Vallarta's New Pier

Robert:

I remember the ugly old municipal concrete pier from my first trip to Vallarta, in 1984. It was short, straight, with a little concrete square area at the end to hang out on. In the center of that was an open hole about one foot square. That bizarre, pointless hole was a real hazard and no doubt broke a few legs. It was left open like that for all those years. Which would have been unthinkable in the USA, Canada or Europe.

That old pier was on Los Muertos beach, just south of my old fave, and the first place I ever stayed in Vallarta, the hotel Playa Los Arcos.

Just a few months ago the city finished the long awaited new pier, in the same location, but it wasn't until today I had a chance to check it out. I was impressed.

Finally, some tax dollars well spent. Or apparently so. I have no idea if the project cost more than it should have, but at least it's a sound concept; not a total boondoggle.

New Video of Peninsula 11 D, Yesterday's Open House

Robert:

Yesterday's open house of Peter and Paty's listing in Peninsula was a success. It was also a chance to meet the owners, Mr. and Mrs. Hull. Very nice people.

While there I shot some HD video. Notice that even off the back guest bedroom there is a magnificent mountain and river view. The second guest bedroom has beach and bay view toward the northwest, and the master bedroom has both the mountain and river view through one side, plus an entire window wall of beach and bay view.

Spectacular is truly the word for this condo.

Mechanical Surfboard In Mega

Robert:

This is Semana Santa (holy week), which is perhaps even a bigger holiday than Xmas in Mexico. Town is packed with vacationers from Guadalajara, Leon, Monterey, Mexico City, etc.

In our Mega super store, there are all sorts of promotions this week. One of them features this mechanical surfboard.

The board swings and dips gently when the bikin iclad model is on...they want her to stay on it to attract attention of course. But, when a regular person tries it, they use a different setting, so that it  swings and dips more and more wildly as the seconds tick by. 

The video shows the model first, then a little girl, may 6 or 7 years old; she stays on longer than anyone else I've seen. I suppose her lower center of gravity has something to do with it.

Casa Mariposa Open House Sunday 11am -2 pm La Cruz

Deborah Foster:

If you have not had the opportunity to see this lovely home please join me on Easter Sunday in La Cruz de Huanacaxtle.

View from terrace.

#61 Calle Monte Calvario, La Cruz

From 11 am to 2pm Sunday

From the lateral mountain side, take a right onto Mt. Calvario just before the traffic light in La Cruz....house is on the left just before the hill starts to climb.

Casa Mariposa in La Cruz is a must see.....4 bedrooms, 2.5
baths....professionally landscaped garden area w fountain....has
a French country feel inside with Mexican hand-painted tiles.
Nice ocean views from the two palapa terraces.  Could be used as
a duplex.  Very close to town and beaches.  $349K furnished!

 

There is also a Craft and Food Fair (Mercado) every Sunday in La Cruz, down by the fish market in the La Cruz marina. So drop by the "Mercado" and the Open House for a nice outing.

Our website for more photos and details:
http://rfasoc.com/mariposa.html

Hope to see you there.

Deborah 322 117 3099

Wine and Sunset Open House in Peninsula Tower Today!

Paty and Peter:

Today, Friday, March 29, 6-8 p.m.!

Residents, guests and agents are welcome to join us for wine,
refreshments and snacks, and view this bargain priced condo,
$629,000 USD for a limited time, for the desirable, beach front,
double corner  D Unit in Tower II.

 Beautifully furnished 307m2
(3304 sq.ft.), 3 bedrooms plus a flex room, 3.5 bathrooms,
panoramic bay and mountain views, wrap around terraces, jacuzzi,
2 underground parking spaces, infinity and reflection pools,
gyms, theatre, etc., equal  superior value luxury living.  See
the links below for details.

DIRECTIONS:  Drive through Peninsula Plaza, Puerto Vallarta to
the security gate in front of the Towers.  The guards will
instruct you regarding parking and how to get to Tower II, Unit
11 D.  (Must take the elevators on the C, D west side of the
Tower.  The elevator will open to the unit.)  Call the cell 322
159 4066 if you need.

Robert Foster Website Link:

http://www.rfasoc.com/hull.html

Tiger In Front Of The Office.

Robert:

Animal rights activists will cringe, and justly so. Nonetheless, small traveling circuses are still commonplace in Mexico. A very small one just packed up and left Bucerias about one week ago.

Now a larger one has just arrived, and they are cruising the streets. Today they were showing off a tiger. Yesterday they were showcasing a lioness.

