¿Está sufriendo por esos kilitos extras después de las fiestas decembrinas? ¿Piensa en cambiar el guacamole y los totopos por requesón y palitos de apio? Antes de que lo haga, considere las múltiples formas de preparar los platillos mexicanos de manera saludable y baja en calorías. Muchas personas, especialmente aquellas que asocian la cocina mexicana […]
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El esplendor físico de la cultura maya se aprecia sobre todo en la arquitectura y decorado de sus ciudades. Estas ciudades-estado constituían la sede del poder de los reyes-sacerdotes que administraban la obediencia, el tributo y la fuerza de trabajo del pueblo que creía en ellos. Se han identificado muchas ciudades y centros ceremoniales mayas, […]
Continue ReadingHace muchos años, en una de mis primeras visitas a los Estados Unidos, tuve la oportunidad de asistir a una fiesta más o menos formal, organizada en honor de alguna de las personalidades de la pequeña ciudad del Medio Oeste en la que me encontraba. Recuerdo que recibí invitación impresa y toda la cosa, y […]
Continue ReadingIt’s just a short run to the Third World. Twenty five miles in fact. That’s how far it is from Deming, New Mexico to Palomas, Mexico. Deming sits quietly along Interstate 10, fifty miles from Las Cruces and about a hundred miles south of Tucson, Arizona. In fact Deming’s claim to fame is that it […]
Continue ReadingI digress from stories about the potters of Mata Ortíz, Chihuahua this month to reminisce about my first New Year in Mexico. I was 13, I was in Puerto Vallarta and the year was 1958. “Mike, come and look.” Dad shook me awake. I squinted, bleary-eyed around the dark room. It was still the middle […]
Continue ReadingThe financial impacts of poor water quality on Mexico are nothing short of staggering. In any discussion about visiting Mexico, somebody always pipes up with the comment “Don’t drink the water.” If I had a dollar for every time I have been given this advice, I would be a wealthy man indeed. Nonetheless, the comment […]
Continue ReadingJudy pounds on my bedroom door, waking me from a very sound sleep. After all, it’s only 7 a.m. “Yeah.” I say. “There’s a scorpion in the bathroom.” Silence. “Jim!” “So kill it.” “Killing scorpions is man’s work.” She yells. Now that surprises me, as Judy is a very independent woman. Struggling out of bed, […]
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There are three plants that are an essential part of the Mexican household, limon [lime, not lemon], papaya, and the trusty sabila [aloe vera]. Every Mexican home that has some kind of a piece of garden has an arbol de limones in it, a lime tree, not a lemon tree. It is planted as a twig, nurtured lovingly, and if it has not […]
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At 3 p.m. one Wednesday during the first week of July someone pulled the string on the brass bell outside Isabel’s gate. I punched the ‘save’ key on my keyboard, walked across the terrace and followed the footpath to the gate. “Quien es?” I called out. A voice from across the wall answered, “Memo”, the nickname for […]
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In June I saw the first indications of rain. Clouds from the northeast began building in the late afternoons before dissolving halfway across the lake. I spent most days in my office, in front of the fan, working on projects and dodging Chuya. “¡Mira!” she grunted one afternoon, summoning me to the front part of the […]
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