Mexican Trailrunner

When Was The Last Time This Happened To You? Dec 2011

2011-12-22T14:57:00.000-06:00

OR REASON 1,654, 291 WHY I LIVE HERE

So, I strolled up my street to the little abarrote and fruteria

(mom and pop market and fruit store) on the corner.

I got a half kilo of roasted peanuts, 2 sweet mandarins,

five Dominica bananas, and a large heavy

ripe cantaloupe.

Total cost - 38 pesos or $2.75 US.

But wait! That's not the story!

The story is. . .when I put the cantaloupe on the scale

the girl said "Oh no, Señora, this one has a bad spot,

let me get a better one," and off she went to the display

to find one without a bad spot.

There wasn't one.

They were all over ripe and perfect for an

Agua Melón (melon water) which is what I wanted it for.

So back she comes to the scale, takes out her knife

and promptly cuts out the 'bad spot', THEN

weighs it, bags up my purchases and hands them over

with a smile and a gracias.

No charge for the bad spot.

Sub Comandante Marcos Speaks - Leader of the EZLN Zapatista Movement Dec 2011

2011-12-20T21:46:00.000-06:00

Sub-Commandante Marcos: A Death…Or A Life

Friday, 16 December 2011, 12:55 pm
Opinion: Sub-Commandante Insurgente Marcos

(FOURTH LETTER TO Don Luis Villoro, Mexican philospher and intellectual, in their exchange on Ethics and Politics)

A DEATH… OR A LIFE
October-November of 2011.

“He who names, calls. And someone responds, without prior notice, without explanation,
to the place where their name, spoken or thought, is calling them,
When this happens one has the right to believe that nobody leaves for good
as long as the word that calls, flaming, brings them.”Eduardo Galeano.
“Ventana sobre la Memoria”, in Las Palabras Andantes. Ed. Siglo XXI.

For: Luis Villoro Toranzo.
From: Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos.

Don Luis:

Health and greetings to you.

First of all, congratulations on your birthday November 3rd. We hope that with these letters you also receive the affectionate hug that, although from a distance, we give you.

So let’s continue this interchange of ideas and reflections. Though it will now be more solitary because of the media din around the definition of the names of the 3 rogues that will compete for rule over the bloody soils of Mexico.

With the same frenzy that they issue receipts for “expenses in image promotion,” the media align themselves with one side or the other. They all concur that the shameless blundering displayed by each of their respective aspirants can only be covered up by making even more noise over those of their competitors. The season of Christmas shopping fury now coincides with the sale of electoral proposals. Of course, like the majority of items sold in this season of the year, there is no warranty and no possibility of return.

After the burial of his now ex-secretary of government, Felipe Calderón Hinojosa ran joyfully to the “happy ending” to demonstrate that what is important is to consume, no matter that the Secretaries of State are perishable and carry an unadvertised expiration date.

But even in the middle of the noise there are sounds that pulse for those who know how to look for them and have the daring and patience to do so.

And in these lines that I send you now, Don Luis, palpitate deaths that are lives.

I.- The power of Power.

“The freedom of election lets you choose the salsa with which you will be eaten.”
Eduardo Galeano.
“Ventana sobre las Dictaduras Invisibles” Ibid.
“Let the whores govern, judge, and take care of us, since their sons have failed to do so. ”
Taken from the blog laputarealidad.org

I must have read it or heard it somewhere. It was something like, “power is not having a lot of money, but rather lying and having many people believe you, having everybody believe you, or at least those that matter.”

To lie greatly and do so with impunity, that is Power.

Gigantic lies that include acolytes and disciples and that give them validity, certainty, status.

Lies made electoral campaigns, government programs, alternative projects of the nation, party platforms, newspaper and magazine articles, radio or television commentaries, slogans, creeds.
And the lie can be so big that it is not static. It changes, not to make itself more effective, but to test the loyalty of its followers. The bad guys of yesterday will be the blessed with a few page turns of the calendar.

Is Power—or its proximity—the great corruptor?

Do men and women come to power with great ideals and it is the perverse and perverting action of Power that obliges them to betray those ideals to the extent that they act contrary to and in conflict with them?

From full employment to the bloody (and lost) war…
From the “mafia of power” to the “loving republic”…
From the “six thousand pesos monthly will cover everything” to “not even in the happy ending can I find a poll that favors me…”
From “My god make me a widow” to “Lupita D´Alessio, make me a lion in front of the lamb…”
From the San Angel group to the palatial Yunque
From the…from the…the… sorry, but I can’t find anything significant that Enrique Peña Nieto has said…

What’s more, I can find anything he has said at all, as if he was a bad B actor, the type that appear on soap operas and blabber some speech that no one even corrects.

What’s more, given the obvious, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for him to register himself in the CEA of Televisa (according to the curriculum, as of the first year they teach “verbal expression”).

I know very well that the media have “read” Peña Nieto’s photograph of registry as the only precandidate of the PRI (where the principal characters of that party appear) as a sign that this man has party support.

Hmm… at first glance it looks to me like a photo accompanying a newspaper article about a new blow to organized crime. That they had dismantled another band of thieves, but that the bullet-proof vest with which they usually like to display the guilty had been replaced by the red shirt.

Later I looked more carefully at the photo. Look my dear, they are not making a show of support. This is a group of vultures that have realized that Peña Nieto is no more than a puppet orphan and that they need to get a hand in the mix because upon arriving at the presidency, it isn’t him that will matter but rather the ventriloquist that manages him.

His designation as presidential candidate will be one more demonstration of the decomposition of the Institutional Revolutionary, and the dispute over who will manage him will be a fight to the death (and for priistas this is not rhetorical).

How pathetic the situation must be that even Héctor Aguilar Camín offers himself up for adoption… and for the urgent need to make literate the poor man.

Thus, we continue to ask:

Is it Power that corrupts or does one have to be already greatly corrupted to take Power, to maintain oneself in Power, or to aspire to get there in the first place?

In one of the long drives of the Other Campaign, passing through the capital of Chiapas, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, I commented that the Chiapan governor’s chair must have something that converts averagely intelligent people into stupid bosses with the posture of tyrants. Julio was driving, Roger was the copilot. One of them asserted, “or they were already that way and that’s why they came to be governors.”

And later added the following anecdote, something like this: “A woman was passing by the building where congress was in session and heard yells: “Stupid! Idiot! Whore! Thief! Criminal! Killer! Fraud!” and other even ruder expressions. The woman, horrified, turned to a man outside the office reading a book. “This is a scandal,” she said, “we maintain them with our taxes and these representatives don’t do anything but fight and insult each other.” The man looked at her, then at the legislative chambers, and turning back to his book, said: “they aren’t fighting or insulting each other, they’re calling roll.”
-*-
II.- Power and Reflection on Resistance .

The Left is the Voice of the Dead.
Tomás Segovia. 1994.

Hmm… Power… the evidence is unquestionable, the wet dream of the intellectuals from above, the reason for being of the political parties…

Now, with the death of the master Tomás Segovia, we name him, we call him, and we bring him to sit at our side in order to, together, reread some of his texts.

Not his poems, but rather his critical reflections on and in front of Power.

Few, very few, are those intellectuals who have tried to understand, not judge, this turbulent walk that is ours and that we call “zapatismo” (or “neozapatismo” for some). In this sparse list appear, among others, Don Pablo González Casanova, Adolfo Gilly, Tomás Segovia and you, Don Luis.

We embrace all of them, and you, as only the dead embrace, that is, to life.

And those who remember Tomás Segovia only as a poet do so in order to extract this man from his liberatory being. Since Don Tomás can’t do anything now to defend himself or his word, those homages of the “cut and paste” type circulate, editing and arranging the friendly pieces, leaving the uncomfortable ones to oblivion… until other uncomfortable ones remember them and name them.
And in order not to interpret his words (which could be seen as a friendly form of usurpation) I transcribe here parts of some of his writings.

