Some indicators of corruption

Yesterday I was reading Mural, one of the better local dailies (there are five here), and I came upon this startling statistic: In the past ...

Low pay, little opportunity here

An article in the local paper said the highest paid college graduates are those who study civil engineering (construction of highways, water...

The Elegant Dead: Mexico´s catrina tradition

An ecologically conscious "catrina" with a skirt made of garbage bags. Mexico´s Day of the Dead celebration is a mix of indigenous...

Mexico´s crisis looms over bicentennial

I´ve just finished reading Mariano Azuela ´s gritty novel about the 1910 Mexican revolution, "Los de Abajo". He uses a stark reali...

Cussing and slang in Mexico: it´s all about Mom

Mexican slang and cursing are different from every other Latin American country. The best place to find out why is in Octavio Paz´s classic ...

Renewing a Mexican visa, or Catch-22

"Catch-22" is one of my favorite books because it makes hilarious comedy out of bureaucratic lunacy. None of the bomber crew membe...

Lucha libre: wrestling with Thunder Boy and Princessa Maya

Divino has his way with Thunder Boy on the ramp up to the ring, whose ropes are sometimes insufficient to contain all of the action and dram...

Cacaxtla and Xochitécatl: murals and pyramids

Above you see an artist´s depiction of one of the murals at the Cacaxtla archeological site as it might have looked when it was just painted...

Folk dancing celebrates Mexico´s 1910 Revolution

This selection of 90 seconds will give you some idea of the folk dancing competition among secondary schools that we saw while we were in Pu...

Mexicans don´t trust politicians, police or judges

American newspapers are starting to pick up on the Mexican war (and it is a war) on drug traffickers. A typical American response would be s...

84 bicyclists run down and killed in Guadalajara in one year

I worry less about swine flu and armed drug dealers than I do about careless motorists. Cindy and I don´t ride our bikes here in Guadalajara...

Women rodeo riders in Mexico, like the Blue Angels on horseback

Cindy and I went to see a Mexican rodeo back in October. It was a big championship with teams competing from various clubs and towns around...

Corruption outrages Mexicans, but they feel powerless

A young man I work with has daily fits of outrage when he reads my copy of the leading daily newspaper here in Guadalajara. The front page a...

Mazamitla´s square is busy on election day

The voting booth toward the right is a simple, fragile affair that accommodates one person on each side. The sign on it says, “Your vote is...

Mexicans will submit blank ballots in protest

July 5 is election day here in Mexico, the equivalent our mid-term elections, in which the federal and state legislators and municipal offic...

Flu update: 3 local deaths mean schools, bars, cinemas closed till May 18

The state of Jalisco where we live has a population of 7 million. So far there have been three cases of the H1N1 flu here that have resulte...

Swine flu in Guadalajara Mexico

Congressmen wearing surgical masks, from Milenio.com All the schools in the country have been ordered closed for two weeks, and all the cine...