This series is from The Mexico File newsletter.
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MÁS O MENOS, 4/2006 

by David Simmonds 

My son, age eleven, has developed a clever ploy of deftly changing the subject when he has no credible answers for the subject at hand. “Tanner, do you hit your little sister?” “Dad, how about me and you catching a ballgame – spend some quality time”. 

Which brings me to wonder about the laser-focus in the news media lately about illegal immigration. Suddenly, everything would be perfect in our fine land if only we would build a wall and turn 11 million laborers into felons, followed by a one way ticket back to Oaxaca. Yeah, that will work. 

No one denies that we have a problem and a solution must be agreed upon and legislation enacted. I did note that the feds recently raided a Netherlands-based pallet manufacturer at several of their U.S. plants, arresting seven managers and 1,100 workers. I have a feeling that this company was not a big money contributor to the present administration, nor do I believe that this was nothing more than a political move to appease the anti-immigrant base. Do the same thing at Tyson chicken farms and I will stand corrected. There has been a 90% drop in illegal-immigration employer arrests since 2000 and I doubt that will change. 

If you are left to wonder why we would do nothing for so long to enforce the labor laws already on the books you need to understand that corporate America has been trying for decades to lower, and keep low, worker’s wages. Bears Stearns, the Wall Street brokerage firm, describes as “systematic” the practice of replacing lower income wage earners with illegal aliens. This has been going on for the past thirty-five years, supported by both political parties. These are not just jobs that “Americans won’t do,” as is so often claimed. These are what were once middle-class, decent paying jobs, many of them union. Business knows that Mexican migrants are not complainers. They work under exploitive conditions in order to send money home to feed their families. They are willing to break our immigration laws for that purpose and keep their mouths shut.  

We can solve this problem by requiring business to obey the law and to adhere to market forces. Working class Americans, the men and women who built this country, are losing ground. A guy driving nails or hanging drywall for 30 years is supposed to re-train? I often wonder what my dad would think of all of this, he who served his country with a career in the Air Force for twenty years. I wonder, but I’m pretty sure I know the answer.

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 3/2006 

by David Simmonds 

Every year at this time I travel to Acapulco to attend Tianguis, Latin America’s largest travel trade show and conference aimed at Mexico tourism. In past years I have been an invitee of the Mexican government, meaning they fly me there and pay for the hotel with the hopes that I will write good articles and help promote tourism in Mexico. It’s a responsibility and obligation that I have always taken seriously, understanding that it cost them some real money to pay my expenses. Acapulco’s not my favorite town in Mexico but it’s always a good time and I have met and become friends with an interesting group of travel writers and PR people who specialize in Mexico travel. It has become increasingly harder to get on the invitee list as they only make room for about 40 people in all of North America. This year I didn’t get the call, which is OK – but I’m going anyway at my expense, partly because I need a Mexico fix, but mainly because I always come home with a few good connections that will help out down the road. I do wonder, however, where they found 40 other people who promote Mexico more than I have for the last ten years. 

The event brings together about 1,000 travel buyers and several hundred suppliers, with some of their booths as well-decorated and large as a rock-star Vegas suite. The major resorts, airlines, state tourism offices, beer and tequila companies (free samples are flowing), tour companies, etc., are all in attendance. There are daily press conferences, reams of printed materials, a complimentary press room with rows of computers, and at night garishly elaborate dinners and parties normally associated with  politicians, celebrities and drug dealers. As is usual, sleep will be rare and I’ll limp back home a little beat up, telling myself “That’s the last time – I’m getting too old for this level of research.” Then, a few days later I’ll start plotting my effort to get back on the invite list.

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 2/2006 

by David Simmonds 

I have always thought that our country’s foreign policy should be modeled more after the old TV western Bonanza and less like the British Empire prior to the being relegated to small-island status, going broke and trying to rule the world. On Bonanza, patriarch Ben Cartwright and his three sons liked to leave folks alone unless they started messing with the Ponderosa, the ranch where they lived. Occasionally they had to wander off the ranch to attend to something or to save the nearest town from bad guys, but generally they liked to mind their own business. “Live and let live” epitomized the spirit of the West, while people also took care of one another when in need. 

Today we live in a time where many amongst us see it as our obligation, our duty, to tell other cultures how to live their lives. Without going into all of the obvious examples of this that drive our policies throughout the world, one instance that recently took place in Mexico serves to illustrate the absurdity of this blatant arrogance. 

The Maria Isabel Sheraton Hotel in Mexico City is U.S. owned. A meeting was scheduled there between a group of oil company leaders from the U.S., including representatives of Exxon Mobil Corporation, and a delegation from Cuba to discuss a possible joint venture. However, under pressure from the feds, the Cubans were summarily evicted from the hotel by Sheraton based on our goofy law prohibiting any business deals with Cuba.. Mind you, the meeting was taking place in a sovereign country where doing business with Cuba is lawful. We decided to enforce our law beyond our border, not a popular policy in the civilized world where we are commonly viewed as an over-meddlesome country.  

Not surprisingly, Mexican officials, as well as its citizens, were incensed by this bullying tactic. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Like it or not, we need friends, especially those with whom we share a border. We need to respect and appreciate the fact that everyone doesn’t want to be like us. Let’s start paying more attention to the Ponderosa and allow others to do the same.

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 12/2005 

by David Simmonds 

In the early 1970’s I would travel through Mexico in a VW bus, and sometimes by train. The van had the advantage of mobility, a bed, and enough room to carry a lot of “stuff,” which was usually a giant ice chest filled with Coronas. But it did require gas, spare tire purchases and untimely repairs. And you had to keep a sharp eye on the road to avoid bunker-sized potholes, mysteriously placed topes (speed-bumps), wandering farm animals, sloth-paced vehicles sans tail-lights and roads that simply stopped. Conversely, I could jump on a passenger train in the border town of Mexicali for about $18.00 and a day and a half later disembark in Tepic, Nayarit’s state capital. Another day’s travel would get you to Mexico City. The train cars were ancient, slow, beaten up, and – fascinating. There was little doubt that you had entered a very different world than the one you were leaving behind. 

Unfortunately, the trains were poorly maintained, and as Mexico’s economy faltered passenger service was eventually discontinued except for a couple short runs (Copper Canyon). The bus lines became the primary mode of transport for the masses, with air travel preferred by those who could afford it. 

Now I hear that the trains will run again –and not by left-over train cars recycled from the U.S. or Europe. Mexico is now exhibiting a vision that the U.S. refuses to entertain –  high-speed bullet trains. President Fox has announced plans to revive train-travel in his country with a multibillion dollar project, with the first stage being a 180 mph train to run 360 miles from Mexico City to Guadalajara. The plans also call for a line running from the Pacific port of Manzanillo to central Mexico, as well as electric commuter trains running 140 miles out from Mexico City. The Mexico City trains would carry 320,000 people a day, a much needed relief for the insane traffic congestion of today. 

The first 15-mile phase is scheduled to open in 2007 and the bullet train by 2011. As Washington continues to debate the necessity of a cheap, subsidized transportation system, Mexico is looking forward and preparing for the day when oil is no longer a viable option for any country concerned with self-dependence.

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 11/2005 

You may have heard about the outcome of the recent ballot measures we voted on in Calee-for-nee-uh recently, most of which were proposed by Terminator Ahnold, who learned that attacking nurses, firefighters and teachers is not a good idea in what is largely a liberal, blue state. And there was that promise not to take special interest money shortly before he set all state records for taking – special interest money. A main feature of the teacher initiative would have required a five-year probationary period for new teachers. My wife is a teacher, and believe me, it takes about two weeks to know if someone has the right stuff in the classroom to instruct, discipline, nurture, and entertain 25 to 30 kids, many of whose parents have no clue how to parent. But of course, the real motivation behind the measure was money. California is broke and so are many of its cities. You don’t have to pay probationary teachers as much, and if the city really wants to get well, they could, under the new law, very easily fire long-time teachers whose pay scale is much higher than the newly hired.    

Segue to Mexico

The Mexico City Autonomous University (UACM) has a system of 16 feeder high schools that were launched by then-Mayor Lopez Obrador, who is the leading candidate to become Mexico’s next president. The University has no entrance exams and no interviews. There is no financial aid because it is free to attend. The only requirements are a high school diploma and proof of residency. The goal is to ensure that kids from bad neighborhoods and little money have an equal chance at higher education, resulting in an educated citizenry that will ultimately benefit all. Unfortunately, they don’t have the resources to allow everyone to attend who wants to, so they have a lottery system with the lucky ones drawing the right numbers. These are the types of visionary programs that will help Mexico grow into this new century and should be encouraged by the United States as a means to curb the flow of the many Mexicans who cross our border wanting nothing more than work.

 

MÁS O MENOS, 10/2005 

by David Simmonds 

I recently bought a house that I can’t afford – and to make it less affordable, we’re doing some remodeling before moving in. The first thing I have learned is that there is no such thing as a “small remodel.” At first it was just a pool and a stand-alone office addition, but my beautiful wife, Felice, unilaterally decided that since we’re just doing this once we might as well add few “extras ” – extras meaning to enlarge the master bedroom and bath to include her “sitting room” with French doors, which I don’t really get since she never sits (this explains why she’s still packing the same 107 pounds on her 5’6” frame that she had when we met). And although the carpet was pristine, well, she has always wanted Mexican-tile floors, requiring a trip to Tecate, just across the border, and having them delivered by a semi-truck load of pavers custom ordered along with these little red “effect” tiles and coping for the pool.  

Have you priced a truck load of tiles lately? Then, what the hell, we might as well paint all of the walls in the house to get the Mexican hacienda look that is our ultimate goal. Of course, that new master bathroom now has a custom hand-made copper bath tub from Santa Clara de Cobre in Michoacan that I found on e-bay. The seller tells me it’s a steal at $3,200. All I need is a hose and a bar of soap, but Felice – oh, never mind. 

Not surprisingly, my budget now resembles our Federal red-ink spread-sheet, and that pool construction is looking like the elusive “exit strategy” from our 51st state. But there is one phase of all of this that I don’t mind paying for, where I actually feel like I’m getting value. I go to the local gathering corner at 7:30 in the morning, where about 20 to 30 Mexican laborers hang out, and if I’m lucky, Arnie from Oaxaca hasn’t been hired yet. 

