Get your paws off my bag!

For all the malas noticias about the dangers of Mexico, I'd like to report that our first encounter with thuggery happened in Buenos Aires. The last time we came here, I glowed about how safe it was -- how I could walk down the street without having to bear-hug my bag -- but I take it back.

Nick and I were walking through a very nice neighborhood on Monday, and I felt something wet spray across my back. A man walked up from behind to warn me about water dripping from an awning. Really? It sprayed horizontal, sir, like from your direction. The man tried to reach out and show me where I got wet, but I immediately got in attack mode, and started yelling. Something about the situation didn't seem right. I called his bluff, identified the squirt bottle hidden in his right hand, and told him to get away. And he ran across the street behind a car like a scared cat. Yeah, that's right, don't mess with Asian girls -- we may be small, but we can be vicious! And, FYI, this Asian girl doesn't have any Louis Vuitton or anything even close, so take your eyes and your paws off my bag, and move along.

Anyway, the moral of today's post is: crime is everywhere. But you knew that already, right? Even in this charming, Paris-of-Latin-America, you can never hold your bag too tight.

Frontera Mexicana

I don't know why I enjoy watching reality crime shows because they're pretty depressing if you really digest what's happening. When Cops first aired, I was all over that! Busting the bad guy ... over and over, again. But, one that I saw yesterday keeps haunting me. It's called Frontera Mexicana (Mexican Border) which follows border patrol officers along the US-Mexican border region.

I'm not usually moved by these shows, but this one resonated with me. Living on this side of the border, meeting people who have been deeply affected by immigration policy, it's not just about catching illegals. There are stories of struggle and hope. Men with children. It all plays out like a game. When a band of illegals get caught, the jubilant US Border Patrol hi-five themselves for a job well-done. Young boys on the Mexican side throw rocks at la migra as they look for weaknesses in the system. A never-ending battle to keep people on their side of the fence.

No answers here about how to open the borders just enough to let the good ones in and keep the bad ones out, but hopefully shows like this reveal something deeply wrong in our system and don't just sensationalize it down to drugs and hi-fives.

Why We've Had So Few Visitors

It couldn't be any easier to get to Mexico City from Dallas. It's a direct 2.5 hour flight, but family and friends have been extremely reluctant to visit. I have hounded my parents to come visit this wonderful country, but they're scared. So are a lot of other people.

My sister-in-law forwarded me this article today from the Houston Chronicle. The story is pretty typical of what's been going on in Ciudad Juarez, and I went on to read the comments (aka "True expressions of the First Amendment"). I posted some below, but you'll have to read the article for the other fascinating thoughts.

(218)	fishingpole wrote: More violence and another killing field in Mexico. Another example why we need better border protection. 1/31/2010 1:32:49 PM Recommend: (47) (5) [Report abuse]
(41)	Katherina2 wrote: We have this failed state on our southern border and our military is building states thousands of miles away in the middle east. For whose interest? 1/31/2010 1:37:07 PM Recommend: (34) (8) [Report abuse]
(0)	bobhop wrote: Now, fishingpole don't think like that. We should just open up our hearts and the gates and let the horde come in. We only have 20,000.000 now it will surely get better when 40,000.000 arrive 1/31/2010 1:40:14 PM Recommend: (23) (5) [Report abuse]
(87)	Chief_Decoy wrote: Such a sad state of affairs. Time for the people of Mexico to rise and take back their country. Starting with the cartels and corrupt politicians, and law enforcement, and military, and etc,,,,etc,,,,etc,,,,,OH WAIT! The citizens are unarmed. How on Earth can they ever do that? The citizens of Mexico are truly screwed..... 1/31/2010 1:40:20 PM Recommend: (44) (6) [Report abuse]
(5)	Woody40 wrote: If you didn't think there is a full blown war down there on the general population, this should serve as proof!!! I dont know why anyone would travel to Mexico these days. Its just a matter of time before something like this happens at a border crossing with heavily armed groups crashing the check point, if for nothing else, to create chaos. 1/31/2010 1:41:04 PM Recommend: (8) (2) [Report abuse]
(89)	TrueBeliever wrote: I can't wait for Latinamary to show up and tell us how lovely and nice the people of Mexico are and how it is all just hype. Why anyone would go to Mexico is beyond me. However, I am almost ready to contribute to a fund that would provide guns and ammunition for the people of Mexico to enable them to do something about the drug cartels and the killing. Nothing is going to make it any better because the government, as corrupt and ineffective as it is, will just sit and watch and count their money. 1/31/2010 1:43:51 PM Recommend: (23) (10) [Report abuse]
(40)	Antonchigurh wrote: This was not supposed to happen...A story I read right here in the Chron just 2 weeks ago said the leader of the major cartel was arrested. This should have sent a message to the evil cartel leaders. NOT! the war on drugs was lost a long time . There is nothing that can be done to stop it. If you legalize it, they will sell it for less. They will also just expand their other businesses of extortion, kidnapping, human trafficking. The border is militarized now and nothing is changing. This will be coming soon to us. Too bad we can't prioritize protecting America instead of everyone else on earth. 1/31/2010 1:46:45 PM Recommend: (10) (2) [Report abuse]
(0)	johnsmith wrote: Make no mistake about it. Mexico is our biggest national security threat. We have 20 million plus illegal aliens in this country, our porous border is subject to overwhelming security breaches, and the drug cartels have established themselves in 230 plus United States cities. - Will there be spillover violence? Are there any cows in Texas? Of course we've been having spillover violence for decades here from the drug traffickers. How many bodies can you count in Harris and surrounding counties that were found shot and burned in the trunk of a car. All due to drugs.....failure to pay, lost loads, ripoffs, you name it. - We need to seal the border completely and halt all immigration until we can figure out what we've already let inside. 1/31/2010 1:47:34 PM Recommend: (16) (1) [Report abuse]

