Obrajuelo is another Mexican town that can stake a claim to being “Little Austin.” Like Bejucos and Luvianos in the Tierra Caliente, Obrajuelo has been sending its migrants to the Austin area for decades. It’s a connection that’s reinforced by the proliferation of burnt orange Longhorn caps around town and the residents’ easy ticking off of Austin neighborhoods and schools.

Located in the state of Guanajuato, one of Mexico’s traditional migrant-sending states, Obrajuelo is at the end of a paved road from the highway and consists of a few thousand residents clustered along a canal and some small hills. The town has a working hacienda, rare in Mexico since most haciendas were broken up after the Mexican Revolution and redistributed to the campesinos. In a tale that is all too often told throughout Mexico’s countryside, there simply aren’t enough jobs to sustain the local population. A Proctor and Gamble factory opened up nearby, but residents say most of the labor is trucked in from surrounding cities with higher educational levels.

Angeles y Escorpiones (Angels and Scorpions) is about an “elegant,” 50-year-old female drug trafficker and the young investigative journalist looking into her past. No word yet on whether the show will mention the 30 Mexican journalists who have been killed or gone missing in the last eight years, presumably at the hands of drug traffickers.

It was just a matter of time before the ongoing drug war got repackaged for public consumption: you can forgive Mexicans if they feel like they are living inside a long horror movie as every day seems to bring more news of kidnappings, beheadings and massacres. I keep waiting for the release of Traffic 2, or some other movie to chronicle the grisly panorama and shifting tides in the interminable battle between the cartels.

The steps taken at the summit certainly sound promising. But Mexicans have heard anti-crime rhetoric for years. Most experts have distilled the problem to one overriding factor: corruption within Mexico’s underpaid and undertrained police forces. It’s still not clear how the proposals would clean up that nasty problem.

Here are some of the 74 measures (Thanks to The News and Reforma for the list):

—Eliminating bail options for kidnappers.

—The appointment of specially appointed judges, receiving higher salaries and more protection, to hear sensitive cases.

—The creation of elite anti-kidnapping police units.

—Better cell phone tracking equipment and a national database of cell numbers (the preferred communication tool of kidnappers).

—More treatment for drug addicts.

—Somehow purging corrupt cops within the year.

But experts are already blasting the proposals as more of the same. Ana Maria Salazar, a security expert in Mexico City, writes in this morning’s El Universal that the proposals don’t go far enough. “We require a profound surgery to the system that contemplates a new organization, but above all a deep reform to the judicial system,” she wrote.

In more promising news, El Universal also reported today that agents have arrested the supposed ringleader of the group that kidnapped 14-year-old Fernando Marti.

In an emotional tribute to Memo last night, a TV Azteca announcer thanked the fighter for “returning Mexico to glory.”

Before Memo Perez’s unexpected gold medal, Mexico was on pace for perhaps its grimmest Olympic showing in what has been a string of poor performances dating back to 1968, when it hosted the games. Its single bronze medal - in synchronized diving - had pundits and analysts blasting sporting officials and lamenting the unrelenting disappointment. Some argued the government doesn’t spend enough to train world class athletes, others that bureaucrats siphoned off the money before it could reach the athletes. This summer’s Olympics seemed destined to be known more for Mexico’s constant and embarrassing uniform snafus than for the athletes’ performances.

But in one instant, Memo Perez brought some pride back to Mexico, which constantly compares itself to other countries and obsessively scrutinizes its performances on the world stage. Mexico hadn’t won a gold since 2000, and men’s gold since 1984 in Los Angeles.

This morning though, after weeks of Olympic disappointment (and a growing fear over the rise of kidnappings in the country) it seems that for a moment, everything is alright with the world.

According to a front page story in this morning’s El Universal newspaper, PRD officials have directed their legislators to begin discussion on a legalization reform in the Mexican Congress.

The Televisa network quoted Javier Gonzalez Garza, the PRD coordinator in the lower house of Congress, as saying the drug violence requires out-of-the-box thinking. “We can’t continue thinking that we are going to combat the problem of drug trafficking without more radical measures, and one of them has to be the legalization of drugs in the United States,” the network’s website quoted Gonzalez as saying. “After the United States will we continue with Mexico? Of course, or both at the same time…This war, the way it is outlined, is going to be lost, we’re all going to lose, it makes no sense and there need to be some changes.”

The PRD came within a whisker of capturing the presidency in 2006, but since has seen its support erode sharply, thanks in part to bitter internal divisions. The party is expected to finish a distant third in mid-term elections next year.

The ruling PAN party has favored a military approach to the nation’s drug cartels and President Felipe Calderon has sent some 25,000 federal troops to battle them along the border and in various states. Many experts say the spike in violence is a result of this confrontation, which they say has disrupted the cartels’ operations.