Arnie’s a good-sized 26-year-old man who works harder and better than anyone should expect or have to. I buy his lunch and give him a $100 bill after an 8-hour day. The first day I picked him up I had what I thought was about three-days worth of work for him, including hauling tiles up a ladder onto the roof in 90 degree heat. When I came by the house at 4:00 o:clock that day he had completed the 3-day job  in seven hours and was in the yard cleaning some flower beds with the entire construction site looking like a room at the Hyatt. I have hired Arnie many days since then. 

My point here is that our country needs to get serious about how we want to handle the immigration problem. As long as I can get this kind of worker for a fair price I’ll continue to do so. If it’s not a good idea, then make it against the law to hire these guys. As long as they can earn money to send home they will be on that street corner, or in the fields – anywhere they can work. Senators John McCain and Ted Kennedy are co-sponsoring a bill to set up a guest worker program while sealing the border. Hopefully, the partisan politics that rule Washington can get together on this. Arnie is here for one reason, and it has nothing to do with blowing up bombs. Let’s have some common sense solutions for a change.

 

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 8/2005 

by David Simmonds

I have always heard that the years really do zoom by as you age, one decade becoming indistinguishable from another. You recall a trip that you took fifteen years ago and you swear it was just a few years back, maybe 1999, back when things seemed to work better in our country. Or you easily recall the instant you decided to quit your job in commercial real estate to start a travel newsletter, with a one-year old son and a loving wife who spends her non-working, idle hours Nordstrom-shopping, and it seems like just last year – maybe two. Then you realize that ten years have passed since you published that first issue on Puerto Vallarta, which never would have gone anywhere if your older brother hadn’t casually said “I’m in.” 

So it is that ten years and 100 issues later we’re still having fun with our little creation, understanding that it’s not easy to make money in this business (we both do other things – Bob is a psychologist and writes a mental health newsletter, and I organize Mexico tours, sell golf packages, other stuff), but thankful that through perseverance and more than a little luck we are still in business. 

Probably the most amazing aspect of our “success” is that we have a loyal subscriber base in these days of free information on the internet, some of which is even accurate. For this I thank each of you more than you can imagine. You have allowed me to quit a job I hated and continue the life-long illicit love affair I have had with that magical, and sometimes maddening, country to the south. As we say here in SoCal, “I am one lucky dude.”

 

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 7/2005 

It’s family vacation time for my family later this week and I’m trying figure out how I can fit that into a column about Mexico. For the third year in the past four we are going to Hunewill Ranch in Northern California to ride horses and do a little trout fishing. The Hunewill Ranch was started in 1861 by Napolean Bonaparte Hunewill and is still a working cattle ranch owned by his descendants. They have been doing the guest ranch part since 1930, so they are pretty good at this. They know a little about cowboying. 

My wife, Felice, used to go to the ranch with her family while growing up, even working there for a couple of summers during college. Some of the same wranglers are still there and are old friends of hers. This year we are taking her parents, 87 and 80, who haven’t been back for some 30 years. I imagine that this will be their last time, adding a bittersweet pall to our special week. And, of course, our two kids, Tanner and Nicolette, ages 10 and 6, will be with us, learning life lessons that they would never get back home in San Diego. Caring for a horse for a week is different than cleaning your room. 

The ranch sits on the Eastern Sierra, just outside of tiny Bridgeport, not far from the old mining town of Bodie. The mornings, watching the herd of horses thunder by our cabin, are as surreal and magical as anything I have ever witnessed this side of the border (there, I got the Mexico reference in), framed by the snow-capped peaks in the distance. Unlike most guest ranches where you ride single-file on trails, at Hunewill you do a lot of pasture rides where you let loose and gallop, the riders spread out for 100 yards wide whoopin’ and hollerin’. 

Cell phone signals don’t reach the ranch. There is no internet access, no TV, swimming pool or hot tub. The food is fresh and plentiful, the accommodations old and comfortable. There are hayrides, fiddle music and square dances and the other visitors become your friends. I’ll come home a better person.  http://www.hunewill.com/ 

 

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 6/2005 

I have been explaining to my 10-year-old son, Tanner, that it really is now time to buy a place in Mexico, that life in SoCal ain’t what it used to be, that traffic jams are not an acceptable way of life for people over 50, and that most people just do not want to believe that those in public life will lie to cover their butts. He just thinks I’m getting cynical and grouchy – and he may be right. But we will buy in Mexico soon, at least as a refuge to escape to occasionally until he and his sister, Nicolette, age six, go to college. College? 

He has heard me tell people that you can’t actually own property in Mexico thirty miles from a coastline or sixty miles from the border. “What’s up with that, Dad? If it’s such a cool place why don’t they let Americans buy that land?” “Well, they got a little cranky when we claimed about one-third of their country and they are now a little cautious about giving up their best real estate to foreigners” “Huh, I study that stuff in school and I never read about us taking land. You’re making that up.” 

I explain that they signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 that ended the Mexican-American War, but that Mexico really had no choice and that the treaty transferred ownership of present-day Texas, California, Nevada, and Utah, and parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Wyoming to the United States from Mexico. “Is that kinda like what’s up now in the Middle East, Dad?” Kids sure know how to ask question these days.

 

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 5/2005 

The most consistent challenge I have repeatedly faced in my 35 years of Mexico travel is how to make a phone call home to San Diego with some reasonable assurance that it won’t cost me more than my hotel room. I have tried all the options that have come around over the years, and I usually discover that I have paid anywhere from $1.00 to $10.00 a minute once I get the bill. More recently, I have had good luck with my AT&T cellular phone. This phone still has the older CDMA technology that is common in Mexico and the charge has been consistently around $1.20 per minute with roaming charges. The coverage wasn’t complete, but not bad. Unfortunately, I accidentally drowned that phone while washing my Jeep recently and now that Cingular has bought AT&T, I had to buy a phone with the newer GSM technology. I’ll find out how that works when I leave for Veracruz in a few days, but I’ll be surprised if I am able to make a call. 

But it looks like there may be a solution, if the reports I have read are accurate. The new option is the same that we have all used in the U.S. and Canada for years by dialing 1-800-555-1212. Now, while in Mexico, you can dial the same number preceded by a 0 (i.e., 01-800-555-1212). You will reach an operator or an automated attendant in English where you can place collect, credit card, third party or Bell Calling Card calls to people in the U.S. and Canada. No prepaid card is required and they claim their prices to be 65% lower than AT&T, MCI or Sprint. This is a proven system that has been in place in many countries world-wide including Australia, Norway, Germany, Thailand, the UK, and Japan, just to name a few. Visit the web site at www.01-800-555-1212.com . I’ll let you know the damage next issue.

 

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 4/2005 

The most popular political figure in Mexico, Mexico City’s PRD party populist mayor, Manuel López Obrador, has been targeted by the other two political parties to prevent him from running in the presidential election in 2006. By Mexican constitutional law, high office-holders are immune from prosecution. But a recent legislative panel voted 3-1 to recommend that Obrador’s immunity from prosecution be removed. There are enough votes in the House of Congress, where no party holds a majority of seats, to lift the immunity.  

The charge involves an incident several years old when a hospital was approved to be built in a poor section of Mexico City, financed by the World Bank and the Inter-America Development Bank to the tune of $44.5 million. The city agreed to build access roads to the new hospital in 1998. The then Mexico City mayor, Rosario Robles, could not reach an agreement with a land owner who was demanding too much money for the road access to be built over his property. The city then expropriated the land, and the land owner sued to stop construction on the day before Obrador took office, citing that he was being denied access to his land. Construction ceased, but the land owner later claimed that the equipment wasn’t removed in a timely manner, still claiming his access was impeded. By now, President Fox got involved, claiming that Obrador was responsible for the delay. And for this he might be prosecuted in Federal court, making him ineligible to run for president. 

The popular Obrador has threatened to call for civil disobedience if the charges against him continue, claiming that involvement by the Feds in this small matter is a clear sign of a conspiracy to prevent him from becoming president. It will be worth watching this unfold for the next few months, as it is widely believed that the Bush administration is strongly opposed to Obrador, who has made it clear that Pemex, the government oil giant, will never sell off any portion to foreign concerns. The old adage of “follow the money” should now be replaced by “follow the oil.” Mexico has it, and the U.S. wants it. That’s the way I see it.

 

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 3/2005 

When I was in high school and college, a few presidents ago, Spring Break (I think it was still Easter Vacation at that time) marked the time of the year when my friends and I would put down our baseball gear, load up a couple of rusted vans and head across the border to either San Felipe or Ensenada for a week of camping in a $2.00 per night campground proudly outfitted with a cold outdoor shower and two reeking outhouses. The cost was around $20 to $30 per person for the week augmented by a few cans of Dinty Moore Beef Stew, a half gallon jar of Skippy and a several loaves of Wonder bread to, presumably, soak up the beer and tequila that our parents implored us not to drink. Renting a hotel room, even had we been able to afford it, never crossed our one-track minds. A sleeping bag on the sand and the sound of the surf (when Creedence Clearwater wasn’t blasting on the 8-track car stereo) provided the perfect suite. Those fellow-travelers are still some of my best friends.

I’m not sure when it happened, but at some point, college kids evidently were wealthy enough to fly to Mexico for the spring ritual, descending mainly on Cancun in the tens of thousands, and they weren’t sleeping on beaches. Cancun seemed the obvious place to host the hormonal hordes, with its sanitized streets and progressive infrastructure. It was easy to get to and you didn’t have to deal with, you know, depressing poverty and all of those people speaking Mexican. The west coast party town became Mazatlan, where struggling hotels cleverly designed package deals that would fill their beach-front rooms with party warriors who would never discover the colonial charm of the old, historic port town. 

Now it seems that Cancun may be, as they say, yesterday. Although they still expect at least 100,000 spring breakers this year, the original tourist town of Acapulco is threatening Cancun’s dominance where they have tried to downplay their image as an anything-goes bacchanal. Yes, Acapulco, which John Wayne, the Kennedy’s, Marilyn and Elvis once frequented, has been rediscovered by their (great?) grandkids. And they say that they like it because there is culture and history to enjoy along with the all-night dancing and chasing that is mandatory in the DNA of every generation. They say it feels more Mexican, and I say that is pretty cool. 