In 1994, at the height of the punishing euphoria of the right, and this is indeed a cultured right because it was headed by Octavio Paz (with businessman Enrique Krauze as one of his courtiers—oh don’t get worked up don Krauze, one can’t scold intellectuals for being of the right or left; rather, as is your case, only for using, in order to stand out, not intellect but rather adulation of the kind of gangsters that now form the government), Tomás Segovia wrote the following (emphasis mine):

Whenever one or another form of fascism prevails, truth and justice take the shape of Resistance.
But one could also say that the left is constitutively resistance. Without doubt, the left fell in our century into an unsalvageable historical error, but this error consists very obviously in the belief that the left could take power. The left in power is a contradiction, as the history of this century has clearly shown us (…)
Today it is clear, I believe, that the left is not the other of the right, with both situated in a relation of symmetric opposites with respect to power. The left is above all the other of power, the other sphere and the other meaning of social life, what was buried and forgotten in constituted power, the return of the oppressed, the voice of the dispossessed before it became that of the poor (and that of the poor only because they are by majority, but not exclusively, the dispossessed)—the left is the Voice of the Dead.
One of the most damaging ideas was that of the “reactionary” that let us think that the right was opposed to progress, that the right is resistance and that it speaks for the past, for the roots, for that which has been overcome. In that sense, the left became convinced that resistance was power in the sense that it was of the right and that it opposed the progressiveness of the left in its tentative desperation to conserve its privileges and its domination, without seeing that power, the same from the right or from the left, is only resistance in a different and much simpler sense: it is resistance to being substituted by another power, whether from the right or the left; but with regard to history power is always progressive.
In Mexico, as is custom, this is seen with particular acuity given the crudity of the relations of power in this country: today we know for sure that no government was more decided and actively progressive than that of Porfirio Díaz, and that today it is the PRI that monopolizes and exploits the rhetoric of progress, of change, of modernization, of the overcoming of nostalgias and the “emissaries of the past,” and even of democracy.
(This makes me think also that democracy in power of power is a contradiction: democracy is not “demoarchy”—the people in power is a utopia or metaphor, dangerous to take seriously because “the people,” if we imagine this exists or even that it exists only as entelechy, it is by definition what is not in power, the other of power).
But, my enchanting colleagues, when they give themselves up to government knowing that their promises are false, is that because they are seduced? Impossible: seduction is desire in its pure state, it implies the brilliant vision that your joy is my joy. No vision is possible in which the joy of Power is the joy of the “people.”

And in 1996 he stated:

In parallel, in a country that no longer practices the violent prohibition of direct expressions of primary social life, it is the ideology of power that blackmails us, calling us whores—that is, destructive, negative, resentful, morose—or, they will try to persuade us, as the pundits and intellectuals tried to persuade the Zapatistas, as my colleagues (starting with Octavio Paz) try to persuade me, that the “true” form of self-expression and influence in social life is to enter the institutions, or whatever is instituted in general.

-*-
Don Luis, I believe you would agree with me in that, responding to these provocative texts of Tomás Segovia, this reflection on Ethics and Politics should touch on the question of Power.

Perhaps on another occasion, and calling upon others, we could exchange ideas and feelings (that are the deeds that animate these reflections) on this question.

For now, we send this call out to Don Tomás Segovia, who declared that he didn’t have time not to be free and without shame confessed: “almost all of my life I have earned an honest living, that is, not as a writer.”

This is not just to bring to this page his unredeemed word, because it is relevant to the moment or question.

It is also, and above all, because more than a poet of both sides, he is a thinker that opened a third door to the Zapatista indigenous movement. Looking, seeing, hearing, and listening, Don Tomás Segovia walked through that door.

That is to say, he understood.

III.- Power and the Practice of Resistance.

Zapatista Autonomous Municipality in Rebellion, San Andrés Sacamchen de Los Pobres, Highlands of Chiapas. The morning of September 26, 2011, Comandante Moisés left to work in his coffee field. Like all of the ELZN leaders, he did not receive any salary or stipend. Like all of the EZLN leaders, he had to work to maintain his family. His sons were with him that day.

The vehicle in which they were traveling went off the road. All were injured, but the injuries that Moisés suffered were mortal. By the time they arrived at the clinic at Oventik he had died.

In the afternoon, as it is custom in San Cristóbal de Las Casas to cultivate rumors, the death of Moisés had attracted scavenger journalists who thought that it was Lieutenant Colonel Insurgente Moisés who had died. When they found out that it wasn’t him, but rather the other Moisés (Commander Moisés), they lost interest completely. None of them could be interested someone who hadn’t appeared publicly as a leader, someone who had simply been in the shadows, someone who was apparently one more indigenous Zapatista…

The calendar was at about 1985-1986. Moisés heard about the EZLN and decided to join the organizational effort when in the Chiapas highlands you could count the Zapatista on two hands, and you’d have extra fingers.

With other compañeros (including Ramona), he began to walk the mountains of the Mexican southeast, but now with the idea of organization. His small figure would walk out of the clouds and into the small tzotzil hamlets in the Highlands. And his unhurried words would outline the long history of offenses against those who are the color of the earth.

“We must struggle,” he would conclude.

In the early hours of the first day of January of 1994, as one combatant among many, he came down from the mountains to the haughty city of San Cristóbal de Las Casas He was part of the column that took the municipal presidency, forcing the surrender of the government force that guarded it. Along with other tzotzil members of the CCRI-CG, he leaned over the balcony of the building that looked out on the main plaza. In the back, in the shadows, he heard one of his compañeros reading the “Declaration of the Lacandón Jungle” to a multitude of incredulous and skeptical mestizos and hopeful indigenous. Along with his troop, he retreated to the mountains during the first hours of the January 2, 1994.

After resisting the bombings and incursions waged by governmental forces, he returned to San Cristóbal de las Casas as part of the Zapatista delegation that participated in what were called the Cathedral Dialogues with representatives of the supreme government.

He came back and kept walking among the towns to explain, and above all, to listen.

“The government does not have the answer,” he concluded.

Along with thousands of indigenous, he built the Aguascalientes II, in Oventik, when the EZLN was still suffering persecution under Zedillo.

He was one of the thousands of indigenous Zapatistas that, with bare hands, faced off against the column of federal tanks that wanted to position themselves in Oventik in those fateful days of 1995.

In 1996, in the dialogues of San Andrés he was one of the many who kept vigil over the Zapatista delegation, surrounded as it was by hundreds of soldiers.

On foot, in the icy dawns of the Chiapas Highlands, he bore the rain that made the solders run for cover. He didn’t move.

“Power is a traitor,” he said, as if apologizing.

In 1997, with his compañeros, he organized the tzotzil Zapatista column that participated in the “March of the 1,111,” and collected vital information in clarifying the Acteal Massacre that occurred on December 22 of that year, perpetrated by paramilitaries under the direction of Mario Renán Castillo, general for the federal army, and with Ernesto Zedillo Ponce de León, Emilio Chuayfett, and Julio César Ruiz Ferro as intellectual authors.

In 1998 he organized and coordinated the support and defense provided in the Chiapas Highlands to the compañeros displaced by the attacks on the autonomous municipalities by “Croquetas” Albores Guillén and Francisco Labastida Ochoa.

In 1999 he participated in the organization and coordination of the tzotzil Zapatista indigenous delegation that participated in the national referendum, when five thousand Zapatistas (2500 women and 2500 men) traversed every state of the Mexican Republic.

In 2001, after the betrayal of the entire Mexican political class of the San Andres Accords (the PRI, PAN, and PRD allied themselves to block constitutional recognition of the rights and culture of the original peoples of Mexico), he continued his work in the tzotzil villages of the Highlands, talking and listening.

But then, after listening, he would say, “we must resist.”

Moisés was born April 2, 1956, in Oventik.

Without intention and, most importantly, without any pay or profit, he became one of the most respected indigenous leaders of the EZLN.

