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Monday, May 19,
2003 They are also stepping up on cleaning up crime - for the first time ever they
are going to start rewarding and promoting for busts, hopefully this will cut
down on the Mexico sub-culture of bribery - Mexico's favorite past time. Believe
me, when I left Cabo San Lucas the "mordida" (the bite) was so
heavy to get my possession's outta there that after awhile all you would say
is "how many Coke's would you and your employees like?" ....then just
laugh because there was nothing else you could do! (it became about a $600 cultural
lesson by the time I got outta there...) Back to the squashing of criminals - so the big crime factions are now
splitting up, heading for the smaller towns to do their dealings, the funny
thing is all forms of contraband and illegal dealings are being gone after (including
littering...... buena suerte, try to collect from the locals - trash monsters!),
except! ...copyright infringement, which is and always has been the biggest
business here in Mexico. We have all seen the cartoon character rip offs over
the years - from Snoopy to Bart Simpson, Disney characters and now Bob Sponge.
Now that CD burners are so publicly accessible - families are burning cds and
selling copyrighted music for $1.50 per cd, dvd movies for $2.50, and software
programs with serial numbers for $5.00 each.
Funny, the new Mexico
campaign is "Family".... getting back to the church (non-political?),
family values.... etc. Yes it is true that Mexico always has been family oriented
(while the US and some other countries are "pet" oriented...), but there
has been an extreme effort ever since the action in Iraq that Mexico seems to
be trying to tell the world "we are family" !
Of course, if this
new wave of law enforcement takes hold, the new Mexico campaign might become
"bust the family" ! Then I will have to live off of internet MP3 downloads......(there
are no Best Buys in this country - everything is full pop + importation ...and
Amazon refuses to ship to Mexico!!!) In San Juan del Rio (20 minutes south of Queretaro), the very first
school was built adjoining the inglesia (church) Santo Domingo in the center
of town. There is a special ambience to the place, as well as a special character
that takes custodial care of the grounds and watches over the children - his
name is Jesus. He went to this school some 40 plus years ago and was probably
about 100 kilos lighter back then. Not much is know about him, but he greets
everybody who enters the school gates under his watchful eye and makes sure
nothing happens to the children as they leave or wait for their parents.
1:28
PM
Wednesday, May
14, 2003
Hmmmmm,
I thought all the holidays were over for awhile...... manana is "Dia de los
Maestros" (teacher's day) and believe it or not it is a 4-day holiday weekend
for them - of course they don't get paid much, so this is kind of a reward. The
government schools here really have very few materials, the classrooms have old
wooden desks, it is surprising how much can be learned here.
Some images of San
Juan del Rio... And since the mothers play the role of both parents in your average Mexico
home - this is their special day of tribute. Of course the mother of all mothers
in Mexico - the Virgin of Guadalupe, this is her special day as well, and we
all know of the people who make the annual pilgrimages to see her! Soooooo____
Mother's Day is like the most sacred day of the year down here. ** And remember, in Mexico, nobody can say nothing bad about your mother, and
if they do and you decide to beat them up or kill them the court gives you extra
consideration because somebody said something bad about your mother. Hey, even
the propane delivery drivers (that comes through your neighborhood 3 times a
day...) give mothers a discount on this most special day!
12:53
PM
Monday, May 12,
2003
We just survived
"Dia Day los Madres" (Mother's Day) on the 10th de Mayo.....the most overblown
holiday in Mexico - starts with serenades from midnight until dawn, alot of car
honking tributes (...its a Mexican thing - don't ask) ...an all day affair (and
so quiet in the daytime - you'd think it was a religious holiday). Mothers of
all classes and stature dress in their best this day, even women who working the
mercados or sweep the streets have that "special day" aura about them.
This is not
your basic Hallmark card day....
2:14
PM
Monday, May 05,
2003
It is SUMMER in
MEXICO..... not used to no playas... (lived in Cabo for 3 years) at least
there isn't much pollution out here - only the natural kind (burning of fields).
Still sometimes it really sucks to look out over a normally pristine green valley
and finding it difficult to see through the haze of the burnings. But Mexico
City is worse (worse than LA) is can tire you, make you sick and totally unable
to breathe....... ahhh, I love the place!
