. . . see that doggie in the window

Since I moved to Mexico 6 1/2 years ago I have sought out and found several opportunities to serve the local Mexican population.  I was on the advisory board of the Ajijic Women's Co-op for a couple of years.  In addition to lending my advice on business practices I was in charge of the micro-loan program.

Last year in February, my friend Susy and I started a program called "Old Ladies Helping Old Ladies".  We collect donations monthly from our friends and acquaintances of money, clothing, household items that aren't wanted, etc. to give to Casa Corazon, the homeless women's shelter in a neighboring village.  Our goal is to provide funds to run the shelter and pay for a meal served on Saturdays to about 50 homeless (or inadequately housed) Mexicans.

As the homeless in the US, these women only show up when they need a shower or it's raining or cold outside, and of course for the Saturday meal.  Unless I go out to the shelter on Saturdays to help with the meal prep, I don't see a lot of results of the work I do.  It's very slow progress to make a positive change.

Recently I heard that there was going to be a 3-day, free spay and neuter clinic in another neighboring village.  I signed up as a volunteer to do anything that needed doing.  My Spanish is composed of phrases and sign language as I can't string a lot of sentences together quickly.  So for two of the three days I worked in the surgical area, which is right up my alley.

The little village of Santa Cruz let us use the local meeting building and even hooked up additional electrical plug-ins dropped from the tin ceiling.  And the local women provided lunch for us too--not that we had much time to eat or even stop for bathroom breaks.

We had two vets in from Mexico City as well as several local vets from the Lakeside area and Guadalajara give of their time.  Donations collected ahead of time paid for most of the materials needed such as tranquilizers, anesthesia, antibiotics, suture material.  The county government kicked in hotel and meals for the visiting vets as well as some material.  The rest of the material needed like tarps covering the cement floor, plastic to cover the surgical tables, towels/newspapers/cardboard for the recovery area, exam gloves and a whole host of other items were donated by the community or the working volunteers.  It's amazing how much stuff is needed just to cut off testicles!!  (No jokes about two bricks).

We opened the doors at 8 am to a crowd of people and pets.  By the time the last animal was awake and on it's way home the time was mas o menos 6 pm.  Then the clean up began to be ready for the next day.

This is the intake area--owners with their dogs and cats.  Surprisingly, we had few problems with the interaction of animals.  Although, we did have to muzzle a few dogs as they were aggressive to either us or other dogs.  In this area a form was completed showing the owner's name, address, dog's name and age/sex.  A strong vet student then stood on a digital bathroom scale with the pet in his arms to weigh each animal for Dr. Bob (our local, retired US vet) to calculate anesthesia.



This is the prep area where pets were given a short-term tranquilizer.  When the  animals were asleep their foreleg was shaved.  Two animals at a time could be worked on.



Dr. Bob (in the red shirt and hat)then injected anesthesia into a vein.   When the animal was fully asleep the area to be surgerized was then shaved by vet students from Guadalajara and a small vacuum was used to pick up the hair. Disinfectant was then used to clean the area.  When a surgery table was free they were transfered to the surgical area.

 

Here Dr. Abram from Mexico City is spaying a female dog.  The organs of dogs and cats are nothing like a human.  Animals reproductive organs are more like a long tube in the shape of a "U" with an ovary at each end.  The babies are lined up all along the tube (we had a few pregnant animals).  The uterus veins, arteries and vagina were tied off, cut, then the organ was removed.  The abdominal muscle was then sutured followed by closure of the skin with sutures.  They are cleaned of any blood, sprayed with a disinfectant and moved to the recovery table.

With males it's much less involved.  A very small slit is made in the scrotum (if a small animal) or at the base of the scrotum.  The testicles are then squeezed and pop up through the slit (I know this sounds horrible but because testicles are soooo slippery, it really is the best way, and results in less trauma to the area and less post-op pain to the animal than digging around in there).  The  connective tissue is retracted, the veins, arteries and tube to the prostrate is tied off before being cut and the testicles are removed.  If the slit is in the scrotum there is no suture required--just a spray of  disinfectant and they go to the recovery area.  If the surgical opening is just ahead of the scrotum, then sutures are placed, disinfectant sprayed and they are off to recovery.

