Sugar, spice and everything nice: homemade cookies are everyone’s favorite

By

-

December 11, 2021

lemon shortbread cookies — Divine in its simplicity, lemon shortbread is a perennial fave.

The first record of cookies as we would recognize them is found in 7th-century Persia (now Iran), which was one of the earliest countries to grow sugar cane. Then, with the Muslim conquest of Spain in 711, previously expensive and hard-to-get sugar made its way more freely through the continent, and bakers began to use it more abundantly.

At that time, cakes and filled pies were the norm; cookies as we know them hadn’t really made an appearance in European society yet. What we think of as “cookies” originally had a very pragmatic use: made from small amounts of cake batter, they were for testing the oven temperature before baking cakes. That’s it.

Needless to say, bakers reveled in the availability of sugar, and by the 1300s, cookies, in some form or another, were commonplace in every level of European society. In the 16th century, England’s Queen Elizabeth I made history with gingerbread cookies fashioned in the images of important guests at a party.

By the 1800s, cookies began taking on qualities we’re more familiar with, specifically the creaming of butter and sugar, as opposed to the more liquid cake batter with its water and oil content.

The real burning question I know many of you have (especially fans of the TV show The Great British Bake Off) is why they’re called “biscuits” in England (and most other English-speaking countries, including parts of Canada) and “cookies” in the United States where, whether crisp or soft, it’s still called a cookie.

Get the flavor of Reese’s cups in homemade cookies with these easy peanut butter bars.

Hah! There’s really no answer; that’s just the way it is. The word “cookie” comes from the Dutch word for cake, koekje, and began to be used in English in the early 17th century. Historians speculate that Dutch immigrants brought the word to New York and it spread through the continent.

Here in Mexico, they’re galletas whether crispy, soft or somewhere in between.

Lemon-Masa Shortbread

These are so good you may want to double the recipe.

1 cup masa harina
1 cup flour
1 cup butter, softened
¾ cup confectioner’s sugar
½ tsp. salt
Zest of 2 lemons
2 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 325 F. Lightly grease or line with parchment two baking sheets.

In small bowl, whisk masa harina and flour. Set aside.

Beat butter, confectioner’s sugar, salt and zest at medium-high speed until very smooth and creamy, about 5 minutes — longer than you normally would do for most cookies. Scrape sides of bowl as needed. Stir in vanilla.

On low speed, mix in dry ingredients until dough comes together. Portion into 1½-inch balls.

Gently roll in granulated sugar to coat before placing onto prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each. Lightly flatten top of each cookie with a fork.

Bake 12–16 minutes until set and the edges start to brown slightly. Remove from oven; allow to cool on the baking sheet. (Cookies are fragile when warm.)

Cool completely before serving. Store well-wrapped at room temperature for several days; freeze for longer storage.

Get a taste of Italy with chocolate biscotti.

No-Bake Peanut Butter Bars

Basically DIY Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Yum!

3 Tbsp. butter
1 cup peanut or other nut butter
Pinch of salt
½ cup cookie crumbs (graham crackers or gingersnaps) or shredded coconut
About 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 cup chocolate chips
½ Tbsp. coconut oil or butter
Toppings: flaky sea salt, shredded coconut, sliced almonds, chopped japoneses peanuts

Heat butter in a skillet, letting it melt, bubble and turn brown. Add peanut butter; turn off heat. (If nut butter is unsalted, add a pinch of salt.) Stir until peanut butter melts. Stir in crumbs. Sweeten to taste with confectioners’ sugar. Spread mixture onto a parchment-lined 8-by-8-inch pan.

In a small pot, melt chocolate chips and coconut oil/butter, stirring constantly. (Or microwave in 20-second bursts, stirring between each one.) Spread melted chocolate over the peanut butter layer, then sprinkle with toppings of choice. Refrigerate until set, about one hour. Cut into squares with a knife. Store in refrigerator.

Chocolate Coconut Almond Biscotti

1¾ cups flour
¾ cup cocoa
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp. vanilla
1Tbsp. water
1/3 cup shredded unsweetened coconut, toasted
¼ cup slivered almonds or chopped pistachios

Preheat oven to 350 F. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, cocoa and salt. Using an electric mixer, beat in eggs and vanilla, then the water. Keep beating till dough is smooth and soft, or dump onto a floured counter and mix by hand. Add nuts and coconut and mix well. Dough will be stiff, but try to work it to the point that it’s smooth without any cracks.

Divide dough in half. Form each half into a 2½-inch wide, 3/4-inch tall log and transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Bake for 12 minutes; turn baking sheet and bake 12 minutes more. Dough should be firm but give slightly when pressed.

