O,

I am typing this in my condo on a Thursday evening, as the smell of artichokes cooking the way my mother taught me wafts through the air. Yes, like a lot of things you might not expect, we have artichokes here in Mexico, all year around. I think my Dad will get the joke in the foto above. The Tom Cherry is a Mexican version of eggnog, called rompope here, and yes, it is used all year around. The joke is the name of this version. Tom Cherry is a play on the special drink my father makes during the holidays, the Tom and Jerry. Salude!

I have been out of touch pretty much since well before Christmas. I have been tied up in a lot of work and quite honestly—I have gotten out of the habit of writing. Keeping up a journal means having the urge to write. It isn’t really something that just pops out at odd moments. It seems to come a lot easier when you get into some sort of routine and you feel you are writing to someone you can visualize. I just need to get back in the swing.

As these two little imps will testify, I have been taking fotos and I have been (slowly) adding the to the gallery. I have done a little reorganization too. My collection of fotos of the fiestas in November and December in Cueramaro continues to grow and has gotten its own space. I love the tradition and happiness that marks this time every year. I look forward to it as much as any time I can think of. The foto below is another one from the same time. This is from one of the parades that inaugurates the fiesta on another street. I still have more to add I believe. I know I have a lot more fotos on my hard disk that need going through so I can put the fun ones up and archive all of them off to my backup disk. Maybe this weekend…

A couple of weeks ago, I had to go to Mexico City for the first time in maybe three or four years. It was a little unnerving. First, I am used to a much more organized and leisurely city. Morelia is a very approachable place in comparison. Second, almost everything I remembered about Mexico City has changed. Drastically. La Zona Rosa has lost its local charm and become a place where a bunch of national and international chain operations crowd for attention. I was sorry to lose so many little restaurants and stores that had served the colonia well for so many decades. Santa Fe, where I worked for HP, was never an area I liked particularly. I found it too much like a transplanted Silicon Valley. Now it is even more so. To see what I mean, check the fotos of this helicopter pilot in the city. This is not the Mexico I know. It is an odd mix of the international corporate rich and service workers that are pushing out the professionals that make up the small but important tax base of Mexico.

I will leave you today with a picture of a different kind of sophistication. Groupo Mercedes is a family owned interior design and restaurant company that has been in Morelia for around 50 years. They do the design of all the best homes and businesses around the region and have a classic sense of style that would be at home anywhere. That said though, they never forget their roots. In their food, design and service, they always put the best of Mexico alongside the best of the world—not as a comparison—because it belongs there. I wish more people understood that sort of vision. Take a look at the little gallery I put together of some of my visits to their locations and see what you think.

wp:thumb src=”2005-11-27-4.jpg” cap=”A painting of the Seven Sins which graces the wall of 630. A fine restaurant and gallery by Groupo Mercedes in Morelia.”—> ->

February 9th, 2006 by Mike
Tagged as Cueramaro | No Comments »

A

Hola,

Mi nombre es Javier. Por fabor fotografias de la escuela Jose V, Canchola Cortes y fotografias de estudiantes.

Gracias,
Javier

More than a month ago now, I received an email from a teacher in Wytheville, Virginia who had two students from Mexico. Mrs. Little wrote that Javier and Lupita Hernandez visited Memoria de la Foto and the gallery often to see the pictures of their home. They asked if I could take some fotos of their school and maybe some more of the children in town so they might see some of their friends.

I have been very busy lately, finishing a medical education project so this, like a lot of things I have wanted to do have fallen by the wayside. I hope these two children in Virginia, and a number of others all over the world, who have come to depend on my (infrequent) updates and fotos, will be pleased with this entry. Just yesterday I got Internet access via Telecable (we say Tell-E-cab-lay) and so now, in the evenings while I make my dinner and listen to podcasts, I can once again put new fotos on my fotolog.