Rest well Hunter S. Thompson. No one wrote like you did.

 

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 2/2005

by David Simmonds 

I was doing some computer research recently when I landed on a page of statistics about all things in Mexico. It gave the usual stats concerning population, climate, natural resources, birth rates, religion, etc. I wanted to find something that I had never read before, a fact that would surprise me. Then, there it was. At the end of the several paged document were two references that forced a smile and may have told me more about the country than anything I have read in the past year. The subject was Airports. Total: 1,848. Airports with paved runways: 238. Airports with unpaved runways: 1,610. The next category was Highways. Total: 316,382 km. Paved highways: 96,221 km, Unpaved highways: 227,756 km. With all of the changes and progress Mexico has experienced over the past few decades in manufacturing, infrastructure, education and tourism, we sometimes forget that it is still, in many ways, a struggling, emerging country. And now, in 18 months they will be having one of their most important presidential elections in history.  

The polls indicate right now the front-runner is populist Mexico City mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador representing the left-of-center PRD. Tied for second are Roberto Madrazo, president of the PRI and current president Vicente Fox’s Interior Minister, Santiago Creel, of the conservative PAN. There is already a smear campaign in place to eliminate Obrador from the race. It’s a complicated issue, but he may well be jailed before the election with trumped up charges of corruption and a minor land use issue where he had a road built to a hospital over “private property.” The young, educated people of Mexico are fighting back by forming alliances and creating web sites to unify against what they see as a “politics as usual” corruption that has plagued the country throughout its history. Throw into the mix that the U.S. does not want Obrador to succeed. There will be a ramping up in the corporate press about the “war on drugs” and how we need to protect “U.S. interests,” rationalizing our involvement in Mexico’s affairs. This would not be unique in our history. 

There was one other stat that put me at ease. Miles of Coastline: 5,784.

 

MÁS O MENOS, 12/2004

by David Simmonds 

The talk show echo chamber’s latest outrage has been about a little comic-book style, 31- page pamphlet published by the Mexican government that translates as “Guide for the Mexican Migrant.” The pundits and their dazed, lemming followers wail and hand-wring, asserting that the Mexican feds have no right telling their citizens how to stay alive and out of trouble as they travel long distances to find the back-breaking work that will enable them to feed their families.  

The book contains seditious passages, such as “some practical advice that could be useful if you have made the difficult decision to seek new labor opportunities outside your country,” and this: “The safe way to enter another country is to obtain your passport from the Mexican Foreign Ministry, and a visa from the embassy or consulate of the country to which you wish to travel.” Yeah, this is some dangerous stuff, all right. 

The guide goes on to give advice regarding dangers that might be encountered, like walking in the desert in the heat of the day instead of at night, using train tracks or trails as guides if lost, warnings about working with unscrupulous “coyotes,” advice not to use false documents in trying to enter another country, and not to resist arrest if apprehended. The nerve of these guys, huh?

The truth of the matter is that “they” will come as long as there is work, and there will be work as long as the U.S. government chooses not to punish those who hire the workers. It is that transparently simple. Major manufacturing, farming, restaurant and construction lobbyists spend millions of dollars a year to keep the cheap labor force flowing north, and as long as they do, nothing will change. As Caesar noted “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves….”

 

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 11/2004

by David Simmonds 

A few thoughts… 

After traveling Mexico for decades, of all times of the year, without a doubt the fall is the best time to go. Or late summer, when you still get some afternoon rains. The green hills of summer and fall start turning brown with the new year, and prices start rising in mid-December. Hint: carry a bandana in your back pocket to wipe the sweat. 

Mexico has started to print new $1,000 peso notes. That’s about $90.00 US. It sounds like a good idea, but getting anyone to cash them is going to be a problem. Carry the smaller bills if you can. And always have a pocketful of coins with you. I hand them out like I do political opinions (drives my wife nuts). A two or five peso coin is very little money to you, but is really appreciated by the many people in Mexico on the lower end of the economic scale. Buy the Chiclets from the kids, then give it back to be sold again. A ten peso coin (90 cents) to the guy who helps you with your bag equals his pay scale for an hour’s work. For him it’s lunch. 

Learn the bus route near your hotel. For example, a taxi ride from Nuevo Vallarta to town will run about $20.00. You can catch the local bus running right in front of your hotel for a buck to reach the same destination. And don’t be afraid to rent a car. Making arrangements before your trip will get you the best rate. Call all of the major agencies to see which one has the best offer, and you’ll find a car for less than $25.00 per day, including insurance and unlimited miles. 

Guys, buy your wife/girlfriend a rose from the young local Mexican girls, although you may think them a nuisance, or send one across the bar to that lady you’d like to meet. Some things are timeless.

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 10/2004

by David Simmonds 

I have just returned to my beautiful, sometimes chaotic, hometown of San Diego from Acapulco and the old silver mining town of Taxco. I am doing a section update for Fodor’s 2006 guidebook, so I went down to find some new travel tips and to confirm the existing guide information. Fodor’s publishes some very good travel guides and I am honored to assist them this year. 

I have been to Acapulco often over the past few years, so I found few surprises.  I confirmed that I prefer the small beach villages of Pie de la Cuesta, just west of town, and Barra Vieja, just east of town, more than the city itself. It is in the small villages that I feel most connected to Mexico, away from the constant honking horns of the taxis and the hordes of tourists looking, desperately, for the Fun in Acapulco that cabana-boy Elvis showed us on the silver screen. That said, the natural beauty of Acapulco Bay is rarely matched. It is easy to understand how it became the first beach tourist success some sixty years ago, attracting Hollywood royalty and wealthy magnates such as J.Paul Getty, who built a retreat east of town that is now the magnificent Fairmont Pierre Marques resort.  

This is the best time of year to visit Mexico’s west coast. The rainy season is winding down and the hills are lush and green, as was the drive 200 miles north to Taxco, founded by Cortes in 1529. The town became by far the most productive silver town in Mexico and now is home to Mexico’s most skilled silversmiths. Built on the side of a hill, the winding, donkey-cart sized streets are reminiscent of the Greek Islands, all-white buildings housing small shops, homes, bars and restaurants. The zocalo, or town square, is intimate and lively, a perfect place to observe and become a small part of life in a town that is much like many in Mexico. My wife was especially pleased with my going to this destination, making sure to tear out several pages of silver jewelry ads from a Nordstrom catalogue for me to take along. The return home is always warmer when armed with small, expensive gifts.

 

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 8/2004

by David Simmonds

 “That man is richest whose pleasures are cheapest.”

                                               – Henry David Thoreau 

I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised by a recent World Value Survey of people in 65 nations conducted by an international group of social scientists and reported in the British magazine Social Scientists. They found that the world’s happiest people live in Nigeria, where many of its citizens live on less than $2 per day, and the second happiest people live in Mexico, followed by Venezuela, El Salvador and Puerto Rica. Maybe it’s something in the bananas and rice. One conclusion we CAN draw is that it sure ain’t money, something we have been told our whole lives, but, somehow, never quite bought into. 

I don’t know what method the scientists used in their study, but after observing the Mexican people go about their daily lives for decades, from the bustling streets of Mexico City and Monterrey to the laid-back dirt road villages of Chiapas and Baja, the common trait that so clearly identifies them all is an easy smile and an acceptance of others. Look a little closer and you will find a deep connection to family and friends, as well as the land on which they live. Money? Oh, sure, a little more money would be nice, they think, but I eat enough. Let’s have a taco and walk along the beach and visit with my cousin who might have a good story and a cold beer for us. 

I’m not trying to ignore the fact that many of the Mexican people could use more that would make their lives easier…better education, healthcare, clothing. But at what point is enough ever enough. Once you have nearly everything, won’t there always be something more to pursue? And after you get that thing, are you really any happier? Is Bill Gates the happiest man on earth? I know a Mexican fisherman in San Blas who has nothing but his panga – and I’ll bet he is happier than Bill, or anyone else I know. 

Where did the United States land on the list, truly the best country in the world to become prosperous and chase your dreams? Number16. Anyone care for a walk on the beach?

 

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 7/2004

by David Simmonds 

I have been busy for the last couple of weeks planning my family’s summer vacation, finally taking our kids to Mexico. Tanner is almost 10 and Nicolette is 5, and it seemed like the time was right for them to see the place Dad always tells them about. My wife, Felice, and I have purposely waited until they are old enough to travel the way I like to, and that includes a lot of walking and exploring, in the hot, humid rainy season on Mexico’s west coast. I figured that we might as well break them in right, teaching them that travel is a proactive experience and not a catered indulgence. 

So we were making arrangements to fly to Puerto Vallarta and stay in the old south end of town that I know so well, then spend a few days in Sayulita, the ideal fishing village 40 miles to the north. Everyone was excited about the trip. There is nothing like seeing your kids experience things for the first time, hoping that they see the same beauty as you do. Hoping that they like taco stands as much as Honey Bunches of Oats. Mariachi’s as much as Sponge Bob. 

Then, a few days ago I noticed that Tanner was acting a little off and was not talking about the trip, asking the million questions that I love to answer. Tanner is a very introspective kid, very bright and curious, absorbing everything around him. I asked him, “What’s up?”  He hesitated for a minute, then told me how he saw Tom Ridge, the Homeland Safety Czar, talking about how we’re going to get hit again. This summer. Don’t know when or where, but its going to happen. One minute we had been watching the news that Kerry had picked Edwards, the next there’s Ridge telling us to beware. To a kid of 10 that means to be afraid. To a cynical adult it means political stunt. 

Felice and I talked it over. Should we just tell him not to worry, everything will be fine, or should we change our plans this year. Take a drive, somewhere – away from lots of people, somewhere where a kid feels safe. Mexico can always wait another year, right? Yes, right. In a couple of weeks we’ll be packing the van and heading to the Rockies, not thinking about fear, or bombs, or crashing airplanes. 

So this political announcement by Ridge has done nothing to, or for, my family except to frighten my kid and, by extension, our travel plans. Thanks, Tom. November will come soon enough.

