Blogs

(part 2 of 2, for more pictures see here)

First you have to realize that Puerto Lobos is not your typical Mexican coastal beach town, with palapas and cabanas, mar y sol, margaritas, mojitos and chicas in bikinis.  Oh sure, there’s a beach… miles of it, in fact.  And there are plenty of structures there, too.  Some people actually live there; others visit on holidays from the big city.  And there are even a few chicas playing there, also, most of them under six years old.  After that age they hav

The queue for Safi Air flight #248 from Delhi to Kabul looks like something of a loya jirga in itself, businessmen and diplomats, village traders of lapis lazuli, scammers and schemers, all going back to the homeland for one reason or another, all with excess baggage—fridges toasters and microwaves, dreams hopes and expectations—all wearing long tunics baggy trousers and funny hats, all speaking strange tongues and whispering strange sighs, body odors wafting from overcoats whose histories likel

No, mercenaries have not overrun the Chinese lines, and there are no soldiers from the Mersey or the Thames or the Thyme.  No bombs have been launched; no shots have been fired.  No casualties have been reported; the hospitals are not full.  And if any negotiations have taken place, it's been within tourist (and drinking) circles, not political ones.  You see, we're not talking about normal society here.  We're talking about an alien life form—visa runners.

For those of you who don't know what a

        I stop. “Wha’dya’ got?  Is it good?”

        “Is it good?  Hell, yes, it’s good.  D’you think I’m gonna’ get you some Mexican carnicero to snake the drain that’s gotta’ process all those hamburguesas, man?  It’s the real thing, hombre…

        “Cuanto cuesta?”

        “Are you a gringo?

        “Claro que no, soy chilango, nada mas vivo al otro lado para ganarme plata.”

        “Entonces, I can get you a special price, only seiscientos dolares, mas o menos.  You got any complications?”

See video Voices United for Mali - 'Mali-ko'

It’s horrible, of course, the war currently going on in Mali, the desecration of Sufi shrines in Timbuktu, and the disruption of lives in a place where life doesn’t allow much margin for error.  Maybe the most ironic aspect of it all is that Mali has been able to cast itself so successfully in the last twenty years as the capital of world music, starting with Ali Farka Toure’ and including dozens of regional stars in its roll-call before making Ali’s s

Our children grow up eventually and they want to do all sorts of things we don't want them to do however we remember being their age and we remember what we did and we have a hard time saying NO.

There comes a time, whether in their late teens or early twenties when sons and daughters alike want to go out and discover the world. This sometimes comes as a shock and a great stage of fear ensues; we find ourselves wishing we were still taking them to Disney to meet Donald Duck.

However they want to