In 2006, Mexico scuttled a measure to legalize small amounts of drug possession after outcry from the United States. And recently approved $1.4 billion aid package dubbed the Merida Initiative would sure be in danger if Mexico headed down the road of legalization.

Experts say the high failure rate reveals poor preparation of most teachers as well as serious problems within the country’s “normal,” or teaching, schools. “The results of the test reflect a disaster that we are just beginning to discover,” David Calderon, member of a Mexican civil organization Mexicans First, told the Reforma newspaper in this morning’s edition. “The training practices for our teachers needs to be revised.”

Perhaps more disturbing was that the failing test takers included thousands of teachers who are already in Mexican schools, but are looking for a fixed teaching position.

For an excellent, quick overview of Mexico’s teacher testing program, and the role Mexico’s powerful teachers union plays in all this, check out this Economist article.

Mexico is the world’s sixth largest oil producer, but because it lacks enough refineries, actually imports about 40 percent of its gasoline from the United States at what have been record market prices. The government has blamed a combination of high importation costs, the gasoline subsidies at the pumps and an alarming decline in oil production for wiping out what experts say should be windfall oil profits.

A hike in gas prices should also put an end to the border crossings by American drivers seeking a relief from high prices in the U.S. Many Mexican border towns have reported gasoline and diesel shortages because of the cross border traffic. Officials in Ciudad Acuna recently began fining American drivers who fill up extra tanks or drums with the cheap Mexican diesel.

Ironically, Mexican gasoline prices, which are set by the government, had been higher than U.S. prices for years, leading to much grumbling on this side of the border until the world oil prices skyrocketed.

The Mexican beach volleyball team was looking a little bit German this past weekend, thanks to a uniform snafu that has Mexico steaming with embarrassment. The volleyball duo of Mayra Garcia and Bibiana Candelas were given uniforms that apparently violated several Olympic norms, including being manufactured by a non-sanctioned company and having the Mexican flag in the incorrect spot (Olympic rules govern every aspect of the super-skimpy beach volleyball uniforms). So the pair had to scramble at the last minute, finally borrowing uniforms from the German squad, according to the El Universal newspaper. Although a Mexican flag was sewn onto the uniforms, there was no disguising the yellow, black and red of Germany.

“Ridiculous leadership,” thundered a headline in El Universal, which also noted that Mexican boxers weren’t given tickets for the opening ceremony.

“With these leaders, no wonder there aren’t any medals for Mexico,” the paper said.

Mexico has had a rough beginning to the Olympics, getting eliminated in five events. Despite an $800,000 reward from the Mexican government and private industry, no Mexican is expected to win a gold medal in Beijing. And Candelas and Garcia were defeated 2-1 by Brazil in their German uniforms.

If you see a police checkpoint in Mexico City, authorities advise that you blow right through it. After the high profile kidnapping of 14-year-old Fernando Marti, who was snatched after his driver stopped at a fake checkpoint, city police have banned the random checkpoints they’ve periodically used to look for drugs and guns. DWI checkpoints will continue to operate though.

Officials believe kidnapping gangs have used fake checkpoints to grab wealthy residents while driving in their heavily armored cars and SUVs. Marti was kidnapped on his way to school even though he was accompanied by a driver and bodyguard. The kidnappers reportedly used authentic uniforms belonging to the AFI, Mexico’s version of the FBI.

At least anecdotally, many Mexico City kidnappings occur while the victim is driving or riding in a car.

Mexico City has been plunged into a collective fear over kidnappings, reminiscent of the situation a decade ago, when kidnappings terrorized the city. Business groups are warning of a flight of wealthy businessmen from the country and say the kidnapping threat will scare off investors if not checked. President Felipe Calderon has proposed life sentences for kidnappers, but most observers say the situation won’t get better until corrupt police forces, which often aid kidnappers (and sometimes engage in kidnapping) are cleaned up.

Despite all the attention to the problem (weekend soccer and baseball games were filled with calls to end the impunity enjoyed by the city’s criminals), little has been said about increasing salaries for the city’s cops. Painfully low salaries, along with poor training, make police here particularly vulnerable to the lure of corruption. Mexico City beat cops make less than $10,000 a year in a city where consumer prices are similar to those in the United States.

During the meal, one of the dishes was huauzontle, a Mexican plant that is covered with cheese, battered with flour and egg and served in a delicious tomato sauce. Apparently you eat it by running the herb across your mouth, scraping off the yummy buds with your teeth. I, of course, had no idea how to go about eating it and made quite a fool of myself trying to figure it out. The familiar-looking woman finally ran out of patience, came over to my seat and gave me a quick huauzontle-eating lesson.