Mexicans love circuses. Lily, my secretary, is a real aficionada. She rarely misses one.

I had never been to a circus in my life until moving to Mexico. My Mexican friends have insisted I go with them however, so now I've been four or five times. And, whatever the ethical concerns may be, there is no denying that these little circuses are entertaining. The shows last about 2 hours.

The one standard act I can't stand is the one with all the little motorcycles racing around in a steel cage, faster and faster, in criss-crossing loops. Boring, even though the danger is there. Kid of like watching rock climbing. It's dangerous, but even so, who wants to watch it?

But those dopey little motorcycles? Too loud and too much exhaust...stinks up the tent. Yuk.

In Vallarta, when the largest circuses arrive, there is often a group of 30 to 40 animal rights activists standing in front with signs, protesting the event. So, circuses are well attended here, but there is growing controversy.

Iguana In the Office! An I Love Lucy Moment Today!

Robert:

This afternoon I heard some shrieking from Lily and Deborah in the outer office. I went out to investigate. Seems a full-sized iguana had decided to come into the office and hang out behind a palm plant in the corner. Iguanas are harmless, despite their fearsome looks, but the shock of seeing it running across the office floor caused the outcries.

I went for my video camera while Deborah began herding the poor guy from one planter to the next, one desk to the next, until we (she) finally got him safely back outside.

The video is like an episode of I Love Lucy. Here it is:

The first house I purchased in PV, 1995!

Robert:

Tonight I keep running across these really old websites and articles I did from 1998-2000. Wow, it's a strange feeling.

Villa Hadley (named after my daughter) was the first property I bought in Mexico, in 1995. Below is the link to the web site I created to help sell it when we decided to build a house in Nuevo Vallarta. The site was done from scratch with just raw html. That's how it had to be done back then. No templates, no web page building software, just home cookin.'

I had not looked at this web site in at least ten years. What a nostalgic blast. I gotta tell you, I miss that house and the purposely much simpler life back then. It makes me wonder how I slid back into the rat race, running a real estate brokerage, going to the office seven days a week.

CLICK HERE http://www.angelfire.com/vt/villahadley/

Another Blast From The Pasado!

Robert:

I had almost forgotten about these articles and interviews. I did them for The People's Guide To Mexico in or around 1998. I could be a year or two off in either direction.

I was struck, while rereading them for the first time in many years, that 95% of it still applies. Prices have risen, of course.

Note how different Deborah and I look in the introduction photo. I still had a bigote (mustache) and hair on my head.

This starts with some of our answers to People's Guide reader inquiries. The real interview we did for Carl and Lorena of The People's Guide is a little below. Scroll down and you'll see it highlighted.

CLICK HERE for Robert and Deborah interviewed by The People's Guide to Mexico, cerca 1998

A Step by Step Guide to the Purchase Process In Coastal Mexico

This article ran in the February, 2013 PV Property Journal.

 

 

A STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO THE PURCHASE AND CLOSING PROCESS  FOR FOREIGNERS IN COASTAL MEXICO.

by

Robert Foster

You've been thinking for years about buying something here for investment and retirement. Dreaming about the good life is fun...and it's how all of us expatriates started our journeys that eventually brought us here.

But all such dreams eventually reach a tipping point; a point where they either become reality or not; where you either summon your courage and leap off the high board into the pool and actually, (oh my God!) make a purchase, or walk back to the ladder, climb down from the high-board, and stay away from the water.

The reason some people never take the plunge usually comes down to simple fear and anxiety. More specifically, fear of making a huge mistake, a financial and lifestyle belly-flop, and being laughed at by friends and family back home.

I made my first home purchase here almost 17 years ago, and I went through that insecurity phase. And sure enough, once I was under contract, well-meaning friends and family hit me with things like, "You did what? For heaven's sake Robert, why would you do that?"  Then they'd give me that sad, skeptical look and they'd say, "Well...I sure hope it works out. But I don't know...purchasing property in Mexico? That's downright morbid..."

Later on, visiting me in my Mexican home, sitting on my rooftop terrace, gazing at the mountains and the ocean, cold margarita in hand, they all had, shall we say...a slow but inevitable enlightenment. "You know, this really is nice. I have to admit it. I haven't felt this good in years! And how much did you say your property taxes are? What? That's all? You can't be serious!"

