Voladores De Veracruz

The first time I saw a group of voladores performing their ritual in Chapultapec Park, I thought, “Hey, I could do that!” It turns out, not so much. Not only am I paralyzingly, pee-in-my-pants afraid of heights, I also don’t have an entire pueblo of friends to help me cut down a sacred tree in [...]

Guess who’s not coming to DF?

If you said Pope Benedict XVI, you’re correct. He was invited to attend World Family day here in January, but according to The Press Association, the Pope’s peeps gave it a no go.
“The pope is in good health, but he’s no longer a young man,” one Ennio Cardinal Antonelli said. “The problem, aside from the [...]

Hold on to your pesos, folks!

Back in May the major media outlets all their chones all in a bunch about the story that Americans were going to TJ to buy cheap gas. I always thought it was sort of a non-story since, come on, you’ve got to fill up somewhere after your viagra/vicoden run, right?
Since Mexico only imports about [...]

Hail to the Queen

I may be getting ahead of myself here by assuming that Lila Downs would be cool with being referred to as a Chilangabacha, but the electrifying folk singer with a Mixtec mother and Scottish-American father was based for a time in Coyoacan and she spent much of her life in Minnesota and for a while [...]

Look Busy, Uncle Chuey is Coming!

There are so many reasons to love this picture that I took near Parque Mexico. The first of which is that the guy in the vest is actually taking the suggestion seriously. “Uh crap, look busy, eh? I guess I’ll look at my watch and act like I’m late for an appointment.” I also appreciate [...]

Mexico’s Next Top Model

The news that the Tyra Banks juggernaut, America’s Next Top Model, will now have a Mexican version was the most exciting thing I heard all day. In fact, I was burning with Trya fever all day long until I read this little tidbit about the already-popular Brazilian version on Wikipedia:
“it was decided that the general [...]

A Patinar, Güey!

So it’s Friday night in the world’s biggest Metropolis and what could be better than heading to the south of the city to an underground reggae skateboard party. Aside from the dudes dressed as straight-up cholos, the sweetest part of this pachanga was this kid who couldn’t have been more than 12 years old totally [...]

Don’t Worry Mom…

It’s totally safe here!
Despite the beheadings, express kidnappings,  and petty theft  in the metro, this city is just about as dangerous as any other modern metropolis. Just make sure you stay away from this Ortho Care joint. Also, if a valet tries to get you to get into an unmarked taxi by saying, “It’s [...]

Chilanga + Gabacha = Chilangabacha

One of the biggest challenges of speaking Spanish in Mexico is not being able to express yourself as clearly as you would in English. You might be a regular Dave Barry spouting off one liners and clever anecdotes in your native tongue, but when it comes to Spanish, by the time you think of some [...]