Thank you. Glad we skipped it!

Hey, at least the State Department workers got an all-expenses-paid free trip to the beach. Tough job.

Embassy staff introduced themselves, then opened the floor to questions, most of which dealt with social security, Medicare, passport and other administrative issues.

The subject then turned to the security situation in Mexico, and pretty much stayed there. Staffer Mike Flores explained what the embassy could do for US citizens and what it couldn`t do, evoking a few laughs recounting how a woman had once called up and asked for an embassy escort while shopping at Costco.

There was a lot of discussion about the travel advisories routinely issued by the embassy. There was a question as to the sourcing of informaton used when compiling the advisories, given that local newspapers and other media-- perhaps following a dictate from City Hall here -- have stopped reporting violent crime, leaving locals and foreigners uninformed. A staffer said Mexcan state and federal authorities provided some data, while other info flowed from local sources.

There were no comments or questions heard on the current state of tension between Mexico and the US on the subjects of tariffs, trade wars, migrants, etc., and how those tensions, if intensified, might expose US citizens to retaliatory harrassment.