 

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 6/2004

by David Simmonds 

Ironically, the two biggest beneficiaries of the tragedy that was 9/11 have absolutely nothing in common. Halliburton, the U.S. defense contractor recently headed by vice-president Dick Cheney has secured most of the war support and rebuilding contracts, and Mexico tourism is experiencing a significant increase in visitors looking for a safe place to sojourn. I guess I could opine a little further on this, but every time I get a little political I get some profane-laced email – so I’ll just leave it at that.

Mexico’s Tourism Ministry has admitted that they saw 9/11 as an opportunity to attract North America travelers who are going to go somewhere. He figured, rightly so, that Mexico’s proximity and neutral political position would be a natural destination for those wanting to minimize the chances of getting blown out of the sky, sarin-gassed in a subway, or suicide-bombed at a taco stand. 

After two years of decreasing tourism revenues, 2003 saw an increase to $9.5 billion in receipts, placing Mexico 10^th in the world, up from 13^th. More Americans are planning shorter trips, scheduling them closer to departure dates, and taking along their families.

Mexico has responded by increased advertising, building and remodeling many resort properties, and upgrading their highway system for those who like to road-trip. I can say from personal experience that the new resorts I have seen are comparable to the best in the world and the service industry has improved immensely in the past ten years. I don’t know about you, but I kind of like being given a cold margarita as I’m checking into a hotel. The last time I visited a Vegas hotel I felt lucky to be given my room key.

The most convincing evidence that tourist traffic is increasing is that the airlines are scheduling new routes into Mexico. It seems like every time I have flown south in the past year the plane was sold out. Thankfully, Halliburton doesn’t offer commercial flights.

 

MÁS O MENOS, 5/2004

by David Simmonds 

You have probably heard about the Sports Illustrated jinx, that whoever appears on the cover immediately goes in the tank (one can only hope that the NY Yankees will grace the next cover). 

Now the tradition of The Mexico File mojo has begun. You might recall my prediction in April’s issue of young Mexican golfer Lorena Ochoa and the prediction that she is destined become the world’s best female player. Let it be noted that three weeks later Lorena has won her first LPGA tournament in Franklin, Tennessee, on the same day that her older brother reached the summit of Mt. Everest. The previous week Lorena had tied for second in another tournament. 

Mexico File reader, Lisa Gunderson, emailed me to remind me that another great Mexican athlete is the Colorado Rockies stellar third-baseman, Vinny Castillo, a 14-year major leaguer who was born in Oaxaca, Mexico, in 1967. 

The first Mexican to excel in Major League baseball was Bobby Avila, from Vera Cruz. Avila played for the Cleveland Indians for most of his 11-year career and won the American league batting title with a .341 average in 1954 as a slick-fielding second baseman. Of course, pitcher Fernando Valenzuela was the most popular Mexican to play in the big leagues, playing 17 years and winning nearly 200 games, mostly for the L.A. Dodgers in the early and mid-1980’s. Fernando was an amazing athlete, born in the dusty town of Navajoa in the state of Sonora. Fernando revived baseball in Mexico in the much the same way that an unfamiliar name did in 1957. That was the year that 12-year old Angel Macias threw a perfect game to propel the Monterrey team to the Little League World Series, forever changing the landscape of baseball in Mexico. There are currently 16 Mexican-born players in Major League baseball.

 

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 4/2004

by David Simmonds 

Arguably, Fernando Valenzuela, the great Dodger (for most of his career) pitcher is Mexico’s most accomplished athlete. Twenty years ago Fernandomania transcended the U.S./Mexico border and gave Mexico a sense of national pride at a time that they needed it most. 

You probably haven’t yet heard of Lorena Ochoa, but you will soon. Just 23 years old, Lorena may soon be the best woman golfer in the world.  Born and raised in Guadalajara, she started playing golf at age five, winning her first state tournament a year later. At age seven she was winning national tournaments by large margins. 

She enrolled at the golf powerhouse University of Arizona in 2000, and while trying to learn the language and take classes, all she was able to accomplish was to be named NCAA Player of the Year that year as a freshman and again the next year. Tiger who? In 2002 President Fox presented her with the prestigious National Sport Award, the youngest recipient ever. While at U of A she played in 20 tournaments, winning 12 and placing second in 6 more. Her eight consecutive wins is an NCAA record, long held by Nancy Lopez. 

Lorena left college in 2002 to join the Ladies Professional Golf Association, playing in the Futures tour as is common for new players. Of course, she finished first in earnings, gaining her exempt status for the 2003 LPGA season. As a rookie in the big show she made the cut in 23 of 24 tournaments and finished in the top 10 eight times, earning $823,000 and ranking 9^th at season’s end. After four tournaments this year Lorena has placed in the top 10 three times. She has played 15 rounds and scored under par 9 times. Maybe this Tapatia has a future in this game. 

Keep an eye out for this 5’6” young woman from Mexico. If she plays a tournament in your area, go out and give her some amigo support and ponder the improbable journey she has made to tee up with the world’s best.

 

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 3/2004

by David Simmonds 

For twenty years or so the major border flow issue has centered around all of the Mexicans who come to the U.S., often illegally, to find work. We catch about 500,000 of them a year and many more go unapprehended. No one seems to have an answer that will satisfy everyone, so on it goes. 

But the story for the past couple of years, especially since 9/11, has been the number of baby boomers and retirees who are heading south. No longer just a hideout for scofflaws on the lam and happy-hour devotees, it is estimated that up to a million North Americans are now calling Mexico home at least part of the year. 

This trend is here to stay for a long time, especially now that Alan Greenspan has floated the Bush trial balloon warning everyone that the Social Security fund is growing broke (more tax cuts anyone?) and that we had better start planning for it. A typical pension in the U.S. now runs about $1,000 per month, and you’re not going to retire on a SoCal or Florida beach on that. However, you can live damn handsomely in a warm coastal Mexican village on that money, as many happy expats can testify. 

Also appealing to many, especially to us boomers, is the more “relaxed” daily rules of life that Mexico offers. Yes, it’s still terribly corrupt if you’re trying to run a business or must have daily dealings with the Byzantine bureaucracy.  But you usually won’t get pulled over for a missing tail light or a little late night walk weaving after a trip to the cantina. Most people leave you alone and let you live your life without criticism and judgment. This is very appealing to those of us who were raised listening to Dylan and reading Kesey and Hunter S. 

Many of the challenges in living in Mexico in the past have disappeared with better infrastructure, American food product availability, bottled water everywhere, internet access and satellite dishes. Couple that with Mexico’s natural beauty, interesting history and architecture, kind and helpful people, and you have what many of us are now, or will soon be, calling home.

 

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 2/2004

by David Simmonds 

With all of the media discussion centered on who served in Viet Nam and who didn’t, and if you didn’t, why didn’t you, I called a few of my old friends to see if they remember it the same as I do. It was unanimous; no one we knew wanted to go. This was late in the war and by then most of the country was opposed to it. We were all in that age group where you could keep a student deferment for four years, then you had to deal with it. And basically, you had a few clear options. You could volunteer and get in line. Or if your draft number came up (mine was 142) you could pass your physical and go where they sent you. Many of us went to a “draft” doctor to see if we qualified for a physical deferment (I had a double hernia… sorry, Sarge). Some people moved to Canada or just disappeared. Or, if you had connections, you tried to get in the National Guard, a safe place to be during that war. 

That’s the way it was, and it would be helpful if everyone would just admit it. It had become a very unpopular war that divided our country to a degree not seen since the Civil War. My dad, Air Force career man and WWII pilot, made it no secret that he didn’t want me or my brother to go to Southeast Asia. The vast majority of those who are from that era, some now drawing taxpayer supported salaries in our Congress from both political parties and some of whom are now  in the administration, did not serve in the armed forces or fight in that war. That said, those who did go have my total respect. I know a few who didn’t come home and a few more who wished that they hadn’t. 

Which brings me to what I meant to focus on here – Mexico has finally agreed to accept the Peace Corps into their country. The first volunteers will arrive this summer, and unlike the usual tasks of working in construction, rural villages or training programs, this group will be sequestered in research centers working on technology, business and science development. They will intentionally not be a visible presence. 

Mexico has historically shunned aid from the United States, wanting to keep its sovereignty and independence unquestioned. But in the wake of the divide created when Mexico would not support the U.S. invasion of Iraq, this is seen as an attempt at a reconciliation with Washington. We need all of the friends we can get these days, especially ones right across our border.

 

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 12/2003

by David Simmonds 

I’ll use any excuse to get back to my favorite town in Mexico, so when my ex-AeroMexico executive friend Mayte Weitzman, who now heads her own PR firm in Houston called The W Group, invited me down on a press trip to the remodeled Velas Vallarta resort, it was an easy decision. All I had to do was convince my wife, the beautiful Felice, that there were still things about Vallarta that I needed to learn – things I had to see. This was no easy task, but one for which I am transparently well practiced. Eventually, I had to shamelessly bribe her with a promise of a weekend getaway to San Francisco. Ka ching! My freebie just got very expensive, but once again, the marriage was saved. 

I usually pay for all my own expenses when traveling Mexico, and in Vallarta that means staying at Posada de Roger, my old haunt for some 30 years now where a double runs about $30 US. As I was checking into the fabulous Velas Vallarta with a complimentary cold towel and icy margarita at hand while a bell-guy hoisted my bag on his back, I suspected that I was in store for something a little different. Living large, indeed. 

It turned out to be one of my favorite trips ever to PV. We had a great group of colleagues who know the sometimes baffling Mexico ropes and enjoy the local libations, sometimes in great quantity. The Velas Vallarta has just undertaken a room and grounds remodeling that make it one of Mexico’s very finest resorts (www.velasvallarta.com). All of the rooms are suites, varying in size, but all with kitchens. My one-bedroom suite was about 1,000 square feet, better furnished than most homes, with a huge balcony overlooking the tropical grounds and a view of the beautiful Bahia de Banderas which fronts the hotel. The 10-acre site has three pools, one with a waterfall and a swim-up cantina. The restaurants were top-notch, the service impeccable. I highly recommend this property, something I don’t often do. And it is very kid-friendly with activities all day. 

