We have our detractors and critics when it comes to our view of Mexico, sad really. Most of these have to be pseudo-intellectuals who are quite certain their opinions are more valid than everyone else’s – in truth such small minds at work.

“In the end, we are self-perceiving, self-inventing, locked-in mirages that are little miracles of self-reference.” — Douglas Hofstadter, I Am a Strange Loop

It is starting off gloomy here Saturday morning. We are having espresso’s and some Mexican pan dulce (sweet bread). We put on some Oscar Peterson; his Jerome Kern song book. And then some John Coltrane and Tadd Dameron – Mating Call (1956) – Music helps make Life Good behind my eyes. Things feel good south of the border this morning! Come and make your own decision. Stay Tuned!

Mid-morning today (Saturday) we scooted into Xico and beyond. We were hoping ultimately to go as far as Coatepec to buy bread and cheese.  But alas this was not to be.

Shortly out of Xico on the road between there and Coatepec we encountered a lot of traffic. It seems in some municipal manager’s infinite wisdom that Saturday would be a good day to repair the one-lane in each direction highway. My less educated sense for things relating to road construction would have thought a less busy day of the week might be better time to virtually totally disrupt the flow of traffic – I mean rather than when everyone off work that wants to go out to the store and whatever was on the roadway.

In any case the road was packed, backed up and pretty much rendered immovable. We scooted to the front of the line but were not allowed to go beyond. Then the rain started and continued. We limped into the Pemex gas station near the entrance to Coatepec to wait out the rain.

During the wait I noticed several fellows arrived on the scene with carpet bagger type satchels. Each was full of windshield wipers. Obviously these hombres woke up this morning or were already packed up for just such an event. When the rain comes out there will be many in need of windshield wipers.

Of course this makes perfect business sense. Top peso can be obtained when you can provide for a need like wipers during a persistent rain. If these hombres were selling rain ponchos we would have been in the market right then as well.

We thought it was very industrious and typical of the framework of marketing Mexican style. Providing basic needs on the spot makes terrific marketing sense.

Then we got to thinking, how would this work in the U.S.? If you attempted to sell in the street you would certainly need a permit. You would likely be run off competing with the more established businesses. If you were under 18 in states like California you would be forbidden from working at all without possessing a high school diploma – something I am pretty sure these hombres lacked.

To obtain a license and subsequent permission to sell you would most likely be required to carry some liability and casualty insurance. Hypothetically if a wiper you installed failed in some manner you would be sued – perhaps even your entire family.

If you offered any warranty you would have to post a bond and back it up in writing. Here in Mexico – they will tell you if there is any problem I am here on this corner often.

The U.S. is a complex quagmire in many ways. This direct Mexican marketing has not only charm but good sense attached to it. Stay Tuned!

Saturday night the guapa Senora Calypso and I bused into Xalapa. We took a cab from the main bus drop off to the Palacacio area in the central district. In this central area just a block or so up from the huge and magnificent  Palacio is Juarez Park  (Parque Juárez). The park is also magnificent being European like, cosmopolitan and old world all rolled up into one.

Mexican parks are lived in. They truly are a reflection the fabric of the society.

First about the bus. We opted to bus into Xalapa and take cabs to avoid driving at night in one of the wildest cities in the world to take on the challenge of driving. It is about $3 U.S. to get from Xico to Xalapa. Then we hired a cab to drive us to the Palacio in the central district. BEFORE you get in the cab ask the price – make your deal prior to entering the cab, period. In this case the fee was $1.60 U.S. (20 pesos).  This is typical for running around the city. We walked to a number of entertainment points from the Palacio. We returned home from near the Palacio to our door in Xico for 130 pesos + 20 peso tip – so 150 pesos (about $12. U.S.) to get home by cab. It is about 15 miles one way; we left home about 8:30 PM and returned at 3:30 AM – seven full filled hours.

