If man’s best friend is really a dog, Nick Lampiris is richly blessed. He has 37. Many colors, sizes and ages, pleasantly healthy, tails wagging, happy bounce to their steps. Some were hungry orphans. Some were rescued from the streets, before or after contact. Some were rejects from weary owners. Some were handed off by […]
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Larry Herman never expected to live this long. He made no financial provisions for old age. At 69, he and his best friend Lynda, 65, escaped subsidized senior housing in Savannah, Ga., by going back to work. They got away from wheelchairs, walkers and the sadness of people waiting to die. Alas, they soon discovered […]
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Money matters — in Mexico just as elsewhere. It is important to have some. Conservative East Tennessee logic says it is advantageous to spend a little less than the total available. Squeeze a peso or two in case of a calamity. Stuff happens. Through the years, the most frequent question from outsiders has been how […]
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Some of the stuff you hear about Mexico and Mexicans just isn’t true. Lazy? No way. Manana? No delay when it comes to lunch. Some of the tall tales about government bureaucracy and red tape are probably exaggerated but some are tragically true. I and others got a chuckle out of the recent government campaign […]
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An old gringo and his still-lovely bride returned to Mazamitla the other day after several years in other exciting places. The intriguing mountain town, one of Mexico’s pueblos mágicos, seemed much as we remembered but the approach was startling — cabañas everywhere with workers rushing to complete more. Never would I have expected to find […]
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Corn was the crop of choice 17 years ago when we landed in Mexico, on the shores of Lake Chapala. Everybody who had a patch of ground had a corn patch. More land, more corn, some for tamales, some for farm animals, some for the market. A surge in tequila sales created a shortage of agave. […]
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It appears much of the world is very interested in Mexico. A surprising number of Mexconnect readers asked the old gringo about the economy, reforms, boats, Guerrero recovery, Michaocan dangers — and hospitality. Some questions are far out. One asked about anchovy gelato. Another asked about Yescka. That got my undivided attention. Question: I was reading […]
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Intriguing writer Michael Dickson, aka Felipe Zapata atop his famous blog, once said of San Miguel de Allende: “It’s a great place to live if you want to ‘live in Mexico’ without actually living in Mexico.” It is sometimes difficult to tell when Felipe is serious and when he is just stirring the pot but […]
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Question: I saw on TV that Mexico ranks 10th in the world among happy countries. Are Mexicans that happy? Answer: I am often surprised but most Mexicans I know seem happy, even under difficult conditions. There are at least two possible explanations. The value system is different from many places, the United States, Japan and Germany, for […]
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Question: It is income tax time in the United States. How are taxes in Mexico? Answer: It depends on who you ask. I think property taxes are ridiculously low but services are a close match. I thought the annual tax on my Volkswagen was disproportionately high but the bug is now 14 years old and taxes are […]
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