Right now beautiful downtown Catemaco is doing its best to to present the worst of Mexican tourism. The week of semana santa (easter week) fills the town to the gills with innocent tourists ready to be fleeced by hundreds of stands selling anything from plastic sandals to portrayals of crucifixion dinners. For a first time visitor, the havoc may be of interest but if you live here, you become ready to go postal.
Meanwhile, some relevant items.
Mexico now requires cellphone registration. To do so you need a CURP (Clave Única de Registro de Población), sort of like a social security number. Since foreigners usually obviously do not have one, their phones may become useless after May. RENAUT
If you are a Mexican news hound, there is a new way to read the junk published by the US press:
Google Fast Flip: http://fastflip.googlelabs.com/search?q=mexico&type=search.
For News in English published within Mexico, try my site http://mexicofeed.blogspot.com/. It´s always good for a few laughs or some serious introspection.
Of course I have to mention the weather.
Possibly the last cold front (66F) hit Catemaco yesterday. Now we are entering the hottest season of the year and wishing we would have just another little cold front.
http://www.catemaco.info/info/weather.html
My planned aerial flight over Los Tuxtlas has crashed and I am now researching model radio controlled aircraft (sort of what they use in Afghanistan to target wedding parties). If you you know a shortcut to fly one with a cheap digital camera, please contact me.
The local gringo (or foreigner) count has substantially increased lately.
Or maybe I've just be counting Mexicans with gray or no hair. It just seems so.
The roads
Usually the local governments use pomp and circumstance to inaugurate each local elementary school bathroom. Somehow they skipped celebrations for the 150th tope (speed bump) on the road between Veracruz City and Catemaco. Actually, the roads this year are surprisingly good. (fair in some parts.) If you are coming from the north, in anything but a behemoth motor home, taking the turnoff at El Tropico to Catemaco would be a really worthwhile experience.