Just a few days before his death, I saw him in a meeting of the Revolutionary Indigenous Clandestine Committee-General Command of the EZLN, where we analyzed the local, national, and international situation, and debated and decided on the steps to take.

We explained that a new generation of Zapatistas was coming into leadership positions. Young people, men and women, that were born after the uprising and that grew up in resistance, who were educated in the autonomous schools and are now chosen as autonomous authorities and become members of the Good Government Councils.

We discussed and agreed on how to support them in their work, accompany them. How to build the bridge of history between they and the veteran Zapatistas. How we inherit commitments from our dead, and memory, and the duty to go on, to not lose heart, to not sell out, to not give up, to not surrender.

There was no nostalgia in any of my bosses.

No nostalgia for the days and the nights that, in silence, they built the force that would become known worldwide as the “Zapatista Army for National Liberation.”

No nostalgia for the journeys in which our word was heard in many corners of the planet.

There was no laughter either, true. There were serious faces, concerned with finding together a common path.

There was, this yes, what Don Tomás Segovia once called “nostalgia for the future.”

“We have to tell the story,” said Comandante Moisés, as a form of conclusion, at the end of the meeting. And the Comandante left for his hut in Oventik.

That morning September 26 of 2011, he left his house saying, “I’ll be back later,” and went to his field to draw from the earth sustenance and more tomorrows.

-*- Writing about him, my hands hurt, Don Luis.

Not only because we were together at the beginning of the uprising and later in the bright days and cold dawns. Also, and above all, because in making this rapid outline of his history, I realize I am talking about the history of any of my bosses, men and women, of this collective of shadows that marks our way, our path, our step.

Of those who give us identity and inheritance.

Maybe the coleto rumorologists and their kind are not interested in the death of Comandante Moisés because he was just one shadow more among thousands of Zapatistas. But for us, we are left with a great debt, as great as the meaning of the words that he left me with, smiling, as he departed from that meeting: “The struggle doesn’t end,” he said, grabbing his bag.

-*-

IV.- A death, a life

One could ponder why my words attempt to stretch this complicated and multiple bridge between Don Tomás Segovia and Comandante Moisés, between the critical intellectual and one of the highest indigenous Zapatista leaders.

One could think that it is death, that in naming them we bring them back to us, so much the same because they were, and are, different.

But no, it is their lives that are relevant here.

Because their absences do not produce in us frivolous homages or sterile statues.

Because they leave in us something pending, a duty, an inheritance.

Because in the face of the most fashionable temptations (media, electoral, political, intellectual), there are those who affirm that they will not surrender, will not sell out, will not give up.

And they do it with a word that is only pronounced with authenticity when it lives: “Resistance.”

There above, death is exorcized with homages, sometimes monuments, street names, museums, or festivals, awards with which Power celebrates capitulation, a name in gold letters on some wall to be torn down.

Death is thus affirmed. Homage, heartfelt words, and turn the page to what follows.

But…

Eduardo Galeano says that nobody leaves for good as long as someone still names them.

And Old Antonio used to say that life was a long and complicated jigsaw puzzle that one could only put together when the inheritors named the dead.

And Elías Contreras says that death needs to have its size, and that it only has it when it is put alongside a life. And he adds that we must remember, when we lose a piece of the collective heart that we are, that death was and is a life.

Just that.

Naming Moisés and Don Tomás, we bring them here again, making a jigsaw puzzle of their lives of struggle, and we reaffirm that, here below, a death is above all a life.

-*-

V.- Until later

Don Luis:

I think that with this missive we should end our participation in this useful (it was for us) interchange of ideas. At least for now.

The pertinence of the windows and doors that were opened with the coming and going of your ideas and ours is something that, like everything here, will go about accommodating itself in geographies and calendars that are still to be defined.

We thank with all our heart the accompaniment of the pens of Marcos Roitman, Carlos Aguirre Rojas, Raúl Zibechi, Arturo Anguiano, Gustavo Esteva and Sergio Rodríguez Lazcano, as well as the magazine Rebeldía, which served as our host.

With these texts, neither they, nor you, nor us, seek votes, followers, or disciples.

We seek (and I think we have found) critical, alert, and open minds.

Above they will continue the din, the schizophrenia, the fanaticism, the intolerance, the capitulations disguised as political tactics.

Later will come the hangover: surrender, cynicism, defeat.

Below, the silence and the resistance continue.

Always the resistance…

Alright Don Luis. Health, and let it be lives that the deaths bestow upon us.

From the mountains of the Mexican Southeast.
Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos.
Mexico, October-November of 2011.

VI. The P.S. ATTACKS AGAIN. –

We weren’t going to say anything. Not because we didn’t have anything to say, but because those who are now rightly indignant about the illiterate slander, also slandered us to the point of burning our bridges to other hearts. Now, small that we are, with our small word, just a few of us, of the persistent kind that tend to be the ones who get the historical wheel rolling, they seek out our opinion, seek us out, name us, call us.

We weren’t going to say anything, but…

One of the three rogues that will fight for the throne to rule over the rubble of Mexico has come to our lands and demanded our silence. He is that same person that never matured and never recognized his errors and faults. The same person that heads a group lusting for power, full of intolerance, which sought, seeks, and will seek to blame their own faults and schizophrenias on others. With a discourse closer to Gaby Vargas and Cuauhtémoc Sánchez then to Alfonso Reyes, now he preaches and founds his ambitions on love… for the right.

Those who criticized Javier Sicilia for his show of affection for the political class, will they now criticize the “Loving Republic?”

Those that agreed and preached that Televisa was the evil to defeat, will they now criticize the loving handshake with its primetime lackey?

Will Octavio Rodríguez Araujo now write an article demanding “consistency, leader, consistency”? Will John Ackerman demand of him radicality, arguing that this is what the people want and wait for? Will the ciro-gómez-leyva of La Jornada, Jaime Avilés, denounce him for negotiating with the dogs, the businessmen, his hated López Dóriga? ¿Will the laura-bozzo of La Jornada, Guillermo Almeyra, judge and condemn him as a collaborator (informant), singing his chorus of “let the wretch move on!”

No. They will look the other way. They will say that it is a question of tactics, that he is using this to earn votes with the middle class. Alright, so nothing is what it seems: the encampment on Reforma was not to demand the recount of votes that would have been clear evidence of the fraud, but rather so people would not become radicalized; the critiques of Televisa were not to denounce the power of the media monopolies, bur rather so that they could have access to that company’s spaces (and become once again its client in the electoral spots). What’s next? The brigades collecting donations for the telethon?

We could understand that he was just employing a tactic (clumsy and naïve, we think, but a tactic). That he doesn’t seriously believe the businessmen are going to support him, that the dogs are not going to betray him, that the PT and the Movimiento Ciudadano are parties of the left, that Televisa is changing, that his privileged interlocutor in Chiapas should be priismo (as before it was sabinismo). We could even believe that he is more intelligent then all of them and that he is tricking them by simulating his alliance, or exchanging uses and customs in the impossible political game of “everybody wins” and “love and peace.”

Okay, it’s a tactic… or a strategy (in any case they don’t understand the difference between the two). What is verifiable is that he keeps adding to his right (deserters of the PAN included) and nothing appears on his left. He follows the same steps as his predecessor, Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano, who ingratiated himself with the powerful, betting that the left would have no choice but to support him because “there isn’t anything else.” Okay again, strategy or tactic, it will be explained by the cartoonists. We only ask: when, in Mexico, has it benefited the left to run to the right? When has being servile with the powerful done anything other than entertain them? True, the “dogs” could realize the success of the political tactic (or strategy?), but it’s not about taking that same road again… or is it?

Meanwhile, the cultured attack squads that promote him will continue their juggling acts to justify the change in path… or they will gamble on lack of memory.

In any case, there won’t be a lack of people to blame for finishing third, right?

Alright then.

