It's Cold

If you think of Mexico in terms of beaches and deserts you'd never think it gets really cold, but it does. Imagine 35 degrees outside and 40 degrees inside because houses in Mexico don't have heating. Mexico City is as far south as the Sahara, but a half a mile higher than Denver which makes for a temperature that is consistant all year round. Usually. Occasionally, there are a few weeks a year that reach freezing although it never snows.

Since I'm from Iowa, I don't have problems with the cold outside, but the cold inside is a terrible experience. The cold that prevents me from getting out of my bed a few more minutes in the morning is worse than I remember in the northern part of the United States.

It's only November, but I'm hoping the current cold front will be the worst of it all and then we can continue with moderate temperatures again starting in March.

An anomaly

Funny, Eric, I forget sometimes we were lockermates at one point, about the same time that Wallflower shirt was new. Thanks for letting me use your locker instead of that piece a junk in Timbuktu that didn't even need a combination to open. Anyway, if someone happens upon my blog and find out they want to read a real blog, head to http://florx7.blogspot.com/.

And yes, I'm updating my blog in the same month. Why? Well, I'm waiting for my shoes to dry so that I can polish them and my girlfriend, Pamela, is not online to tell me about her day.

My days are too short. I'm off to work around 8:30am and don't get back until 9:00pm. Traffic to and from takes about 2.5 hours and the rest is hardcore work. Yes, mexicans work and by my count they work too much. They may not be the most efficient workers, but they will stick around the workplace to finish whatever kind of job until late into the night. (I've had days last until 4am during projects.) The calendar tells me I have about 10 holidays, but that all depends on how busy I am.

The sad part is that most mexican workers are young because by the time they're forty and if they're not a manager, they're really not worth much to the company anymore since there are plenty of 20-somethings with lots of free time and little pay expectations. It's really quite a waste, but if Mexicans continue going to the US maybe a point will be reached when the Mexican economy can support its people working at near 100% capacity.

I probably just over-simiplified a complex economic situation, but I wonder if it has even the slightest validity.

Well until next time...

Back at it Again

Alright, I'm ready to make an earnest effort to write more to my blog. Why don't we start with something completely non-personal: the Mexican presidential election. I had lunch today with the owner of the company I work for because my team had just completed project that has lasted since December and meant long nights until midnight or 4am in the office. Anyway, the discussion turned to politics to 5 minutes within which I was asked who I would vote for. Plainly, I said, "Calderon."

Now who is Calderon? As a casual participant in Mexican politics, I can't give you a long biographical account of his life, his strengths and his weakness. My take on Calderon is that he's a young, family man with previous government experience, but without any known history of public corruption. His also happens to be the candidate for the more conservative National Action Party (PAN), or the same party as the current president, Vicente Fox.

The other candidates are Madrazo from the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI,) or the party that had been in power for 70 years previous to the Fox Presidency, and Lopez Obrador, aka AMLO or Peje, from the liberal party, Revoluntionary Democratic Party (PRD.)

Madrazo, being a member of the old ruling political party is not taken to be a man with the cleanest history, but nothing has ever come up to associate him directly with corruption, though his political competitors usually end up smeared by a revelation of their furtive acts. His main political point is that he'll be able to get things done, which is probably true since the PRI probably will maintain control of the Congress. Somehow however this isn't a comforting thought.

The most popular candidate, Lopez Obrador, is also a populist, and living in Mexico City, I've seen the public works he's done as mayor, and I'm not very impressed. He seems to like to spend money and leave his mark, which doesn't make me very comfortable. That, and the fact that he would be more in line with Chavez in Venezuela. I don't think he has any direct contact or support from him, or that he could ever dominate Mexico like Chavez does Venezuela, I'd hate to see Mexico go toward that direction.

So, I'd go for the candidate that represents the current status quo then a huge shift in either direction, who for me would be Calderon.

Ok, enough of politics...

Day of the Dead

On Nov 2 I shouldn't have worked because it was El Dia de Los Muertos, but because I was in the middle of a project, my team met for 6 hours all alone the the main offices. Luckily, because few other Mexicans worked that day I arrived to work in record time: 45 minutes. After work, Pamela took me to see the "ofrendas" on display at UNAM, the national public university in Mexico. By the time we arrived it was dark and frankly there were too many people to really enjoy the "ofrendas," but since it was the first time seeing an "ofrenda", the overall experience was positive.

An "ofrenda" is basically an offering to the dead of their favorite things while they were alive, and usually people like to make "ofrendas" that are humorous and artistic. From time to time, the dead are also offered their old habits like the one in the picture above.

It's a start

Ok... I promised myself before leaving for Mexico to start a blog so that I can somehow keep those interested in what or how I'm doing informed. This promise has taken me a month to complete, and if my aversion to writing e-mail is any sign of what is to come of this blog then this will be the only entry for October, November and maybe December. However, when I do get a chance, I plan to describe my travels; my experiences with strangers, friends, family and Pamela; my normal everyday life; and random ideas and thoughts. So, where do I start?