While walking near the Juarez Park we heard some PA checks blaring out. “Uno, dos, si, si – Uno, dos, si, si.”  The sounds were emanating from down below the park near the Cultural Center building. We arrived there just as the setup was completed. Soon a local dance company put on a terrific show that included modern dance, flamenco and some traditional Mexican dance. This in celebration of the 31 year anniversary of the Cultural facility. It was excellent and an unexpected  treat.

Continuing  the walk in the area of Zona Centro, we found Callejón Gonzalez Aparicio. This is an entertainment and culinary delight filled area that is a bit hard to find. Essentially it is a two block alley that has small tables set up along one side. It is much like a street of small European drink and dinner places; some spots have upstairs balconies where people can people watch at second story level.

The atmosphere is hip, eclectic, and clean. We sat down at a compact establishment called ‘Cubanias’.  We had a beer and a glass of wine and watched people, until we got our second wind to hit more dance spots.

We continued walking along stopping to listen to some fusion music at the end of Callejón Gonzalez Aparicio near the “Irish Pub.” This is an interesting area not to be missed.

Our final club of the night was jammed packed with partiers. Apparently there are no body count restrictions for these public places. We stayed near the entrance to get some fresher air and have an early route of escape if a stampede occurred.

Being the usual shoulder and head higher than everyone else, looking the entire room over I saw nothing but head after head covering the entire perimeter. I can honestly report that if your hands were at their sides you would not have enough room to raise them to wave your arm to the blasting sounds of “The Black Eyed Peas.”I Gotta Feeling” This IS worth a look and listen – turn your system to 10 and ROCK! Think a mass of partiers jumping and singing to this.

I gotta feeling that tonight’s gonna be a good night
that tonight’s gonna be a good night
that tonight’s gonna be a good good night.

Tonight’s the night night
Let’s live it up
I got my money
Let’s spend it up

Go out and smash it
like Oh My God
Jump off that sofa
Let’s get get OFF

I know that we’ll have a ball
if we get down
and go out
and just loose it all

I feel stressed out
I wanna let it go
Lets go way out spaced out
and loosing all control

Fill up my cup
Mazal tov
Look at her dancing
just take it off

Lets paint the town
We’ll shut it down
Let’s burn the roof
and then we’ll do it again

Lets Do it, Lets Do it, Lets Do
and live it up

Here we come
here we go
we gotta rock

Easy come
easy go
now we on top

Feel the shot
body rock
Rock it don’t stop

Round and round
up and down
around the clock

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
Friday, Saturday, Saturday and Sunday

we keep keep keep keep on going
we know what we say
party everyday
party everyday

got a feeling
that tonight’s gonna be a good night

The fascinating thing is nearly everyone in the joint knew all the lyrics and sang them out – that is a lot of English. I have no idea if they knew what all these words meant – but the pronunciation around our area was amazingly accurate.

Now we are sure there are those of you regular readers out there wondering what an old guy like me is doing dancing the night away – well wriggling in the crowd is more accurate. A little aerobic exercise until three in the morning might be said. I have no answer or excuse.

Round and round, up and down, around the clock we painted the town. What can I say? Saturday night was a good night – a good night! And Sunday was a day of rest for this ol’ hombre.  Stay Tuned!

The extremes are anything but. The extreme low would be 42 F (5.5 C). The extreme high might be 92 F (33.3 C), no higher. A little heat system and a fan will provide complete comfort. Really 45F (7 C) to 88F (31C) are the common extremes if that makes sense.

We have had more than our share of rain and our share is quite ample (about 60” average a year). Most of the rain is monsoon type – so it comes in the mid to late afternoon. Monsoon rain is quick. A little disruption. But, we have had some serious rainy days in the last two months.

No weather is perfect. But it is darn close when it NEVER gets below freezing and is seldom reaching 90 F (32.25 C).

We caught these low clouds hanging just to the west of us. Good coffee growing weather. Do not worry about the humidity. It is here. We venture to say your skin will appreciate it. Like the rest of the weather it is moderate and of little consequence.

