No, actually. Tlaxcala is a state, the smallest in Mexico, Puebla’s neighbor. Tlaxcala is also the name of this tiny state’s capital city.

But my friend’s ignorance is common. The eponymous capital attracts so few tourists, domestic or international, that its official self-effacing motto is, Tlaxcala: ¡Sí! Existe! (Yes, it exists!) 

My husband and I might never have visited the city were it not for a friend who regularly hikes up nearby La Malinche, Mexico’s fifth highest peak, to train for even higher peaks in the Himalayas and the Andes. The volcano is a nontechnical climb that anyone in reasonable shape should be able to do, so as veteran hikers and backpackers, Barry and I were game.

A few minutes from the trailhead, we met a mom from Puebla and her two adult children on the path. 

“Are you going to the top?” she asked us. 

Well, duh, I thought. When have we ever not summited? 

But I didn’t want to be rude, and, besides, I don’t know how to express “duh” in Spanish, so I simply said, “Yes, we are.” 

Barry and I hiked along a shady, gently rising forest path for a couple of hours. It wasn’t too steep, though I could tell by my labored breathing that we were already at 11,000 feet. Then we reached an open area where we could see the nearby peak of Orizaba, and up ahead, a scramble of boulders. It was hard going, so we took a break at the start of the boulders. I carried on a few paces and rounded a bend to see how the trail looked. Rocky, uneven and steep.

We sat there in silence, neither of us wanting to be the first to say it. We were at 14,000’, with only another 400’ to climb, probably a half hour, but I was no longer enjoying myself. Plus the downhill was still to come, which I was already dreading. My only motivation for reaching the top was sheer ego. Not exactly the best reason.

Finally Barry said, “I guess my lungs at 81 are not what they were at 41.” So with a sense of mixed relief and regret, we agreed to turn around and head back to Tlaxcala. ¡Así es! And of course we would run into the Puebla mom and had to admit we hadn’t reached the top.

But the visit to Tlaxcala was not wasted. Because despite the city’s “There’s nothing there” reputation, we found plenty to keep us engaged.

Tlaxcala is not a UNESCO World Heritage site, as is nearby Puebla’s cuadro histórico (historical quarter), nor is it a pueblo mágico. But that’s exactly why we liked it. Its lack of stand-out features turn into a strength. The town isn’t crowded with tourists or cars; in fact, the traffic feels like how most cities felt thirty years ago. Here are eight things we liked about it.

1. The central square. Plaza de Constitución is shady and spacious, the perfect place to sit on a bench and people-watch. Visiting from semi-desert Guanajuato, the number of shade trees made me very happy.

2. The Cathedral, with a cobbled roof and large bell tower, was built in 1524 and is one of the first Catholic monuments on the American continent. 

4. Weather. Because of Tlaxcala’s higher elevation (7,300’), it’s cooler than most cities in central Mexico.  
5. Accessible churches. Although I’m not especially religious, I love old, ornate, musty churches. I watch the women sweeping the tile floors and the people here and there sitting on pews praying. I find simply being in the presence of faith, even if it is not my own, deeply moving. Unlike in Guanajuato, where many of the churches are closed except during Mass, in Tlaxcala, the churches remain open. 
6. Topography: Tlaxcala has both flat streets and hills. A couple of times we climbed the very pretty, gently hilly tree-lined street just off the Plaza to one of Mexico’s oldest monasteries, the Ex Convento Franciscano de la Asunción, built around 1540, whose main nave of the church has a beautiful Moorish-style wooden ceiling.

7. The Market. This bustling weekend tianguis is known for selling sarapes, woven in the villages of the state.  
8. Nearby Ruins. We visited Cacaxtla, sheltered under a huge metal roof, with its well preserved pre-Columbian frescoes of jaguar and eagle warriors in battle. Nearby Xochitecatl, built between 1000 and 800 BCE, has a wide pyramid and circular pyramid. At one time you could walk the mile-long paved path that connected the two ruins. Unfortunately, the path is no longer open because about eight years ago a visitor who was walking it had a heat stroke.
9. Tizatlán Botanical Garden This enormous botanical garden is divided into seven sections that include subaquatic vegetation and a sub-humid temperate climate. I especially loved the moist, misty greenhouse. As we strolled along a winding concrete path with benches, the whole place to ourselves, I felt a bit stoned and like my eyes were dilated. 

We stayed right on the plaza, at the Hotel San Francisco, the best hotel I’ve stayed in for years, thanks to its enormous pool, not one of those tiny tadpole pools most hotels offer. With a generous buffet breakfast included, it was about $70/night for two of us

The city is an easy two-hour bus ride on ATAH bus from Mexico City’s TAPA bus station.

Tlaxcala isn’t dramatic, but for a relaxed, unhurried few days, it’s the perfect destination. And while I’ve accepted the fact that La Malinche is not a peak I’ll ever claim, I’ll go back to Tlaxcala in a heartbeat.

Louisa Rogers and her husband Barry Evans divide their lives between Guanajuato and Eureka, on California’s North Coast. Louisa writes articles and essays about expat life, Mexico, travel, physical and psychological health, retirement and spirituality. Her recent articles are on her website, https://authory.com/LouisaRogers

The post The city you’ve never heard of that deserves a visit appeared first on Mexico News Daily

Body image refers to how an individual sees and feels about their body. In my case, I worried about my weight. While it fluctuated over a twenty-pound range, my body image — even when I was at my thinnest — caused me much more stress and anxiety than my actual weight ever did.

