No Place Like Home

LOURDES, Michoacan---The crazy road up the mountains led to several humble homes and ranches. One of the houses belonged to Javier. Javier and his family have dedicated their life to making the famed Cotija cheese, which last year won an international award in Italy.

While we were fascinated to see how and where the world's best cheese came from, but Javier found it amusing that we were so interested in their lives. People have been living humbly and on that mountain for more than 400 years. To Javier, this was just a way of life.

Javier is 47-years-old, but looks much younger. In fact, he has a slight resemblance to one of my cousins. I think this made me more drawn to him and his family. Javier's home does not have running water or electricity, but that's where he feels at home. He spends most of his day outside, tending to his many chores.

Whenever I go to the city, he said, I feel like my heart is suffocating.

The road that leads to cheese

LOURDES, Michoacan-- Last year during an international food festival in Italy, a Mexican cheese rose far above the rest. It's called queso Cotija. This cheese beat out all the Italian gourmet cheeses and took first place. For the small town of Cotija and the humble cheese producers surrounding the small town of Cotija, this marked the beginning of what could be a better life for their families. We wanted to find out more about the people who dedicate their life to making the cheese, where they live and what the product means to them. What we found was a story of sacrifice, struggle and hope.

The cheesemakers live in the outskirts of the town of Cotija--way up in the mountains. The roads were in bad condition, and our compact rental car, we were told, would not make the drive. So two adventureous policemen drove us to the mountains in their pickup truck. We've had to travel on some crazy roads in our travels from Nicaragua to Africa. But this was definitely the craziest.

We trekked up the dirt road for more than an hour winding up the mountain, going higher and higher. From my window, I could see how a few inches to the left could be a scary drop several stories high. Our ears popped and my weak stomach even felt a little nauseous from all the twists, turns, and bumps. But our reward came as we drove further to the top. A breathtaking view of the mountains and foliage amazed me. It seemed appropriate that mother nature helped produce the best cheese in the world at this location.

One Year

It's officially been one year since Jeremy and I moved to Mexico City. We've been fortunate enough to see a lot of the country in this short time. But our plans are just beginning. There's lots more to see, more stories to tell. We're looking forward to discovering more of the richness Mexico offers. Here's to another year of finding priceless moments like these in our travels:

Discovering Downtown Gudadalajara

Recently we traveled to Guadalajara for a story, and took some time to visit the historic downtown area. It's always nice to go to a place that neither Jeremy and I have visited so that we can explore together.

Guadalajara has about 4 million people, and is Mexico's second biggest city after Mexico City. But even though it is huge, it seemed a lot cleaner and liveable than the D.F. At first the downtown area seemed small, but once we started walking around, we discovered a maze of statues, museums, funky chairs and great fountains.

Chapala-- more than three decades later

"The natural water level of Lake Chapala comes up to this spot. It is for this level that we are fighting for."






About 36 years ago, my parents traveled to Guadalajara on their honeymoon. During their stay, they visited the nearby quaint town of Chapala with the famous Lake Chapala. Growing up, I remember seeing a shapshot taken of them eating by the lake. Last week, Jeremy and I were in Guadalajara on assignment and decided to check out the scene that I remembered from my parent's photograph.

Though the town still has its charm with cobblestone streets, fountains and colorful tiles decorating the downtown area, the lake now has grave problems. The water has turned brownish, and most disappointing is that the beachside sand has practically disappeared and has been replaced by non-native algae. I looked around and wondered where my parents could have taken that photo. It seemed like they were right by the water. But now the water levels have gone down drastically, and the lake is further away from the shore.

According to NASA news, "Lake Chapala is in the inauspicious company of many shrinking lakes worldwide and its future remains uncertain."

Read more about why Lake Chapala is in danger and what efforts for saving the lake have been made by clicking on the title of this blog.

Guanajuato Anniversary

Jeremy and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary this week. It's amazing how fast the time goes. So much has happened to us in just one year. We got married, packed up and left the country, started new jobs, moved into a new house....

We treated ourselves to a trip to Guanajuato. It was very appropriate considering that we went to Venice for our honeymoon. Guanajuato is gorgeous, and many of the narrow, winding cobblestone streets reminded me of Italy. We've gotten to explore many Mexican cities this past year -- so far Guanajuato is definitely in the top 3.

Mexico honors the legendary Pedro Infante

Along with the rest of the country, Mexico City honored the 50th anniversary of legendary actor and singer Pedro Infante's death. Infante died in a plane crash in Merida, Yucatan. The Infante famiy requested a special Mass on Sunday in Mexico City's downtown cathedral in his honor. More than 2,000 fans packed the church.



I caught the end of the Mass, where fans chanted as if he were alive in concert. Fans gathered outside the church sharing their own personal memories of the icon. One man whipped out a photo of Infante that he always carried with him.

Earthquake rocks the night

Friday the 13th in Mexico City got a little scarier at about 12:45 a.m. We had just crawled into bed about a half hour earlier when a tremor --that measured 6.2 on the Richter scale-- made the city tremble.

I was half asleep when I felt the matress and bed frame shake. Not knowing if I was still dreaming or not, my first thought was that Jeremy was moving the bed. I asked him, "What's happening?"

"An earthquake," he said as he jumped out of bed to inspect how things were looking outside. That woke me up.

Our bedroom doors kept making a clicking sound as they banged against the doorway. Luckily in our neighborhood the power stayed on and things returned to normal after a few minutes. But in other parts of the city, especially downtown, panic grew as people had flashbacks of the deadly 1985 earthquake that struck the megalopolis.

Guests at hotels ran to the streets in pajamas, some, like me, had never have experienced an earthquake before. The Mexico City daily EL UNIVERSAL reported people slept in the street, just in case.

What many people forget is that Mexico City was built over water. Back in the day, our neighborhood of Coyoacan, was considered a suburb on the outskirts of the city and has always been land, which makes us feel a little better. But the night's quake made me realize we are not completely in the clear.

We fell asleep listening to the local radio's extensive reports on the quake's effect on the city. People shared their stories-- a reporter spotted someone leave their apartment, wearing only a sheet. Another reporter touched a woman's arm after an interview and told listeners that she was still trembling. Somehow I could sleep better after listening to their stories. I was not alone.

Cruz Azul

We had blue fever when we went to check out the pro Mexican soccer league team Cruz Azul play against Veracruz this weekend. The intimate stadium allows every seat to be a good one. I still haven't picked a favorite team to root for, but getting to see the players in action will definitely help me choose. Check out the other stadium in the background--it's actually a bullfighting ring.



Die-hard fans somehow produce smoke during the game to keep the drama alive.



Cruz Azul wins 4-2, and the guys exchange jerseys. I wish I had a better zoom lens on this camera.

City will finally sleep

It's Semana Santa, or Holy Week, here in the predominantly Catholic megalopolis. There's a mad rush to get out of the city, since these all are vacation days here (except for journalists, of course). But for at least a couple of days, there will be less traffic, less people on the metro, and some quiet.

I've never spent a Semana Santa here in Mexico City, but I did get a little taste of the calmness during Christmas. After we came back from our holidays, the megalopolis was still dead. It was awesome. It's the best time to be a tourist and the best time to do the errands across town that always get put off.