Riding off the Edge of the Map – A Mexico book by David Bryen Dancing Heron Press, 2013 Available from Amazon Books: Paperback Do you remember that best seller several decades ago, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, in which author Robert Pirsig details (but gets lost in digressions) a motorcycle trip from Wisconsin to California? David […]
Continue Reading
Both the name and the coat-of-arms of San Luis Potosi recall the tremendous importance of mining to Mexico’s economy. Called Potosí in emulation of the mines of that name high in the Bolivian Andes, the city’s coat-of-arms, awarded in 1656, has its patron saint standing atop a hill in which are three mine shafts. Left […]
Continue ReadingI’ve often been asked, “Where’s the center of Mexico?”, and I’ve always deliberately fudged my reply, but is there a simple answer to this question? Well, perhaps not surprisingly, there isn’t! Several locations lay claim to being the center, but it’s all a question of definition. Does center mean “the point where the minimum distance […]
Continue Reading
Believe it or not, there is a village in Mexico with the unlikely name of Honey. Honey. This hardly sounds like a Mexican word and certainly lacks any Nahuatl or Spanish roots. Yet, in the state of Puebla there is a small village named Honey. I admit that when I first heard of the village, […]
Continue Reading
The Cuexcomate volcano, in a suburb of the city of Puebla, is generally considered to be the world’s smallest volcano. Weighing in at an estimated 40 metric tons, it stands just 13 meters (43 feet) tall, with a reach (diameter) of 23 meters (75 feet). The name Cuexcomate derives from the Nahuatl Cuexcomac which means […]
Continue ReadingWriting 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 know where we should start looking to live in Mexico.” I don’t know a Morelian dentist […]
Continue ReadingMexico’s economic downturn may be worse than those of other nations, because so much of Mexico’s economy depends on tourism. Mexico City is desperate to restore its tourism industry; perhaps they’re suffering from an abundance of media coverage of killings, kidnappings, and cartels. What can Mexico possibly come up with to attract tourists under this […]
Continue Reading
With his parents’ permission, I took Fernando, my 12-year-old English student, to Guanajuato, the seat of the Mexican War of Independence, for two days. Fortunately, I’d been warned by a friend to avoid driving in Guanajuato because of the extreme difficulty in traversing the city streets, which are laid out with no pattern, no design, […]
Continue Reading
Published or Updated on: January 1, 2000 by Marian Jane Sanders © 2000
Continue Reading
As a wave of dancers flooded the street, the beat of the salsa flowed through my body. My feet moved and my shoulders shimmied. A beautiful dancer, wearing an off-the-shoulder dress leaned toward me and asked, “Quieres bailar conmigo?” Would you like to dance with me? She grabbed my hand and I was dancing with the stars. […]
Continue Reading