Ajijic's answer to the historical mural
Efren Gonzalez was born and raised in Ajijic, a student of the Santos Degollado, Secondary School, at the top of Encarnacion Rosas. Never did the artist dream he would be the painter commissioned to ad...
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Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) in Chapala
Mexico's most intriguing holiday, is linked to a rich variety of popular customs that offer resident expatriates an excellent opportunity to soak in the culture of their adopted home. Here are some sug...
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Fireworks artist: José Zuñiga, castillero
Jose Zuñiga has been making castillos for the better part of 25 years. His father was a Maestro de Fuegos Artificiales, and from boyhood, he remembers being part of the family business. ...
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My first pilgrimage: the Virgin "Rosario de Talpa", Jalisco.
If you live here in Mexico and don't study the culture or experience first-hand this ancient and mysterious country, you are missing the richness that surrounds you daily. It is one thing to go on an a...
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The Mexican flag - la bandera mexicana
The Mexican flag has been changed many, many times over the last 100 years or so: especially around the time of the war for independence. In the years surrounding that period, it was changed and adjust...
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Mexico flowers and flower art
Huichol Indian art: yarn paintings (cuadros estambrados)
This months cover features an example of Huichol yarn painting, Cuadros Estambrados, a transformational art form to the artists and shamans of the Huichol people, who use it to depict their myth...
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Religion in Mexico: the Signs of the Cross
It happens all the time when I am talking with a Mexican friend as we walk or drive. In the midst of riveting conversation, she stops mid-word to touch her head, heart and shoulders and I realize we ar...
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What I know about Mexico
Having seen and done enough for certification as a low-level expert, I shall now tell you what I think I know about Mexico.
Christmas is not as commercialized as in the United States but Santa Claus i...
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Mexico missionaries
Let the word go out across all the land, "The Baptists are coming, the Baptists are coming" -- to Mexico.
Do what? You say they've been here for a hundred years? On my, cancel the cry.
I don't know b...
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Cesar Millan: America's greatest Mexican import
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the American people, desperately in need of relief from fears about the future, turned for escape to movie stars Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers for champagne a...
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Crime may pay
When church groups and civic clubs, north of the border, are seeking something for almost nothing, they sometimes invite me to tell about life in Mexico. Some listeners squirm around and seem dissatisf...
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Cantinflas: super comic, super star, super man
Mario Mareno Reyes was the sixth son of 15 children, who became a world-wide cinema super star, was married to the same woman for more than 30 years, and made enormous financial contributions to the Me...
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Did you know? Anglo vs. Mexican sayings
Anglo and Mexican sayings are often subtly different.
For starters, consider your pet cat. In Canada or the U.S., cats are considered to have nine lives; in Mexico, however, cats only have seven ...
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Getting Used To Things In Mexico
Traveling to Mexico is like having a fling, a stunning romance, a love affair so intense that everything becomes a romantic vision. Senses are heightened, feelings revive, and travelers find themselves...
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Remember, this is Mexico
When I am puzzled, when I just don't understand, when I really don't believe what I see and hear, the standard explanation from helpful friends is "Remember, this is Mexico." I'm not sure what that mea...
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La Virgen de Guadalupe - Mother of all Mexico
Strolling through street markets, browsing the tourist stalls, visitors to all parts of Mexico see mountains of goods featuring the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe. As tourists observe the impossibly ...
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The Day Of The Holy Cross - May 3rd
Each year on May 3rd processions of singing pilgrims carrying streamers and flowers wend their way through towns, cities and villages of Mexico to decorate the crosses along roadsides and on mountainto...
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Our Lady of the Sorrows – Nuestra Señora de los Dolores
For many years, villages and towns in Mexico, have enacted special Biblical events and gathered to pray at specially erected altars to celebrate sacred figures on each of the Fridays of Lent. These spe...
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Santa Elena, discoverer of the Holy Cross
My fascination with life and accomplishments of Santa Elena came to me accidentally this year, as I struggled to unravel the traditions and customs of one of Mexico's most popular Feast Days-May 3rd, t...
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Did You Know? - Mexican Jumping Beans "Frijoles Saltarines"
Much of the world has heard about the legendary "Mexican Jumping Bean", the small seed that resembles the common "frijole" or bean, that, when warmed by the heat of the sun or when held in the pal...
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Day of the Dead - A Celebration
Rituals and traditions can provide a sense of place and timelessness. They offer us the opportunity of feeling connected to what has gone before and what will continue through the corridors of time. It...
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Mexican Army storms Katrina
There was a time in history when Mexico was accused by a U.S. NAFTA-opposed politician of making "giant sucking sounds." Well, folks, the giant noises coming from Mexico today are not giant sucking sou...
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Chapala has character and characters
Chapala has character.
This distinctive town, very near an up-and-down lake with the same name, in the colorful state of Jalisco, in central Mexico, doesn't have enough parking places but it has genui...
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The shrewdness of Mexican women
At the turn of the 20th century, a scandal erupted in Mexico City. It was called "The Famous 41," and occurred on November 17, 1901.
Police raided a private party on La Paz Street and arrested 41 men,...
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