the mission is now closed...

Sometimes you need to say, "Enough is enough!"  Sometimes it is time to say cue the finale and ed the show. Today is that day and I wanted to let all 12 of my dedicated readers know that.  Okay, that's a slight exaggeration, but you get the point. I started blogging in May of 2005 as a creative release and to have a place to share my sometimes outside of the box thoughts on life, God, politics and sports.  Now my life is going in another direction and I need to free up the time to make things fit. I'm still passionate about politics.  As recently as this weekend, I thought we should offer Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R-Ind.) who said on Saturday that Obamacare should be repealed because it "...shows a disregard for the will of the people" a deal.  Here's the deal I'd offer since he seems to believe it is the job of our political leaders to follow the will of the people. Pass the gun control initiative that was defeated in Congress.  The people overwhelmingly support it. Raise taxes on those making more than $150,000.00 a year.  Again, the people overwhelmingly support it. End all this talk and pass the debt limit extension and a continuing resolution to fund the government so even more people do not lose their jobs. Finally Mr. Stutzman, if you feel strongly that we should follow the will of the people regarding Obamacare, fine, repeal it, but then replace it with a single payer government backed system for all Americans since that would truly reflect the will of the people. Of course I am still passionate about God and in fact, my time serving in Mexico as a host receiver for short-term teams increases every year.  I will continue to write about that over at Notes from Dave, where my latest post is about American Exceptionalism and Mission.  I also send out a weekly Monday Mission Moment that you can subscribe to through my ministry, Adventures in Life. I still love sports and will continue to follow my teams, albeit not as fanatically and I will still be thinking and writing about life, just in another context.  After over 20 years of living, working and traveling in Mexico, I've decided to dedicate the majority of my writing time to that great country.  I'll be writing about the people, the culture, the art, the food and the beauty that can be found not just in the normal tourist areas, but off the trail as well. To that end, along with my good friend Joe Ramirez, who will providing most of our top level photography, I have started a new WordPress blog dedicated totally to my experiences in and around Mexico and her culture. It's up now, has a few posts and I'd love you to visit, give us a look.  If you like it, please take the next step to subscribe and recommend it to your family and friends, asking them to also subscribe.  We want to win a few awards next year for our work and no matter how good your blog is, you need readers, so please, come on over to Dave Miller's Mexico and follow me on the journey to My Mexico! Blessing to all of you.  I'll still be commenting here and there when something catches my fancy or gets my goat, but this will be my last post here at the mission. (All material posted on this blog is the sole property of Dave Miller (c) and represents his personal views.  This blog is in no way, nor has it ever been officially associated with Adventures in Life Ministry, for whom Dave has worked for over 20 years.)

¡Mezcal! Entendamos la bebida más de onda en los EE.UU.

