Free riding the roads of Mexico
Mexico has one of the most extensive highway systems anywhere, providing convenient and indispensable connections among villages, towns and cities.
read moreGood morning, Melaque: one day in a small Mexico beach town
For the past number of years during our months of Mexico we have been traveling to Melaque-San Patricio-Obregon, a former fishing village on the Pacific coast about five hours by bus south of Puerto Vallarta. Known collectively as Melaque, the Mexico beach community is stable now at about 8,000 persons, and flourishes during December-March upon the arrival of several hundred tourists who pop up in the streets like alabaster mushrooms in a rain-stirred meadow.
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The magic of Bernal, Queretaro: wine, opals and historic charm
A century is just a moment ago in Bernal.
I have come to Bernal because it is one of Mexico's Pueblos Mágicos. These magical towns are designated such because of their historic charm, peaceful atmosphere and closeness to a major city, in this case, the state capital, Querétaro
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Nogales, here we come
It is more than Mexico's constant sun and the bewitching landscape that entrance us. It is the people.
October is revival month. We are at the tag end of six months in Canada the province of British C...
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My Computer-type Mentality
We were snapping wedding photos in the atrium of the church - that's the big square in front of old Mexican churches where the Indians gathered to hear Mass - when the "next" bride and her wedding part...
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Walking the walk, talking the talk - Colimilla, Colima
"When you return from your friends in Guadalajara, I will take you to the freshest, finest seafood in Colima!" promised Nestor, as we left the hotel that he managed in Melaque, Jalisco. Well, I do no...
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Walking the walk, talking the talk - the more that things change . . .
There is a saying "the more things change, the more they remain the same." This saying, is of course, subject to debate. But I admit to always finding myself contemplating this expression every t...
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Zumpango: the guardians of a forgotten cemetery
"Magic realism" describes a style of Latin American writing where dreams and reality meet on equal footing in worlds lying ephemerally in between, poised to subvert back to the norm the very instant a ...
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This means war
The financial impacts of poor water quality on Mexico are nothing short of staggering.
In any discussion about visiting Mexico, somebody always pipes up with the comment "Don't drink the water." If I ...
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Wealth
Am I richer or poorer in Mexico? I'm certainly richer in gratitude. The simple fact that everything is not as easy as it was before makes me better at appreciating what I have.
When I first moved...
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Landscapes Of Mexico, Landscapes Of The Self
Mexico is a land of contrasts; I see this in both of my workplaces.
Click on pics for large view
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A Reasonably Comfortable Circle In Hell
The loss of the old shoes was not much. But the loss of the cross was something else.
That morning when Michael left his house on Miguel Blanco to head toward the tortillería on Constituci...
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Fragment
A simple vista vi un fragmento de tierra en alguna costa, frente a un océano. El vistazo se transformó en mirada. Me sumergí momentáneamente en la contemplación.
Varias ideas surcaron mi mente, ...
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Fragment
David Aguilar, chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, said the United States is experiencing a large increase in the number of illegal entries, according to the
US State Department. New to Mexconnect, J...
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Keeping In Touch From Mexico
(The rates quoted in this article are as of August 1998)
When I first started traveling in Mexico in the '60s, it was truly like going back in time. If you wanted to place a call back to the Stat...
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Mexico Notes
Ten Narrow, serpentine streets. Old world baroque buildings. Steep hills - shoehorned with vivid-colored casas. I have dropped into a spectacular place - a cross between San Francisco and Paris. Journa...
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Seeing my Mexico surroundings
I was able to see well enough to appreciate the Easter-basket beauty of the many different spring blossoms around Lake Chapala. With a clear, clean, robin-egg-blue sky as a background, the constantly changing tones of the mountains completed the mural of purple jacaranda, yellow primavera, magenta bougainvillea and the white and pink amapas trees.
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Walking the walk, talking the talk - a wee malarkey about Melaque,
San Patricio/Melaque, on the Pacific Coast of Jalisco draws its name from Saint Patrick. Legend goes that Saint Patrick brought Christianity to Ireland and drove out all the snakes to boot. Locals say ...
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Walking the walk, talking the talk - Mexican-moon-mother? La Llorona
Sooner or later, everyone in Mexico encounters La Llorona, The Woman Who Wails. It is known that stories about La Llorona dated back to the time of the Spanish Conquest of Mexico. Some sa...
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Cenote daydreams, Yucatan, Mexico
Recollections of stunning ruins, fantastic snorkelling,
exquisite food and friendly people.
The Yucatan is unlike any other region of Mexico. It has unique terrain, climate, cuisine and peop...
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Walking the walk, talking the talk - Fiesta de Guadalupe in Puerto Vallarta
Felipe Avila handed me his burning candle, converting me from spectator to pilgrim in the Fiesta de Guadalupe!
My arrival in Puerto Vallarta coincided with the beginning of the weeklong Fiesta de Guad...
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Walking the walk, talking the talk - a dream in Baja
On a surf-pounded beach in Baja Sur, I sat with my family of five, in a circle of campers around a crackling bonfire. The flickering flames cast each storyteller’s face in turn with a ruddy glow. The...
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Walking the walk, talking the talk - ¿Mucho macho, eh?
“Watch out, Mom!” yelled Rose as the metal hulk of a city bus bore down upon the busy street corner. Hopping instantly back onto the curb, I choked on gasoline fumes while litter swirled in the bus...
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Walking the walk, talking the talk - a taste for dichos
O.K. I admit it! I love 'dichos' (sayings or proverbs). Not, 'nachos' or 'ponchos', but dichos! Yes, those little nuggets of folk wisdom distilled down through generations of wise ...
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Walking the walk, talking the talk - Colima part 2 - the Sierras
“Everything about Colima smacks of the sea or the sierra,” I said appreciatively, gazing from the balcony of travel-writer Susan Dearing’s condominium. The sun rose like a great gold marigold abo...
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