaro, a good option, as it will save you the confusion of finding your way through Morelia, the large capitol city of the state of Michoacán. Or you can be adventurous, rent a car and try it on your own. You don’t really need a car in Pátzcuaro. Taxis and buses are very inexpensive and tours to the surrounding countryside are easily available.

So go for the colonial adventure, see Patzcuaro and fall in love!

Jamie Douglas
Patagonia

[Image via Wikipedia]

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Monarch Butterflies: Some Great News from Mexico

article from March 1, 2011

By Jamie Douglas

The Monarch Butterflies have made a comeback!

The news from Mexico is so often interlaced with its drug-related problems; but for once, I am happy to report the good news that the amazing monarch butterflies have returned in greater numbers than they have for a while.

For those of you who are not familiar with this incredible traveler, here are some basics: They migrate from Canada and the USA all the way to the central-western Mexican states of Michoacán and Mexico, a distance of over 3,000 miles, to spend the winter in some small forest enclaves there. Several generations come and go, until the Methuselah generation is born. The males serve only as breeders, and all die in Mexico, leaving the females to return to the northern latitudes, where they will lay their eggs for successive generations to return back to their wintering grounds in the high mountains of Mexico.

Since they return to the area around the Day of the Dead, natives since pre-colonial times have thought of them as being the souls of deceased children, treating them with fearful respect.

The last few years have been very hard on their population’s survival. Harsh climatic conditions and illegal logging have taken their toll on this adventurous insect. Some years back, while we lived in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, which is at an altitude of about 7,000 feet, we experienced a particularly cold and wet winter, which was very unusual, as that is normally the bone-dry season. The combination of the rains and sub-freezing temperature were catastrophic to the monarchs. They died by the millions before they could complete their reproductive cycle, greatly reducing the number of females returning to the USA and Canada. Witnesses stated that they were wading in knee-deep dead butterflies (I only saw the photos).

This was also a particularly harsh time for the human population around that region. The Mexican economy, never having provided much hope for the really poor rural population, got even worse, and the resulting suffering, financially and climatically, led to a rapid and large increase in illegal logging. The locals were literally freezing to death in their homes and had little choice but to cut firewood for survival, increasing the normal consumption level of the pine forests greatly, thereby reducing the area the monarchs used and endangering the reduced return migration.

The Mexican government stationed police and soldiers along the roads to control the large-scale looting of forests by commercial operators, which led to several fatal encounters. The whole area had been designated a biosphere and was eventually declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the local population was urged to get engaged in the protection not only of the forests, but also of the monarch butterflies.

Soon, the people around the region realized that they stood to make more money from the ecotourism that this phenomenon fostered than from trying to steal the trees for firewood to sell. The states of Michoacán and Mexico supplied funds for improving access by adding trails and rest areas, as well as to provide salaries for guides and guards. And it worked! There is still some illegal logging going on, but it is mitigated by replanting and the locals jealously guarding their heritage (read source of income).

Mind you, there are still plenty of campesinos who go to these forests every day to get fuel for cooking and heating, but they go by horse and donkey, as they traditionally have, and they don’t make much of a dent, as they pick up mostly fallen timber and dead branches, a huge difference from the caravans of heavy trucks that had been destroying the forests by the thousands of acres.

The really great news is that the number of monarch butterflies that came back this year has doubled, and they are occupying twice the acreage as they did last year. The ecotourists are coming, in spite of the scary reputation of the region, and the local population is benefiting, having realized that having this miracle in their midst is a financial blessing. While this is all good news, these folks must still find a way to survive the other eight months of the year.

So the next time you see a monarch butterfly, think of the huge migrations their ancestors have been making for thousands of years to assure the survival of the species.

Hug a tree, but not a butterfly, as they are very sensitive human beings. You can be nice to them by slowing down when you encounter a flight of them in Texas or Florida or while making your own winter migration to Mexico in the fall.

Jamie Douglas

Patagonia

[Photo by Kenneth Dwain Harrelson via Wikipedia]

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Language Learning: The Very Hungry Expat

article from December 16, 2010
by Julie R Butler

I recently wrote a post that listed some ways to practice Spanish before your move abroad. There are many more things you can do that will help you get a leg-up on language before you leave, too. One is to watch all the episodes of the adorable Mexican cooking show, La ruta del sabor (watch YouTube videos of the program, or keep your eye out for it on satellite TV).

I am suggesting this program in particular because it is appealing on so many levels. To begin with, the young host is so affable that you will see him as a friend, cheerily encouraging you to join him in his journeys to various places in Mexico to learn about their regional dishes. Then there is the fact that the show always begins with a little segment about each location, so you will get a taste of the various flavors of Mexico’s heritage and culture. And then, of course, you get to find out the most authentic way to prepare great Mexican foods – all while learning Spanish from native Mexican speakers.

