A beautiful Sunday here in Xico, Veracruz!
Causes me to think of this:
When you do something noble
And beautiful and nobody notices
Do not be sad.
For the sun every morning is a beautiful sight,
And yet the greater part of the audience
Still sleeps. – John Lennon
Disfruta del día y tomar el tiempo para oler las rosas.
And Stay Tuned!
We are starting to like this fellow Enrique Peña Nieto. He certainly has managed to give a perception of being a fair administrator. Peña Nieto is the third Mexican president we have lived with since our moving to Mexico.
Here is a true story: A few weeks ago a snotty young woman was displeased that she was not given preferential treatment at a popular restaurant in DF (Mexico City).
It seems Andrea Benitez Gonzalez tried to get a table at one of Mexico City’s hottest restaurants, Maximo Bistrot, during the Friday lunch rush, even though she didn’t have a reservation.
When the staff refused to give her the table she wanted, she threatened to call daddy and have the place shut down. Benitez’s father happened to be the head of Mexico’s consumer protection agency, Humberto Benitez Treviño.
The restaurant refused her pushy methods. Benitez then made a call and soon inspectors from the Procuraduría Federal del Consumidor, or Office of the Federal Prosecutor for the Consumer (PROFECO, for short), arrived and alleged that Maximo Bistrot had violated rules regarding reservation policies and the labeling of some of the mescal they served.
The daughter, now operating on a full head of steam, reported on her Twitter account the complaint about the lousy service she was receiving at Maximo Bistrot.
This however backfired when Twitter participants turned on Benitez. As the news broke, other online commenters dubbed her “Lady Profeco.” Benitez’s face was depicted in satirical cartoons that imagined her calling her father and demanding that he shut down humble taco stands and ice cream vendors.
Soon, Mexican columnists and the general populace were all a twitter discussing the entitlement culture of the Mexican rich and, in particular, the powerful elites connected to the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, to which Andrea Benitez’s father belongs; as does our President.
That criticism apparently came to the attention of Mexican Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong. On Wednesday he announced the firing of Humberto Benitez at a news conference. Osorio Chong declared that although the father “didn’t order or participate in” the incident, Peña Nieto was still letting him go because the case had “tarnished the image and prestige” of the agency.
According to Chong, “With this decision the president of the republic sends a clear message to all of the public servants of the republic … that we are obliged to act in an ethical manner and absolute professionalism.”
You gotta love it! I wonder what restaurant Senorita Benitez is eating at this week – and if they serve crow? Stay Tuned!
We were off the air – Internet wise – for 48 hours. The harshest aspect of which was missing the last 15 minutes of the Players Golf Tournament. After streaming four days of non-stop golf, with but 15 minutes left on Sunday all hell broke loose here. 
We had a MAJOR thunderstorm that included wind, rain, and hail in violent combinations. The storm was quite something, and it took the entire 48 dark hours before I did find out that Tiger Woods was victorious. I should not have been too surprised about that. The undeniably greatest golfer that has ever lived is back in astounding talented form regardless of what might be said about his conduct otherwise.
Could not watch the quarter finals where my Cruz Azul futbol hombre’s were victorious in defeat (lost the game but won the match - on to the semi-finals!). During that same period we lost all contact with the news about Ariel Castro, the IRS debacle, the Benghazi attack debacle, the military sex-capades debacle and such.
Catching up one has to wonder just how many debacles can a President get into at any one time.
Being without Internet in an otherwise news deprived developing country can be a blessing however – at least in short doses. It seems there are just about as many spin-doctors out there as there are lawyers.
I will just say this about Ariel Castro: while I understand the not-guilty until proven ideal, but if that man does not hang – there is no justice; and he is guilty we need not argue that issue any longer. The so called justice system in the United States really scores a black-eye on this one including the fact that a good responsive local police force might have ended this monsters reign of terror several years earlier.
