Ajijic: God's green room
At the Oscars as in all of show business, the green room you hear about is an ordinary place where celebrities wait until it's time to go onstage. It's not really green.
Ajijic has been called God's g...
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Emilio Fernandez, one of a kind
Just when you think you know everything about the golden age of movies, along comes still more information to snap you back to reality. You may not have ever heard of him yourself, but one of the most ...
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The fence along the Mexican border
The English-speaking people of the world aren't always as smart as, say, Stephen Hawking who writes about cosmic stuff like time, black holes and the universe, but wouldn't you think the people in char...
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Fry me to the moon
It is widely known that the shortage of cemetery plots in Mexico equals the longevity of bureaucratic plots in Washington.
A few years ago, Mexico City officials began encouraging families to cremate ...
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Cesar Millan: America's greatest Mexican import
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the American people, desperately in need of relief from fears about the future, turned for escape to movie stars Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers for champagne a...
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Mexican Samurai
In the mid-sixties while others were espousing peace, love, and rock and roll, Gaby Shiraga left Japan and came to Mexico. He spoke only Japanese, ordering his first foreign meal by miming a chicken la...
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Dateline: Ajijic
Great rain clouds filled the sky over Lake Chapala as my friend, Tomas, turned the curve where you first spy Scorpion Island en route from the airport.
"You've brought good weather," he said, grinning...
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A prudent application of guilt
Guilt can be a wonderful thing, and very useful. That's why it's so popular in religion, especially the one I grew up in. Catholic. If applied wisely to the tender minds of children, guilt can last a l...
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Las Posadas, 2001
"What is Christmas like in Mexico?" asked my friend, Edward. It didn’t take much encouragement for me to eagerly share this experience:
Once upon a Christmas nighttime, in a tiny village on the shor...
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Where did the word 'gringo' come from anyway?
When expatriates leave their homes in Mexico to visit their places of birth, they sometimes playfully refer to their original country as " Gringolandia."
Where, I wondered, did the word "grin...
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Meant for each other: a Mexico love story
Americans choosing to live south of the border are often surprised that the romance of Mexico isn’t limited to its people.
Of the many lovely experiences during my first years in San Antonio Tlayaca...
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Our beloved Oaxaca, now on US and Canadian Do Not Visit list
Is no one thinking of the ordinary people of Oaxaca and how this event is causing distress and loss of income?
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Nine steps to a happy life in Mexico
Moving to Mexico isn’t a matter of simply relocating to another country with your belongings. No indeedy. Of the many experiences you will have south of the border, the most emphatic will be Cultural...
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Mexican village
This story could take place in any village in any state in the paradise that is known as Mexico. The names of the people may be different, but the stories will be the same.
Once upon a time, my housek...
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Mel Gibson's Apocalypto
It's unusual for me to write about anything other than Mexico as seen through the eyes of a humorist. But this month's article is different, because someone familiar with the culture around which Gibso...
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Queretaro: cultural mecca with colonial charm
Writing a newspaper column about the greatness of another country can earn the writer a good deal of mail running the gamut from "Do you know a good dentist in Morelia?" to "My wife and I would like to...
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Say Bartender, make mine tuna on the rocks
In the Bible, Jesus turns water into wine and multiplies two fishes into enough to feed 12,000 people, including women and children. Can China top that? Seems as though they're going to try.
Sun Keman...
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Dolores del Rio, a Mexican beauty
In a magazine interview, I was asked who had the most beautiful face of all time. I unhesitatingly answered, "Dolores Del Rio."
Not Garbo, Dietrich, or Elizabeth Taylor can compare with Dolores Del Ri...
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The unsung Mexican heroes of WWll
Until yesterday, I had never heard of Charlie Foster. Today, I'm writing about him. One of the benefits of being a writer is the fact-checking, because you can end up with provocative information. That...
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A modern day Rio Grande ferry tale
The sun was shining, the breeze was gentle and Mark Alvarez was in a really good mood. "People call me all day when it starts raining," he said. They call because they need to find out if they'll be ab...
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El taxi, or el toro?
Hemingway said there are two types of spectators at a bullfight: those who identify with the bull, and those who identify with the matador.
When a bull is properly lined up for the kill, it is called ...
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The shrewdness of Mexican women
At the turn of the 20th century, a scandal erupted in Mexico City. It was called "The Famous 41," and occurred on November 17, 1901.
Police raided a private party on La Paz Street and arrested 41 men,...
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The Mexican
It's easy to tell an election is coming in the U.S., because here we go again with the border situation, better known as the "Let's build a fence to keep them out" game. If U.S. politicians were really...
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The biggest mistake I ever made in Mexico
You might think the biggest mistake I ever made in Mexico was packing up and driving north to Taos to escape the cinder-bearing, stinging hot winds from Chiapas. But you'd be wrong.
Or you might think...
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Bringing your dogs to Mexico
Moving to Mexico was the easy decision; bringing my dogs with me was harder. First, how would I get them there?
I didn't trust airplanes transporting animals. I thought they might lose my two big dogs...
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