You will definitely need to learn some cooking terms in order to read the directions on packages of pasta, rice, sauce mixes, etc., to set up or find your way around your kitchen, and to enhance your gastronomic experiences by being able to read recipes such as the one your neighbor scratches out for you for that fabulous budín that she is always bringing over. Why not let your stomach motivate you to learn all the Spanish you can in preparation for your move abroad?

There are many, many more cooking videos in Spanish on YouTube, in addition to all the cooking shows on Spanish language TV. The cooking network elgourmet.com is produced in Buenos Aires, has an extensive website, and features a stellar lineup of the best celebrity chefs from all over Latin America and beyond. As a sophisticated answer to La ruta del sabor’s cute, casual approach, the cosmopolitan Spanish is a much harder to follow.

As long as I am talking about Latin American cuisine, I must mention The Mija Chronicles. This blog is written in English by Lesley Téllez, who started Eat Mexico Culinary Tours. There is so much to learn about language and culture when talking about food. And need I remind you that it is not just in the kitchen where you will want to know food terminology, because you have to feed yourself some way or other, whether it be in restaurants or by hitting the fresh produce stands that abound all over Latin America? Probably not, but I just did, anyway. So even English language culinary talk is useful, as it covers the names of various food items in Spanish and explains what they are.

Checking all this out might lead to travels abroad with the confidence that you will be eating very well. At the very least, it is making me one very hungry expat.

Buen provecho!

Julie R Butler is a writer, journalist, editor, and author of several books, including Nine Months in Uruguay and No Stranger To Strange Lands (click here for more info). She is a contributor to Speakout at Truthout.org, and her current blog is Connectively Speaking

email: julierbutler [at] yahoo [dot] com, Twitter: @JulieRButler

Expatriating, The Nomadic Way

article from December 15, 2010
By Jamie Douglas

My wife and I, being the nomads that we are, had spent a lot of time in Pátzcuaro, in the State of Michoacán, in Central-Western Mexico. It is a very artistic town, with many writers, sculptors and painters, and the whole region’s economy is based on the various indigenous artisans who produce some of the finest handcrafts I have ever encountered in my travels over this planet. Since the early 1970s, I have made many friends and felt very much at home there, being surrounded by so much creativity. Through the years, we have spent many a late night carrying on highly intellectual discourses with friends, fueled by a little tequila, or pulque, or agavero, sitting by fireplaces, discussing art and poetry, and solving all the world’s problems.

So when George W. Bush was to be sworn in for his second term, we felt we could no longer live in the USA, and one year later, we moved to Pátzcuaro, lock, stock and barrel, with our two dogs and our minivan loaded to the hilt with everything we owned. Of course, having lived in a motor home for many years made this much less complicated than moving out of a house.

Unfortunately, during our two-year absence, much had changed. More and more gringos had discovered out private paradise, and all sorts of scammers had moved in. And then there were the drug dealers. The now-infamous Zetas were kidnapping people out of restaurants in broad daylight, and horrific crimes were being committed in Michoacán. During one particular weekend, 17 people were murdered in another town in the state, and the following Monday, we headed back to the USA, where crime was a little less unnerving.

The next few years were brutal for us. It was like living on an economic sine wave, where the ups kept being less up, the lows became lower than one could have imagined, and when the collapse of the housing bubble finally came, we again plotted to do the only thing that I could think of: Get the Hell out!

Weeks of research led us to this time select either Uruguay or Argentina as our destination, and with more research and the help of Expedia.com, I was able to secure two roundtrip tickets from Miami to Buenos Aires for under $1,000 – for both of us! I hit the “buy” button immediately, and the date was set: April 20, 2009.

Once again, we gathered together all of our belongings, taking stock of the assets in our jewelry business, and we launched our fire sale. Our plan worked perfectly. During weekly trips to the local flea market, we liquidated virtually everything we owned, saving the necessities for last, giving some of our best treasures to good friends, and whatever was left on the final day went to Mexican migrant workers. The most difficult task was to find a good home for our one remaining dog. Selling our car came last, and then we rode the train to Miami and flew on Aerolineas Argentinas off into darkening skies.