I know John and Jane will argue the point, but I think there is no time like the present to take that scumbag out back and put a bullet in his head. And by the way, a neighborhood watch can be a wonderful thing in the right hands. Stay Tuned!
Mexico wins hands down on being colorful. The United States quite simply pales in comparison. This holds true all the way to its currency.
The new 50 peso bill has been in circulation for about a week. It has a variety of new security features to discourage forgery. Among these are a two-tone butterfly printed on a see- through window. In addition the new bill has touch sensitive reliefs located on the portrait of Jose Maria Morelos, on cannons, on the lettering “Bank of Mexico” and “Fifty pesos” and the numbers 50. It has micro inscriptions and surely is a difficult bill to forge. By the way the old bills remain legal tender, also with an image of the hero Morelos.
The New Peso Bill JUMPS OUT at You – (See a complete Viewing Here)
Of late exchanging ‘greenbacks’ for pesos has been disappointing; we are not getting as many pesos for dollars as in recent past. Major expenditures are of course majorly affected.
Currently $1000.00 U.S. dollars will buy you about 12,000 pesos. This has varied in exchange rate by as much as $160 U.S dollars or slightly more than 15% over the last few years. Quite simply the economic vagaries of living in a foreign land – which we now call home, so let us not even get into that discussion. We roll with the punches and the pesos.
In the what-have-we-been-doing department. Household stuff including making a new screen for my office window (my wood-working skills are – well – marginal).
Last night had dinner with our Internet partners and wonderful neighbors John and Jane.
Taking into account that expats are a strange breed here in Mexico, we feel lucky to have actually found a really together couple. This is not to say they are not eclectic – far from saying that – there is just some good chemistry between the four of us. Two X music professionals; you might imagine the simpatico.
John and Jane introduced us to a new restaurant in Coatepec. It is located in a facility that we had been to before this current rendering. It was very good and will be featured in a future restaurant review.
The weather has improved, although it has reverted back to being on the cool side with threatening gray looming out-of-doors. At the moment the sun is out on this fine Sunday morning. Happy Mother’s Day to the moms north of the Rio Bravo. Stay Tuned!
Lucky for you readers I suppose. My head is now in loftier places.
I had a real bitch session blog entry in the works this morning. Living in Mexico has some very confusing situations thrust on this poor gringo. You dear readers are only subjected to but a few of the many complaints registered via blog entries that never see the light of the Information Highway.
Of course much of value of said complaining is the catharsis of simply putting pen to paper (or in this case tapping out a collection of words via my computer system – venting away – steam emanating from my brow.
This morning’s complaints are filed away and now we write about a brighter note(s). While seeking short-relief from my consternation, I visited my daughter’s Facebook ramblings discovering this rather interesting story. Interesting enough that the author received a Pulitzer Prize back in 2008 for the very story I am about to share.
As a social experiment The Washington Post columnist Gene Weingarten, asked the famous violinist Joshua Bell to don a baseball cap and play as an incognito busker at the Metro subway station L’Enfant Plaza in Washington, D.C. on January 12, 2007.
The experiment was videotaped on hidden camera; of the 1,097 people who passed by, only seven stopped to listen to maestro Bell, and only one recognized him. UTube link here.
For his nearly 45-minute performance, Bell collected $32.17 from 27 passersby (excluding $20 from the passerby who recognized him).The night before, he earned considerably more [average ticket price $100 usd] playing the same repertoire at a concert.
You might recall back in March one of my grousing commentaries wherein I detest being force fed “street” entertainment (or lack thereof) [Read “Just Say No” Here].
So here is a world class violinist in a subway strumming on a 3.5 million dollar instrument, playing one of the most intricate musical pieces ever written, that is chiefly ignored – because what – we don’t take the time to smell the roses, or we just cannot grasp that there could be an opportunity for fantastic entertainment actually being made available in a subway?
From that ‘experiment‘ it is suggested we consider our perceptions, taste, and priorities. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?
