Historical Photo of the Week: Jackie in Mexico City
June 18th, 2013
Another photo from the Kennedy's 1962 diplomatic visit to Mexico City. The president and first lady attended a performance at the ballet folklorico and joined Mexican president Lopez Mateos to greet the dancers after the performance. Interestingly, I'm finding a lot of photos (and one video) of this trip, but not much in the way of text. This photo credited to Cecil Stou[...]
My Father in Ten Songs
June 16th, 2013
The venerable garage band Dead Moon has a song called "Don't Speak Ill of the Dead."The last verse opens strong: "Some of my friends are gone forever/Paled into the light/Things I wish I could have said/As they passed into the night." But that's not the part that gets me. What gets me is the next line, almost an aside. The singer's voice dips lower into speaking tone, and, in a three word phra[...]
Book Review: Diana Kennedy, Rendered Lard, and the Late, Great Steve Rogers
June 16th, 2013
Originally published in June of 2012, republished for father's day 2013, My dad Steve Rogers was a good cook, maybe even a great cook. He could turn what looked like nothing into something delicious, and his obsessive interest in traditional methods and ingredients was matched by a fearless creativity that led him far off the beaten path. When I was a little girl, I loved to sit and watch him i[...]
Travel Philosophy #1
June 13th, 2013
"Love the world and yourself in it, move through it as though it offers no resistance, as though the world is your natural element. " --Audrey Niffenegger I doubt Audrey was talking about Mexico travel, but the same philosophy applies. [...]
Cerveza Rising: Mexico's Craft Beer Revolution
June 11th, 2013
During my twenties, I considered Mexico to be beer heaven. It didn't hurt that a beer truck trundled up the beach road at Tenacatita every other day, dispensing boxes of Dos Equis at wholesale prices. At the time I was an avowed drinker of cheap light beer and Mexican beer was basically a better, slightly cheaper version of the beer I was drinking at home (Olympia and Rainier). Then I tu[...]
Historical Photo of the Week: JFK in Mexico City
June 9th, 2013
In 1962, John F. and Jackie Kennedy visited Mexico City. The city went crazy for Kennedy. Photograph by Héctor García. Found in the Getty archives.[...]
Change in Mexican Real Estate Laws?
June 8th, 2013
A reader writes: "I read that the Mexican camara de diputados approved a bill in April '13 that would amend the constitution to allow foreigners to own land along the coasts. I haven't heard anything since. Do you have info on this issue or a link to a site that might?" To my understanding the bill passed in the chamber of deputies, but the senate has not yet approved it. The bill [...]
Camping Now Allowed at Tenacatita
June 5th, 2013
When the gates came down at Tenacatita after almost three years of blockade, we were told that the beach was open, but no camping would be allowed. In an excellent turn of events, Jesús Julián De Niz Sánchez, the mayor of La Huerta, the municipality that has had official (if not actual) control of the federal zone since a court decision in April of 2012, met with Rebalsito ejido memb[...]
Guards Patrol Tenacatita
June 4th, 2013
Although the gates that blocked access to the public road to Tenacatita are most definitely gone, the Tenacatita Bay Bugle reports that ten of Villalobos's armed guards are still patrolling the beach to ensure that locals don't set up shop. Yesterday The Guadaljara Reporter ran a comprehensive story on the saga. *photo by Gina Dilello[...]
Taco Road Trip? Yes, please...
June 3rd, 2013
Clearly I need to do more taco roadtripping in the US. [...]
Book Review: Alcohol in Ancient Mexico
June 3rd, 2013
I am not a big online shopper and I rarely have spare money, but there was no way I could restrain myself from ordering a book called Alcohol in Ancient Mexico. I'm sorry, but even I can't actually come up with a title better aimed to entrap me. Cheese in Ancient Mexico comes close, but would of course have to be a fantasy, since obviously dairy products were not a part of the ancient Mexican [...]
Salsa Database and Adobo Recipe
June 3rd, 2013
Chef Verónica Ramírez just called our attention to the salsa database at Tortilla Digital. I'm hankering to try this simple adobo sauce. Here's a (rough) translation: oréganoto taste 7 cloves 5 g of cumin seeds 40 g of lard 250 g of dried chiles guajillos 250 g of dried red chiles anchos 1 head of garlic 2 litres of beef broth salt to taste In a pan, heat the [...]
Historical Photo of the Week: Hats Off!
June 3rd, 2013
Hats off the the people of Tenacatita! Two years and nine months ago one of the most popular public beaches in Mexico was violently seized by a developer, the Rodenas group. Armed guards destroyed the beach's thatched seafood restaurants and stole thousands of dollars worth of property from local people and small business owners who had been living and working at the beach for their entire liv[...]
