Mexican church & the last week

I started work this week, sorry for bailing on the blog. Not that anyone is reading it.

Here's my first AP byline, a little story summing up the brouhaha last week over a Mexican priest's statement that women who wear short skirts are prostituting themselves.

On Kidnapping

A female reporter for El Universal rushing to work the other day hopped into a cab that looked normal; she even checked the plates. After a minute she noticed that the driver had a military haircut and a black hat on and that the windows were tinted. Then the driver took a left turn and stopped behind a van, and two men with guns climbed inside. They drove to a bank. And then, just as suddenly, they let her go. The robbery took about half an hour. Lucky her.

As La Jornada reported today, in just three states 410 people have been kidnapped so far this year. But lots of kidnappings go unreported. People don't trust the police, who have often been implicated in kidnapping rings. Across the country, the real numbers of kidnappings are likely a lot higher.

Kidnapping is on everybody's mind since the body of Fernando Martí, the 14-year-old son of a retail impresario, was found decomposing in the trunk of a car last week after his family had paid a 5 million peso ransom. Mexican president Felipe Calderón has sent a bill calling for stronger penalties for kidnappers to Congress. It's almost identical to one he sent to the Senate last year, according to Reforma, but PAN is hoping the timing is right now to get it passed.

Immigrant Devils

Bill O'Reilly and Lou Dobbs love to talk about immigration, says a new report from Media Matters (which I found via Andres Oppenheimer's blog). "During 2007, the alleged connection between illegal immigration and crime was discussed on 94 episodes of Lou Dobbs Tonight, 66 episodes of The O'Reilly Factor, and 29 episodes of Glenn Beck," for example. Read on.

Mexico v. United States

I've been lucky to travel throughout most of Europe, and Mexico's the fifth country outside the U.S. where I've paid rent (and the fourth Spanish-speaking country), but I've never seen so many similarities to the United States anywhere else. And I don't mean about the overarching American commercialization that's happening everywhere. It's little things. Chalk it up to the obvious: we're neighbors. But here's a list anyway, which I'll continue to update:

1) Pajama pants in public
2) Jogging
3) Jogging with your dog
4) Having a big furry dog for a pet
5) Crazy, over-the-top pet stores
6) Coffee to go, and not just at Starbucks
7) Arizona Iced Tea (have you ever seen that brand outside the States?)
3) Same size and shape license plates
4) Same electric current (awesome)
5) Produce weighed at the checkout counter
10) The club, for the car (only seen this once, but on the lookout)
11) Bad wine at most places
12) Big portions
13) Overweight people
14) X-large cereal and cookie boxes for sale at the grocery store

Veggies

I went to the kickass farmer's market in La Condesa today. It starts around Agustin Melgar and Pachuca and runs the length of a block or so. The farmers set up their booths under red tarps, which gives the whole place a warm feel. The produce is mouth-watering, and cheap.

Not like I'd forgotten, but the cover of El Universal this morning reminded me where I am. Above the fold are side-by-side pictures of Obama and McCain, under the headline "Who is more ignorant?" tee hee

The way things look around here

I asked the cabdriver on the way from the airport what was Mexico City's biggest problem, and he said it was traffic. But from the vantage point of the pretty neighborhood where I'm staying, La Colonia Condesa, congestion doesn't seem to be a problem at all. All I've noticed is the old-timer on his knifesharpening bike, and the whistle he blows that sounds like a loon, the faded altar to Mary at the gas station and another at the cross of a busy intersection, and the young workers eating tacos at sidewalk cafes.