No water for you

In Mexico City, water from the tap is not fit for consumption. You don't even use it to make your coffee or boil your vegetables -water in this city has a slightly foul smell, reminiscent of ancient decaying swamps and natural gas.

And to make the taste even worse, it's also heavily chlorinated.

You buy jugs of spring water in the shops -a heavy haul- or have a company deliver the water to your home -also a drawback, as they will not deliver anything if there's nobody home.

Observations in a supermarket

From an Australian perspective, big supermarkets in Mexico:

• They all sell alcohol. From light beer to Jaegermeister and hard liquor, it's all there for the taking.
• They all seem to have an in-house bakery and an in-house chemist.
• Vegetables and fruits are a hit-and-miss affair. Most vegies are better and tastier in Australia.
• Asian food and ingredients are almost unheard of.

But above everything else - Mexican supermarkets have CHOICE.

There is so much to choose from in a Mexican supermarket - I'd never seen so many varieties of cheese in a supermarket in Sydney - a statement to the pathetic supermarket duopoly in Australia, that has killed off choice, all in the name of profits.

Day of the Dead

Out of all celebrations and fiestas in Mexico, the "Dia de los Muertos" is by far, the most original and creative.

For most westerners, death is no joke.

But in Mexico, the surreal country par excellence, the Grim Reaper is a cottage industry that employs hundreds of thousands in any number of jobs; from selling the "cempasúchil" - a local bright yellow flower, to selling the "pan de muerto" - a very sweet loaf that is only baked during the weeks before the 2nd of November.

And everywhere you turn, you will see colourful images, prints, ornaments, garlands and papier mache puppets of all shapes and sizes celebrating Death and the Macabre. Truly, a very photogenic, unique and bizarre celebration worth the airfare ticket to Mexico.

Mexican contradiction

This letterbox just north of calle Homero says it:

"The Post, image of the country"

The Mexican Express Post service is quite good, but the image of this letterbox is Fail.

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Welcome to Mexico City

Only 20 hours and one plane change away -now we live in Mexico City.

The trip itself was reasonably easy and everything worked just fine. Nothing unpleasant or unplanned, but it did take a considerable physical effort to move almost 60 kilos of luggage and a lively 10-year old to a place thousands of kilometres away.

And there it was Jenn, waiting for us at the end of the quest. Or at the beggining of it.

September is...

National Pie Month.

I've had some of them - from the "chicken and white wine" pie in the Paragon Hotel in Katoomba (superb) to the humble steak and kidney in Harry's Cafe de Wheels (very yum after a night on the booze)

But the good ones are few and far between - the vast majority are inedible cholesterol bombs and outright dangerous to your health.

Like those sad looking pies in the warm cupboard of your nearest pub. I went without pies for may years due to a really bad experience with one of those sneaky bastards.

A pie that is not freshly baked or that has been frozen at some stage or that comes out of a wrapper, is crap.

Awesomest car ever. Sold.

So there goes our fantastic Suzuki Swift, 2007 - we don't have enough words of encouragement to describe it, and to see it drive away is not the best of moments. But it's all for a good cause.

Great build quality, fun to drive, very solid, cheap on petrol, everything electric. A really good city car and I can reccommend it to anyone looking for a nice set of wheels.

In Gabriel's words: "the awesomest car ever" - sold to a family of the South Coast. Almost no haggling and no knocking down the price - the car sold itself in 30 minutes and the buyers are very happy with it.

Even better; now we have plane tickets for the Mexican Adventure.

Happy father's day

Today we indulged in one of Australia's rituals: Father's Day Yum Cha lunch.

I mean delicious and strange at the same time: how the celebration ended up in September is a mystery to me. And having to stand in line in front of the restaurant for 30 minutes, just to get a table, is almost a leap of faith.

At the end of the wait, there's the feast. Between steaming platters of pork buns, and seafood and vegetable dumplings, it's all good.

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There's none like this over there

I've heard there's no Yum Cha culture in Mexico City.

Asian cuisine is one of Sydney's greatest assets, and the "Yum Cha sunday" ritual is followed by all -rumours claim it to be an excellent cure for hangover, and some families even dress up for it.

Sure there will be delicacies in Mexico I've only dreamed of, but a run down palace of Yum Cha will be missed dearly.