Because male animals were easier and quicker to neuter, I really preferred to see them come in.  That way we could see more animals in a day and affect the animal population even more.  Surprisingly, there were actually a few men who brought in their males--but mostly it was the women who brought in the animals.

This is the recovery area where the critters were given an antibiotic shot and tattooed on the inside of their rear leg.  This was done to identify that they had  been neutered for any future vet's information.

Sometimes, when everything was running very smoothly in each area, we would have 12 animals recovering together.  We tried not to put the sleepy cats next to the dogs that were waking up.  Dogs wake up pretty quickly like 1/2 -- 1 hour after surgery, but cats take much longer.  We had one young cat that was still asleep after 4 hours.  We had to rub her vigorously and I ended up carrying her and jiggling her  while working the surgical area one-handed.  But that was how everyone seemed to be working.  We helped each other and worked as a pretty good team.


We even had one local vet who would carry his animal to recovery, clean up his own table and plop his used instruments into the sterilizing tub (nice when two of us were sometimes aiding 5 vets and helping in recovery).  He was a fast surgeon and a heck of a nice guy--I'd welcome him back any time!


We also grabbed a few street dogs if they came into the reception area to visit the other dogs.  One was a very skinny, little mutt with toenails about 1-1/2 inches long that had curled back into his pads.  He had evidently, at one time, been kept in a very small enclosure or tied up on a short rope and wasn't able to keep his nails worn down.  His feet were infected and swollen; he hobbled along the street looking for something to eat.  Dr. Bob gave him anesthesia to cut his toenails, we neutered him and pumped him full of antibiotics. One of the volunteer ladies took him home to fatten him up, clean him up and socialize him with her dogs.  I called her yesterday and he is doing much better and will make someone a good pet when he's put up for adoption.


When everything was totaled up, we had sterilized 175 animals over three days with the majority of them being done by the two visiting vets.  No wonder we all went home too tired to eat and fell in bed exhausted.


This was, by far, the most gratifying volunteering I've done since living here.  Our work is effecting not only the lives of the pets we saw, but also the lives of the owners.   No more baby dogs or cats to feed when it's sometimes difficult to feed the kids.  The dogs will be less aggressive, no roaming the town to get hit by a car or out of control donkey cart and they will be healthier.


What a great opportunity I was given to be of help.  I plan to work the next clinic planned for this summer.  I only hope I survive it!

What ARE we doing . . . . . . ?

I have been following a wonderful blog for the past year or so--http://sprinterlife.com/. I was especially moved by a recent post, so I asked permission to lift it in it's entirety and repost here. This is NOT an original post by me!


Pacific Ocean Trash Vortex

JANUARY 27, 2012 BY TREE 48 COMMENTS

 9 300StumbleUpon7

I’ve been wanting to write this post for a while. Recently  a lot of people on Facebook posted photos about this issue, so I figured it was a good time to build on the inertia.

Please reshare this post on Facebook so we can spread the awareness of this problem.

After arriving in Huanchaco 4 months ago I noticed that every day the ocean would wash up enormous amounts of plastic garbage onto the beach. Every day local workers would show up to clean the tourist beach, but the north and south remained littered with debris. It was clear to me that this waste was coming from out at sea, but why? And where was the source?

After doing some research I discovered that our Pacific Ocean is in serious trouble. The problem was much worse than I could have possibly imagined. That got me wondering how many other people know about this? So here is what I found when I looked under the covers…

There is a “plastic soup” of waste floating in the Pacific Ocean and it is growing at an alarming rate. Maybe you heard it was the size of Texas? Yes, it was at one point. But now scientists believe it covers an area twice the size of the continental United States, and is still growing.

The vast expanse of debris – in effect the world’s largest rubbish dump – is held in place by swirling underwater currents. This drifting “soup” stretches from about 500 nautical miles off the Californian coast, across the northern Pacific, past Hawaii and almost as far as Japan.

Charles Moore, a former sailor, came across the sea of waste by chance in 1997, while taking a short cut home from a Los Angeles to Hawaii yacht race. He had steered his craft into the “North Pacific gyre” – a vortex where the ocean circulates slowly because of little wind and extreme high pressure systems. Usually sailors avoid it.