We are asked to consider “If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?”
Frankly I could easily explain away why such a ruse suggesting it has little to do with my pace in life or my musical appreciation – but then that’s just me; remembering that this all started out as a total bitch session. And now I feel better thanks to my daughter’s Facebook ramblings and links.
Now my attentions from complaining have been diverted to enjoying listening to the great musical talent of Joshua Bell by way of a CD I have titled, “Short Trip Home.” This not exactly Carnegie-Hall stuff as well; but it plays to my eclectic musical tastes.
Have a GREAT day! And please Stay Tuned anyway.
Around here in our Xico Hood Mother’s Day is regarded as significant; if not the most, important holiday of the year.
Here In Mexico, Mother’s Day is always celebrated on May 10. Mother’s Day in the US is always on the second Sunday in the month of May. So this year: Mexico celebrates this important holiday on Friday, May 10th and the United States celebrates on Sunday May 12th.
Mothers Day in Mexico is celebrated in a colorful fashion with flowers and sweets. Families gather together to eat, drink and celebrate mom.
Children honor their mothers and thank them for their efforts in bringing them up. According to a custom in Mexico, grown sons and daughters come to the family home on the eve of Mothers Day on May 9.
So this is fair warning and supplying not one but two opportunities, my son – to write or call your mother!
As for the rest of you hombres and mujers – if you are lucky enough to still have a mother alive, something we personally do not, remember mom – perhaps the most important job, and well worth remembering always as well as celebrating Friday or Sunday!
Stay Tuned!
Yesterday we had one of our our local fiestas, including a religious ceremony up at the top of the driveway. Photos taken on our calle (street) and from my office window.
Our 2013 Capilla at the Top of the Road
A Closer Look
The Local Padre Delivers a Message
Religious Memorabilia was Blessed
Actual Clowns were seen on the “Clown Car Calle”
Here is some interesting history on this particular celebration which is more celebrated than Cinco de Mayo round these parts. In fact it is well established that Cinco de Mayo is more popular in the U.S. than in Mexico – go figure on that one.
May 3rd processions of singing people [pilgrims], messages voiced by priests, adornments for capillas with crosses and disco fiestas occur throughout towns, cities and villages of Mexico. You will see people decorating crosses along roadsides and on mountaintops to honor and remember the Holy Crosses. All over our country thousands of crosses in streets, parks, cemeteries churches and capillas are visited and decorated each year to honor the cross on which Jesus was crucified.
This celebration of the cross is particularly tied to construction workers, which virtually every hombre in our Hood is at least in part vested.
Today few are aware of the story behind 4th Century’s Flavia Julia Helena, Saint Elena, and her place in the course of the history of Catholicism. As the story goes:
It was Santa Elena, who linked the stone masons and concrete workers with The Cross during the 4th century. Elena’s story is that of a strong, resilient “today’s woman”. She was in her 80′s when she made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to supervise the building of temples there.
During a time of intense and rapid change in the Roman Empire, the life of Elena unfolded to reveal her sphere of influence as concubine, mother, empress, architect, builder, archaeologist and adventurer.
Elena started to become known as “the architect” for her work supervising the building of churches for her son, the Emperor Constantine. For the first time in history, Christians were being allowed to worship openly and to gather without fear of imprisonment. In her convert’s religious zeal, Elena began selecting and procuring sites, funding and supervising churches in Rome. Even the land for the original St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome was purchased by Elena and the first church there built by Constantine.
The story of Elena’s discovery of three crosses on May 3rd is well known in Greek and Latin literature. Some of the most famous of all scholars, Socrates, Sozomen, Theodoretus, Ambrose, Paulinus of Nola reported her search. In the 4th century works by Sulpicius Severus and Rufinus again told her story, and she was the subject of Cynewulf’s most celebrated poem, the 9th century “Elene.”
