Americans commonly mistake Cinco de Mayo, the day that commemorates the Mexican Victory over the French in Puebla (1862), for Mexican Independence day (1810). Cinco de Mayo has become an American holiday synonymous with mariachis, margaritas, Corona beer, and Americanized Mexican food like jalapeño-studded nachos and cheese-smothered burritos. Although we didn’t celebrate the holiday as children, we think […]
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Christianizing their way around Lake Chapala in the early 1500s, taking the path of least resistance, Franciscan missionaries left each well-established settlement of Indians with their centuries-old community name. As the Franciscans were moving from village to village, they were selecting a Patron Saint for each new congregation, then adding the Saint’s name to the […]
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In Mexico, May seems much shorter than it does north of the border. There are so many holidays that the country seems to call a halt to the normal workweek and honor almost everyone. It actually begins on April 30 with the Dia del Niño, when children are honored with gifts and treats, and classes are […]
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I had dreamed about moving to Mexico for decades. As retirement approached, I began to look seriously at places to check out. Having lived in San Diego for decades, going to Mexico along the Baja California coastline was never a problem for me. I had an aging Mother who would be joining me, so nearby […]
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The aroma of chicken over a mesquite grill fills the air on one of San Jose del Cabo’s backstreets. Noisy dogs chase each other playfully down dusty, dirt roads nearby. Cheerful mariachi music flows from dimly lit cantinas. There are no five-star restaurants here, no trendy nightclubs, no exotic resorts; not on this side of […]
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It’s surely one of the coolest jobs in the world — donning a glittery mask and playing superhero or villain every night, flying around a packed arena. These are the men and women who aim to make their living as luchadores — athletes-cum-performers in the unique and very Mexican sport (or whatever you want to call it) […]
Continue ReadingThe options are innumerable. It’s simply a matter of doing a bit of homework – asking, and then committing yourself to a vacation dedicated in large part to your children. Oaxaca has traditionally been known as an adult travel destination, steeped in ruins, colonial churches, museums and a tradition for fine art and handicrafts. But […]
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I took one look around the tiny, dingy room I had rented and began questioning my sanity. It was December 2 and I was in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, after a tiring 24-hour bus ride one thousand miles south of the border. During an earlier October visit, I had rented the cheap second-floor room […]
Continue ReadingA riotous image of a storm of people bolting down a wide Mexico City avenue, in the midst of a live Maldita Vecindad rock performance from the back of a moving truck, comprises one of many memorable video images from that band’s new, self-produced history of itself. The scene describing the pandemonium on the day […]
Continue ReadingUntil the day breaks and the shadows flee away, I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense. -Song of Solomon Summer day of bougainvillea, wild poinsettia and swaying jacarandas – carefree, carefree – a dry wind carried the restless spirit of the future on its back, fanned by strange […]
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