The best way to get control of your anxiety in any situation is through knowledge. If you're at that tipping point, and wanting to make an offer on a property, but just can't quite summon the courage, it might be helpful to know how the process will unfold. (All the following steps assume you're working with a professional, knowledgeable AMPI agency. AMPI stands for, in English, the Association of Mexican Real Estate Professionals. AMPI has stringent ethical and professional requirements, including ongoing annual education.)

Step 1. Negotiating the Purchase offer Agreement.

Your agent will submit your offer to the seller's agent, and there will usually be the standard negotiating phase, with offers and counter offers. In my office we prefer to use formal contracts for all phases, but some agencies just use informal "letters of intent." (We prefer to avoid that informal approach, as it allows either side to temporarily "fish for agreement" without being legally committed.)

In any case, once you reach agreement on price and details, you will then have a detailed, signed-around (fully executed) purchase offer contract, normally in both English and Spanish, stating precisely what is and is not included in the sale; precisely what the terms, if any, are; what international escrow company will be used; how much the deposit will be and when it must be in escrow; what the penalties to both sides are for non-compliance; what Notary will be used; and what the scheduled closing date is. FYI: The Spanish side of the contract takes legal precedence over the English side. The English side is there as a courtesy translation.

Step 2: Opening Escrow/Earnest Money Deposit

The contract will typically stipulate that you have, for example, 5 business days from date of seller's acceptance of your offer to open an international escrow account, and fund it by wire transfer with a 10% earnest money deposit. (The 5 business days and the 10% are negotiable, but are used in most cases.)

Your agent should immediately fill out the Escrow Agreement forms  (we use Fidelity), and send them to you to review and sign. The agent will send those forms along with a copy of the purchase offer contract and the IDs of buyer and seller to the escrow company. The escrow account number will then be issued and you will wire the deposit plus the escrow fee into the account. (Fidelity's escrow fee is $650 USD). So, if you purchased a $400,000 property, you would be wiring for example $40,000 USD deposit plus the escrow fee, or $40,650 USD. 

Step 3. Closing Costs Deposit

Concurrent with opening and funding escrow, or immediately after, your agent should obtain an itemized closing costs estimate from the Notario that will be handling your closing, and explain it to you point by point. Depending on the value of the transaction (the price you have agreed to pay for the property), your total closing costs including Notary's legal fees, trust permit, appraisals, 2% property transfer tax, and public registry fee, etc., should average around 5% of the purchase price. (You can save a bit if you elect to assume an existing trust rather than start with a new trust. A qualified agent should be able to explain the pros and cons of this option.)

For a million dollar plus home, the total closing costs will fall, as a percentage, and may be closer to 4%. On the other hand, for a very inexpensive property, such as a studio or a small lot, the closing costs can be, as a percentage of the price, more in the 6% or even 7% range.

Regardless, you will be instructed by your agent to make an immediate deposit of usually half the the closing costs to the Notario or attorney handling your closing. (Sometimes the closing costs deposit requested is less than half, but should never be more than half.) This deposit will typically be done by another wire transfer, into the specified closing costs account. Your agent will provide you with wire transfer instructions in all cases. Common sense dictates that you should always obtain a wire transfer receipt from your bank for any wire you send.

Step 4. Providing Documents to the Notary and the Bank.

On behalf of the Notary and the fiduciary trustee (the Mexican bank that will hold your trust),  your agent will begin asking you to provide scans of various documents needed for closing. You will need to provide a scan of a recent utility bill with your current name and address in Canada or the USA. You will also fill out substitute beneficiary forms indicating who will inherit the property in the event of your demise. Your agent will explain to you the various options for structuring this, but usually, your children will receive equal undivided interests in the property only upon the demise of all primary beneficiaries (you and your spouse in most cases).

There are some exceptions to this structure. If a husband and wife are making the purchase as co-primary beneficiaries but each have children by previous marriages, it can be set up to accommodate that situation. You will discuss this with your agent and the Notary and decide on the structure most suited to your situation. Regardless, the beauty is that having sub beneficiaries already written into your trust deed negates the need to draw up a Mexican will. It negates the need for Mexican probate.

You will also be providing Know Your Client forms, among others, to the fiduciary bank. Your agent will explain how these are to be filled out and signed. In some cases these can be signed at closing.

Step 5. Preliminary Disbursement Form/Closing.

Most closings occur about 6 weeks after the purchase offer contract has been signed-around. About a week before closing date, your agent should create an itemized, detailed preliminary version of the Escrow Disbursement Form. This will show every disbursement of funds related to the closing, and the net proceeds to the seller. This is circulated among all parties a week or so ahead of closing so that everyone can check it.