As luck would have it, one of my dearest friends in Miami was connected with this airline, and in spite of having probably the cheapest tickets on that plane, we ended up getting upgraded to Condor Class, where we were introduced to the hospitality of Argentina with some of the country´s rich Malbec wine, the vineyards of which thrive along the sunny Andean precordillera of Mendoza Province. We enjoyed a great meal, and after the second glass of Malbec, Julie slept through the rest of our pass over Cuba, and the storm-avoiding tour over Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina, but woke up in time to see our early morning approach into Buenos Aires. It is from the air, in darkness, when you can really grasp the immense size of greater Buenos Aires, one of the largest urban areas in the known universe.

One flawless landing later, we whisked through customs and immigration, then went directly to the nearest café, where we learned that croissants were called media lunas, or half moons, and we were able to enjoy the first of many a great cup of coffee, which are traditionally served with little pastries and a small glass of bubbly mineral water. As coffee addicts, we had indeed ascended.

By the time we had finished our first Argentine breakfast, and we had sent emails and Facebook messages to our friends and family that we had indeed arrived safely, the tourist information businesses opened up, and we soon found ourselves in an old hotel near the city center, with 20-foot-high ceilings and a caged elevator that required two trips to lift us and our luggage upstairs. We were right on one of the main arteries bisecting downtown Buenos Aires, where the added commotion of the Federal Police Headquarters across the street assured that we quickly got used to big-city noise.

We had arrived, and our big adventure had just begun. I will elaborate more on how we spent the next few weeks and then ended up in a quaint little abandoned beach town, La Paloma, in eastern Uruguay, close to the Brazilian border, where we could buy our beloved coffee by the kilo very economically.

Live your dreams!

Jamie Douglas

Photos by Jamie Douglas

I encourage you to write me at cruzansailor [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions or suggestions you may have. Disclaimer: I am not in any travel-related business. My advice is based on my own experiences and is free of charge (Donations welcome). It is always my pleasure to act as a beneficial counselor to those who are seekers of the next adventure.

Mexican Cuisine Gets Its Comeuppance

article from November 23, 2010
by Julie R Butler

Mexico’s food is finally getting its due, reports Tim Johnson of McClatchy Newspapers. ¡Órale!

According to the article, culinary experts say that “diners sometimes fail to appreciate the richness of a cuisine with vast regional variation and use of aromatic herbs and plants, nothing like the cheesy nachos and brittle tacos many Americans eat at restaurants.”

I’m no expert, but I have been saying this for years. The food I ate while in Mexico was astoundingly different from what is served up at countless restaurants across the United States, starting with a bowl of fish soup that I tried, even though I am not a big fan of fish soup, upon arriving at the Sea of Cortez for the first time ever just north of Santa Rosalía in Baja California. It was my first taste of how full of wonderful surprises Mexico could be.

And I will never forget that chicken with mole poblano I had somewhere along the Gulf of Tehuantepec one sweltering evening, sitting inside the front part of someone’s house that served as a small restaurant. Mmm – mole... I had heard about mole from a Mexican woman who explained to me with relish (no, not that kind of relish) how complicated and time consuming the mole sauce is to make, so I had to try it. Basic mole contains several types of chilies, nuts and seeds, tomatoes, Mexican chocolate, and spices such as cinnamon. Different fruits and many other ingredients that are often closely guarded secrets are added. Describing the flavor is like trying to describe what music sounds like to a deaf person – think William Hurt in Children of a Lesser God. Mmm – William Hurt...

Another fond memory I have is of the fish fillet a la Veracruzana that I had to try while we were in the state of Veracruz, in a little Mexican resort town on the Gulf Coast. It is an Italian-style tomato sauce with olive oil, garlic, onions, bay leaf, capers, and sometimes olives.

One of the biggest differences between the food in Mexico and what is served in the States is the cheese. Mexican cheese is either crumbly and somewhat salty, to be used sparingly, or something more like Jack or mozzarella cheese that melts better. And rather than the sour cream that gringos assume should be dolloped over everything (which is not to say that the stuff is not available at the store), heavy cream might make an appearance on the table.

Another difference is that the sauces are far more refined than what is served in the states. Different regions, of course, all have their specialties. And the point of all the different chilies is, for the most part, not to provide the hottest burn, but to endow their distinctive flavors.

So, while the impression of Mexicans is that everything tends to be over-the-top, as in giant hats and bushy bigotes (mustaches) and flashy clothes and exaggerated drama, underneath this boisterous imagery, there is plenty of room for variety and refinement and exquisite taste sensations.

Julie R Butler is a writer, journalist, editor, and author of several books, including Nine Months in Uruguay and No Stranger To Strange Lands (click here for more info). She is a contributor to Speakout at Truthout.org,
and her current blog is Connectively Speaking

email: julierbutler [at] yahoo [dot] com, Twitter: @JulieRButler