México

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México Today project kickoff!

I’m sure that most of you have seen the logo above before… at least the multi-colored “México” part.  It has been on advertisements encouraging people to explore the many beautiful and varied areas of México.  Our daughter even snapped a picture in the NYC subway of an advertisement for Mazatlán, below. The México Today project is a project of Marca País – Imagen de México, a joint public-private sector initiative to help promote Mexico. There is a website (which is...

Moto week is lots of fun

Above: Members of the Ovejas Negras (Black Sheep) moto club posing with Pedro Infante! Moto week is here and it is so fun to watch all the bikers enjoying our wonderful city.  The parade is Saturday, and I will be there with my new camera, but a few photo opportunities came up as we walked the dogs this morning that I thought I’d share. We’ll head out this evening to get some photos of the show… bikers cruising Olas Altas...

Preserving Mexican textile culture

Most readers here at Countdown to Mexico are likely aware that there is a rich history of unique and beautiful handwoven textiles here in Mexico.  Oaxaca is the state most known for its textiles, but there are wonderful fabrics made throughout the country.  If you are interested in learning more about Mexican textiles, I recommend that you visit Mexican Indigenous Textile Project. where you can see lots of pictures and learn more about the textiles from each area of the...

It’s a puzzle to me…

We live a few blocks from the main Cathedral here in Mazatlán, and we sleep with a window open.  I love the sound of the bells and I’ve gotten so I rely on them to tell me the time since I no longer wear a watch!  Here’s what I hear pretty much every day (and night): 2 AM:  A light wind-chime sound and then two gongs 3 AM:  A light wind-chime sound and then three gongs 4 AM:  A light...

The Truth about Mexico

Maybe you’ve noticed the new graphic in my sidebar. It links you to a new website The Truth About Mexico. Anyone reading this blog is interested in Mexico or already lives here, so visiting The Truth About Mexico will give you a perspective on the topic of safety in Mexico written by people who live here and are telling the truth. So when a friend or relative tells you an alarmist story when you’re discussing your home here in Mexico...

Everyone is on the defensive

I was ticked off this morning when the front page of the online New York Times had a very unflattering article about Mazatlán and the drug cartels. Supposedly pulmonía drivers (our golf-cart style taxis) take people for “narco-tours” in town.  Maybe this is true, who knows.  I’m sure taxi drivers in any city could take someone on a drug tour.  I am just tired of the sensational press having to do with the drug war in México. What I wish...

Buyer beware

I am usually a pretty positive person.  I won’t and don’t use this blog as a way to grumble publicly about things in Mexico that aggravate me.  But I’ve had a recurring thought that just wouldn’t go away so I thought I’d blog about it. Here goes: Some people seem to think that the rules here are the same as the rules where they came from.  Not true.  An acquaintance of ours had an out of scale building being constructed...

Road trip, installment 2

I realized that I hadn’t really said much about Colima in my last post.  It is really a wonderful city.  Son Adam moved there in 1990 to attand college at Tec de Monterrey.  He lived there for about eight years, so of course I visited him frequently and the city feels familiar and friendly to me. It’s only an hour from the coast at Manzanillo.  It has a bustling, urban side, with malls and large boulevards, and recycling bins.  It...

Road trip, installment 1

Paul and I and son Phil and his family piled into our rented minivan for the drive to Colima last Thursday.  We headed out of town to catch the cuota to Tepic, and before we had a chance to feel like we were on our way, what happened?  Another Revolution Day parade – this one in Villa Unión!  Sometimes it seems like parades are a daily event here, and since we had watched one in Mazatlán the day before, I...

Road trip

We’re piliing in the car in an hour to head out on the road.  We’re driving our rented minivan to Colima, where son Phil and his family are attending a wedding.  We’ll stay the night there, and hopefully will get a good visit in with our other son Adam and his wife Martha, too. Then we will say our goodbyes after a wonderful visit and Paul and I will head to Guadalajara for a couple of days.  We’ll be looking...

Here are a couple books to read…

  Mexico: The Trick is Living Here by Julia Taylor is an e-book available for sale at her website. I believe I had Googled “retire Mexico” or something when I ran across her site. I bought the book and have been enjoying it for the last couple of days…even though I am not too keen on reading books on the computer. She gives a lot of factual and anecdotal information. As a former resident of the Pacific Northwest, I feel...

An unexpected treat

  Image courtesy www.lostandfoundinmexico.com I had an email a week or so ago from Caren Cross. She said she was enjoying our blog and thought we might be interested in her documentary about living in San Miguel. I clicked on the link and then purchased the DVD. What a treat it is! Paul and I could really identify with the sentiments most ex-pats expressed, and were swept up in the amazing atmosphere of Mexico she portrayed. The film is called...

More Trip Updates

  I am not someone who puts several topics together on one post but the last few days have been so full I am just going to plunge ahead. Queretaro on the weekend is an amazing place. Every one of the million residents must come to the Centro to stroll, eat, buy balloons, and enjoy their happy lives. The dancing and music was wonderful – Saturday was the dancers performing the specialities of various States and Sunday was ballroom dancing....

Hola from Queretaro

  We have a screwy keyboard here but thought we´d do an update on Mazatlan even though we are now in BEAUTIFUL Queretaro. We went out looking at more houses with a real go-getter young realtor, and fell in love (again) with a wonderful historic home in Centro. Expensive, but amazing. We really like Mazatlan, and if we could swing it we would love that old home. Our experience at the B & B, Casa de Leyendas was wonderful. The...

The Top Four

  One of the issues that has been a challenge for us is that we know we want to move to Mexico but we haven’t decided WHERE! We now realize that it is very hard to work towards a goal that isn’t specific. So, we decided to try to get specific…identifying our top four choices. Our next two visits will be for two weeks each, with one week in each location. That should really help us narrow it down. So,...