Cool 20 minutes on wire rack; cut diagonally into about ¼-inch slices and place standing upright back onto cookie sheet. Bake again for 8 minutes; rotate cookie sheet and bake 8 minutes more.

Remove from oven and cool.

Muddie Buddies/Puppy Chow

Not cookies but still a delicious treat.

1 (12-oz.) box of Chex, Crispix or similar cereal (about 11 cups)
1½ cups chocolate chips
¾ cup creamy peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1½ cups confectioners’ sugar
Salt

Place cereal in a large bowl. Melt chocolate chips and peanut butter: Microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring between each, until nearly completely melted, then stir to melt completely. On stovetop, stir in a small saucepan over low heat.

Once melted, remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour chocolate-peanut butter mixture over the cereal; stir vigorously to coat. Refrigerate until chocolate is cool, 10–15 minutes.

Spread coated cereal in an even layer on sheet pan. With a fine-mesh sieve, sprinkle some of the confectioners’ sugar evenly over the cereal, add a pinch of salt, then toss with a spoon or your hands, until evenly coated. Repeat with remaining powdered sugar.

Store in airtight container at room temperature for 3–4 days or in fridge or freezer for months.

Janet Blaser is the author of the best-selling book, Why We Left: An Anthology of American Women Expats, featured on CNBC and MarketWatch. She has lived in Mexico since 2006. You can find her on Facebook.

Here’s how I plan to celebrate the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe

By

Sarah DeVries

-

December 11, 2021

0

Pilgrims carrying images of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

One December as a child, I helped my Presbyterian grandmother decorate for Christmas. While placing the Nativity on the side table in the living room where it usually went, I asked her what she thought of Mary’s … situation.

“That must have really been something, right? To have become pregnant by God without having even been with a man?”

She looked at me and scowled before saying, “Come on, Sarah. You know she wasn’t really a virgin.”

It’s a story that cracks me up every time I think about it now, but when my 11-year-old-self heard her say those words, it really gave me something to think about.

What if she was right and the magic was all made up? And was that vitriol in her usually warm and fuzzy guidance-counselor voice because she thought the magical elements of the story were absurd, or because she thought it was terrible for someone to claim to be a virgin when they clearly were not?

Why was it so important to be a virgin anyway, and why did it end up being an important distinction only for girls?

La Virgen — de Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico specifically, also known as La Guadalupana — is on my mind now that her celebration is upon us. From December 9 to 12, much of the country will be at a standstill as she is celebrated.

There will be carnivals, lots of fireworks (as I write this on December 9, they’ve already started and my dog is trembling beside me), processions of pilgrims on their way to the Basilica de Guadalupe and packed churches.

The devotion is real, and it’s widespread and plentiful.

Most people familiar with Mexican culture know of this devotion and might even know the story behind it. It goes like this:

A brown-skinned Virgin Mary appeared to the recently converted Christian indigenous man Juan Diego. She told him that she wanted a shrine built for her on Tepeyac hill, on the northern edge of Mexico City.

Juan Diego informed the local Catholic bishop, who wanted some sort of sign as proof before he would agree to build a church. So La Virgen appeared to Juan Diego a second time and told him to collect roses in his cloak.

He did so and took them to the bishop. When Juan Diego opened the cloak to let the roses fall out, her image was imprinted on it.

This is, according to legend, the very cloak that is on display at the Guadalupe Basilica.

If the story was a plan by the Catholic Church — and my non-miracle-believing self suspects that it might very well have been — then it was a truly brilliant move. True or not, it made the indigenous of Mexico feel ownership of this new religion that had appeared — winning hearts and minds rather than forcing converts through violence, a technique not nearly as effective.

It gave the indigenous people a god (or goddess, as it were) in their own image, a benevolent mother who would love and protect them during ever-turbulent times.

In my more cynical days, I wrote the Virgin of Guadalupe off as simply the fantasy product of an idealized female figure invented by a chauvinist and too-powerful church determined to always insist that women behave as perfect, godlike beings while men get the benefit of being seen as the fallible animals we all are — and therefore free from blame for their animal-like behavior.

More so in some cultures than others, girls grow up keenly noticing all the ways that we’re not living up to the feminine ideal, which itself is a jumble of contradictions: be seductive but not a tease, beautiful but humble, submissive but smart, cunning but not a bad-intentioned bitch.

While there exists a masculine ideal as well, boys are given more of a pass when they don’t live up to it.

Though the culture is gradually changing, the gender of ridicule in Mexico is still decidedly female: there are few worse ways to insult a man than to call him a woman (or woman-like), but that’s not true the other way around.

So to me, the Virgin was just one more figure in a long line of impossible ideals that I and the rest of my gender would be criticized for not living up to and, besides that, an obvious ploy by the Catholic Church to trick the indigenous of the Americas into giving up their own religions, having just happened to request her altar at the site of the Aztec mother goddess Tonantzin, which I don’t think is a coincidence.