Looking West from our north facing porch. Cofre de Perote mountain looms in the background.

So if good weather is on your short list of desired conditions for a place to live – mark us down.

Last Saturday night Anita and I headed to Xalapa to catch a movie. We never got there. It was raining when we left around 8 PM. At the bus stop the rain got torrential for a time. We made it on the bus. A bus ahead of us had an accident between here and Coatepec blocking the road for several hours. We hiked back to San Marcos de Leon and took a cab home from there. We will try again tonight.

Life is truly an adventure around here. Stay Tuned.

Honestly most sales personnel here in Mexico must be shaken to be sure they are breathing. You have questions – forget about it. You best know what you want. If you want to know if they have something you better just look around the store. Chances are the salesperson has no idea whether the store has the item – no idea.

If you want a sale pitch you will have to wait for a street vendor to come by – there you can definitely get a pitch – but not in a retail outlet here in Mexico.

We have this cloud over our head with vehicles and parts to keep them running here in Mexico. Recall a while back the five month sage (that is months – not a typo) trying to get a part for our Ford Truck – we are not talking a Maserati or Jaguar here – a Ford truck!

We ended up buying a car in order to drive back to the U.S. to finally find the part. Part in hand it took 15 minutes to get the truck running.

Now our Chinese scooter is in need of a starter. Before you roll your eyes – we bought the scooter here in Mexico; and they are seen everywhere here in Mexico.

It is possible the starters are very reliable – but I doubt it. Yet no one seems to have the part. The prices quoted when and if they can get the starter are all over the map by a factor of at least 3. Of course the shop that quoted the best price (about 30% higher than the best price in the U.S.) would have to order the part and it would take about 20 days.

OK if you were wondering or accusing, we are unhappy and frustrated; and most of all missing Cruise Azul riding. We actually drove to Coatepec in the Jetta yesterday looking for the part and shopping.

The last two vehicles we have purchased were purchased in Mexico in order to have a better shot at local maintenance and parts availability.

We started working on cars early in life. Before we were old enough to legally drive we were under hoods and greasy. Early on I commented to my father, rest his soul, “One day I am going to know enough about cars to be able to fix everything about them myself.” My father’s reply and here I thought a good piece of wisdom, “Son, I hope one day you make enough money to pay to have someone else fix your cars.” I never forgot that and even passed the sage wisdom to my son.

A few times in my life I actually have had enough money to have someone else repair my vehicles. Enter the computer age. Cars got so complicated with computer chips and modules and a lot of engineering dedicated to keeping the weekend tinkerer out from under the hood. Do not even get me started about the special tools designed for one task.

Here in Mexico car maintenance is far more affordable than in the U.S. by a factor of 10 or so I would guess. But all good news usually comes with a caveat. In this case it is the aforementioned parts situation.

But there is more. Getting back to little Cruise Azul the Chinese scooter. The little scoot has no computer and I have tools. It is little more than fixing a lawnmower to keep it going when you can get the parts. All still the aforementioned rate of savings on vehicle labor caused us to attach ourselves to a moto mechanic here in Xico – Pepe.

Pepe started out very inexpensive. But as he got to know this gringo his fees seem to escalate. There was one constant charge that was beneficial or so we thought. An oil change for 100 pesos. That is about $8 U.S. including a liter of mixed synthetic oil – quite a bargain; so good that in spite of our having tools and knowledge to perform an oil change in 15 minutes, it still made sense to have the work done by Pepe. When you deduct the cost of oil, we are talking maybe $3.00 U.S. Why would we get our hands greasy or have to deal with a liter of used oil to dispose of?

The other day before the starter died we ran Cruise Azul across town to Pepe’s garage for an oil change. For the first time we decided to wait for the work to be done rather than leave the scooter and return later.

We watched as Pepe went about his work. Without getting too technical and losing most of our female readers the oil was changed incorrectly. It was drained from the wrong orifice thereby eliminating the cleaning of the oil filter. I watched in subdued horror realizing my little jewel was not receiving proper treatment. The 100 peso oil change suddenly was no bargain.

