There’s an endearing quality to a steadfast rooster call at the crack of dawn when overheard from a warm country farmhouse.  There’s a reassuring charm that comes with the committed gallinaceous greeting of daybreak that’s particularly suited to a rural ambiance.  The allure of a morning cock-a-doodle-doo somehow falls flat in all other settings.

Early this morning we suffered a rude awakening from brash, dedicated rooster crowing.  The calls, however, weren’t emanating from a barnyard henhouse.  Rather, they came from rooftop chicken coops sitting atop the staggered flats of a highly urbanized Mexico City borough.

To be exact, we are presently at Calle Norte 86, in Colonia La Malinche, of the Gustavo A. Madero borough, of the Distrito Federal (Mexico City).  What it is we’re doing here is less exact.  Still, we’ve narrowed it down to two main intents.

First, we’re visiting numerous in-laws – and several outlaws – who live here.  Second, we’re conducting field research on your behalf.  Specifically, we’re investigating the chronic effects of what happens when a government spends too much borrowed money, and then attempts to lighten its debt burden by inflating its currency. Continue reading →