When Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés was asked to describe Mexico in the early 1500s, he is said to have crumpled up a piece of paper and set it on a table, demonstrating Mexico’s mountainous landscapes, sprinkled with volcanoes and plagued by frequent earthquakes. Most of the country’s volcanoes are situated within the 950-kilometer Trans-Mexican Volcanic […]
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The lush green volcanic hills of southern Veracruz permitted only glimpses of the approaching Laguna Catemaco. Small islands hid among swirls of soft grey neblina.(fog) They appeared then disappeared like ancient abandoned castles in the mythical mist. Tantalised by this lovely landscape luring me to the unknown, I turned to my husband Bill, and spoke in […]
Continue ReadingDavid Aguilar, chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, said the United States is experiencing a large increase in the number of illegal entries, according to the US State Department. New to MexConnect, Jorge Tirado shares his thoughts on borders as he looks at an aerial photograph of Guaymas, his hometown. At first glance, I saw a […]
Continue ReadingA simple vista vi un fragmento de tierra en alguna costa, frente a un océano. El vistazo se transformó en mirada. Me sumergí momentáneamente en la contemplación. Varias ideas surcaron mi mente, conforme iba descubriendo que ese pedazo de tierra tenía algo que ver conmigo. A la vez pensé: si cada quien tuviese la oportunidad […]
Continue ReadingEarly in 1980, exploring various off the beaten track areas of Mexico looking for potential geography fieldwork sites, one fateful Saturday morning found me standing in the main plaza of the small Michoacán mining town of Angangueo. I was chatting to people and desperately trying to formulate some theory or hypothesis which high school students […]
Continue ReadingFor the second year in a row it was a time of drought in Mexico. At the time of year when the life-giving rains should have been falling each day, they had come and gone, dropping just enough moisture on the crops to stir up the dust. A peasant living in the poorest barrio near […]
Continue ReadingIn 1943 a couple of young American entrepreneurs attending a bullfight in Mexico and observing the crowd that filled the stadium, hit on the idea that they could become millionaires by introducing the hot dog to bullfight fans in Mexico. They reasoned that if hot dogs were such a hit with baseball fans in America, […]
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Anon Business took me to Guadalajara, and I was looking forward to a couple of extra days for sightseeing, shopping and good Mexican food. I hadn’t been there for years, but I remembered the colonial city center, the variety of restaurants, and the chance to pick up presents for friends and family at really attractive […]
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Querétaro yesterday. . . Querétaro was founded by the Spanish in 1531 on the site of a village of the Otomi Indians which, in turn, probably dated from around 1427. A number of events important in the history of the Mexican Republic have taken place in Queretaro. One of the heroines of the insurrection against Spain […]
Continue ReadingMexico is a land of contrasts; I see this in both of my workplaces. Graffitied walls and worn picket fences; towering store signs and grazing cows; littered highways and rolling green hills – all of these images equally contradictory and impossible to imagine side by side. Yet, somehow these scenes are all strung together by […]
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