Strong body confidence

But 18 years ago, my husband Barry and I bought a house in Guanajuato. We knew we would love the town, already seduced by its pedestrianized, vibrant streets and the Cubist houses piled on top of each other, the color of mango, watermelon, lemon and kiwi. But I never dreamed that living here would change my attitude toward my body — for the better.

It didn’t take me long to notice that Mexican women seemed to feel good about their bodies. Even if they were on the llenita (plump) side, they exposed their midriffs with pride. Indeed, a 2015 survey showed that Mexico was the most body-confident country in the world, with almost a third of its population feeling completely satisfied with the way they looked, and almost half were fairly satisfied. 

Fitness baked into my life

Before we bought our Mexican home, I was reasonably fit, but exercise and physical activity were not woven into my everyday life the way they are now. My fitness is no longer an extraneous aspect of my life that comes and goes. 

We don’t have a car in Guanajuato — and don’t want one. Unless you live in the suburbs, having a car is a pain, because the houses are adjoining, row house-style constructions with neither garages nor driveways, and keeping a car in a commercial parking lot is expensive. And without a car, we walk everywhere. There’s nothing like doing errands on foot at almost seven thousand feet, not to mention climbing the steep steps built into Guanajuato’s hills, to create a bank deposit of fitness. One of my favorite morning circuits is a loop of about 45 minutes, which involves climbing a steep and colorful street for about 15 minutes, walking level for another 15 minutes, and then downhill back home. 

Another weekly activity I build into my routine is shopping at La Comer, the gourmet supermarket about twenty minutes from our home. I know I’ll come back laden with goods. “Why not take a cab?” Barry says. But why? Taxis can get stuck in traffic. I just take a backpack.

We also hike. We can close the door to our home and be hiking in the hills above town in ten minutes without ever getting in a car or a bus. The fact that I can be out of Guanajuato’s dense urban environment so quickly is one of the main draws of the city. 

Strong role models

Much as I appreciate that fitness has become an organic part of my life, it’s not the only aspect of life in Mexico that has affected my body image. Everywhere I look, I see Mexicans at work: street cleaners sweeping the sidewalks and picking up trash, and construction workers, gas and water deliverers carrying heavy loads of bricks, gas canisters and 5-gallon plastic water containers on their shoulders. In the U.S., I don’t notice physical labor the way I do in Mexico. Seeing people working hard reminds me that the body is designed not to look a certain way, but to get things done.

In particular, I’m in awe of our house cleaner, Vero, a street-savvy woman in her late fifties who lives in the country and takes three buses into town. She cleans houses and tends gardens six days a week, and cooks and cleans at home on Sundays. I admire her resilience and the way she steps up to any task. A woman of deep faith, she walks for almost 24 hours to a pilgrimage site once a year. She’s much tougher than I am. 

Seeing people work so hard humbles me and reminds me that the body is much more than appearance. Sure, I want to look reasonably attractive, but it’s more important to me to be physically competent. Every day, seeing Mexicans work hard puts any lingering anxieties about my body in perspective. 

It’s OK to age

In Guanajuato, I see people of all ages out and about. The other day, as I watched an elderly gentleman walking cautiously down the street with a cane, I realized that people who look old are visible in Mexico, whereas in the U.S. I rarely see them. Where are they? I guess they’re at home, in an assisted-living facility or a vehicle being driven to appointments. Wherever they are, they’re hidden, certainly not in public.

Seeing elderly Mexicans out and about, navigating their lives in the public arena, leaves me with the message that aging is normal. In Mexico, nothing is embarrassing or shameful about getting older, and this makes me feel better about my aging process.

Almost twenty years after buying our home, Mexico brings me even more joy than I expected: music, cuisine, Spanish, friendly people, history and art. Today I’m not only enjoying all that Mexico has to offer, but most importantly, I’m happier with myself. And that is the biggest surprise of all.

Louisa Rogers and her husband Barry Evans divide their lives between Guanajuato and Eureka, on California’s North Coast. Louisa writes articles and essays about expat life, Mexico, travel, physical and psychological health, retirement and spirituality. Her recent articles are on her website, https://authory.com/LouisaRogers

The post Mexico’s gift to me was a positive, healthy body image appeared first on Mexico News Daily

Instead, Guanajuato is a city filled with rhythm and movement. All day long, the streets are so colorful and lively that walking anywhere is a pleasure. Vibrant as it is, this is a place far from unique among Mexican cities. Whether you’re a visitor to Mexico or a resident, you can’t help but notice how every town has a generous amount of public space, and in particular a central plaza or “zócalo,” as it’s also called. Families, flirting teenagers, vendors, kids playing, mariachi bands, and the elderly all commingle in this “community living room.” 

Mexico’s plazas date back to Spanish laws in the 1500s, which required that every town have a public plaza surrounded by streets, arched passageways, a church, and public buildings. However, the Spanish were not the only people who left their architectural legacy in Mexico. The Moors, during their 700-year rule of Spain, brought with them from North Africa their Islamic art and architecture, such as ornate tile work, intricate geometric patterns, arches, and courtyards – all of which made their way to Mexico. Today, Mexican urban design is one of its greatest strengths. In addition to the ubiquitous plazas, here are eight examples of creative use of public space found in the country.

