Read about Mexico's important historical events that have occurred during the month of May.

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Ask about the history behind these celebrations, and a few may be able to tell you that the Mexicans defeated an invading French army on that date in 1862. Beyond that — except maybe in Puebla — general knowledge of the circumstances becomes sketchy. Why were the French there? What happened next? Did the French just go away? Many teachers in the U.S. still tell their classes that May fifth is Mexican Independence Day, which is dead wrong. read more

I'm sitting in a third grade class at the Independencia School in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Aside from the charming teacher, there's hardly a full set of teeth in the room, although nobody's smile... read more

The story begins as Mark Sands, a successful money manager — after little people with grubby hands drug him and drop him over the parapet of his broad veranda — is falling twenty-seven floors to his death.

Feeling detached, perhaps defensively, from his plummeting body, Sands wonders, "How had the little people emerged from the painting over his buffet?

It was his Rafael Cantú masterpiece, The Last Supper, the prize of his collection. And they were the characters from the painting. He recognized the odd, ragged leather outfits.

Had he been murdered by these nightmare versions of Christ and the Apostles?" ... read more

Some of the most thriving enterprises in the highland areas are trout farms, either run privately or as community projects undertaken by locals. Through the years, we have enjoyed fresh fish from trout farms in different regions of Mexico, where water from mountain streams feeds the ponds. read more

Mexican trout in papillote is a specialty of the high country between Toluca and México City, where trout abound in cool mountain streams. If you decide to wrap more than one fish in a foil papillote ... read more

The Mexican trout farms in the mountains outside Atlixco have open air restaurants that are crowded with families getting out of the city on weekends. The menus feature trucha empapelada, or en papillo... read more

The taste of fresh trout is a good foil for the richness of this Mexican macadamia sauce. The recipe uses macadamias as both a sauce ingredient and a garnish. read more

Fresh tropical fruit goes nicely with the clean taste of trout in this recipe for trout with Mexican tropical fruit salsa. Wrapping food in corn husks is a quintessentially Mexican treatment, but parchment paper could be used instead. read more

Epazote is a characteristic flavor of the central region of Mexico, and especially favored in the cuisines of Puebla and Tlaxcala. It distinguishes this recipe for Mexican trout with epazote. Ingredie... read more

Al mojo de ajo literally means drenched with garlic, and Mexican trout with garlic sauce is just that. Sometimes fish prepared al mojo de ajo comes with unappetizingly large chunks of garlic, but takin... read more

For citizens of both the United States and Mexico, the Mexican-American border, as well as the matter of Mexican immigration are topics of current political dispute, thinly masking a cultural stigmatism that does not fit well with American history or ideals.

Since there have been times when Mexican immigration was sought, The Dark Side of the Dream becomes a very timely read.

It was largely Mexican labor in the fields that kept U.S. troops fed during both World Wars.

In The Dark Side of the Dream, Grattan — himself a mix of cultures with an Irish-American father and a Mexican mother — has given us a sense of real people grappling with everyday challenges... read more

Question: Where do you go for vacation when you live your life on vacation?

Answer: That is a misleading implication. Retirement in Mexico is fun and we are grateful. Winter weather is wonderful where we live. Flowers bloom. Strawberries are inexpensive and very tasty. Alas, every day is not a perfect holiday. read more

We sit crushed together, moist and miserable, in the back of the battered old VW van as we do every day about this time. Interesting odors assail our noses. We would rather not know what it is we are s... read more

Read about Mexico's important historical events that have occurred during the month of April.

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City parks were not an important part of my life when I was a child. I was raised in the country on a farm which, for all practical purposes, was a park. Growing older, though, I learned to appreciate ... read more

For Mexico, the Easter holidays are a combination of Semana Santa (Holy Week — Palm Sunday to Easter Saturday) and Pascua (Resurrection Sunday until the following Saturday). For most Mexicans, this 2 week period is the time of year for holiday vacations (good time to not be on the highways — just stay put and enjoy the community of your choice during this holday season). Holy Week celebrates the last days of the Christ's life. Easter is the celebration of the Christ's Resurrection. It is also the release from the sacrifices of Lent. read more

The church bells have been tolling most of the night, interrupted only intermittently by the blast of rockets soaring into the night sky. One resounding boom echoes throughout the city at midnight. Thi... read more

I adore travelling Mexico by bus. Mexico's bus system offers travelers an economical, efficient and effective means to explore the entire country. The routes are highly organized and the connections a... read more

Xtabentum: A Novel of Yucatan begins in 1906, in those tense years just preceding the Mexican Revolution. A woman in Merida is giving birth to a baby girl, who will be named Amanda Diaz, and who will be one of the principal characters in Xtabentum.

The young Amanda, with the help of her thoughtful father, begins to understand la Casta Divina, the Divine Class, and how most members of this class "considered themselves superior by birth and the lighter color of their skin." read more

This news bulletin just in: Mexico considers revising history books. Another holiday proposed. Famous explorer discovers Jocotepec! Okay, maybe not in the way Christopher Columbus did his thing. It ap... read more

Think tequila, and many think of spring break and tequila shots, followed by who knows what?

But precursors of this quintessentially Mexican drink considered a gift from the gods.

Tequila has to do with its real roots, with the land it comes from and the lifestyle surrounding it. Here are my top five tequila drinks. read more

Read about Mexico's important historical events that have occurred during the month of March. read more

For some northerners, heading south of the border to live after a busy career, Mexico looks like the land of mañana. All they have to do is kick back and watch the monarch butterflies pass on their an... read more

The Theft of the Virgin is the ninth book in John Scherber's Murder in Mexico series. He tells a good story.

In The Theft of the Virgin, sixty paintings from the popular Vergruen Reference Collection of outstanding masterpieces of art — all forgeries — are on temporary display at the Bellas Artes in San Miguel de Allende... But are they all forgeries?

Paul Zacher, one of many talented artists in San Miguel de Allende, is our protagonist and for the most part our narrator.

Zacher suspects a scheme that is putting originals into the hands of very amoral and very wealthy collectors. read more