The Army Corps Of Engineers Approach To Traffic Control
Mary and I left Wisconsin on November 8, 2000 to move to Guadalajara. We delayed until the 8th because we both wanted to vote in the presidential elections before leaving. We hitched our packed 4 by 8 ...
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A Man And His Goat
At the end of our two-month test of living in Guadalajara, Mary and I packed up my car for the drive back to Wisconsin.
We left Guadalajara early one Saturday morning driving north on highway 54. T...
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Why am I laughing? Street clowns in Mexico
Mutual aid and survival in the mountains of Oaxaca
This road, graded to a high standard for gravel-based bituminous construction, was less than one year old when it washed out. Fortunately, there was still enough mountainside left to make a bypass. Man...
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Green means food, red means starvation: Agriculture in Mexico's Mixteca Alta
These bells were removed from the church at Santa Maria Tiltepec. An earthquake caused severe structural damage to the bell tower in June of 1999. Erosion caused the red gashes in the surrounding hills...
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Evolution of a gourmet in Mata Ortiz, Mexico
Juan Mata Ortíz is a small village of potters, farmers and cowboys in Northern Chihuahua. About 30 years ago, an unschooled artistic genius, Juan Quezada, taught himself how to make ollas, eart...
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Stay in Mexico, or go North to work? Every family's dilemma
There are three sons missing from this family portrait. They have gone "North" to find work. Like most villages in southern Mexico, theirs depends on its' migrants for the money to buy food, clothing a...
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It's a bargain in Mexico!
Juan Mata Ortíz is a small village of potters, farmers and cowboys in Northern Chihuahua. About 30 years ago, an unschooled artistic genius, Juan Quezada, taught himself how to make ollas, eart...
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The Oaxaca library: A project of, by and for the people
Ruth Gonzalez, Librarian, in the front room of the Oaxaca Circulating Library, where she has worked for almost all the 35 years of its existence
© Diana Ricci, 1999
For the English speaking commun...
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Bring it with you when you come: Susan Trilling in Oaxaca
Who's boss here, anyway?
This picture appeared with an earlier article, "The Servant", about four years ago. The girl is still playing and singing along the "tourist walking street" in Oaxaca, as are a couple of her you...
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Lucky thing: Two Mexican couples
Thirty minutes away from the Guadalajara airport, but seemingly hundreds of years distant in time, in Lake Chapala sits the island of Mezcala whose ruins date from the early 19th century. The cobbled r...
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Reverse culture shock
Last month, my friend and I drove my Mazda MX6 back to California (yes, my third driving trip), so my son could sell the car for me. Other than illegal means, I had exhausted possibilities for selling ...
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Gringos helping to fight AIDS in Mexico
Condon Mania, a project of the Frente Comun Contra SIDA (Common Front Against AIDS), sells health - and life - to hundreds of Mexican youth and adults every month. The Frente's major concern is slowing...
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Untitled, a point of view
Hello Readers.
I'm out of country for the month of May and taking a vacation from my regular column. I received this short story from a reader and thought I'd share it with you. It captures the es...
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Mexico: a visit to Sayula, Zapotlanejo and Zapopan
Sayula
After having read an article in the local Guadalajara Reporter by a man who retired in Sayula, some friends and I decided to check it out. It's a nice-sized town with a population of about 200,...
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Mexican punctuality
Many years ago, on one of my first trips to the United States, I had the opportunity to attend to a rather formal party, organized in honor of one of the local personalities at the small, charming Midw...
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Mexican handcraft exposition and trade fair
Yesterday, for the second time in three years, I attended ENART at The Central Culturo El Refugio in Tlaquepaque. What a treat. Over one hundred and thirty exhibits by Mexican artisans from around the ...
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My anniversary in Oaxaca
La Casa de Mescal is a Oaxaca landmark, which at the millenium will have been doing business at this location near the Zocalo for 60 years. Those of us who prefer Mezcal to its cousin, Tequila, know th...
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Home again, home again
In the late summer of 1996, the weary traveler reflects on a long time spent away from home. (Pictured are the ruins at Yagul, near Oaxaca ). Photography by Diana Ricci
Got my ticket in my pocket...
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My three nights in a Mexican hospital
In recent weeks I've had occasion to reflect once again on the generosity and thoughtfulness of Mexicans. For the very first time in my life - at my ripe old age - I had occasion to go into hospital. And I'll never forget the wonderful generosity and concern of my Mexican neighbors.
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Samuel Lopez, A Young Cowboy
Juan Mata Ortíz is a small village of potters, farmers and cowboys in Northern Chihuahua. About 30 years ago, an unschooled artistic genius, Juan Quezada, taught himself how to make ollas,
earthe...
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From a man's perspective
This is an e-mail I received from Steve in Montana. He's given me permission to share it with you and I hope it will touch you in the same way it has me:
Dear Blue,
I have just concluded a wonderful ...
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The Maya civilization: Historical conflict
There is no truth in the words
of foreigners.
Chilam Balam of Chumayel
The news arrives every day: accusations of menacing maneuvers by the Mexican army in Chiapas, proclamations an...
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A day at Labna: An ancient Maya city in Yucatan
For the thousandth time, the automobile was stuck in the road. Damn! Things were much worse than we'd imagined. I opened the car door and stepped down to see how to get us out from the hole in which we...
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