Gringos call them “speed bumps”. Mexicans nickname them ” policia durmiendo” (sleeping policemen). The tópe (TOE-pay), a bump in the otherwise potholed road of Mexican life, is an endless source of fascination for anyone, like myself, who loves to categorize the phenomena of everyday existence. However and wherever constructed, speed bumps are self-regulation at its most basic. The […]
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Much of the land comprising Mérida was once dotted with lavish haciendas where the henequen plant was grown. From henequen was produced a fiber called sisal, the main ingredient of twine. Today the picturesque, abandoned main hacienda buildings, recognized as architectural treasures, are being bought, restored and turned into luxury hotels and restaurants. Haciendas generally consisted of a main […]
Continue ReadingFirst written in the spring of 1994, this story has been revised several times as dictated by subsequent events. It has generated more responses than any other. Most of them have been at least somewhat rational. Every Norteamericano who reads a newspaper or watches 60 Minutes knows that an armed political/economic struggle has been going […]
Continue ReadingIt was the scorpion in the amber that fascinated Linda most, at first. A four-inch, brownish nodule of Mexican amber from the great limestone flats in Chiapas, it lay on a bed of still bright marigold flowers on the living room altar. It was a color match but a jolt down deep, a primordial fright, […]
Continue ReadingIt’s been more than 20 years since I’ve been to Mexico. I fell in love with the country the first time I went to Acapulco in 1975. My next trip was to Cancun in 1985. Cancun was still a small place and easy to navigate, so I rented a VW bug and made the trip […]
Continue ReadingLOCATION: The State of Tabasco is located in southeastern Mexico. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Campeche, to the southeast by Guatemala, to the south by the state of Chiapas, and to the west by Veracruz. GENERAL INFORMATION: The territory consists mostly of wet lowlands covered […]
Continue ReadingFor families being relocated to Mexico, also see Moving to/Living A New Time For Mexico , 1996-2006 , by Carlos Fuentes (Marina Castaneda, translator). Published by Farrar Straus & Giroux. Available through: Amazon Books. This collection of essays by Carlos Fuentes, Mexican intellectual, man of letters and erstwhile diplomat, seeks to place his country’s current […]
Continue Readingjerezano, Oct 5, 2008: Mexican Regional accents? In another thread in response to Oscar2 and “wedos” or “weros” or what have you, Esperanza wrote: Oscar, you are talking about the word güero…pronounced WEHR-oh.<<< Interesting. Here in Zacatecas the majority of the people actually sound the g in güero or güera. GWEH rro, GWEH rrah. Also […]
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