1. Colorful, User-Friendly Streets. Streets in Mexico aren’t empty; instead, they’re jammed with people – bustling and busy without being claustrophobic. Buildings rarely have setbacks but instead meet the sidewalk close up, creating a sense of coherence and unity. 

Streets tend to be narrow, not the wide suburban-style streets dedicated to cars that you usually see in the US. No surprise, then, that I love wandering Guanajuato’s more than 3000 twisting, labyrinthine alleys, where I often come upon a surprise — a bench, an altar carved into a recessed wall, or a half-crumbling wall. 

2. A Sense of Enclosure. William Whyte, author of The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces maintains that the best public spaces offer the perception of being surrounded, creating a sense of intimacy and coziness. Mexican plazas are usually at least one square block in size, but they’re framed by a variety of features that foster a homey room-like quality. Besides a central kiosk or gazebo, they include benches, landscaping, trees, low walls, columns, sculptures, and murals.
3. Benches. Nowhere in the world have I seen as many benches as in Mexico. Benches invite! They say, “Welcome. Stay awhile. Join us.” As people sit, they chat, play music, flirt, eat ice cream, and feed the birds — what the urban visionary Jane Jacobs, author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities, called the “sidewalk ballet.”

Benches are not trivial. Edwin Heathcote, architecture and design critic for The Financial Times, calls the public bench “the seat of civilization” because it is a democratic space, available for people at any level of society. “A bench is a small space in the melee of the metropolis where it is acceptable to do nothing, to consume nothing, to just be,” he adds.

4. Pavements. Heathcote also wrote eloquently about the importance of pavement in urban design. He calls it “the skin of the city…a thin surface that can have a hugely powerful effect on how the city feels, looks, and behaves.” 

Many Mexican towns, like Guanajuato, have a signature pavement style. But the use of aesthetic design is not just outside. I’m often struck by interior flooring — the elegant tile work and marble in Mexican atriums, banks, churches, shopping centers, staircases, supermarkets, and restaurants. 

5. Doors, Arches, and Other Portals. Recently I took an acrylic painting class called “Doorways of Guanajuato,” whose theme reflected our human fascination with portals. Doors are a symbol of transition, delineating one state from another: outside versus inside, leaving versus returning.

Some Mexican cities are famous for their doorways alone. In San Miguel de Allende’s central district, for example, there are said to be more than 2,000 distinct doorways. 

Arches, too, are common throughout Mexico. Another Moorish import, arches were introduced during Spanish colonization and used in haciendas to create a sense of depth, perspective, and enclosure. 

6. Public Art. No matter which town where you happen to be in Mexico, you’ll find sculptures in a park or square. Some are breathtaking, like the one I saw of a man playing the piano in the otherwise unremarkable town of Huichapan, Hidalgo. 
7. Balconies. “Give me a balcony and I will become president,” boasted Jose Maria Velasco, Ecuador’s most prominent populist, who delivered on his promise by being elected five times, starting in the 1930s.

Who doesn’t love a balcony? Someone standing high up has a perfect, big-picture perch to watch the street rhythms below, while those on the street can look up and observe people hanging their clothes, sipping coffee, or stealing a kiss. Balconies are an invitation to permitted voyeurism. Thanks to the Spanish, the Moors, and the French, few urban Mexican spaces are without these windows into the nation’s soul.

8. Courtyards. One reason I enjoy visiting Mexican museums is that the buildings themselves are visually pleasing, often built around a tranquilo inner courtyard with a fountain at the center. Courtyards are another legacy of the Moors, who designed lush inner patios within their mosques and palaces. They considered courtyards an “earthly paradise.” This tradition continues in Mexico, where you’ll find graceful courtyards not just in museums, but also in government buildings, hotels, and private homes.

I fantasize that U.S. public works officials, instead of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on feasibility studies, would visit Mexico and consult with urban planners, who intuitively know how to design cities that invite a sense of connection, pleasure, and safety. That Mexico, a country where the average income is one fifth that in the US, invests in such “non-essentials” as art and aesthetics reflects to me a deep respect for the human spirit.

Louisa Rogers and her husband Barry Evans divide their lives between Guanajuato and Eureka, on California’s North Coast. Louisa writes articles and essays about expat life, Mexico, travel, physical and psychological health, retirement and spirituality. Her recent articles are on her website, https://authory.com/LouisaRogers

The post How urban Mexico’s perfect public spaces bring joy to the city appeared first on Mexico News Daily

It’s hard to pick the very best that San Luis Potosí has to offer, but here are some of the highlights:

The Longest Pedestrian Street in the Americas

This two-mile walk is technically a number of different streets that have all become pedestrianized. The trail begins at the Hidalgo Market, continues to the Plaza de Armas – home of the neoclassical Metropolitan Cathedral – then along the shopping street of Zaragoza, and from there turns into the Calzada de Guadalupe, ending at the Basilica of Guadalupe. 

The Water Tank on the Calzada

The graceful neoclassical 19th century Caja de Agua (water tank), the last remaining reservoir in the city, stored water brought by the aqueduct. In that era, structures were obviously designed to be not just functional, but beautiful. Although the Caja de Agua had a rope cordoning it off, we enjoyed watching a bridal couple ignoring the barrier and having their photos taken in front of it. Near the water tank is a 19th-century statue of a water boy (El Aguador) carrying water in a terracotta jug to nearby houses.