In almost all closings here, the seller pays the commissions. Those commissions will usually appear on the Disbursement Form, but are simply taken from the net proceeds to the seller. So they are as a practical matter paid by the seller, not by you, the buyer.

At the actual closing, a final version of the Disbursement Form is circulated for all to recheck and sign. Immediately after closing has taken place, meaning after the title has been properly transferred to you (as beneficiary) with no liens or encumbrances, this signed final Disbursement Form, plus a no lien certificate and a preliminary version of your new deed, are sent to the Escrow company for review, and only then are your funds disbursed to the seller and all involved.

The balance due on your closing costs (remember that you paid a deposit on the closing costs to get started) is collected at closing. You can pay it with cash, a personal check in CAD or USD, or from extra funds you previously had wired to the escrow account. If the latter option, it will of course appear as one of the items on the Disbursement Form.

Step 6. You Are Handed the Keys at Closing, and a Preliminary Copy of your Trust Deed. Go to Your New Place, Have a Margarita!

It would be nice to end this article on that upbeat note, but, unfortunately, there's a bit more work to be done.

Step 7.  Changing Utilities Into Your Name

Over the next few days, your agent will accompany you to the various utility companies (water, electric, phone, internet, cable or satellite TV, etc.) to assist you in getting the needed changes made.

FYI. It often happens that buyers cannot attend the closing, or cannot stay for a few days after closing to change utilties. If planned in advance, there are ways to deal with these situations.

If you are getting a new trust, the fiduciary bank signs for you. You don't have to attend. But it is still best if you can, to do a final walk through of the property, etc.

If you are saving a bit in closing costs by assuming the seller's existing trust, you either must attend the closing, or grant a Mexican limited power of attorney to your agent (or whomever you wish) to sign in your behalf. That power of attorney can in most cases also be used by your agent to change utilities into your name.

With several weeks advance notice, a Mexican limited power of attorney can be granted by you while you are in the USA or Canada. Your agent should be able to explain the different procedures for this, which vary depending upon whether you are Canadian or American.

Step 8. Your Final, Registered Trust Deed

At closing you will receive a preliminary copy of your trust deed. But the sale still has to be registered in the property tax office (catastro) and the public registry (Registro Publico). Due to the backlog of documents, this process takes on average from four to six months. When done, the Notary will notify you (or your agent in some cases if you so request) that your final, bound deed is ready. You can pick it up from the Notary the next time you visit this area, or (recommended) ask them to send it directly to you by FedEx, UPS or DHL.

No two deals are exactly alike, but the above steps are typical of the vast majority of transactions here on the coast, in which the purchaser is not a Mexican.


Robert Foster
Robert Foster y Asociados
163 Lazaro Cardenas, Bucerias, Nayarit
329 298 3314
Toll free from Canada or USA 01 866 210 1324
website: rfasoc.com
office blog: http://robertfosterasociados.blogspot.mx/

What's yellow, green, blue and pink?

Robert:



The answer is springtime in the tropics. More and more trees and flowers are popping out. The rains don't begin for another 90 days, but the blooms are triggered by the longer days.

Ave Las Palmas, Bucerias

That's a pink bougainvillea bush, and beyond it, a young primavera tree (the one with the yellow blooms).

Primavera

Frog And Fish, Where To Eat?

Robert:

We have a little kitchen in the back of the office, with counter top, fridge, sink and microwave.

So we often bring food from home to nuke for lunch. But sometimes not. Because in Mexico there are almost always cheap, tasty food options all around you.

One half block away, we have a little family run place called simply "Fish Taco's"...It's homely but homey, cheap but delicious.

I am long-time friends with this family (they live above the restaurant), and in my "helpful," know-it-all gringo kind of way, I have gently suggested that the name is a bit of a misnomer, and potentially hurting them. Because they serve fish tacos, true, but also a full menu of fish dinners, shrimp dinners, lobster dinners, etc., with all the trimmings.  But you'd never guess that from reading the main sign.

Even so, I guess they don't need my advice, which they have politely ignored in any case. They've been in business for years. It's a case of "good food cheap" trumps bad marketing. :)

Today I ordered two shrimp quesadillas. $30 pesos (about $2.40 USD).

2 quesadillas de camaron (shrimp), $30 pesos

The little side of pico de gallo (chopped peppers, onion and tomato) is usually not included. It happens only when a certain one of the 3 sisters is cooking. She always puts little surprise extras on my plate.