Elena had been hoping for some time to find the actual Holy Cross. Her construction work was often behind schedule, as she took stone masons and construction workers from the churches they were building to dig and search for the cross under her direction.
On the hill called Calvary or Golgotha, the site of Christ’s death, Elena and the Bishop of Jerusalem, St. Macarius, were preparing to build the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher.
A local Jew named Judas (Saint Judas Cyriacus) suggested that three centuries of debris that had accumulated over the hill and the caves be removed. Judas believed that they would find the cross near the cave where the body of Jesus had been laid, based on the custom of burying the weapons of execution with the victim.
Elena ordered the excavation, convinced that the temple to Venus and Jupiter constructed in 135 A.D. by Emperor Hadrian had been built largely to divert Christians from their pilgrimages and from their searches for the tomb of Jesus.
During the excavation, the remains of three crosses were found in a cave, along with the nails used to crucify Jesus and the placard from the cross of Jesus, declaring him “King of the Jews.” According to tradition, to determine which was the cross of Jesus, a prominent local woman dying of leprosy was brought, and allowed to touch each of the three crosses on succeeding days. When the woman’s lesions were instantly cleared, they knew which the True Cross was.
When Elena gathered some of the larger pieces of the cross to take back to Rome and Constantinople, some of the pieces remained in Jerusalem with Bishop Macarius. On Elena’s triumphant return voyage, her ship encountered extremely rough seas and storms. When the boat was in imminent danger of being destroyed and sunk, she threw one of the nails into the waters, calming the waves instantly.
It was Elena’s discovery of the actual Cross of Jesus that earned her the title in death of Santa Elena (Saint Elena); which is the namesake for many pueblos in Mexico including one near Puerto Escondido.
Celebrations for The Day of the Discovery of the Holy Cross La Santa Cruz on May 3rd ceased in all other countries of the world when Pope John XXIII removed the feast day from the Catholic liturgical calendars in 1960. The Pope intended to focus attention on the celebration of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross celebrated on September 14.
But Mexico resisted the cancelling of the holiday. Most of the rest of the world adhered and obeyed the wishes of the Pope. But in Mexico, the construction workers union had long been celebrating the Day of the Holy Cross as their special feast day. Those hombres were not about to give up that celebration. The people of Mexico demanded to keep the tradition. The Mexican episcopate made applications to Rome to keep May 3rd. The faith and desire of the Mexican construction unions won. Rome wisely agreed to allow the popular celebration, thus avoiding a difficult and unpopular fight.
The party went on into the night around here in spite of a lot of on and off again rain, which around these parts will not dampen the party spirit. Today will surely be a day of rest; or do they still have more partying in them – we shall see. Stay Tuned!
Every May around Ursulo Galvan, our small pueblo 12 miles southwest of Xalapa, Veracruz, there is a celebration for a tiny capilla that is situated just at the top of our driveway (northwest corner).
Last Year’s Hiking Up – of the Arco at the top of our driveway
We have covered the celebration here in the Blog a few times over the last 7 years. It includes more than a week of preparation and sprucing up of the little building. A fancy arco has been being worked on for a couple of weeks. It will be placed in front of the small capilla soon.
Inside the little shrine replete with alfombra (colored sawdust carpet)
By now you would think we would have all the pomp and circumstance figured out – writing it off as another Mexican religious tradition steeped in Catholic symbolism. And indeed there is that. But watching this event unfold each year, as well as just what the small religious temple facilitates the rest of the year, just leaves us scratching our heads.
Right now as I sit here at my desk and office window I see local ladies adorning said capilla with a bolt or two of red cloth. The little women stretch for all their worth to attach the cloth in appropriate places…sorry I ran out to loan them a step-ladder – I’m back now.
