Bus ride in Oaxaca

The bus ride from hell that I learned to love Oaxaca

“Is it always this bad?” I asked, panting in the heat. “Oh no! Sometimes it’s much worse,” the grandmotherly woman across the aisle assured me. “It can be much hotter…and a lot more crowded.” The battered bus was making torturously slow progress up a mountainous jungle highway. I was hot. I was cranky. I was […]

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Guelaguetza dancers. © Geri Anderson, 2000

Guelaguetza

Monday, July 21, 2014, the colorful pageantry of Mexico’s Guelaguetza is reenacted once again during the Lunes del Cerro (Mondays on the Hill. A Zapotec word signifying offering or offertory, Guelaguetza was the term used to describe the Oaxaca ceremony and celebration held each year to propitiate the gods in return for sufficient rain and a bountiful harvest. More […]

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The mystical and magical pleasures of Puerto Vallarta

The ship’s embracing water is as still as the prevailing silence while I watch the sun rise from behind the Sierra Madre Mountains. Its glorious rays begin to rebound off red-tiled roofs of hillside bungalows that line the many dusty and tattered cobblestone lanes. Vacated golden beaches lie waiting in both directions, where bikini-clad sun […]

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Parents diligently arranged this group of children for photographers. Increasingly, the customs of Hallowe'en are creeping into Day of the Dead festivities in Oaxaca and other parts of Mexico.

Through the lens: Dia de los Muertos – Day of the Dead – photo galleries

Day of the Dead, one of the most important celebrations in Mexico, is understandably difficult for foreigners to fully comprehend. Cemeteries full of families, flowers, food, and music seem daunting to the uninitiated. It took me many years to “get” it, to realize that it’s okay to venture into graveyards and join the festive mood. […]

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