Yo miraba mientras el joven, quién quería ser un mezcalero maestro, esperaba nerviosamente.  Aquél joven vino a In Situ... la meca de mezcalerías... en dónde Ulises Torrentera, el Don de mezcal en Oaxaca, dedica cada día a su búsqueda para los mezcales más perfectos de Oaxaca. El joven le ofrecía una prueba a aquél romántico moderno, quién le parece mucho a Diego Rivera.  Mientras probaba, el Don hacía unas preguntas antes de pronunciar un veredicto. Para muchos americanos, pensar en mezcal es pensar en imágenes del actor Clint Eastwood en una de sus películas de vaquero con un cigarrillo en una mano y una botella de bebida con gusano en la otra.  Sin embargo, como lo explica Ulises, ya no es así: el mezcal ya está ganando lugar entre los grandes licores del mundo, saliendo de las sombra de su hermano mayor, el tequila. El mezcal, un licor embriagador que puede transportarte a un lugar de memorias increíbles, se está convirtiendo rápidamente en uno de los licores de onda en ciudades estadounidenses como Seattle y Chicago.  Parte de ésta nueva popularidad es la gran variedad de mezcales que se producen en México, principalmente en el estado de Oaxaca. Ulises, David y su Amigo Paco Garcia Recientemente, visité con Ulises con el propósito de aprender cómo piensa él y de aprender de ésta bebida fabulosa.  Como dice mi amigo Paco Garcia, “Oaxaca es mezcal y mezcal es Oaxaca”, o, en otras palabras, “David, no se puede comprender Oaxaca a menos que se comprenda el mezcal!” En una entrevista que cubría desde terroir [es integralmente importante] hasta su deseo como niño de ser escritor, empezamos con la historia vieja del mezcal. Mezcal . . . un repaso El mezcal como lo reconocemos hoy tiene ya más de 400 años de edad, a pesar de la insistencia de algunas personas que es un éxito nuevo  Descubierto y destilado por la gente indígena de México, el mezcal tiene una historia compleja. Por cierto tiempo, el mezcal sufría una persecución más común en los Estados Unidos.  Acusado de ser responsable para todo tipo de maldad, su peor pecado fue que era la bebida preferida de las clases bajas para sus fiestas y sus celebraciones.  La clase alta de México (la gran mayoría de ella siendo europea) lo echaba la culpa por el crimen, las enfermedades de niños, la violencia y la corrupción.  Naturalmente, esto contribuyó a su prohibición. Llegamos a la primera mitad del siglo veinte y la industrialización de la producción de la tequila.  México, con su cultura de machismo, aceptó a la tequila y tiró a un lado el mezcal, siendo que el mezcal tenía la reputación de ser algo bajo y primitivo. Pasando a la segunda mitad del siglo veinte, vemos que la versión moderna del mezcal tomaba forma en Matatlán, la Cuña del Mezcal, una región al este de la Ciudad de Oaxaca. El Maguey y el Proceso Ulises, el Don de Mezcal en Oaxaca Cocinado en ollas de barro y cobre en palenques locales, el mezcal era preparado por mezcaleros locales utilizando los métodos de destilar que ocupaban sus antepasados hace muchos s iglos cuando la gente indígena de México descubrió que se podía hacer un alcohol fuerte por destilar la pulpa y los jugos del maguey y el agave. Después de cosechar el maguey, se lo concina en un horno volcánico invertido.  Se lo muele con un muela antes de echarlo en tinas de madera para fermentar.  