I feel more scared after reading these comments, not of Mexico but of these people. What I thought was alarming were all the comments related to arming private citizens. I know it's Texas, but, sheesh, Texans really like their guns. I doubt Mexicans feel the same way.

Obviously, most of us that live down here share different opinions from those expressed above. Most of us love this country, recognize the problems, and work with and around them. And for one more desperate plea to my family and friends: I hope to see y'all real soon! I'll even take you to the Museum of Drug Trafficking.

Don't Mess With Cuauhtémoc

Throwing Trash in the Street Prohibited

Fine of $374 pesos (~$30 USD) or 12 hours in jail

These signs are posted all over my neighborhood, and I find the choice to pay up or go to jail very amusing. What is this -- MONOPOLY?!?!

Keeping Informed

I've been very disturbed lately by the turn of events in the war on drugs here in Mexico. If you haven't been keeping up, El Universal is reporting that 16 federal police officers have been killed since Saturday's arrest of La Familia's high commander, Arnoldo Rueda Medina, or "La Minsa". In retaliation, members of the La Familia gang have ambushed (by gunfire and grenades) police in the state of Michoacán and the surrounding states. 

Nearly all of these attacks are directed toward those involved in the drug trade (i.e. police, mayors, politicians, activists), so it obviously doesn't affect my life directly except to make me very moved to think more about my role. It's an awkward place to be in as an outsider with an American perspective, few language skills, and no voting rights, but what I can always do is be informed and thoughtful about what goes on.

I mostly use El Universal online because it's free and Reforma is not. One of the cool Google tools I use a lot is the Google Translate button on my toolbar. If you go here, you can drag one of 43 language options up to your toolbar and Google Translate will automatically set to work on translating the entire web page to your preference. So, I set mine to English, and once I'm at a web page that I need help understanding, I click on my "English" (what I named it) button, and Voila! the page is loosely translated to English for me. Not perfect but comprehensible. And if you know some Spanish, you will even start recognizing why some things are translated the way they are. 

13 Minutes and Counting...

It's been a depressing, dismal 13 minutes watching the Mexican news. The evening news is saturated with who died, who got caught, how many kilos of X was intercepted, how many guns were seized, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.... It's not good for my psyche and not good for my Spanish improvement. And, shame on you, Forbes, for placing Mexico's most notorious narco, El Chapo, on its list of the world's billionaires. His $1 billion fortune is listed as "self-made" and his industry "shipping". En serio? Is Bernie Madoff on the list, too?

Fugitive billionaire 

Narco Tours and Narco TV

It won't be written in any tour book, or even mentioned until you mention it first. So if ever in Mazatlan, ask a guide for the "Narco Tour," and you can peer at the vacationing opulence of Sinaloa state's narco culture. 

