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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Mata Ortiz: How do you get there from here?
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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Mexico's autumn antiques shows: A lot of fun
When I was growing up in New England, the autumn months were always full of weekend antiques shows. This type of event is not as common here in Mexico, but the coming months do offer collectors some su...
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Gomez Palacio and Torreon: Mexico's desert surprises
Three sets of twins - two of them unusual tourist delights - await the intrepid traveller who explores the area around the industrial cities of Gómez Palacio and Torreón in northern Mexico.
The firs...
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Copper Canyon crossing: Hiking the Sierra Tarahumara
The Sierras:
The Sierra Tarahumara is literally a land lost in time. Probably the most rugged and least explored areas of the Sierra Madre Occidental. Though known around the world as the Copper Canyo...
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Chihuahua: on the trail of Pancho Villa, Mormons, Mennonites, waterfalls and turkeys...
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"Ay Chihuahua!"
Have you ever heard this time-honored phrase of amazement uttered by some dumbstruck or exasperated Mexican? Whatever its origins, it is p...
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Mother's Day in Mata Ortiz
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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Pancho Villa 1878-1923
Mexconnect writers explore the many faces of Francisco "Pancho" Villa, a key figure in the Mexican Revolution.
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Luz: Another village light 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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All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
You would be hard pressed to find a more Mexican novel than this one. Just about all of the action takes place in the state of Coahuila. I don’t particularly enjoy reading westerns but such is the power of McCarthy’s writing that I was drawn into those small researches simply to enhance my enjoyment of his book.
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A gift for giving: The mandy Man of Mata Ortiz
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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El Cohetero: The fireworks man of Mata Ortiz
The 4th of July exploded on November 20th in Mata Ortíz in 1992. The cave-black night near the bridge over Río Palanganas was shot with a kaleidoscope of color and a cacophony of noise, thanks to Jim...
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Mexico's Copper Canyon
For an unusual winter break, how about a Mexican train ride? The Reader's Digest called Mexico's famous Copper Canyon railroad trip, "the most dramatic train ride in the western hemisphere". Even that ...
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A mother's influence on a ceramic artist of Mata Ortiz
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 earthenware jars i...
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My heart won't let me stop: A ceramic artisan of Mata Ortiz
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 earthenware jars i...
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Flag Day in a Mexican school: Day of the abanderamiento
I'm sitting behind a small desk in the English department of a Ciudad Juárez politécnico - a sort of combination senior vocational high school cum junior college - across the Rio Grande from E...
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From father to son: On top of the world in Mata Ortiz
"When I walked into the museum and saw my ceramic sitting there beside the plaque for the Galardón, I was astonished. I had had no idea I had been awarded the Grand Prize." José Quezada sat with his ...
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Learning the ropes in Mata Ortiz
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 earthenware jars i...
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In Mata Otriz: Once, we were so poor
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 earthenware jars i...
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Adaptations: Survival of the cleverest
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 earthenware jars i...
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Tell Me About Tamazunchale
You are talking about one of the most beautiful regions in Mexico: la Huasteca. Four states meet in this extraordinary area: San Luis Potosí, Hidalgo, Veracruz and Tamaulipas. This is mountain, river, lake and dense forest country. Water is everywhere, as flowers and green and life.
read moreReal de Catorce: An outpost of progress
He's stranded in Real de Catorce.
His broken-down vehicle is without license plates, his Mexican tourist visa expired four months ago, and he has no money.
A 20-year-old Alaskan tattoo designer of an...
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The mining towns of San Luis Potosí, Mexico
Both the name and the coat-of-arms of San Luis Potosi recall the tremendous importance of mining to Mexico's economy. Called Potosí in emulation of the mines of that name high in the Bolivian Andes, t...
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Leonel Lopez: A Mata Ortiz storyteller on pottery
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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