Keith and Richard’s
One delightful evening I went for dinner at Keith and Richard’s at their home on Capitol Hill. Here are some pics of them and their garden. Keith is a landscape architect.
Richard cooked dinner.
There were four for dinner. This is Curry and Richard.
Tim the sculptor
We walked around the corner to the home of [...]
An Idea For Our Time
I’m in Seattle right now, and staying in my friend Susan’s townhouse in Jackson Street Co-Housing. She went back east to visit family and I’m living with her dog Wolf, and her huge orange cat, Pumpkin.
Co-housing is defined as an “intentional community” where buildings are erected according to a communal style design, [...]
July 4th, 2010
By Richard Pauli
On this holiday we offer patriotic rhetoric to honor the American Revolution – indeed one of the most significant, enduring and purposeful changes to human civilization.
Part of our ceremony is to remember and rededicate ourselves to change as we prepare for future struggles.
In years and decades to come, humanity will perform a [...]
6/26
Marathon Races and Lifestyles
Jeanne and I went downtown today to see the runners come in at the end of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon. Here is an excerpt from their site:
SEATTLE – Under ideal conditions on Saturday morning more than 27,000 runners from all 50 states and 23 countries ran from Tukwila to Seattle for [...]
June 2010
Every few months I come to Seattle for a few weeks. It is such a contrast to Merida that for the first week or so I feel like a foreigner. Here are a few sights I saw that aren’t notable if you are here a lot, but for me, they were strange. In another [...]
They’re calling it an oil leak. It is not an oil leak. It is a gushing torrent of raw oil pushing out from the ocean floor, under huge pressure, unabated. There is a clear villain in this. It is BP Oil and their failure to observe basic safety guidelines.
I’ve been watching the congressional hearings (the [...]
MexicaChica packages imaginative high-end tours for small groups of women here in Yucatan. The educational but fun trips have a multi-disciplinary approach.
“For instance,” explains the owner, Claudette Elizondo, “our fantastic collage workshop takes us on a day trip to the Uxmal ruins, where a professional actress helps us reenact Maya legends. We photograph the reenactments [...]
The richness of the musical tradition here is magnificent. Last night we went to a concert at the Museo de la Cancion Yucateca. It was an homenaje to four local composers and performances of their music. Several of them were there to see the performance and receive honors from the city. Composer Arturo Camara Tappan [...]
Younghee Moser is an excellent cook. She sells things at the Slow Food Market on Saturdays – like kim chee, “Korean pancakes,” spicy soybeans, quail egg salad, etc. She also makes a variety of other dishes that you can order from her.
Mandu – the staple of all Korean meals, like a pot sticker but better [...]
Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1. I try never to miss it. The multi-vendor nearly-organic market on the grounds of Monique Duval’s bakery is a hit. I go there regularly for eggs and for Korean food, among other things. This place is on the way to being a Merida institution. If they’d only have tables, [...]
Actually, it’s not much of a legacy. It’s a not-very-interesting history. The foreign community of Merida was founded primarily (with notable exceptions) by drunks, misfits and criminals. Fortunately, things have changed.
Who becomes an expat? I’m not talking about the normal human beings who set up residence in other countries because their employers send them there. [...]
vendor
Marzipan
The market is endlessly fascinating. Household goods, food, small animals, clothes, musicians and small bands, jewelry, potions, saddles, spices, it’s all there. The market is not only a place where goods are sold, but a place where deals are made. There are fences and scam artists. There are people pawning the family jewelry. Maya women [...]
Two unusual things happened yesterday.
1. We had a helluva rain/electrical storm, hopefully the end to the awful heat we’ve been experiencing.
2. The Unrewarding Pets (feral cats in the back yard) were unusually cute.
Here are photos of these events. All the rain pics are from our front door.
Merida has needed a good hamburger. Welcome OneBurger!!!! It’s part of a chain out of Miami and the local franchisee has done an excellent job. I went there recently for take-out for a group of four on a lazy afternoon. The other three wanted the simplest burger, no cheese, no nothing. I had an open [...]
According to El Diario, there is guy who steals purebred dogs from homes in Centro and then contacts the owners for ransom. A couple of days ago, some neighbors saw him climb over a wall into someone’s yard on 46th and come out with a miniature schnauzer. He got onto his motorcycle and sped off. [...]
This was originally sent in as a comment on the last post. It’s from a reader who wishes to remain anonymous. He signed his name LEVN.
Before NAFTA was implemented in 1994, many of the Americans and Canadians in the Yucatan were here because they were escaping something — failed businesses, nasty divorces, bankruptcies, alimony, [...]