He was astonished to find himself surrounded by rubbish, day after day, thousands of miles from land. “Every time I came on deck, there was trash floating by,” he said in an interview. “How could we have fouled such a huge area?”

Mr Moore, the heir to a family fortune from the oil industry, subsequently sold his business interests and became an environmental activist. Back then he warned that unless consumers cut back on their use of disposable plastics, the plastic stew would double in size over the next decade. It’s far exceeded that prediction.

Most debris consists of small plastic particles suspended at or just below the surface, making it impossible to detect by aircraft or satellite. Instead, the size of the patch is determined by sampling.

The “soup” is actually two linked areas, on either side of the islands of Hawaii, known as the Western and Eastern Pacific Garbage Patches.

The Garbage Patch formed gradually as a result of marine pollution gathered by oceanic currents. The gyre’s rotational pattern draws in waste material from across the North Pacific Ocean. As material is captured in the currents, wind-driven surface currents gradually move floating debris toward the center, trapping it in the region.

So what are the sources of pollutants:

In a nutshell, we are the source.

About 20% of the junk is thrown off ships or oil platforms. Ship-generated pollution is a source of concern, since a typical 3,000-passenger cruise ship produces over eight tons of waste weekly, a major amount of which ends up in the patch.

The other 80% of the garbage comes from land-based sources.

Rivers carry garbage out to sea, which then makes its way into the patch. Currents carry debris from the west coast of North America to the gyre in about six years, and debris from the east coast of Asia in a year or less.

Pollutants range in size from abandoned fishing nets to micro-pellets used in abrasive cleaners and includes everything from footballs to kayaks to Lego blocks and carrier bags. Plastic cans, bottles, toys, bags, cups, balls… you get the picture.

You name it, and it’s in there…

The biggest problem is our addiction to plastic.

According to National Geographic, more than 200 million tones of plastic are produced each year, of which about 10% ends up in the oceans.  And once plastic is made, it NEVER breaks down.

All of this plastic in the ocean is having a devastating effect on Marine life.

This statistic is grim—for marine animals, of course, but even more so for humans. Why? Because just like the marine life, we’re now ingesting plastic toxins constantly.

Plastic has made it’s way into the food chain.

All sea creatures, from the largest to the microscopic organisms, are, at one point or another, swallowing the seawater soup instilled with toxic chemicals from plastic decomposition. The world population is eating fish that have eaten other fish, which have eaten toxin-saturated plastics. In essence, humans are eating their own waste.

Facts:

267 marine species are affected by plastic garbage already.

All sea creatures are threatened by floating plastic, from whales down to zooplankton.

We are the last in the food chain, and we are definitely experiencing the consequences of our actions.

You could take your blood serum to a lab right now, and they’d find at least 100 industrial chemicals (INSIDE OF YOU) that did not exist in 1950.

If that doesn’t deeply disturb you, then you have your head buried in the plastic.

What we can do:

As sad as it is, this is such a monstrous problem that it will be very hard to stop and reverse the damage. Our world is addicted to plastic. But here is what you can do to try and help.

1) Although recycling makes only a small impact, everyone should do it, period. And more importantly, we need to push for and support more robust recycling programs, because right now they are pathetic.

2) Stop using plastic.  That’s the only way we can eliminate all the toxic products that harm the animals and us human beings. This is clearly easier said than done. Not using plastic is currently impossible, but each person CAN reduce plastic use.

To make the biggest impact, minimize your consumption of bottled water, bottled soda, and plastic bags.

3) The BIGGEST thing we can do to help this problem is make the transition to biodegradable plastics. Biodegradable plastics will decompose in natural aerobic (composting) and anaerobic (landfill) environments.

The biggest challenge here will be getting the plastic companies like Dupont to transition tobiodegradable plastics. That is about as challenging as trying to get the oil companies to pursue clean fuel alternatives.

As with many of the problems of our day, this one seems hopeless. I hate to leave a blog post in a pessimistic light, but to be honest with you, I am losing faith that enough people will evolve the consciousness required to fix these problems fast enough to make a difference. 

Let’s hope I’m wrong.