I asked my friend Patty, who is a teacher in Cueramaro, where their school is. It turned out it was just down the street from our home, across from the soccer field. Normally, I am in Cueramaro on weekends, so the schools are closed and there is no access to the grounds. But, I stood on the low wall that holds the fence around the school and snapped a few fotos just the same. I also took some fotos of a girls’ soccer team playing in the late afternoon on the field that I am sure the kids are familiar with. It felt good to be able to take these fotos, it felt even better to get more of the Revolution Day parade a few weeks later.

Revolution Day in Mexico is a time when the schools get a chance to show off with a parade that includes the young people and their teachers. The parade includes many of the athletic, artistic, and cultural activities the students participate in during the school year. For the proud parents and the community, it is an event that is looked forward to and enjoyed every year. I was lucky enough to be in Cueramaro this year for the parade and I realized that this was a time when I would have the opportunity to do what Javier had asked. I could take some fotos of the students of the schools in Cueramaro so kids (and adults) who had left Cueramaro could once again see some of their friends. Last year, when I took fotos of the parade, I was fairly selective when I decided which ones to put in my gallery. This year, knowing more about my viewers, I have included more fotos that, although they are somewhat repetitive, show many different faces. If you, like Javier and Lupita, would like to see some family or young friends from Cueramaro, I suggest you try this link to see the fotos from this year’s Revolution Day parade. You should also look in the Cueramaro gallery to see the fotos I took of the school (at the bottom of the page) and the girls on the soccer field.

Feliz Navidad to all my friends, wherever you are. I hope you are spending this holiday with family and friends and you enjoy these fotos of a small city in the Bajio of Mexico.

wp:thumb src=”2005-11-20-47.jpg” cap=”The youngest children line up to start the Revolution Day parade on the street in front of our home. Cueramaro, November 2005.”—> ->

December 18th, 2005 by Mike
Tagged as Cueramaro | No Comments »

A

It’s another Saturday afternoon. I am sitting in the dining room in the house in Cueramaro—writing and listening to Pandora. Pandora is a trio of women whose voices float through the room. Their music is at once both passionate and peaceful.

I’m feeling a little odd today. I’m moving to yet another little phase in my life here. Next week I will begin looking for an apartment. There is nothing permanent about it, it is just an opportunity to get out of the hotel and live my daily life a little more as I would like. But somehow, it feels larger. It doesn’t scare me. It has invigorated me.

Coming home to Cueramaro is always relaxing. I don’t realize during the week how tired I get sometimes; how much work takes over. When I am in Cueramaro there isn’t a lot to pull me in different directions. I sleep late. I take a siesta in the afternoons and regain myself.

Two weeks ago, I started preparing this entry. It was the day after the fiesta in Tupataro. I saw the late summer wildflowers while I was riding the bus home that Friday. They carpeted the hills and lined the roads. The Bajio is alive and green in late summer because of the rains. Again, in Rafael’s pickup going and coming back from Tupataro, I saw them. I asked Rafael to stop for a minute on the way back to Cueramaro to catch a few fotos of the flowers on the roadside. I knew it wouldn’t be enough to show what I was seeing so I planned to walk out of town on Sunday morning so I could take some time to just capture as much as I could.

That Sunday was bright and clear—it was a wonderful day for a walk. I decided to go towards Lupita’s little house on the edge of town. There is a field there that looks toward the hills and a number of overgrown roadsides. It wasn’t hard to find the flowers I was looking for. A small, wild marigold grows all over the Bajio. It grows in masses that carpet the fields and hides in the grasses that are lush this time of year. There are also several colors of morning glories and even a flower that looked like a small red zinnia. I don’t know the names, even vaguely, of all the flowers I saw but you can see for yourself if you take a walk through the gallery.

wp:thumb src=”2005-10-01-32.jpg” cap=”A beautiful flower that extends a long enough stem to stand above the grasses where ever it grows. This one is known all over Mexico. It isn’t unusual to see them in television ads this time of year.”—> ->

October 24th, 2005 by Mike
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Of

I’m back in Morelia, stealing a few minutes in the early morning. I’ve been back for a week now. The weather this time of year is alternatively rainy and sunny—neither hot or cold. We get the spill over from the tropical storms during the summer and some days it gets pretty heavy, although I have only seen one day where it was really heavy and that was just before I left more than a month ago. There is an area on the South side of Morelia that is prone to flooding and they did get hit last week. Like Sacramento, Morelia sits at the point where two rivers come together and in another similarity, the area below the join is historically a flood plain.