El Sup, smoking and waiting for the avalanche of lies that, in the name of “freedom of expression” and under copyright, the opposition prepares from above.
http://www.elkilombo.org/sci-marcos-a-death%E2%80%A6or-a-life-fourth-letter-to-don-luis-villoro-in-the-exchange-on-ethics-and-politics/

*******

ENDS

Things That Make You Go Hmmmmm. . . Dec 2011

2011-12-06T16:20:00.000-06:00

Seen at a local fair extravaganza.

Shop 'till you drop.

Please!

Bela and Manuela at Lake Chapala Nov 2011

2011-11-26T12:50:00.001-06:00

While on a too-short trip to Chiapas in May of this year,

Bela, the owner of Bela's B and B,

and Manuela, her wonderful Mayan cook,

and I became fast friends.

They were both here for the past week,

what a treat to see them again!

They came for the Féria Maestros Del Arte -

a once a year extravaganza of artisans from ALL

over Mexico who come to demonstrate their skills

and sell their wares.

This year, Bela and Manuela were brought to

stay with Carrol at La Paloma B and B in Ajijic

and Manuela was commissioned to prepare

an indigenous meal from Chiapas.

They brought special ingredients with them

and the dinner was a huge success.

So much so, they were

asked to return next year for an encore!

So, if you've never been to the Féria - or Lake Chapala

for that matter - put it on your calendar for next year

and come on down!

Manuela testing out the Fish Chairs at the

Jocotepec malecón.

So Much To Be Grateful For Today! Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-24T15:28:00.002-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving
from
The Mexican Trailrunner

Simple Gratitude. . .

beautiful message video

wait for it.

Movin'! Nov 2011

2011-11-21T18:55:00.000-06:00

Well, I should say MOVED!

It was time.

Yes!

Done deal!

All settled in.

I traded Jocotepec for another little

Mexican village along the shores

of Lago Chapala.

I will introduce you to my

new village soon

and let you see it for yourself.

My moving team:

Ken, Kris, Sonia, Dave, and Juan

We even had some down-home entertainment!

Ken Cardwell - Live and in person.

We dumped my stuff off

and went for Mahi Mahi tacos

and cervezas.

Don't get much better than that.

I am blessed to have these peeps for my friends.

Two Forty Five - omg Oct 2011

2011-10-23T19:31:00.000-05:00

Inspired by watching the CNN documentary

"The Last Heart Attack"

last Monday night,

I set out early the next morning for the lab

in order to find out the level of risk

I was living with. . .or the amount of denial

I was in.

The results were back by 3:

Total Cholesterol: 245

HDL: 72

LDL: 145

Triglycerides: 140

And that's WITH a cholesterol-lowering medicine.

You can look up the guidelines -

suffice to say I flunked the test!

I come from a family that could live on lettuce

and still measure cholesterol in their arteries

with a spatula.

So! I came home and packed up all

the meat and dairy in my fridge

and gave it to a neighbor.

. . .thick cut butcher bacon, pollo asado,

frozen chicken breasts, doz eggs, box of butter. . .

Then I threw out the remaining cows milk.

The next day I bought Rice Dream - Rice Milk

Beverage - for my GF Corn Chex, fresh fruits and dried nuts,

several different grains, spinach, asparagus, more

herbs and spices, three kinds of potatoes, two kinds of

mushrooms, artichokes, two kinds of lettuce, a loaf of

still-warm GF bread, and made a feast for dinner

I will still eat occasional seafood,

eggs in my GF baked foods, and a little olive oil.

In about six months I will retest and we shall see

how I've been doing.

I'll let you know!

If the numbers are not going down sufficiently

I will become a vegan.

If Bill Clinton can do it, so can I.

SO, UMMMM, WHAT'S YOUR

CHOLESTEROL???

Don't let this happen to you!

So, what IS you cholesterol?

Do you know?

Find out!

Fantastic News! Tenacatita! Oct 2011

2011-10-14T19:33:00.000-05:00

Sometimes the right thing does happen,

the following is quoted from today's

Guadalajara Reporter:

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14 2011 08:47 MICHAEL FORBES

A district judge who rubber-stamped the eviction of restaurant and businesses owners on Tenacatita beach last year was not qualified to issue the order, the Jalisco Supreme Court has ruled. The September 21 decision gives hope to dozens of families living in nearby El Rebalsito, who may soon be able to return to the beachfront land where they have worked for more than three decades.

The three Novena Sala (Ninth Salon) magistrates ruled that Guadalajara real estate firm Rodenas Inmobiliaria must now make reparations for all damages occurred when state police – acting on the order of the 2nd district court judge in Autlan – forcibly took over the zone in the early morning of August 4, 2010. The eviction resulted from Rodenas’ decades-old dispute over land ownership rights with the local Resbalse de Apazulco ejido.

The Tenacatita beach is one of Jalisco’s most unspoiled stretches of sand. A real estate developer keen to build a luxury tourist development there is battling locals over ownership rights to the beachfront land.

Over many years, restaurant and hotel infrastructure has been built in the area to cater to locals and tourists. The business owners even paid the annual fees giving them the privilege of using parts of the federally-owned beach for commercial purposes.

The zone was eventually titled to individual ejido members in 2006 under a federal land regularization program. Some lots had already been sold to foreigners and registered in the name of a Mexican citizen (prestanombre). But once the lots were titled, the foreigners were able to own the land through a fideicomiso (bank trust).

Rodenas director José María Andrés Villalobos – who says he purchased the land from the wife of a former Jalisco governor in 1991 – claims these titles have no validity and that the ejiditarios have been squatting his property for decades. In previous interviews Villalobos has indicated that he wants to build a luxury tourist development beside the undeveloped beach, one of the prettiest in the state.

A key element of last month’s Jalisco Supreme Court decision was that the Autlan judge was not authorized by law to issue the eviction order that resulted from a previous Mexican Supreme Court ruling determining Rodenas to be the legal owners of the disputed beachfront land.

“He’s not a federal judge and he exceeded his responsibilities,” explained Everardo Rojas Contreras, El Rebalse de Apazulco ejido’s legal representative, at a press conference this week.

In addition, said Rojas, instead of taking possession of the 42 hectares in dispute, Rodenas has assumed control of more than 140 hectares.

As expected, Rodenas filed its own appeal (amparo) three days after its unfavorable September 21 ruling. But Rojas is confident this maneuver will come to nothing and expects magistrates to make their review of the case at the end of October and issue a “final decision” sometime in early December.

“Rodenas will have to open access to the beach immediately and repair the damages that they caused,” Rojas said. “We are in no hurry. It’s been a year since the eviction and we have total confidence in the justice system.”

Only when residents are allowed back into the zone can the full amount of damages be ascertained, Rojas said.

According to several sources, since securing the zone Rodenas personnel have demolished much, but not all, of the existing infrastructure in the Tenacatita beachfront area. This includes the palapa seafood restaurants that served tourists and locals for more than 40 years, as well hotels and everything in them, such as beds, refrigerators, freezers and televisions.

If the new ruling stands, Rodenas will be liable for all missing and destroyed items, including boats, motors, electrical equipment, and even a horse, Rojas said.

Armed state police officers – many of them “auxiliaries” employed by a security firm also owned by Villalobos – have been guarding the land ever since the August 2010 eviction. They have allowed some tourists limited access to the beach, although by law all Mexican beaches must have open public access.

In addition, Rojas said the case raises important questions over a state’s limits on legislative procedure. For this reason, he said, he intends to start legal proceedings against Jalisco Governor Emilio Gonzalez and Police Chief Carlos Najera, whom he said have both supported Rodenas’ illegal case against the ejiditarios.

Speaking at the press conference, Rojas admitted that Rodenas owner Villalobos – a former head of the local Chamber of Commerce and president of Expo Guadalajara – is powerful and well connected but added that, “while he’s tough, I’m tougher.”

