An opalescent sky muted the harshness of the emerald earth as the old car struggled up the rock-filled Mexican road, leaving the breeze blown coast behind. I had begun a journey deep into the verdant mountains of Oaxaca, peaks that faded into the haze, massive blue-gray shapes filled with mystery and magic… and little else. […]
Continue ReadingIn response to all the positive feedback on my Day of the Dead article, here are a few related activities you might pursue in the Guadalajara – Lake Chapala area during late October – early November. It is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating of Mexico´s many holidays and traditions. For authenticity, Guadalajara’s Museo Regional […]
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This photo gallery shows how Day of the Dead is celebrated in Chiapas. January 1, 2006 by Craig ‘Cisco’ Dietz © 1999
Continue ReadingAll my life, I have been a coward about death and dying. It’s all so unsanitary somehow; so negative; so threatening. Better to turn your head, tune out suffering, and tune in to the happy positive life of eternal youth that is the birthright of every television-watching white kid who grew up in the U.S. […]
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The tiny casita glowed in apricot hues and beamed welcoming blue trim around the doorway. The mixed scent of flowers and earth hung in the air like rich incense. Ducking under a brilliant mauve bougainvillea, Sharon Advena pushed open the unlocked door with her patterned sarong and turned to unload the storage boxes on the tile floor. […]
Continue ReadingEula died during the rainy season, when the earth is soft and moist and a grave is easy to dig. Esperanza said that the damp weather was hard on the ancianos, and indeed, in those months, many a house in town bore over its gate the black ribbon which in central Mexico signifies a death in the […]
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Continue ReadingNovember first is children’s day in the series of remembrances and festivities that are known as Dias de los Muertos (days of the dead). On this day, the souls of departed children migrate to the homes of their still living relatives to take a sip of chocolate off the altar which has been constructed to […]
Continue ReadingMany readers of MexConnect have discovered these illuminating words by Octavio Paz: “In the United States the word death burns the lips, but the Mexican lives close to it, jokes about it, caresses it, celebrates it, sleeps with it, it is his favorite toy.” Those words are echoed in the translator’s (John Oliver Simon’s) introduction […]
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