Our son, Michael, came to see us during Christmas vacation; I think he had a good time while he was here. He almost didn't make it! He had to change planes in Mexico City. First he had to go through Immigration and Customs. He said that wasn't that bad, but when he got to his gate, there was nobody there. Unbeknownst to him, they were already on the plane, so he missed his flight while he was at the gate! Since it was Christmas, all other flights were booked solid. After trying to get on standby all day, we decided Mike should take a bus (13 hours). The only available ticket was 10 pm the next evening. He was on his own, in a city of 12 million, for the next 24 hours! Needless to say, ... read more

Thursday we left Puerto Escondido. We had a two-day drive in front of us; we were planning on driving to the Guatemalan border, renew our visas and car permits, and then drive to San Cristobal de las Casas. Easy, right? After a somewhat uneventful drive, we spent the first night in Juchitan. We didn’t want to drive any further as there were no bigger towns or cities that would have hotels. We got up the next morning and followed a hotel employee to the parking garage. Our car was totally boxed in; the only way we could get it out would be to move one of the other cars. The hotel employee handed David the key so he drive it out of the way (I guess he couldn't drive a stick). As soon as David put ... read more

Okay, here’s the breakdown on why I LOVE GM - those of you who know me may detect a note of sarcasm! The last time I wrote, we had brought the car to a mechanic, who was recommended by our “fixer”, Juan. We told the mechanic that our power steering light kept coming on, that our power steering would stop working, and that it first occurred going over the mountains. The mechanic checked out the car and told us that it must be the battery. Against our better judgment, we had him change out the battery. And for the next couple of hours, it seemed to work. Saturday morning we decided to drive the 75-mile trip to Huatulco, not only for something to do, but it has the only GM dealership south of Oaxaca. We were ... read more

Our first two weeks in Oaxaca have been a veritable whirlwind of activity, so I’ll keep this synopsis brief; I’ve got to get to the drug search! We were just settling in Saturday night when, what I thought, there was an explosion right near our house! Our new landlady explained that it was not an explosion, but actually one of the groups from church celebrating one of the Saints with a parade and food. Since the bombs, okay fireworks, sounded close by, we took a walk up the street and found ourselves in the middle of a huge celebration! There were Paper Mache statues of 8-foot-tall people, musicians, and ladies with baskets of flowers on their heads dancing. After a short break so the people in the statues could come out and take a breath, the ... read more

While Guanajuato has been beautiful, it’s time to move on. Thursday we packed our car and headed south to Oaxaca, stopping for a couple of days in Mexico City. I had been to Mexico City once before, albeit almost 40 years ago. I thought it would be a kick to stay in the same hotel I did when I was 14; alas probably to my old Spanish teacher’s chagrin, I could not remember the name of the hotel. I got the general area down, but that was about it. We stayed in a relatively nice hotel, the Hotel Metropol, just a stone’s throw away from the Alameda Central. We first ate lunch/dinner at La Opera Bar. Its claim to fame was that once Pancho Villa rode his horse into the cantina and shot a bullet in ... read more