Students at UIEM, San Felipe del Progreso, Mexico State - Estudiantes en la UIEM, San Felipe del Progreso, el Estado de México. © 2021 James Musselman

Higher Education for Indigenous Communities in Mexico

More than 8 million people in Mexico, about 6% of the total population, speak one or more of the country’s 68 original (indigenous) languages. [1] Najo’obiñ’eje, Welcome, bienvenidos, in Mazahua. Pjiekak’joo, “We speak”, the name of the critically endangered Tlahuica language. Despite an official proclamation following the Mexican Revolution of the elimination of racial prejudice […]

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Viñedos Aztecas © 2021 Jane Simon Ammeson

Sampling fine wines on the Querétaro Wine Trail

In a land of smokey mezcals, rompopes, single-distilled raicillas, cervezas, tequilas, and Kahlua—that thick, sweet coffee liqueur made in Veracruz whose name in Nahuatl means the house of the Acolhua people—wine would seem to scarcely merit a mention. But in the 30 miles stretching between San Juan del Río and Bernal, known as the Querétaro […]

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Tamales de elote © Daniel Wheeler, 2008

Los Tamales: Five Hundred Years at the Heart of the Fiesta

Mexico is the land of fiestas, and never more than during the month of December, when the feasts are so many that they overlap by several days. Starting on December 3, the beginning of the nine-day tribute to the Virgin of Guadalupe, and continuing through until January 6, Three Kings Day, there is non-stop celebration. In addition […]

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A Spanish Galleon aground on the Baja California Peninsula, illustration by Gordon Miller. Reproduced by kind permission of the artist; all rights reserved.

Solving the mystery of a lost Spanish galleon on Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula

When European ships were wrecked at sea, a Christian burial was usually afforded those whose bodies washed up on the shoreline. That was not the case here. Somewhere on a desolate stretch of a Baja California beach lie the bones and cargo of a once majestic Spanish galleon. It was around 1576 when she vanished […]

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A nativity scene represents the first Christmas in one of Guadalajara's four main plazas. © Daniel Wheeler 2009

Mexican Christmas menu ideas: Posadas, Noche Buena, Navidad

In Mexico, the Christmas season is a month-long fiesta, starting with the feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe on December 12th, and continuing through the posadas, Noche Buena and Navidad, right up to the Three Kings Day on January 6th. During this celebratory month, preparing seasonal dishes is an important part of the festivities, with […]

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This diorama in Mexico City's Templo Mayor museum shows a Tenochtitlan market selling agricultural produce © Anthony Wright, 2013

A Tale of Three Cities: Mexico City, Teotihuacan and Tenochititlan

1. Mexico City On the way to Ecuador, I took a five-day diversion to Mexico City. As souvenirs, I picked up a stomach bug and a rather extreme case of sun-burn. Neither were timetabled, but both easily gained with the correct measure of self-neglect. I was respectively supported by a high altitude that increased the […]

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MexConnect homepage, November 19962015

MexConnect celebrates 25 years on the web

MexConnect is 25 years old this year! David McLaughlin launched MexConnect (originally Mexico Connect) in 1996 after many months of behind-the-scenes preparation. MexConnect was initially published as a monthly magazine, with an entire new selection of articles on various topics added every month. The first homepage design (eg November 1996) had Living, Mexico Travel and […]

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Mexican chicken salad with chipotle vinaigrette known as salpicon de pollo © Karen Hursh Graber, 2014

May in Mexico: A month of holiday food

Look on any Mexican calendar for the month of May, and you will see a lineup of holidays, including federal and civic observations, as well as religious and non-religious festivities. Nearly all of these are celebrated with parties, parades, performances, festive meals, or a combination of these. A holiday in Mexico rarely passes without food and drink, […]

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