It wasn’t until I returned to Mexico City and turned on the TV that I realized who the mystery woman was: Mexican soap opera star Michelle Vieth, whose big hits include “Amigas y Rivales” and “Clase 406.” Not only can she carry a TV show, but Vieth cuts a mean huauzontle.

That respite has been shattered with the kidnapping and slaying of Fernando Marti, the 14-year-old son of a prominent sporting goods mogul. Despite receiving $5 million in ransom from the family, the kidnappers killed the boy and abandoned his body in a car in the Coyoacan neighborhood. Among the suspects detained so far are federal police officers stationed at the Mexico City airport. The authorities’ working theory is that the kidnapping gang is made up of former and current police who may have inside information into the investigation against them.

The story has played into a collective paranoia about street crime that is never far from the surface. In the wake of Marti’s killing, 71 percent of Mexico City residents now say they want the death penalty for kidnappers (Mexico’s Constiution prohibits the death penalty). So consumed has Mexico been with the case that the execution of Mexican inmate Jose Medellin by the State of Texas Tuesday night hardly caused a ripple.

As longtime AP Mexico correspondent Mark Stevenson reported, “With the nation riveted on its own kidnap and killing of a 14-year-old boy, the normally anti-death penalty country expressed far less outrage at the death of Jose Medellin, a Mexican national convicted in the 1993 rape and murder of two Texas girls.”

Marti’s case sounds like the script to yet another movie about Mexico City crime. On his way to high school early on a June morning, the armored BMW carrying Marti, his driver and his bodyguard, was stopped by what appeared to be a police checkpoint on Insurgentes Avenue, Mexico’s longest (and perhaps busiest) street. The kidnappers forced the three victims into a van and sped away in front of a gaggle of onlookers.

Just in time for lunch, here are a couple of pictures of our favorites:

We found these shrimp burritos in a hole in the wall dive in Puerto Vallarta. Jumbo shrimp were smothered in a creamy sauce and cooked with succulent pieces of crab. Wrapped in a flour tortilla with veggies and a slice of cheese, these were maybe the best thing we ate.

In Mexcaltitan, a remote island village in the middle of a laguna, we found perhaps the area’s foremost experts on shrimp. We ate shrimp tamales, heavenly shrimp empanadas and shrimp meatballs. The tastiest though was this shrimp pate that looked like it would have been more at home in a fancy French restaurant than the makeshift clapboard restaurant.

(Photos by Nancy Flores)

I’d love to hear about any of your favorite meals in shrimp country.

At the presidencia (a combo of city hall and county courthouse), a young man in the “social communication” section apologized for the hassle and explained that a few weeks ago someone had come to town posing as a journalist, talking his way into people’s homes and then robbing them. Officials just wanted to make sure I was legit. I showed them my government-issued press credential and was allowed to leave (the phantom “permit” did not exist - the young bureaucrat looked mystified when I told him councilman said I needed one).

Usually when we hit small towns in Mexico, the reception is warm and hospitable. We’ve had our finest meals in the homes of local residents, been grateful for their kindness and marveled at their willingness to open up to us. But on occasion we meet some suspicious minds. Obrajuelo is an extreme example, but I have been mistaken for all manner of American law enforcement.

In the coastal town of San Marcos, south of Acapulco, we set out in search of a former migrant who imported fighting cocks. This was a tough fellow to find. We asked half the town it seemed, until we finally found someone who knew where to find him. “But I doubt he’ll talk to you,” the man told me. “Oh, is he a little leery of reporters?” I asked. “What? Aren’t you with the embassy? I thought you were looking to take him in.” When I finally reached the cockfighter, he was friendly as could be once he realized I was a reporter.

In Luvianos, in the Tierra Caliente, friendly residents warned me that I might be mistaken for an FBI agent. The area had had its problems with drug traffickers and the FBI (or people the locals thought were FBI agents) had taken part in operations. Apparently white guys wondering the town tended to be law enforcement officials. After hearing that, I made sure to keep my reporter’s notebook prominently exposed.

Consider the following toll prices: from Mexico City to nearby Acapulco (at just four hours from Mexico City, it’s a favorite weekend getaway for Chilangos), it’ll cost you about $100 roundtrip in tolls. To drive from Nuevo Laredo to Mexico City and back, it’ll run you about $120 roundtrip. The Transportation and Communications Ministry has an excellent website that will compute your toll costs, valuable information for anyone planning a road trip in Mexico.

Many toll roads in Mexico were built and are managed by private companies, a privatization strategy devised by the cash-strapped federal government. The Calderon administration is planning on another 24 privately managed toll roads, according to the Los Angeles Times. While the strategy has resulted in many more miles of clean, fast highways, it’s also priced out average Mexicans.

For more insight into the emo phenomenon and subsequent attacks on them, blogger Daniel Hernandez (featured in the video) meticulously chronicled the emo saga during the dog days of the Mexican spring at his culture blog Intersections