Tenacatita Update: Gates Down!
June 2nd, 2013
For those of you who have been following the Tenacatita story...The gates (which have blocked free access to the beach since 2010) are down! An article at Informador.com verifies that the gates have been removed (via legal government action). I've heard rumors that the people of Rebalsito are at the beach celebrating with a band. I have yet to verify that, but below you can see a picture of the di[...]
Violence/Awesomeness Index
June 2nd, 2013
This savvy slideshow sums up 11 awesome things about Mexico that don't get the attention they deserve. We couldn't have said it better ourselves...Which brings me to one of my favorite subjects rants: I'm not recommending you spend your next vacation poolside in Ciudad Juarez or anything (actually, I wouldn't recommend that ever), but if you look at the numbers, Mexico is not as violent [...]
From the Vault: 12 Awesome Mexican Dishes You'll Seldom Find in the U.S.
June 1st, 2013
Editor’s note: If Steve were still with us, no doubt this list would be longer...much longer. As it was, we had to rely on our panel of bickering in-house experts: Carl Franz, “El Codo," and me, Churpa. Lorena was not available for comment and will no doubt be horrified by the preponderance of meat dishes. You may live in Portland or Seattle or New York, and your local Mexican joint may be a bi[...]
Best of Mexican and Central American Balnearios
May 31st, 2013
A popular institution in Mexico and Central America, balnearios, or thermal springs, range from undeveloped pools to fancy spa resorts to elaborate water parks that are packed with screaming kids on the weekends but make ideal camp spots during off hours. Many balnearios feature attached hotels, bungalows, or camp areas. Not all balnearios allow camping, but many will allow you to camp ([...]
Historical Image of the Week: The Occupation of Mexico City
May 27th, 2013
First published in 1850, this lithograph depicts the US Army occupying the zocalo in Mexico City's Centro Historico. The image was originally published in The Mexican War and its warriors : comprising a complete history of all the operations of the American armies in the Mexico . . . illustrated with numerous engravings. Image courtesy of NYPL digital collections.[...]
Recommended Spanish Language Schools
May 26th, 2013
Fenix Language Institute in Zacatecas was recently recommended to us as "awesome!" From the website: "Fenix Language Institute was founded in 1973 with a firm commitment to perfecting strategies for the teaching of Spanish as a second language. Until then, the traditional method had stressed grammar model imitation, mechanical repetition exercises, and rigorous memorization. The results were n[...]
Getting Around: Mexico by Bus
May 23rd, 2013
My backpack was vintage, and not in a stylish way. A leftover from my mom's backpacking trips through South America in the seventies, the bag had an exterior frame as large and graceless as an old lawn chair. I was happy to free my aching back from this aluminum exoskeleton, but I was having a hard time shoving the giant pack into the overhead rack of the bus. The behemoth bulged with supplies:[...]
Panel of Food Experts in London Name "Best Taco in the World"
May 23rd, 2013
As food blogger Nicholas Gilman reports, a panel of experts in London weighed in on the best "traditional fast food" in the world. The awards were divied up to seven categories of contenders: sandwich, sausage, pizza, curry, burger, fried chicken and taco. Three of the nominees in the taco category were not from Mexico, but happily a taqueria in Queretero won, thus preventing potential riot[...]
El Codo's Tips for "Luxing Up" a Camping Van or Crappy Hotel Room
May 23rd, 2013
editor's note: These are not paid product endorsements, but rather el Codo's rigorously tested honest (and typically detailed) recommendations, born from trial-and-error and many uncomfortable nights and agonizing battles with sub par equipment. Know that if el Codo (aka "the cheakpskate") says something is "worth the money," it's worth the freaking money. Exploring Mexico is no less fun [...]
Noticias 5/22/2013
May 22nd, 2013
La Migra - The Senate Judiciary Committee passed the so-called Gang-of-Eight's immigration reform bill 13-5, which includes a path to citizenship. After surviving a flurry of amendments intended to water the bill down, the bill now goes to the Senate floor where Republican Senators face the choice of angering their base or further alienating Hispanic voters. An immigration bill is also expected to[...]
2013 Road Trip Page
May 22nd, 2013
Lorena has been pestering me to set this up, so I have, inevitably, acquiesced. You can now read every dispatches from our recent adventures here.[...]
Good Deal for Calling Mexico
May 22nd, 2013
Missing your gente in Mexico? This from our friend Bob: "A good phone card to buy for calling a home phone in Mexico (a fixed home phone, not a cell phone) is El Torito. A $5 card gets lots of time (a 5 minute call cost me about 8 cents) and there is no charge to the person in Mexico that receives the call. I've tried lots of different ones and this one clearly seems like the best deal. [...]
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