My Mexican daughter-in-law: the bride wore green and white and red
“Be careful what you wish for,” they say, “you might get it.” That may be true most of the time, but not this time.
My son has given me what I wished for — he just married a Mexican girl!
K...
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Easter in Mexico: a blend of cultures
Santa Semana (Easter week) captured center stage last month in Ajijic. For me, it was a chance to really appreciate both the Mexican customs as well as enjoying some from back home.
The celebrations o...
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Ajijic friends and the perfect fiesta
Someone was playing a Spanish radio station full blast in the car next to mine as we stopped at a red light in Hollywood California. The cacophony of mariachi brass, not a shy sound, bombarded my ears ...
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Village in the Sun by Dane Chandos
I reviewed Chandos's other book, "House in the Sun", in Mexico Connect a couple of months ago and now I'm catching up on what was actually the author's first book, published four years earlier. We're given a good long loving look at the various events that mark a typical year in a Mexican village - like The Day of the Dead, the Day of the Cross, Navidad, birthdays and the other festivals that are customarily celebrated. It all adds up to an attractive narrative.
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Mexican driver's ed, a Monterrey perspective
I can think of nothing more torturous than driving in Mexico. A free for all with life-threatening vehicles is not my idea of fun or adventure, but Mexicans seem to love it. When I first started drivin...
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Learning to live in Mexico - index
In July 2002, I moved from Boston, Massachusetts, to Monterrey, Mexico, with the intention of remaining there for the rest of my life. It was an "international love affair" that brought me there. But I...
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An unexpected visit
It was 12:30 in the morning. All of a sudden I woke with a start. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. What was that? I usually wake up at the slightest noise. There was a lot of noise outside the bedroom door. ...
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A bonding of families and countries
I can't say I was thrilled with the idea at first, but I was never against it either. My daughter spent her junior year at Harvard studying in Spain. She came home with new-found worldliness, self-conf...
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Who am I, and how did I end up in Mexico?
I remember my introduction to the theory of Chaos in the movie Jurassic Park. Mathematician Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) takes the top of Dr. Sattler's hand (Laura Dern) and drops a tiny drop of water o...
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5.5 dimensions of cross-cultural love part 2
Last month I compared the phases of cross-cultural love to being inside the head of John Malkovich. This month, only 50 days away from my wedding, my perspective has changed; I don´t think being John ...
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"Mamítis" in Mexico
HEALTH ADVISORY: Beware of the Mexican affliction widely known as "Mamítis". Mamítis rears its ugly head in just about every Mexican family. It is insidious and slow to sho...
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Latin lovers or macho men?
Mexican men, like the rest of the world, get their ideas about American women from watching talk shows, soap operas, and movies. Therefore, they think we are terribly easy, unfaithful, and willing to h...
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Crossing over: embracing my Mexican life
I should have known from the start that the wedding would be a success. I was too quick to doubt the power of such an event to unite people across physical, social, cultural, and linguistic barriers. A...
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Who let the dogs out?
I had a dream. It was a grandiose dream featuring a pristine line of little tollbooths spanning a highway 25 lanes wide. Hundreds of cars were waiting patiently, equally distributed among the 25 lanes....
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So You Want To Marry A Mexican?
I saw
My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and I thought, how different could a Mexican-American wedding be? Well, while there are many, many similarities, I overlooked the fact that my wedding is being ...
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Some Like It Hot!
Mexican cuisine is not for the weak at heart. Any food genre that is capable of making your throat, mouth, and lips burn for extended periods, invoking fits of hiccoughs, and wreaking havoc on stomachs...
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Forget Being John Malkovich - Being Amy Kirkcaldy
Part 1
I do not claim to be half as interesting as John Malkovich, but after my experiences in moving to Mexico, I may be just as bizarre. I have been through a remarkable number of changes in a pe...
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Las Posadas: the nine days of Christmas
Not that the commercialization of Christmas has totally taken over Mexico, but it seems that Santa and Rudolph might be slowly gaining over the Holy Family and the Three Kings.
Once upon a time, there...
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Accommodations to die for: Mexico cemetaries
A report has been circulating in the newspapers about the crushing lack of space in Mexico City’s public cemeteries. The solution currently being employed is to dig up the deceased after seven years ...
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Broken Berlitz: learning Spanish
While lazily drinking in the Spanish language, courtesy of the PBS Destinos series and U.S. State Department audiotapes, with a little Berlitz for a chaser, it occurred to me how easy a language i...
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Nine steps to a happy life in Mexico
Moving to Mexico isn’t a matter of simply relocating to another country with your belongings. No indeedy. Of the many experiences you will have south of the border, the most emphatic will be Cultural...
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Signing up for Mexico's IMSS health coverage
I finally got my IMSS (The Mexican Social Health Insurance) card today. It took about three weeks and visits to fifteen different desks in four different buildings in two different cities. I did it mys...
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Mexican village
This story could take place in any village in any state in the paradise that is known as Mexico. The names of the people may be different, but the stories will be the same.
Once upon a time, my housek...
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True Tales from Another Mexico by Sam Quinones
An odd mixture of very positive descriptions of the country along with some appalling examples of what can happen south of the border.
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The Tortilla Curtain by T. Coraghessan Boyle
This isn't a book about Mexico. Rather, it's about Mexicans in California right now.
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