There was an Indian mound near my home when I was growing up. We knew we were not supposed to play near the mound, and we knew it was an ancient burial spot, but we didn’t know it might have been a “power place.” My older brothers had shoeboxes full of flint arrowheads collected from […]
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MexConnect readers know by now that March is the month when everybody who can walk, walks to Talpa. It has become a tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation. The new short-cut through the mountains connecting Mascota to Puerto Vallarta has brought even more frequent visitors to Talpa de Allende. Walkers come […]
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On January 10, 1906 María del Rosario Ramos Váldez was born in Talpa de Allende. Last year on her 102nd birthday, we celebrated with her at the nearby ranch of Lic. Ernesto Váldez, a long-time family friend. Those of you who have read my contributions to Mexconnect may remember me introducing her to you in […]
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Traveling vendors were a common sight back in Mississippi when I was growing up. We had tinkers who wandered the roads during the summertime. We could always hear them coming by the clanging of pots and pans strapped to their backs. We would run to the kitchen to bring out the enamel saucepans that had […]
Continue ReadingIn Talpa de Allende, there is a neighborhood girl who calls me her quasi-godmother. We have studied English together for the past few summers, but I find her attention span jumping about like a monkey. We decided we would study “Cooking in the Gringa Kitchen” this summer. I am not Karen Hursh Graber or Diana […]
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Victoria Cibrian Leon, born March 23, 1916, was the oldest girl in a family of eight children. She only had two brothers; Eziquiel and Primitivo. Toyita, as she was fondly called, never got beyond the first grade of school. When she was six years old, while playing rough and tumbling with neighborhood kids, she fell […]
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Many of these small mountain towns have their own web page now. Some of these pages will have a button called Virtual that will take you on a stroll through the streets, plazas and churches. You’ll see lakes, mountains, rivers and blue skies. You’ll see exactly what the tourist department of the villages want you to see, […]
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Did you ever go Christmas caroling, wrapped up against the cold, on a snowy night? Bring back memories of red, runny noses and your warm breath making clouds in front of your face? There usually was a cup of hot chocolate waiting for you somewhere along the way. Mexican children have their nine days of […]
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End of year holidays in small Mexican towns in the Sierra Madre mountains and everywhere else have a very special meaning. Folks come home. Milking cows and growing corn or coffee isn’t everybody’s idea of making a good living, so they try to realize their golden dream and head for the cities, but Christmas and […]
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October 7 is considered the birthday of Nuestra Señora del Rosario (the Virgin of Talpa). We don’t ask who chose that date, but it’s time for celebrating in Talpa, as is almost any day. I’ll bet half the people in this town are named Rosario, especially if they were born anytime near the Virgin’s natal […]
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