The Leonora Carrington Museum

Towards the end of the Calzada is a long, low building with castle-like turrets and thick walls. It turns out it’s a former prison, now home to the Leonora Carrington Museum. Carrington was a British-born Mexican artist and one of the last great Surrealists of the twentieth century. 

Carrington’s path from London to Mexico City was a twisted one. She met the famous surrealist artist Max Ernst in London, and in 1937 they ran away together to France. When the war broke out, Ernst was arrested in Germany while Carrington escaped to Spain, where she had a mental breakdown. After she recovered, she went to the Mexican Embassy where Renato Leduc, the Mexican ambassador, agreed to a marriage of convenience with her so that she would be given immunity as a diplomat’s wife. The couple sailed for New York and later settled in Mexico City, where their marriage ended amicably. Carrington lived and worked mainly in Mexico for the rest of her life.

In the museum, her bronze sculptures, often hybrid figures, half human and half animal, look bizarre, especially against the stark backdrop of a former prison. Hyenas, horses, crows, half-crocodiles, winged pigs, and giant women recur throughout her work. One sculpture shows a woman with an animal head wearing a long elegant gown. Her paintings tend to be dreamlike, steeped in myth, mysticism, and folklore. 

Why a museum dedicated to Carrington in San Luis Potosí, of all places? One of the museum staff told us that because of her history with mental illness, Carrington found the idea of a former prison housing her art appealing and oddly appropriate. Also, she was a friend of another Surrealist, fellow Brit Edward James, who lived in Xilitla, a pueblo mágico in the area of the state known as the Huasteca Potosina. In Xilitla, he designed a whimsical sculptural garden called Las Pozas.

The Basilica of Guadalupe

Just beyond the museum is the Basilica of Guadalupe, an important church for locals. December 12 is the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe, a popular feast day that celebrates the anniversary of the appearance of the Virgin Mary, Mexico’s patron saint, in Mexico City. On that day, hundreds of faithful crawl for about a mile on their knees along the Calzada to the church.

The church also houses one of two crystal ship chandeliers that hang in different local churches, with the other located in the nearby Church of San Francisco. The chandeliers, dating to 1788, were commissioned as a tribute by sailors who believed St. Francis saved them from a shipwreck. Shaped like a caravel, the boat used in Portuguese and Spanish colonial expeditions, they were originally donated to St. Francis’s church in Real de Catorce, an isolated mining town north of San Luis. Church authorities considered the chandeliers too important to be stuck in such a remote town and decided to move them to the state capital of San Luis Potosí.

Plaza de Carmen

A lovely place to hang out and watch people, the plaza is ringed with two museums, a theater and the Templo de Carmen (an example of Churrigueresque Baroque architecture. You can’t help but notice an eerie bronze sculpture, “El Cofrade” (the friar), which to Americans looks like a Ku Klux Klanner. The sculpture symbolizes one of the brothers who walks in the Procession of Silence, a solemn event held on Good Friday, beginning at the El Carmen Church and winding through the historic center. 

Tangamanga Park

Tangamanga is the second largest urban park in Mexico, after Chapultepec in Mexico City. “But it has more trees!” boasted our taxi driver. Indeed, the huge park has more trees than any park I’ve seen in Mexico, along with a lake and a two-mile paved trail for walking, running, and cycling.

An interesting detail about the park is that it has two water treatment plants for irrigation and its compost.

The Train Museum

If you’re a railway enthusiast, you’ll enjoy the kid-friendly train museum, the Museo del Ferrocarril, the best part of which is the trains themselves, which you can climb aboard. Check out the model train layout on the second floor.

Cerro de San Pedro

The birthplace of San Luis, San Pedro is a tiny mining village 40 minutes from the city, where gold and silver were discovered in 1592. You can walk for miles and visit a mine. It’s mostly deserted during the week but can get crowded on weekends.

We were in San Luis Potosí for four nights, but could easily have spent a full week there, and I’m already looking forward to another visit.

Where to Stay

We stayed at the Gran Concordia, a mid-range hotel a block from the Plaza de Armas. Breakfast is available for an extra fee. It was amazing to go from the busy street scene, filled with vendors and musicians, and two minutes later be relaxing in the quiet oasis of our room.

Where to Eat

La Oruga y la Cebada is a family-style restaurant with a terrace restaurant. Great shrimp tacos.

La Posada del Virrey, on the Plaza de Armas, has both indoor and outdoor seating. We enjoyed the mojitos (which weren’t on the menu).

For early risers, Cafe Tokio, a typical Mexican (not Japanese!) restaurant with booths, opens at 7 am and offers generous Mexican breakfasts.

Louisa Rogers and her husband Barry Evans divide their lives between Guanajuato and Eureka, on California’s North Coast. Louisa writes articles and essays about expat life, Mexico, travel, physical and psychological health, retirement and spirituality. Her recent articles are on her website, https://authory.com/LouisaRogers

The post San Luis Potosí: Mexico’s best kept secret appeared first on Mexico News Daily

Luckily we did eat fish, but otherwise, it was tough. Now, though, it’s much easier. Chefs and waiters won’t think you’re weird when you say, “No como carne.” And you don’t have to be fluent in Spanish to eat vegetarian, although knowing the names of different toppings and foods definitely helps. 

