Tijuana!?? David, I hope you saw more of Mexico than Tijuana (which is about three baby steps south of the California-Mexico border).

I've been there, and it's hardly what I would call "Mexico" if you're looking for real Mexican culture. It's a town full of shops for American tourists looking for bargains, like $25.00 guitars with elaborate (gaudy) mother of pearl inlay work, but made with green, unseasoned wood—or beautifully embroidered dresses that some poor Mexican woman spent days or weeks working on, for which she received maybe a couple of pesos, but the shop sells for $35 or $40 to tourists.

You can have your picture taken with a burro. For a few dollars extra, the photographer will loan you a sombrero and a serape to wear as you stand by the burro.

The sidewalk cafes (where you can get exotic cuisine such as nachos made with Frito-Lay tortilla chips and melted Velveeta cheese) are infested with children with soulful eyes (but downright chubby from being grossly overfed on junk food given them by sympathetic but easy-mark tourists) hovering around your table and trying to guilt-trip you into hand-outs.

When I was there, there were also a number of Guatemalan children, refugees from hostilities, begging on the streets because they were hungry—and homeless.

You can't walk for more than a block without at least three provocatively dressed women accosting you and asking if you are "looking for something special?" The "looking for something special" phrase is so that if the police try to pick them up for soliciting, they can claim they were just trying to assist a bewildered tourist.

No, Tijuana is in Mexico (by a few feet), but it's hardly what anyone would call typical of Mexico. I certainly hope you saw more of Mexico than that.

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You really need more than just avocado for guacamole. It might depend on what your red sauce consists of, but spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce ain't gonna cut it. Salsa, either medium or hot, on the other hand, would be much better. Guacamole should have a bit of "snap" to it, otherwise it's just avocado (which is fine by itself, but it isn't yet guacamole).

Real guacamole usually contains finely chopped onion, tomato, and cilantro, and a bit of salt. Peppers, often jalapeños, are an essential part of the mix, and don't forget the lemon or lime juice, both for flavoring and to neutralize the enzyme that causes the avocado to turn brown when exposed to air for any period of time. And be sure to store in the refrigerator if you're going to keep it for any length of time. But even in the fridge, it doesn't last forever.

Don Firth

P. S. Thanks for the movie recommendations, folks! My wife and I have a NetFlix subscription (a friend gave it to us as a Christmas present one year and he re-ups it every year—Thanks, Will! Uh . . . a different Will). We've seen a lot of good movies, some we had never heard of, since we got the subscription.