Adventures in Mexico

When my kids were young we used to go camping in eastern Oregon. One of our favorite places to camp was Wallowa Lake. The lake was beautiful, there was an eagle's nest nest very near the lake, and deer would come up to the tent looking for food in the morning. But after the first few years we noticed a gradual change in our experience. It became harder to reserve a campground, the lake got noisier with motor boats and skiers. The eagles disappeared, the deer became more aggressive. Then one...

When I first moved to Mexico six years ago I was struck by what I thought of as the "two Mexicos." There was the Mexico experience of most tourists and expats -- beaches, bars, and restaurants. Then there was what I thought of as the "real" Mexico, the every day world of the Mexican nationals I worked with. Those two worlds are very different, but also the separation is not as black and white as I once thought. And, like all of reality, there are plenty of grey spaces in between (although...

I was talking to the Bank of America fraud division the other day. How sad is this: the BOA fraud division's 800 number is saved to my Skype list and is one of my most used contacts. I have other friends, really I do... I was talking to the fraud division because even though I've told them many times that I live in Mexico, I still occasionally have a purchase declined because I am using my card in Mexico. Apparently the advisory that they put on your credit card account, the one that says you...

I've always thought that one sign of maturity is the ability to accept ambiguity as a natural part of life. Unfortunately I have to say that I'm not very mature, despite my 63 years. I have always had trouble dealing with things that don't make sense. The problem is that the longer I live the more I realize that things often don't make sense. Especially in Mexico.I was thinking about this the other day as we drove down a "new" stretch of highway 200, the coastal highway. We were staying in a...

I received an email from my friend Shelia when I returned to Mexico from Walla Walla, asking if I had made it home safely. A few days later she emailed that she was surprised that I hadn't started packing immediately on my return to Mexico. She was sure that as soon as I returned I would be doing my best to convince Terry to move to Costa Rica or Belize or even back to the U.S. When I left the U.S. in early September I was feeling very disheartened about the future of Mexico and about my...

We were at dinner last night with a group of expats who live here full time. Conversation turned to laundry.The day had been nearly perfect. The morning was cloudy, as usual, but the sun was out by noon and despite a few clouds lingering around the nearby mountains, it didn't look like rain.So what did this group of intrepid retirees do on the first sunny day in weeks' Laundry, of course. I'm sure there were renegades in the crowd who headed to the beach. They would be those lucky few who own...

When we were in Oaxaca in June we had enough time to visit a few places outside of the city. One place we visited was Monte Alban, site of an ancient and very advanced Zapotec civilization. The other was Mitla, once a very important, if smaller, Mixtec site. The differences in decorative architecture (is that a word') are quite obvious, once they're pointed out to the casual observer (i.e., me).When we went to Mitla we joined a tour that also included Teotitlán and El Tule. El Tule is the...

Until I moved to Mexico I never thought much about the police. They were just one of those government services like fire departments and libraries, only with a little more power and more potential for doing bad things. Any organization with guns and the ability to put people in jail is going to attract a few bullies, but I do believe that with proper oversight and selection polices a police force can be a contributor to stability and harmony in any community. In the perfect society, the...

When I'm in Walla Walla I sometimes read the local newspaper, the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin. It's ok as small town newspapers go. I usually skim through it in a few minutes, looking for names of people I know. A few days ago there was an article in the paper about local elections. The local elections in Walla Walla held no interest for me, the same people who always run were running again. Last year the ballot was more interesting, with people like Spaceman and Mike the Mover running in...

When I'm in the U.S. I always tune my car radio to the local Mexican music station. It seems odd that I do that here, since I seldom listen to the radio when I'm in Puerto Escondido. When I lived alone in Zihuatanejo I sometimes listened to the local radio station, to help with my Spanish. But now when I work on my Spanish comprehension I listen to recorded books or watch telenovelas. So why do I listen to Mexican radio in Walla Walla' Because it sounds like home. We hear radio and music...