Of course, our flooding here is nothing like the problems in New Orleans and Mississippi. I see stories on that tragedy everywhere, on local, national and international news reports. It is sad to get the constant stories and it is shaking to realize the wide reach of this disaster. There are people here who have loved ones in the region affected by Katrina. The seeming inability of the US to quickly get the situation under control and the impact on the US economy are also concerns here. In many ways, the Mexican economy rides the waves that flow from the US. It should also be said that Mexico is directly involved in aiding people in the region. From news reports here I am aware that at least three “mobile consulates” have been set up in the Gulf area to help Mexicans affected by the disaster take care of their problems and to help them reach families back home. There is at least one company of Mexican Marines that arrived on a ship and anchored in New Orleans, complete with the requisite helicopter and medical supplies, to give aid to any victims they can. In the scope of this disaster, it is a small thing, but it gives a great deal of comfort to people here to know the Mexican government is doing whatever it can.

Last weekend, I got to go home to Cueramaro. I won’t be able to be in Mexico for Independence Day this year—I have to go to Philadelphia for a meeting right across the “fiesta” period at the end of next week. Everyone was asking me my plans and if I would be home during the fiestas. It is one of the biggest periods of national holidays in the year and really has no equivalent in the US. The family seems to be doing well although everybody has a complaint about the rainy season. If you can’t change the weather, you can at least complain about it. Of course, the rainy season does bring green to the hills and valleys of the Bajio, it is one of the most beautiful times of the year here. There are little wildflowers everywhere, the parks are green and lush, and the markets are over-flowing with fresh produce of all sorts.

I’m in the position of adding fotos pretty randomly to my gallery right now. I can highlight certain events and places, but during weeks like this, there are just drips of little additions, some of which I highlight by mixing with my writing, but most of which just find their way into an appropriate subsection of the gallery unnoted. You will find, if you are interested, the galleries give their last updated date—so if you have an idea the last time you wandered through, you will know if there is anything new. I have heard from family and friends the new weblog layout seems to be showing up pretty well in most browsers and that is good because I don’t have a lot of time to spend on it right now. We’re getting ready for a major release next week and we are heads down busy everyday.

I’ll close today with a foto of the cathedral in Cueramaro. The flag seller in front of the church is a common sight all over Mexico right now as Independence Day approaches. I bought a bandera to hang in the window behind the balcony upstairs. Because of travel, it will be the only thing I can do this year. Not a problem really though, I’ve got a feeling there will be many other years and fiestas to enjoy…

wp:thumb src=”2005-09-04-5.jpg” cap=”In a scene from now or anytime in at least the last 50 years, a peddler of banderas for the Indpendence Days fiestas stands in front of the Cathedral in Cueramaro as families rush to and from the Sunday mercado.”—> ->

September 7th, 2005 by Mike
Tagged as Cueramaro | 1 Comment »

Things

Today I’m sitting at home in Cueramaro listening to Cirque du Soleil and Mystere as I look back over all the things I have meant to write about and just haven’t had the chance. Such is life. I have one more week before I head back to the US for a month and I have a lot of stories in my head gathering dust. I guess it is time to start putting some of this down.