Emilio Chan lives in the village of Huhi. He apprenticed with a x’men (shaman) there. He says that after years of training and study, the old priest pronounced Emilio ready and granted him the title and authority to carry on the ancient Maya practices. The priest died three days after having released Emilio Chan with [...]
It was a lovely event. It was pleasantly crowded, spirits were good, there were lots of interested children, and a genuine variety of exhibits. This all took place at Casa Catherwood Norte, on Calles 17 and 20 in Garcia Gineres. Merida Verde and other organizations worked hard and pulled in both commercial an non-profit exhibitors, [...]
By Jane
This article is in response to the discussion on this blog about public programs directed at preventing child sexual abuse in the sex trade. It is written by Jane, our favorite call girl, who finds well-intended programs such as the one we described recently, a ruse for other police activities.
In 2003, [...]
On April 30 2010, Casa Catherwood is hosting an event featuring a speaker from ECPAT-USA, an organization formed to prevent the sexual exploitation of children. Below is part of an article from the Casa Catherwood website, but to read all about the event, please check out their site. Go to www.casa-catherwood.com, select the Catherwood Blog, [...]
Tacoma is an unlikely location for high-end Thai/Vietnamese/French cuisine, but that’s what Indochine is. It’s on Pacific Avenue, across from the museums, on a strip full of hip bars and restaurants.
The place is beautiful. It’s another example of the love and creativity that can be put into a business if it is individually owned and [...]
Read my first article about Jane. See part 1. Jane is a classy 61-year-old call girl, who has had enough. The business is getting tougher and more dangerous. And she is totally sick of men.
I visited Jane in her gorgeous most recent apartment in Chilliwack, BC, a logging town about 40 miles east of Vancouver.
Jane says [...]
I just spent 6 weeks in the USA and have a lot to get off my chest. Bear with me.
I went to Detroit to visit family, who live in a suburb called Farmington Hills. I can never find my way around the Detroit suburbs when I’m driving because it all looks the same to me.
Business [...]
When the name of a restaurant or store is preceded by the pronoun, “a,” I try not to patronize it.
“Oh look! There’s a Chili’s!”
“Let’s find a Safeway.”
“There’s a Dunkin’ Donuts right up the street.”
“Look! It’s an Ace Hardware!”
Here in Merida, many of us love Home Depot, Costco, Vips, Bennigan’s, Office Max, etc. And it isn’t [...]
March 22, 2012
Last night it passed, and Americans will enter an era where all are entitled to health care. It will now be a right, rather than a privilege.
But a lot of people didn’t want it.
Thirty-four Democrats voted against the bill, but not one Republican voted for it.
Yesterday’s House of Representative debates before the vote [...]
It’s been six months since my last trip to Seattle. New buildings have sprung up – mostly apartment buildings. Businesses have closed. Highways are being widened. Politicians seem depressed.
I’m staying in a wonderful unoccupied-by-owners apartment in a nice area. It’s on Mercer Island, a wealthy community just east of Seattle proper. In the apartment, the flat screen TV [...]
Don’t read this. It’s boring. I just had to get it out.
On Monday I left early for an appointment. I took local streets because it was rush hour, which in Seattle is a nightmare. As I was tooling innocently through the south end of town, a patrol car pulled me over. I obediently drove into [...]
KIKO
Right now I’m staying at Kiko’s house. She has graciously allowed me to stay here and is unfailingly polite and pleasant. Affectionate even, and we’ve just met.
However, sometimes it’s hard to communicate with Ms. Kiko. Here’s what she does when I call her.
BRRRRRR
This is the back of my car in the morning. March 7 2010
Oscar [...]
Shocking. Unbelievable. Riveting. Produces strong mixed feelings. These are my reactions to Bodies. My other feeling was regret that I’d just had a wonderful lunch of ramen soup with pork floating in it.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Bodies phenomen, it is a Chinese entertainment enterprise that’s basically a bunch of dead bodies [...]
It seemed to me that if I have an eBook on Amazon Kindle Books, I should check out the Kindle. So I borrowed one from a friend and downloaded my current book club selection, Barbara Kingsolver’s new book, The Lacuna.
Since Kingsolver is an a acclaimed writer and doesn’t have to observe any of the usual [...]
Henequen represents slavery, rope, the conquest, heavy labor, and haciendas. It is, of course, the plant and fiber produced on most of the the huge haciendas of Yucatan. Henequen, a type of agave, is uniquely suited to northern Yucatan’s rocky, torrid terrain. It takes at least five years for a henequen plant to mature on [...]