Dependiendo del mezcalero, se lo puedo destilar varias veces y ponerlo en botellas para vender. Como dice Ulises, este proceso no se ha cambiado mucho a través de los siglos.  El cambio más grande será las ollas de cobre, aunque algunos palenques siguen usando las ollas de barro. Hay tres tipos de magueys que se usan en la mayoría de los mezcales que vienen de Oaxaca.  El más popular es el espadín.  Alto con ramas que llegan a ser hasta dos metros, el espadín se madura en siete años.  Aunque lleva años en madurarse, lo bueno es que se reproduzca fácilmente.  Esta facilidad de reproducir explica la presencia de estancias en Oaxaca donde se puede encontrar miles de este tipo de maguey. Magueys Espadin, Madre Cuishe y Tobalá Los otros dos tipos principales de maguey son el madre cuishe y el tobala.  Estos magueyes son especial a causa de los sabores complejos que dan al mezcal.  Sin embargo, el madre cuishe y el tobala no son tan numerosas como el espadín porque toman quince años para madurarse.  A pesar de las esfuerzas de mezcaleros dedicados, como la familia Garcia de Wahaka Mezcal, no se ha logrado mucho éxito en reproducir ni uno ni otro de estos magueyes. Ulises dice que esto es un crises.  Si los intentos de proteger los magueyes silvestres no tienen éxito, no habrá cantidades suficientes de las plantas silvestres para satisfacer la demanda creado por la gente que quiere las matices que dan al mezcal.  Hay que preguntarse qué haría la industria si de repente se encontrara una escasez.  No hay muchos mezcaleros que quieren pensar en eso.  En lugar de eso, escogen esperar que la naturaleza resolverá los problemas que se formen. Mientras confrontan este problema, algunos están decidiendo a mezclar varios tipos de magueyes como parte de su estrategia por sobrevivir.  Estas esfuerzas en mezclar los sabores nos dan algo que la maestra mezcalera Cecilia Rios, La Niña de Mezcal, llaman “la belleza del mezcal”. La tequila se trata de la uniformidad, pero cada tipo de mezcal se diferente y nos provee con su propia aventura.  Esto se atribuye en una parte a la gran variedad de los magueyes que se usan en la producción del mezcal; de otra parte, se atribuye al local donde se crece el maguey.  Esto se llama “el terroir”. El Terroir  Según lo que dicen muchos mezcaleros, el terroir es el factor que más influye el sabor del maguey y, por extensión, el sabor del mezcal.  El medio ambiente, la tierra, la altitud y el clima se combinan en hacer un papel crítico. Un aficionado refinado puede distinguir las diferencias sutiles en las minerales, la flora local y el clima de la región donde se encuentre el maguey. Por eso, mucho screen que el palenque y el mezcalero deben de ubicarse muy cerca de su maguey.  Es esta proximidad y familiaridad que hace el retrato completo. Por unirse con la tierra, conocer sus plantas y el ambiente local y por usar los procesos antiguos, el mezcalero completa el círculo con su antepasados. Como dice Ulises, esto es indispensable. Yo le pregunté a Ulises si piensa que el mezcal llegará a ser más popular en los Estados Unidos.  Me dijo que esperaba que no, porque él quiere que la gente venga a Oaxaca para probar los grandes mezcales. ¿Por qué? Porque Oaxaca es mezcal y mezcal es Oaxaca! (c) Copyright Dave Miller 2013 - 2016. All Rights Reserved. Translated by Brian Cumings

