Votes, pesos and cacti

One of the great things about Mexico (among many) is the variety of fruits and vegetables. It´s guayaba season right now and Wednesday I got a kilo of the small, green bittersweet fruits for about 5 pesos. It´s also nopal (cactus), carrot, apple, avocado, orange (as always), tangerine and onion season, among others. Unfortunately, when you eat imported fruits and veggies in Minnesota, most of the time they taste bland, with little texture and crispness. Apart from that, they´re probably genetically modified. When I was a freshman, I was in the cafeteria with a buddy from Kenya and he was complaining that the skin on the orange he was eating was about an inch thick. "It´s probably genetically modified," he said.

Speaking of modified -- holy crap, the peso hit 14.30 to the dollar on Wednesday!!! The global markets taking a hit from the US´ sinking economy. Just last month, the peso was at a multi-year high against the dollar -- 9.50. at this moment its´13.05 to the dollar. To give an idea -- I pay 2,500 pesos per month for rent. I paid the equivalent of $263 greenies last month, as opposed to $175 this past Wednesday, when my rent was due. Of course, I get paid in pesos, so it doesn´t matter as long as the rent is the same. I suppose a lower value of peso is good for gringos converting dollars into pesos. But I doubt it will be for long, as inflation will probably catch up and the price of everything will rise.

Anyway, I got my ballot E-MAILED to me the other day. How cool is that? You don´t even have to leave home to vote, at least in Minnesota. Each state is different, but you can register and request an absentee ballot with little reason other than "I will be away on election day" and voilá, print, vote and mail (postage paid). I think Minnesota is one of only four states that pays your postage.