I digress from stories about the potters of Mata Ortíz, Chihuahua this month to reminisce about my first New Year in Mexico. I was 13, I was in Puerto Vallarta and the year was 1958. “Mike, come and look.” Dad shook me awake. I squinted, bleary-eyed around the dark room. It was still the middle […]
Continue ReadingThe financial impacts of poor water quality on Mexico are nothing short of staggering. In any discussion about visiting Mexico, somebody always pipes up with the comment “Don’t drink the water.” If I had a dollar for every time I have been given this advice, I would be a wealthy man indeed. Nonetheless, the comment […]
Continue ReadingJudy pounds on my bedroom door, waking me from a very sound sleep. After all, it’s only 7 a.m. “Yeah.” I say. “There’s a scorpion in the bathroom.” Silence. “Jim!” “So kill it.” “Killing scorpions is man’s work.” She yells. Now that surprises me, as Judy is a very independent woman. Struggling out of bed, […]
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There are three plants that are an essential part of the Mexican household, limon [lime, not lemon], papaya, and the trusty sabila [aloe vera]. Every Mexican home that has some kind of a piece of garden has an arbol de limones in it, a lime tree, not a lemon tree. It is planted as a twig, nurtured lovingly, and if it has not […]
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At 3 p.m. one Wednesday during the first week of July someone pulled the string on the brass bell outside Isabel’s gate. I punched the ‘save’ key on my keyboard, walked across the terrace and followed the footpath to the gate. “Quien es?” I called out. A voice from across the wall answered, “Memo”, the nickname for […]
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In June I saw the first indications of rain. Clouds from the northeast began building in the late afternoons before dissolving halfway across the lake. I spent most days in my office, in front of the fan, working on projects and dodging Chuya. “¡Mira!” she grunted one afternoon, summoning me to the front part of the […]
Continue ReadingTraveling to Mexico is like having a fling, a stunning romance, a love affair so intense that everything becomes a romantic vision. Senses are heightened, feelings revive, and travelers find themselves newly innocent and unfettered by the constraints of their own societies. Depending upon our temperament, we are at once profoundly carried away so that we […]
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It is more than Mexico’s constant sun and the bewitching landscape that entrance us. It is the people. October is revival month. We are at the tag end of six months in Canada the province of British Columbia to be precise — and joyfully are getting organized for the trip south to Mexico where the […]
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I tell my friends that the only thing I have had stolen by Mexicans was my unwavering fealty to Canada: I have even considered living full-time in Mexico. We are approaching the border crossing about half a mile off. There are no distinctive markings to the terrain to define it. There is no checkpoint. No […]
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Roads in Mexico should display this warning: Use at your own risk. This country has one of the most extensive highway systems anywhere, providing convenient and indispensable connections among villages, towns and cities. In a nation where a minority of people owns automobiles, almost everybody depends on buses to get around. These vary between long […]
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