TEOTITLAN DEL VALLE, OAXACA – Over 20,000 years ago, small Mesoamerican tribes roamed the frozen Valley of Oaxaca to hunt mammoth, deer and other game. They foraged the mountain forests surrounding the valley for edible plants. As the ice age rescinded it’s frosty fingers, the tribes [Read More]
OAXACA DE JUAREZ, OAXACA – As El Gringo’s taxi rolled into the dirt road, ramshackle neighborhood of Privada Villa Alta on the outskirts of Oaxaca city, I wondered if the driver knew where he was going. Having just been to Los Cabos a couple of months ago, this looked like the last [Read More]
OAXACA DE JUAREZ, OAXACA – In the 16th Century, the Spanish brought many new food staples to recently conquered Mexico. One of these staples was the radish, originally from China. In subsequent years, Mexican farmers grew and harvested the vegetable in the valley of Oaxaca. When taking their [Read More]
ACAPULCO – The Foro Mundial de Gastronomia Mexicana (World Forum on Mexican Gastronomy) kicked off yesterday in Acapulco at the Mega Expo Feria Mundo Imperial Acapulco. After a long day of travel, El Gringo scratched, stretched, showered and hopped on the bus to the venue with his fellow [Read More]
PATZCUARO, MICHOACAN – As the air begins to cool and the nighttime arrives much sooner, October and November herald the onset of Fall and the arrival of Halloween in the US. Like most other Holidays we observe here, the pagan origins of Halloween have become muddied amidst an onslaught of [Read More]
MORELIA, MICHOACAN – Although our plans were originally to visit Oaxaca for Mexico’s Dia de los Muertos observance, political unrest there made us change our destination at the last minute. The quick rerouting was more than fortunate. We enjoyed the week-long celebration in Morelia and [Read More]
PATZCUARO, MICHOACAN – Patzcuaro, Mexico (population 75,000) lies on the tranquil shores of Lake Patzcuaro in the state of Michoacan. We originally travelled to Patzcuaro during the first week of our trip for their elaborate Dia de los Muertos ceremonies. We returned at the end of our second [Read More]
Prologue SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE, GUANAJUATO – Back in 2003, good friends of ours announced that they were going to be married in Mexico City, where the majority of their families live. After some pleading and many safety assurances from my wife and the bride-and-groom-to-be, I acquiesced and [Read More]
A Gringo in Mexico 