Earlier in the day I was asked to relocate my truck, the Jetta and our scooter which we park along our wall out on the dirt road in front of our property. I call it “The Clown Car Road” because I am consistently amazed at the number of people that come up to, and go down the crest of that road (adjacent to the capilla). There are but a few houses beyond ours on this roadway; and yet there are literally more than a hundred people that traverse that path daily. Where? Where do they all come from and where are they going?
And here is the real oddity – we have the same clown car road in front of our house in Puerto Escondido. The road also ends just a short way beyond our house. On that road our beach house is actually at the top of the road. And like the one here I am amazed at the number of people that pass by and go down that little remaining stretch of road – amazing! Two clown car roadways.
Back to the capilla. Different people are arriving with flowers now. There are a few juntas (meetings) – a group of three here another of four there; and that is pretty much a full house in that little shrine – they along with the three crosses. Around the perimeter several small children run around poking at amigos and running their hands along the walls to see if the fresh paint is in fact dry – this time it is. But indeed down that mysterious road there are several children with paint stained paws.
Our local sociopath opens her door and BLASTS her music (calling the stuff she listens to that to simplify it all here). She and her children appear in their open front door to see if anyone is noticing them. The young boy decides to do his homework in the doorway – do not want to miss anything don’t you know?
Every now and then a couple of the main players step back and out from their work to look, as if to admire, or to question just how is this all going to look. Then back to work. I think they appreciated the loan of the step-ladder – but that is something you can never quite be sure of either.
All this plays out as one might expect; how a little community religious shrine event would unravel. What is confusing is the rest of the time for the little shrine. Several dogs have a particular corner of the framework that they love to pee on. While I have been watching a series of bloated bladder canines over the years mark that spot, or add to the markings, I have yet to ever see anyone attempt to admonish this behavior. I mean it. I have even seen the grand Papa look on as one or another fiendish four-legged hound lifts a leg to that very same corner of the little shrine. I guess one might applaud the live and let live nature of these people. But it does seem slightly disrespectful to the little religious center.
Also during the balance of the year after the festivities there is seldom, I mean hardly ever, a visit by an hombre. Only the occasional drunk that has spent the night on the cool cement in front of the crosses. There is the occasional chimaco talking on his cell phone. Apparently the reception right there is very good – I did mention it is on a bit of a crest. Many young girls and a few not so young spend quite a bit of time on their cell phones right there at the little shrine. Some cross themselves with their free hand as they enter the capilla whilst yakking away – it is after all a religious shrine.
Because many of these folks have 20 humans or more living on postage stamp lots and tiny block houses, they congregate at the capilla to get a breath of air. We have seen several young girls parade around looking down the road in hopes they catch an eye – sometimes we have become aware of just who they are looking out for. They go from this to feeding their new babies on the steps of the little capilla.
That brings us to another activity that seems to be part of the capilla experience – romance. Whist the shrine symbolizes the immaculate conceptions at Christmas time and the three crosses all the time – there is other conception going on – none of it is immaculate I can assure you. If you live in a casa where family is piled in like so much cord wood, the capilla and its elevated altitude become Xico’s Mulholland Drive – romance abounds! When we return from our 6 months at the beach we police the area disposing of chonies and panties left behind as well as spent sperm bank donations. We are not sure if these ‘wild childs’ are crossing themselves, but at least some we know are taking unwanted pregnancy precautions – yes we can attest to that.
I’m sure as the spirits of inanimate objects goes the little capila appreciates the current attention. Still we wonder whether the people will pick-up ALL the trash that they have scattered about since Christmas. The other day while picking up candy wrappers and school papers and tissues from our drive leading down from the little capilla there was a crowd of the faithful waiting around for a meeting to commence. As I was picking up paper I headed up to in front of the capilla picking the trash from there. Not one person bothered to put out an effort to pick up a paper. They stood as if frozen in time waiting and waiting. There I was scrambling around tugging the occasional wrapper protruding beneath a shoe or sandal.