Here are some ways we have figured out how to eat delicious non-meat dishes both in restaurants and at home (note, we are not vegans, and if you are, that is more of a challenge).

Where to shop

When we first came to Mexico, the only international food I could buy was heavily salted soy sauce, but today it’s completely different, with supermarkets that cater to a diversity of tastes. If you live near an urban area or a tourist town, chances are you’ll find one near you. If you visit La Comer, or City Market, you’ll find Asian condiments, tofu, decent peanut butter, various rices, gluten-free products, organic produce, and other imported items. 

Dishes to try for daily meals

Breakfast: Mexico has a wealth of egg dishes, which usually come with a side of beans, tortillas and salsa. You can enjoy huevos rancheros (fried egg on a tortilla base, served with salsa); chilaquiles (a breakfast version of nachos, topped with tomato sauce, cheese, beans and a fried egg); and huevos a la Mexicana (scrambled eggs with onion, chile and tomato). Most restaurants also serve granola (with or without yogurt) and fresh fruit.

Snack food: When traveling around Mexico, you can’t miss the puestos (stalls) offering gorditas (pocket sandwiches), tamales, tacos, or tortillas, with their different choice of fillings, including frijoles (beans), queso (cheese), nopales (cactus), papas (potato), cebollas (onion), acelga (chard), champiñones (mushrooms), or huevo (egg). Be sure to use “huevo” in the singular though, since the plural, by itself, is a slang term for a delicate part of the male anatomy! Another popular snack is elote, or corn on the cob, served with different garnishes and found on streets all over Mexico. 

Lunch: La comida is the main meal of the day, and is usually eaten around 2 p.m. In restaurants, the comida corrida (fixed-price meal of the day) usually includes meat, but you can ask if they’ll substitute a non-meat dish for the entrée. Barry and I often enjoy tortilla soup, also called sopa azteca, which is tomato soup poured over fried tortilla strips and garnished with an array of toppings, including cheese, avocado, cilantro, fried chiles, onion, and sour cream.  If you’re vegan, don’t forget to say, “Sin queso o crema, por favor” (No cheese or cream, please).

While many dishes do include meat, Mexico has a long tradition of eating another protein beans! Black beans, gallo (pinto) beans, and frijoles peruanos (not Peruvian beans, as you might think, but a creamy yellow bean), available both cooked whole (enteros) and refried (refritos), can be found at most restaurants. Whatever you’re eating, ask if they can give you frijoles instead of meat, and check, if you’re a purist, if the beans are cooked in pork lard (manteca de cerdo) which is often the cooking fat of choice here in Mexico.

Another vegetarian option to consider is a meatless burrito. Beans and rice are another good bet, along with some pico de gallo (a diced tomato salsa). Or try mole, the thick, smoky, often chocolate-y sauce usually served over chicken, which many Mexicans consider the crowning glory of their national cuisine. In Puebla, I almost wept over my rice and mole. 

We’re partial to quesadillas, which traditionally consist of melted cheese tucked into a folded tortilla, but nowadays have all kinds of variations, like the spinach quesadillas with roasted veggies I ate at a café in Querétaro. My all-time favorite quesadilla dish is the one I order at our local corner eatery, Cafe Santo, in Guanajuato, with a filling of portobello mushrooms, though huitlacoche (a fungus that grows on corn) and beans are also popular options.

Dinner: Mexican dinner (la cena) is typically light, since the main meal is in the afternoon. Still, if you’re in a city, you can find plenty of restaurants open. International restaurants are more and more common, even in smaller cities. We’ve savored risotto in Zacatecas, tabouli in Guanajuato, and aloo gobi masala in Puebla. You can also find sushi anywhere. Chinese restaurants are everywhere in Mexican cities, but the food tends to be greasy. In Guanajuato, we can choose from Vietnamese, Thai, Mediterranean, and Arabic restaurants. 

Mexico City however, is in a league of its own, and offers almost every type of cuisine as well as an array of vegan and vegetarian restaurants.

Cooking at home

Cooking vegetarian food is not much different than in the U.S. or Canada. Buy black or pinto beans in cans or plastic packaging if you’re in a hurry; otherwise buy dried beans and cook  in a crock pot. I often cook lentils in my crock pot.

Staying in rentals

All Mexican homes come equipped with a blender since Mexicans have enjoyed licuados (smoothies) long before they became popular in the English-speaking world.

Buy some mangoes, papayas, pineapple, mandarins, and bananas, and blend up a hearty fruit smoothie. Just be sure to disinfect the produce first by soaking it in Microdyn, an antibacterial solution, available everywhere. Add spinach, Mexican zucchini, and other veggies for an even healthier green smoothie.

You may notice that a lot of these dishes are not exactly low-calorie. To avoid weight gain (and protect my heart), I ask for salsa instead of sour cream, cheese or heavy sauces, or order sour cream on the side (“al lado”). Guacamole is fine, but I skip the complimentary deep-fried tortilla chips (yummy as they are), and ask for jicama (a Mexican root vegetable), red pepper, or cucumber sticks instead for dipping.

¡Buen provecho!

Food in Mexico is a sensory pleasure, however you eat it.