As I’ve aged, my judgments have softened. While I certainly don’t live in a constant state of Zen, it has become much easier with time to learn to just chill instead of getting all worked up about stuff, which allows me to reflect on things in a different way.

And besides, now I have something in common with her: I’m a mother.

La Virgen, unlike me, is a perfect mother: self-sacrificing, adoring, devoted to her children above all else. It’s no coincidence that the concept of motherhood in Mexico especially is held up as the noblest calling for a woman.

Women in general may be the subject of ridicule and scorn in plenty of settings, but the sacredness of the mother — especially one’s own mother — is untouchable. And the mother as an archetype is irresistible. If you’ve been lucky enough in this life to feel a mother’s love, you know that it’s endless.

If you’ve been lucky enough to become a mother, naturally or otherwise, you know that aching, loving feeling as well. If you haven’t had a mother who’s showered you with unconditional love (or if you did but have lost her since), in La Virgen, you do have one: the mother of all, in fact, watching out for you, loving you unconditionally.

She is the loving god embodied, her love for her children making any sins they might commit downright irrelevant. She doesn’t need to give forgiveness because nothing could cause her to turn away from you in the first place. She does not stand in judgement.

So, this year, I’m reframing La Guadalupana for myself as a spiritual kind of Mother’s Day. The traffic the pilgrimages cause is frustrating, but I’d certainly walk hundreds of miles in the middle of the road myself if it meant feeling my own mother’s presence again.

Sarah DeVries is a writer and translator based in Xalapa, Veracruz. She can be reached through her website, https://sarahedevries.substack.com/.

Boosters, awards and 3-state roadshow: the week at the morning press conferences

By

MND Staff

-

December 11, 2021

0

amlo-wednesday — The president speaking from Nayarit on Wednesday. Presidencia de la República

President López Obrador’s detractors have one claim against him that seems to stick: that he has caused political polarization. His defense of the ninis, a slang term for young adults who neither study nor work, and his disdain for the fifís, a slang term for the bourgeois elite, are an example of the class centered perception which comes naturally to the veteran leftist.

He is adept at batting those criticisms away, by directing a simple label at his opponents: “conservative.”

Monday

The president repeated his schema for improving the country on Monday. The formula identified some of the problems facing Mexico, but was lighter on the solutions: “Mexico’s main problem is corruption, that is the main cause of the economic and social inequality. Due to corruption there is poverty, due to corruption there is violence, and corruption makes the country ungovernable. So, ending the corruption and establishing as a way of life and honesty as a form of government is the project,” he said.

The conference was gifted a number of lengthy speeches from the Tabascan. In one, he highlighted the ubiquitous nature of corruption, but his rather confusing history lesson was a little hard to follow.

For example: “In the 17th century, they burned the palace because there was a criminal complaint by the viceroy against the archbishop,” the president said. “The viceroy accused the archbishop of corruption, and of having a monopoly on food. The archbishop started the process to excommunicate the viceroy, and the viceroy ordered his arrest. The people supported the archbishop and burned the palace.”

Tuesday

Zapopan, Jalisco, was the venue for Tuesday’s conference. Governor Enrique Alfaro said the president’s hands-on approach with state governments was reaping benefits: “We are very pleased to have this work dynamic, unlike before, when a president of Mexico came to visit a state. Then, there were protocols and ceremonial acts, today there are working meetings and the possibility to talk to each other directly, to clarify things and understand where we are.”

Alfaro added that crime in Jalisco has recently ducked under the national average.

Hugo López-Gatell, the deputy health minister, confirmed that the third wave of COVID-19 was still going in the right direction, and that booster shots would go to over 60s first, amid the likely spread of the omicron variant.

The president directed a string of video calls to check up on vaccine progress in Chiapas, Sinaloa, Yucatán and Mexico City, leaving no time for questions from journalists. However, poor signal and lousy connections on the calls did little to inspire confidence.

President López Obrador receives his booster shot. Presidencia de la República

Members of the cabinet and everyone else on stage lined up for their booster shots.

“Good morning. Today you will have your booster of your vaccine. Before we start with the application, have you developed a fever in the last 48 hours?” a nurse asked, before reinforcing their protection against COVID-19.

Wednesday

Nayarit hosted the president on Wednesday, which he hailed as the birthplace of revolutionary hero Esteban Baca Calderón.

Defense Minister Luis Cresencio Sandoval confirmed both homicide and kidnapping had increased in the state. However, he added that for both crimes the state was in 21st place.