When we first moved here we felt rather lucky to have this little religious shrine attached to our property – kind of a sign of good luck; now we are not so sure. Somehow the entire celebration has lost some of its charm for us. Go figure. Stay Tuned!
To Own A Piece of Paradise!
Back in the first few days of April there was a rumor that got my attention. More on that in a minute.
For many months I have been working on and off on a book about buying real estate in Mexico.
Here one might think that the process or processes involved are relatively static – but that is far from the truth. In the thirteen years or so that I have been looking at buying property in Mexico, there have been many changes to the rules and process.
Articles and books written as recently as 2010 already contains inconsistencies due to the ever changing rules and regulations; just three or four years past. And current events promise to add to the confusion and misinformation.
We purchased our first property in Mexico 8 years ago. We now own three properties here. One of which is in the zone in where foreigners are not allowed to own land in their name. This is part of the Mexican Constitution; the origin of which is 1917.
The aforementioned rumor came out so close to April 1st that I was quickly convinced it was nothing more than an April Fool’s joke. The story was supposedly spawned by a real estate agent somewhere in northern Mexico. A fellow Blogger had commented regarding speculation of possible Constitutional changes essentially eliminating the restrictive laws that prohibit foreigners from owning land 50 kilometers from coastal boundaries and 100 kilometers from Mexican border lines. The Blogger wrote the following (emphasis mine):
I have NO personal knowledge of this but according to a real estate person posting on the local forum, it has been done, [the new law] just has to be posted in the, ” Diario Oficial de la Federacion”.
Quote from their posting:
“The Mexican Congress has approved a major change to the law that will become known as a milestone event in the history of legislation regarding property ownership in Mexico. As of now, the bank trust requirement for foreign ownership of property within 50 kilometers of the coast and 100 kilometers of the border has been removed. Foreigners can now own residential property with non-lucrative purposes in the area known as the “restricted zone” directly, without putting the property in a bank trust.
The dragon has been slain.
The parliamentary group, directed by Manlio Fabio Beltrones Rivera and Gloria Elizabeth Núñez Sánchez of the PRI, and Raúl Paz Alonzo of the Pan led this effort.
We give an enormous Thank you to the group that made this possible.
In my opinion, this historic change will open the doors to foreign investment, bringing juridic[al] security to the investor.
This change will be effective the second day after publication in Diario Oficial de la Federacion. We will try to have an English translation of the news article soon.”
Wow – as suggested “This historic change will open the doors to foreign investment….” I got excited.
But, after much effort I was unable to find any confirming information on this. The next day the same Blogger that had supplied this information came back with this:
“Sooo funny this morning on that forum the real estate agent is backpedaling rapidly, saying he “misread” his info. yesterday when he said it had been passed. People were not so dumb and went hunting for info. and found out it had NOT been passed. Got to love these local forums.”
False alarm – excitement dramatically abated.
I had already alerted several friends on the good news – only to have to go back and correct my shared misinformation.
Now yesterday all this speculation and misinformation transformed into at least partial truth. An article in The Wall Street Journal:
Mexico’s lower house votes to change 1917 Constitution
The bill now goes to the Senate and could pass this month
Land rights would be recognized only for residential property
By Laurence Iliff (Wall Street Journal)
MEXICO CITY–Mexico’s lower house of Congress voted on Tuesday to change the Constitution to allow foreigners outright ownership of residential property in the so-called prohibited zone–within 50 kilometers (32 miles) of the coastline and 100 kilometers of its international borders–with the goal of drawing more second-home buyers and retirees from the U.S., Canada and elsewhere.
The proposed change to the 1917 Constitution doesn’t affect the prohibition on commercial property in the coastal and border zones. The ban was originally intended to keep U.S. expansionist intentions in check nearly a century ago.
The vote in the Chamber of Deputies was 356 in favor and 119 against, which was more than the two-thirds needed for a constitutional amendment. The ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, was joined by the conservative National Action Party, or PAN, in sponsoring the bill.