Plenty of shrimp inside. And tasty, not rubbery like Red Lobster.

The other options very nearby are a food truck that sits on the corner by the taxi stand for about an hour and a half every day at lunchtime. It's called Tacos la Rana (Tacos the Frog).

They have tacos of birria, chicharron, adobado, and carne asada. Sometimes chorizo and machaca too. No frog tacos, sorry.

Tacos la Rana, opening for the day.

Yummy. 10 pesos a pop.

Also there is a guy that sells tacos de birria from his bicycle cart. Very good.

And of course more upscale places. Right across the street is Karen's Tea Time, with coffees, teas, and fancy sandwiches. Plus Karen's main restaurant is directly in front of the office, through the Condos Costa Dorada and right on the beach. A full seafood menu, and very good, with sunset views of the bay, etc., but definitely a much pricier, more formal place.

Your Money Is A Hot Potato

Robert:

I do a real estate article in the PV Property Journal each month. This is the article that just came out, in the March issue.

WHY YOUR MONEY IS A HOT POTATO! (OR SHOULD BE TREATED LIKE ONE.)

  

by

Robert Foster

Robert Foster y Asociados, 163 Lazaro Cardenas

Bucerias, Nayarit. 329 298 3314

web site: rfasoc.com

"Say what? My money is a hot potato? What are you talking about?"

What I'm talking about is what should and shouldn't happen to your earnest  money when you make an offer on a property here. No professional agent, or Notario for that matter, wants to hold the money!

Typically, you'll be required by the purchase offer contract to put down a ten percent earnest money deposit just a few days into the transaction.That can be a fair hunk of change. If you're buying a $500,000 property, that's $50,000 of your hard earned money you are going to have to deposit. And even if you like your agent, well, let's face it, you probably just met him or her a few days or weeks before. You are dealing with people you don't really know all that well, in a foreign country. Gulp.

In most cases, if you're dealing with professionals, no one involved in the deal wants the potential liability of receiving or holding your money. If you have the bad luck to run across a rogue agent, who tells you to write the deposit check to him or her, or wire the deposit into his or her account, run for the hills!  (This sort of thing very rarely happens anymore, but 15 or 20 years ago was common here. It wasn't always malicious intent...often the brokers and agents just didn't know what to do.)

So, what should happen to your funds while the transaction unfolds over the roughly 6 week period until closing, and why? Who holds your money?

This was a difficult problem in the "old days" of real estate here. There was no efficient and transparent system for holding funds while the deal unfolded. Escrow as we know it and use it in the USA and much of the world did not exist.The old fashioned, traditional Mexican way was for the Notario (closing attorney) who would be handling the transaction to hold a guaranteed check in his safe; a check for the deposit, signed by the buyer, made out to the seller.

(In some specific cases, if we have a Mexican buyer and a Mexican seller, and the deal will be strictly in pesos, it can still be done that old-fashioned way.)

But in almost all deals involving foreigners this market now (and has for 10 years or so) utilizes the services of well-known international escrow companies. For many years we have used the international escrow services of either First American Title; Stewart Title; or Fidelity.

Why do we do this? Simple. Parking all the funds in a truly neutral, third party, totally transparent US dollar account (transparent to buyer and seller alike), brings a measure of confidence and disbursement efficiency that is completely lacking in the "old fashioned way."

Escrow isn't perfect; in extreme cases things can still go awry, but I have only seen that happen, thankfully, one time in the hundreds of deals I have brokered here, over many years. But while escrow isn't perfect (no system is), the old fashioned way is awkward, inefficient, and fraught with inherent problems. Again, it requires asking the Notario to hold the deposit check in his safe (which more and more Notario's are wisely reluctant to do, because, if heaven forbid the deal breaks down and there is a dispute over the deposit, they don't want to be caught in the middle, cast in the role of King Solomon).

And also in this old fashioned method, the buyer has to show up at closing with another bank check for the 90% balance. What if the seller cannot attend the closing and has someone empowered to sign for him or her, which is a very common occurrence here? The check then has to be Fedexed back to the seller in Canada or the USA. What if the courier loses it? What if there is a slight but critical spelling error on the check, and it has to be recut? The checks have to be made out perfectly, and mistakes are common.