According to a 2006 profile in El Informador’s “Gente Bien” social supplement, Villalobos trained as a lawyer, and after a spell working in the Infonavit public housing department, ventured into the real estate sector. He mentioned that his business was badly affected by the 1995 economic crisis, so he moved into the security service arena, specializing in tracing stolen vehicles by satellite. His successful security company is now certified to act as Policia Auxiliar Estatal (State Auxiliary Police), whose primary clients are the Jalisco State Government. In the profile, Villalobos talked of how “for the good of the country,” businessmen should strive to work “hand-in-hand” with the working-class.

Owwwww! Oct 2011

2011-10-08T16:38:00.002-05:00

Is this not the cutest little

destruction derby you've ever seen!

He got me.

He got me good.

Sporting cold pack, ibuprofen, and antihistamines

and it's STILL throbbing.

He's been relocated.

Life in paradise.

Itchy Feet! Sept 2011

2011-09-24T16:29:00.000-05:00

Time for new adventures.

Nearly eight years here at Lake Chapala,

and I'm itchin' for new experiences.

New people to meet, new trails to explore,

new things to make me go hmmmmm. . .

Wanted!

Mexican Trailrunner seeks new trails.

Must be scenic, sunny,

and include indigenous peoples.

Must be in Mexico -

I dunno, German Trailrunner,

Singapore Trailrunner,

just doesn't have the right ring.

Ideas?

Open to any and all ideas. . .

Will there be sand between my toes,

mountain climbing boots, huaraches,

or a new pair of flip-flops

in my future?

Indie Publishing - Update 4 - DONE DEAL! 2 BOOKS PUBLISHED ON KINDLE! Sept 2011

2011-09-14T18:05:00.000-05:00

WOOPEE!

Two books up, two more to go.

A wonderful cover artist crossed my path

and I commissioned him to do covers for 3 books.

Here they are:

Emergency Medical Spanish for Travelers

And:

Things That Make You Go Hmmmm...

Didn't he do a good job?

His name is Bronson Dunbar

and here are his contacts:

Bronson Dunbar

Custom Eye-Catching Professional Graphics

Bronson was easy to work with,

fairly priced, and so creative and

willing to work with me throughout

the entire process that I kept waiting

for the other shoe to drop.

Know what I mean?

It never did.

Not only that, his dad is a formatter

and can help Indy/Self Pubbers

with their formatting for Kindle

and Smashwords.

Here is his link:

Colin Dunbar

Book Design Services

So, for one week, from today Sept 14, 2011 to

next Wed Sept 21, 2100, both of my books are on sale

for the amazing price of. . .drum roll. . .

. . .ba dump bump. . .

$.99!

On the 21st, they will revert back

to their normal price of $2.99US

Both of these books are eBooks

and available for download on Amazon.

Click on links below the books for particulars

and to buy.

Buy now, pay less!

COMING UP!!!

My next book, in the final stages of rewrite,

is a memoir of my parents love story,

their move to Honolulu, Hawaii in 1936,

and their early life in Hawaii documented by

my mother's letters home to her family

from 1937 thru 1945.

Here is the cover:

Old Friends - Sept 2011

2011-09-05T08:45:00.006-05:00

Had the pleasure of the company of good old friends

from the Bay Area for the last week!

What a joy to wake up in the morning and start

up where we left off the night before.

Finishing each others sentences and

and responding with deep and caring understanding.

The other part of having houseguests from the states

is I get to see my pueblo, and Mexico,

through THEIR eyes.

And good friends. . .will tell you like it is!

PORTION EDITED OUT BY MT

On the brighter side, I have hired a cover designer

to add the professional touch to my Kindle book covers,

my second book is being reformatted for upload,

and the third is in its final rewrite.

Soon all 3 will be available on Kindle

and I will be able to start my fourth book.

I'll keep you posted on the good stuff,

not so much on the bad.

Mexico Mourns August 2011

2011-08-27T08:29:00.002-05:00

Please pray for Mexico.

Things That Make You Go Hmmmmm. . . August 2011

2011-08-21T18:28:00.002-05:00

LA BOMBA

Tales of Chiapas - Part 8 - Chamula

2011-08-13T13:43:00.005-05:00

While visiting the fascinating

and FIERCELY indigenous village of Chamula,

I was given this flyer.

Apparently there is no end to the parade

of evangelicals arriving to 'save' the Mayans.

The Chamula church was a study in contrasts.

(No interior pictures allowed!)

There were no pews.

The floor was covered in fragrent

pine boughs and studded with little white lit candles.

It took a minute for my eyes to adjust

and then another few to take in the emotional

impact one feels in this presence.

There was a gold gilded altar,

and the walls were covered in mini-altars

of carved wooden Mayan and Catholic saints.

Families were clustered on the floor,

there was a live chicken awaiting sacrifice,

and jumbo bottles of Coke available

for the people to drink in order to cause

belching - which will expel bad spirits.

Later we shopped and walked around the village,

much of which is not available for photos,
and they are very serious about that.

Entrance to Chamula.

Black beans drying in the sun.

Mayan home.

The cemetery.

And, of course, the kids who will tear your heart out.

Photo by Suzanne Plaskett

Things That Make You Go Hmmmmm. . . August 2011

2011-08-04T11:42:00.001-05:00

Tales of Chiapas - Part 7 - Manuela Cooks! (2) July 2011

2011-07-28T21:11:00.001-05:00

CHILAQUILES!!!

First step: Slice stale tortillas into strips fry and drain.

Meanwhile: Cook tomatoes in a little water and puree.

Now: Saute 2 pans of onions and slice a fire- roasted

Poblano chili.

Next: Shred some Oaxaca cheese.

Then: Start layering in a big pan or cazuela until full.

(Tortillas, onions, chilis, cheese, and repeat.)

Add: Sauteed chopped onions and crumble some

Queso Fresco.

Now: Spoon tomato puree over layers, cover,

and cook on low until cheese is melted and flavors

blend.

Manuela also made us Chiapan black beans,

fresh blackberry agua fresca,

and a huge crispy salad with avocados and fresh beets

in a nice vinaigrette.

KILLER COMIDA!

Post Script:

Manuela cooks at Bela's Bed and Breakfast and the 3 of us

are cookin' up an idea of a cookbook of Manuela's recipes.

Sound like a good idea? Let us know what you think!

Additionally:

Bela and Manuela will be hosting cooking classes at

Bela's Bed and Breakfast.

Contact Bela for more information.

Tales of Chiapas - Part 6 - Manuela Cooks! July 2011

2011-07-16T15:28:00.004-05:00

One of the truly great things about staying

at Bela's B and B is Manuela - and her cooking!

And boy can she cook.

Manuela's Bio - By Bela Wood

Maunela was born in Chanal, Chiapas -

which was listed five years ago by the UN as one of the poorest
100 pueblos in the world -

and they don't know exactly how old she is.

She is registered as being 52 years old

(but that was so she could get an ID - they really don't know).

She came to San Cristóbal when she was about 15,

escaping a guy who wanted to marry her.

At the time, there were women who went to Chanal to take embroidery

to the women so they could make some money.

Manuela asked a friend to ask them (she didn't speak Spanish)

if they would take her to San Cristóbal and find a place for her to work.

They did.

She worked for a family, she got up at 5:00 am to take the corn

to the mill and then made the tortillas. She went to sleep at midnight.

They were not bad to her.

Later she worked for another family who had her baptized,

Dr. Hugo is her godfather. He is cool.

She learned how to cook by watching the women in the houses where she worked.

It was all by watching!

Then she worked for an American woman, where she met Martín,

and watched the cooks there too.

She didn't get together with Martín until she was 28.

After a while she was cooking and taking care of the kids and cleaning.

I rented that house in 1997 and she and Martín were like caretakers

- they came with the deal.

At that time she had six kids aged 2 - 12

and she was earning $50 a month!

She's the next to the youngest of 13 kids - her mother is still alive.

Manuela and her mother.

Thank you Bela, for sharing Manuela's story with us!

Next up we will cook comida with Manuela!

Stay tuned.