So now I have to tell my son new found wisdom. Be smart enough to work on your vehicles because no one will care about your ride as much as you do; and buy some tools and spare parts – you will need them.

I have a very smart younger Cousin who has aspirations of designing a car that meets two amazing criteria. The vehicle must get 100 miles to the gallon and be able to go 100 mile per hour. I hope this vision includes having 100% available spare parts and that 100 out of 100 people with tools will be able to repair the thing. It is Friday the Thirteenth. We had to get this off our chest. Stay Tuned!

Here in Xico, Veracruz, Mexico and from what we can gather other areas of Mexico, trash pick-up is very political. Currently we have a lame duck president of the municipal of Xico. The president of a Mexican municipal can be likened to a mayor of a city in the U.S.

The current president has been voted out. A new leader will be in place in December.  Here in Mexico foreigners by law are not to be involved in anything political. It is so stated in the Mexican Constitution.

OK this is fine with us. We are retired and past wanting to get in the mud of politics here or in the U.S. – anywhere really. But, no matter how much we strive to be away from politics, of course political issues  affect many aspects of our lives; some more visible than others. In this case highly visible garbage often builds up after the local elections.

Without getting involved, my understanding is the elections for the positions of Governor of the State of Veracruz and the president of the municipal of Xico were held on July 4^th of this year. The newly elected will officially take their positions December 1st. This is a five month gap between election and taking office if you are newly elected, not re-elected. That seems like a long delay – but then I am not getting into that.

Without  having a clear idea as to how all the politics works I can report on one of the results of a change in office at the mayoral level; or in this case here in Mexico, the president of the municipal. Each time this change occurs the garbage collection becomes trashy.

For example we have had one garbage pickup since we have returned from the U.S. We have been here for a little more than a month; so one pickup in a month. The people begin to burn trash including plastic soda bottles a couple weeks into no garbage pickup. The air often gets quite toxic if you happen to be in the smoke path of someone’s burning.

Apparently the garbage company and/or its employees are selected by the president of the municipal. Also it is apparent that this works to the financial benefit of said presidents. We hear unsubstantiated rumors that already the current trash removal personnel are losing their jobs.

Mean while the trash is building up in our neighborhoods. People in our barrio have been going to the local government complaining about the lack of garbage collection.

The fee when they do come and take garbage away is extremely reasonable – one peso per bag regardless of its size; that is 8 US cents folks, quite the bargain. We fill one very large black plastic bag. The bags are a bit spendy as trash bags go; not commonly seen here in the Hood. You can almost assume it is a gringo’s garbage if the refuse is enclosed in a big shiny black bag.

The collection of the few pesos is very sketchy. An hombre comes around very quickly looking for pesos (he is riding with the truck). We have watched the process; my guess is a small percentage of the small fee is actually collected. This means the government has to be subsidizing the cost; and therein lays the open door to corruption – a government funded process with little organization and less accountability; a golden calf for small government officials.

If you have been following the impoverished City of Bell, California’s governmental fiasco you may already know that the City Manager was making $800,000 US a year with a total benefit package that amounted to 1.5 million dollars – yikes. The base salary was twice that of the President of the United States! It seemed like quite a few others were on the take as well. HOW does something like this go on?

The backlash appears to include yet more laws. Stay with us here because this is where it gets real crazy: Assemblyman Hector De La Torre (Democrat – South Gate, CA.), author of a proposed measure titled AB 1955; “the California Measure would raise income tax to 50% for overpaid council members….”

So if we understand this right – the new measure would continue to allow such ridiculous income, but then the State of California would excessively tax the income in order for the state to get their cut! The world has truly gone mad.

To be fair the Measure also calls for open public sessions where the salaries would be exposed. You know those council meetings no one ever attends. The ones where when something hits the fan the pat answer is the public had an opportunity to attend the meetings. So we should all feel guilty for not having kept an eye on things. This while the proletariat is a two working family with maybe a third job to get by, who in their spare time should be attending these council meetings in order to reduce corruption.

