My Move to Mexico

I talked with a good friend in Puerto Escondido today.  He is helping me plan for the trip later this year.  I had wanted to go to Oaxaca some time back.  The continued violence has delayed the trip until late in December.

We used to go to Puerto Escondido one weekend per month.  We would travel down on a Friday and return very late on Saturday night.  Puerto Escondido is a beautiful little Mexican resort town on the Pacific Ocean.  It is in the state of Oaxaca, though about 8 hours from the city of Oaxaca.  Huatulco is one hour away, but it is geared for the typical gringo tourist.  Puerto Escondido on the other hand is a flash back in time.  It is nothing more than an old time Mexico town on the ocean.  I love visiting there. 

For those of us traveling from Oaxaca city the trip was tiring.  On my first trip I was told that there are 600 curves in the road from Oaxaca to Puerto Escondido.  That sounded too farfetched for me.  I did not believe them. 

I still do not believe there are 600.  Now I think there are more, a lot more.  I got so sick riding down the first time.  The curves are endless.  You leave Oaxaca (5,000 feet) and start climbing into the mountains.  I assume you get to 10,000 feet before they start heading down to the Pacific Ocean.  The mountains are incredibly beautiful.  When I am not puking out the window I am watching the wonderful scenery go by.

Buses have no fear to pass on curves regardless of the situation.  When in doubt, pass on a curve.  Do not worry, the other guys are probably doing the same thing.  It is normal.  Why get excited?  You only pay $100.00 pesos ($10.00 USD), so what do expect, seat belts and a stewardess with coffee, tea or milk?

The change in climate can be suffocating at times.  Oaxaca City is cool and dry, at least by Houston, TX standards.  Once you are headed down the mountains into beach areas, the humidity and heat become apparent.  Like Houston, there is no place to hide from the heat.  Houston is called the most air conditioned city in the world.  Forget it in Puerto Escondido.  You are not there for A/C.

Puerto Escondido is rated the 3rd best surfing location in the world.  Only a beach in Hawaii and one in Australia are rated higher.  Yearly in November they have serious competitions.  Surfers from all over the world come to compete.  Believe me, I am not one of them.  I grew up in Iowa remember.  I was 23 years old before I tasted a shrimp.  I grew up on corn and pigs.  I thought Lake Wapello was big. 

More on Puerto Escondido later today or tomorrow.

You thought only fools in the ring could act so crazy.  Yesterday the Mexican Congress ended up with dozens wrestling, slapping and yelling at each other.  The heated debate over who should rightfully be president continues in downtown Mexico City. 

There is common concern about Friday, 2 days from now.  It is the day that the new President will be inaugurated.  Or so some think.  Will it take place as normal?  Will oposers be able to stop it?  That is what is going on in Mexico City right now.  You can get more information from the Associated Press on line.

Check the news on Friday December 1 for the latest.  It continues to be interesting.  Oaxaca is running the same also with their continuing problems over the governer.

If you are old like me you may well remember that song.  It is not one of my all time favorites, but the sentiments fit right now.  I do not want to go back to Houston.  I doubt if that day ever comes.  I want to go back to the Oaxaca I knew.  I hope you are not sick of hearing about Oaxaca.  I just keep going back there day after day.

In reading the AP report today, things continue to be bad.  Most of my friends have been encouraged to stay in house.  Their normal public activities are limited and done with caution.  The report covering Saturday and Sunday goes as follows:

Saturday at least 20 cars were taken from individuals and torched.  I have not confirmed if insurance covers a car hijacked and torched by leftist protesters.  3 hotels were attacked, 1 with gas bombs and 2 had the windows smashed out.  There was the normal conflict between the police with tear gas and tanker trucks with high pressure water.

The protesters had the normal rocks, fireworks, and gasoline bombs.  They have dozens of shopping carts full of items they are now using against the tax office, government offices, and the federal police.  Yesterday 43 people were injured.  The police apparently are now aggressively searching for the individuals responsible for the attacks on buildings and individuals. 

Personally I wonder if the day will ever come when Oaxaca will be what I knew and what was my real home for 3 very special years.  I have been needing to visit for more than a month now.  I talk with my daughters regularly.  Yet I cannot realistically go see them.  The situation is not good.  Those living there are constantly encouraged to stay inside.  Anything done outside is done with caution.  Most stay far away from the most violent areas.  So far that is from 5 Senores to Oaxaca University.  That is where Itzel lives.  It is not a comforting thought when I go to bed at night.

If for any reason you did not see the news from Mexico Monday you will like this one.  All of us from the USA remember well the Presidential election between Dan Gore and George Bush.  Florida became the swing state in determining the eventual president.  It took some time for the results to become official.  Interesting times for many.

Mexico had a similar situation with the Presidential election in July of this year.  The vote count was extremely close.  It took several months to sort things out.  Finally Felipe Calderon was declared the President-elect. 

Leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has refused to accept the results.  He declared himself the “legitimate” president on Monday.  He had himself sworn in with a new government.  The AP reported the parallel government will have street demonstrations to attempt to block the present government from operating effectively.

The new government he set up is not able to levi or collect taxes.  AP reported that about 100,000 individuals were present for his swearing in here in Mexico City.  AP indicated they will not make any new laws. 

It is just interesting to see the huge difference in countries.  Right now to some there are 2 official governments in Mexico.  Life can be very different here in Mexico.  Oaxaca has seen monstrous changes in the last 6 months.  It has changed from a peaceful, quiet tourist location to a city of political unrest.  There are constant demonstrations and violence recently. 