You can while away a couple of lazy hours over a meal in an outdoor café, in warm, forgiving weather. No one will hover over you to pay up and leave. Or you can hang out on a park bench in the zócalo (town plaza) and watch the vendors selling their wares and the kids playing and the couples strolling arm-in-arm, while you bite into your tamal.

Whether you’re inside or out, at a table or on a bench, eating a meal in Mexico is delectable experience — and not just because of the food. 

Louisa Rogers and her husband Barry Evans divide their lives between Guanajuato and Eureka, on California’s North Coast. Louisa writes articles and essays about expat life, Mexico, travel, physical and psychological health, retirement and spirituality. Her recent articles are on her website, louisarogers.contently.com

The post Meatless in Mexico: A vegetarian’s guide to eating well appeared first on Mexico News Daily

Although the book was originally written in English, I read all 300 pages in Graciela Romero Saldaña’s Spanish translation, which is one way I’ve found to boost my fluency in Spanish. 

I’ve had an advantage learning the language because when I was nine, my family lived in Quito, Ecuador, where I attended a bilingual school. When we returned to the United States, however, French was the de rigueur foreign language taught in schools, and so I didn’t study Spanish again until I was 16.

My Spanish-language education continued in a hopscotch, on-again, off-again style — taking classes when I traveled to Latin America, then letting it lapse for long periods — until my husband and I bought our Guanajuato home in 2005. Then I started getting serious about Spanish, working toward being able to engage at a deep level. 

Here are six strategies that helped me achieve my goal:

1. Reading popular magazines

Years ago, during a break between classes at the Spanish school I was attending, I found a stash of magazines on a shelf, including Buen Hogar, the Spanish-language version of Good Housekeeping. Browsing through it, I discovered that I understood more than I’d expected. 

Thus began my popular-magazine approach to learning Spanish. 

Women’s magazines came first because they offered content I was familiar with. Worldwide, they all focus on health, fitness, homemaking, marriage, parenting and psychological topics. As a freelance writer, I’ve not only read these evergreen articles for years, I’ve written them myself!

I found the short articles the easiest — those divided by subtitles or organized with numbers, like “8 Ways to Make Your Home Sparkle at Christmas” and “6 Ways To Look Younger.”

2. Hiring tutors

In the early stages of studying Spanish, when I had to learn basic grammar and vocabulary, classroom structure was beneficial. But once I had the basics down, I found it more helpful to hire a tutor for individual sessions than to attend a class.

With a tutor, you can not only customize the material to your specific needs but you also get to build a personal relationship with your teacher. It’s also often more affordable because you’re not paying school administration fees.

3. Joining language exchange websites

I joined a free site called Conversation Exchange, where people chat with others around the world in order to practice a language. 

Joining was easy: I created a profile, giving English as my native language and stating that I wanted to practice advanced Spanish. I filtered for age (over 40) but not for gender. Since then, I’ve had exchanges with people from Argentina, Peru, Costa Rica, Mexico and Spain. 

4. Inviting people over

Whether we’re at our home or on the road, Barry and I like to invite people we meet over to our house or Airbnb or hotel for a drink. We’ve hosted fellow travelers, our Spanish teachers and their kids, our neighbors, the owners of the Airbnb where we’re staying and builders working on our house.

We rarely invite people for dinner. Our goal is to have casual, semi-spontaneous interactions, not formal and elaborate meals, so we keep it simple and serve soft drinks, beer, wine and a few easy snacks. We’ve found this a great way to practice Spanish, get to know folks and have fun.

5. Chatting with taxi and Uber drivers

When Barry and I travel around Mexico or other Latin American countries, we don’t rent a car, since we like to interact with locals. Instead, we prefer public transit, taxis and Uber. We find that drivers are often not only providers of helpful information but also great conversationalists.

To get started, we introduce ourselves and ask how their day is going; before long, we’re off.

We’ve had lively discussions about which areas to visit and which to avoid, the drivers’ spouses, siblings, kids, in-laws — you name it. One guy even told us that he had informed his wife after their third child was born that the “factory was closed” and that he was planning to have a vasectomy. You can see why these conversations often turn into the highlight of our day!

6. Offering my skills

Before Barry and I bought our home, we visited Guanajuato city several times. During one period, I learned from Juan Carlos, my Spanish tutor, that the University of Guanajuato had a degree program in Human Resources. In my business as a training consultant, I had worked closely with many HR managers who hired me to train their company’s staff.

Juan Carlos and I discussed the idea of giving a talk to Human Resources students on my experience working with HR professionals, offering an inside perspective they probably wouldn’t otherwise get. 

He helped me figure out how to approach one of the department’s professors, who showed interest. I prepared a simple presentation, first in English, then translated it into Spanish. Finally, I spent several sessions with Juan Carlos going over the grammar and vocabulary.

Looking back, I’m amazed at my chutzpah. I didn’t even know the subjunctive tense yet! But two students even took me up on discussing their career plans one-on-one! My Spanish was good enough, and I was finding a way to interact with Mexicans and having fun doing it.

Since then, I’ve found many other ways to offer my skills. 

I find Mexicans to be very forgiving of language errors. Even when I hear myself making a grammatical mistake, they don’t seem to mind. Frankly, their expectations are not very high when it comes to Americans speaking Spanish, and they’re delighted when they discover I can say more than buenos dias.

