Exhaustion
Posted on April 28, 2009
Man it has been a hectic few days . . . lack of sleep, fear of infection, and consumption of junk food that comes pre-wrapped is making me feel awful. At least people are liking the pics! The Phoenix New Times posted a slideshow of my swine flu photos from Mexico City, I put together a soundslides for another publication and the Arizona Republic ran a photo from today’s chiquitico earthquake, a 5.6 and nothing compared to the 1985 8.0 earthquake that ruined several areas of the city.
I’d do more but it’s 2 a.m. I’m exhausted and there is no end in sight.
Earthquake!
Posted on April 27, 2009
So there was a slight shaking of the building just now (mi primer earthquake) . . . man what is coming next?
The “Possible Pandemic” in el Centro de Mexico
Posted on April 26, 2009
I’m sure many of you have been seeing the ongoing coverage going on about the pandemic potential going on in Mexico. As well there are 8 confirmed cases reported by the CDC in San Diego County, Imperial County in California and in San Antonio, Texas.
The mood in Mexico City is quiet, sad in my opinion, how empty the streets are. Bars are being closed down, concerts canceled and all schools shut for the next ten days. We were on our way to a concert in Ixtapalapa only to find out at 11pm that the concert was rescheduled later in May. I have been wearing my mask, as did my friend Chilangabacha, when we made our way to El Centro in Mexico City. While the area was still bustling, many were donning masks handed out freely by the government. Some wore them intermittently and a few couples pecked each other with the masks on. We even stumbled on a quincanera party, all without masks, standing in the doorway of the cathedral.
Here are some of the photos, I have more and a soundslides that focuses on tourists which I will post later.
Some decorated their masks with mouths in el centro
Volunteers hand out warnings in el centro outside of a medical examination booth
A women is checked for syptoms of swine flu in el centro
The quincanera party for Judith choose to leave their masks off while others visiting the cathedral kept them on
Another fashionable style of mask
Tourists in el centro donned masks as well
Mamey muffins? Mariachi Ghosts? Everything you might want to know about DF
Posted on April 23, 2009
So to start off the next twenty wonderful days I have in this city I wanted to put together a blog post of all of the blogs I link to of fellow journalists, photographers and videographers in DF. From covering cultura to hiphop to art or whatever else is on their mind . . . mariachi ghosts even . . . it is a good collection that keeps me informed when I find myself somewhere else.
Spainish Lessons is the post above.
Gotta love the Chilangabacha action I get on my reader regularly. They’re insightful and cheeky looks into cultural issues in the city and in Mexico in general.
Proceso is an impressive publication here, I first started reading them when they did a profile on sicarios, executioners, in Juarez, Mexico but I’m definitely addicted now.
Hey Mamey . . . Leslie Tellez, a transplant to Mexico City has a fun blog entitled The Mija Chronicles where she even has a post of Mamey muffins. If you don’t know what a Mamey is check it out a picture here.
Another set of interesting websites and blogs include This Mexican American Life is another good blog, I love the layout and the stories . . . definitely worth checking out.
Mexican Reporter is an awesome video blog by Deborah Bonello who works for the LA Times down here and is prolific in the amount of posts and subjects she covers.
Camilo Smith, as seen above, has a blog that focuses on hip hop both in the States and in Mexico City called Iknowhuh and has written some great articles about Nina Dioz, a Monterrey artist.
Daniel Hernandez has his own blog Intersections which covers a variety of subjects of culture in Mexico City. He has written some interesting posts ranging from Wisin and Yandel to the start of art week in the big city.
Brian Frank for his story on the drug war in Mexico
As for photographers, there are several good ones out here. Azul Enzue is a more artistic photographer as you can see on her blog here or the journalistic work of Brian Harkin on his blog. Mexico City photographer Brian Frank has a gritty, intense look at the more dangerous and rough neighborhoods.
And of course
Obviously there are loads and loads of more sites, but this is a start for me . . . feel free to suggest other good links.Alexis Okeowo’s blog, a writer for the NYTimes and countless other media in the states is an excellent look at not only Mexico City but different African nations where she worked for two years.
RFK memorial award
Posted on April 21, 2009
I am proud to say that my in-depth journalism course that worked on the Divided Families project at Arizona State University has won the college print journalism RFK Memorial award!.
Courtney Sargent
I am posting two soundslides done on two different stories, the first is of Courtney Sargent’s A Generation Abandoned about seniors abandoned in DIF homes in Agua Prieta, Sonora and Douglas, Arizona border.
Deanna Dent
Ryan Kost and I worked on a story about three American children abandoned in Mexico who had spent nearly two years in a Mexican orphanage even though they had their American birth certificates on file, you can see that project, Los Ninos Mejia as well.
Also here are all the students I had the pleasure of working with:
Adrian Barrera
Leah Duran
Branden Eastwood
Kristi Eaton
Brian Indrelunas
Ryan Kost
Jordan LaPier
Angela Hong-Anh-Le
Ashley Lowery
Ryan Ruiz
Codie Sanchez
Courtney Sargent
Amanda Soares
Michael Struening
Teana Wagner
Aja Viafora
I’ve been going to the orphanage for a little over two years now, here are a couple of older posts . . . although I have many more that I didn’t properly tag in the past.
Deanna Dent 