Faux Mexican? Five ways to know your food may be great, but not Mexican...

An old friend who was raised in Mexico told me about the day his dad came to him after they had lived in the states for many years.  “Octavio” he said, “Tonight we are going out to dinner to a Mexican restaurant.  The food will not be Mexican, but it will be delicious.” So off Octavio went with his family years ago in the San Gabriel Valley east of Los Angeles to get some “Mexican” food.  When he told me the story, Octavio told me his dad was 100% correct.  The food was wonderful, but it was not Mexican. Gustavo Arellano, in his excellent book “Tacos USA, How Mexican Food Conquered America” would argue with the assessment that it was not Mexican.  He celebrates all the variations of Mexican food, from mission style burritos to the famous combination plate laden with rice, beans and fried tacos as he explains in this great interview. All of this came back to me last night after a visit to Wahoo’s Tacos here in Las Vegas.  The food was indeed delicious, but Mexican? Not a chance.  A burrito with lettuce?  Cajun beans?  Seriously guys, simply serving food centered around tortillas and Modelo Negro beer doesn’t get you into the panteon of quality Mexican Restaurants now spreading around the country. With that experience close at hand, as a public service, I’d like to offer five clues you’ll see if your local taco shack is more Taco Bell than what we’ll find south of the border, down Mexico way... 1. If the beans on that combo plate you ordered are covered in triangles of yellow cheese or the grated four cheese blend you can get at your corner market, you won’t find it south of the border. I have never seen a Mexican variety of yellow cheese.  Cheese in Mexico is usually white and if it is served on beans, tends to the crumbly queso fresco type. 2. If your tacos come with any of the following, ground beef, lettuce, tomato slices, grated cheese, yellow wax paper or even turkey, you are not in Mexico. Tacos come with onions and cilantro in Mexico.  They are also made with steak and all the other parts of the cow or pig, but never have I seen a taco filled with ground beef. 3. If you can order shrimp, chicken, steak or any other type of fajitas, you won’t be finding that plate in too many taco stands or restaurants in Mexico. Sorry folks, as wonderful as fajitas can be, I’ve never seen fajitas in Mexico.  I’m sure they are served somewhere in that great country, but this is a dish popularized by the Orange County restaurant chain El Torito in the 1980’s. 4. When you ask for salsa and the spiciest option you get is Amor or Tapatio bottled sauce, you certainly are not ordering your food in Guadalajara. In Mexico, we love our chiles.  Habañeros, jalapeños, serranos and chiles de agua, we love them all, and expect to experience these tastes in our food.  Unfortunately, the American palette is not ready for this type of experience so we mostly get a tomato blend spiced up with a little bit of pepper. 5. Finally, when you walk in the door, if the first thing that greets you is a wall of mariachi hats or a chile in a beach chair, you can bet you’re gonna get a lot of that yellow cheese covered stuff. The derivative here is that if you see folks getting drunk wearing mariachi hats and dancing like loons, you are more likely in Papas-n-Beer or the old Carlos Murphy’s than an authentic Mexican restaurant. So there you have it.  My top five ways to know you are not in an authentic Mexican restaurant, at least as I’ve experienced it in my 20 years in Mexico.

Give the Gift of Water... literally!