In the who’s who of lies, a weekly feature where Ana García Vilchis names and shames dubious reporting, the government rejected a claim that public hospitals were demanding vaccine certificates as a prerequisite to providing medical attention.

Vilchis said that such a practice was impossible, as the rules didn’t allow it: “The medical services of the [the Mexican Social Security Institute] are not conditional on presenting a COVID vaccine certificate,” she said.

Later in the conference, the president read a tweet by another Calderón — the ex-president Felipe Calderón — which targeted Vilchis: “Get rid of the girl, the one that doesn’t even know how to read, in her lies of the week section.”

AMLO repeated his plan to bring the health system under federal control and added that former corruption czar Santiago Nieto, who left his post after a lavish wedding in Guatemala, should be investigated for corruption.

Thursday

Journalists were no more than spectators at Thursday’s conference. There was no time for questions from the media as architects and engineers were given priority, and handed awards.

“Any human being enjoys architecture and understands it as the art of having the better quality of living space. It may be emblematic, iconic or social, but the architect in the end will make the quality of the space, the space that is for the human,” said the head of the Association of Architects and Engineers, Ricardo Rodríguez.

The president presents architect Gabriel Chávez de la Mora with his award. Presidencia de la República

Ninety-two-year-old architect Gabriel Chávez de la Mora received an award for his career building modern places of worship, such as the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City.

The architect made a plea of the president: “Your government shouldn’t cut budgets, on the contrary it should strengthen them … to ensure the protection, restoration, reconstruction or maintenance of so many buildings of our large cultural heritage.”

Pemex engineer Francisco José Garaicochea, who AMLO described as a “nationalist engineer,” won the other prize.

Oil, the president said, was a matter of national identity.

“Remember the history … A patriotic decision was made in 1938 because oil was being exploited by foreign companies. The foreigners left [hoping] … that the Mexican technicians would not be able to manage the company, and that we were going to go back to them,” the president said.

Friday

Chihuahua city was the president’s third destination of the week, the fourth worst state for homicides, Defense Minister Sandoval confirmed.

The head of the National Guard, Luis Rodríguez Bucio, addressed the migrant trailer crash in Chiapas on Thursday. He confirmed that at least 54 people of the 160 people travelling died and 105 were injured. Rodríguez added that the driver had fled and that the truck didn’t pass through any migration checkpoints, which are dotted all over the border state’s highways.

“We express our pain for these unfortunate, sad facts and send a brotherly embrace to the relatives of those who lost their lives in this accident, that’s the main thing. It hurts a lot when these cases occur,” the president said.

He pointed to poverty as the root cause of migration and seemed to defer responsibility over the northern border to his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden. “We proposed that welfare programs should be urgently applied in Central America … I proposed it to President Biden … I said there were around 300,000 people at risk of migrating in Central America and that action had to be taken immediately,” he said.

However, he conceded that Biden had to face down a “rheumatic elephant” to resolve the problem, a term he favors to refer to bureaucratic barriers.

Mexico News Daily

Government to offer COVID boosters to everyone, president confirms

By

MND Staff

-

December 10, 2021

0

President López Obrador received his COVID booster shot at his regular Tuesday press conference. The shots are already available to seniors. — President López Obrador received his COVID booster shot at his Tuesday press conference. The shots are already available to seniors. Presidencia de la República

The federal government will offer COVID-19 booster shots to everyone, President López Obrador said Friday.

He said the government has sufficient doses for a universal booster scheme because it invested 40 billion pesos (US $1.9 billion) in the purchase of vaccines.

Mexico ranks seventh in the world in terms of the number of doses it has available, López Obrador told reporters at his morning news conference, held in Chihuahua.

He noted that booster shots are already being offered to seniors and confirmed that teachers will be next in line. He didn’t say when they would be offered to health workers, who received their initial doses at the start of Mexico’s vaccine rollout.

López Obrador called on people who decided not to get vaccinated when they first became eligible to come forward and get a shot.

“I’m sure there are towns in the Chihuahua Sierra where people haven’t yet been vaccinated,” he said.

Just over 79.2 million people in Mexico have received at least one dose of a vaccine, the Health Ministry reported Thursday. The figure equates to 86% of the eligible population, which as of last month is people aged 15 and over.

In other COVID-19 news:

• Mexico’s accumulated case tally increased to 3.91 million on Thursday with 3,180 new infections reported. The official COVID-19 death toll rose by 293 to 296,186.

• Mexico City will remain low risk green on the coronavirus stoplight map next week, authorities said. COVID spokesman Eduardo Clark said there were no signs of a spike in case numbers and hospitalizations continue to decline.

About 75% of COVID patients in the hospital are not vaccinated, he said.

Clark called on people not to gather with friends and families over the Christmas holiday period if they have COVID symptoms or know they were in contact with someone with the disease.

