Five years ago, I visited the Mexican sea-side resort of San Patricio (Melaque), Jalisco. I arrived with my family and small trailer to join an amiable colony of recreation vehicle campers at the free beach located at the far north end. My impression of Melaque could be summarized in one word… mellow. Graphic rocky hills […]
Continue ReadingToo often, individual actors in a relationship allow themselves to be influenced by their preconceptions about how another party will behave without knowing from direct experience. These stereotypes can be especially striking when the relationship between the two parties is a formal one, as is often the case in international business relationships between Mexican and […]
Continue ReadingEntering a Mexico City taxi means entering the special world of cabbies – a place where two traffic lanes can swiftly become three, seatbelts generally are very few and far between, and where there appears to be very, very little change for large bills. Those who have hurtled down Insurgentes Sur or zoomed around Reforma’s glorietas while […]
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OK, so it’s really from Lieutenant Colonel to Tehuixtla, Morelos… you’ve heard of poetic license and alliteration? We’re Mark and Tina Wise (and Alexa, our sweet golden retriever). We live in our country home (mi casa es su casa) in Tehuixtla, Morelos, 85 miles SW of Mexico City, 30 miles SW of Cuernavaca and 150 […]
Continue ReadingHigh in the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains of Mexico, northwest of Guadalajara, the Huichol Indians live in small villages called ranchos scattered throughout this remote, rugged terrain. They integrate peyote use into their lives, culture, and religion today as they have done for at least a thousand years and most likely for thousands of years. […]
Continue ReadingThe Huichol way is the way of the Heart. Of utmost importance to the awakening and development of the heart is the sacred Peyote. Peyote looks like a cactus and grows wild in the desert. It has been used for medicinal purposes as well as for spiritual visions and experiences for thousands of years. Guadalupe […]
Continue ReadingSummer solstice 2003 would be memorable. A local paper mentioned a Huichol vigil to be held near the shoreline of Mexico’s Lake Chapala at a site called Isla de los Patos. The ceremony was to peak on June 21, the solstice. Under the leadership of shaman Pablo Taizan, supporters intended to contact ancestral gods through […]
Continue ReadingCaminos de Michoacan (an old ranchera song) by composer: Bulmaro Bermude is a musical tour of this Mexican state. Click for MP3 Cariñito donde te hallas Con quién te andarás paseando Presiento que no me engañas Por éso te ando buscando Vengo de tierras lejanas Nomás por tí preguntando. Me dieron razón que andabas Por las tierras […]
Continue ReadingFor the second year in a row it was a time of drought in Mexico. At the time of year when the life-giving rains should have been falling each day, they had come and gone, dropping just enough moisture on the crops to stir up the dust. A peasant living in the poorest barrio near […]
Continue ReadingIn 1943 a couple of young American entrepreneurs attending a bullfight in Mexico and observing the crowd that filled the stadium, hit on the idea that they could become millionaires by introducing the hot dog to bullfight fans in Mexico. They reasoned that if hot dogs were such a hit with baseball fans in America, […]
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