This is not the kind of law that is going to stop the madness. When you have to create laws that essentially say DO NOT STEAL from the public coffers and create costly watchdog systems to keep elected and otherwise officials from stealing beyond comprehension – what does that say about mankind.

We are going to pull the covers over our head and go back to sleep now. Stay Tuned we will wake up eventually.

The bad news is these marvelous creatures relieve themselves approximately every 20 minutes. We are in a mostly country setting here at the Calypso rental. Much of the bird droppings go unnoticed other than the occasional splattering on our burgundy VW or the blue Cruise Azul Chinese scooter. The BIG white truck seldom shows any of these problems. With the vast amount of rain these problems very often cure themselves. (Note: Sunday we didn’t have rain at all – first day since our early July return from the U.S.).

The birds lead a charmed life here. It never gets to freezing; there are plenty of water, flowers, lots of bugs and blossoming berries. I mean to have a birds life here is nearly idyllic.

The aforementioned droppings are a small price to pay for the joy we receive from our shared space with the song birds. But, there is an additional situation or rather there was. The Calypso Casa presents a very safe area for the birds. We have no cats or dogs or any other predators to them. So they hangout.

The fly space includes right over our clothes lines where we sun-dry our washed clothes. You probably have already guessed what that problem is. We were re-washing a lot of clothes. A catch-22 situation wherein we do not want to discourage natures concert entertainment and yet….

We found a solution. We gathered up some spent compact disks; old obsolete software, errant recording attempts, scratched or otherwise unplayable media and remember all those free AOL disks? We then hung them on the line so they were free to spin catching sunlight, producing mirrored reflections that splattered about a yard.

Miracle of miracles we have had no more problems; the music remains. Nature’s musical pleasure no longer has an unhappy coda attached.

You might not be able to get away with such tom foolery as hanging spinning disks in your yard state side – but then you might not even be allowed to hang your wet clothing in the sun. Here it is no problemo.

This solution did come with one small problem. Our neighbors were keeping a watchful eye and opening our casa to allow some air to flow through while we were in the U.S. for 5 weeks. One night during a full moon our neighbor was alarmed when he noticed some lights flashing at our place. He came charging over only to find the moonlight was spinning off our laundry line solutions.

Last night which brought me to write about all this, there was another situation. I was out at the cars and noticed something running in the field. It stopped me in my tracks. I stood still and silent. The figure continued to dart back and forth amongst the tall grass.

I was almost decided to go and get a flashlight. Then I noticed the darting ‘animal’ was syncopated with a spinning CD hanging from the clothes line. It wasn’t a full moon so the reflected light was quite subdued – fooled by my own doing

So a good tip is to let your neighbors know what you are up to; and to not forget yourself. But the better tip is to not only recycle those otherwise useless little silver platters by using their energy to keep from having to re-wash your clothes. Win-win I would say. Another energy tip for you from those environmental crazies the Calypsos. Stay Tuned!



Washing the Grass Down with a Little Milk (ENLARGE HERE)

It is Sunday so we are being lazy. A few minutes ago this young lady, 4 years old was being exercised across the road from us. She is a beauty!

Looks like blonds do have more fun! (ENLARGE)

(ENLARGE HERE)

(ENLARGE HERE)

Time for a Grass Break (ENLARGE HERE)

All this entertainment and we don’t have to buy hay   A tranquil day for horsing around.  Stay Tuned!

The Front of La Imperial

Friday we visited the Panaderia about 9:30 AM. Señor Francisco Colorado Valdivia’s two sons Arsenio and Pedro as well as Tio (Uncle) Cristiano were busy preparing pan in various shapes; some containing queso (cheese), some in cupcake forms, some with sugar,  sandwich muffins, and of course bread rolls. No room or time for loafing here.