TREE

Some interesting links:

- http://www.plasticoceans.net/

- http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/08/090820-plastic-decomposes-oceans-seas.html

- http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/oceans/pollution/trash-vortex

Some good videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5y1W5xduiE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7rNYzSH-BA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta8HaHP_9rE&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrAShtolieg&feature=related

Drug Prices in Mexico

I wonder if the drug companies in Mexico aren't in bed with the government who is supposed to have the welfare of it's citizens in mind when it passes legislation. Let me tell you why I think things are strange here.

In Mexico, the government regulates the maximum price a pharmacy may charge for any drug. This price is stamped into the end panel of the drug packaging. When traveling in Mexico, one sees signs at most pharmacies that advertise their discount prices—anywhere from 10-80%. This mostly ends up being around 40% discount on name brand drugs and 60% on generic drugs.

For example, today I bought a pain medication called “Dolac” (I didn't ask for it by it's generic name—really stupid of me). The maximum price was 199 pesos for 10-10mg. tablets. After the discount, I paid 123 pesos-or 38% discount. In US dollars that was about $10, or $1 per 10 mg. tablet.

Now if I had bought 20 mg. tablets, the maximum price for a box of 10 would have been 398 pesos—or twice the price of 10 mg. tablets. You see, in Mexico, the price is determined by the mg. not by the total number of tablets. In the States, if you by a 10 mg tablet for, let's say, $1 but want a 20 mg. tablet, you will probably pay around $1.20 or less per tablet. That's because the cost of the drug that includes manufacturing and R&D costs, packaging, shipping and profit for the retailer doesn't go up very much between a 10 mg tablet and a 20 mg. tablet. Total costs would only increase by a very small percentge for the bigger mg. tablet. So somebody is making a killing in the drug business (read that drug manufacturers and legislators) in Mexico.

One more example: I bought a bottle of pain killers called “Tramadol".   A bottle of 50-50 mg. capsules was 70 pesos but I paid the discounted price of 42 pesos or $3.40US.  I bought a blister pack box of 10-50 mg. tablets priced at 298 pesos but only paid 119 pesos or $9.60US. So somebody is making a killing in the drug business (read that drug manufacturers and legislators) in Mexico.

The other thing that greatly increases the cost of drugs in Mexico is packaging. Almost every drug is only available in blister packs and in small quantities. I believe the major reason is that typically a poor Mexican will only buy enough of say, an antibiotic, to treat himself until he feels better (I won't even go into how this practice promotes the breeding of super-bugs). So he will buy one or two doses of a drug at a time. Blister packs facilitate the ability of the pharmacy to accommodate the purchase of less than a full box of a drug. Packaging is certainly making a difference in price but I find it hard to believe that the difference between $.06US a capsule and $1US a tablet as in my “Tramadol “ example above, is all because of packaging costs. And I have found this practice to be true in all eight of the Latin American countries I have visited.

I have been lucky to find the drug I take every day for high blood pressure packaged in a bottle of 100 tablets. So far I've found that this packaging for this drug is only available from one manufacturer. I pay around $3US for 100 tablets; when I was buying this drug in a blister pack, I was paying about $7 per 30 tablet box.

If the legislature has the power to control the maximum retail price of drugs, why have they set the maximum so high? Even the discounted price charged by the pharmacies is much higher, in many cases, than the prices in the U.S. The price of drugs in Canada is much less than in the States. And yet Mexico, with it's minimum wage set at about $6US a day and a great many of citizens living in true poverty, has essentially higher drug prices than the U.S. I think something stinks!

But then, I'm obviously naïve about the ways of government.

Driving At Night in Mexico

Here's another darn good reason to never drive at night in Mexico

Expert Analyzes Mexican Security Issues

Taken from "The Guadalajara Reporter" Sept. 11-17, 2010

International media reports on Mexico's war against the drug cartels tend to paint extreme pictures that are out of sync with the nationwide reality, according to Latin America law and security expert Ana Maria Salazar. "Some versions indicate that the country is falling apart at the seams while others proclaim that Mexico is safer than Canada."