$100.00. One Benjamin.  A C-note.  One bill. What if I told you that by giving just $100.00, you could change a family’s life?  Would you do it? What if I told you that $100.00 could be the single most important ministry gift you make this year because it could save someones life?  Would you make that donation? And what if I told you that by giving one C-note, you might save a little boy or girl from dying of dehydration?  Would you empty your change jar and instead of turning it into Coinstar, give it to Adventures in Life Ministry? Here’s the newsflash... it’s all true! That’s right.  A single donation of $100.00 to Adventures in Life Ministry, in response to this appeal will literally save lives. Let me explain. More than 10% of all babies born to indigenous women in Mexico will die before they reach five years old.  I have personally heard from many parents that one of the reasons they have so many kids is that they assume at least one child will die young. One of the main reasons for these early deaths is lack of quality water.  Many rural parents lack an ability to buy clean water and often, they are living in an area with no potable water source or sewer system.  That means two things... one, outhouses and two, water from polluted wells near those outhouses. Taken together, this is a recipe for disaster, especially mixed with a lack of quality medical care when your baby does get sick. So, how can you help? With a Sawyer Water Filter. It really is as simple as that.   A $100.00 donation will help a family in our little corner of Oaxaca, Mexico have a water filter that will literally change their life.  Pastor Chable, with whom I’ve worked for many years told me in March that his family has not been sick since they got their filter in August.  It is the first time in all his life that his family has ever gone 6 months without being sick! Incredible isn’t it? In an age when almost everything we want is at our fingertips here in the United States, our neighbors just to the south are needlessly dying for need of quality water.  And we have within our grasp the ability to change that equation for less than the cost of a few Vente Mochas at Starbucks. Think about it.   Every $100.00 will give us one filter to put into the hands of a family in Oaxaca and help support the ongoing ministry of Adventures in Life and Pastor Chable in this challenging area. Are you able to help us save a life today so that we will have the opportunity tomorrow to share about an eternity with Jesus?   If so, follow this link to our support page and then drop me a line to let us know you are on board.

Feliz Cinco de Mayo

Every year as we approach Cinco de Mayo, friends seek me out to ask about Mexican Independence Day and the what Mexicans do to celebrate.   They almost feel let down when I tell them Cinco de Mayo is not about Independence and that most Mexicans will be working.  When I see the what you talkin' about Willis look in their eyes, I take the time to explain. Cinco de Mayo is the day the Mexican Army, under the direction of General Ignacio Zaragoza defeated the French troops in the Battle of Puebla.  In Mexico, unless you are in Puebla, the day is hardly even mentioned.  It seems as if the hoopla generated by the day here in the US is more a creation of Budweiser than anything else. Here is a great account of that battle and the history.

Spring in Oaxaca... while teachers protest, kids are left behind...

Scene from 2006 teacher protests If it is spring, it must be time for the annual teacher strikes in Oaxaca.  This year instead of descending on the city center, thousands of teachers have made a pilgrimage to Mexico City to voice their displeasure and share their plight.  Others have taken up the call to block highways and generally disrupt life in their attempt to publicize their cause. Each year, as surely as the swallows return to Capistrano or the monarch butterflies descend on Pacific Grove, teachers in Oaxaca organize strikes, marches, demonstrations and protests, disrupting life across the state. And each year, thousands of children in one of the most impoverished states in the country are deprived of good quality education as these teachers leave their communities and classrooms to take part in the annual protests. Yet you will never hear that from the teachers. They will never tell you about parents that must leave kids alone at home because class has been canceled.  They will never tell you how far behind Roberto and Julia are in their studies because their teachers decided to take another day or week off of classes to protest.  And they will never tell you that many teachers in Oaxaca have never received any formal training to be a teacher. They won’t tell you these things because it does not serve their purpose. If you travel, as I have, in the villages of Oaxaca and talk to the parents, they are fed up with the powerful teachers unions.  How, they ask, can their kids get an education if you never know when a teacher will show up?  The frequency of the teacher strikes and the demands of the union leadership for participation in those strikes are not helping solve the education challenges in Oaxaca.   They are exacerbating it. Teaching in Oaxaca is not easy and at some point, people reach a boiling point as they did in 2006, almost bringing down the state government of Ulises Ruiz Ortiz.  For a good look at that fateful time, watch the documentary "Un Poquito de Tanto Verdad."  I was there and can tell you, while this movie has a bias, it rings true and is pretty accurate.  I get that wages are low for teachers.  I understand that many of the schools are pretty crappy.  I’ve been in some of those tin walled rooms on hot days in Oaxaca and it isn’t pretty.  I can tell you from experience how hard it is for a family to buy the necessary uniforms and supplies for their kids to attend school. Many of the schools in Oaxaca are miles away from the people or, if they are close by, lack the basic necessities like electricity and running water.  In some areas school is taught by video satellite and discipline is enforced by a different untrained parent each day.  The challenges that are faced with educating population groups that grow up speaking indigenous languages and have no written alphabet are legion. But teachers walking out of classes to get the attention of the government officials is not the solution.  The only people hurt by this shortsighted strategy are the children the teachers claim to be helping. The teachers union, known locally in Oaxaca as Seccion 22, APPO, and the government of Gabino Cue must find a way to solve the educational crisis in Oaxaca in a way that benefits everyone.  Ignoring the teachers, refusing to negotiate and walking out on classes and leaving thousands of children behind to somehow educate themselves is not the answer.  Grow up people, Oaxaca, her children and her future are depending on you!