Velas has recently opened a new hotel in Nueva Vallarta that we were shown on tour, the Grand Velas All Suites & Spa Resort. And grand it is. Doubles in this palace-like resort start at $500.00, all-inclusive. I knew I was in unfamiliar territory when they described their “pillow menu” option with your room. Pillow menu. For the first 10 years I traveled in Mexico my pillow options were either my rolled up Levi’s or rolled up beach towel, whichever smelled best that day. Now I’m thinking that this place might be the bait for my next bribe. Felice really likes nice pillows, and I have another trip offer coming up.

 

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 11/2003

by David Simmonds 

The smell of smoke drowned out the frying bacon as I awoke on a Sunday morning in late October. Looking out the window there was little doubt that this wasn’t the usual brush fire that is so common when the Santa Ana winds uncharacteristically blow from the east towards the mass of humanity that comprises Southern California. 

We live in a suburban area surrounded by canyon and brush, having moved from our small Mission Beach house three years ago as the kids, now nine and four, started to grow. We now vacation rent the beach house and, fortunately, it was empty this weekend. Although the major fire (there were several burning in the county) was several miles away and would impossibly need to burn through several neighborhoods before reaching us, I had no doubt where we were going. “Grab some important stuff, pack a suitcase, and don’t alarm the kids –  we’re leaving.” I know it won’t reach us, by why take the chance? They say that those embers can fly for up to five miles, and if one lands in the brush around here, we only have one road out. 

By the time we reached the beach the sky was a Hallowe’en orange and black – ashes covered the sand and every breath was a barbeque. The winds eventually started in a more southern direction, but the fire claimed hundreds of homes (including my son’s teacher’s) in the worst fire in California history. Our house was never in danger, as the nearest neighborhood to burn was five miles away. 

It took little time before the hate-radio airwaves and newspapers were filled with genius finger-pointers countered by cover-your-butt officials. Most notable were the anti-tax, back-country dwellers who proudly vote against any public safety measure, but are the first to line up at the disaster relief stations whining about not be warned fast enough about the danger of a fire that they could clearly see had the capacity to torch every building in the county. Most of them like to lay blame on Bill Clinton. 

Commissions are being formed, solutions discussed, studies undertaken, all to make sure this is never repeated. What you do not hear much about is who started these fires. These weren’t accidents – these fires were different. We have sporadic brush fires every year in far windier conditions. These were all started within hours of each other, evenly spaced from the top of San Diego County to the bottom. The same thing was true just east of the Los Angeles metropolis. In the 70 or so miles in between, where not many people live, there were no fires. Had the winds really been blowing like they can, due west, all of San Diego could have gone down. No number of firefighters or planes could have stopped it. 

Did the other shoe just drop? I don’t know, but I find it eerie that no one is asking the question.

 

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 10/2003

by David Simmonds 

My family took many road trips when I was growing up in the 1950’s, and although my main memories are of being car sick and breathing second-hand Pall Mall smoke (who knew?) for endless miles, I do recall how different and diverse each part of the country was. You drove from one state to the next not knowing what to expect, learning about the country that most of our fathers had fought for just a few years earlier.  The radio stations faded in and out with the regional twangs of people who lived in the area, announcing the day’s grain prices, playing Sinatra, Williams, Clooney and the newest flash-in-the-pan, a kid named Elvis, gossiping about the new diner offering the best dang fried-chicken this side of the Mississippi. You never knew what the motel or the chow would be like after a 500-mile drive in the ’56 Chevy, and it made every day a grand adventure. 

I don’t have to tell you that things have changed a bit. The Clear Channel radio conglomerate ensures that you will hear the same music and the same message (boycott the Dixie Chicks) wherever you may roam, and no matter where you are, the landscape is dotted (blighted?) by the same stores – Wal-Mart, KFC, Dominos, Shell, Denny’s, you know the others. We now have a very safe and predictable travel experience – no surprises, no risk, no damn fun. I used to, not that many years ago, always pull into a town and ask around for the best barbeque, forever looking for the world’s finest. If you do that today they look at you as if you just grew a toe on your nose as they mutter something unintelligible, slowly backing away from your demented grasp. 

Which brings me to why Mexico is the place I now like to road trip. Public restrooms might be elusive, and hotel rooms are – let’s be kind – inconsistent if you don’t plan ahead (I don’t), but, man, is it fun. I love going to the open air markets for ice-chest snacks, the bakery and tortilleria, the beer distributor for a 20 bottle case, and finding the guy with the perfect carnitas or the mesquite-smoke ladened carne y pollo. I love walking the village streets, hanging in the zocalo, never knowing what lies ahead in the town up the road.

 

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 8/2003

by David Simmonds 

It's not easy being a news junkie these days. The daily bombardment of TV screamers, squinty-eyed politicians, lying radio evangelists and email porn-spammers can turn a normally upbeat dreamer into a paranoid cynic in short order. So it is with great pleasure that I tell you about Nicholas Morales, a man who knows something about hope and commitment � a man whose tale just might restore the dreamer in you. 

Morales was born in the small, rural village of Cuautla, nestled in the high farming country southwest of Guadalajara. He rode a mule two miles to school from the farmhouse he shared with his parents and eight siblings. At the age of 17 he knew that there was no future for him where he lived, no opportunity. His family had a few cattle and raised some corn and beans, but Nicholas could see that the small farmer was having an increasingly hard time making a buck. So, like most of the males in the community, he headed north to find work in the restaurant business in the United States. He was an illegal with a single goal of making enough money to live and send a little home, like so many others do. He caught on as a dishwasher at a restaurant, earning minimum wage and eating the leftovers. 

In time Nicholas opened his first restaurant in Seattle, experiencing the learned prejudice that taints us all. Soon, the local people discovered more about the man, the way he helped the community and sponsored soccer teams. And back home in Cuautla they knew him well for the money that he always sent back to the family and to help the town build a rodeo and repair the steeple on the church that was damaged in an earthquake, and to help build a $300,000 pipeline to bring fresh water to town. No one asked him for money. He gave it because it was the right thing to do. You take care of family, and in a small Mexican town, everyone’s family. 

He now owns over 40 restaurants (mainly Three Margaritas) in Colorado, Wyoming, and Washington. There are over 300 restaurants in the U.S. that were started by people from the little town of Cuautla. Think about that the next time you think that your life would have been better if only you would have been given a leg up, a better inheritance, bigger huevos. 

But Nicholas Morales, a man who far exceeded all of his dreams, wasn't through quite yet. He wanted to do more for his little town, a place he physically left 28 years ago but never forgot. In his culture he was raised to offer a stranger at the door a glass of water, a bite to eat. You always give to those who don't have, because you never know when it could be you. Stuff happens. 

So what more could he do for his people? How could he improve the lives of the town where he was raised, where good people still live with very little hope? Simple, he thought, I'll run for mayor. And that; what he did. He ran for the town's top dog position and won in a landslide. Mayor Morales takes office on January 1, 2004, hopefully to prove that, yes, you can go home again.

 

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 7/2003

by David Simmonds 

At a time in our country when one can make the argument that our two-party political system has morphed into one, the multi-party system in Mexico is alive and thriving. The recent national congressional and gubernatorial races are a solid demonstration of the consequences of not delivering on promises made. Mexico has three legitimate, discernable choices when electing those who would govern them, as well as several lesser-known political parties.  

President Fox, of the PAN party, has been fighting with a divided Congress for the first three years of his term trying to pass legislation to deliver the changes he had promised in his campaign. Not much of substance was accomplished, and many in the country are unhappy. Things aren't going to be any easier after the recent elections, as his party lost 15% of its seats, to now hold 168 of the 500 total. The long-dominate PRI remained about the same with 203 seats, with the big winner being the leftist PRD, which now has 99 seats, up from 56. 

The real winners are the people of Mexico, who after more than 70 years of one-party rule, now have the ability to vote their ideals. They can openly criticize their government, simply not allowed for so long, and they can read a national media that can do the same without retribution. Yes, the rapid change that they were promised is slow in coming. But that's the way a democracy works, as I recall. Deciding important policy that will affect the lives of the citizenry of a nation should be debated and discussed by those from all points of view. The people currently in power aren't the government, the people are. Despite massive problems, Mexico is far better off than they were four years ago. Fox may seem a disappointment to many, but history will mark him a ground-breaking pioneer as Mexico travels the rough road to democracy, demanding a government accountable to the people.

 

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 6/2003

by David Simmonds 

A man whom I admired very much, Gregory Peck, died today at the age of 87. I don't usually feel a connection to people I don�t know, people of fame, especially those who make their living memorizing lines. I liked Anthony Quinn for his amazing zest for life and for being Zorba, Paul Newman for his generosity, no BS attitude and for Cool Hand Luke, and Peck, because to me, since I first saw �To Kill a Mockingbird� at the age of 13, he would remain the most honorable and principled man to ever appear on screen, Atticus Finch. I believe that if every American were required to see that film at the same age, we would have a far better world today. 

Later in his career, in 1989, he starred in another film I like, �Old Gringo,� whose story was taken from the Carlos Fuentes book The Old Gringo. Peck plays the aging American journalist, poet and essayist, Ambrose Bierce. The Gringo, Bierce, befriends a young Mexican revolutionary, Tomas Arroyo, whom he repeatedly tries to antagonize so that Arroyo will kill him, allowing Bierce to determine his own fate, as he knows he is dying. Jane Fonda plays a schoolteacher drawn to the Revolution who comes to know and admire both men. I'll stop the story line there, with the hope that you will rent the movie. I think I remember it being shot in the Durango area of Mexico, where many of the old Westerns were shot in the 40's and 50�s. The scenery alone is worth your time. 

There is a poem I found on the internet that Peck asked to be placed on a website honoring him. It reads as follows:

May you have love and raiment. And a soft pillow for your head. And may you spend forty years in heaven. Before the devil knows you're dead.

RIP, Atticus Finch.

 

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 5/2003

by David Simmonds 

My first trip to Cabo San Lucas was in 1974 when I backpacked down the 1,000 mile long peninsula, hitching rides and taking buses. Through the years I have driven the transpeninsular highway many times, stopping at the small towns that have remained mostly resistant to change � Mulege, Santa Rosalia, Loreto. And always camping on the deserted, beautiful beaches steps away from one of the most fish abundant waters in the world, the Sea of Cortez. 

