swine flu - Trans-Americas Journey

Well, today’s the day. After using up our first six month Mexican visa and spending the past four months in the US it’s time to (finally) cross the border once again. We are Mexico bound and we couldn’t be happier about it. The food! The friends! The freedom! The fiesta!

For any nervous Nellies out there we are officially NOT worried about Swine Flu or Drug Violence. Why? We wash our hands. With soap. Also, we have no plans of either a) becoming the chief of police of Juarez OR b) attempting to encroach on a dealer’s turf.

Our first stop in Mexico has us doubly excited (if that’s possible). We’ll be spending a couple of weeks in the Copper Canyon with Dave Hensleigh from Authentic Copper Canyon. The three of us will be on a totally flexible schedule (the very best kind) with an emphasis on finding people and places in and around the Copper Canyon that tourists on the usual Copper Canyon train trips never get to see or meet. We think of ourselves as guinea pigs on this exploratory trip and we can’t wait.

This means we’ll be out of touch for a little while but expect some worth-it stories and pictures and information about what to eat, where to sleep and what to do both on the rim and deep inside the canyon that’s seven times a grand as our Grand Canyon. We may even start calling it the “Grander Canyon.”

To keep you busy while we’re gone, check out this newspaper story we did about Zacatecas, our last major stop in Mexico before our visa ran out. This town’s got what just might be the most unusual disco, most shocking sandwich and most breathtaking catherdral view from a hotel room in all of Mexico, and that’s just for starters.

Here are some shots from Zacatecas:

The cathedral in Zacatecas was begun in 1730.

Construction of the cathedral in Zacatecas began in 1730.

Zacatecas is filled with small streets, alleys and plazas. That, along with the architecture, reminded us of Europe.

The European-like streets of downtown Zacatecs.

The view of the cathedral from our balcony at the hotel Santa Rita was spectacular.

The view of the cathedral from our balcony at the Santa Rita Hotel was spectacular.

A pedestrian callejon, or alley, in Zacatecas.

The Museo Rafael Colonel aka the Mask Museum has a collection of over 2,000 masks.

The Museo Rafael Colonel has a collection that includes thousands of masks.

Two nuns walk into a jewelery store....Zacatecas was built on silver mines and the stuff is now made into everything from key chains to religious items.

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The idea was to wander back to Mexico City and catch a flight to Havana so we could travel around Cuba for a few weeks. Since Cuba’s suddenly become a hot topic in the news with high level government officials suggesting the US embargo should finally be overturned, which would make travel to Cuba legal for US citizens, we were anxious to get there before the flood-gates opened. Plus there’s something exciting about crossing a border illegally.

Anyway, a few days after we arrived in Ajijic to visit our friends Tom and Iliana and their kids David and Cristina there was sudden talk about a virulent flu breaking out all over Mexico and beyond. A few days later, Mexico City and most of the country was virtually shut down and flights to many countries, including Cuba, were canceled. We weren’t going anywhere.

Instead of whining, we chose to see this setback as an opportunity to settle down for a few weeks with friends, catch up on work and tackle a some long overdue projects like building this new blog–a task that had been on the “To-Do” list for way too long.

Ultimately, schools and most public spaces in Mexico were closed for nearly three weeks but things are finally starting to get pretty much back to normal. It’s nice to not have a store employee squirt disinfectant on your hands as you enter or see people walking around with face masks (even if most of them were wearing them as necklaces or headbands).

The so-called H1N1 “Snoutbreak” turned out to be little more than the regular flu sensationalized by the media and perpetrated by a government anxious to be seen as responsive and responsible (which, in our opinion, they were).