Venta Prieta, Hidalgo
I'm interested in information on the small "native" Jewish community in Venta Prieta, Hgo. (just outside of Pachuca) and would be grateful for anything that anyone might know about it.
read moreMexico City's "apocalypse" has come and gone: Mexican photographer Pablo Ortiz Monasterio
In the novel "Virtual Light," cyberpunk author William Gibson envisages a Mexico City of the near future where the air is a sooted ebon and the populace wears oxygen masks.
It might seem far-fetched, ...
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The 1985 Mexico City earthquake: an excerpt from "Shooter"
Shooter: Network slang for a cameraman
A book in progress by Bob Dutru
Being a "shooter" was "A Job" that kept me nervous, excited, slightly off balance most of the time; kept my adrenaline pumping...
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The comadre and her sixteen children, or how I started cooking Mexican food
I first met the comadre through a colleague of mine at the University of Puebla, Mexico. I was in the habit of bringing meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and other "gringo food" that the professor's e...
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Mexican fava bean soup: Caldo de habas vegetariano
This soup was, and still is, prepared by the comadre and other Cholula cooks during the meatless Semana Santa, Holy Week. The use of hierbabuena (mint) to flavor soup is typical of Central Me...
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Mushrooms in vinaigrette: Hongos en escabeche
Wild mushrooms are found in abundance in the states of Puebla, Tlaxcala and Estado de Mexico during and after the rainy season, and used in soups, quesadillas and vegetable dishes. Although the comadre...
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Mineral de Pozos: a Mexican ghost town reawakens
Nestled between the hills and clouds at 7,500 ft. above sea level and only 25 miles from San Miguel Allende, is Pozos, Guanajuato. This once opulent colonial city lived through several gold bonanzas ...
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Bus from Mexico City to Oaxaca
I need to arrange for bus tickets for 7 people from Mexico City to Oaxaca on the morning of the 21st of December. I've heard that the "Uno" is the one to take and I'd like to make reservations for the 7 of us in advance. Is it possible to do this and if so, how? And if you're really familiar with the buses, how much?
read moreOur Lady of Guadalupe
We possess an extraordinary account of this beautiful story, dated in the 16th century: the Nican Mopohua, written by an Indian nobleman, Don Antonio Valeriano, who was baptized and converted to Cathol...
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Between Dolores Hidalgo and San Miguel de Allende: Pozos, Atotonilco and Hacienda Taboada
Brown, arid hillsides barely visible in a distant haze. Isolated green cacti with contorted, knotted arms, coarse, spiny fingers and bright red, seemingly nailpolished fruits set against an endless tan...
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Inviting spas in Cuernavaca, Mexico
The following information has been summarized and updated from my book, Spas & Hot Springs of Mexico.
I recently had the hard duty of visiting three of Mexico's world-class spas. There are about a...
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Driving from Guadalajara to Oaxaca
The Classic Period (300-900 AD) Part 2: Cholula
The most important center of the Mexican highlands after the fall of Teotihuacan was Cholula, near the twin volcanic peaks Iztaccihuatl and Popocatepetl and the city of Puebla. The Great Pyramid there,...
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The Classic Period (300 - 900 AD) Part 1
With the rise of a variety of highly developed cultures, Mesoamerica entered its Golden Age. It was an era marked by political, intellectual and urban development, as well as excellence in monumental a...
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Mexico: a window on technology and the poor
Over the Columbus Day weekend, I was in Mexico City, attending and speaking at a conference marking the founding of the Mexican chapter of the Internet Society.
That was a potentially historic event i...
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