• Baja California, one of five yellow medium risk states on the current stoplight map, has the highest number of active cases in the country. The northern border state has 3,341 current infections, the Health Ministry said Thursday.

Mexico City ranks second for active cases with 2,415 followed by Guanajuato (1,806); Chihuahua (1,776); Sonora (1,596); and Coahuila (1,311).

At the municipal level, Tijuana has the highest number of active cases followed by Mexicali, Chihuahua, León, Hermosillo, Ensenada, Álvaro Obregón (in Mexico City), San Luis Potosí, Aguascalientes and Juárez.

There are just over 20,000 estimated active cases across the country.

With reports from Milenio

Live long and hike! Monterrey’s hiking guru offers tips for beginners

By

John Pint

-

December 10, 2021

0

EL Divisadero, Jalisco — Views like this mile-high one at El Divisadero in Jalisco await the new hiker.

When hiker Alejandro González recently published his guide to hiking in Mexico, Vive y Camina (Live and Hike), the founder of Bakpak Magazine’s goal wasn’t so much to organize excursions for already experienced hikers but rather to lure city folk out of the metropolis and into the woods.

He also wanted to leave them with such good feelings about their experience that they would happily come back for many more hikes thereafter.

“There are many things in life that we take for granted,” says González, who is also the founder of Bakpak Monterrery, one of the most active groups of senderistas (hikers and trekkers) in northeastern Mexico. “A sky of blue, a meadow, a tree. But the very fact that we can see these things at all is magic, the very fact that we can walk on two legs without falling flat on our faces, is magic.”

“If we demonstrate the value of nature,” he says, “if we teach it well, in such a way that people have fun and enjoy the experience, it generates a link between them and nature, and this link will be of inestimable value in absolutely everything they will ever do.”

This is truly a noble undertaking in a society where the younger generation would often happily keep their eyes glued to a smartphone 24 hours a day if they could get away with it.

Alejandro González founder of Bakpak Magazine — Architect and cartographer Alejandro González has been publishing Bakpak Magazine since 2005.

The trick is that enticing city slickers of any age to follow a trail into the unknown could go terribly wrong. If, at the end of their first such experience, they come home utterly wiped out, chewed on by gnats, covered in poison ivy and walking on blisters, it’s a sure thing that they’ll never go on a second hike — and down the line, they will probably make sure their children won’t either. Hence this book.

“Be prepared!” is definitely the right motto for anyone about to walk into the woods, and here, González shares his hard-won experience and discoveries about proper hiking gear with those willing to follow him out of their comfortable homes and into the fascinating forests, mountains, deserts, canyons and jungles that Mexico is famed for:

Footwear

So far, no one has ever shown up for one of my hikes wearing high heels but, yes, a few people have arrived wearing flip-flops.

Now, I admit that I once met a campesino (farmer) who led us up to a cave atop a steep hill wearing flip-flops while all of us cavers had proper hiking boots. On top of that, Don Ginio was swinging a machete the entire time, clearing the way for the rest of us — and guess who had problems keeping up with whom!

Nevertheless, González lays forth solid arguments for going out and buying proper hiking boots if you want to get the most benefit from your exploration of the great outdoors.

Primavera Forest, Jalisco — Hiking takes you to hard-to-reach places like the source of the boiling hot Río Negro in Jalisco’s Primavera Forest.

“Boots give stability to every step and the best protection you can get for your ankles. They can keep your feet dry in rain and snow and allow you to move safely over rocks and thorns. A good boot is a prueba de todo — everything-proof.”

In addition to good hiking boots, says González, you should also think about getting socks specifically made for hiking. “Blisters can be the result not only of bad shoes but also the wrong kind of socks.”

In my opinion, those “right kind of hiking socks” are the ones made of merino wool. Wool has the amazing ability to keep you warm even when it’s wet. You can demonstrate its wonderful moisture-wicking power by putting your hand inside a damp woolen sock.

After five minutes you will notice that the moisture has moved to the outside of the sock and your hand is dry.

Clothing

Layers are the secret, says González, and I completely agree. Use quick-dry fabric for your innermost layer, he says, and Polartec for the next layer.

Hikers with wild mint — An encounter with wild mint (insert). “Close your eyes and learn to fine-tune your sense of smell,” says González.

“It will keep you warm and dry in every sort of climate or situation.”

For your topmost layer, González recommends Gore-Tex: “It’s like armor against water, wind and cold, but it allows your body to breathe and keeps you dry.”

What about sleeves and pant legs: long or short?

Here are a few arguments for long: güinas (chiggers), garrapatas (ticks), jejenes (biting gnats), stinging ants, Africanized bees and dengue-carrying mosquitoes.

