Inside the main chapel at Santo Domingo Church, one of many highly decorated colonial and post colonial buildings in Oaxaca in which music is presented. The Teatro Macedonio Alcala exists because of t... read more

This was written around Christmas of 1994. The banner hangs outside an opposition union office in Oaxaca. After ten days, the occupation ended. The teachers, some ten thousand strong, went back home t... read more

A detail salvaged from the original convent of Santo Domingo graces one side of the main entrance to the newly refurbished Oaxaca Cultural Center and Regional Museum. [This is a special article abou... read more

  All roads in Oaxaca state lead to the south side of the Zócalo, facing the state Government Palace. On most days, there is a march and demonstration there by one disaffected group or other. This... read more

Maestro (master, teacher) Rodolfo Morales, one of the most prominent native Oaxacan artists, succumbed to cancer of the pancreas in a Oaxaca City hospital, at 9:30 p.m. on January 30, 2001. Photography by Diana Ricci

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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... read more

Mexico is a place where much is hidden. Things go on close to the surface, but not on it. It makes for a sometimes frustrating, always engaging experience. read more

After an exciting week visiting a close friend, meeting new ones, and immersing myself fully in the rich cultural experience that is Oaxaca, I was headed home to celebrate Christmas with my family and ... read more

Between the birth and the death came a crazy-quilt of only-in-Mexico experiences that resonated with my memories Daniel Pérez González was a beautiful baby. His parents Flor and Jo... read more

Monday, July 26, 2010, the colorful pageantry of Mexico's Guelaguetza is reenacted once again during the Lunes del Cerro (Mondays on the Hill. A Zapotec word signifying offering or offertory, Guelaguetza was the term used to describe the Oaxaca ceremony and celebration held each year to propitiate the gods in return for sufficient rain and a bountiful harvest. Today it is one of the most colorful fiestas in Mexico. read more

Most tourists have no idea that only a couple of hundred yards off the main highway, a minute or two from the black pottery village, is one the most fascinating destinations that the state of Oaxaca ha... read more

Hierve el Agua is stunning, one of Oaxaca's most impressive attractions — and perhaps one of the most spectacular in the entire country. Yet, surprisingly, it is one of the least visited. With its bu... read more

This was written in 1994. How to survive - and stay - in Oaxaca, were very much on my mind. (The picture is of the Oaxaca State Band playing their Sunday concert in the zocalo.) Photography by Diana Ri... read more

Maestro Ignacio Cervantes plies his trade in the Alameda, in front of the Cathedral in Oaxaca. Photography by Diana Ricci [" Rompe - Cabeza " (ROM-pe ca -BAY-sa, literally "head b... read more

This is my 73rd article. The other 72, as well as a "letters to the editor" section, answers to some Frequently asked Questions and a subscription Newsletter sample, are also available on this site. Ta... read more

The author and mate /photographer Diana Ricci, at the entrance to their 100-year-old Apartment building in Oaxaca in 1996. Photography by Diana Ricci Miracles are part of everyday life to the people ... read more

Whether rain or shine, the protests in front of the government palace in Oaxaca go on. This banner, with likenesses of Ricardo Flores Magon and Emiliano Zapata, says "This paradise, this flag, this lan... read more

"BORDERING ON CHAOS": READ IT, BUT BE A SKEPTIC Andres Oppenheimer, a Central America hand reporting for the Miami Herald, has put out a very interesting book on the roots -- and likely outcome -- of ... read more

Guadalupe is the mother of all Mexicans, the savior and succor of the indigenous spirit, protectress of the poor, dark, ailing and humble. She is the Dark Madonna of Indian features, who appeared just after the invasion by the white-skinned Europeans. She is miraculous and comforting, the emotional support to a conquered nation, orphaned from their pantheon of gods and spirits of nature. read more

Temazcal is akin to the Iroquois sweat lodge. Who would have thought that we could ever have such a first-hand experience during modern times? Curandera Doña Mariana chants while con... read more

(Originally published in somewhat different form in The Mexico City News, November, 1982) Eli was sick a lot in Oaxaca. The air of the city of Oaxaca in those days was fecalized. Many people there sti... read more

The third week of May, 2008, Hertz in Oaxaca changed its downtown location from a side street to the main drag, the pedestrian walkway known as Alcalá about a block and a half up from the zócalo. The... read more

What better way to begin a series of children's cooking classes than with pizza and mango smoothies? Chef Pilar Cabrera's Casa de los Sabores began their inaugural class with the basics of kitchen safe... read more

For one night of the year in Oaxaca, Mexico, the Raphanus sativus, or radish as it is more commonly known, escapes its destiny as root vegetable side dish and becomes art. Thousands upon thousands of r... read more

This is our patio. We can seat 26 in a pinch, but we like to hold it down to 20. This is not as much work as it may seem, since all our large parties are pot-luck, and everyone we know either cooks lik... read more