Mezcal! Understanding the new hippest drink in America…

I watched as the young man, hoping to one day be called a maestro mezcalero waited nervously.  He’d come to In Situ, the mecca of mezcalerias where Ulises Torrentera, the Godfather of Mezcal in Oaxaca, holds court daily in his quest to show off the finest mezcals in Oaxaca. Ulises Torrentera at In Situ, Oaxaca And here he was offering a taste to this modern day romantic and Diego Rivera lookalike.  As Ulises tasted, he asked questions before offering his verdict. For many Americans, the idea of mezcal conjures up images of Clint Eastwood in one of those old spaghetti westerns with a cigarette in one hand and a worm-laden bottle in the other.  But as Ulises explains, those days are long gone as mezcal is starting to take its rightful place among the worlds great spirits as it emerges from the shadows of its cousin, the better known tequila. Mezcal, an intoxicating drink that can immediately transport you to a place of incredible memories is quickly becoming a spirit trend-setter in United States cities like Seattle and Chicago.  Part of the reason for this is the wide variety of mezcal that is being distilled across Mexico, but primarily in the southern state of Oaxaca. I recently sat down with Ulises to learn what makes him tick and see what I could learn about this great drink, for as my friend Paco Garcia says “Oaxaca is mezcal and mezcal is Oaxaca”, or as he explained it, “David, you cannot understand Oaxaca until you understand mezcal!” In a wide ranging interview that went from terroir [it’s vitally important] to his desire as a young child to be a writer we started with the early history of mezcal. Mezcal… a look back Mezcal as we know it has existed for over 400 years despite the insistence of some that it has become an overnight success.  Discovered and distilled originally by the indigenous people of Mexico, mezcal has lived a checkered past. L to R: Ulises Torrentera, Dave Miller and Paco Garcia For a while mezcal suffered the type of persecution more familiar to spirits in the neighbor to the north. Accused of being responsible for all types of evil, perhaps its biggest sin was that it was the favored elixir of the poorer classes for their fiestas and celebrations.  The Spanish ruling elite of Mexico laid the blame for everything from childhood ills to local crime, violence and corruption at the feet of mezcal, which naturally led to its prohibition. Fast forward to the mid 1940’s and the industrialization of tequila. Mexico, steeped in its macho culture embraced tequila, tossing aside the poorer cousin mezcal that was often seen as an unrefined drink for the lower classes. It wasn’t until the mid 1950’s that we started to see the modern version of mezcal begin to take shape in an area east of Oaxaca City, known as Matatlán, the Cradle of Mezcal. Brewed in clay and copper pots at local palenques, local mezcaleros the same methods handed down by their forefathers hundreds of years ago when  used then, and still do today, the same methods of distillation used hundreds of years ago by their ancestors. The maguey and process Brewed in clay and copper pots at local palenques, local mezcaleros use the same methods handed down by their forefathers hundreds of years ago when the indigenous people of Mexico discovered that if you distilled the pulp and juices of the maquey and agave cactus you could make a powerful elixir. Once that maguey is harvested it is cooked in essentially an inverted volcanic oven.  It is then treaded out under a millstone before going into wooden vats to ferment.  Next, depending on the mezcalaro, it is distilled a number of times and the bottled for delivery. As Ulises said, this process has remained mostly unchanged over hundreds of years.  Perhaps the biggest change being the addition of the copper still, although some palenques still use the classic clay pots. Magueys Espadin, Tobala and Madre Cuishe There are three magueys used in the majority of mezcal from Oaxaca, the most popular being the Espadin.  This is what most Americans think of when they think mezcal.  Tall with spindles sometimes reaching over 6 feet, the Espadin takes over 7 years to mature. While the maturation process takes years, the good thing about the Espadin is that it is easily reproduced.  That is why you can see farms with literally hundreds of this type of maguey planted around the countryside in Oaxaca. The other two principle magueys used are the Madre Cuishe and the Tobala. These magueys are prized for the complex flavors they bring to mezcal. But there is a problem brewing.  Both the Madre Cuishe and the Tobala are less plentiful than the Espadin and can take up to 15 years to reach maturity, double the Espadin.  Despite efforts by some dedicated mezcalaros, notably the Garcia family of Wahaka Mezcal, there has not been much success in reproducing or replanting either of these magueys. Ulises calls this a looming crises.  If the efforts at reforestation of these magueys are not successful, there may not be enough wild product to satisfy the growing demand of people desiring the subtle nuances they bring to mezcal.  What will the industry do he asks if we suddenly find ourselves facing a shortage?  It is a question few really want to ponder, choosing instead to hope that somehow nature will solve whatever problems come. Yet even as the mezcaleros face this issue, some are choosing to mix and blend other types of magueys as part of their strategy to survive.  These efforts at mixing flavors give us what Maestra Mezcalera Cecilia Rios, La Nina de Mezcal, calls the beauty of mezcal. Unlike tequila that strives for a certain consistency, every type of mezcal is different and takes you on another adventure.  And while part of that difference is due to the wide variety of magueys used for mezcal, another large factor is where the maguey is grown, sometimes known as terroir. Terroir To many, this is the central most important thing that influences the taste of the maguey and by extension, mezcal.  The environment, the soil, the altitude and the weather all combine to play a crucial role in the final product. A finely tuned palette can taste the subtle differences in minerals, local flora and climate of the area where the maguey is found. It’s one reason many believe that both the palenque and the mezcalero must be close to their maguey.  It is this proximity and familiarity that connects all of the dots.  By being at one with the land, knowing his plants, his local environment and using the same processes passed down through generations, the mezcalero closes the circle with their ancestors. This, in Ulises opinion, is indispensible. I asked Ulises if he thought mezcal would ever break out of its niche in the United States.  He said he hoped not because he wanted people to come to Oaxaca to try the great mezcals. Why? Because Oaxaca is mezcal and mezcal is Oaxaca! Measuring up I watched as the young man, struggling to keep his composure, answered all of Ulises’ questions, knowing his future was on the line.  And then came the moment of truth.  The taste.  Ulises swirled it around in the glass and smelled it.  He took one, two, maybe three sips before finally giving his verdict. Yes, he’d be glad to put a bottle of this mans mezcal on the wall of the greatest mezcals in Oaxaca and thus was born another in the long line of maestro mezcaleros. © All rights reserved by Dave Miller [A special thanks to Ulises Torrentera, Cecilia Rios, Paco, Beto and of course Ed Draves of Premier Wines for help on this article]

