A meandering mind ....

After a good breakfast I took a long walk on the beach called Madera. It is only about a quarter mile long but four laps is a good way to get some sun and think. So this morning I let my mind wander to some recent photos that I have taken around town with my cell phone camera and decided to post them just for fun.

Neurotics anonymous - Goodwill movement 24 hours

Just one of the new Sex Shops in town.

A quick trip to Morelia ... with a few exceptions.

It was supposed to be a quick, 10 hour,450 mile, round trip to Morelia to get a new compressor for Ivone's dental office. I wanted us to take the bus but Ivone wanted to have her brother-in-law Agustín drive us in his pickup. The bus has comfortable seats, air conditioning, and entertainment. Agustín's truck has none of the aforementioned. Bus cost for two round trip tickets about $120. Gasoline, tolls and extras for the truck about the same. However .... Map

We left Zihuatanejo with Agustín at about 8am on Friday and we were constantly concerned about his driving because he drives very fast and basically "crazy". We were only about 2 hours into the trip (just through the Sierra Madre del Sur see photo above) when the truck started overheating. My first thought was "He should have checked the water before we left.". We got out to identify the problem and that's when I found out that we had no extra water and the radiator was holding nothing but steam. And that is when I noticed that the right front tire was almost flat. Of course he had no spare but that didn't matter because he had no jack either. Humm, the bus is sounding pretty good right now. So he started calling for help on his cell phone but couldn't find any. About that time a truck with three young Mexicans stopped to ask if they could help. Wow, they had water enought to fill the radiator, a spare that would fit and a jack too. They put on the spare but found that it was completely flat. So they jacked up the back and took off the good rear tire, put our almost flat tire on the back (the back end of the truck being much lighter than the front), jacked up the front, took off their flat and put the good tire on the front. (Here is the best part: the three young men would not take even a single peso for all that they did for us. I called them "angelitos")  It was just enough to get us into the nearest town, Nuevo Italia, where Agustín could buy a new tire..That done we filled with water and got back on track to Morelia. We were nearing the turn off to Morelia when the truck started overheating again so we turned the other way toward Uruapan where his aunt Biatrís lives. Not even half way up the hill we had to stop because we were out of water again. I said "Maybe there is a leak or maybe it's the thermostat.?." and Agustín replied "No, it's the fan. It doesn't work.".  I was aghast. The thought that he KNEW that the fan didn't work, that he didn't carry any extra water, and that he put us all in danger just blew my mind. So he called Biatrís who dropped everything and came to our aid with water and some soft drinks. We made it up the hill into town where we parked the truck in the area where there are many mechanics and part shops then rode in her Nissan hatchback to get dinner and a beer. She put us up for the night and the next morning Agustín had made contact with a mechanic to fix the truck which might be ready Sunday morning. We still needed to get the compressor so we got into the Nissan and headed for Morelia, about 65 miles away. It was an uneventful drive there except for a couple of close calls when Agustín tried to pass a tanker and flatbed on a long, blind, uphill curve. We got the compressor and started back with just a quick stop at The Home Depot. When we got back to the car it wouldn't start. We got it started by pushing it but it just wouldn't run right. We had no tools but Agustín found a taxi driver who had some. He helped to removed the battery, took Agustín to get a new one AND install it. He only asked $15 for all that help. Now, we were back on the road again but I noticed that Agustín was pointing at the dashboard and saw that the alternator light was on. That's when I started to laugh, quietly, to myself. Well, we made it back to Uruapan got some dinner, slept and the next morning (Sunday 10:30) we headed back to Zihuatanejo (after many,many warm thanks and hugs to Biatrís). The 10 hour trip that turned into 2 1/2 days was only made worse by the fact that I was wearing my usual T-shirt, shorts and sandals which is fine for the warm weather of Zihuatanejo but not for the cold nights in the mountains of Uruapan. So the next time we decide to take a quick trip ANYWHERE, I'm going to remember this trip and pack an emergency bag with at least one pair of clean underwear.

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.