The country's current security situation cannot be defined in generalized terms. Salazar insists it must be viewed in distinct local contexts she describes as "different Mexicos," with the understanding that the crime status in any particular place is subject to radical changes that may occur unexpectedly. She pointed to recent surprise spikes in violence that have rocked northern Mexico, particularly in Monterrey and the state of Tamaulipas.

Salazar addressed the topic of security in Mexico as the guest speaker of the lakeside branch of Grupo Financiero Multiva. The conference, held at the Hotel Real de Chapala, drew a large audience of expatriates on Sept. 8.

Salazar's impeccable credentials of law and security issues in Latin America include stints as judicial attache at the US Embassy in Bogota, Colombia, a White House policy advisor under Bill Clinton, and deputy assistant Secretary of Defense for Drug Enforcement Policy and Support at the Pentagon. Now based in Mexico City, she is a respected media pundit who moderates the current events blog "Mexico Today" and hosts "Imagen News".

Her talk began just hours after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went on record drawing a troubling parallel between the current level of violence linked to Mexican drug cartels and the narco-insurgency that plagued Colombia 20 years ago. Based on her experiences in Colombia during that critical time, Salazar downplayed Clinton's assessment. She doesn't see signs that traffickers here are employing systematic strategies to gain political clout in the way that Colombian drug lords did by infiltrating the country's legislative branch and targeting innocent civilians in acts of violence.

Many of Salazar's listeners chuckled or nodded knowingly when she wondered whether salacious stories breaking north of the border had prompted frantic calls of messages from concerned friends and relatives back home, often punctuated by the worried question "What the hell are you doing down there?"

Discussion of Jalisco crime statistics--indicating a comparatively moderate crime rate--gave some backup to a seemingly prevalent "why worry?" attitude among local expats. For example, data compiled by the independent security think tank ICESI show an incidence of 8.2 homicides per 100,000 Jalisco residents during 2009, a figure comparable to most US cities. In addition, the state's homicide rate is currently about five times less than it was just over a decade ago.

While acknowledging that the overall lack of consistent and reliable data makes it hard to accurately gauge the country's crime and security status, she pointed out that news reports have created a misleading perception that the current murder rate is stratospheric. In fact, available figures point to an average homicide rate similar to that of 2001.

In Salazar's view, Mexico's crime scene is not likely to improve much over the next several years. However, on a note of optimism, she suggests that reforms of the country's judicial and law enforcement systems promise substantive improvements over the long term.

Her security advice for local expats is to find a proper balance between an outright disregard for personal safety and excessive paranoia. Noting that persons who take reasonable precautions have little reason to live in fear, she stressed. "Mexico is safe if you act safe."

The LONG drive to the States

My friend Susy and I just got back from a shopping trip to San Antonio, TX. Two days to drive there, three days to shop and two days to drive back home.

I didn't take many photos as I was busy shopping but I did get two interesting shots. There are many shredded tires along the Mexican cuotas. Most 18-wheelers run recapped tires on all but their front wheels. The recaps are notorious for blow-outs, which we witnessed on one occasion. I always wondered what a tire looked like after the recap peeled off on the highway.
Well, we saw such a tire in the back of a tire truck.

I find the geology of Mexico to be surpisingly varied and interesting. Especially the mountains of the Sierra Oriental around Monterrey. In the pass between Saltillo and Monterrey are many pallisades (flat topped horizontal cliffs) emerging from the upper sides of the mountains. The particular pallisades that are of interest are vertical! They look as if massive forces pushed up and crinkled the rocks. This photo would have been better if taken early morning or late afternoon (and perhaps I'll get a chance one day) to capture strong side-lighting to show the "wrinkles".

Tourist Trip to Michoacan

My friend Susy and I recently took a 3 day "tourist" trip to Michoacan. We've been to this state southeast of Jalisco many times, but usually to look for new artesania or artists. This time we decided to see some sights like tourists.

Here are some atypical-colored street dogs resting under a truck.

This is another one for my Mexican Moments file. If you run out of room on your sign, just keep going on the next line . . . This sign is advertising "Coctel de Frutas con Chantilly" which translates, "Fruit Cocktail with Whipped Cream".