Coffee in a Barrio? Of course... in Oaxaca!

The Church of Saint Matthias in the Barrio Jalatlaco Coffee in the barrio? Yes please… When I am in Oaxaca, inevitably, I will be spending time in El Barrio Jalatlaco, the oldest neighborhood in the city.  When I first started coming here back in 1999, good coffee was something desired, but seldom found. Thankfully as this area of the city has started to find it’s personality, it has left behind the vestiges of years of coffee abuse at the hands of Nestle and their ubiquotis brand Nescafé Classico, or as it is known here, No es Café! Now we are seeing a growing coffee and culture in Jalatlaco anchored by Café El Agora, owned by Arnel Cruz, longtime owner of Casa Arnel, a wonderfully quaint bed and breakfast hotel that has been in the area for years.  (Full disclosure, I have stayed at Casa Arnel many times and count the owner Arnel as a friend.] Think of Café El Agora as the gathering place.  Holding court at the corner of Aldama and Hidalgo, Café El Agora has been open a little over two years.  In that time it has gradually increased its menu and is now offering baguettes and breakfast alongside the typical coffee house menu of frappes, lattes and cappuccinos.  Weekends also give you live music in this beautifully designed shop. If an up and coming crowd, live music, coffee and a snack is what you are seeking, this place is for you. Next up is Café Xiguela, located a block away in the shadow of the Church of San Matias.  This is the anti-hip option in Jalatlaco.  It serves up organic coffee and has an extensive tea list.  Small and friendly, Xiguela is only open until the afternoon. The coffee is good, fresh and strong, the way I like it.  Xiguela is quiet and they also offer free Wi Fi, not an option at Café El Agora. With lots of tables, clean restrooms and plenty of snacks to munch on, it’s a great addition to this part of Oaxaca, and if you need to work and connect, it’s perfect. Finally, we take a look at Café Blasón, located kitty corner to Xiguela in Jalatlaco.  This is a small place and it is more like a coffee bar.  In fact with only four tables, their bar is actually filled most nights with people talking to the baristas like they might talk to their local bartender. Now if you’ve been in Mexico for any length of time, you will recognize the Blasón name as one of the more famous Mexican coffee brands.  For years you could only find this brand in local tienditas and supermarkets.  The trouble was, what you found then was not what you would want to drink.  Think dry, bitter and old. But the product that this company store is offering here was remarkably smooth.  I ordered a latte and it was strong, but not overpowering.  Just like I wanted it.  The barista even added a nice little touch of latte art. I went back a few days later and ordered a half kilo of their coffee and it made a great, smooth pot of coffee. So here’s the deal… you just want coffee?  Go to Café Blasón.  Looking for a quiet place to work while getting some great organic Oaxacan coffee? Head over to Café Xiguela.  And if you are on a date or maybe want a late night snack for cena, you can’t go wrong at Café El Agora. All three are within a block of each other in the Barrio Jalatlaco, the oldest corner of Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, Mexico.  And all three are, in their own right, adding a few distinctive touches to the growing reputation of Oaxacan gastronomy and cuisine.

Tlayudas Done Right... San Jacinto Amalpas, Oaxaca

The tlayuda sometimes spelled clayuda, is a handmade traditional Mexican dish consisting of a large, thin, crunchy, partially fried or toasted tortilla covered with a spread of refried beans, asiento, lettuce or cabbage, avocado, meat, Oaxacan cheese and salsa. But the above description from Wikipedia is like saying Willie Mays was just a baseball player, Josh Grobin just a singer or Michael Phelps just a swimmer.  They are all technically true, but woefully miss the mark in explaining true greatness. You see, when it’s done right, the traditional tlayuda is more than just a Mexican dish, it is one of the anchors of the gastronomical galaxy known as Oaxaca. The tlayuda is an all star baseball player, an award winning singer and a multiple Olympic gold medal winner all in one.  And if you ever find yourself in Oaxaca, you need to get a taxi right away and head over to Tlayudas San Jacinto. When you arrive the outside is going to worry you if you don’t typically eat off the beaten track in Mexico.  It’s just an opening in a residential area with blue steel doors and a banner that tells you the place has a good, clean atmosphere.  Yet, as soon as you walk in, you realize you are somewhere special, like an enchanted garden.  Lots of greenery, bamboo like plants, umbrellas and a rich almost tropical feel.  It is as if you could sit there all day, and you can because once you walk in, you are treated like family.  There’s even a playground if you bring the kids. The menu is simple and hangs from the ceiling.  Tlayudas.  Pick your topping.  Beef, pork, ribs, skirt steak or eggs from the grill.  Add your drink, soda or beer, and you’re all set. Once we ordered, it took about 15 minutes for our food to arrive. And here’s what you get.  A gigantic fired roasted quesadilla like creation stuffed with cheese, black beans and finished with your desired topping.  I had the eggs, which came perfectly fried hard.  Now, I’ve had lots of tlayudas around Oaxaca, but this one was different, because the tortilla was cooked to perfection. When I picked it up, there was no sag at all.  This wonderful creation was crispy through and through, the result of just the right amount of time over the coals.  The beans were not over the top and there was just the right amount of that great Oaxaca string like cheese, quesillo. Once I added avocado, chepiche, a Oaxacan herb, and a some roasted chile de aqua, it was off the charts wonderful. Now, I’ve got to tell you, this place can be hard to find.  It’s in the Colonia San Jacinto but it is not along the row of the other locations that sell tlayudas.  Look for the San Jacinto signs that call you to this little slice of heaven in Oaxaca and prepare yourself to fall in love with this all star of Oaxacan cuisine, maybe for the first time, or all over again. Tlayudas San Jacinto Colonia San Jacinto Amilpas Calle Benito Juarez #11 Tlayuda and a soda... $6.00 con una cerveza… $8.00

Three Men Get into a Taxi... Does Fareed Zakaria have a point about our elections?