You might wonder why you can't just wire the 90% balance directly to the seller's account a day or two in advance of closing. You could. But that would not be wise. If for some reason the deal falls apart at the last second, good luck getting your money back. Most of our buyers and sellers are honorable, and you would get your money refunded, but nonetheless, business is business, and our job as your agent is to protect you against unnecessary risk as well as possible. So, international escrow has evolved as the best answer.

If you make an offer on a property, the purchase offer contract will typically state that you have 5 (or 10 - it's negotiable) business days from the date of acceptance of your offer, to open and fund an international escrow account with the earnest money deposit.

Once the deal is signed around by everyone, your agent should immediately begin the routine process of opening the international escrow account for you. You'll be required to submit clean copies of your passports (if you haven't given your agent this already), and the agent will send to the escrow company your IDs (plus the IDs of the sellers), along with a copy of the fully executed purchase offer contract, via scan and email. Typically, we (agents) are able to get the escrow account opened for you within one or two business days from acceptance of your offer.

We then provide you with the wire transfer information and specific escrow number that enables you to wire the deposit (plus the fee for the escrow account) directly into escrow. The accounts are in US dollars (with rare exceptions - Fidelity offers the option of escrow denominated in pesos for Mexican buyers and sellers), held in US banks. Fidelity uses CitiBank in New York City to hold the funds for all their USD escrow accounts, for example.

Both buyer's name and seller's name appear on the account, and both are notified of any and all activity in the account. So, the seller has the assurance that the funds are there, in the hands of an unbiased institution.

As a buyer, there is a small cost to you for setting up the escrow account, but it is money very well spent, considering the relative peace of mind it brings to you, and the seller. It's a small investment that brings the trust and assurance needed to enable the deal; to get your offer accepted in the first place. Fidelity charges our clients a flat fee of $650 USD, which you wire along with the10% deposit.

Your purchase offer contract should also state clearly when you are to send the 90% balance due into escrow. Typically, that would be from 3 to 5 business days before scheduled closing date. You don't want to outsmart yourself by waiting until the last second to wire the funds, and risk that an unforeseen delay causes you to be unable to close on time, and therefore technically out of compliance.  Better to go ahead and get the funds in escrow two or three days before closing, allowing of course for a day or two for the wire to arrive and be credited.

At closing, the attorneys involved in the transaction will review all the documents (if you have a knowledgeable,  thorough real estate agent, he or she should do this as well), and when everything is in order (title properly transferred to you as beneficiary, with no liens or encumbrances), you and the seller examine then sign something called the Final Escrow Disbursement Form. This form is then sent to the escrow company, along with the documents proving the transaction is complete and correct, and funds are wired by the escrow company to the seller and any other parties due. (For example, real estate commissions are typically paid out of the seller's gross proceeds via itemized disbursements  to the agencies involved).

(Regarding the Final Escrow Disbursement Form...that is normally prepared by the buyer's agent a week or so before closing date, and a preliminary copy circulated among the principals, for all to review in advance. This way, if there are any mistakes or questions, there is plenty of time to deal with them before the moment of closing.)

Robert Foster

Robert Foster y Asociados, Bucerias.

rfasoc.com

Tranquility Break: The Jimi Hendrix of Harmonica?

Robert:

My friend Dolores ("The Queen of Everything") from Dallas sent this. The theme from The Lone Ranger never sounded so good. "Come with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear..."

Click Here


And for the orchestral version of Rossini's masterpiece:

Tranquility Break: The Hokey Pokey, According To Shakespeare

Robert:

Sent by my daughter "Heidelberg Hadley" Barth.

The Washington Post Style Invitational contest asked readers to submit "instructions" for something (anything), but written in the style of a famous person. The winning entry was instructions for how to do The Hokey Pokey (as written by William Shakespeare).


O proud left foot, that ventures quick within
Then soon upon a backward journey lithe.
Anon, once more the gesture, then begin:
Command sinistral pedestal to writhe.
Commence thou then the fervid Hokey-Poke,
A mad gyration, hips in wanton swirl.
To spin! A wilde release from Heavens yoke.
Blessed dervish! Surely canst go, girl.
The Hoke, the poke -- banish now thy doubt
Verily, I say, 'tis what it's all about.
-- by "William Shakespeare"

Written by Jeff Brechlin, Potomac Falls, Maryland

NY Times' Thomas Friedman's Surprising New Column On Mexico

Robert:



Thomas Friedman, New York Times columnist, on Mexico's macro-economic future:


In India, people ask you about China, and in China, people ask you about
India: which country will become the more dominant economic power in the
21st century? I now have the answer: Mexico.