The bill now goes to the Senate. It could pass by the time U.S. President Barack Obama visits Mexico on May 2, or could be held until the next session of Congress in September, several lawmakers said, adding that the bill has a good chance of passing in the Senate.
Proponents of the bill said that it would spur tourist-oriented investment, drawing U.S. baby-boomers as they head toward retirement, along with Canadian “snow birds” who spend part of the year in warmer climates. Lawmakers opposed to the measure said it would hand over Mexico’s sensitive natural resources to foreigners.
Lower house representative Gloria Nunez of the PRI said in an interview that it’s time Mexico gave legal certainty to foreigners who want to buy real estate, but who are wary of the current system that forces them to use bank trusts or put their properties in the names of Mexicans.
“We have a big problem here in Mexico in that we have not given legal transparency to foreigners,” which has created a climate ripe for fraud, Ms. Nunez said. The lawmaker represents the state of Nayarit on the Pacific coast that is one of Mexico’s hot spots for Americans and Canadians looking to buy near the beach.
Opponents of the measure said that it was the first step toward opening up other economically sensitive resources to foreign ownership, specifically Mexico’s plentiful crude-oil reserves.
Representative Socorro Cesenas Chapa of the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution, or PRD, said in an interview that the amendment would open the door to further changes in the constitution, such as the privatization of the oil industry and public lands on the coast. “Under no circumstances can we allow this initiative to go forward,” she said. “It’s a form of privatizing our coastlines.”
Write to Laurence Iliff at laurence.iliff@dowjones.com
And similar information appeared in The Washington Post (READ HERE).
OK so we are still a ways away from the early erroneous declaration, “The Mexican Congress has approved a major change to the law that will become known as a milestone event in the history of legislation regarding property ownership in Mexico.” Not there yet. Now we will wait on the Senate’s vote.
But, yesterday’s news is a revelation we hope gets to fruition. Already there is speculation that the change will increase tax revenues and perhaps cost current Fideicomiso property owners some substantial dough. All remaining to be seen. Taking away prejudicial laws has to be a step in the right direction.
I will reserve my excitement and elaborations on how this might affect many foreigners until the senate does ratify this change, or not.
Stay Tuned!
Below is the restaurant check. Not the Calypsos expenditure, rather number one son’s.
Said son has not been seen face to face for a couple years. We have not been to his country in a couple of years. He has not been in ours since he was about 15 years old; now closing in on the ripe old age of 23.
His father often chides him about the lavish expenses to survive in Los Angeles. In retaliation he emailed the above restaurant tab from MAREA FISHERS Restaurant in Mexico City.
He Skype’d us from the eatery yesterday afternoon. And later sent the bill which includes 6 oysters on the shell at 114 pesos or $9.50 usd; a shrimp cocktail at 98 pesos or $8.00 usd; king crab Chicago at 778 pesos or $64.30 usd; four margaritas at 78 pesos each or $6.50 usd. Total bebidas (beverages) 304 pesos or $25.00 usd. Total alimentos (food) 990 pesos or $81.81 usd for a grand total 1294 pesos or approximately $106.00 usd. A bit more spendy than what we see here in Xico or in Puerto Escondido.
I did see ‘live’ the large plate of crab legs at the table via Julian’s iPhone. Sixty-five dollars for a big plate of crab legs seems excessive – anywhere. The rest of the prices are about what one might expect in the big city – any big city. And what is the Chicago part of the crab dish – Do they have king crab in Lake Michigan?
So son is a mere three and a half hours away – but alas we will probably not see him until we are in Las Vegas in the summer.
The weather: It is 54 degrees Fahrenheit at 7 AM this Sunday morning – in a word – COLD! For a couple of beach bums that have not seen anything below 70 degrees for 6 months, this is brutal. Señora Calypso and I agreed we would not return this early in the year next year – just too darn cold.
Stay warm and STAY TUNED!