What Las Posadas mean to me
December 16th begins Las Posadas, the nine days of celebration leading up to Christmas Eve, also known as Nochebuena. It’s customary for families to gather together, eat, sing and have a piñata at the party. Sometimes people celebrate posadas by going from home to home, singing the traditional song to ask for lodging the way [...]
Honoring La Virgen de Guadalupe
December 12th is a very important day in Mexico for faithful Catholics—El día de la Virgen de Guadalupe. If you’re not familiar with the story, here’s the very abbreviated version: in 1531, the Virgin Mary appeared to a poor Aztec man named Juan Diego, who had converted to Christianity several years before. He was so [...]
10 things to love about Mexico City’s Museo Dolores Olmedo
The tiles on the wall at the Museo Dolores Olmedo read: “By the example of my mother, professor Maria Patiño Suarez, widow of Olmedo, who always told me: ‘Share all you have with those around you.’ I leave this house with all my collections of art, the product of my life’s work, so the people [...]
Muralismo Mexicano: “El Pueblo a la Universidad y la Universidad al Pueblo”
A few years ago on a trip to Mexico City, I had the pleasure of working with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) to document photos of the campus for a UNESCO project. If you’re not familiar with UNAM, the university is the oldest [...]
Wordless Wednesday: Fruta cristalizada
I’ve always been fascinated by frutas cristalizadas (candied fruits). I spotted these in the Mercado de Coyoacán a few weeks ago during my visit to Mexico City. Pictured clockwise from left: naranjas (oranges) that were hollowed out, tunas verdes y rojas (green and red prickly pears), chabacanos (apricots) and higos (figs). My favorite kind is [...]








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