Impossible, you say? Well, yes, Mexico with only about 110 million people
could never rival China or India in total economic clout. But here's what
I've learned from a visit to Mexico's industrial/innovation center in
Monterrey. Everything you've read about Mexico is true: drug cartels, crime
syndicates, government corruption and weak rule of law hobble the nation.
But that's half the story.

The reality is that Mexico today is more like a crazy blend of the movies
No Country for Old Men and The Social Network.

Something happened here. It's as if Mexicans subconsciously decided that
their drug-related violence is a condition to be lived with and combated,
but not something to define them any longer.

Mexico has signed 44 free-trade agreements -- more than any country in the
world -- which, according to The Financial Times, is more than twice as
many as China and four times more than Brazil. Mexico has also greatly
increased the number of engineers and skilled laborers graduating from its
schools.

Put all that together with massive cheap natural gas finds and rising wage
and transportation costs in China, and it is no surprise that Mexico now is
taking manufacturing market share back from Asia and attracting more global
investment than ever in autos, aerospace and household goods.

"Today, Mexico exports more manufactured products than the rest of Latin
America put together," The Financial Times reported on Sept 19 last year.

"Chrysler is using Mexico as a base to supply some of its Fiat 500s to the
Chinese market."

What struck me most in Monterrey, though, is the number of tech start-ups
that are emerging from Mexico's young population -- 50 per cent of the
country is under 29 -- thanks to cheap, open source innovation tools and
cloud computing.

"Mexico did not waste its crisis," remarked Patrick Kane Zambrano, director
of the Center for Citizen Integration, referring to the fact that when
Mexican companies lost out to China in the 1990s, they had no choice but to
get more productive.

Zambrano's website embodies the youthful zest here for using technology to
both innovate and stimulate social activism. The center aggregates Twitter
messages from citizens about everything from broken streetlights to
"situations of risk" and plots them in real-time on a phone app map of
Monterrey that warns residents what streets to avoid, alerts the police to
shootings and counts in days or hours how quickly public officials fix the
problems.

"It sets pressure points to force change," the center's president, Bernardo
Bichara, told me. "Once a citizen feels he is not powerless, he can aspire
for more change. First, the Web democratized commerce, and then it
democratized media, and now it is democratizing democracy."

If United States Secretary of State John Kerry is looking for a new agenda,
he might want to focus on forging closer integration with Mexico rather
than beating his head against the rocks of Israel, Palestine, Afghanistan
or Syria.

Better integration of Mexico's manufacturing and innovation prowess into
America's is win-win. It makes US companies more profitable and
competitive, so they can expand at home and abroad, and it gives Mexicans a
reason to stay home and reduces violence. The US does US$1.5 billion
(RM4.65 billion) a day in trade with Mexico, and spends US$1 billion a day
in Afghanistan. Not smart.

We need a more nuanced view of Mexico. While touring the Center for
Agrobio technology at Monterrey Tech, Mexico's Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, its director, Guy Cardineau, a scientist from Arizona, remarked
to me that, in 2011, "my son-in-law returned from a tour of duty in
Afghanistan and we talked about having him come down and visit for
Christmas.

But he told me the US military said he couldn't come because of the (State
Department) travel advisory here. I thought that was very ironic".

Especially when US companies are expanding here, which is one reason Mexico
grew last year at 3.9 per cent and foreign direct investment hit record
highs.

"Twenty years ago, most Mexican companies were not global," explained
Blanca Trevino, the president and founder of Softtek, one of Mexico's
leading IT service providers. They focused on the domestic market and cheap
labour for the US. "Today, we understand that we have to compete globally"
and that means "becoming efficient.

"We have a (software) development center in Wuxi, China. But we are more
efficient now in doing the same business from our center in Aguascalientes
(Mexico) than we are from our center in Wuxi."

  Mexico still has huge governance problems to fix, but what's interesting
is that, after 15 years of political paralysis, Mexico's three major
political parties have just signed "a grand bargain", aka "Pact for
Mexico", under the new president, Enrique Pena Nieto, to work together to
fight the big energy, telecom and teacher monopolies that have held Mexico
back. If they succeed, maybe Mexico will teach us something about
democracy.

Mexicans had started to wonder about America lately, said Bichara from the
Center for Citizen Integration.

"We always thought we should have our parties behave like the US'  -- no
longer. We always thought we should have the government work like the
S'  -- no longer."  NYT

Big Price Reduction, Condo Glaser

Robert:

The owners of Condo Glaser have just dropped the price from $389,000 to $349,000 USD.

