(The following account represents my personal feelings and subjective impressions as I experienced Semana Santa last year. Since I am neither Catholic nor Mexican, I don’t fully understand all the religious significance of the processions and pageantry. Although Holy Week is celebrated throughout Mexico, the colonial mountain town of San Miguel de Allende is famous […]
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Sometime during my first month in Guanajuato, the idea floated into my head of writing an article about the sonic landscape of the city. This of course includes a great deal of music, since it resounds in every corner. But surrounding the music is a larger sonic landscape, comprising a range of sounds, some magical, […]
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Guanajuato is, and has been for a long time, a centre of culture and education. In one way or another, it has always been prosperous, either through the richness of its farmland or its mines. There was the money to support cultural activities and the desire on the part of the rich mining families and hacendados, I […]
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The city of Guanajuato is nestled in a sort of steep basin in the Sierra Madre Mountains and spreads up around the center of the basin. Imagine a huge, terraced rice paddy such as we’ve seen in photos of Indochina. Then, imagine a city built on those terraces, a city in which there are practically […]
Continue ReadingNovember is a festive month here in Ajijic, beginning with the celebrations of All Saints Day and Day of the Dead, and ending with the feast of the village’s patron, San Andrés. Invariably the most lively celebrations in any Mexican village, the fiestas patronales here seem possessed of a unique spirit of mirth unmatched in other nearby […]
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Set on the shore of Lake Chapala, the town of Ajijic has become a center of art and culture. The Noches de Ajijic International Festival of Gastronomy and Music highlights some of the region’s best. Seven host restaurants offer special menus prepared for the occasion by outstanding guest chefs. Other festival activities will draw residents […]
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It’s a brisk, moonless night. At the edge of the Ajijic plaza, an anxious group of villagers huddle shoulder to shoulder, casting expectant glances towards the star-studded sky. A sudden barrage of whistling, sputtering explosives rents the night air. The crowd takes a collective lunge backwards, letting out a gasp of wondrous surprise. A brilliant […]
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What is at the heart of festivals in Mexico? Mexican festivals have something special that those of us non-Mexicans just have to experience to understand. Santa Maria Ahuacatilan, Morelos is the place to experience church centered community celebration. This little town just north of Cuernavaca is maintaining its festival traditions into the 21st century. For […]
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Of all the most endearing and enduring charms that draw travelers back to Mexico, the effect that the country can have upon a sense of humor is the most magical. It arises out of an initial attitude of annoyance and frustration by the first-time visitor toward anyone or anything that appears to behave or operate […]
Continue ReadingEn México, hace mucho calor durante el mes de abril, y mientras muchas personas deciden pasar este tiempo en la playa, muchos otros prefieren explorar las hermosas ciudades coloniales. Una que cuenta con arquitectura impresionante es Aguascalientes, que tiene sus orígenes en la colonización de los españoles. La ciudad tiene 400 años de ser fundada […]
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