Where on Earth? Week 45 – Batopilas, Mexico

by Iva Skoch on

You were close, so close. It’s in mainland Mexico, not Baja.

I took this picture just before New Year’s 2004 near Batopilas, which is a little tiny village at the very bottom of the Copper Canyon. It is one of the most spectacular places I have ever visited, following possibly the scariest bus ride of my life: 7 hours down dirt road switchbacks. The driver had an annoying habit of taking his hands off the wheel and praying every time he saw a shrine for those “departed down the cliff.”

The church is the Satevo mission built four centuries ago with a mysterious past.

Langston Hughes: Poetry inspired by travel

by Jamie Rhein on

When Langston Hughes’s dad moved to Mexico when Langston was a child, he created the path to the poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” In 1920, while crossing the Mississipi River on a train on his way to Mexico to visit his dad, Langston was inspired to write the poem on the back of a letter. He had just finished high school.

In honor of Black History month, the inspiration gathered from world travel and Langston Hughes, whose poetry still inspires, here’s a short video of him talking about this trip and writing the poem. Plus, he reads it at the end. See what images of your own trips are conjured up. This is a lesson in always having a scrap of paper and a pen or a pencil with you when you travel.

Renewing a passport: The process begins

by Jamie Rhein on

Yes, it’s true. My passport did expire a little less than a year ago. With a trip out of the country coming up in March, and the prices of renewing a passport going up tomorrow, I did fill out the application, got the requisite official size pictures, wrote the check for $67 and mailed it out yesterday.

I had had the application in the glove compartment of my car for a month, but one thing led to another so I just drove it around town. Feeling motivated by the $8 that I will have saved by applying in January (thanks for the reminder Anna), and the thought of not having to spend money to expedite the process if I waited much longer, got me to the post office by 4:45 yesterday afternoon.

I did call the Bureau of Consular Affairs, Passport Services Office to make sure that:

1. I actually don’t need a passport into Mexico or back if I’m driving across (actually, I’ll be on a bus).

2. I can get the passport back in 4-6 weeks. Basically, I just want to have it and see if I can get it back within 4-6 weeks. This is a do-it-yourself experiment on pushing the time envelope. What is last minute really? I did mail the application priority mail which was probably a waste of money since the passport folks won’t get it by Monday anyway. Regular mail would have gotten it there just as quickly.

It is true that one does not need a passport to go across the Mexican border and back by car, but you do need an official certified copy of your birth certificate and driver’s license or some other official government issued ID. The woman I talked with also assured me that my passport should be back in time. I’d like to have it since I’ve used the trip as a motivation to get it renewed. If I did need the passport, I’d have paid the extra $60 to expedite it.

As phone trees go, the one that leads through passport information of the Passport Services Office is fairly easy to follow. Most information is clearly stated, except the details about passport needs for Mexico and Canada are not provided. The Web site has detailed info about travel in the Western Hemisphere.

One recorded message does tell how to track on-line where your passport is in the process. If you have a passport that is being renewed –or you are applying for a new one, you can check on-line about 2 weeks after you’ve mailed off the application. That’s how long it takes to post the information. This link leads to the details about the process.

One helpful piece of information that I heard aimed towards anyone who is on a real deadline. The well-modulated recorded voice said that if you have not yet applied for a passport and you are leaving the country in 14 days or less, head to one of the regional offices to do the process in person.

In my case, I’ll let you know just when in the 4 to 6 week time period my new passport arrives.

Time capsule from 1791 found in Mexico City

by Aaron Hotfelder on

Back in those halcyon days of the mid-’90s, my grade school class was assigned the project of burying a time capsule beneath the soccer field. A time capsule, of course, is a box that contains items that represent a certain moment in time, intended to show future generations what life used to be like. My class chose, if I recall, a Spice Girls album, a Twinkie(?), and various other pieces of crap that we didn’t feel too bad burying in the ground for a few hundred years, until they were dug up by the aliens whom we assumed would then be inhabiting our planet.

While I’m not sure those items really represented my generation adequately, I was perfectly happy with the contents of the time capsule. Any reason to bury a Spice Girls album underground was sufficient, as far as I was concerned.

Truthfully, I’m not optimistic about that time capsule ever seeing the light of day again. (Of course, if it is, Shemblak and Zemur from the planet Romulak will be sorely disappointed.) But recent events in Mexico City, however, give me new cause for hope.

A time capsule from 1791 was uncovered in the bell tower of Mexico City’s Metropolitan Cathedral. Its contents were considerably more impressive than my old time capsule’s: a small case of wax blessed by the pope, several medals, coins, and small crosses designed to protect the Cathedral from storms. And maybe it worked:

“Considering the cathedral’s history – it has been flooded, fought over and damaged as the soft soil it sits on sinks – the cathedral may need divine protection.”

What now for this old relic? “A new time capsule – with items from this year – will be placed into the stone ball [base of the bell tower] when it is closed again,” but it’s unclear what items will make it in. How about some music?

Smells that evoke travel memories

by Jamie Rhein on

“Every time I hear a certain song, or smell a certain smell it reminds me of the cruise,” said one of the 10th graders who I give a ride home from high school three times a week. She was settled into the back seat of my car with another girl as they shared a set of earphones listening to music while carrying on a conversation.

My radar went off. Post potential. “Oh, really?” I was inquisitive. I looked in the rear view mirror to show my interest. “What song? Anything specific? What smell?”

They weren’t too sure about what kind of smell. I offered suggestions determined to find out what a cruise smells like to adolescents.

“A fresh smell. Like the ocean?”

That wasn’t it. The smell was more like a cafeteria smell, but they assured me this was a good thing. Frankly, I thought of green beans cooked until they’re soggy, but if they insist. They couldn’t remember a specific song either, but from the way they dreamily talked, their cruise experience to the Bahamas and Mexico last spring break was simply divine. They took it with one of the girl’s mother. For both of these girls it’s the only cruise they have been on, but I bet, no matter how many they go on in the future, this one will be the best one ever.

That first experience of any kind of adventure is certainly one worth having. Listening them reminisce about their grand time, reminded me about how much travel to new places is so important and powerful. The memories from those trips are enough to carry us through those days when the sky is endlessly grey and the next spring break seems so very far away. It also reminded me about how powerful the sense of smell is to connect us to the memories of the places we’ve been. Hopefully, the good smells out weigh the bad.