Hola, senores y senoras. I am in lovely Morelia, Mexico, after a trouble-free trip, advanced negotiations with an ATM machine, and some tasty arrachera last night. I believe I have scoped out a wireless connection that may make my laptop happy, which is all to the good. And I’m having a grand old time wandering the zocalo’s streets, reading every sign I see aloud in a quest to make my rolled r’s less embarrassing.

One note: It appears I may not have access to my work email account for the next four weeks. (That would be jbenton at dallasnews dot com.) So if you would normally get in touch with me there, use the old standby, jbenton at toast dot net.

One other note: My cell phone works here, if you need to reach me. I will warn you in advance, however, that the roaming charges are such that I won’t be in the mood for a two-hour leisurely chat.

Comments

23 January | 13:53 | P.G.

Aren't you glad the old one plunged to its evidently-timely death? I'll bet that one wasn't NAFTA-compatible.

Bienvenidos and have a lovely time.

24 January | 9:12 |

como se llama y su madre

24 January | 12:51 | Leah

I got some really useful phrases for you from my Spanish-speaking friends. Mamacita, dame tu signo Sodiacal might get you some friends. No puedo ir al fiesta porque tengo diarrea terrible will help you get rid of them.

Good luck with the rolled r's.

24 January | 20:49 | Nancy

Also this: if you're in a cab that you feel is a danger to yourself and/or others, yell "me mareo!" [translation: I'm about to vomit in the back seat of your cab!] and the driver will slow down or stop. This worked wonders for me in Ecuador. Take care.

25 January | 11:02 |

I hear the cabs/ cab drivers south of the border are very dangerous. This one may also come in handy... pare la muestra [translation- Stop Sign!]

25 January | 14:53 |

Don't read this:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/world/mexico/stories/012505dnintculture.3d7cd.html

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Joshua Benton

Joshua Benton is the director of the Nieman Digital Journalism Project at Harvard University, among other things. Before that, he was a staff writer and columnist for The Dallas Morning News. (More.)