Mexico: Consistently and Refreshingly Defying Safety Standards.

A sweet lakeside park in Leon, about 3 hours from Guadalajara.
No children were injured in the making of this post, although the photographer did sustain some bruising, and possibly tetnus. But also a new lease on the life of her inner child.

food fantasy

this is mixed fruit in a cup with chilli sauce, lime juice and some chewy nuggets that taste like sweet beef jerky. rather refreshing.



This next dish is called 'pollo con mole'. Literally, chicken with sauce. It's a traditional mexican meal where the sauce comprises lots and lots of ingredients, but mostly dark chocolate and cinnamon. It's not sweet, and a little bitter because of the cocoa. The flavour is intense and sort of burnt. (I'll never make it as a food critic !)



I had this for breakfast in Guanajunto. Fruit with cottage cheese and whey. A great combo!

do i need a spleen? is it like an appendix?

i was riding in the back of the bus yesterday. ordinarily, i tend not to gravitate toward the back because one inevitably gropes other passengers in an attempt to avoid lasting injury. the journey seems then to descend into a series of embarassing and painful events in which the incompetent 'gringo' is thrown like a pinball from angular plastic seat to angular plastic seat. even all the tiny, wide-eyed mexican tots seem able to cling adeptly onto their mothers despite the nauseating trip. one of the circuitous routes yesterday gave me a sharp stinging sentation in my gut. i wonder if i can write 'speed bump' on my health insurance form?

the public buses are exceedingly ineffecient diesel monsters. where are al gore and a placard when you need them...

i love to take the bus when its so packed one cannot reach the driver - not least because the sardine-like conditions are more comfortable. in such cases, passengers boarding from the back pass their change forward through the crowd and a couple of minutes later, the change is dutifully returned with ticket. it's so fun! and such a sensible idea.

pity there's no sound.

I just saw a baby driving a car

What can I say?
It was wearing a nappy.

The baby had its hands on the steering wheel and what I can only assume to be the father was holding on to the baby.

Driving restrictions are non existent, sure, but babies can't drive. For starters, their arms aren't long enough to reach the indicator.
Oh, wait, that's right. Drivers don't really indicate either. It's a redundant feature on the Mexican Car.

I wish I'd have taken a picture...

Ajijic by the lake

about an hour from Guadalajara lies the largest inland lake in Mexico - Lago Chapala.
i went on a sunday bus trip to one of the small towns by the edge of the lake called Ajijic (a-hee-heek) (are my phonetic hints getting annoying yet???)

it's a quaint little community now mostly comprising wealthy Canadian and US retirees and expats. american accents musings about mexicans, tips, public transport and real estate was my soundtrack for the day. no, it wasn't really that bad. the only downside was that most shops caters for the older traveller... ie. sensible canvas shoes and baggy clothes of natural fibres.


it's strikes a beautiful balance between urban vibrancy and drowsy rural life. the place is great for tourists but of course the youth living here haven't much to do and nowhere to go. Mexico has a very young population and you can notice there are lots of young kids and babies around. i mean, the money generated by tourism isn't extreme and most of the richer shops are foreign owned which ensures the place looks pretty but doesn't really contribute to the local economy.

anyway, so i didn't spend much due to limited funds, but stole some scenic shots from the town and then paid my $2.50 to get back home...

Facts from the vault

hi all,

i've started classes now and am finding the lecturers so, so enthralling and knowledgable.

my mexican culture and society class is particularily enlightening which is where i've garnered this quick factfile of this latin country.

• minimum wage in Mexico : 50pesos / 8 hour day ($5 australian dollars)

• 40% of mexicans earn minimum wage (unofficially the figure is more like 70%)

• there are more millionaires per capita in Mexico than in the USA

• millionaires in Mexico are wealthier than their north american counterparts on average

• Mexico's last president was simultaneously the president of the PEPSI corporation

hard CORN porn

adventures in Tlaquepaque (t-LAH-keh-PA-keh)

mummy and i decided to travel to a quaint little part of town called Tlaquepaque.
we were bowled over by beauty of the buildings and really great crafts of the local artisans.

tlaquepaque again

these taken in the pottery museum. some of the pieces were whimsical and playful - colourful and sometimes rather naively made.





the obligatory food experiences. we ate in such opulent haciendas where you would enter into a lush, cool leafy courtyard and the food was pretty cheap considering the extravagant surroundings.

this is the B & B we stayed in overnight. (nothing at all like the overbearing and overly-frilled Montville style lodgings). look closely and you can see our bedroom window in the centre of the picture. we overlooked the breakfast courtyard. ah, so sad to leave...

so this is how Tequila is made, folks...

we went for a bus trip to Tequila - it's about an hour from where uni is - and took a tequila factory tour. the agave plants take 8-10 years to mature before the 'pinas' - pineapples - can be harvested.

...and this is how they used to make it

the old brick factory is actually a UNESCO heritage site. it looks something like an ancient torture dungeon and is extremely damp and cool inside in comparison to the scorching humidity outside. the surrounding landscape is mountainous and rather lush... not much like a desert really.




(ok, i don't know how authentic the donkey is (or for that matter, the grinning hired mexican man complete with sombrero and red cravat posing next to the ass), but everyone on the tour was having their picture taken with the poor animal and the flashes were startling it, so i felt compelled to find a different angle)

more of the same from el centro historico