Cogan’s Reviews Here is the history of Mexico in the last two or three decades – and what a history it is. It’s the story of how a dictatorship eventually found its way toward becoming a democracy. As stories go, this one has everything – political corruption, student demonstrations leading to a massacre, earthquakes, citizen […]
Continue ReadingThe following article is essentially a letter which a friend of mine, Ralph Rodriguez, a resident of Guadalajara, wrote to his children some years ago. It concerns an annual festival which is held in the town of Mazamitla, Jalisco, every December. It’s a pretty interesting time to visit and make the 90 or so minutes […]
Continue ReadingCogan’s Reviews Here’s a story that takes in a complete life, from childhood well into adulthood, and from rags to riches. It’s a story that is of interest to we residents in the Lake Chapala area as it starts out in Ajijic and covers a fair number of years there – or should I say here. […]
Continue ReadingCogan’s Reviews There are two occasions when writing a book review is a particularly pleasant experience. One is when you hated the book and now you have the opportunity to punish the author for wasting your time and money. The other is when you really loved the book and you just want to say nice […]
Continue ReadingCogan’s Reviews Frankly, I find this a rather lightweight collection of stories. And, as I’ve never read anything else by Garcia Marquez I’m left wondering where he got his great reputation. I guess I should get around to reading those better known works of his, like One Hundred Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera and […]
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Although there is a tendency to think of Mexican fruit in terms of tropical varieties like mango and guava, apples do well in the higher elevations of Mexico, and are valued for their flavor, shelf life, and nutritional properties. The journey of apples to Mexico was part of the long relationship between apples and humans, […]
Continue ReadingPosted by Renee on July 27, 1999 Ah–the adventure continues! I received my permiso last week and the boda civil is planned for 8/7. For those of you who have seen my previous postings, this is an update. For new readers, this is one gringa’s encounters with Mexican bureaucracy–my fiancé is from Monterrey, we live […]
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I should explain at the outset that I have lived in Ajijic on the shores of Lake Chapala for the past five years and there are days when I’ll admit I feel surrounded by Americans and Canadians. I can see all the reasons for living here as happily as I do — the climate, the […]
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Cogan’s Reviews This novel is described in several places as a classic of modern Hispanic literature and it really is a powerful book. Since it’s appearance it has been published in more than 27 editions and in several languages. The edition I just read is a Signet Classic paperback. It comes with a very useful […]
Continue ReadingOne of the Mexican Tourism Secretariat’s flagship programs in recent years has been its Magic Towns designation. This is a program after my own heart, and one that was long overdue when it was finally begun in 2001. Mexico’s Magic Towns (Pueblos Mágicos) range from tiny, almost undiscovered villages on the coast to sizeable inland […]
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