Catemaco nose doctor

We just returned from not-beautiful Lerdo de Tejada, Veracruz where my Popoluca's youngest daughter just finished her internship at the 40 bed federally run hospital, staffed with 22 interns and a few doctors. The fresh doctor was smart and on her last day opted for some free elective surgery to remove some stuff from her nose.

Medical training in Mexico is somewhat different from the US and nothing like ER. High school (bachillerato) is followed by 5 years medical school and one year internship. Then the new doctor is obliged to provide one year of medical service, usually in a one person clinic, usually in the outback.

The new doctor and her improved nose are now looking in the hills and valleys surrounding beautiful downtown Catemaco to find an adequate location to continue her solitary on the job training.

I wish all her patients well.

Catemaco spending spree

The work forces in beautiful downtown Catemaco are raucously celebrating the increase in the Mexican minimum wage in this area of 1.6 US cents to 47.6 pesos per day.

Actually, the daily minimum wage is calculated on a monthly basis, so the actual minimum wage will be 334 pesos for a 5 1/2 day work week, 61 pesos per work day.
At current exchange rates that is US $ 5.62 per day. So of course everyone is thankful that they have to work only 1/2 of a day to buy the equivalent of a gallon of milk, or 1/5 of a day to buy a 5 gallon water jug, or another 1/5 to buy a kilo of tomatoes. The current estimated weekly cost to feed a family of four in Mexico is 289 pesos.

Believe it or not, the minimum wage is intended to be the wage that would be sufficient to support a worker and his or her family for a day. Fortunately, at least by Mexican government statistics, there are only about 4% of employees that earn the minimum. It does not include the 35 million workers who are “disappeared” into the not counted economy - taco stands, shoe polishers, mini stores, peddlers, etc.

But, an increase is much more significant than the measly 1.6 cents that were granted for 2007. Much of Mexico is defined in terms of multiples of the minimum wage. So now the minimum income required to obtain an FM 3 visa went up also. It currently stands at 250 times the minimum wage in Mexico City. Traffic tickets are also defined in terms of minimum wages so the cost for red light running also rose (40 times the minimum wage). Other related items will also increase such as productivity bonuses, income tax brackets, service eligibilities, etc. Most other labor categories, (and Mexico pigeonholes most everyone), are also expressed in multiples of the minimum. So the other 96% of counted employees in Mexico also get pay raises.

But what is really revolting is the multiple of hundreds of minimum wages that are paid to politicians and high end bureaucrats. As an example, the Mexican Department of Transportation in 2005 paid each executive officer an average of 175,332 pesos monthly or 6,130 pesos (US $565) per day which is 100 times the minimum wage. That includes taxes, but does not include year end bonuses, 20 days vacations, and dozens of other benefits.

Many of us lament the poverty of Mexico. We are probably just envious of the many Mexican who are so rich!

New 45 Peso Bill

Beautiful downtown Catemaco, Veracruz just became a lot clearer to see, financially. A new plastic 50 peso bill has arrived, similar to the now common 20 peso bill.

Like the 20 peso bill, It has a little plastic window, so you can see what you are spending your money on. At the rate things are going in Mexico, they should have made this window a magnifier. (Prices of milk, gas, tortillas, cigarettes, etc. just went up.) Nevertheless, after the introduction of plastic 20 peso bills, supposedly lasting several life times longer than the old crinkly bills, I presume most Mexican money will soon be plastic.

Unfortunately that darn 50 peso bill still maintains more or less the same colors as the 500 peso bill and is easy to spend by mistake. But more than likely you never receive the correct change, in case you are stupid enough to confuse the two.
This is not boring “In God we trust” money, José María Morelos y Pavón, whose portrait graces the bill is quoted “May slavery be banished forever together with the distinction between castes, all remaining equal, so Americans may only be distinguished by vice or virtue”.

As anyone spending money in Mexico knows, any bill with any defect is rejected by most shopkeepers, although the official rules are not as strict:

If you have any of the following bills, they are supposed to be retired by a bank:

Bills that got wet or are bleached.

Stapled bills.

Supposedly the following bills are supposed to stay in circulation:

Bills with spots of fat, blood, paint, etc unless they hide some imprint on the bill.

Bills glued back together with transparent tape.

Bills marked with messages such as “Pedro loves Maria”, but nothing political.

Bills marked with bank stamps.

Throw these bills into the garbage:

Bills fixed with tape that is not transparent.

Bills marked with political messages such as “I love Peje”

Catemaco Milk

Assorted travel writers have touted the Sierra de los Tuxtlas, Veracruz as the Switzerland of Mexico. And in common with Switzerland, Los Tuxtlas also has abundant herds of milk cows.

But in beautiful downtown Catemaco, milk comes in a bricklike cardboard carton, guaranteed to withstand 140 degree temperatures, last for 6 months, and possibly survive being dropped by a helicopter. Fresh Milk is udderly absent despite thousands of happy cows grazing on what is left of the surrounding landscape.

There is fresh pasteurized milk available in Veracruz City and other towns are known to even have fresh milk delivery, but those bricks are generally a staple in Mexico and most of the world. I used to think that was related to international lack of refrigeration, but, no, the Europeans also like their bricks of ultra high pasteurized milk.

Ultra high pasteurization kills most vitamins, so naturally, those are added back into the bricks. Assorted enzymes are also missing, but what is really beneficial is the absence of all those cow diseases transmittable to humans.

I have abandoned my habit of an occasional glass of milk and usually only splurge after a trip to Walmart where fresh milk is stocked. The reason is probably purely psychological, because I am now perfectly happy to drink my orange juice poured from a brick.

Maybe a retired US dairy farmer or juice bottler could show the locals a few tricks to supplement their survival on government handouts.

Catemaco Stocks

There is no stockbroker within 100 miles of Catemaco, Veracruz. Nevertheless the vagaries of stock manipulations also effect this isolated community.Primarily me!I used to day trade in stocks and thought I could continue to do so while moving to beautiful downtown Catemaco.

Bad Idea! - at least when I first came here - because both satellite and land based intenet connections were not suitable to by the minute transactions. Instead I learned how to differentiate tree ferns and other vegetable varieties. Connections are a lot better now but I have become addicted to the other green stuff.

The Mexican Bolsa (stock market) recently hit an unprecedented high, which was predictable but is not followable.
The “MARKET” loves governments incapable to make changes affecting business as usual. And that is what the election of Calderon means to the market.

This current 6 year Mexican government is projected to be another Fox presidency without a constituency or parliamentary votes to make any major changes. Mexico’s oligarchs are unitedely stroking their undertaxed wallets, and stock players are betting on appreciations.

Catemaco Vignette

This was sent to me by a fortunate soul who´s had the privilege of living in Catemaco for 26 years and learned to keep his mouth shut:

He remembers the bank guard for Multibanco Comermex here in Catemaco who, some twenty three years ago, asked him for a shotgun shell, 16 gauge, because he had used the one (1) shell he was allotted to shoot a duck the night before in the lagoon, and was some nervous fulfilling his duties with an empty gun.