Time for Mexico's
number one medical remedy (as well as refreshing drink)... Coke
4:32
PM
Tuesday, April
29, 2003
Tomorrow is "Dia
de los Niņos" (Kid's Day).... need I say more?
2:08
PM
Friday, April
25, 2003
Well, the Mexican
touristas are finally getting ready to leave our town and head back to school
and work, leaving the local thermal waters behind until next time... but in
a few days will start the next wave of VACACIONES!!! ...with Kid's Day
(Dia de los Niņos), followed by the 1st of May celebrations (Dia del Trabajo)
and will wind down again with Cinco de Mayo - which isn't as popular here as
it is in Gringolandia! Then we get another week of work and then Mother's Day
hits.... and since this is the land that is really run by the Mother's, you
know how serious this holiday is (not just another Hallmark greeting card experience...).
So I will leave you
with a foto from the local mercado... a rainbow of flavors! VACACIONES! VACACIONES! VACACIONES! Yes, it is that time of year when
Mexico goes on vacation, families take off for who knows where? All I can say
is that it is a perfect time to go to D.F. (cuidad mexico) everything is nice
and uncrowded - or... less crowded than normal. From now until Mother's day
there are more vacation days in this country than work daze... Had the first hail storm of the year a couple days ago.... nice marble-sized
hielo (ice). The cockroaches are starting to come out of hiding... we are told
the sewers are infested! The other day I sliced open an avocado, came back a
couple minutes later and there was a 3" roach attaching it!!! ......and this
was in broad daylight!
2:45
PM
Monday, April
21, 2003
Ahhh, tecnologia.........
been unable to access my server for about 10 days now, a corruption keeping me
out (and this is Texas, not Mexico...).
More insect stories
as summer nears___ guaranteed! The non-political event was infiltrated by San Juan's local boy (PAN Party
President) Diego Ceballos, hmmm___ strange...
not a Mexican flag to be found anywhere??? (maybe it was on the truck with the
port-a-pots) A few political slip-ups, ahh... the ballenas (whales) rio - hmm,
where there whales in this river at one time? Maybe they meant bellas (beautiful)
river? Fortunately the speeches were kept brief.
3:57
PM
Tuesday, April
08, 2003
Ah, the seed of tourism
has been planted in San Juan del Rio, Queteraro! The dedication of the new "family"
park 'Paseo del Rio' along the San Juan river, nicely
covered in moss, sprinkled with styrofoam cups, plastic bottles, and an assortment
of decorative debris... Live music stages (big band vs pre-hispanic, jazz vs banda...),
food booths, baños (oops! they forgot the baños!!!) ...well there
are plenty of trees and there is always the rio (river), I guess.
The best part of
the day's event came as the sun set, copal smoke filled the air and the pre-hispanic
music and dance troupe "Piedra del Sol" (stone
of the sun) took the stage. The traditional Aztec group featured the Sanchez
hermano's (brothers) y amigos - wooded log drums, rock drums, tortuga shell,
rattles, flutes - great percussive sounds... nice way to end the day.
Escamole tacos y Indio cerveza... sounds buena?
11:46
AM
Thursday, April
03, 2003
ESCAMOLES... Mexico's
version of caviar (ant eggs) scoop them into tacos, have them as a soup with
part
of the egg nest brewing in your clay bowl. A normal 8" plate full goes for about
300 pesos ($30.00), but if you are like the people from the ranch (or mi cuñado- bro-in-law) you follow this certain type of black ant back to its nest and
start
digging, then reach in and pull out the nest (with ants swarming your arms).
Shake it out onto the ground, separate the eggs from the earth, then scoop up
the eggs
(and nest) and it is comida time! My cuñado prefers escamole
sopa
(soup)...
I
personally haven't had the privilege to try it yet, but I think my time will
be
coming soon (enough)!
...I really need
an "In-N-Out" burger!
3:27
PM
Saturday, March
22, 2003
Maybe by the time
you read this the US will be annihilating Iraq... how is this effecting all
of us Americans down here in Mexico you may be asking yourself? Well, first
off... since Mexico has decided only to agree "morally" with the US decision
(they have to because the US owns them...) the US is re-nigging on there promise
to keep the dollar low so the peso doesn't take a nose dive (thanks guys) -
sooooooooo, from now on I am only excepting payment in US dollars down here!
