Estas son las mañanitas que cantaba el rey David; a las muchachas bonitas se las cantamos aquí. Si el sereno de la esquina me quisiera hacer favor de apagar su linternita mientras que pasa mi amor. Ahora, sí, señor sereno, le agradezco su favor: prenda usted su linternita, que ya ha pasado mi amor. Despierta, […]
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Mexico’s most intriguing holiday, is linked to a rich variety of popular customs that offer resident expatriates an excellent opportunity to soak in the culture of their adopted home. Here are some suggestions and tips for embracing and enjoying this distinctive celebration. Take a tour of ofrenda displays: Public exhibitions of Day of the Dead altars have […]
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2004 turned out to be another fortuitous year for Lake Chapala. According to data issued by the National Water Commission (CNA), accumulated rainfall registered nationwide in 2004 ran nine per cent above the previous year’s figures and 16 per cent above the historic average. On November 1, the first day of the 2004-2005 hydrological cycle, […]
Continue Reading 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 with the territory–handling transportation logistics, cheering from the stands, cajoling during training slumps, rejoicing in victories, consoling in moments of defeat. […]
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The brassy blast of a trumpet rips me from the comforting embrace of Morpheus. As the familiar strains of Las Mañanitas register in the fuzzy workings of my brain, I roll over and open one eye to peer at the clock. It’s 4:30 a.m. Ah, yes. ¡Feliz Día de las Madres! I patter over to the window, looking […]
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It’s a brisk, moonless night. At the edge of the Ajijic plaza, an anxious group of villagers huddle shoulder to shoulder, casting expectant glances towards the star-studded sky. A sudden barrage of whistling, sputtering explosives rents the night air. The crowd takes a collective lunge backwards, letting out a gasp of wondrous surprise. A brilliant […]
Continue ReadingWhile data on early Mesoamerican cultures has been deduced primarily from archaeological evidence, historians have utilized the written records of later cultures to produce the final chapters of pre-hispanic Mexico. Having reached a cultural plateau, no significant intellectual or scientific growth was noted among societies of the Post-Classic period. Their tendency instead was to put […]
Continue ReadingBy the 13th century the entire region, then called the Valley of Anahuac, was occupied by assorted rival city-states. Among the last to arrive on the scene was the nomadic tribe of the Mexica (pronounced may-SHEE-ka), more commonly known as the Aztecs, who ended a long migration from their northern homeland, Aztlan, by settling in […]
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The fall of the Aztec Empire and capture of its ruler Cuauhtémoc (1521), left Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés in charge of a vast and largely unfamiliar land. By 1522 his sovereign, Carlos V, had bestowed upon him the title Governor and Captain General of Nueva España (New Spain). Cortés promptly founded the Ciudad de Mexico on the ruins of the once-majestic […]
Continue ReadingThe Romans coined the phrase Omne vivum ex ovo, “All life comes from an egg.” The egg is a universal symbol of birth and resurrection, employed in burial practices of the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, and eventually adopted by Christians in the second century in conjunction with the celebration of Easter. Though brightly colored eggs […]
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