Your one-stop shop for all things Latin/Hispanic/Mexican
One of the very few things I like about touristic places is the joy of ordering my food from a bilingual menu, where Huevos al gusto (eggs any style) magically become What eggs do you like, and huevos estrellados are turned a round natural, as was the case in Yucatán’s Sacbé restaurant.
Others, like yet another Yucatán eatery (below), have a simpler take on things, and offer you the opportunity to enjoy a good plate of Eggs off your choice.
Just like Americans know how to cater to Mexican shoppers at the mall, bartenders in Los Pelícanos, an eatery in Puerto Morelos, Yucatán, have found a way to please their mostly gringo clientele: with a NAFTA friendly margarita, which for some odd reason was missing the Canadian flag.
Oh well, nobody’s perfect. ¡Salud!
Photo: Laura Martínez
Ah, Mexico…!
Doña Trini, in dowtown Puerto Morelos, had everything this blogger was looking for during a recent trip to the Yucatán peninsula.
Photo: Laura Martínez (Puerto Morelos, Q. Roo. 2008.)
Forget the Club Med. Hotel Reforma, in the heart of downtown Mérida, offers everything you should expect from an all-inclusive hotel: air conditioning, swimming pool, parking, cable TV, coffee and bread… why not?
(Yeah, I’m back from my Yucatán excursion and still too lazy to do much. But stay tune and in the meantime, Feliz 2009!)
Photo: Laura Martínez. Mérida, Yuc. 2008
Life is not a tómbola. It’s just one big fat irony. Félix Batista, an American security consultant who has helped negotiate the release of dozens of kidnapping victims in Latin America, this week was kidnapped in Mexico.
According to the New York Times: The consultant, Felix Batista, 55, was giving security seminars for business owners in Coahuila State when he was abducted by a group of armed men.
As of Monday night, officials in Mexico and the U.S. were still trying to figure out the whereabouts of Batista. This blogger, meanwhile, was going, duh, that’s really messed up!
Here is a real good reason to build a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border: to stop the freaking camels from sneaking in.
Yes, my friends. A couple of days ago, two camels were spotted in the border town of Ciudad Juárez, looking all suspicious and all, presumably trying to get across unnoticed. According to AP:
Wait a second… a pine tree in Ciudad Juárez? Now, that´s gotta be a mirage!
Photo: Hazme el Chingado Favor
My fellow chilangos have found a creative (if maybe not infallible) way to protect their property in the face of Mexico City’s alarming insecurity levels.
Translation: This truck is protected by Spider Man.
Photo: Periódico Reforma
If you are remotely familiar with Mexican catholic fervor, you’ve probably seen exvotos adorning a church. An exvoto is an image offered to a deity or saint as a form of prayer or as a thank you for an unanswered prayer.
I’ve seen hundreds of exvotos in my life, but nothing quite like the above one, dated September 30, 2001 and loosely translated as follows:
“Dear Virgin of Guadalupe don’t let this guy Osana vin Laden [sic] attack the United States again, much less with nuclear weapons because I have family working over there, in Los Angeles, California; and may peace reign and not WAR, because we are all your sons. Give them good sense in behalf of humanity.”
Hat tip to the Unfabulous Mr. Badgerous
Ok people. Mexico City’s crime wave is just getting ridiculous. Despite having found the Condomóvil today, (which was stolen a few days ago) cops say a few things are still missing, including a stereo, an iPod, 5,000 condoms, 800 HIV tests and a giant, 7-meter inflatable preservative.
Could the robbers be so kind to give back at least the giant prophylactic? I mean, how far can you go with that thing? It’s pink, for God’s sake!
Anyone?
There is politically correct advertising, and then there is Vicky Form.
In this print ad -found in Vanidades magazine- the lingerie line introduces us to Erika Maldonado, a seemingly normal (and hopefully professional) translator with a knack for foreign lenguas (tongues.)
Judging from what she is [barely] wearing, one can only assume the lenguas she claims to love are not exactly native tongues nor mother tongues, but just tongues. Then again, we see the Spanish, French and Italian flags falling mysteriously from the sky.
(I did a lousy job cutting this ad, but I swear Erika is clutching a French dictionary in her right hand.)
Oh, la, lá!
I just learned today that a group of Chinese companies are plunking down $350 million to build a “deluxe Chinatown” in Mexico City, which is expected to be “very similar to the one found in New York City” according to the local press.
That’s nice. But, can somebody please tell me where to go to find New York City’s deluxe Chinatown? last time I checked there was no lujo to be found around. But maybe that’s just me…
You gotta give it to Mexico City’s police force. Not satisfied with taking bribes from fellow Mexican citizens, in their native language, they are now expanding their activities to foreign nationals, in other people’s language for their comfort.
Two transit police officers today were charged with stealing $150 from an Australian tourist, who after being told by a cop that it was OK to go over a red light, was later stopped -and threatened to be fined- for, well, going over a red light!
Upon seizing her Australian driver’s license, the cop told her -in perfect, and probably heavily accented English: “No money, no license.”
I’ve only been in Mexico City for like 24 hours, but I’m already impressed by the progress made by my country’s institutions: no English no progress. Well done y que viva México!
I have no idea why, but the only two gold medals Mexicans scored at this year’s Olympic Games in Beijing were in the Taekwondo discipline.
Perhaps this has something to do with Latinos’ penchant for kicking the hell out of people, but maybe it’s got something to do with the Mariachi hat. I don’t know.
Whatever happened to good ol’ soccer and boxing?
The folks at Mozilla Mexico are looking for a logo, and they are calling on local designers to submit their proposals.
Being a fan of both, Mozilla and Mexican creativity, I decided to take a peek at some of the proposals submitted so far. The above one, by Moisés Gomez, is definitely my fave.
Wouldn’t you love to see a luchador every time you open your browser?
