Soaking wet and covered with mud, we followed the narrow underground stream deeper and deeper into the cave until we found ourselves standing about three meters above a pool of undetermined depth. The thick, dark liquid in the pool was composed of water, bat urine and guano, and a dead rat was floating on the […]
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Rodrigo Orozco shares his Guadalajara, Mexico, home with thousands of tarantulas and tens of thousands of crickets. He’s a man with a mission. “I want to end the illegal trade in Mexican tarantulas,” he says. “My goal is to produce 6000 tarantulas per year and eventually flood the black market so that tarantula poaching will […]
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For some northerners, heading south of the border to live after a busy career, Mexico looks like the land of mañana. All they have to do is kick back and watch the monarch butterflies pass on their annual trek down to the state of Michoacan, while the maid whips up another batch of margaritas. This view does […]
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“Camino de Guanajuato que pasas por tanto pueblo” (“Way of Guanajuato, you pass through so many towns”) Thus sang José Alfredo Jiménez in his song “Camino de Guanajuato”. And the roads of his homeland, the central Mexican state of Guanajuato, do indeed pass through cities, towns and landscapes worthy of exploration. The standard version of the song […]
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GastroNomad in Mexico Think tequila, and many think of spring break and tequila shots, followed by who knows what? But precursors of this quintessentially Mexican drink considered a gift from the gods. A good tequila is worth sipping it to discover its flavors rather than downing shots all night long. Tequila has to do with […]
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Sun-drenched colors of burnt ochre and red ignite massive walls and bring stone-chinked surface patterns to life. Antique wooden doors punctuated with hand-forged iron clavos open to reveal cool, tiled salas with lofty, wood-beamed ceilings and rustic colonial furniture. Brightly-tiled kitchens beckon with well-worn tables, glazed ceramics and utilitarian objects in stone, wood and copper. […]
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During the heady days that followed the Mexican revolution, the air was filled with fervent nationalism. The euphoria of new beginnings brought out the best in creative vision from talent that fed on this intoxicating energy. From the ranks of this creative elite came Adolfo Best Maugard, his imprint on Mexican culture more profound than […]
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The year was 1966. America was mired in an unwinnable and unconscionable war. The Civil Rights movement was about to burst on the scene after generations of festering below the surface of White consciousness. And all over the so-called free world, a restless energy was growing among the youth that was to become a formidable […]
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(Part 1) The coming of the Spaniards in 1519 drastically altered the political and religious life of pre-Hispanic America. Cortes, with the help of his mercenaries and priests, decimated the ruling elite and wiped out the existing theocracy, but try as they might, they could not destroy the people’s love and need for ritual. The […]
Continue ReadingJalisco is La Madre Patria (the Mother Country) for millions of Mexican Americans. Given this fact, it makes sense that many sons and daughters of Jalisco are curious about the cultural and linguistic roots of their indigenous ancestors. The modern state of Jalisco consists of 31,152 square miles (80,684 square kilometers) located in the west […]
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