I learned yesterday evening the Adolfo has been unable to visit Marte because he had been unable to obtain the car tag required to drive in the interior of Mexico. He now has obtained the tags, and is preparing the trip. He hopes to make the trip next week. We are all for that!
The Mexican car tag system is different from the system used in the USA. In Mexico, the states do issue tags, but the border states issue two kinds of tags. Mexico maintains a strip of land that runs along the Northern border with the USA that is governed separately from the rest of the country. This frontier region acts as an economic insulator, and a military buffer. The economic buffer is most important to them. The Frontier functions in lock step with the bordering US states while the interior has marked differences in its economy. It is common for Mexicans to buy vehicles from border states in the USA and import them into Mexico. The cost is lower, but the tag does not have interior privilege. To obtain an interior plate, more taxes and paperwork are required. One thing about Mexico that has not changed since we have been here (and probably hundreds of years ago) is that paperwork is not processed quickly. This is the land of Mañana, meaning that it will not happen today.
I am sure that many of you have been eager to hear from us about his next visit to the Quatro Cieinegas desert region; we certainly have been. This is good news. Thank you again, Partners for helping us to supply Adolfo with a van suitable for this work.