In 1523, just two years after the Aztec capital of Tenochitlan fell to Hernán Cortés and his Conquistadors, the first Roman Catholic missionaries arrived to begin the religious conquest of Mexico. Fray Bernadino de Sahagún and his fellow Franciscan brothers immediately immersed themselves in the intensive study of indigenous tongues along with the history, customs […]
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Set on the shore of Lake Chapala, the town of Ajijic has become a center of art and culture. The Noches de Ajijic International Festival of Gastronomy and Music highlights some of the region’s best. Seven host restaurants offer special menus prepared for the occasion by outstanding guest chefs. Other festival activities will draw residents […]
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Cogan’s Reviews The two cultures – Mexican and U.S. – come together in a thoughtful way in this interesting novel, which is set in both countries. The story concerns a group of Mexican illegal immigrants who travel north in May each year to work in the cherry orchards in northern Michigan. They are from the […]
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The brassy blast of a trumpet rips me from the comforting embrace of Morpheus. As the familiar strains of Las Mañanitas register in the fuzzy workings of my brain, I roll over and open one eye to peer at the clock. It’s 4:30 a.m. Ah, yes. ¡Feliz Día de las Madres! I patter over to the window, looking […]
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It’s a brisk, moonless night. At the edge of the Ajijic plaza, an anxious group of villagers huddle shoulder to shoulder, casting expectant glances towards the star-studded sky. A sudden barrage of whistling, sputtering explosives rents the night air. The crowd takes a collective lunge backwards, letting out a gasp of wondrous surprise. A brilliant […]
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Muros, which means “walls” in Spanish, opened to the public in May of 2004. It is the only museum in Cuernavaca, Morelos originally designed to be a museum. The space is flexible with movable lighting, high ceilings and open areas in which display environments can be constructed. The museum gets its name from its 3,600 square […]
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The Sunday Mexican fiesta at Guadalajara’s Camino Real promised cockfighting. I should have expected the “cockfight” would amount to a quick display of two cheerfully bored roosters who could have auditioned for a wholesome children’s show. “Genuine cockfights are illegal in Mexico,” chastened self-appointed cognoscenti. I should have known that a real cockfight was as likely to take […]
Continue ReadingCROSSING OVER: A Mexican Family on the Migrant Trail, by Rubén Martínez. Metropolitan, 330 p., $26. (October 2001) Amazon Books Great books are the hardest kind to review. There’s just too much temptation to toss out the usual lauds and accolades which make for fine back cover blurbs. And then there’s the trap of comparison […]
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St. Lucia is the patron saint of eyes. The story is told that she was very beautiful, and had many suitors. One of them said that he had fallen uncontrollably in love with her eyes. She plucked out her eyes and sent them to him on a plate. He stopped pursuing her, and the virgin […]
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The pictures here were taken in the church in the old mining town of Real de Catorce, in San Luis Potosi. There is a side room of the church dedicated to exvotos. Photo Gallery of Exvotos Senor de Villaseca, Cata Saint Lucia, Guanajuato Exvoto Article Published or Updated on: December 7, 2007 by Richard Ferguson © 2008
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