For me, even a simple conversation in Spanish is like a brisk walk in fresh air. It renews my energy, lifts my spirits and restores my confidence in the world.

Louisa Rogers and her husband Barry Evans divide their lives between Guanajuato and Eureka, on California’s North Coast. Louisa writes articles and essays about expat life, Mexico, travel, physical and psychological health, retirement and spirituality. Her recent articles are on her website, louisarogers.contently.com

The post Six unexpected ways I learned Spanish while living in Mexico appeared first on Mexico News Daily

In 2005, my husband Barry and I bought a house in Guanajuato, where we spend part of each year. We knew when we began our life in Mexico that we’d want to involve ourselves in the local community.

There are several outstanding nonprofits in Guanajuato, but since we aren’t here year-round, we decided to create our own independent volunteer projects.

In my case, I decided it would be easier to work with people with whom I had something in common — which often, but not always, turned out to be women and seniors. Among the volunteer projects I’ve had over 17 years, here are four that stand out:

Wellness presentations to lower-income moms

Five years ago, I approached the local branch of DIF, the Mexican governmental agency dedicated to strengthening families, and offered to give working moms talks on exercise, nutrition and stress. 

I didn’t want to come across as a know-it-all, telling the women in the audience what they “should” do, but rather to honor their wisdom. With that I mind, I focused more on the healthy habits I had observed Mexicans already doing and less about changes they could make to improve.  

In my talk on exercise, for example, I started off asking them how they had arrived at the center where I was giving the presentation. All but two had arrived on foot. Congratulating them, I said, “You’re actually far fitter because you walk everyday than many of my paisanos who drive all the time.” 

During the series, some of my misconceptions about Mexico were dispelled. One of my beliefs had been that in Mexico, a very group-oriented culture, solitude is not valued much. But after my talk on stress, I came away with a different insight.

When I asked the participants to share examples of places where they felt the most relaxed, one woman, a housecleaner, told us that her favorite place was a foreigner’s home where she cleaned every week.

“It’s the only place where I’m completely alone,” she said.

Another woman said, “My own home — but after my husband and the kids leave for the day!”

At the end of the series, the program coordinator honored me with not only a certificate of thanks but also the gift of a red shawl. No honor I’ve ever received has meant so much to me.

A writing group for seniors

Another year, I went back to DIF and proposed a writing group for seniors. Every week, about eight women showed up. I’d offer themes such as La Hora del Desayuno Donde Vivo (The Breakfast Hour Where I Live), Mis Hermanos y Hermanas (My Brothers and Sisters), and Mi Mejor Amiga en la Primaria (My Best Friend in Primary School).

Each week, everyone would write for about 15 minutes, using the spiral notebooks and pens I provided, and then one by one, we’d read out loud.

I went though the usual litany one gives in the U.S. — i.e., “No one is obligated to share” and “What’s shared in this room stays in this room,” only to find that no such careful protocols were needed with these women. They were eager to read! They felt so safe, in fact, that no session went by without someone shedding tears.

I have always heard that Mexicans respect elders more than we do in the States, but I doubt anyone had ever bothered to really listen to these elderly women. Their tears, I’m sure, came in part from the tough childhood experiences they described, but I suspect those tears also came from an unfamiliar sense of validation. For perhaps one of the first times in their lives, they were heard, listened to and honored. 

Job-interviewing skills for college seniors

I’ve also given interactive presentations on interviewing skills to seniors at the University of Guanajuato’s Language Center. Because most Mexican college students don’t grow up having summer jobs or working part-time during the academic year, few have experience with job interviews. We discussed and role-played such areas as self-introductions and verbal and nonverbal communication. Whatever point we discussed, I’d ask if they thought my suggestion fit with Mexican culture. I wasn’t too concerned, because most of them were applying for jobs in multicultural workplaces in the Bajio, but I wanted to show respect.

Meditation at the prison

One year Barry and I offered meditation once a week at the state cereso (prison), a powerful experience for us and one we were somewhat familiar with, having led meditation at the county jail and nearby maximum-security prison in California, where we live when not in Mexico. 

Eerily similar to prisons we’ve been to in the U.S., just to reach the room where we meditated was a major ordeal, since we had to pass through a series of carefully guarded security checkpoints. 

First we’d spend an hour with the men, followed by the same with the women: about 30 minutes sitting in silence, and then another half hour listening and discussing whatever came up. After one man asked about how to deal with nightmares, for example, I suggested focusing on one’s breathing, or an environmental feature like the furthest sound.

Barry, whose Spanish is not as strong as mine, joked that it was a great way for him to volunteer, because all he had to say was, silencio, por favor.

By the time we returned home each week, we were physically and psychically exhausted, not only because of the bleak, desolate physical environment, but because it was a 45-minute taxi ride each way. Nonetheless, we want to do it again, if we can. We believe it’s really a gift to the men and women in prison.

I’ve come to anticipate volunteering with excitement every year. Not only am I helping (¡ojalá!), but whatever I do is an adventure and a time when I get to meet people, make new discoveries, and surprise myself. What could more fun?

The post How I volunteer “por mi cuenta” in Mexico appeared first on Mexico News Daily

Since we bought the house, I’ve had seven tutors, each of whom has not only taught me Spanish but also offered a window into Mexican culture that I could not have found as easily or quickly anywhere else. 