The first is two weeks ago when Rey’s brother Chava, his wife Juliesa, and his daughter came to visit from Los Angeles. I haven’t had a chance to see them for a couple of years – the last time Rey and I were in LA. They had been in Cueramaro for a more than week when I got back from Morelia and were close to going back to California. They have also built a home in Cueramaro and plan to move back eventually. We started talking about our common interest, furnishing our houses, and I realized they hadn’t really had a chance to look at what is available in Mexico now. For someone who remembers the Mexico of ten or more years ago, it is a welcome surprise. So, of course, this meant we were going to have to take a shopping trip the next day and show them what Irapuato has to offer.

Librado and his wife Maria decided they would like to join us, so in the morning, we gathered up the group and got ready to go. Librado’s house is near the edge of town, so Chava brought his truck over to our house to go out to Librado’s. The plan was to take Librado’s Lincoln, which is roomy for a group, from his house to Plaza Cibeles in Irapuato, about 30 minutes away. That is when things began to go wrong.

First, the battery in Chava’s truck refused to turn over the engine. It was no surprise – it doesn’t get near enough action to keep the battery charged up when he isn’t in Cueramaro. After maneuvering, Librado’s truck to a strategic position, it was jumped and we headed off. We got to Librado’s house a little before everyone was ready, but while we were waiting, we decided to pull the Lincoln out of the garage. The battery was dead. Worse, the floor of the garage slopes down from the front, so pushing it out to where it could be jumped was out of the question (although we tried). We also tried switching the battery out of the truck – not enough amps.

At this point it was getting into the afternoon, but the problems just seemed to seal everyone’s resolve. We were going! No question. A taxi was called.

At this point you have to understand that Cueramaro, unlike larger cities in Mexico, doesn’t really have a lot of taxies. There are usually a couple of taxies sitting near the jardin on Sundays (market day) but the rest of the time you need to call one and wait. This means giving directions to places where a lot of drivers have never been, asking how long it will take to get there (if they have never been there, the estimates are going to be suspect immediately) and then – going out to the major cross streets to flag them down when they wander by.

Since there were seven of us, including the two little girls, we needed something larger than a standard Mexican taxi. Most of them only seat four comfortably, including the driver! We ordered a pickup with two rows of seats – which in ordinary circumstances is a workable solution. After what seemed like an eternity, a taxi appeared at the end of the road. It was an ordinary little four seat compact.

Another round of phone calls, frantic calls on the radio from the taxi driver who had been dispatched by mistake, and some time later, an appropriate pickup was flagged down on the main street and walked back down the dirt road to Librado’s house. We packed ourselves into the pickup and headed off; firm in the knowledge we were going to get to our destination without further delay. Wrong again.

Outside a little town known as San Cristobal, we found we had yet another problem to deal with. The rear tire on the taxi was going flat. In Mexico, especially in the agricultural region of Cueramaro, this is a real catastrophe. There are no shoulders to pull off on, the roads are narrow, and large trucks and buses go by all the time. The only alternative is to go slow and look for the first farm road you can find to pull off on – hoping it will be flat and wide enough to change the tire. Fortunately, we found one not too far along and pulled off. It was’t really wide, it was dirt, but it crossed a culvert so it had a firm base for jacking up the truck. We sighed in relief.

We took shelter under the mesquite trees while the driver worked to get the tire changed. With a little help and encouragement, he got it done. Of course, while the taxi was jacked up, a pickup and a tractor had to pass, but somehow nothing further clouded our day and we all got back in the taxi and continued on our way. As Librado and I suspected, Chava and Juliessa were very happy and surprised to see what was available in the plaza. We had a pleasant dinner in the food court and the kids got to spend some time in the pet store. Even better, we met Librado’s son, Miguel and his wife who had brought a van from Cueramaro and volunteered to take us to Walmart and back to Cueramaro in safety and luxury. There’s a lesson in all of this I’m sure – but in the end, we were all happy. We stuck to our plan and did want we wanted. Somehow the problems just melted away.

wp:thumb src=”2005-07-02-4.jpg” cap=”Dinner in the food court at Plaza Cibeles was a welcome close to a long day.”—> ->

July 16th, 2005 by Mike
Tagged as Cueramaro | 2 Comments »