Also, there’s plants you won’t want to touch: uña de gato (cat’s claw), ahuates (nearly invisible prickles), hiedra (poison ivy), espinas (thorns), mala mujer and dominguillo (stinging plants), not forgetting, of course, the bark of the incha-huevos (swollen-ball tree).

There are arguments for wearing shorts — but I just can’t think of any at the moment!

Bakpak community on a hike — The goal of Monterrey’s Bakpak Community is to get people out of the city and into contact with nature.

Hats

In addition to preventing your brains from frying, a hat can be mighty handy for beating off those Africanized bees, biting gnats and dengue-carrying mosquitoes mentioned above.

In other words, don’t even think about going hiking without a hat.

Hiking poles

Someone gave me a hiking pole many years ago, and I’ve been using it ever since. I find it particularly useful for keeping balance on loose stones or rocky debris lying on a slope and for leaping from rock to rock while crossing streams.

In his book, Vive y Camina, González makes the case that the use of two hiking poles can actually give you better performance, particularly on slopes.

Hiking poles, it seems, are able to reduce stress on feet, legs, knees and back by sharing the load more evenly, especially when you are carrying a heavy backpack.

Opponents do claim, however, that over time, you may turn into a pole junkie and lose some of the agility and balance that every hiker should possess.

Rucksack

You can distinguish casual caminantes (walkers) from experienced senderistas (hikers) by what they carry in their hands rather than on their backs.

Bringing water is a great idea, but holding that water bottle in your hand all day is not. As González suggests, even on the shortest trail, a hiker should always use a mochila (rucksack) containing “the basic necessities.”

After all, even before the Spanish conquistadors arrived, Mexicans habitually carried their belongings in a morral, a bag with a shoulder strap, typically made from ixtle (agave fiber).

Los Azules, Jalisco — Want to see this spectacular waterfall near Tequila, Jalisco? Become a hiker!

So what are those basic necessities you should carry in your rucksack?

Before we get into that, it’s important to mention that what you should be thinking about when you prepare for your hike is not the expected but rather the unexpected.

The unexpected is getting lost and spending all day trying to find your way back.

The unexpected is a freak storm on that mountaintop, transforming summer into winter in an instant.

The unexpected is a flash flood that turns a bubbling brook into a raging torrent that sweeps you right off your feet.

Or it could be a surprise attack of Africanized bees or just a sprained ankle, leaving you barely able to limp along through desolate terrain.

Alejandro Gonzalez hiking with a baby — González’s manual has a section dedicated to hiking with babies.

Frequent hikers have experienced some or all of the above and, consequently, the contents of each of their knapsacks will be slightly different. It is however easy to list a few basics:

water
a first aid kit
a knife
a compact, lightweight windbreaker
a compass
a small, lightweight headlamp
spare batteries for the headlamp
a whistle
insect repellent

There is, of course, much more to be said, and González says it well in Vive y Camina (available in Spanish from Editorial Tente publishers in Monterrey, Nuevo León. You can get the book as a hardcover for 350 pesos or as a paperback for 250 pesos from the Bakpak online store.

The writer has lived near Guadalajara, Jalisco, since 1985. His most recent book is Outdoors in Western Mexico, Volume Three. More of his writing can be found on his blog.

Vive y Camina by Alejandro Gonzalez — Vive y Camina is a manual for hiking in Mexico published in 2021.

Guelaguetza Designs, morral — The morral is the traditional shoulder bag used in Mexico since long before the arrival of the Spaniards. Guelaguetza Designs

page from Vive y Camina by Alejandro Gonzalez — An illustration from González’s book gives tips for weight distribution in a backpack. courtesy of Alejandro González

Carmen Salinas appeared in 115 films, 70 plays, 23 soaps and 9 TV series

By

MND Staff

-

December 10, 2021

0

carmen-salinas-1 — Actress and politician Carmen Salinas.

Carmen Salinas, an iconic and prolific Mexican actress who became a federal lawmaker in her 70s, passed away in Mexico City on Thursday.

Her family announced her death in a social media message. She was 82.

Salinas suffered a stroke almost a month ago and was in a coma in a Mexico City hospital until her passing. She is survived by her daughter and seven grandchildren.

Born in Torreón, Coahuila, in 1939, the actress first appeared on television in the 1960s before making her cinematic debut in the 1970 film La vida inútil de Pito Pérez.

In a long career, Salinas appeared in a total of 115 films, 70 plays, 23 telenovelas, or soap operas, and nine television series. She also hosted a popular but controversial Jerry Springer-style talk show in 1999 and 2000.

In her youth, Salinas appeared in <i>Bellas de Noche</i> and other iconic Mexican sexploitation comedies. — In her youth, Salinas appeared in *Bellas de Noche* and other iconic Mexican sexploitation comedies.