View from the terrace.

 That is a really great value for this exceptionally spacious and well-finished condo, with ocean views, just 2 blocks from the beach in Bucerias' Zona Dorada.

Click here for the main web page for Condo Glaser with many more photos and complete data.   CONDO GLASER

Just Desserts

Robert:

A long-time friend of mine, who lives in Dallas, was asking me a few days ago if there were any good, traditional Mexican desserts, apart from flan. I thought of pastel de tres leches (3 milk cake), and fried, sweetened plaintains, but apart from that, couldn't come up with anything uniquely Mexican in terms of after-dinner type desserts.

Know of any?

No doubt there are plenty, but I'm not the best guy to ask. I rarely eat out, and almost never above the street food and taco stand level.

Pastries in Mega. There are four rows like this.

Then we got into a discussion of Mexican bakeries, candies, raspados, etc. Mexican bakeries are everywhere and a real delight. Sadly, the big chain stores are putting many of the vastly superior neighborhood bakeries out of business.

Pies In Mega

And the pastries that come from the neighborhood bakeries are much tastier, much more "homemade." But, they are slowly disappearing.

Even so, for now, you can find good stuff from the independent little bakeries if you look. The little mom and pop mini-supers almost always have a tray or two of goodies from one of the local bakeries. But they may only get delivery every other day, so ask if the pastries are from today ("son de hoy?") or not.

Cakes In Mega

As always, convenience rules, and even though the quality is sub-par, I often buy pastries and bolillos in Mega, Or WalMart or Chedraui. I'm guilty as charged.

In my opinion, Mega's bakery ranks at the bottom; Walmart is better; Chedraui is better still. But they are all way below any neighborhood bakery.

Tranquility Break. The Staves' Mexico.

Robert:

The Staves' Mexico. Lovely. (The Staves are 3 sisters from Watford, Hertfordshire.)

Pink Poodle in the Hair Salon

Robert:

In Mexico, a beauty shop is called an "Estetica," but sometimes just "Salon."

I get my hair cut in a one woman salon run by a gal named Natalie. Natalie is a big-time dog lover. She has five, at present; four in the yard and garage, and 1 pink poodle, rescued from the streets, in the salon with her during the day, and in the house at night. "Rosa" sleeps on Natalie's bed.

Rosa in the salon.

Natalie is quick to explain that she only uses a harmless food-coloring to get the pink color. And she says that while Rosa is crazy about people, she doesn't get along with other dogs. At all. Even before the pink dye job.

Strawberry Fields Forever in Michoacan

Robert:

This old pickup truck drives down the street in front of the office (Lazaro Cardenas) about twice a week this time of year. The back of the truck is loaded with fresh strawberrys from the state of Michoacan, south of here.

He charges 25 pesos (about $1.98 USD) for a one kilo bag. (A kilo is 2.2 lbs.) I ran out into the street just in time yesterday. He had already passed the office, but in his rear view mirror he noticed me standing in the street waving my arms. So he backed up and we did the berry deal.

Michoacan Strawberry Fields

 

Michoacan Monument.

From "The Dish." Doggie Suicides?

Robert:

If it seems that today's press is obsessed with the silly and trivial (Lindsey Lohan, et al), it was no better in the late 1800s, apparently. Inexplicably, there was this belief that dogs routinely committed suicde, and much "reporting" was done on this supposed common phenomenon.

I suppose there simply weren't as many goofy, drunk celebrities back then to write about. So "dog suicides" came in handy to fill the pages.

Today's "The Dish" blog quotes John Patrick Leary on how newspapers reported on them:

Dog suicides in 1898 were always male. The suicides were usually expressions of a fragile emotional state. Like [J.P Morgan's prize bulldog "His Nibs"] their humiliation was provoked by a neglectful family, an unkind mob, or by abuse from boys, women, or cats. Sarah Knowles Bolton, in the 1902 book Our Devoted Friend, The Dog, devoted an entire chapter to dog suicides. For example: Rex, a prize-winning Gordon Setter, was worth $300 and drowned himself after he was kicked on the head by a private watchman. Most suicidal dogs were pure-bred, which presumably led to their emotional fragility: a $10,000 dog in Boston deliberately drowned himself, writes Bolton, after he was devastated by an insult from a thoughtless kennel-keeper.

It was the New York World who declared the end of “His Nibs” a “suicide.”