Two Sons and Uncle Hard at Work

For more than 25 years the Valdivias have been making baked goods for the Xico area. If you drive north up Javier Mina past the Cathedral San Jose at the end of the road on the left is La Imperial. This bakery is just three blocks from our casita. We are frequent visitors.

At the Hearth of the Matter

The showroom is small. Baked goods are efficiently displayed. One needs to get in the store between noon and four to get a good selection; the Valdivia’s baked goods go fast. Additionally, their product is sold by about 15 tiendas in Xico including a few in Ursulo Galvan. Señor Valdivia personally delivers baskets of pan to the tiendas.

The Showroom

Moving to the baking area, the first thing that catches your eye is the wood fired oven. The fire within me burns bright for these ovens. Most wood ovens in Mexico are of the black variety. Black ovens are heated by burning wood in a chamber and the food is cooked in that same chamber alongside the fire while it is still going, or in the heated chamber after the fire and coals have been swept out. In our bakeries case the pastries bake while the flames smolder. We noted wood being added while the baking process was going on.

Getting Fired Up – Almost Ready to Bake

The wood used for the oven is exclusively coffee plant limbs. The thin pieces of wood are delivered by a contracted supplier. Arsenio made a point of telling us the wood is acquired legally.

These ‘Viking ship’ like Baking Paddles are Amazing

Like much of Mexico’s commercial kitchens you will not find OSHA approved conditions. We hesitated to ask about health inspections as this time tested establishment’s products speak for themselves, that we are guessing is the standard of measure. We have enjoyed a lot of La Imperial’s products with no adverse affects and a lot of pleasure.

The oven with its narrow opening goes back deep within; note the long oar like poles used to place pastry into the 26 tray capacity chamber. We watched Pedro skillfully place and occasionally turn the trays. Baking time is short at about ten minutes for most of the 35 or so varieties of baked goods. Señor Valdivia explained the cooking chamber of the masonry oven gets to as much as 220 degrees Centigrade or 428 degrees Fahrenheit. A mere one and a half hours of baking time completes the daily production.

Señor Francisco Colorado Valdivia

There are no proofing cabinets or refrigeration boxes. Two floor mixers, a dough cutter and a couple of triple beam scales are the total compliment of equipment other than a lot of trays and some baskets.

We watched Arsenio remove a hot rectangular pan containing oil with some folded well used cardboard ‘hot pads’. Moving the hot smoking pan from the oven to the work table where pastry was dipped and then swiftly twisted to form rings of dough.

Mexican Hot Pads

Arsenio Doing the Twist

Freshly Baked Goods Right Out of the Oven

By 11:30 Monday through Saturday Mexican pan is ready to sell. As they say in the commercial, “Nothing says lovin’ like something from the oven!” If you are in our area the trip up to La Imperial Panaderia is worth a visit. Bring your purchase three blocks further to our casa and enjoy an espresso cafecito with the Calypsos. Stay Tuned!

Yesterday we had a surprise visit from the little foal. She seems to be growing fast with quite the personality. Mom is tethered across the roadway.

It is a mystery as to how the lot across from us gets occupied by horses, or burros, or goats? We have been told the lot belongs to someone in Mexico City. First come, first serve?

The little one is allowed to roam free assuming she will not stray far.

This assumption may not be totally accurate. Oh we are mere feet from mom, but the little one has been seen in the street around the corner and in other places of some distance.

Like children around here she is quite safe. Neighbors watch for her. We do keep an eye on the little chamacos who love to throw rocks at each other and at the occasional animal. More than once we have run out to halt the pelting of a burro or goat across the way.

The owner showed up across the street. It was obvious the foal knew her owners as she scurried back from our place. The dueño (owner) and  his young son were horseback. The little fellow made a valid attempt at feeding his fingers to the little foal.

It is different finding a horse in your yard; albeit a very small one. We are monitoring her growth, and enjoying her visits.

Tomorrow a visit to our local wood fired oven bakery. Stay Tuned!