The Museum of Cultures, Mexico City

Today we visited the Museum of Cultures. 

The first exhibit was Columbian gold and pottery (pre-hispanic) and the displays were excellent and well lit. 

 

     










The next area was Asian art with some Alaskan totems, masks and other items. Then came the Mediterranean/Greek/Egyptian area with lots and lots of statues and other artifacts.

We spent about 3 hours enjoying the museum and we can highly recommend it to all.

A visit to Tepotzotlán, Mexico

About 25 miles north of Mexico City is town of Tepotzotlán. On Sunday we (Me, Ivone, Andrea and cousin Fernanda) took the city bus to where the old train station used to be on the north side of Mexico City. It is now a huge shopping mall about half the size of Clackamas Town Center and the new light rail station, which runs north out of Mexico City, is right inside the mall.

We had coffee and pastries then boarded the light rail to the Lecheria Station (there's a joke it there). Then we took a local mini bus to the museum/monastery in Tepotzotlán.

 The park area around the museum had the flavor of Saturday Market in Portland. We enjoyed a walk through the food and gift stands and then took in the museum. Lots of history of the Catholic church, the Spanish conquistadors and the local indigenous peoples. We had a wonderful visit and then made our way back by the same route.
Just a note about the light rail station: there are places where you can charge your phone, laptop or tablet for free (they have all the most popular connectors if you don't have your charger handy) and a place where a spinning brush wipes the dust from your shoes, also free. This line is also free from the constant barrage of vendors that infect the light rail in most of Mexico City.

 The weather in Mexico City right now is quite cool. Highs near 70 and lows near 45.
(Fernanda, Andrea and Ivone)

Getting sick and getting well in Mexico

So, last Wednesday I started feeling a cold coming on. No biggie. I have always handled that pretty well on my own. By Friday night I knew that I was dealing with the flu. Thank goodness Ivone knew of a doctor just a few blocks away who spoke English and was well respected in the community so first thing Saturday morning we walked to his office which was just three blocks from our place and we were seen within 5 minutes. His examination was unhurried and, I felt confident in his manner. He agreed that I was dealing with the flu and wrote a prescription and the cost for the visit was 400 pesos or about $30 at today's exchange rate. No forms to fill out, no need to show that I was "worthy" with an insurance card, just cash, a handshake and a very courteous "Thank you".  (I remember when I was a kid, it was more like that in the U.S.)

We walked to the pharmacy which is just around the corner from our place and the 3 prescriptions was a total of 650 pesos or $50. Time in the pharmacy less than 5 minutes. Total time from home to Dr. to Rx and back, less than an hour.

I took the first dose of meds and had some breakfast and then went right to bed and withing less than 30 minutes I was already feeling relief and today, Sunday, I am feeling much better.

Diatribe ... (my two cents worth)

It may be that I am just too simple minded or maybe I am delusional but I see very clearly what others have made so very complicated.

Issue - Sept 11th attack on the world trade center -  There is plenty of blame to go around from all directions but yet the one simple truth is that the blame lies with the airlines themselves. Ever since I was a teenager we have put up with airline hijackings and yet the airlines have never, ever secured the cockpit. I ask you WHY?  Here's a newsflash - On July 23, 1968, El Al (Israel) Flight 426 was hijacked. After that incident they secured the cockpits of all their airlines and to this day have not had one additional hijacking (That's 44 years folks). Blame the intelligence community, blame our immigration policy, blame the Islam extremists if you like, but I blame the airline companies.

Zihuatanejo - if this doesn't say it all then nothing will.

Celebrating two years here in Zihuatanejo ...

November 2010, sitting at my computer in the cold, damp climate of Oregon I finally decided to give Mexico a try. I purchased a plane ticket on line, packed my bag and set off on my next great adventure.It has been two years now and I have to tell you I am very happy, healthy and fortunate.
I have found love, and a home here in Zihuatanejo. I have many friends and acquaintances. I can walk to the beach in less than 5 minutes. What else could a man ask for besides $1.50 beer at any local bar. Did I mention that I am happy? Well, in fact I am. I love this town.  I love the people. I love the woman who loves me and I love this life.

A good laugh ...

So, we were visiting Acapulco, where VW beetle taxi's are plentiful. Here is a photo out the window of our taxi and you can see three others in front of us. They are everywhere!!!

The good laugh for me came when the song "Speedy Gonzales" came on the radio, the Spanish version, of course. So there we are in a "Tijuana Taxi singing Speedy Gonzales in both English and Spanish. What a hoot !!!