Is Swine Flu Killing Mexican Tourism ?

- or is it a Great Time to Go?

Mexican tourism, already in a funk because of the the depressed world economy and spiraling narco killings, has been dealt a devastating third blow with the outbreak of the swine flu.

A Yahoo! News article today reports virtually empty planes from Miami and beaches in Cancun. The Mexican central bank had predicted a 4.8% contraction in the Mexican economy this before the outbreak. No telling how much it will shrivel now and how severe the impacts will be to the tourist industry.

The peso, already at a bargain exchange rate of 13 to one earlier in the month (I was a beneficiary of that to a degree in a recent trip to La Paz and San Jose del Cabo, was at 14 to one on 4/27.

So some would argue it's a great time to travel there, me among them - it's just a question of managing risk. What are good destinations? Los Cabo, for one, the standard of living there is already high, they have a proactive state government (Baja California Sur) that has already made impressive shows of force to counteract any perception the the narco-mafiosos have made any inroads there or can operate with impunity. Airfares are dropping, and even lodgings that priced in dollars are willing to negotiate (worked for me - I managed to get a suite with kitchen for the price of a small double).

Other areas to consider would be Nayarit and Western Jalisco, both accessible from Puerto Vallarta. Similar to the stock market, when everyone's selling it's often a good time to buy.

Good Gringos and Bad Gringos

Most Americans believe that being referred to as a "gringo" is meant strictly as a derogatory term. This isn't necessarily true. There can be "good" gringos and "bad" gringos to a Mexican (or other Latin American - be aware that Mexicans think of themselves as Norte Americanos). The term gringo dates back nearly two hundred years, to the Mexican-American war - there a number of theories for the origin of gringo, from the color of the jackets worn by US troops, to Irish-Catholic deserters who joined forces with the Mexicans and sang a song called "Green Grow the Lillacs" and to one about a US railroad builder urging the Mexican engine drivers to "Green-Go" at signals. All are discussed in depth in Wikipedia.

Whatever the origin, there is also much debate as to how pejorative or derogatory the word is - with context obviously making the strongest case for how its meaning should be interpreted. A recent article (Spring 2009) in a local Los Cabos magazine called Destinos (www.destinomagazines.com) discussed just that concept posited above - the "good" gringo. Here I've paraphrased some of the 23 aspects of being a "good" gringo that author J. Michael Sullivan made in the article entitled "Good Gringo? Si or No".

• Learn some Spanish - then use it.
• Don’t insist America is the best and/or the center of the universe.
• Know that Mexicans are also North Americans.
• Don't lose your cool when dealing when things don't go like you'd expect them to in the states (government, customer service).
• Be friendly, warm, sincere - always.
• Know that it's an honor to be introduced and meet the members of a Mexican family and be invited into their homes.
• Give your tips to your workers with the phrases “por cerveza” or “por sus ninos,” or for beer or for your children.
• Acknowledge that you tell Mexicans to arrive at 6 PM but be cool when they arrive at 7 PM.
• Realize that, for Mexicans, it’s considered rude to say no to an invitation even if they have no intention of showing up. Later you say that they were missed.
• Go with the flow when driving, knowing that, somehow, it all works.
• Understand how helpful Mexicans are, even if it takes a half dozen eight guys a half hour before the action plan hatches.
• Figure out that Mexicans see their history going back several thousand years.
• Be entertained, not annoyed, that all documents have to have three official stamps. Wap, wap, wap.
• Be alert to, and respectful of, the status and power issues among Mexican social classes, even if you don’t agree with them.
• And one my favorites: adopt a Zen-like attitude when you hear “manana".

All that said, one hopes that there many more good gingos (or gringas) out there than bad ones.

Lunch in San Jose del Cabo

At last time to spend blogging - it's been 7 months of serious work and Mexico Musing neglect - not that I haven't been thniking about being in Mexsico. Spending another week at the Esperanza resort on Los Cabo's corridor - one of the premier resorts in Mexico. We are fortunate enough to have friends that never seem to tire of our company - this is our 6th visit. Most trips to Esperanza we've managed to get in a few days in real world Mexico in the Cabo area and this trip is no exception. A return trip to La Paz is on tap.
Today saw us take a lunch visit to San Jose del Cabo, the older, quainter and frankly more appealing of the dos cabos. We tried to find a Taco place called Guacamayas but were unsuccessful - instead we went to "el centro" and checked out the newly remodeled and expanded zocalo - they did a nice job - it includes a large civic monument with bronze busts of past Mexican heroes. Two streets, one on the west side of the plaza and other in front of the municipal building has created a larger and more expansive space.

We poked around looking for a place to eat, remembering a sweet cafe from a previous stay in San Jose called Tulipan but finding it closed. We then moseyed over to Calle Obregon to a restaurant that had received good reviews on Trip Advisor called Salsitas. As we had a rental car to return, we were unfashionably early even by Gringo standards and were the first customers. Decorated in clean and classic Mexcian rustic , we were warmly greeted and sat in pleasant window location open to the street. My wife Eva has a knack for picking out the unusual (and uncannily delicious) menus items and today was no exception - Fish Tacos on Jicama tortillas. I hedged my bets and made one of my three tacos a carne asada. Chips and four salsas, including a rojo served warm, arrived in moments and already we were salivating, as I slurped one of the best horchatas (rice milk flavored with cinnamon) I've ever put to mis bocas (lips).

What arrived next was truly stunning visually. We'd assumed that jicama tortillas meant flour version made with jicama - instead each "tortilla" was a paper thin slice of jicama six inches in diameter, artfully arranged - the moist and tender grilled white fish was smothered with thinly chopped white cabbage and drizzled with a slightly sweet red sauce of unknown origin. These tacos were divine - the rather ordinary carne asada "back-up" I had ordered was a pale (and stupid) substitute. It was a truly satisfying almuerzo.

Salsitas, Calle Obregon, San Jose del Cabo