The Los Cabos area, between San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas, has developed and grown more than anyone could have imagined thirty years ago, but the unparalleled beauty of the sea and desert remain nature�s gift to us all, and I�m still awestruck whenever I�m there. 

I have known about The Hacienda Beach Resort since the beginning, but I always stay at the old-time fisherman�s haunt, the Mar de Cortez because, well, it fits my budget best and the clientele are a unique bunch. But this trip I had the chance to experience the Hacienda. And since my wife Felice was going to join me and it was Mother�s Day weekend, the Hacienda seemed a fine idea. It turns out that I found one of my favorite hotels in Mexico. 

Built in 1959, it is still owned and operated by the same Parr family, a very appreciated feature in these days of mega-resort proliferation. The location is the absolute best in Cabo, right on the safe-swimming Medano Beach looking directly out to the Land's End arch, but just a 5-minute walk into town along the harbor. The grounds comprise 127 acres, almost a mile of beachfront, but only 115 rooms in the hotel with rooms in all categories. The property is filled with hundreds of palm trees and tropical plants, fountains, gardens and a swimming pool that feels like it is your own � if you were Bill Gates. There are tennis courts, shuffleboard, all water sports, fine dining, and an amazing amount of tranquility. This is Old-World Mexico at its very best and I strongly recommend that you see if for yourself the next time you head to Mexico. They told me that they are offering most rooms at a $99.00 special rate for the summer, which is a time of year that is not nearly as hot as you might think. www.haciendacabo.com  (800) 733-2226.

 

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 4/2003

by David Simmonds 

As we all know, 2002 was a dismal year for anyone who relies on a healthy travel business environment. Landmark airlines are filing for bankruptcy protection and federal bailouts, while mom and pop travel agencies simply shutter their doors � all the while trying to reconcile the disappearance of their treasured nest egg that was once �safely� protected in a 401(k) and retirement fund. The Ken Lays are kicked back in Aspen living large, while the rest of us are largely, just living. Tough luck, I guess. At least Kenny Boy will get that big tax cut, sure to put a smile on the faces of the laid-off Enron employees who made him a rich man. 

Anyway, my point is not to whine and moan about things out of my control. I�m a �lemonade-out-of-lemons� kind of guy � or maybe �tequila out of a thorny weed� is more appropriate. What I have noticed is that half the people I know are all of a sudden interested in Mexico. Not only as a vacation spot to fry in the sun, but as a possible place to permanently hang their hammock. They�re starting to tally what their monthly incomes will be once they quit punching the clock and finding that �Holy bleep, I can�t live on that!� And that�s assuming there will actually be money left in the Social Security fund once they reach whatever age the feds decide they are eligible. Many have already had their Veteran�s benefits slashed in the last couple of years (you didn�t know that?). 

They want to know how much can they live well on in Mexico. Where are the best places? Can I get cable and lattes? And a telephone? Will I have friends? Things to do? 

So what I�m going to do is to add �Retirement in Mexico� topics as a focus of The Mexico File. We will still cover the various, lesser-known travel destinations, but we also want to provide answers and advice on what you need to know to live in Mexico, no matter what your age, working or loafing. I know people living very well in Mexico, on the beach, for about $1,500 a month. They know their neighbors, have Sunday picnics and swim in the warm Pacific every morning. Who needs Aspen?

 

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 3/2003

by David Simmonds 

As illustrated by the two main articles in this month�s issue, Baja California Sur is in a constant struggle, not unlike many places in the world, between the advocates of growth and the protectors of time. Most likely, there will be no clear winners in this battle and certainly no surrender. The two factions don�t much like one another, to put it mildly. 

I have never met a developer who wasn�t absolutely certain that his cause was a noble one, citing the inevitability of progress and the by-products of job creation, family security and civic pride. The environmentalists (shouldn�t they be called conservatives?) are equally convinced that we at the top of the brain chain have a responsibility to make wise decisions � that some places are better off left alone for the enjoyment and wonderment of future generations. The first group shouts �build it and they will come�; the opponents retort �let them stay the hell where they are.� 

There are numerous reasons why most of Baja has remained mostly unchanged since the Spaniards first arrived some 500 years ago. It�s a tough, brutal piece of dirt, not a natural environment for most animals that require fresh water to sustain life, especially when temperatures often exceed 100 degrees for several months a year. Arizona was able to overcome these conditions thanks to a little river called the Colorado which helps to generate the electricity to power their air-conditioners and quench their thirst. As for Baja, it is surrounded by water � very salty water.  

The 35-mile corridor between San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas has seen tremendous growth since the construction of the transpeninsular highway some 30 years ago. They have an international airport, fabulous hotels, world-class golf courses and hordes of happy tourists. And now the Mexican government would like to see it repeated 200 miles up the coast at Loreto. Actually they have had this in the planning stage for about 25 years, but it just never happened. I�m guessing that in my lifetime, it never will.

 

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 2/2003

by David Simmonds 

I went to Tijuana the other day, something I used to do quite often, but rarely anymore. It�s a big, crazy town that has held little fascination for me since they shut down the sleazy bars that were great fun when I was young and single. The kids still cross the border to frequent the clubs, dancing all night, driving or walking back either still drunk or already sobered up. The tourists who visit my town, San Diego, make the crossing to buy trinkets and a bottle of tequila, so they can go back home to Des Moines and tell everyone they visited Mexico. But, except for straight shots to the Tijuana airport to catch a flight or pass through on my way down Baja, I hadn�t been to the town in several years. 

I knew I had to go because the automobile manufacturers, with hundreds of models over the last 40 years, still don�t make the vehicle I want. One business that has always thrived in Tijuana are the body shops � and the car I want is a convertible truck. Yes, that�s right, a truck with no top. Did you happen to see the Super Bowl last month while you were huddled by the fire, eating kielbasa, where you live? Did you see the people in the sun-drenched stands and Shania on stage half-dressed? To live in San Diego and not have a rag-top for one of your cars is lunacy, meaning there must be about one-million lunatics in my hometown. I�ve owned sports cars and Jeeps over the years, but they barely carry a golf bag, beach chair and one passenger. I need a truck bed, decent gas mileage, and what�s left of my hair blowing in the breeze. So I went to see what it�s going to cost me. 

What I found out is that Tijuana still has the best street tacos in Mexico and that my Ford Ranger dual cab can be chopped for about $600, and, amigo, that includes a custom cover, roll bar, body work and a shiny paint job. My wife, Felice, paid more than that for a tune-up on her Grand Cherokee or one of her essential buying binges at Nordstom�s. 

So, I�ll be driving back down there very soon and few days later I�ll have my dream car (I know, most guys my age are pining for the Porsche and the chin-tuck). I�ll run a photo of it here in this column and I�d like to you to email me and tell me what a moron I am. That will make my wife feel much better.

 

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 12/2002

by David Simmonds 

Puerto Vallarta has always been my favorite town in Mexico, my �One Particular Harbor� that Jimmy Buffett sings about. It is where I go when I need to put perspective on life�s cumulative challenges And so it has been for me since the summer of 1970 when I first landed there in my VW van with my old friend, Tom Dawson, now a Tempe, Arizona, dentist. We camped on the beach right where Casa Corazon now sits on the south end of Playa de Los Muertos, seemingly a planet removed from the life we knew we would have to return to way too soon � draft notices, term papers, girlfriends and a dearth of beer money. I made the drive from San Diego every summer after that first time, and soon began taking a room at Posada de Roger, still my home-away-from-home whenever I�m in town. 

Having seen the many changes and enormous growth in what was once a remote fishing village, I have always imagined what it must have been like decades earlier. So it was with great anticipation that I awaited the arrival in the mail of Puerto Vallarta, My Memories by Catalina Montes de Oca de Contreras with help from her daughter, Yolanda.Contreras de Garduño. The book was first released in 1982 in Spanish and quickly sold out. It has now been translated into English by the author�s granddaughter, Yolanda G. de McCullough, who lives in Borrego Springs, California. 

This anecdotal account of life in the early 1900�s of Puerto Vallarta (then called Puerto Las Peñas) is a must read for anyone who has, or will, visit this great town. You will be transported back in time to a moral, small Mexican fishing village where you meet many of the families and important figures who guide the town into its eventual status as an international vacation destination. The book is filled with old black and white photos of areas that you can still see in the �old town� and of the people who lived there. It is an amazing chronicle of life and a town that embodies all that life can be. To the author the town was a magical place, a �wonderland.� Many of us who would follow her there in time would agree.  

To purchase a copy of the book, mail to: Puerto Vallarta, My Memories, P.O. Box 1107, Borrego Springs, CA 92004. Include a check or money order to Yolanda G. McCullough for $25.24. 

I often wish that travel were as simple and spontaneous now as it was when I was in my 20�s � load the van, empty the bank account, and hit the road. We lamely-labeled baby-boomers still travel, but now we plan a little more. We buy travel guides and maybe a spare tire and a couple of fan belts. Some of us still fly, although the Swiss Army knife stays at home, and we make sure we wear clean socks and underwear in case we have to disrobe at the gate. 

My friend, Alison Gardner, has written a terrific guidebook for what she terms �the 50 years or better� crowd, titled Travel Unlimited: Uncommon Adventures for the Mature Traveler. She provides details on worldwide ecological, educational, cultural, and volunteer vacations ranging from primitive to luxurious, as well as inspirational tips, insights and field reports from travel authorities around the world. At nearly 600 pages, the book is an amazing resource whether you are an independent or group-minded adventurer.  

I first met Alison in the Copper Canyon in Mexico about three years ago and I know for a fact that she knows her business. This book was exhaustively researched and presented in a very easy to navigate format. You can find it or order at major bookstores or online book sellers. It is published by Avalon Travel Publishing, phone: (510) 595-3664, web: www.travelmatters.com or email her publicist at marybeth.pugh@avalonpub.com . 

Thank you for helping to keep this little newsletter afloat as we end one year and begin another. If you like it, please let your friends know about it. More importantly, take care of yourselves and your neighbors this new year of 2003. Take an active approach to policies in your community and beyond that affect your lives, and always demand that we, as a country, deserve honest answers from our elected (?) leaders. Freedom of speech and thought need to prevail in order to be the country our founders intended. Remember, they work for us.

