Margarita Time: What is Cinco de Mayo?
This Friday, May 5, 2023, marks the 161st anniversary of Cinco de Mayo. Why do we celebrate with a Margarita or Corona or Modelo Negro? More than party time, Cinco de Mayo is an important event in U.S. history, and not so much for Mexico. Read on to find out more. First of all, it’s […]
Happy New Year — Feliz Año Nuevo — Let’s Celebrate with Pozole
I decided to have a very small New Year’s Eve birthday celebration, invite a few Zapotec friends and the family I live with to lunch, and prepare pozole. I made this in North Carolina for Dia de los Muertos, but adapted the recipe for ingredients I could find there. Here, in the Teotitlan del Valle […]
Queen of Mexico: Celebrating the Virgin of Guadalupe in Teotitlan del Valle
The three-day celebration in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico, leading up to December 12 to honor Mexico’s favorite saint, the Virgin of Guadalupe, started on December 10 with a 5 p.m. calenda (procession) that began in the church courtyard. But, I arrived early, at 1 p..m., to find a couple celebrating a wedding in the […]
Celebrating the Virgin of Guadalupe in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca: Schedule
From the looks of this poster, most of the festivities celebrating the Virgin of Guadalupe — La Virgen de Guadalupe — in Teotitlan del Valle, will happen on Sunday, December 10, 2017 and Monday, December 11, 2017. For those of you planning to be here on December 12, to celebrate Mexico’s most important saint, you […]
Happy Birthday, Mexico: Celebrating Independence Day
On September 16, 1810, Mexico declared her Independence from Spain. Hidalgo, a priest from Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato, gave out El Grito, the cry for freedom and the war began. The Spanish conquest of Mexico began in 1521, and after almost 300 years of occupation, the country followed the United States independence model to set itself […]
Happy New Year: Feliz Año Nuevo From Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca
My family is here for the New Year. This past week we celebrated with a mezcal tour led by Alvin Starkman, a pottery tour to Santa Maria Atzompa with Innovando y Tradicion and a family trip to Hierve el Agua and San Juan del Rio. We ended 2015 with a grand New Year’s Eve fiesta and […]
Viva Mexico! Happy Independence Day!
September 16 is Mexican Independence Day. All this past week every city, town and village I’ve traveled through — from Mexico City to Tenancingo de Degollado to Morelia, Patzcuaro and Tzintzuntzan — is preparing for the celebration. Right now, in Patzcuaro, Michoacan, the zocalo is filled with families waiting for the mayor to speechify. On […]
Feliz Año Nuevo — Happy New Year 2014 — Oaxaca Cheesecake Recipe
For the past week I’ve gone market shopping, both at the Sunday Tlacolula market and at the smaller, though equally satisfying Teotitlan del Valle market where I live. It’s easier now that I have LaTuga — a market trip can be spontaneous. As the invitation list for my New Year’s Eve house warming birthday party […]