Mexico City

BAJA BLOG: MY BIRTHDAY IN THE WINE VALLEY WITH SITARA MONICA PEREZ

 

by Susan A Mahalick. Photos and article by the author

June 23, 2015 (Baja, Mexico) - I met Sitara when she first got here from Costa Rica with not much more than the clothes on her back and a dog named Lily. We became fast friends, fast. She got enrolled in the wine school which has tough requirements, one of which is knowing Spanish well enough to understand the classes and become proficient in business afterwards. I was her very first investor and it is indeed the best investment I have ever made. In a few short years she is now sending her wines to Mexico City which is the ultimate market here and poised to export to the United States. It takes at least a year to become legal, getting a tax stamp for your bottles, becoming a legal resident and the like. Since her grandmother was Mexican this allows her to become a dual citizen with the US. Originally from Alaska, she is an adventurer like so many of us expats in Mexico. She prefers to create blends so I just got a case of her Dolcetto at the rock bottom price of five dollars a bottle. I am going to use some of these along with her new house wine, Ruffian, for a wine tasting BBQ tomorrow on my patio with two friends.


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HERB ALPERT AND LANI HALL: A TRIBUTE TO TWO CROSS-CULTURAL TALENTS

 

By Mimi Pollack

May 14, 2015 (San Dego's East County) - As a child in Mexico City in the 1960s, I remember my older siblings listening to Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass’s album, “The Lonely Bull”, and I thought he was a handsome, musical, Mexican bullfighter. I loved his distinctive trumpet and signature sound. That signature sound could later be heard in various commercials, the Dating Game, and the movie, Casino Royale.


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STEAL HEAVEN

 

Comedy play immortalizes spirit of a '60s radical

By Mimi Pollack

January 12, 2015 (San Diego)--Full Disclosure: I met radical Abbie Hoffman at a party in Mexico City when he was hiding out there as Barry Freed. He had had a nose job, but I knew who he was as I had been following his antics since 1968 and had read his books. We hit it off immediately and spent the whole evening on a sofa chatting away. He was hysterically funny, smart and very flirtatious. He still had his rebel, radical side, but it had also softened. I never saw him again, but that evening will stay with me forever.


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TRAVEL WARNING ISSUED DUE TO PROTESTS, CIVIL UNREST IN MEXICO INCLUDING ACAPULCO AND HIGHWAY TO MEXICO CITY

 

 

By Miriam Raftery

November 27, 2014 (Washington D.C.) – The U.S. State Department has issued a travel warning due to the continued threat of protests and violent incidents in Mexico.  U.S. citizens are advised to avoid road travel within all areas of Guerrero including along the main toll road 95D to and from Mexico City and Acapulco. 

U.S. citizens are also warned not to participate in protests in Mexico, since the Mexican constitution prohibits political activities by foreigners.  Americans are urged to avoid areas of demonstrations, which could result in detention, deportation, or worse.

The region has been rocked by protests over the disappearance of 43 student protesters in Iguala. Burned bodies found in a mass grave may be those of the missing students. There are allegations that they were abducted by police on orders of a mayor and turned over to a gang that murdered them. Mexico’s  President Enrique Peña Nieto has called for constitutional reforms to allow the federal government to takeover local police departments, CNN reports. The Mayor of Iguala and dozens more have been arrested by federal police.


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MEXICO EARTHQUAKES: LESSONS LEARNED SAVED LIVES

By Nadin Abbott

March 22, 2012 (San Diego) Updated 11 p.m.--On March 20, Mexico City was rattled by the strongest earthquake since 1985. The 1985 quake had an intensity of 8.1 on the Richter scale and lasted 90 to 120 seconds. It rattled a country that had no civil defense system to speak off, one where a halting government response left a lot to be desired.

In contrast, on Tuesday the city was shaken by a 7.8 quake. Major buildings were evacuated in good order. Damage and injuries in the urban area were kept to a minimum, while in rural areas, prompt action by authorities helped to save lives.


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