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 11/2002

by David Simmonds 

Mexico is issuing a new $20 peso bill made of polymer plastic. This is a test run to see how it works out. The bills cost almost 50% more to produce, but will last many times longer than paper currency and will be more difficult to counterfeit. The United States will be monitoring this closely and is considering doing the same thing, or so I am told. I remember years ago seeing plastic grocery bags for the first time in Mexico long before I ever saw them in the U.S., and thinking they were out of their minds - proving once again that there is a lot to learn from our friends south of the border, and that it is I who is usually mindless.

Another area in which we are trailing Mexico is in bus transportation. Traveling by bus in Mexico is a great way to see the country. You usually have a choice of several bus companies and several classes, depending on how much money you have to spend. Buses go everywhere and sometimes they don't really look like a bus, but rather like a flat-bed truck with seats that goes from one small village to another. This is a valuable service for remote towns where private car ownership is an honor reserved for the mayor or the guy with the largest crop.

In most towns of any size you can catch a first-class bus that is considerably more comfortable than the seats now being offered on the major airlines (except for Aeromexico, the world's finest). They often even offer you a sack lunch when you board containing a sandwich, drink, banana and a snack - and TV's showing recent American films are commonplace. The prices are less than one-half what you would pay in the States, computed per mile. Plus, they'll usually make unscheduled stops at some interesting places, merely at the whim of the bus driver. I recall one excitable driver who stopped at a house on the highway where he was greeted by his girlfriend. There we had a 15-minute layover, after which he suddenly appeared wiping his brow and sporting a contented smile that lasted for several hours.

Then there is the superior Mexican menu. Street taco stands are outlawed every place I know of in the U.S. In Mexico they are as ubiquitous as corn fields and seemingly feed most of a town's population. Jalisco has my favorite dish, birria, or goat stew. Can't find that at McDonalds. Or how about Gusano de maguey, fried worms served with guacamole. Then there is the heaven-sent menudo, the national hangover-cure stew made with tripe.

In San Miguel my beautiful wife, Felice, and I had a lunch of the regional chiles en nogada, a dish that eased the tension after my antics from the previous night. There is tinga poblano, vuelve a la vida, mixiotes, huitlacoche, mole and entomatadas. I could go on and on, but I just got called to dinner. The pizza man rang the door bell.

 

MÁS O MENOS, 10/2002

by David Simmonds 

As our country prepares for the ultimate reality TV programming bonanza with the bombardment of Iraq (you know, that country with all of the oil), you might find yourself yearning for trip...a very peaceful trip. 

My friend and Mexico File contributor, Ann Hazard, will be the featured guest on Cruise West�s Spirit of Endeavor small cruise ship for a Baja Whales and Wildlife Cruise scheduled for March 22 - 29, 2003. Guests will visit the grey whales of Baja California and explore the wilderness desert islands of the Sea of Cortez, as well as kayaking, snorkeling and hiking. The historic towns of Loreto and La Paz will also be visited. And best of all, Ann will be there to help you understand and appreciate the wonders of Baja. For information contact Nina Baldwin at Awesome Escapes, telephone (866) 456-0444 or email at nina@awesomeescapes.com

If you are thinking that it might be time for a more permanent vacation, some place where even the �evil ones� will never find you, long-time Mexico File subscriber Ruth Bennett is developing (maybe that�s the wrong word) 14 home sites in a new eco-sensitive beachfront community on the Sea of Cortez near Mulegé in Baja California. Each ½ acre lot is provided with an access road and a water line and prices vary from $60,000 to $95,000 depending on location. A community center is planned as well as landscaped areas, protected habitats and walking paths. This is an amazingly beautiful part of the world where you won�t find a strip mall or Starbucks, but will become familiar with dolphins and coyotes � and maybe yourselves. For more info call (866) OUR BAJA or see www.CostaCardonal.com

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 8/2002

by David Simmonds 

When Mexico�s president Vicente Fox wrestled the countries highest office away from the dictator-like PRI, he knew making changes and effecting public policy would be a challenge. With three political parties represented in government, building coalitions has proven to be harder than finding Osama. His failures have been many and not unnoticed by an increasingly cynical population that may be recalling the dictum �be careful what you wish for....� It�s been a tough two years. 

His greatest defeat may have been his decision to cancel plans for a new international airport slated to be built just east of Mexico City in San Salvador Atenco. The 2 billion, six-runway project was to be the centerpiece of his six-year term, a statement to the doubters that he had the vision and power to build an airport that would be the envy of the world.  

The trouble began when the peasant farmers whose land was to be expropriated were not consulted or negotiated with before the plans were drawn. They organized, grabbed their machetes, took hostages, seized government offices, blocked highways and raised all kinds of hell. 

The government finally declared their land to be unproductive and worth $2,800 per acre, which infuriated the farmers even more. The feds said they needed 11,000 acres, far more than any other airport in the world. Many in the country saw the scope of the project to be far greater than necessary and figured that the disgruntled peasants had done a great service to the country by stopping it in its tracks. Rack one up for �power to the people,� but Mexico City still needs a new airport. And President Fox needs a victory. 

The Mexico Golf-Culture-Tequila Tours is now a reality. Please take a look at www.mexigolf.com  and see what I�m doing with it. After telling people about the wonders of Mexico for some years now, I look forward to actually showing folks the country where I most like to travel. These trips are designed to not only play some of the best golf courses anywhere, but to learn about the local areas and meet the people who make Mexico so interesting and fun. If you don�t golf, other activities (sport fishing, spa treatments) can be substituted. Call me if you have any questions at (858) 456 4419.

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 7/2002

by David Simmonds   

It looks as if Mexico�s economy might be pulling out of an 18-month-long slump, although no one is predicting a massive rebound. Some of the key numbers are starting to rise, but with 85% of Mexico�s exports bound to the United States, a lot depends on conditions north of the border. The seven percent growth rate that President Vicente Fox  estimated when he took office is clearly not going to be met.

There have been two successive months of growth in retail sales and electricity consumption has been on a steady incline, indicating that factories are producing goods. But all of this glimmer of hope could be quickly extinguished if the �scandal of the week� continues to spook and dismay the American public. It would seem that �a few bad apples� might indeed be a whole grove or two infested with worms. As long as the guilty parties, known as the captains of America, are allowed to avoid serious prison time (has anyone suggested that they pay the money back?), the public, who has lost billions of dollars in retirement plans, 401k�s, etc., is going to be very reluctant to get fooled again.

Mexico must be observing somewhat nervously, with a bemusement that would be comical were it not so serious. Corruption, both in business and government, has been the  reputation that has long been associated Mexico. President Fox has vowed to make those issues a top priority in his administration, and has shown some success in making some improvements. But this is new territory for many Americans, who sometimes are guilty of a naivete concerning human nature and the corruptive influence of power. For years the people of Mexico understood how the game was rigged. It was how it was and everyone understood the rules?pass the tequila. How Americans react and what they demand from those who Constitutionally represent them, will ultimately determine the future of both countries for a long, long time. Pass the courage.

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 6/2002

by David Simmonds   

The latest polls indicate that 40% of Americans expect another significant terrorist attack sometime in the near future, and although I believe that most polls are manipulated to produce desired results, this time I think they are pretty accurate. I say this partially due to anecdotal evidence that I hear from my friends � many of whom are considering bailing out, moving to Mexico. The general line goes something like this: �Well, the Feds tell us that thousands of bad guys live here in the U.S. who want to kill us and every week there is a new, dire warning, and furthermore they say they can�t do anything about it?so I�m outta here!� There is an undertone of general frustration that the future that we each had planned is out of our control. My friend Pete summed it up like this: �If they are all around us, why are we bombing a country where all of the Al Quaeda slipped into Pakistan before the first bomb fell, instead of putting all of our resources into getting them the hell out of the U.S.? Where is the priority?�

So they start considering what a year ago was inconceivable � leaving the country of their birth, the country they love. And since Mexico is where they might go, they call me. They ask where they should look, where is it safe, what�s my favorite city, and on and on. They ask why I have never made a permanent move to Mexico, and certainly I must be considering it now. And I explain, I have kids, ages 3 and 7, who I want to grow up like I did, playing little league, cub scouts, Friday night sleep-overs, sneaking Playboy�s?the uniquely American experience.

Maybe without the kids, without hope, then I might move south. But for now I have the responsibility to do what I can in my country. And to me that means staying informed (this includes reading the foreign press), asking questions, writing to my congressmen, considering all viewpoints, even if that entails questioning authority? an American trademark that is, regrettably, often forgotten and scorned. As someone brighter than I once said �The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.� Yes, I�ll stay right here.

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 5/2002

by David Simmonds     

We on the Left Coast, along with the sun-fried souls of Arizona, have been long familiar with the 900-mile-long peninsula in Mexico, Baja California. But to most Americans, and Mexicans for that matter, it ranks right there with Jupiter, or one of the other planets that are rumored to exist but in which they have no aspirations of ever actually visiting. And that is their loss, for this stretch of desert and oases that neither country really ever wanted or knew what to do with is one of endless beauty, history and fascination.

I have recently read two new books, both in paperback, that both entertain and inform the reader as to how Baja has developed and. maybe more important, how it hasn�t � remaining in many ways much like it was when �discovered� by the Spanish in 1533, when it was sparsely populated by the Guaycura, Peric  and Cochimí.

The more information complete of the two, Baja Legends, by Greg Niemann, is an exhaustively researched account of the long history of Baja, as well as many tales of the myriad of mavericks who dared to settle this one-of-a-kind apparition.

As a long time Baja enthusiast who has driven the trans-peninsular highway and camped on its pristine beaches many times over the last 30 years, I was surprised at how much I had to learn about this land. Neimann�s knowledge of the early missions and cave-paintings are first rate and well presented. His book has fired me up to plan another trip, book in hand, to see sites I previously knew nothing about and re-visit those that I now have a better understanding of. And as the author concludes, �the people of Baja California are themselves the greatest legends of all.�

The other book, Lost Cabos, by Robert E. Jackson, is more of a personal account of his 40-year love affair with the Cabo San Lucas region where he built Palmilla Suites, one of the first luxury accommodations in Baja. We learn about the other Baja pioneer developers of the Cape region, and how much of what drew them there in the first place has been forever changed. The age-old feeling that things were never so good as when they were challenging is a subliminal theme throughout the book, but not in a maudlin, angry tone. Jackson does a fine job of describing what it was like for him and his friends who had a vision and damn well pulled it off.