Hiking the Rainy Season - Views, Rushing Creeks, Livestock, and Nature's Pornography July 2011

2011-07-13T14:10:00.000-05:00

Larry, my hiking buddy, and I picked a muddy road that rose

from the highway into the

southwest corner of the the mountains, hills, and valleys,

(known as el cerro) surrounding Lake Chapala and

braved the mud, rushing creeks,

road workers, and errant livestock to see what we could see.

We drove until we found a nice big shady

tree to park under, set the nutzo dog free,

and started out.

Larry has already spied something special.

Larry always reminds me of the late - and truly great -

Mrs. T. who lived, and died, not ever far from where I lived

either in Hawaii or in Northern California.

www.wildcarebayarea.org

An early environmentalist, Elizabeth Terwilliger delighted

in dashing from one interesting thing to another shouting

"Something special! Something special!"

as she led kids - and adults - romping through nature hikes.

Having received a rainy-season deluge the night before,

we squished through mud and forged several rushing creeks

as we slogged onward and upward.

Until we reached the last gate,

for now, anyway.

Turning around, we headed back while admiring

the stunning views of the lake and the mountains

of south shore Lake Chapala.

SOMETHING SPECIAL!

And back down through the bucolic dairy land

from where we started.

At least ONE of us had waaaaay too much fun!

El Andalón - Sergio Castro - Humanitarian Chiapas July 2011

2011-07-04T14:54:00.003-05:00

INTRODUCING SERGIO CASTRO!

THE DOCUMENTARY

For more than 45 years, this man has traveled to the homes

of the Mayan people of Chiapas and quietly treated

their injuries and medical needs - on his dime.

Now he needs us.

Please take a moment to look at the documentary trailer

above and click on the links provided here:

SERGIO CASTRO'S WORK

TO HELP

if you are in my area and would like to donate medical supplies, please leave a comment on this post, or email MexicanTrailrunner@hotmail.com and I will arrange to pick them up and deliver them to Sergio at the end of the year when I return to Chiapas.

¡MUCHAS GRACIAS!

Hiking, Carnage, Views of the Lake, Hovels, Good Dogs, and Magic Mushrooms June 2011

2011-06-30T21:05:00.000-05:00

A recently laid gas line,

that extends all the way from Manzanillo on the coast

to Guadalajara,

has opened up some really good hiking

trails for us.

Larry and I set out to explore one of them yesterday.

THE HIKE

THE CARNAGE

THE VIEW OF THE LAKE

THE HOVELS

THE GOOD DOG

WWWHHHOOOAAA!!!

WHAT'S THIS!

WHO KNOWS WHAT YOU'LL FIND

WHEN HIKING THE LAND

OF MILK AND HONEY

Yes, We Have No Bananas Today! June 2011

2011-06-27T11:42:00.000-05:00

I have a pretty nice little banana patch in my garden,

sporting several different delicious varieties

that generally keeps me in bananas almost year 'round.

Not so, this year.

Well, I've had lots of bananas,

but I've had a lot of these guys too!

So, I donated some bananas to nature

and bagged the rest of the stalk for human consumption.

All together now. . .EEEEUUUUUWW

According to my friend Larry, who knows all things botanical,

the irridescent green ones are June Bugs and the others are . . .

ba dump bump. . .

http://bugguide.net/node/view/42430

Tales of Chiapas - Part 5 - A Weaving Co-op in Zinacantán June 2011

2011-06-23T20:03:00.000-05:00

I had an opportunity to visit a weaving co-op
in the Mayan village of Zinacantán, in the state of Chiapas.
What a feast for the eyes - and as it turned out, the taste buds.

Later, after we had a chance to shop, this
woman offered to make us tacos.
She took us into her kitchen where she had started
a fire and began to pull balls of masa out of a bucket
and press them into tortillas.

Into these hot tortillas we spread roasted and ground
pumpkin seeds and chunky sea salt.
Umm, yeah, they were really good.

Abuela supervised.

My Friend Wil June 2011

2011-06-18T22:35:00.000-05:00

I have a friend, well, first she was my mother's friend,

but now it's just us.

We email often, I ask for her advice and opinions

and always get spot-on thoughtful answers.

She's my most supportive friend.

She lives in Hawaii.

Isn't she BEAUTIFUL!

Guess what!!!!!!!!

She just had a birthday. . .

. . .yep, 102 years young.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WIL!!!

I love you.

Tales of Chiapas - Part 4 - ALEX!!! June 2011

2011-06-15T11:09:00.011-05:00

Alex Aranda is da man!

Why?

Because Alex can jive.

Not only can Alex jive,

but Alex can jive in (at least) 4 languages

English, Spanish, Tzeltal, and Tzotzil!

Alex is cool.

Here's what people look like when they

see Alex coming:

Even the kids come to the fence to see him:

I had heard about Alex from friends.

He has a small, personal tour business

out of San Cristóbal and will take people

to outlying Mayan villages for the day.

So, I shot him an email and he responded promptly.

We set a date, gathered up a few friends,

and he picked us up at Bela's

for a day exploring Aguacatenango,

a small Tzeltal village famous for

embroidered blouses.

We headed out of San Cristóbal and down

into the countryside surrounded by interesting and

beautiful rural landscapes.

Alex, peppered with our questions,

answered each one with knowledgeable

thoughtful answers.

We started at the church and plaza.

"Come on," Alex said, "lets go inside, we cannot take

pictures inside the church, but we will meet the

mayordomos after and have a chance to explore."

The church was beautiful inside, primitive, filled with flowers,

little white candles, and Mayan and Catholic statues and carvings.

No pictures. . .

Around back we had the pleasure of meeting 3 mayordomos,

the men who are currently in charge of taking care of the

church and performing rituals.

A highly regarded honor.

They don't like their pictures taken either.

"Hey", Alex said, "you guys want to climb up the bell tower?"

Sure!!!

So, mayordomo in the lead, we went back into the church

and started up the centuries-old, worn slick,

rock encased, tunnel-like climb.

From the private collection of Suzanne Plaskett

And here was our reward!

How cool is this!

The mayordomo explained that in order for the bell-ringer

to keep track of how many times he has rung the bell,

each time he rings the bell he puts a little rock in one of the little holes
of this stone.

After descending we went out into the plaza

where we were mobbed by the village women

selling their awesome embroidered blouses.

Bela bought!

None of this would have been possible without Alex!

Stay tuned for more on Alex and Aguacatenango,

as well as Amatenango del Valle, Zinacantan, Chamula,

and much more.

ALEX'S WEBSITE!

Don't even think about going to Chiapas

without spending a day or 2 with Alex.

ALEX, WE HAD A GREAT TIME,

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Things That Make You Go Hmmmmm. . . June 2011

2011-06-11T17:03:00.004-05:00

CREEPY!!!

Can you see the face?

Click to enlarge photo.

Here's another shot.

Click to enlarge photo.

This one has 2 faces, looks like a man and a woman.

These were taken a couple of evenings ago on the Jocotepec Malecón.
We were talking to one of the tourist cops
who suddenly pointed at the sky and said
how beautiful it was.

Wasn't until I put these photos up that I saw the faces!

Tales of Chiapas - Part 3 - The Mayan Medicine Museum June 2011

2011-06-06T16:01:00.002-05:00

One of the first places we investigated

was the Mayan Medicine Museum,

a short hike up from Bela's and the Templo Santo Domingo on
Avenida General Utrilla,

past the Mercado Municipal José Castillo, through a small barrio,

and on the left a little before reaching the Perriferico.

The museum is a fascinating place

surrounded by gardens of culinary

and medicinal herbs, inside are wax-figure exhibits,

demos, videos, informative signs,

live healings taking place,

and a very helpful and informative staff.

While the figures are wax, they look real enough

to give you a start as you wind you way

through the dimly lit museum.

The part I liked the best was a video

of a Mayan women giving birth.

They do not undress or lie down,

instead they kneel while leaning on their husband

who sits or kneels in front of them.

In back is the midwife who helps deliver (or catch) the child

and attend to it when it emerges from under the mother's skirt.