It's not new that humans are obsessed with crime and the underworld. Some of the most successful shows in the US, fiction and reality, are crime-related shows. CSI, First 48, Forensic Files, The Sopranos, The Wire, Weeds. It's not too different here. Two days ago, I turned to a show called, "El Cartel de los Sapos", a Columbian telenovela about the steamy and seedy world of drug cartels. Obviously, I didn't know what it was about when I saw it on the cable guide but noticing the word "cartel" in the title did peak my interest. Upon recognizing that it was a soap opera (it was a scene with an overly dramatic woman casting her woes on her man), I switched the channel. I probably should have given it a few more seconds of my time just to see what a show about drug cartels might entail. Maybe it's as well-made as HBO's "The Wire", a reality fiction show based on a Baltimore cop's experience in the West Baltimore drug wars. That show was an accurate depiction of the losing battle and interconnectedness of hustling, neighborhood families and children, the cops, the schools, government, and the media. Given that "El Cartel de los Sapos" is a telenovela, I doubt that it is critical commentary, though worthy of social commentary. :)

Telenovelas and I don't really get along because I get annoyed by the blatant display of fake boobs and sexualization of women. Even take a look at the sports broadcasters--it's hot women with big boobs. Which reminds me, in keeping with the tradition that telenovela meets/imitates/influences real world, there's yet another unbelievable one called "Sin Senos No Hay Paraíso," which translates to "Without Breasts There is No Paradise." Haven't seen it, but the title sounds desperate. I'm sure it'll be a hit.

I wrote recently that I just started watching Spanish news and TV to firstly, better my Spanish, but also gain a better understanding of what people are watching and of how the media is influencing thought and behavior. So far, I am not impressed. Similar to the US, TV news and shows here are sensational, belittling to women, and glorify so many of the wrong things. And people are watching. "El Cartel de los Sapos" was the most highly-rated show in Columbia last year, and its premiere here in Mexico set a new record. In a country where drug kings dictate who's fired and who's hired, shouldn't the media be more critical of what it's putting on TV and shouldn't viewers be more critical of what they're putting in their heads? 

Reading and Watching Spanish

In our first month here in Mexico, I bought a copy of the newspaper La Jornada because a friend said that it would be a really helpful way to learn colloquial Spanish. It didn't take me long to realize that nothing on the page was comprehensible to me and that newspaper writing, especially the titles, used odd tenses, like the passive or inversive voice. (i.e. "Man's eyes gouged out by sharp object as he walks on street" instead of the usual active voice of "Sharp object gouges out man's eyes." True story, by the way, from the newspaper. If only you could see the picture!) It was so discouraging (not to mention disgusting) to me that I haven't bought a newspaper since. 

However, recently, in an effort to get connected with what the mainstream is reading and watching, and because I have a better grasp on the language, I started watching the Spanish news and reading online Spanish newspapers (like just two or three weeks ago). Actually, it was by accident that I started watching the Spanish news. I was at the airport in the American Express lounge, and they had Channel 11 news on. Without knowing it, I had my eyes on the screen, understanding almost everything they were saying. The move from avoiding the Spanish channels to now looking for the news, I think I've hit a big milestone in learning Spanish. The first 200 channels on my TV were once unknown to me, but I'm slowly learning which stations here are the comparable ABCs, NBCs, and CBSs of Mexico. I know it seems kooky to have avoided 200 stations for so long, but in this day and age, when you can watch almost any US TV program here, there is little holding me back from those channels and a lot of mental resistance to watching the Spanish channels. I still have to use Google Translate and the dictionary on occasional words, but with this new addition to my Spanish life, I think I have overcome the beginner's slump.

Just one really quick observation about the news here. I've been watching some of the online videos on El Univeral, supposedly a more reputable news source here, and the narco videos all seem to have movie-like music in the background. This country is already skeptical of Calderón's efforts to stamp out the violence--I don't think movie music helps the public understand the gravity of the situation. A school was taken hostage this week in Reynosa, and there's movie music to entertain us as we watch!

Call it what it is

If you live in Mexico City, you know that everyone has a kidnapping story. Either you were a victim yourself or your friend's mother's sister's son got kidnapped. Kidnapping is so prevalent here in Mexico that it should be given a new name altogether because it ain't just the kids getting napped. Anyone that roams the streets is fit to be kidnapped, so shall we call it what it is: "was living your life-napping" or "hailed the wrong cab-napping" or "off to market I went-napping" or, the latest, "you have family in the US-napping".