In the middle of a very small village we found a church with it's altar wall of gold. It was very dark inside the church, hence the poor quality of the photo, but it gives you some idea of it's splendor. We were told that the local priest was caught stealing gold from the church, so now there is someone to watch over the church day and night. When we were there a woman was sitting in a pew reading a newspaper, but keeping a close eye on us.

In the plaza of this same tiny village we found a carnival with children's rides. This old truck really stuck me as something special. I can image hours of fun to be had by kids riding around and around in circles.

In the churchyard of the Growing Christ (A statue of Christ was taken out of it's glass coffin to be cleaned and when it was returned it no longer fit. The foot portion of the coffin was extended about one foot to accomodate the growing statue.) we found these very old olive trees growing. I imagine they were planted back when the church was built in the mid-1500's. Their trunks were large around and looked like cork, with spindly growth at the tops.

Chicken or the Egg?

It just dawned on me today that I have given up caring about some things since I retired. I've given up caring about which came first; the chicken or the egg. I've given up trying to find out something that I don't have a chance of figuring out before I die, so why bother. Am I depressed or just pragmatic? Maybe I'm just tired, feel I'm without purpose and fear getting old . . .

House Hunting

I've decided to look for a new house to rent. With housing prices finally falling and the low season in full swing, many properties are for rent and negotiating is possible. The owners of my house are going to retire and move here, perhaps next year, so it seems that now is the time .

I've always liked La Floresta; in fact I lived in lower LF when I first arrived in Mexico. The cobbled streets are wide and in pretty good shape. And lots of trees, which I need to keep my body temperature down. I've found four houses which I will look at later today and report back. If I decide to move I am willing to sign a one year lease and if the landlord and house are really wonderful I'll sign a five year lease after trying the house for the first year. I don't want to move but I want THE house that I can stay in until I die. Of course, that's what I found with my Eichler in Portland and then I moved here . . .

Another Perspective on Mexico by Linda Ellerbee

One Journalist’s View By Linda Ellerbee taken from the Banderas News

Sometimes I’ve been called a maverick because I don’t always agree
with my colleagues, but then, only dead fish swim with the stream
all the time. The stream here is Mexico.

You would have to be living on another planet to avoid hearing how
dangerous Mexico has become, and, yes, it’s true drug wars have
escalated violence in Mexico, causing collateral damage, a phrase
I hate. Collateral damage is a cheap way of saying that innocent
people, some of them tourists, have been robbed, hurt or killed.

But that’s not the whole story. Neither is this. This is my story. I’m a
journalist who lives in New York City, but has spent considerable time in
Mexico, specifically Puerto Vallarta, for the last four years.

I’m in Vallarta now. And despite what I’m getting from the U.S. media,
the 24-hour news networks in particular, I feel as safe here as I do
at home in New York, possibly safer. I walk the streets of my Vallarta
neighborhood alone day or night. And I don’t live in a gated community,
or any other All-Gringo neighborhood. I live in Mexico. Among Mexicans.
I go where I want(which does not happen to include bars where
prostitution and drugs are the basic products), and take no more
precautions than I would at home in New York; which is to say I don’t
wave money around, I don’t act the Ugly American, I do keep my eyes
open, I’m aware of my surroundings, and I try not to behave like a fool.

I’ve not always been successful at that last one. One evening a friend
left the house I was renting in Vallarta at that time, and, unbeknownst
to me, did not slam the automatically- locking door on her way out. Sure
enough, less than an hour later a stranger did come into my house. A
burglar? Robber? Kidnapper? Killer? Drug lord?

No, it was a local police officer, the “beat cop” for our neighborhood,
who, on seeing my unlatched door, entered to make sure everything
(including me) was okay. He insisted on walking with me around the
house, opening closets, looking behind doors and, yes, even under beds,
to be certain no one else had wandered in, and that nothing was missing.
He was polite, smart and kind, but before he left, he lectured me on
having not checked to see that my friend had locked the door behind her.
In other words, he told me to use my common sense.

Do bad things happen here? Of course they do. Bad things happen
everywhere, but the murder rate here is much lower than, say, New Orleans,
and if there are bars on many of the ground floor windows of houses here,
well, the same is true where I live, in Greenwich Village, which is
considered a swell neighborhood — house prices start at about $4 million
(including the bars on the ground floor windows).

