Posts from ‘July, 2009’

By Shawn Selleck
In this guest post my cousin Shawn, who moved to Brazil this summer, describes how he managed to obtain Brazil’s version of a social security number.
So, I still have a U.S. passport, but as of today there isn’t much a Brazilian can do that I can’t. I just received my CPF! What [...]

U.S.-based airlines are still reeling from the Swine-Flu epidemic that broke out in Mexico in April. American, Continental, and JetBlue were all forced to cut their seating capacity as demand collapsed during the flu outbreak. JetBlue Airways will indefinitely suspend nonstop flights between Tampa and Cancun on Sept. 9, citing weak demand from the global [...]

The Economist magazine released its latest edition of the Big Mac Index last week. The index tracks the price of McDonald’s Big Mac in the 120 countries where the burgers are sold. It converts to U.S. dollars the purchase price in each country.
The Big Mac costs $3.57 in the U.S., according to the index.
The dollar [...]

One of the things that’s so intriguing about Mexico is how foreign it seems, despite sharing a common border with the U.S. While subtle cultural differences exist between the U.S. and Canada, “Mexico often seems as different to us as Ecuador or China,” the People’s Guide to Mexico notes.
But as the number of Hispanics in [...]

U.S. tourists might consider leaving their “Canada” t-shirts at home on their next trip abroad.
The public image of the United States has improved throughout the world, including in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico, according to the 25-Nation Pew Global Attitudes Survey released yesterday.
The Latin American countries included in the report rated the U.S. in 2009 as [...]

Mexico City’s efforts to implement its no-fault divorce law was the subject of a story in the  New York Times yesterday. Before the law’s enactment about eight months ago, a typical divorce proceeding would drag on for years.
But it wasn’t always this way. The divorce laws in some parts of Mexico used to be so [...]

It’s obvious from watching U.S. Supreme Court Justice nominee Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings that politicians have become increasingly wary of upsetting Hispanic voters.
In the last election, Hispanic voters shifted away from Republicans and voted for Barak Obama. The was result was Democratic victories in three battleground states: Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada.
Hispanic voters’ influence on [...]

If you’re looking for a taste of city life and culture in Mexico but haven’t worked up the nerve to visit Mexico City yet, Guadalajara might just be the place you’re looking for.
Like most under-appreciated destinations, Guadalajara’s pleasures come cheap. With Mexico’s tourism industry still reeling from the swine flu scare, there are few tourists [...]

When three bikes sped past me during my morning run on Sunday, I barely noticed them. But that changed a few seconds later when I heard the blaring horn of a car that was following close behind them. There was no accident. The driver wanted the bikers to move to the side of the road.
This [...]

The feature story of Sunday’s New York Times Magazine was about a group of whales off the coast of Baja, Mexico that seems to enjoy interacting with humans. Each winter and early spring gray whales arrive to the lagoons off Baja’s western coast and give birth and nurse their calves before migrating northward to colder [...]