Due to the presence of other visitors in the museum

and the Indigenous Shaman conducting healings,

I respected the wishes of the Mayans

and did not take their photos.

These photos are internet photos,

thank you to Trip Advisor, Travel Pod,

and the MMM.

A word to the wise:

Cameras are forbidden in Mayan rituals,

in their churches, and face to face (without permission).

It is life-threatening to take out a camera and start shooting

during any of the above mentioned situations without permission.

The Maya are very superstitious and believe their souls

can be stolen with a picture or it creates an evil eye

producing long streaks of bad luck.
They don't even like to make eye contact with strangers.

One woman told us cameras them feel like monkeys

in a cage.

Things That Make You Go Hmmmmm. . . June 2011

2011-06-03T19:08:00.000-05:00

A PHOTO IN NEED OF A CAPTION!

HAVE AT IT, GUYS!

Tales of Chiapas - Part 2 - Bela's B & B May 2011

2011-05-30T18:52:00.004-05:00

What a giant stroke of luck it was

to find Bela Wood and her B & B

in San Cristóbal de las Casas!

A couple of friends had mentioned it in the past and

I ran across her site while surfing for a place to stay

but I never anticipated making a new friend

or finding a place in Chiapas that I would long to

return to over and over!

I liked Bela instantly!

And Apollo and Lola and Coco and Chapis!

Bela is warm and hospitable, brimming with inside knowledge

about San Cristóbal and Chiapas, and best of all insanely patient with

with all our questions and requests for advice.

Who knew that behind these doors. . .

. . .it would be so beautiful. . .

. . .and inviting. . .

. . .and incredibly YUMMY!

Manuela and Bela are the # 1 team to beat!

If you don't believe me. . .here's proof:

Bela's B&B in San Cristobal de las Casas has 123 reviews

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating:

Based on 123 traveler reviews

TripAdvisor Popularity Index: ^#1 of 26 B&Bs in San Cristobal de las Casas

Go stay with Bela and give her a big hug for me

and tell her I miss her!

BELA'S B AND B WEBSITE

Tales of Chiapas - Part 1 May 2011

2011-05-27T15:46:00.000-05:00

Where is the best place to start a story?

Why, at the beginning, of course!

So, that would be when the phone rang one

night and my friends on the south shore said:

GUESS WHAT!!!

Ummm, what?

Vivaaerobus has just initiated a DIRECT flight from

Guadalajara to Tuxtla Gutiérrez in Chiapas!!!

Ummm, wow.

IT'S LESS THAN A HUNDRED BUX EACH WAY!!!

Ummm, WOW!!!

Let's go!

Let's go.

By departure date,

both south shore friends had to back out

but my good friend (and old paramedic partner) Suzanne

came down from Nevada and we took off from Guadalajara

for Tuxtla right on schedule.

We couldn't say enough good about Vivaaerobus!

The employees were actually NICE!

They were also helpful, efficient, and looked like they

enjoyed their jobs!

All flights left and departed on time.

They have really incredible promotions,

when we were booking our flights they had

five dollar flights from Guadalajara to Mexico City!

Check 'em out. Explore Mexico!

¡Viva Vivaaerobus!

Next up, you'll meet Bela and the best

B and B on the planet!!!

Don't believe me? I can show you proof.

Hola Bela!

I'm Back! May 2011

2011-05-25T21:57:00.000-05:00

And I'm stuffed to the gills with stories

and pictures, anecdotes and questions,

new friends and travel recommendations,

and above all wonderment.

Wonderment at no matter how different

we look. . .

Google Image

. . .we are all the same.

Ummmm, I also have the mutha of all sore throats.

Accompanied by muscle aches and pains,

sinus congestion and a 'productive' cough.

Ok, way too much information

and I was just going to slide until I felt better

then download and sort the photos, edit them, plan stories,

and start telling you about our trip.

But I felt compelled to give you a snotty heads-up

when Steve commented.

So, I'm going back to bed and I'll start

as soon as I feel a little bit better.

Look out, Chiapas is coming!

Off To Chiapas! May 2011

2011-05-15T16:52:00.001-05:00

Documents in order - check

Boarding pass printed - check

House and dog sitter oriented - check

Backpack packed - check

Off to Chiapas to explore with my good friend

and old paramedic partner!

Woo hoo!
Stay tuned!

Enjoy!

Pathetic! May 2011

2011-05-08T18:51:00.001-05:00

My Apple Tree

First year. . .

NADA.

Second year. . .

copious amounts of fertilizer, water,

gardener consults, severe pruning,

and tender loving care. . .

NADA.

Third year. . .

general care, some fertilizer, some water,

minimal pruning, and general neglect. . .

. . .one FUJI!

Fourth year. . .

repeat second year with resulting same harvest. . .

NADA.

This year. . .

copious amounts of fertilizer, water,

no consults, semi-severe pruning. . .

Same bountiful harvest.

Things That Make You Go Hmmmmm. . . May 2011

2011-05-05T21:31:00.001-05:00

Feliz Navidad from Llantera Hernandez
My most favorite tire repair shop anywhere!

Had a blowout on the highway one night about

3 months ago.

I limped down the highway, shredding the tire

in the process, to a friend's hotel parking lot

where I knew the car would be safe for the night.

Had the spare put on the next morning,

for 50 pesos, and set out to find a replacement

tire to match the other 3.

I started on the south shore where I bought all 4 tires

a couple of years ago.

No go.

El Señor has died.

Oh, I'm so sorry, ok, thanks.

Then to the new fancy tire stores.

Ummm, doncha have something a little cheaper?

No, Señora.

We are now into this about 2 months.

It's Mexico.

We're not in a hurry.

Hey, what about the mechanics!

Bet some of them have some good tires laying around.

íHola Salvador!

íHola!

Got a good tire laying around that might match my other 3?

Si. No problem.

Bueno, Salvador.

How much?

250 pesos.

Sold!

Over to the Llantera Hernandez to have the tire balanced,

mounted, rims swapped, spare mounted to rim

and put back in place under the vehicle.

40 pesos.

20 minutes.

Total Mexican tire adventure:

$340 pesos or about $29 US.

Total time involved:

3 months.

Good things come to those who wait.

Indie Publishing - Update 3 - DONE DEAL! PUBLISHED ON KINDLE! April 2011

2011-04-29T20:28:00.005-05:00

Whew!

That was work!

I spent all Easter weekend and this week

rewriting, revising, and trying to solve formatting problems.

In the end, I pretty much rewrote the book.

So, here it is, in all its little glory:

Emergency Medical Spanish for Travelers - Kindle/Amazon

Now, on to more fun stuff!

Next book is titled Take Next Boat. Not Coming Back.

The love story of my parents and their early days

in Hawaii, circa 1937, starring my mother's

journal letters back to her family in Los Angeles.

A big shout-out to Felipe Zapata for helping me find my voice

and for helping me find where to begin my story.

Yay, Felipe dude!

Stay tuned for more blog posts on Mexico:
a day with famous Mexican potter, a trip to Chiapas, and purchasing
artesania from the Mayan women in the surrounding
indigenous villages.

Not mention a book on living in Mexico -
from the Mexican Trailrunner point of view -
of course!

Now is a great time to be a writer!

If you have bought my book in the past or buy it now,

please leave feedback on the Kindle page!!!

Thanks, all.

Things That Make You Go Awwwww. . . . April 2011

2011-04-16T14:34:00.002-05:00

Kitten playing peek-a-boo with me
in potter Martín Ibarra Morales'

studio in San Juan Evangelista, Jalisco.

Indie Publishing - Update 2 April 2011

2011-04-10T17:59:00.004-05:00

Indie Publishing

Indie Publishing - Update

Ok, where were we. . .oh, yes.

Our hero, The Mexican Trailrunner, is going to bust

through the indie publishing industry,

make buckets of money,

and live like a rock star.

not

The plan was to put the 4 Emergency Medical Spanish

language books up

on Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords

so folks can read them on their digital devices.

Good idea!

