Fridays are Indian market days in the fountain-centered Plaza Gertrudis Bocanegra, one of three main squares in Pátzcuaro, Michoacan, Mexico. Walkways around the fountain are lined with stalls of goods from various villages. On a return visit there last fall shortly before Day of the Dead celebrations the annual heightened activity spilled into the city’s […]
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 ReadingPurepecha fiesta in Ajijic, Jalisco “Way back when”, in the mists of history, Lake Chapala was a frontier zone, a Mexican equivalent of the Wild West. Neighboring tribes of pre-Columbian Indian tribes fought over its shores, and its resources, with control swinging from one tribe to another over the centuries. To the west were the […]
Continue ReadingEarly in 1980, exploring various off the beaten track areas of Mexico looking for potential geography fieldwork sites, one fateful Saturday morning found me standing in the main plaza of the small Michoacán mining town of Angangueo. I was chatting to people and desperately trying to formulate some theory or hypothesis which high school students […]
Continue ReadingMorelia is a colonial city, capital of the Mexican state of Michoacan, which is well-known for its majestic buildings, squares (plazas), gardens, an aqueduct of wondrous proportions and all of this represents our Spanish and European heritage. Morelia also has entertainment for children. Some of these places of entertainment are in Morelia and others are within five […]
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The Spanish Virrey Don Antonio de Mendoza founded the city of Morelia back in 1541, calling it “Valladolid” after the city of the same name in Spain. In tribute to the national hero Don Jose Maria Morelos y Pavon, leader of the movement for the national independence from the Spanish kingdom, the city was later […]
Continue ReadingFirst published in the Adirondack Mountain Sun, Volume 10, Number 19, February 22, 2002. Reproduced by kind permission of the author John Gerhlein and Rose Valasky (Publisher) and Anthony Byrnes (Editor) of the Adirondack Mountain Sun. I went to look at Butterflies last week and I hit the mother load of Monarchs; one of the […]
Continue ReadingMexico Notes We get out of town, skipping the tianguis of Ajijic. It was just … time to leave. Journal, June 4, 2003 We pile into the packed car once again. Destination: Pátzcuaro, via Morelia. The drive is cool upon the skin, amidst mountains and water. It is good to move on, I reflect, […]
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Mary and I wanted Ann and Ron to see a little bit more of Mexico, so Mary did some research on the Internet and picked out the town of Uruapan as a road trip destination. I don’t think that Ann and Ron were used to traveling by car at ninety miles an hour, but they […]
Continue ReadingA Woman’s Perspective on Living in Mexico Two of my life-long friends from California have been visiting with me the past two weeks. This is Marcy’s third visit. It’s Nancy’s first. I’m always nervous about first-time visitors. Will they see Mexico the way I do? Can they get past the poverty to see the beauty […]
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