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The system works (sometimes)

For what it's worth: the Road and Transport Authority of New South Wales is pretty much considered to be at the bottom of the ladder in regards to customer service and efficacy.

Countless stories of drama and incompetence seem to center in the RTA and to be honest, in my 12 years here, I have never, ever been treated without courtesy and professionalism.

I just got my driver's licence replaced in 10 minutes. It took longer for me to write about it in the blog. And all for the princely sum of $22.

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Bye-bye birdie

Some birds are lucky.

Take Io, our ill-tempered blue pet budgie. He could have ended his days flying away, getting eaten by a cat, or simply droning away in a dark cage, sadly surviving some idiotic owners.

But not our Io -he's now off to new, sunnier premises, working as in-house pet at Jacob's Ladder preschool in Rose Bay.

From the moment Gabriel and I walked into his new room, it was all fun and games. Now Io is sharing his life with a dozen of three-year olds and with Morgan, his new "human associate" whilst we are in Mexico.

Because a budgie that surly won't settle for an owner - he would prefer to have an agent.

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Bye-bye Jenn

We're now in a pretty ordinary food court in Sydney Airport, guzzling down some average coffee and waiting before Jenn walks to the security check and customs.

Check-in at Qantas was surprisingly easy and laid-back -if you arrive three hours before the flight is due, on a thursday, you are guaranteed to find a smiling customer rep that will check you in immediately. Why bother lining up like cattle, if you can at least be civilised about it?

The last few minutes are now ticking and we are bracing ourselves for a temporary goodbye -we'll miss you so much, Jenn. Lots and lots of love and we will see you in Mexico in a short while.

Te amo, compañera. Cuidate y ten un buen viaje.

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All that goes well ends well

So here we are - after 3 months of continuous stress and mayhem with the relocation, having scrumptious italian at Fratellis in Waterloo.
The sun shines on us and the plate of Parma Ham beckons. A glass of Chianti helps bring out the best conversationalist in us.
We're now closing a cycle. Jenn is leaving to Mexico in 3 days.

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A new (visa) beginning

Yesterday we got the long awaited news: Jennifer can move to Mexico now. It seems that after all the hassle, the embassy was wrong and she can finish the process whilst over there.

Today we got her a return flight to Mexico City, departing on Thursday August 19th, at 1.05pm. There is a return to Sydney in the next few months, but it will be a surprise.

Now we all have a date for the beginning of the end. Until we come back next time.

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Bureaucrats of the world, unite

Waiting. How latin american.

The embassy of the world's 15th largest economy has kept us waiting another week because "internet is down" and they could not email us with an appointment date for the business visa.

Francisco de Goya
"El sueño de la razón produce monstruos"

Bureaucracy: from the French bureau: desk, and the Greek kratia: power, "The rule of public servants".

Usually interpreted as any unreasonable red tape and difficulty in dealing with the public service.

Jennifer's name and place of birth were transcribed incorrectly (by them) - my date of birth was also entered incorrectly (by them) - But it is our fault, you see? We're the ones moving to Mexico, so we have to be the ones that got to have this mess sorted out.

In other countries of the world -Oz included- someone with the qualifications and professional experience that Jennifer has would be treated like royalty. Or at least like a very lucrative investment in terms of taxes and technology transfer.

But in our dear culture, where the sleep of reason produces monsters, and the powers that be are as blind as any of those bats, petty issues like egos, inertia, incompetence or utter ignorance take precedence to practicalities and potential benefits.

They are even more important than the satisfaction of a job well done.

Now we have to wait again until our contact in Mexico corrects our details. Never mind that we sent certified copies of our passports, so that our details would be correct from the word "Go".

Very latin american indeed, and a portent of things to come.

Hello world -A blog is born

We just received official confirmation that our relocation to Mexico City is under way -now all we have to do is to pack up and go.

Which is not easy after living in Sydney for twelve years, having a pre-teen son, a car, some meagre material possesions, a bad-tempered pet budgie and the company of our surrogate family: our friends.

But we are not going to be there forever, and those of you that know and care for us will always have a spare room in our house in Mexico and a shot of tequila waiting for you.
And when we come back, we might even cook for you one or two delicacies, provided you bring the Chandon.

We want to use this blog for sharing our experiences with you, and to keep all of you updated with our whereabouts -we don't know what the future holds in store, but we want you to be there.

Now, don't get too emotional, pick up the keyboard and start typing.