Starting on March 12, when the U.S. changes to Daylight Savings Time earlier
than usual, Juarez won't. So for more than two weeks, when Juarez changes its
clocks, kids who attend school in Texas will have to leave one hour earlier
in the morning. Usually, they leave at 6 or 6:30, Juarez time...

© 2007 http://cjmex.blogspot.com/

If you want to be on Mexican t.v., male or female, you have to be able to:

1) cry a lot, if you want to be on a telenovela;
2) dance well, if you want to be on a talk or variety show.

Just a warning.

© 2007 http://cjmex.blogspot.com/

This is one aftermath of yesterday's dust storm. This photo is of the floor in front of the laundry room exit door, which we recently had resealed against the outside world. The picture of what seeped in around the front door was less impressive.

Yesterday, there were gusts of wind from noon-ish until early this morning. The wind blew at 30 to 55 miles per hour. How fast is that? Enough to blow boxes and trash all over our yard, cover you (hair, clothes, face) in grit within minutes, and move dirt from the yard onto the driveway in noticeable piles.

Some roads in the greater El Paso area were closed due to low visibility, and the TV news showed tumbleweeds bouncing all over the place. Running errands yesterday afternoon, I saw that the mountains were "whited" out.

Apparently March & April are windy months here. So, 9 weeks to go of the windy season...

© 2007 http://cjmex.blogspot.com/

Been outside, enjoying the weather, instead of inside, writing you -- sorry! We're solidly back in "weird winter weather" again: freezing at night, but in the 60s (or higher) during the day. There is still a little snow in surrounding mountains 6,000 feet or higher. Nonetheless, the sun is getting strong.

One downside in being in the last stages of winter, however, is the dust. Yesterday, we had another dust storm. The wind was strong enough to blow tumbleweeds across the highway. Any open dirt lot in the Juarez/El Paso/Las Cruces, New Mexico, area made huge clouds in the air. It wasn't a great day for people allergic to dust...

Even when the wind isn't whipping it into the air, dust continues to pour into the house through our heating and air conditioning unit on the roof. Last week, the setting sun lit up the air in our living room. It was thick with dust. Scary...

This morning, there was a "Dallas Morning News" article (www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/stories/DN-bordertown_0216gl.ART.State.Edition1.1265552.html) about security on the upcoming film, "Bordertown." The film tells the story of the unsolved murders of 400+ women in Juarez since 1993. In short, they had some problems filming here. The film's director attributed Juarez's "radioactivity" to the fact that it's "the only place where the First World and the Third World meet." Interesting angle.

The "Dallas Morning News" always has investigative reports into Mexico and Mexicans in the U.S. That website is: www.dallasnews.com/investigativereports/.

Finally, if you're ever in the area on the weekend, go to White Sands National Monument national park outside of Las Cruces. (www.nps.gov/whsa) Like the website says, it's like no place else on earth ... because you can sled down white sand dunes while watching huge mountains in the distance. Or splash in lakes, despite the fact that you're still in the Chihuahuan desert.

© 2007 http://cjmex.blogspot.com/