If you have the vacation time, I highly suggest giving Baja California your attention. Especially if you are able to drive the whole length, stem to stern. There are big government plans to develop more and more of this long-legged beauty � see it now before the makeover is complete.

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 4/2002

by David Simmonds    tc "by David Simmonds"

I can�t cite any figures, but apparently Mexico is experiencing a huge surge in tourism these past few months. I�ve been going to Puerto Vallarta since 1970 and on my most recent trip I have never seen it as busy. Even the small hotels in the south end where there is always an open bed were booked. I usually don�t like large crowds, but it felt good seeing the locals catering to the tourists, watching the pesos change hands. Full employment makes a town a happy place.

It only makes sense that this would be the case since the tragedy of last September. Naturally, travel everywhere was affected in the immediate following months, but eventually Americans just have to go somewhere. Understanding this, the Mexican government started their most massive advertising campaign in years, touting Mexico as a close, and more importantly safe, destination. All of a sudden the thought of possibly being overcharged by a cabbie (like it never happens in your home town, right?) or biting into a mouth-on-fire habañera seemed rather trivial, as of course it always was.

I love to travel Europe as well as anyone. I got married to Felice in Paris, knowing there was no way she could say no to that offer. Seventeen years later she usually gets the final word (marriage advice # 1), which works out just fine. We have kids 7 and 3 (I�m 52!) and we have a lot of travel planned for years to come. But I�m in no hurry to fly over the Atlantic. Not yet. But flying into Mexico makes sense. I just don�t see a terrorist targeting a plane half full of Mexicans, and evidently a lot of other gringos see it the same way.

  So, if you need a quick getaway, get on down south. Find a place with a hammock and cold beer and just for a few days don�t think about the mistakes of yesterday. Figure out how to make a better tomorrow.

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 3/2002

by David Simmonds   

I was recently on a trip to Acapulco compliments of AeroMexico, possibly the world�s best airline. Three other Mexico-related writers from Southern California were invited to preview the new Los Angeles-to- Acapulco non-stop flight. It was a joy to experience not having to lay over in Mexico City. I like Mexico City, but when you want to get somewhere else it�s nice not to have to stop there. 

We (my wife, Felice, was with me) had a great room at the Fairmont Princess, wonderful dinners around town, body-surfing in the Pacific � it was a great getaway. Over drinks one night (oh yeah, there was that also), Mayte Weitzman from AeroMexico said, �You ought to be doing Mexico tours, maybe golf tours.� She told me how Mexico is really pushing their golf courses and the world-famous golf course architects were lining up to build more venues. We discussed some ideas and I told her I liked the idea, but only if I included more than just golf. Thus was born the idea for the Mexico Golf/Culture/Tequila Tours which I hope to start operating before summer this year. 

A couple of weeks later, I was invited to attend the grand opening of El Tigre golf course at the Paradise Village Resort in Puerto Vallarta. This seemed like a good opportunity to check out the possibilities first hand and to make the requisite contacts in the Mexico golf world. The way things are developing, I hope to be running the first tours to that property and playing that course. While not playing golf, the guests will have the opportunity to let me show them a small coastal village nearby, Sayulita. Or a trip into town to see the PV not normally known to the tourists, the best taco stands, bars, silver and craft shops, etc.

Another afternoon might include a trip to Mismaloya or Boca de Tomatlan, or John Huston�s old house along the coast. For non-golfers there will be other options (deep sea fishing, spa treatments, etc). 

I am planning on PV as my first destination because I know it so well and really love the place. I want to show others the PV that I have known for over 30 years. Other potential golf destinations are Cancún, Los Cabos and Acapulco, all with world-class golf courses. 

Anyway, this new venture will in no way affect The Mexico File and our attempt to bring all of Mexico to its readers. It just allows me to be more hands-on in my quest to promote Mexico as the great country that it is and to share my enthusiasm with others. I hope to have more definite news about the tours soon on the web site, www.mexicofile.com . I would love to be able to meet some of you long-time subscribers as we hack our way around a golf course. When people are on the plane flying home I want them to say, �That was the best damn trip I�ve ever had.�

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 2/2002

by David Simmonds  

It has been nearly half a year since the criminal murder of nearly 3,000 of America�s citizens and visitors. And since we have been told by some of those in our government and by an army of radio talk-show hosts that if we, as citizens, dare question what conditions led up to the attack, then we are clearly seditious and unpatriotic, I will save my opinions for private conversations. Imagine, all of these years I actually believed that to question public policy was a patriotic duty of citizenship! 

What I have found to be true is that many people I know and hear about are re-evaluating their personal lives and looking for ways to make a difference in the world, to make this rock we share a better place. 

Global Citizens Network is an organization out of St. Paul which provides cross-cultural volunteer expeditions. In March, they will take their first group to the village of San Miguel Tzinacapan, nestled in the hills of the Sierra Norte region of central Mexico. The village is the home of the Nahuatl, descendants of the Aztecs, where Spanish is the second language.  

The village of 3,500 people has invited GCN to participate in a project involving the village�s secondary school this spring. Although it is a small village, the larger town of Cuetzalan is two miles away, where there are many shops, museums and restaurants. They also host a Sunday market selling arts and crafts, fruits and vegetables. 

Nearby are hiking trails, waterfalls, caves and the ancient ruins of Yohualichan, which date back to 600 A.D. This is a still unspoiled area of Mexico, in many ways untouched by the last fifty years. The countryside is lush and fertile, filled with banana, macadamia and poinsettia trees. 

Volunteers will be involved in several projects at the school, including paper recycling, coffee bean processing and mushroom cultivation, as well as teaching English classes for local adults and children. 

The first trip for volunteers will be March 16-24, 2002. For more information call GCN at (651) 644-0960 or (800) 644-9292. Email: info@globalcitizens.org   Web address: www.globalcitizens.org  

More immediately, I urge you to call your Congressmen and let them know how you feel about the many important decisions now being made in your name. Let them know what they are doing that you like, but maybe more importantly, what you don�t like. It�s not like they can throw you in jail?right?

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 12/2001

by David Simmonds    

�What a long, strange trip it�s been..., truckin.�  Yes, friends, another nail in the peace generation coffin is about to be unceremoniously hammered home. And I, for one, can�t help but get a little nostalgic as I remember the countless road trips I have taken into Mexico, propelled at turtle-like speed in that 1960�s icon...the VW bus. Mexico, where it is called the Combi, will cease production of the old-style VW this month. The air-cooled (not a good idea in the desert or anywhere else, for that matter), rear-mounted engine was last sold in the U.S. in 1982. 

Actually, it�s been years since I owned my last bus, ever since I discovered that blown engines weren�t common to every vehicle in production and that there existed vans where you didn�t have to downshift to scale the smallest of hills. But in spite of all the negatives, the bus symbolized, perhaps more than anything I can think of, the free-spirited attitude and boundless optimism of an era gone by. In a time when land-tanks were driven by our parents, we had the VW bus with its 20 miles-per-gallon, hit the road anytime, self-contained, music blaring, sex-ed statement. I�m not sure we all knew exactly what it was we were trying to state, but it was not ignored, and I�m pretty sure that a difference was made � we became a better country. 

After the VW bus became rare in the U.S., it was always gratifying to know that they filled the streets throughout Mexico. They became the ubiquitous form of transportation from the airports to towns throughout the country and served as collectivos in the rural areas, transporting people from village to village, often packed with 15 to 20 people sharing space with a couple of farm animals. 

So now Mexico will make the Eurovan, the modern version VW with the water-cooled front engine. I�m sure that this an improvement, a step forward for all. Kind of like the breakup of the Baby Bells and the introduction of the designated hitter. We all know how life was enhanced there � right?

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 11/2001

by David Simmonds 

The Mexican government has recently unveiled plans, along with Fonatur, Mexico�s National Tourism Agency, to create the largest tourist related project since Cancún was built. The new idea is called Escalera Nautica, or Nautical Stair, and calls for an extensive network of new harbors and docking facilities along both coasts of Baja and mainland Sonora and Sinaloa states on the Sea of Cortez. The $233 million project is being touted as a tourism and jobs producer, and it may well happen that way. But I�m real partial to the rugged and remote character of the Sea and have grave concerns about how this will proceed with regard to environmental issues. 

The plan includes a series of marinas, none more than 125 miles from the next, with a supporting infrastructure catering to American boaters. They envision 76,000 boaters per year by 2010, where now they have about 8,000. And get this � they are building a new road across the width of Baja from a point a little south of San Quintín straight across to Bahía de Los Angeles so that the yachties won�t have to sail all the way around the tip of Baja at Cabo San Lucas to enter the Sea of Cortez. Instead, they�ll get towed across about 60 miles of highway. 

The Feds say that environmental concerns will be weighed throughout the project, but a little skepticism might be in order. The Sea of Cortez Foundation (www.seaofcortezfoundation.org) has anointed itself the watchdog of this plan and has started a massive membership drive to help in that regard. We are planning to establish sites at several locations on the Sea to monitor the construction. The sites will be monitored by volunteers at each location (retirees and locals) so that we can shine the spotlight on any phase of the project that might be environmentally detrimental � and then let the world know about it. 

The Sea of Cortez has incomparable beauty and an environment that we want to see preserved for generations to enjoy. Most of the boaters and fishermen I have talked to do not want this project to proceed. The rugged character of the peninsula must be preserved as much as possible. If you would like to help, please go to the website to become a member of the Foundation. Or call 858-456-4030.

 

 

MÁS O MENOS, 10/2001

by David Simmonds  

My plan was to write this month�s column about President Fox and his recent meetings with President Bush and how the heat had been turned up on the U.S. to enact a new immigration policy before the end of the year.          

On the morning I was to share my questionable opinions I awoke at my normal time of 6: