“Inventory of housing” were words I didn’t understand very well – until a friend from the U.S. asked me to find him an inexpensive old “fixer-upper” in this colonial city. He’s an environmentalist so I knew he would want something simple – and I knew he would be thrilled with Mexico’s low cost of repairs. […]
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The venerable old Zuno residence is a historic house in its own right but was designed to teach Mexican history. So it’s doubly “historic.” The person who said modern artists try to hide their meanings was wrong. This house was designed by four distinguished modern Mexican artists — aided by two architects — and yet […]
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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 party arrived and politely shooed our party away. We couldn’t complain. “Our” bride had shooed off a “previous” […]
Continue ReadingI hadn’t realized how much help an escribano might be. An escribano – sometimes called evangelista – is one of those fellows who works at a typewriter under the downtown arches. And I found out some things about those arches, too. I had a form to fill out for the Mexican government. It was long, with a lot of lines. Worse, […]
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Visitors – even those who come regularly – will always find something they haven’t seen before by taking long strolls in Guadalajara’s mansion area. Hungry? That’s where the best restaurants are. Blossoming out in bright yellows, whites, greens and even a few blues, the area sparkles monthly with recent changes. Old homes suddenly become visible […]
Continue ReadingQuestion: Can you hear a peacock’s screech over the roar of city buses? Answer: Yes. Question: What’s a peacock doing in city traffic? Answer: No zoning laws keep him out. He and Mrs. Peacock live in the bottom floor of an old house and also use its front yard. They share their quarters with a Tom Turkey who replies, […]
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It was like following three battleships. The shoppers rolled away like bow waves before the three “cargadores” who churned toward them with two hundred pounds of produce on each of their hand carts. “Aguas, ahi va el golpe!” – watch out, here comes a hard knock! – the warning cry scattered people out of the exit aisle of […]
Continue ReadingThe Mexicans can’t dance my legs off, I’ll tell you that — oh, well, in the “barrios” they can, but there the dancing is more like Olympic gymnastics. If you’re just going out in the evening to “dar un chanclazo” (kick the old shoes around) at a neighborhood party or dance hall you can train for it like I […]
Continue Reading “The Twenty-Two Music Professors” squared off against “The “Heavy Metal Charros,” (Heavy Metal Cowboys) separated only by the four lanes of a major cross street. Batteries of powerful lights turned an area of several square blocks of the city into day. Huge amplifiers were dotted around in a very scientific and acoustically successful manner. The […]
Continue Reading Right behind Hospicio Cabañas, at the south-east corner of that building, you abruptly run into a rabbit warren of narrow streets, dilapidated adobe buildings, lots of old cars and poorly dressed people. But don’t be afraid, it’s just a working-class barrio and the people are starting their day. They greet their friends and a few will say “Buenos días” to you, […]
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