When I made the move to Mexico City, one of the things I had shipped down was my artist's easel.  I set it up in the office.  The previous owner used the office as an exercise room, and there were plastic mats on the floor.  So, I don't have to worry about dripping paint on the carpet.  I had also brought tubes of acrylic paint, and I bought some more at the Sunday artists' market.  I cleared out the stuff left by the former owner from a cabinet in the office.  I am using that to store my painting supplies.  I bought a plastic tablecloth to cover the cabinet ..read more

On Thursday afternoons, the cleaning lady comes to the apartment.  I get out of her way, leave the apartment, and, rather than cook, I go out for my afternoon dinner.  Last Thursday, I was looking at Google maps, searching for someplace different to eat.  I found a place that had very good reviews.  It's called "Fonda del Recuerdo", which translates loosely as "Inn of the Reminiscence".   It is located north of the Paseo de la Reforma, just a short walk from the Monument to Independence, on Río Lerma Street.  Although the menu includes a variety of Mexican di ..read more

In my fifty years of traveling, I have never worn shorts in Mexico City.  It goes back to my first trip to Mexico, when I attended the University of the Americas during the winter quarter of my junior year.  At the orientation session for "gringo" students we were told, in no uncertain terms, that we should not wear shorts.  In those days, any male who still wore shorts after reaching adolescence was viewed as... uhm, shall we say, effeminate.  And a female who wore shorts was looked upon as a woman of dubious virtue.  Besides, in the high-altitude climate of Mexi ..read more

I have shown you how to make salsa in a "molcajete", a stone mortar and pestle.  Last week I decided to make a different salsa, one that did not require grinding by hand.  I took out one of my old Mexican cookbooks.  I have several, but this one is the most authentic, and the one I have used the most... and the pages stained with cooking oil and salsa prove it.   The author of the book, Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz, was an Englishwoman who married a Mexican diplomat.  When they moved to Mexico City, she wanted to learn how to cook the cuisine of the country.  In ..read more

I don't know what they are called in Spanish, but there is a species of birds here that seem to be a smaller version of the mourning doves that we have in Ohio.  I have often seen them in the trees outside the apartment.  Their mournful call, which gives the bird its name, is identical to what I was used to hearing in Ohio.  They are monogamous, and I almost always see them in pairs. Yesterday, I noticed a pair of them perched on the narrow ledge of the window of my glassed-in balcony.  I went to get my camara, and they were still there. I did a bit of research, and the h ..read more

Here are some more photos from the Festival of Flowers that was held last weekend in the ritzy Mexico City neighborhood of Polanco. I crossed over to the other side of Avenida Presidente Masaryk, often called the Rodeo Drive of Mexico City.  (You can tell by some of the store signs what a swank neighborhood this is.)   No, this store does not sell Lee Jeans.  It is a bookstore, and "Lee" means "Read!" Even beyond the main shopping avenue of Masaryk, there were a number of stores and restaurants with flo ..read more

Polanco is one of Mexico City's most affluent neighborhoods.  Its principal street, Avenida Presidente Masaryk has been called the Rodeo Drive of Mexico City, and it is lined with exclusive designer shops.  It's really too ritzy for my taste, but I do enjoy coming to Polanco to see their annual Festival of Flowers. Throughout the district, businesses, especially those along Presidente Masaryk, are decked out with floral displays. The festival was held last Thursday through Sunday, and on Friday I went there.  Here are some photos...     This archway leads off the ..read more

Today is the first of May (which, by the way, is a national holiday in Mexico... Labor Day).  It's time to turn the page and see the picture that I choose for my calendar which features the works of Mexican painters. Raúl Anguiano (1915-2006) was an important member of the so-called "second generation" of Mexican muralism.  He painted 50 murals in Mexico and the United States, as well as smaller paintings.  His works frequently portray the indigenous people and rural life in Mexico.  In this painting we see a woman wrapped in a traditional "rebozo" (shawl) and maguey plan ..read more

As you may remember, at the end of my trip to Ohio I had received a summons to jury duty at my old address.  I resolved that issue, but upon returning to Mexico City, I faced another cause for concern. While I was in Ohio, I had received an email that a piece of mail had arrived at my private mailing service.  It was a week after my return to Mexico City before I had a chance to pick it up at office.  The letter was from Medicare, and when I read it, my stomach was immediately tied in knots.  Ever since I turned 65, my Medicare premiums have been automatically deducted from ..read more

Yesterday, Alejandro and I went to Parque Tepeyac, the shopping mall that opened less than two years ago just two Metrobus stops down the road from where his family lives.  Even though the neighborhood is certainly not an upscale part of the city, the mall is very nice with three floors of a wide variety of shops and restaurants.  It appears to be a commercial success.  There are very few vacant spaces, and most of those have signs announcing the opening of more stores in the near future.  The mall is anchored on either end by two major department stores, Liverpool and Sear ..read more