In the beginning of the 1900s, several hundred Korean laborers were shipped to Yucatan after having been told they were going to Hawaii. They were indentured servants on the henequen haciendas and were required to work there for three years to pay off their passage. When their three-year terms were up, most of them didn’t [...]
The Museo de las Ferrocarilles en Yucatan is located in Merida,on Calle 43 between 48 and 46, Colonia Industrial. No phone, not much of an office, no indoor exhibits except for inside the railway cars. Go on a nice day as you are walking around outside and occasionally going into a railroad car.
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Although in the [...]
I moved to Mexico at least partly because the Bush administration was so brutal to so many. They killed many of the things I loved about the USA. Like hope, pride, and the feeling of belonging to something I could be proud of. We Americans weren’t perfect, but we sure as hell tried. We had [...]
Slow Food Yucatan has put together a group of organic food producers and they had their debut Friday market yesterday. It was quite crowded, and some vendors ran out of products. There was great stuff available for sale – chimichurri, peanut butter, bread and muffins, fruits and vegetables, granola, etc. The market, located in front [...]
According to a defense attorney of our acquaintance, there are some bad extranjero boys ripping off local people in Merida. Apparently two men, one of whom says he’s from Italy, stop Yucatecos on the street, and in good Spanish, tell them they have just finished a promotional job for (fill in the blank – department [...]
This group meets Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. in a house in Santa Ana. Email jamesbutler3@mac.com to inquire. On alternate Tuesdays, a certified Mac tech gives a class and answers questions. On the other Tuesdays, it’s informal, and participants help each other. It costs 200 pesos a month per person, which pays the tech/instructor.
Friday, 2/12/2010
Our house is one block as the crow flies from the Paseo de Montejo remate, the southern end. It’s where the carnaval parades finish their southern lope and hang a right toward 60th. They pause in front of the review stand, a long stone’s throw from our palapa lookout, and hang out [...]
In Case You Missed This –
Lachlan Ansett, or whatever his name is, was in Merida about eight months ago running his scam. He is particularly dangerous as he claims to be a doctor and research geneticist, and has apparently “treated” a number of people. (He is not a doctor.) When he was here, he [...]
Why would anyone go to Cancun to have fun when you can be in Merida? If you want water, go to Progreso. If you want to shop, go to Miami. If you want to walk the streets safely, stay here.
This past weekend, LG and I went to Cancun to hang around the edges of a [...]
Stories from the Calle
A man we’ll call Oswaldo was sitting in a restaurant with his friends early one afternoon when his cell phone rang. He took the call and a gruff voice told him that they were holding his cousin and would kill him if he didn’t deposit $50,000 MN to a bank account to [...]
YUCATAN YENTA CROSSES THE LINE
I realized this week for the first time that I am more comfortable here than in the USA. This has taken years to change.
A few days ago, I went to Gran Plaza, paid my CFE (electricity bill) on their spiffy new machine, paid my property tax at the little module in [...]
As we all know, there are hundreds if not thousands of dogs and cats wandering the towns and cities of the Yucatan. Groups have been formed to help them and some of the towns poison them. Sometimes they are shot at, tortured, or deliberately run over and left to die.
The animals suffer from mange, feline [...]
“Don George” (Jorge Armando Solis Hoyos) is a 78-year-old Maya who was born and raised in Merida. His parents were from Peto. Don George says that he quit school early and worked in his parents’ milpa in Merida. Times were hard, he said. If there was no water, there was no food and no money.
When [...]
I haven’t blogged for a while because I’m exhausted. There are an awful lot of social and public events at this time of year. Parties, parades, light displays, concerts… On Three Kings Day (Jan. 6), everyone eats a ring cake called rosca de reyes. You can go from one rosca party to another. There was [...]
I can’t seem to stay out of this area. A couple of days ago, Mary E. and I picked up Guillermina and her grand-daughter in San Antonio Tehuitz and proceeded to her parents’ place in Teabo (see earlier article). They had fixed three of my old cotton hammocks that I never thought I’d be able [...]
This morning the temperature was 68 degrees F. I had on several layers and big socks. The sun has just set and it’s freezing once again. I am wearing a cotton sweater over my shirt and so is Jim. Now it’s about 74.
In the back yard, I have eleven feral cats who come in and [...]
Periodically I post mail I get from my friend Deanne who retired a couple of years ago and wanders around the US and Canada in her car. She visits people, museums, campgrounds, and whatever she takes a fancy to.
Hello all, it’s been another interesting chunk of time… Cape Breton was specifically, and Nova Scotia [...]
