Tucked away between the towering hotels of Cancun’s sparkling shores is a cultural treasure known as La Casa del Arte Popular Mexicano. Perched atop the pier on Kukulcán Boulevard in Cancun’s hotel zone, the tiny museum is brimming with handcrafted pieces that reflect Mexico’s rich artistic legacy. Careful thought went into the creation of La […]
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A lone woman stands on a quiet stage, covered almost entirely in blue. She wears a flowing blue skirt and bandeau, with matching paint saturating the skin of her face and entire body. The impression of an unending azure is broken only by the appearance of five yellow flowers: one painted on each hand, one […]
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“Nature is art,” says 30-year-old artist Alan Vázquez. “You can find colors in the flowers and the reef fish that we humans can not equal, even with the most sophisticated technology. (And) the roar of thunder, like the fierceness of the sea that we feel in our chest, is a vague musical note through time.” […]
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To conjure the world of the ancient Maya, all Otoniel Baruck Sala needs is a paintbrush and his imagination. This 31-year-old artist has spent more than half his life living on the Yucatán Peninsula, where his mind has long been steeped in Maya culture. “Since I was young, the Maya culture and civilization have always […]
Continue ReadingCogan’s Reviews Where the Sky is Born: Living in the Land of the Maya by Jeanine Lee Kitchel Enchanted Island Press, Hawaii, 2004 Paperback, 217 pages Available from Amazon Books: Paperback And also on Kindle from Amazon.com at $9.99 Here’s another of those ‘coming to Mexico to live’ books – but with a difference. It’s not concerned with […]
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A paradisaical town on Mexico’s Maya Riviera can be found just a 45-minute drive from the Cancun International airport. Less known, but no less beautiful, Playa del Carmen has a lot to offer, and has become a popular destination for tourists from all around the world. Most of the action in Playa del Carmen happens […]
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I collect old books. There’s no more fun for me than to forage through secondhand bookstores, digging up the weird and wonderful, ’50s crime pulp and science fiction, 19th century poetry tomes, books on travel and adventure. In some of those cities where I’ve lived or spent time – Amsterdam, London, Melbourne, Stockholm, Tel Aviv […]
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Isla Mujeres. That little gem off the coast of Cancun lying peacefully in the Caribbean Sea, beckoning you over to experience her magic. “Magic” is precisely how you will hear isleños — island residents — and visitors alike describe her. Mystical, healing, and rejuvenating are also words which have been associated with the island. Until you go, […]
Continue ReadingOne of the great romantic stories of Mexico concerns Felipe Carrillo Puerto, a Governor of Yucatan, and Alma Reed, an American newspaper columnist in San Francisco. Back in the early 1920’s, Alma Reed wrote a column under the byline “Mrs. Goodfellow” that was devoted to answering questions for people who sought legal advice but could […]
Continue ReadingBased on the ‘Mystery of the Maya’ OVERVIEW B.C. 1000-1000 Olmec 1800-900 Early Preclassic Maya 900-300 Middle Preclassic Maya 300 B.C. – A.D. 250 Late Preclassic Maya A.D. 250-600 Early Classic Maya 600-900 Late Classic Maya 900-1500 Post Classic Maya 1521-1821 Colonial period 1821- today Independent Mexico DETAILED TIME-LINE B.C. 11,000 The first hunter-gatherers settle […]
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