In Guadalajara with a short time to spare after a business meeting or a long wait between flight? Even an hour or two will suffice to see something of the artistic heritage that Mexico’s second city, Guadalajara, houses on behalf of the nation. It is especially fitting that the city houses so much fine mural […]
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Exploring Mexico’s Artists and Artisans Richard Hay Reagan had three great loves — art, jazz and Jeanora Bartlet. Jeanora is now a sprightly octogenarian and as we chat at her home in Bruton, Somerset, England, she is, initially, not too keen to share memories of her late partner. I had originally sought out Jeanora because […]
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Return to the U.S.The following year, Rick decided to return to North America. With financial help from brother Pete, he flew back to California. Jeanora took several of Rick’s large paintings and returned to France, planning to sell them in Paris to raise her own plane fare back. En route, she raised some funds by […]
Continue ReadingMost people probably have a vague idea that the Green Revolution was something to do with improving crops in the developing world, but how many realize that it began in Mexico? In fact, the Green Revolution continues in Mexico through the pioneering work of CIMMYT, the International Wheat and Maize Improvement Center based in Texcoco, […]
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Tlacuaches (opossums) are short-lived but smarter than most people imagine… Imagine “a monstrous beast with a snout like a fox, a tail like a marmoset, ears like a bat, hands like a man, and feet like an ape, bearing her whelps about with her in an outward belly much like a large bag or purse.” This […]
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Mulegé North of Loreto, the highway leaves the coast until about half way to Mulegé, at which point the Bahía de Concepción (Conception Bay) suddenly comes into view. This next stretch of coastline is among the most attractive in all Baja. As the highway winds along the coast, a succession of protected bays, small coves, […]
Continue ReadingThe song “Bésame mucho” (Kiss me a lot) was written by a young Mexican woman who had never been kissed. This article is a tribute to Consuelo Velázquez, who died January 22, 2005, at the age of 84. Consuelo Velázquez was one of Mexico’s best known modern songwriters. She wrote her most famous song – “Bésame […]
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Note: This article is an edited extract from chapter 29 of Geo-Mexico: the geography and dynamics of modern Mexico, by Richard Rhoda and Tony Burton (Sombrero Books, 2010). Reproduced by permission of the authors; all rights reserved. Females comprise 51.3% of the Mexican population (there are 94.8 men for every 100 women). However, with isolated […]
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I’ll break your jaw! (Chalco) In the umbilicus (Xico) Place of the squashed serpent (Coapatongo) [1] Mexico’s place names or toponyms provide a rich and fun source for linguistic analysis. Indigenous peoples spoke languages that had no formal alphabet. They developed complex symbols (hieroglyphs) for place names that used combinations of up to three different […]
Continue ReadingThis month’s Did You Know column highlights the pearl, the beautiful birthstone associated with the month of June. The history of pearl collecting in Mexico goes back a very long way. When Spanish explorers sailed into the Sea of Cortés (Gulf of California) in the early 1530s they encountered Pericú Indians wearing necklaces strung with red […]
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