Salinas is perhaps best known for her appearances in Mexican “sex comedies,” a genre known as cine de ficheras.

Her portrayal of the character La Corcholata in the 1975 film Bellas de Noche epitomized the kind of roles she played, said film critic Leonardo García Tsao. She was routinely rude, funny and impulsive at the same time, he told the newspaper El País.

One of the films in which she appeared – El lugar sin límites (1978) – featured the first gay kiss in Mexican cinema. On television, Salinas often portrayed “the selfless mother” in telenovela roles that allowed her to show off both her dramatic and comedic acting skills.

In 2015, the film star turned her hand to politics, entering the lower house of Congress as a deputy for the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). She once said that she didn’t want to get involved in politics, but former PRI national president César Camacho Quiroz convinced her that her charisma and proximity to the people would be assets in the role.

But her short political career will forever be overshadowed by her enduring presence on the nation’s television and cinema screens. “She will always be remembered for her good-natured and comedic roles,” García said.

With reports from El País

Zacatecas mayor pleads with crime gangs to stop killing innocent people

By

Rose Egelhoff

-

December 10, 2021

0

Mayor Ramos asked crime gangs to respect the lives of Valparaíso residents.

A Zacatecas mayor is begging crime gangs to leave innocent citizens alone.

Eleuterio Ramos, the mayor of Valparaíso, directed a public message to criminal groups this week.

“I am a man of law, convinced … that the strength of the institutions of the Mexican state is the best route. I never thought it would be necessary to say it … I’m going to emulate the president of the republic and beg the leaders and members of organized crime groups that they respect the assets, the personal integrity and the lives of Valparaíso residents,” Ramos said.

“If you all have decided to live recklessly, fighting for an incomprehensible cause, permanently risking your life, do so at a distance from the communities and our families,” he continued. “Respect our desire to move forward with work, with effort, promoting values and guaranteeing a harmonious coexistence.”

Ramos also called on residents to avoid associating with criminal groups as much as possible, avoid addiction and keep a productive attitude, so that the community can keep moving forward.

His discourse included a request to the federal and state governments as well: he “respectfully called upon” the government to “achieve real coordination” to address the problem. From his perspective, the strategy so far has not been successful.

At least 11 communities in the Valparaíso municipality have been abandoned by residents in the face of threats and attacks by organized crime. Recently, fear of gangs has left a number of municipalities in Zacatecas without a police force in a state plagued by violence. And with 96 homicides per 100,000 residents as of October, the state is the most violent per capita in the country.

President López Obrador announced a new security plan for the state two weeks ago in which another 460 federal troops are being deployed.

With reports from Milenio

‘It’s a morgue. It won’t smell like perfume,’ says director after neighbors complain

By

MND Staff

-

December 10, 2021

0

The medical forensic service (Semefo) morgue in Acapulco has been the target of complaints.

Complaints about fetid odors emanating from the Acapulco morgue have prompted a no-nonsense response from the facility’s director: “There are 250 bodies there, it won’t smell like perfume.”

A morgue will always smell no matter how clean it is kept, Ben Yehuda Martínez Villa told the newspaper Reforma after residents of the resort city’s Progreso neighborhood complained.

He also said there is no evidence that the smell of cadavers is harmful to human health.

“We would all be sick. I’ve been working at the morgue for more than 30 years, … if [the smell] was harmful, a colleague would have already died,” Martínez said.

He acknowledged that only three of the morgue’s five refrigerated chambers are currently in operation because the doors of two of them don’t close properly. For that reason, 100 bodies were recently transferred to the morgue in Chilpancingo, Martínez said.

Overcrowding in morgues is not just a problem in Guerrero, the state where Acapulco is located, but across the country, the director added.

High levels of violent crime in Mexico mean there is a constant stream of bodies to government-run morgues. One that has struggled to meet demand for its services is that in Tijuana, the country’s most violent city.

There are currently more than 52,000 unidentified bodies in morgues, according to data disseminated by Movimiento por Nuestros Desaparecidos (Movement for Our Missing People), a non-governmental organization.

With reports from Reforma

Narcos control everything from politicians to soft drinks, warns Guerrero bishop

By

MND Staff

-

December 10, 2021

0

Bishop Salvador Rangel Mendoza of the Chilapa-Chilpancingo diocese.

Criminal groups in Guerrero have diversified their activities well beyond the trafficking of narcotics, according to a bishop with an intimate understanding of the southern state.

Mining, logging and even the distribution of beer and soft drinks are now among the interests of such groups, Salvador Rangel Mendoza, bishop of the Chilapa-Chilpancingo diocese, told the newspaper Milenio in an interview.

