We're back, Baby!

Hello America, how are you? We're just fine now that we're back in San Francisco after a month in Mexico - thanks for asking. All things considered, we had a good month in Cuernavaca. Maya survived just fine, Sarah got the clinical experience she was hoping for, and I didn't get dissentary. Or at least it wasn't an especially bad case. Before I return to the daily absurdities of life here in the good ol' U S of Freakin' A, I'd like to offer my brief review of Mexico. My rating of the country is a squishy B-minus. And while many people may object to just one overall grade, I offer the following defense of doing so with a handful of cheeky anecdotes.

Cuernavaca gets a C-minus. As far as cities go, it's the Mexican equivalent of, say, Tulsa.

The Mexican people get an A-minus. I'd give them an A, except for the one crooked cabbie I met that ruined it for everyone.

The food gets a D. Only because we couldn't eat it. The fact that the water is so much of a concern rates even lower.

The places we visited get a solid B. Acapulco was kinda crappy, Xochicalco was a trippy cool example of an ancient site that has been excavated and preserved, the towns of Taxco and Tepotzlan were authentically interesting, and we didn't see enough of Mexico City in one day to render anything like a legetimate judgment. We did come across a massive Gay Pride Parade on our way to our hotel which was a welcome taste of life back in San Francisco. While exploring the insanely cool Museo Nacional de Antropologia, we saw the actor William Hurt also checking out Mexico's rich history of, like, history stuff. Our hotel in Mexico City, the Camino Real, was totally arty farty (much more art than fart). But on the way to the airport yesterday morning I saw two billboards featuring Paris Hilton - one for her signature fragrance, "Just Me", and another for (I'm totally serious) Boone's Farm fortified wine. Any country that pays attention to her has issues. Including us.

The wall-to-wall political advertising throughout the country gets a C. I picked up something of a feel for the breakdown between national parties. And the center-left vs. center-right showdown will make for an important bellwether of the political wind blowing all the way up from South America to our southern border. Basically, we've lost the hemisphere given the policies of zenophobia emanating from the Bushies and their compatriots. So in actuality, I give the overall learning process of getting a better feel for what's what in Mexico and farther South a B-plus. Fascinating really.

So round it out to a B-minus for the small slice of Mexico that we saw. I'd suggest that we all should spend some time there and especially not just in the traditional Spring Break sort of locales. Even if you spend half your time on the toilet, it's worth the time spent exploring.

Hope you own feel for the world improved recently. Rock on.