There's a joke that is very popular in Mexico and it goes something like this... Three guys are in a taxi on their way to the airport and they begin to talk about elections and whose country is the best.  The first guy, and American, says that in his country, the greatest democracy in the world, after everyone votes, the people know the results after only a few hours, or days, at most. The second guy, from China, boasts that that's nothing.  In China he says, with a billion people, they have gigantic computers that count the votes and they no the winner the minute the polls close, which is clearly better than America. Scoffing at this, the third guy, from Mexico chimes in... That's nothing he says, puffing out his chest with pride... in my country millions of people vote in every election and you know what?  We know the results a month ahead of time! With this in the back of my mind, I was surprised Sunday morning to hear Fareed Zakaria on his GPS Show reference Mexico as a place where the United States can look for guidance in how to run an election. Here's what he said... Imagine a country on Election Day where you know the results the instant the polls close. The votes are counted electronically, every district and state has the same rules and the same organized voting procedure. It is managed by a nonpartisan independent party. Sounds like the greatest democracy in the world, right? Try Mexico or France, Germany, Brazil, certainly not the United States of America. American has one of the world's most antique, politicized and dysfunctional procedures for its elections. A crazy, quilt patchwork of state and local laws with partisan officials making key decisions and ancient technology that often breaks down. There are no national standards. American voters in more than a dozen states, for example, don't need identification, but even India, with a GDP just 12 percent that of ours, is implementing a national biometric database for 1.2 billion voters. The nascent democracy in Iraq famously dipped voters' fingers in purple to ensure they didn't vote again. Why are we do behind the curve? The conservative columnist, David Frum, recently wrote an excellent article for CNN.com and he tells a story about the 2000 presidential election. The City of St. Louis, Missouri, had outdated voting equipment so there were long delays in voting. But St. Louis was heavily Democratic so Al Gore's campaign asked a judge to extend voting by three hours. The judge agreed, but then George W. Bush's campaign protested and the judge was overruled. Meanwhile, voting had already continued 45 minutes past the legal time. Is that how elections should work in the world's greatest democracy? In most other countries, an independent national body would make the big decisions, there would be nonpartisan observers at the polls and, of course, there would be modern, functioning equipment. Even Venezuela, which had elections last month, had electronic voting booths with biometric technology across the country. We've been criticized around the world for this. I saw a scathing, 116-page report about our electoral process published by, of all places, Russia. Here's the Wall Street Journal's translation of it, "The electoral system and electoral of the United States are contradictory, archaic, and moreover do not meet the democratic principles that the U.S. proclaims are fundamental to its foreign and domestic policy." I hate to say it, but Moscow has a point. On the other hand, we do have one thing the Russians don't, actual free elections. This election season, we've seen attempts to shorten the early voting period to further one party's chances of victory. Our ballots can be as long as a dozen pages. In some places, they're paper ballots and, in some, they're electronic. And Election Day always falls on a Tuesday, a working day. Every four years, we see the chaos of American elections, but nothing changes. This week, international election observers were banned from nine states. Some of these men and women were threatened with arrest. Maybe we should learning from election officials from abroad not trying to throw them into jail. I will tell you that in Mexico's case, as the joke implies, there are some problems. But there are some strengths as well.  If you are going to vote, you need a national elector card provided by that non partisan group Zakaria referenced.  Your finger, after you vote, is inked like in many countries, to prevent double voting.  You will also see poll watchers at almost every precinct from the major political parties working to ensure that everyone who is entitled to vote gets that opportunity. Finally, Mexico votes on a Sunday, when most people do not work and can more easily get to the polls and not miss a day of work.  The winner is then announced that evening at 10:00pm. Do they have it all figured out?  No they don't, and neither do any of those other countries listed above.  But maybe, just maybe, the United States can look across the global spectrum and come up with a system that is better for us, mixing the strengths of some of these places. We've got to do something... because a system that is controlled by whichever party wins the various Secretary of State office elections across this country is ripe for partisan abuse. Right now the world is laughing at us.  As we admonish the rest of the world to become more democratic like us, they are asking why.  Why should they allow political parties to take control of their public airwaves for six months every two years, broadcast lie after lie, and then send people to stand in sometimes, five hours lines, for the right to cast a vote that may take days, or weeks to count, if it is even counted at all?