In my experience, a tutor provides many more benefits than just language skills. A tutor helps me get beyond the stereotypes to understand the real culture.

Here are eight cultural insights I’ve learned from my different maestros:

1. The importance of courtesy. When Camila WhatsApps me, she always starts with Buenos días or a similar greeting. I’ve learned to use similar courtesies rather than do the American thing of just getting to the point.If approaching a stranger to ask directions or entering a shop, for example, I know to first sayBuenos días or Buenos tardes. As I get on a bus, I always greet the driver. And when I leave a restaurant, I say — as Mexicans do — buen provecho to the remaining diners.A U.S. expat married to a mexicana told me that when his mother-in-law orders a pizza, she spends five minutes on the phone: 30 seconds ordering the pizza and four and a half minutes greeting and offering courtesies.
2. Indirect communication. Even among Latino cultures, Mexicans tend to take longer to get to their point. For example, in my yoga class, one member coordinates a monthly breakfast. A few weeks ago, I was tickled when I read her long, effusive WhatsApp message to the group. She took 160 words to basically say, “Let’s figure out where to have our breakfast this month.” So different from my more direct, minimalist — and from a Mexican point of view — abrupt American style.
3. Hierarchy. Erika, one of our early teachers, explained that forms of address referring to titles and roles are an important sign of respect in Mexico. When we were remodeling our 150-year-old house, for example, we called our former architect by his first name, “David,” but soon learned that our foreman referred to him as Arquitecto, who in turn called him Maistro — meaning a trade specialist of some kind.
4. Ahorita and other diminutives. Mexicans add –ito and –ita to many words as a way of being warm and personal. The word ahorita means “pretty soon,” but beware of taking it literally — it could mean hours.When our neighbor comes over for a drink, she likes to have a palomita (tequila and Fresca). People refer to their grandparents not as abuelos but as their abuelitos. Camila wished me a fun time at la playita. I sometimes hear a Mexican referring to another person as llenito or gordito, meaning on the chubby side. Using such a term is not insulting as it is in the U.S.Recently, when Barry and I were visiting the state of Hidalgo, I asked a stranger where to get the combi for the pueblo mágico Real de Monte. “Derechito,” he replied, adding, “a la vueltita.” (Go straight, then around the corner). It cracked me up!
5. Personal space and body language. Mexicans stand and mingle much closer to each other while talking than do Americans. When they come out of a shop, it’s a mystery to me how they don’t seem to look left or right yet somehow join the stream of pedestrians without bumping into people.
   A few years ago, a 25-year-old Spanish tutor told Barry that since her sister was getting married, she would have a room to herself for the first time in her life. Being British, he could think of nothing better.“Isn’t that wonderful?” he asked her.“Oh, no,” she said. “I’ll be lonely.”Their respective reactions reflected very different cultural values!In Guanajuato, I see people touching and hugging frequently in public, as well as adolescents entwined on benches in squares and parks, enjoying a degree of freedom that I don’t see in the U.S. On Friday evenings it’s common for students in the secundaria (middle school) to converge in Guanajuato’s jardín, having fun and unsupervised by an adult.
6. Women marrying later. In 2020, the average age of mexicanas marrying was higher than that of the U.S. (30 vs. 27). One of our former Spanish teachers is now a law professor in Mexico City in her 40s, still unmarried.
   
   Another former tutor, a single mom with two grown sons, got back together with her high school sweetheart and now lives with him in Querétaro. Camila just turned 33 and has a boyfriend but is in no hurry to marry. This is completely different from when we first studied Spanish in Oaxaca in the 90s.
7. Different treatment of sons and daughters. I was puzzled to learn that even contemporary mothers tend to demand more of their daughters. Camila explained that this is partly because the moms are counting on their sons to financially subsidize them when they’re old and widowed. However, this attitude by mothers can backfire when a son grows up and expects his wife to wait on him.
   But Mexican wives are not as financially dependent on their husbands as they once were and don’t have to put up with a husband who doesn’t pull his weight. In 2016, more than 43 percent of Mexican women over 60 were divorced, separated or widowed.
8. Close (sometimes too close) family ties. Mexicans have strong family ties, with a national tradition of an intergenerational comida together every Sunday. However, Camila says that family unity can fray, especially after the death of parents.All my teachers have pointed out that there are downsides to Mexican family life, like parents placing excess pressure on their adult children. For example, one of our first teachers was teaching Spanish part-time while simultaneously going to university. Because she came from a poor family, we offered to pay for her título, the diploma.
   Later, we learned that her mother insisted on the money being used to repair the bathroom in the family home, which was muy feo. Our teacher felt she simply couldn’t say no to her mom.

I’m usually at least a generation older than my Spanish teachers, but age is irrelevant; we share our lives: I consult with them when I face tricky cultural situations, and they help me decode Mexican culture. As my paid friends, informants and cultural experts, they’re worth every peso I invest.

Louisa Rogers and her husband Barry Evans divide their lives between Guanajuato and Eureka, on California’s North Coast. Louisa writes articles and essays about expat life, Mexico, travel, physical and psychological health, retirement and spirituality. Her recent articles are on her website, louisarogers.contently.com

The post Spanish tutors: my window into Mexican culture appeared first on Mexico News Daily