"Like Water for Chocolate" is a sort of combined novel and cookbook. Food plays a very prominent part in the narrative. The heroine, Tita, is a wonderful cook and we are even provided with her recipes along with the action. The story is set at the time of the Mexican Revolution - 1910-1920 - in Piedras Negras in Northern Mexico. And, like so many Mexican stories, it concerns a family. The story mainly concerns Tita, the youngest daughter, the remarkable cook and originator of all those recipes. read more

The story mostly concerns three generations of a Mexican family, some of whom live in Mexico, others in the U.S. The action starts with three family groups making an annual pilgrimage from their homes in Chicago to visit other family members - like Awful Grandmother and Little Grandfather - in Mexico City. As they drive in three carloads down Route 66 one of the daughters, Lala, tells us about them - or at least some of them. read more

"What Val saw as his long period of involuntary servitude was about to come to an end. In the prison movie parlance he liked to affect, he had done his 'hard time.' He had finally reached his eighteenth birthday, and Texas law entitled him to make his own decisions now." The time is 1955. Val has just graduated from high school - although barely. He's finally free to escape the tiny Texas town of Big Bend, which he detests, and go off to California. Val's mother, Guadalupe, is Mexican and his father, who has long since flown the coop, is Anglo, which at least makes Val part Mexican. read more

December 12th is a very important Catholic holiday in Mexico. It's the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Mazamitla is a very small mountain town in Jalisco that celebrates the Virgin's feast day an annual nine-day festival. The final days, we were told, are the best. read more

There are hundreds of photos of all kinds of artistic output, from pottery to wood carvings, from basket weaving to candle making, and lots more but we're given a much closer look at the actual creators of all this work. We're treated to wonderful works featuring mermaids, clowns, devils, angels, fishes, skeletons, Biblical scenes, animals and birds of all kinds, and even ladies of the night. These are all used to decorate masks, bedspreads, candles, baskets, jewelry, furniture, statues, toys, pottery and clothing and much, much more plus some 87 brief biographies of each of the artists. 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

If expats want to be accepted into the broader society, then they must act the part and treat custom and societal standards with the respect they deserve. It's not enough to throw money at causes and d... read more

Don Isaac recounts awaking at 4 a.m. then walking from his village of Matatlán, with his mule, to Oaxac. He arrived some 14 or 15 hours later… just to buy a large cántaro, the traditiona... read more

One day they may be calling you, so be ready and learn what it means read more

This story could take place in any village in any state in the paradise that is known as Mexico. The names of the people may be different, but the stories will be the same. Once upon a time, my housek... read more

“Be careful what you wish for,” they say, “you might get it.” That may be true most of the time, but not this time. My son has given me what I wished for — he just married a Mexican girl! K... read more

Petra is the grand matriarch in our Mexican community of Nestipac, in suburban Jocotepec. A daughter and two children live to the right of her home. Two sons and their familes live to her left. Those o... read more

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... read more

Large families, devout Catholics, modest clothing, very poor - these are some of the common preconceived notions about Mexicans from a rural eastern Oregon perspective. However, such a view is limiting... read more

In this day and age, dedicated parents willingly support any type of sporting activity that draws the interest of our off-spring. The average mother of today assumes a host of collateral tasks that go ... read more

I doubt any experience Ernest Hemingway had in Spain, or Africa, or at The Compleat Angler on Bimini could top my entrance into family life at El Mirador. Daniel Casas, a man I never met, started b... read more

General Items   Myths "What works here ought to work in Mexico." Not so. You cannot transplant Canadian or US techniques, methods and management styles without adapting them and expect them to work... read more

HURDLE THE LANGUAGE BARRIER - by learning Latin American hand and voice signals. These vary from one culture to another. The following are distinctly LATINO: THE WAGGING FINGER - ... read more

The only thing that is definitely known about Subcomandante Marcos, the ski-masked mystery man who leads the Zapatista rebels in the jungles of Chiapas, is that he is an intellectual. Conflicting sourc... read more

Flowers and flower arranging have played an important role in Mexico from ancient times to the present. The symbolic meaning of flowers is prominent throughout ancient Mesoamerican thought and practice... read more

The options are innumerable. It's simply a matter of doing a bit of homework - asking, and then committing yourself to a vacation dedicated in large part to your children. Oaxaca has traditionally bee... read more

Because I volunteer a few days each month as a Mexican genealogical consultant at the Los Angeles Family History Center, many people have asked me for assistance in tracing their indigenous roots in Me... read more

Families in Mexico tend to be numerous. I know about big families. I come from one. read more