Texas has the Alamo, New York has its Empire State Building, but only Michoacán has Pátzcuaro. Every travel poster extolling Michoacán has a shot of fisherman wielding the famous butterfly net. Look closely, and you’ll spy a tiny cone-shaped island, topped by a statue of José María Morelos, hand reaching to the sky. That’s Pátzcuaro’s […]
Continue ReadingMexico has strange laws about minor children and when you go back to the US, you might have trouble crossing with your child IF YOU DO NOT HAVE WRITTEN NOTARIZED PERMISSION from the father. Here is the general rule on crossing the border with children: If a minor child is not escorted by both parents, […]
Continue ReadingEnjoying the Mexican beachfront or colonial hillside town, you’ve decided to put down roots in Mexico and “save money” by buying in. Think twice: you may make the deal of a lifetime, or you wish you’d never become involved. Invest a significant amount of time before investing in Mexico real estate. Get to know the […]
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James Metcalf, Stephen and Maureen Rosenthal and Vasco de Quiroga have a lot in common. Each was a foreigner who came to Michoacan’s hills and dales surrounding Lake Patzcuaro, married art with commerce, infused heritages from around the world with local custom, emphasized training of artisans, and raised the utility of ordinary objects to art […]
Continue ReadingWe weren’t sure what to expect as we wheeled into Hacienda Mariposa’s entrance, greeted by German Shepherds. Of course, we’d visited the website, https://www.haciendamariposas.com, but we knew how deceptive some sites can be. Rounding the bend past the nursery, the property came into full view, and sure enough, the website was deceptively understated. What lay before […]
Continue ReadingPosted by jennifer rose on Abril 03, 2000 From another mailing list: You know you live or you’ve lived in Mexico when…….. [Let’s add to this list] -A wedding is at 8:00 p.m., you get there at 10:00 p.m. and nobody has arrived yet. -You will often have lunch and dinner at the same restaurant […]
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Dreaming of that storybook wedding on a scenic cliff above crashing ocean waves, blessed by a Mexican sunset while mariachis croon? Or amid bougainvillea’d stone arches in a colonial setting? Few places on earth offer up as many of those Kodak moments as Mexico, and that’s why Mexico has become one of the most popular […]
Continue ReadingLIVE BETTER SOUTH OF THE BORDER, by “Mexico” Mike Nelson. (USA: Roads Scholar Press, ISBN 1-889489-02-6, 2nd ed., 1997, $16.95) Available from Amazon Books: Paperback SPAS & HOT SPRINGS OF MEXICO, by “Mexico” Mike Nelson. (USA: Roads Scholar Press, ISBN 1-889489-26-3, 1997, $16.95) Available from Amazon Books: Paperback Visiting Mexico is one thing. Living here is another. Basking amid […]
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The Sunday Mexican fiesta at Guadalajara’s Camino Real promised cockfighting. I should have expected the “cockfight” would amount to a quick display of two cheerfully bored roosters who could have auditioned for a wholesome children’s show. “Genuine cockfights are illegal in Mexico,” chastened self-appointed cognoscenti. I should have known that a real cockfight was as likely to take […]
Continue ReadingThe Monte de Piedad, or National Pawnshop, bears little resemblance to the usual perception of the tawdry pawnshop, bordering the bail bondsman’s office in a not-so-savory part of town, patronized by the luckless, amid the milieu of Sidney Lumet’s film “The Pawnbroker.” A respected government institution, it represents more than the mere lender of last […]
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