And since Bush's speech on Monday all banks have decided to no longer allow
new dollar accounts (so I'm lucky to have mine), peso only.
Probably the only
good thing I can see happening down here is that since the French are so wishy-washy
and now on the US shitlist, we are going to most likely see French products
dumped here in Mexico (the French have always been a good trade partner with
Mexico) - and at great prices! (time to stock up on brie!!!) I'm sure I'll have
more to say on this in the future - just waiting to hear the new import/export
border rules... (wonderful.....) It is a bit strange how funerals go down here... in less than 24 hours his
body was available for viewing, yesterday was a mass and the burial. Family
members are too in shock to cope with anything at the moment, I personally think
this is too rushed - but is the way things are done here. A family member was
out looking for a guitar to bury with him... that is cool, kinda symbolic. If
I didn't want to be incinerated I think I would like to be buried with a Gibson
SG and a Hiwatt amp! At the moment trying to find a new place to call home for my laptop... (need
that DSL connection) Pedro, really gonna miss you...
12:00
PM
Monday, March
17, 2003
Welcome to the "new/permanent"
home of our Mexico blogs... as usual there will continue to be new blogs added
two or three times per semana (week). If you have comments or questions you
can send them to: suenos@guajirodreams.com
and we will answer them as soon as humanly possible (in the land of flojos).
Well, time to hit the mercado for some herbal delights...
be back later in the week!
4:33
PM
Thursday, March
13, 2003
Been a bad week...
8:30pm Martes (Tuesday) a friend, and owner of the internet cafe I work out of
(until fucking Telmex releases some more phone lines in this town) was killed
in a head-on collision by some pendejos in a van. Pedro Olvera was an extremely
good-hearted person, he was always smiling and helping people, never asked for
anything in return for himself nor his family (a wife and two month old child).
I had seen and talked with him that day about 5 hours before the accident - as
usual he smiled, greeted me... he has been cleaning up and organizing the files
on the computers in the cybercafe for the past week (leaving things in order?).
Pedro doesn't speak a word of English, but with my poor Spanish and hand gestures
we got by with short conversations, then when neither of us knew what to say or
how to explain - we would both just smile, he would go back to his computers and
me to my laptop.
Take care amigo!
3:46
PM
Friday, March
07, 2003
Getting ready for
the weekend...... time to pick the nopales, one of
the basic main foods of people down here (besides beans, rice y tortillas).
Have them cooked and spiced in tacos, as a side dish, etc. ....and in the Summer
(so my consado / bro-in-law says...) you slice open one of the big leaves and
sear it on the BBQ then fill with a nice beef steak, jalapeņos, onions, etc.
and enjoy! The small tender leaves are quite costly in the local mercado, so
we grow our own (and it is legal...)
Provecho!
2:04
PM
Wednesday, March
05, 2003
Not much new going
on today..... working for a few hours then off to a birthday party for the neighborhood
girl who runs the Papeleria (stationary store in our neighborhood). Maybe I'll
post some fotos next time........
1:28
PM
Monday, March
03, 2003
Working hard with
the search engines today.... also trying a "Mexican
Remedy" for internal infections and pains... I'll let you know if it works
(or I survive by the end of the week). It's like adding sweet cough syrup to
a gourd full of bitter black seeds, you take a shot in the morning and one again
in la tarde. Hope to be back with more dreams............ in the future!
5:03
PM
Friday, February
28, 2003
Starting to get hot
here in the valley, gonna be a HOT SUMMER! The mercados are bursting with fruits
and veggies that pass through on the way north to Guanajuato or south to D.F.
(mexico city). Time to walk the town... be back after the weekend!
2:29
PM
Thursday, February
27, 2003
Time to go pick up
the best churros in San Juan..... be back Lunes with some more flavors of Mexico!
Have a great weekend...
7:41
PM
Welcome to our personal
thoughts, views and dreams (guajiro dreams) from deep in the milagro (or from
the heart) of Mexico. We will be adding comments a couple times a week and hope
that you will share your thoughts and experiences of Mexico with us as well...............
time to go feed the burro.
7:36
PM
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