We live in centro, where the city collects trash daily. We put it out on the sidewalk in tied bags, and by mornings it’s gone. Sometimes the truck comes in the evening, but more often in the madrugada, the wee hours of the morning. The truck makes a lot of noise and the men are [...]
It seems that those idyllic villages outside Merida are no longer as peaceful and safe as they were. Drugs and drug gangs are in control now and people are afraid to come out of their houses.
In a village about an hour outside of Merida, things are dire. Young men who have grown up there are [...]
Jim and I like this place. It’s on Called 56 between 51 and 53, where the owner bought an enormous unsightly ruin and lot and made something beautiful out of it.
The dining room is huge. The chairs are hard and uncomfortable, but you can sit in the glass-walled smoking area where they have sofas. Often [...]
This is a post from my dear friend Deanne Rios. She retired from her long years at the Washington State Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, has bought a series of excellent vehicles, and drives around aimlessly. She’s been writing about Cape Breton, Novia Scotia and it makes we want to go there, so I thought some [...]
You people up north have no idea what a treasure you have in Costco. I am in in the Merida store at least once a week.
Before Costco opened here about ten years ago, I had to schlep down every special tool, towels, socks, and most of all, holiday gifts. Having the store here, even though [...]
Yesterday, the yentas went to the Yucatan State Fair. All we did was shop, talk and eat. It was disgraceful. I don’t think we saw a quarter of the fair and we were there for hours. We totally missed the horses and cattle, the original reason for the fair’s existence. The place was huge, like [...]
When a family member dies in Mexico, s/he is still a family member. S/he just exists in another dimension. There are constant holidays and fiestas here – it is quite wonderful – and this one is around Halloween. I’s celebrated 10/31-11/2 on a schedule understandable only to Mexicans. Just as I can never get the [...]
Yesterday (11/5/09), Lorna Gail and I went to Chichen Itza, the eighth wonder of the world, so I could take pictures for the electronic book I am hoping to put online next month. The story takes place in Merida and Chichen.
Skulls at Chichen
I hadn’t been out there for years. On the new highways, it took [...]
The three victims took their seats at the window one by one, talking to the clerk who transcribed their words. At no time did any of them make eye contact with the defendant. They were scared to death, but brave and determined.
I think things have come a long way here, as they have in the [...]
My friend Jane is a call girl. If you can call a sixty-year-old woman a girl. She’s five feet ten inches tall and weighs around 240 pounds. She advertises in publications that list such things, that she is available, gives her phone number, and takes calls. She lives in a large north American city and [...]
Bill and I talked our way into the display section of this trade show, without paying the $2500 pesos, promising not to go into the lecture hall. We saw paintings, exhibits, artifacts, etc. all related to different chile peppers. Exhibitors were from all over Mexico and included companies selling agricultural equipment and insect control systems.
There [...]
In mid-Setember, I went to the Western Washington State Fair with Judy R. We examined the hundreds of hand-made quilts and voted for our favorites, and I sat through a long slide show of entries to the photo competition. We watched guys carving oversized pumpkins and heard an excellent C&W band. The Hobby Hall included [...]
This is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Tall, first-growth cedar forests, ferns, salal, wildflowers, and a grey/blue bay before my cabin door. The eagles are squawking in the trees (a disappointing sound for such a magnificent bird), the kingfishers are zipping by and the crows are at war over bits of shellfish.
There’s [...]
This took place a few months ago, in June. Deb U. and I drove to Guillermina’s house in San Antonio and she and her family accompanied us “downtown.” She lives with one of her four daughters and her daughter’s daughter. Another of G’s daughters, also with daughters, lives nearby. We took the kids on the [...]
On Sunday, I was planning to take my friend Guillermina to her parents’ house in Teabo, so they could repair some of my old hammocks. I prefer cotton hammocks the nylon ones being sold now. (You can find cotton, but it’s getting harder.)
Before I left to pick up Guillermina in [...]
Lorna Gail and I took off at about noon and drove up to Progreso and turned west before we hit town. That way we could go over that incredible new bridge with the magnificent views. It’s got to be the highest spot in northern Yucatan. After driving around this flat countryside, it is a great [...]
Yucatan apparently has the lowest crime rate of any Mexican state. However, things do happen.
The yentas give candid opinions, not necessarily gastronomical in nature, on two local eateries.
What’s the deal with older gringas and younger (much younger) men? How do the rest of us upstanding citizens feel about this phenomenon?
Taking a closer look at daily life in Merida through the observant eyes of the ever curious.