So, I revised them for digital.

I did hours and weeks of research on how to do it.

I joined Amazon's KDP -

Kindle Direct Publishing

and pressed onward.

I did a few more hours of research.

Then I was ready.

I embarked on the "Easy 3 Step Process"

to publish my little books.

Step 1 - no problem.

Step 2 - no problem.

Step 3 - Houston, we have a problem.

I loaded the book and when Kindle finally digested

the accepted format and spit my book back out,

it was gobeldy-gook.

I did more research and even resorted to Kindle's forum,

support, FAQs, and a few WTFs.

Turns out, the Kindle format REALLY likes novels,

not so much books with lots of lines, lists, bolding,

indentations, foreign languages with accents,

and other freaky abnormalities.

sigh

So, back to the forum and an appeal for help.

Was advised to seek help from professional 'Formatters'.

who knew

They were all very nice, very responsive, and very helpful.

I submitted my book to them and waited sleeplessly for

their verdicts and price quotes to format the books.

cool

Not cool.

First quote came in at $275 US to format a 64 page book.

wow

Second quote came in significantly lower at $150 US

with a request for lots of revising from the formatting people.

that's better i guess

Then there was the "better cover" suggestion.

Ummm, ok, how much is that dynamite cover going to cost?

Ohhhh, $375 US

times 4

That would total $600 US to format 4 little books

that I wanted to sell for 2 bux each. . .

and a staggering $1500 for 4 new covers.

I did the math.

It didn't look very good.

I would have to sell 1,050 books just to pay for the formatting

and covers.

back to the drawing board

Plan B

flexibility is a good thing

Three of the language books are now up for sale on eBay

and all 4 are for sale on this blog.

Here it is: Emergency Medical Spanish for Travelers and Expats

The book is on CD and the price reflects the added expenses -

not the least of which are all the nickles and dimes that go to eBay.

sheesh, ebay used to be cheap to sell on

The books will always be available on this blog for less

as they will be a digital ebooks.

They can be loaded onto digital devices via email,
downloaded to computer,
or printed and kept by the phone or in the glovebox etc.

If you want them on CD, see eBay.

So, that's where we're at.

Now for the fun part!

I get to concentrate on writing my next 2 books for Kindle.

In NOVEL form!

Saving the Dogs April 2011

2011-04-04T13:34:00.007-05:00

When I first moved from the US to Mexico,

some 7 years ago,

I knew what I was getting into—well, in most respects.

I had, however, forgotten what canine testicles

looked like!

What are those things bouncin' around back there on all these dogs,

I asked myself.

After decades of travel in this country,

I knew that the highways of Mexico were littered

with carcasses.

Particularly in the night and early morning hours.

Over the years I've had the displeasure of seeing dogs, cats,

horses, cows, burros—and even a man.

Shortly after arriving here at Lago Chapala,

I was invited to a wedding.

It was there that I was introduced to Gudrun Jones.

Gudrun asked if I needed a dog and said she had a

ranch FULL of them, all available for adoption.

Forty dogs, pick one or two, volunteer to walk them,

donate money to feed them - whatever, she said.

Then she gave me a business card

with her signature on the back.

Whenever you see a dog with balls, she said,

grab it, throw it in your car, and take it to this vet.

They will do the surgery, charge it to me, and call you when

the dog is ready to be picked up.

Then, you take the dog back to where you found it

and drop it off!

WHAAAAAT???

Yes, she said, just do it!

At that time, there were plenty of dead dogs on the

carretera and it was the same old heartbreaking sight

in the mornings when I drove into town.

Since then, thanks to Gudrun, Anita, the Animal Shelter,

Dr. Pepe Magaña, LFA, and Nick. . .

I can't remember the last dead dog I saw on the highway.

And I'm not kidding!

These people are saints!
These people have changed

the world.

At least our little corner of the world.

Meet them:

The Animal Shelter

Gudrun's Spay and Neuter Ranch

Anita's Animal Sanctuary
Lakeside Friends of the Animals

Dr. Pepe's Paws and Claws
Nick has no website

Any of these people will be more than happy to show

you their animals,
each animal desperate for a forever home.

ADOPT ONE TODAY!

DONATE TODAY!

VOLUNTEER TODAY!

That Time of Year Again! Mar 2011

2011-03-29T23:18:00.000-06:00

If it was a perfect world,

Jacarandas would bloom all year long.

And it would already be the rainy season.

Indie Publishing - Update Mar 2011

2011-03-24T21:51:00.000-06:00

Here are the stats:

In 2010, Apple sold 15 million IPads,

Amazon sold eight million Kindle books,

and Borders is closing 224 stores.

Soon digital books will become the norm

and paper books will be a niche market.

The future for writers is in self-publishing

digital eBooks.

A bandwagon I'm jumping on with both feet.

The digital eBook market players are Amazon's Kindle,

Barnes and Noble's Nook, and Smashwords.

Amazon being the heavy hitter.

Look at the prices!

Books for free, books for $1.99, books for $2.99,

and some of these new indie writers are damn good!

A popular pricing strategy is to price books

at $.99 or to give them away until you gain a following.

Sooner or later the John Grishams and James Pattesons

will have to join up.

It's a new world and the coolest thing is that I am in charge.

I write the book, I hire or design the cover, I hire or format

the book, I download it to one of the above 3—or all three—

I set the price and I get to keep most of the money!

Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Book Bloggers. . .

these are my marketing tools.

Gone are agents, publishers, query letters, book proposals,

rejections, 16% royalties, and traveling book signings.

It used to be I couldn't get a book to a reader without

the blessing of a publisher.

All that has changed.

I attend Joe Konrath University.

I have two books looking for a formatter,

one nearly completed that will also be looking for a formatter,

and two more that need to be written.

I am currently in the process of getting estimates from formatters:

52 Novels

and

North of Carefree

Here is the advice I've received for eBook success

from Joe:

1. Write a damn good book.

2. Make sure it has professional cover art.

3. Keep price under $4.

4. Have flawless formatting.

5. Write a good product description.

6. Upload to Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords.

7. Repeat. Over and over, until the world can no longer ignore your work.

What have I got to lose?

The Mole Men of Tlaltelolco Respond to Japan Mar 2011

2011-03-16T11:27:00.004-06:00

The Mole Men Left Today

All volunteers, these brave men AND WOMEN

walk of their jobs and leave their families

to travel all over the world under the direst of circumstances.

They went to Haiti, the World Trade Center, they work earthquakes,

mine collapses, cave-ins, structure collapses, around the world

and will go where other rescuers will not.

They are one of the most respected

rescue teams in the world —

Mexico's famous Mole Men.

Lives lost.

Lives saved.

PLEASE DONATE NOW!

PayPal your donations to:

donativos@brigada-rescate-topos.org

No amount is too small, even a dollar will help.

Gracias, amigos!

Indie Publishing Mar 2011

2011-03-14T10:58:00.001-06:00

Ok. I've been bit by the bug,

the indie publishing bug, that is.

Mexican Trailrunner will slow down on the blog

posts for a little while in order to work on transferring

my already-written books to digital format

and get them Kindle-ready.

The EMS workers that buy my Emergency Medical Spanish

language books will then be able to download them to their phones,

IPads, Kindles, and so on to help with treating their

Spanish speaking patients.

Much more convenient.

Same goes for my English speaking customers

who want to be able to converse in Spanish

with doctors and paramedics while traveling in Spanish

speaking countries.

In fact, it was their idea, thanks Tancho!

And, here's the best part!

The books can then sell for

under $3.99!

I control the price and can change it at whim.

I can even give them away for free if I want.

It's the way of the future, they say.

Indie predictors say Amazon will be giving Kindles away

in order to sell more books.

And, the popularity of the IPad looms in the future.

I succumb.

My goal is to have five books up on Amazon,

Smashwords, and the Nook by the end of the year.

Read about a likable young indie writer who has done

quite well for herself - Amanda Hocking.

Writers? Are you listening?