What is in store for Mexico City and other cities?  Time will tell.

In running through the news today it sad to see that the violence has taken off again in Oaxaca.  The demonstrators were actively fighting against the federal police yesterday.  There was the use of tear gas by the police.  The demonstrators had their homemade bombs, fireworks, bottle rockets and rocks.  At least one bus was torched. 

Most of the violence took place near the zocalo.  But the pattern continues.  It is very sad for a beautiful city to be torn apart by violence.

There was little of significance going on today.  I found out a cold shower at 8:00 AM is basically the same as yesterday’s 7:00 AM cold shower.  A 4 hour search got me the regulator I needed and hot water is back.

Oaxaca is barely making the news the last few days.  The governor has a lot of pressure to step down.  As mentioned earlier the U.S. Embassy is warning Americans (gringos) to stay out of Oaxaca for now. 

Thursday the teachers were to go back to work after a 6 month strike.  Many did not go to work since there is continued fear of violence from the rebels.  The situation is still very tense.  I tried to reach all of my kids tonight, but they were at a meeting and not available.  I will try later.  Like I said, it is a slow news day.  I will chase the bouncing insurance check tomorrow.

We all go through days where we wonder why we did what did.  Today has been one of those in some respects.  Why did I move to Mexico in the first place?

1- No hot water in the apartment.  The lady I am renting from has had some construction going on.  In that process they broke the regulator on my gas line.  I have no propane to heat my water.  I have mentioned I love the weather here.  It is 50 - 55 degrees at night and about 70 degrees during the day some times.  The weather is perfect for football.  (Did you see Ohio State and Michigan play today?)  It is not perfect for taking a shower in the morning with cold water.  Cold showers had their time and place 35 years ago.  Now a walk around the block takes care of most of that problem.

2- The insurance check is in Houston.  Remember the one that does not come close to covering my stolen Explorer.  I settled because it became futile to fight and fight.   I was never going to win.  I got the check in USA dollars.  I sent it UPS to Houston, so it could go in my USA bank.  It is normal for us to simple put “For Deposit Only” and the account number.  My banker knew it was coming and ran it through. 

I got an email yesterday night.  The Mexican bank kicked it out since it had not been endorsed with my signature.  So now I have a check in Houston.  I am in Mexico City.  The bank cannot cash it.  I cannot go there to sign it.  Any suggestions?   Why did I come here in the first place?  I have been asking myself that all day. 

When you take a cold shower at 7:00 AM believe me you are wide awake.  Thinking about the check has been real easy.  Thinking about my landlord has been real easy too.  I cannot print the comments in mixed company.

But when you come back in a few days, I will have fixed the hot water.  Landlords here do not understand repairs.  I have no choice but to figure out something about the check.  By then I will be whistling another tune probably.  If not I will be writing from Houston.  I will let you know.  Today is one of those days.  Why did I come here in the first place?

My 3 daughters from Oaxaca came to Mexico City to visit me in December of 2005. They spent roughly a week with me here in the city. Sunday afternoon we took a trip down to Reforma to see the city. Reforma runs through the entire city. It is one of the nicest areas of the city. In this general area the loser in the Presidential race camped out with his followers for several months. But our trip together was long before the election and it’s resulting problems for Mexicans.

Zona Rosa is just a few blocks from what you are seeing here. The zocalo is probably about 1 mile away. The zocalo is a total waste of time. If you want to see a nice zocalo there are hundreds in the country worth the time and effort. The zocalo in Mexico City is a joke. It is one square block of concrete. Do not waste your time. Head to Oaxaca, when safe or Cuernavaca or Valle de Bravo. There are plenty down here.

We went up in the Sears building. Please do not confuse it with the Sears Tower in Chicago. The Sears buiding here in Mexico City is about 6 stories tall. It is hard to justify putting in an elevator. But it gives you a nice view of the downtown area of Mexico.

The U.S. Embassy on Wednesday warned U.S. citizens to avoid Oaxaca.  They are encouraged to “remain vigilant” throughout Mexico as a whole. 

The Associated Press reports that the governor of Oaxaca was not able to give his normal state of the state address.  It was handcarried to lawmakers.  The protesting continues with the normal rock throwing and tear gas.  Vicente Fox wants the governor to reach an agreement with the protesters or resign. 

I would love to go see my kids in Oaxaca.  It is not going to happen this week.  I need to save money anyway.

Yesterday I talked some about the Cruz family.  They were and continue to be very special people in my life.  Yet they are so very common of what you find here in Mexico.  You find people that care about people.  For many of us it is an adjustment.  It sure was for me.  There are still days I struggle with it.  We are not used to individuals being so nice to us.  I can tend to be cautious when someone is too nice.  The question is what do they really want?

The answer is they want to be your friend.  Nothing more, nothing less. 

Young ones here are very comfortable around individuals significantly older than they are.  Teenagers or young ones in their early 20s are very at ease to sit down and have a meaningful conversation with someone in their 40s, 50s or older.  They may very well consider it a priviledge to get to know someone older.  The fact that you are from another country does not bother them at all.  They accept the difference with no real thought.

How are your teenage kids around adults?  Do you have leprosy?  Would they rather talk with a mugger in a dark alley before they would talk with someone your age?  At a party or social function are they trying to find the spot farthest from you or anyone old?  In Mexico you will commonly find that is not true.  In many cases it is just the opposite. 

As stated in an earlier post, how can you not love them?  They are incredible people.  They like people, including you.  Some of them actually like me.  That is a welcome change in life.