There are good reasons thousands of people from the United States are
moving to Mexico every month, and it’s not just the lower cost of living,
a hefty tax break and less snow to shovel. Mexico is a beautiful country,
a special place. The climate varies, but is plentifully mild, the culture
is ancient and revered, the young are loved unconditionally, the old are
respected, and I have yet to hear anyone mention Britney Spears, Lindsay
Lohan, or Madonna’s attempt to adopt a second African child, even though,
with such a late start, she cannot possibly begin to keep up with
Anglelina Jolie.

And then there are the people. Generalization is risky, but—in general—
Mexicans are warm, friendly, generous and welcoming. If you smile at them,
they smile back. If you greet a passing stranger on the street, they greet
you back. If you try to speak even a little Spanish, they tend to treat you
as though you were fluent. Or at least not an idiot. I have had taxi drivers
track me down after leaving my wallet or cell phone in their cab. I have had
someone run out of a store to catch me because I have overpaid by twenty
cents. I have been introduced to and come to love a people who celebrate a
day dedicated to the dead as a recognition of the cycles of birth and death
and birth — and the 15th birthday of a girl, an important rite in becoming
a woman — with the same joy.

Too much of the noise you’re hearing about how dangerous it is to come to
Mexico is just that — noise.

But the media love noise, and too many journalists currently making it don’t
live here.

Some have never even been here. They just like to be photographed at night,
standing near a spotlighted border crossing, pointing across the line to some
imaginary country from hell.

It looks good on TV.

Another thing. The U.S. media tend to lump all of Mexico into one big bad
bowl. Talking about drug violence in Mexico without naming a state or city
where this is taking place is rather like looking at the horror of Katrina
and saying, “Damn. Did you know the U.S. is under water?” or reporting on
the shootings at Columbine or the bombing of the Federal building in
Oklahoma City by saying that kids all over the U.S. are shooting their
classmates and all the grownups are blowing up buildings. The recent rise
in violence in Mexico has mostly occurred in a few states, and especially
along the border. It is real, but it does not describe an entire country.

It would be nice if we could put what’s going on in Mexico in perspective,
geographically and emotionally.

It would be nice if we could remember that, as has been noted more than
once, these drug wars wouldn’t be going on if people in the United States
didn’t want the drugs, or if other people in the United States weren’t
selling Mexican drug lords the guns. Most of all, it would be nice if more
people in the United States actually came to this part of America (Mexico
is also America, you will recall) to see for themselves what a fine place
Mexico really is, and how good a vacation (or a life) here can be. So come
on down and get to know your southern neighbors. I think you’ll like it here. Especially the people.

A Lovely Bunch of . . . Bananas

My banana tree broke and fell over this morning. This bunch of bananas is the result--it's about 2.5 ft. long and weighs over 50 lbs. A banana only has one blossom in it's life and one bunch of fruit. I will try to get a photo of the blossom. When the gardener comes this afternoon, he will remove the tree which will allow the other smaller trees to grow and produce more bananas. The bunch is hanging over the terraza but hopefully won't attract bees and wasps for quite a while. I'll cut a "hand" of fruit off and give it to the gardener every week as I can't possibly eat them all before they rot. God is good!

Rainbirds

This is a cicada--a rainbird in Mexico. A diviner of rain--usually 6 weeks from the first piercing "song". I heard my first rainbird the evening of April 1. Accordingly, only 1 more week until the rains come--hurray!! Of course, if the rains come next week they will be almost a month early as our usual rainy seasons starts between the 10th & 15th of June. We will be grateful for any rain at this point. I'm told there was a bit of a sprinkle while I was in South America in January. Otherwise, it's been rainless since the middle of October. Traditionally this area gets between 1/2-1 inch of rain a month during the dry season. This will be the second year with no rain during the dry season. The dust is high as are the temperatures--close to 90 most of the time and not getting below about 65 at night. Before the rains come the temps will be around 100.

The first two weeks of the rainy season will be miserable. The accumulated heat in the buildings and rocky soil will permeate the humid air and cause a very tropical feel. I can take the dry heat better than the humid heat the first part of June. Then everything will settle down, including the dust, until October when the rains stop and the cycle repeats itself.