Comparing memories - tall buildings, Janitzio and a hamburger.
I was 9 years old the first time I visited Morelia, in 1973. I was living with my family in Xicotepec, a small town in the north of the State of Puebla. We spent our summer vacation that year with my g...
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Mexico: a window on technology and the poor
Over the Columbus Day weekend, I was in Mexico City, attending and speaking at a conference marking the founding of the Mexican chapter of the Internet Society.
That was a potentially historic event i...
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Liliana, mi corazoncita
Corazoncita, or little heart, is a Mexican expression of affection, similar to 'sweetheart'. This is a story of my first visit to Mexico, and how a sweet, little Mexican girl became mi corazonci...
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Tortilla run: a day in Tijuana
We woke at 7 a.m. to the blaring horn of the propane truck " beepbeeeeeepbeepbeeeeeeeeep " and wonder if he will ever buy a muffler for that dang truck.
We dress quickly so that we can get to the ...
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A day in the life of my mother-in-law by Alex Vinson
Wake up about 6am.
Verify today is the day that water is available (every 3rd day).
Prop the front door open with a stick.
Remove the carefully coiled garden hose from its storage place ...
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Tienda del las dos estufas
My suegra (mother-in-law) decided that she wanted to sell vegetables from her front porch in rural Guerrero. I asked her how much profit she would like to make and we would work the numbers back...
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My neighbor the truck driver
What was all that whirring and buzzing noise coming from downstairs?
My new neighbor from Mexico City was spending a sunny Saturday polishing the fuel tank on his semi tractor.
I introduced myself (a...
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Anyone for bridge?
"But I haven't played bridge since college."
"The last time I played bridge, Ely Culbertson was the authority."
"I've just been too busy earning a living to find time for Bridge."
Sound familiar? We...
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Buying a home in Mexico
Who would have thought that buying a house in Mexico would be such a scandal? Maybe it should have occurred to me beforehand that I would encounter some very unusual problems while trying to acquire pr...
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Mexican driver's ed, a Monterrey perspective
I can think of nothing more torturous than driving in Mexico. A free for all with life-threatening vehicles is not my idea of fun or adventure, but Mexicans seem to love it. When I first started drivin...
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Who would have thought?
I've been very quiet for the past few months; I apologize for the silence. I'm finally back, and I have BIIIIIIIIG news. No, it's not a divorce, or a birth, or a career change that brought me a six-fig...
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An unexpected visit
It was 12:30 in the morning. All of a sudden I woke with a start. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. What was that? I usually wake up at the slightest noise. There was a lot of noise outside the bedroom door. ...
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A bonding of families and countries
I can't say I was thrilled with the idea at first, but I was never against it either. My daughter spent her junior year at Harvard studying in Spain. She came home with new-found worldliness, self-conf...
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Who am I, and how did I end up in Mexico?
I remember my introduction to the theory of Chaos in the movie Jurassic Park. Mathematician Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) takes the top of Dr. Sattler's hand (Laura Dern) and drops a tiny drop of water o...
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By the way ...
I've been living and working in Mexico for almost two years, and lately, I've been reflecting a great deal about my experiences-and my articles. I was going to write about Mexican family economics (and...
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5.5 dimensions of cross-cultural love part 2
Last month I compared the phases of cross-cultural love to being inside the head of John Malkovich. This month, only 50 days away from my wedding, my perspective has changed; I don´t think being John ...
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"Mamítis" in Mexico
HEALTH ADVISORY: Beware of the Mexican affliction widely known as "Mamítis". Mamítis rears its ugly head in just about every Mexican family. It is insidious and slow to sho...
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To bribe or not to bribe?
There´s no denying it - Mexico is a beautiful land. But there is no uglier sight in this world than what I am about to describe. Imagine a portly man dressed in black pants with a yellow stripe down t...
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Latin lovers or macho men?
Mexican men, like the rest of the world, get their ideas about American women from watching talk shows, soap operas, and movies. Therefore, they think we are terribly easy, unfaithful, and willing to h...
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Crossing over: embracing my Mexican life
I should have known from the start that the wedding would be a success. I was too quick to doubt the power of such an event to unite people across physical, social, cultural, and linguistic barriers. A...
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A dog's life
About three months ago, I was at the mall with Carlos. It was a Sunday like any other; we were simply out for a stroll around the shopping center. Carlos always goes to the pet store to look at the dog...
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Who let the dogs out?
I had a dream. It was a grandiose dream featuring a pristine line of little tollbooths spanning a highway 25 lanes wide. Hundreds of cars were waiting patiently, equally distributed among the 25 lanes....
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Mexican family economics
One of my first questions upon arriving to Monterrey was, "How do people survive here?" Salaries are so embarrassingly low for the majority of the population, and the cost of living is sky high. So how...
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So You Want To Marry A Mexican?
I saw
My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and I thought, how different could a Mexican-American wedding be? Well, while there are many, many similarities, I overlooked the fact that my wedding is being ...
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Some Like It Hot!
Mexican cuisine is not for the weak at heart. Any food genre that is capable of making your throat, mouth, and lips burn for extended periods, invoking fits of hiccoughs, and wreaking havoc on stomachs...
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