Doing Business in Mexico Although denied officially and, personally by many Mexicans, racism in Mexico is so evident that most foreigners notice it right away. All you have to do is look at Mexican-produced television programs, especially the internationally-known genre of Mexican telenovelas (soap operas). There you will see many Caucasians playing leading roles, while the darker-complected […]
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The area’s reputation was considerably enhanced in the 1930s, ’40s and’ 50s by a long string of visiting writers and artists, many of whom settled permanently in the string of villages along the northern shore of the lake. This brief alphabetical listing of some of the stalwarts of the Lake Chapala art and literary scene […]
Continue ReadingThe Through Line: A Journey from Darkness into Life By Jay Koppelman. CreateSpace, 2010 Available from Amazon Books: Paperback Popular Ajijic photographer Jay Koppelman has two things to celebrate this winter: one, the recent opening of Studio 18, on Colón 18 in Ajijic, which features exclusively his photographs; and two, the recent publication of the first […]
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Reports written some years ago about Jalapa, (or Xalapa as the locals prefer to spell it) Veracruz in MexConnect caught my eye. These tout the pleasant climate, cultural attractions, the presence of universities, lack of foreigners, and metropolitan character. My wife and I thought it would be a pleasant contrast from Ajijic where we live year-round. In […]
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For many foreigners living in Mexico, this is their first experience of life in a coffee growing country. Familiar brands from home are hard to find, but Mexican coffee is everywhere, in a wide range of quality and price. I live at the Chapala Lakeside at over 5,000 feet in elevation and, unlike up north, […]
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They told us she could be a fiery mistress, this city of Merida, and we came to her uneasily. At first, she wooed us gently and seduced us with overcast skies, occasional warm drizzle and pleasing evening temperatures. We walked her beautiful boulevards; admired magnificent hundred year old mansions built for long-dead land barons and […]
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I’ll break your jaw! (Chalco) In the umbilicus (Xico) Place of the squashed serpent (Coapatongo) [1] Mexico’s place names or toponyms provide a rich and fun source for linguistic analysis. Indigenous peoples spoke languages that had no formal alphabet. They developed complex symbols (hieroglyphs) for place names that used combinations of up to three different […]
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Fiestas abound in Mexico. The following listing of major Mexican holidays, by no means complete, is intended to help the newcomer to Mexico understand the motive for hearing rockets blasting off at dawn, finding a local bank or post office closed on a weekday, or encountering traffic brought to a halt by a passing parade […]
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Mexican History Pope John Paul II named the Virgin of Guadalupe Patron Saint of the Americas on January 22, 1999 and that year her Basilica was was the most visited Catholic shrine in the world. Today the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, also known as the Queen of Mexico, is celebrated on December 12th, […]
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It should come as no surprise that in Mexico, a predominantly Roman Catholic country, Easter — Pascua — is the most widely celebrated and important religious holiday of the year. Observances that would be of interest to visitors from abroad may be witnessed in virtually every village, town and city in the Republic beginning with […]
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