MeXscape

One of the things you have to deal with in moving to Mexico is money. On the surface this is not too difficult. Mexico uses Pesos; the US uses Dollars. A fraction of a peso is a centavo. One hundred centavos make a peso. That's pretty simple. It gets even easier. The current exchange rate very roughly works out to 10 pesos make a dollar. Right now it is probably somewhere between 11 and 12 pesos to a dollar, but 10 is very easy and I'm not hurting myself. About now you are thinking about skipping to the next post. I would be. I mean this is easy stuff why bother writing about this anyway? I'm going to ask that you keep reading, but at the same time, I'm going to tell you it gets even easier.

I have to keep swearing to Chuck that I'm not trying to tour all the hospitals for a multi part series on health care in Mazatlan. It's really not a goal of mine, and there are many things I would rather be doing that lying in hospital beds, like pouring alcohol on paper cuts or attending a live taping of the Jerry Springer show. It's just that fate keeps conspiring against me; well, that and my own stupidity.

My Parents were here for a visit. It was way too short - only one week. It is the first time I have seen them since we moved down here. The day we took them to the airport to see them off was a very maudlin kind of day, with all of us struggling not to cry. We got them checked in, and then delayed until the last possible minute to finally escort them up the escalator and to the security gate. I was dragging my feet through the last-chance-to-buy-authentic-one-of-a-kind-mass-produced-Mexican-souvenirs section when I looked to the left and spotted a Carl's Jr and perked right up.

The lime is a very overlooked fruit in the US. It's use is pretty much restricted to margaritas and Key Lime Pie. I certainly never kept limes in the house. They were expensive and would often shrivel up in the fridge before I got around to using them. But here in Mazatlan, the lime is as pervasive as the tomato, and I always have 15 or 20 around.