He also warned that many politicians and other public officials are controlled by organized crime.

Rangel, well known for his willingness to engage with criminal organizations, said there has been a political and criminal reorganization in Guerrero since elections were held in June.

“There are criminal groups behind a lot of politicians and behind a lot of leaders,” he said. “In this last vote on June 6, organized crime installed a lot of mayors and some deputies.”

Rangel, who warned in July that Guerrero was at risk of being governed by criminal interests, also said that criminals are now calling local leaders with whom they don’t have ties and instructing them to follow their orders.

Criminals are also extorting mine owners and workers, said the bishop, who frequently travels to communities in his diocese and beyond to listen to the concerns of residents.

“ … Guerrero is rich in … gold and silver [and] these men have already taken control of the mines [and are extorting] both the owners and workers,” Rangel said.

“… It’s the same with logging, [organized] crime is now diversified,” he said. “[Criminals] control pork and beef, they control bread and beer, they control soft drinks in certain areas,” he said.

“… [Only] the soft drink that they want to be sold is sold; meat, chicken and eggs are distributed at the price they want. … That’s why I’ve appealed to federal, state and municipal authorities … to do something for the good of the people.”

In Chilpancingo, the state capital, crime has increased in the past eight months, the bishop said.

Crime is on the rise the state capital, the bishop said. — Crime is on the rise the state capital of Chilpancingo, the bishop said.

“We managed to pacify [the city] about three and a half years ago,” Rangel said, explaining that the dominant criminal group in the capital had not been a frequent perpetrator of violence.

However, that group was ousted by another gang whose modus operandi includes carrying out kidnappings and homicides, he said without naming either.

Guerrero recorded 1,130 homicides in the first 10 months of the year, making it the country’s ninth most violent state. Acapulco and Iguala – where 43 students were abducted in 2014 – are among Mexico’s 50 most violent municipalities, but violence is also a significant problem in poverty-stricken mountainous areas of Guerrero where opium poppies and marijuana are grown as well as the state’s Tierra Caliente region.

Rangel said the federal government’s new support and security plan for Guerrero is a positive, but indicated that more needs to be done, especially in the areas of education and job creation.

Just last week indigenous women from the state’s Montaña region accused authorities at all three levels of government of abandoning them.

With regard to violence against women – another major issue in the state – Rangel said that it occurs due to the sexist attitudes of many men in Guerrero and Mexico more broadly. As for the sale of young girls for marriage, that occurs due to poverty, the bishop said.

“For me the exit [from this problem] is to provide economic opportunities … and education. … There’s a need to sell children in order [for families to have enough money] to eat,” he said.

With reports from Milenio

Santa Claus brigade hits the highway in San Luis Potosí

By

Rose Egelhoff

-

December 10, 2021

0

Santa police in Soledad, San Luis Potosi — Soledad's Santa police on patrol.

Mexicans traveling from the U.S. to San Luis Potosí for the holiday season will once again be greeted by friendly Santas. In what has become an annual tradition, transit police in Santa Claus costumes will offer information and aid to visiting migrants in Soledad, San Luis Potosí.

One such “Santa cop” is Gerardo Ontiveros, who is participating in the program for the sixth time. He said that while wearing the Santa suit is hot and uncomfortable, seeing the joy on children’s faces makes it worth it year after year. Sometimes children even give the police letters for Santa, he said.

“The happiness of the children is what motivates most. It makes people happy. They stop to take photos with us,” Ontiveros said.

Part of the federal Héroes Paisanos (Compatriot Heroes) program, the initiative is designed to help Mexican migrants returning home from the north for the holidays, but the Santas are likely to end up helping migrants of other nationalities as well. In 2021, the municipality of Soledad — the second largest in the state and located right next to the state capital — expects to receive 10,000 returning Mexican citizens. The state is also likely to host more than 50,000 migrants passing through in caravans as they head north from the southern border.

Mauricio Ordaz, director of transit and road security in Soledad, said the Santa cop program is first and foremost a humanitarian effort. The police who participate receive special training from the national and state human rights commissions, the state Attorney General’s Office and immigration authorities.

Heroes Paisano program — A member of Soledad’s Social Proximity police force awaits traveling migrants in a center set up for them to get information, food, medical aid and rest.

The Soledad program, which started this year on December 8 and runs 24 hours a day, includes 30 participating officers who will provide medical aid, food and rest areas to whoever needs them, as well as information on safe traveling routes.

“They are motorcycle police who receive our fellow citizens in a more sensitive way, without the extreme repression that there was before. [Returning citizens] used to expect to be sanctioned,” Ordaz said.

But with teams of Santas on motorcycles providing aid and prompting smiles, that perception is likely changing.

With reports from El Universal and El Sol de San Luis