Frosty mornings in the sierras: healthy lifestyles in a small Mexican town
Politics and women's changing role in Mexico
In Talpa de Allende, there is a neighborhood girl who calls me her quasi-godmother. We have studied English together for the past few summers, but I find her attention span jumping about like a monkey....
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Tianguis: itinerant traders in a traveling Mexican market
In Talpa, we have tianguis or street markets. Every two weeks, venders come from Guadalajara with their trucks loaded with fresh vegetables and fruit, herbs, ornate plants, cell phones, hair dryers and CD players. We can buy a galvanized milk can or rubber boots to wear in the milking lot. There are clay bean pots, stone metates for grinding the spices for savory salsas and machetes to clear the path through the woods.
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Sacred places around us: Is Talpa a "power place"?
From Talpa to Puerto Vallarta in the 1800s
I shall never forget the two trips we made to the seashore from Talpa.
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Doña Chayito, Talpa's treasure
She talked about the Cristero War (1926-1929) as if it were yesterday.
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A Mexico mountain feast
In 1985, there were four Americans living in Talpa. Guy and Bill invited a small group living in Puerto Vallarta to share a weekend with them. The flight usually was about eighteen minutes long, but when folks used to ask me about the flying time, my answer was, "Long enough to say ten Our Fathers and fifteen Hail Marys, if you pray fast."
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Winemaking in the Mexican sierra
When he took the first sip of his nectar, Guy thought he could hear the angels sing.
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The Virgin of Talpa comes calling
There are secrets to all this pageantry that everybody doesn't know.
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Virgin hair for the Madonna's new wig
Many of you know August is the month when Talpa de Allende's image of the Virgin begins walking the back roads, visiting and blessing the ranches, cattle, crops, ponds and creeks along the way. She is accompanied by her devotees for six weeks on this summer trek.<
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Large families North and South of the border
Families in Mexico tend to be numerous. I know about big families. I come from one.
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Wildfires and old men: the legacy of US immigrants in Talpa
What no one was aware of was that, subtly, Guy and Bill were changing the ideals of the future leaders of a Mexico mountain village. Try Guy's Guy's Gringo Chile Relleno Casserole recipe.
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Charro wedding in a small Mexican town
Wedding traditions vary all over the world and Mexico is no exception. Canada and the United States are such international melting pots that we may see Asian, African or English customs demonstrated in the same ceremony. The same is true in Mexico. Margarita wore her wedding veil over a large white velvet sombrero.
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Mexican folk remedies
If you have something in your eye, take a hair from the tail of a live cat ....
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September 14, Day of the Charro
The charro wears a special suit, like none I've ever seen on Billy the Kid or John Wayne. The escaramuza wears her own beautiful attire; she rides and performs side-saddle.
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Legend of the Virgin of Talpa
There was no human intervention in the restoration of the image and, if history can be believed, the transformation had to be supernatural, divine or spontaneous combustion mixed with staunch faith.
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Secrets hidden in the Mexican sierra
One of my favorite antiques is a live doll. Last month she celebrated a century plus one year.
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A Mexico patriarch
Every Sunday in Mexico is Father's Day.
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Sisters and mothers in a Mexico town
Blanca and Maria are sisters. Blanca owns and operates a souvenir stand upstairs from the public market, just off the main plaza in Talpa de Allende. She has a young daughter. Maria owns and operates a beauty shop, and is expecting her first child.
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Walking to Talpa in March
They are called romerías or peregrinaciones, and the people who make them are usually called peregrinos. They are pilgrims coming to pay homage to Our Lady of the Rosary of Talpa, and they come by the thousands at this time of the year. It is best to buy shoes one size too big, and fill them up with extra socks when you start.
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Christmas in the Sierra Madre mountains
Very few country homes are adorned with the Christmas tree most of us know. But there will definitely be a nativity scene over in the corner of the front room or in the center of the main table. It seems that the more humble the family, the bigger the crèche.
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