Inside Out: Primer to Buying Mexico Handmade Clothing — Quality Tips
On Friday, I took a 40-minute trip with my friend Laurita to Magdalena Teitepac in the foothills on the other side of the Carretera Nacional Mexico 190 (aka Panamerican Highway) for the purposes of textile shopping, always my favorite past-time. The Zapotec village is beyond San Juan Guelavia, the basket-making village. A group of entrepreneurial […]
Safety in Mexico City. Advice for Travelers. Featured in Mexico News Daily.
Mexico News Daily asked me to write about SAFETY IN MEXICO CITY. The feature story was published today! Let me know what you think. *** When The New York Times picked Mexico City as the #1 among 52 places to go in the world in 2016, I felt like doing a somersault. Finally, my much […]
Happy New Year 2017 From Mexico City
The clock strikes 2017. Yet the Zocalo in Mexico City today is almost empty. All museums and most shops are closed, too. Most Mexican families celebrate the new year at home. On New Years’ Eve last night there were only a few strollers in the Historic Center as everything closed up by 4 p.m. and people […]
India Journal: New Delhi Textile Shopping Guide
New Delhi is a whirlwind city filled with honking cars, traffic congestion, auto rickshaws that zoom in and out inches from the next vehicle and an efficient, safe metro system. I never saw an accident but thought we would surely collide on multiple occasions. Traffic lanes do not exist although the roads are marked. On a […]
India Journal: Taj Mahal and Textiles
One of the best days so far is the 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. visit to the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. Yes, it’s definitely a tourist attraction and not off the beaten path. But, how can one come to India and not go there? Certainly not me! HAPPY THANKSGIVING FOR THOSE IN THE USA! […]
Textile Travel Guide and Tips: How To Be a Cultural Ambassador
Cloth Roads just published a blog post called Textile Travel Guide: 10 Tips to Be a Star Textile Ambassador. This comes as a just-in-time-reminder for me about cultural sensitivity and travel to indigenous parts of the world where handmade textiles still flourish. My trip to India was bumped up a day, so I am on an […]
Textile Fiestas of Mexico: New Guidebook for Smart Travelers
The book, Textile Fiestas of Mexico: A Traveler’s Guide to Celebrations, Markets and Smart Shopping by Sheri Brautigam and published by Thrums Books, is hot off the press. It’s a comprehensive guide to some of Sheri’s favorite Mexican textile villages and towns. I contributed two chapters! Sheri invited me to cover Teotitlan del Valle, the […]
12 Health Tips for Mexico Travel: What NOT to Eat and Drink
Only drink purified bottled water OR ask for un vaso de agua de garafon — a glass of water from the big blue purified water bottle Only brush your teeth with purified bottled water. Do not use tap water for drinking. Hand washing with soap is okay. Keep your mouth shut when taking a shower! […]
Diego Rivera Murals in San Francisco: Critical Guide for Visiting
There are three Diego Rivera frescoes in San Francisco, California. To get in to see them all is not easy, but it is well worth the effort. It was an incredible treat to be able to see these frescoes up close and personal. A word of advice: it’s very important to plan and confirm your visits […]
A Glimpse of Dali’s Jewelry: Surreal Glitz and Glam in Figueres, Spain
As you may have guessed, I’m back in the U.S.A. recovering from jet lag in my sister’s NoCal home, though missing my morning cup of Spanish espresso. Fuerte. Muy fuerte. My body is still in the state of “Does anyone know what time it is?” Memories of Spain are swirling in my brain, especially the […]
Inside the Nasrid Palace: The Alhambra, Granada, Spain
Carved wood, intricate plaster arches and decorative columns, outstanding 13th century mosaics, and water, water everywhere define the palaces of the Nasrid kings at the Alhambra, Granada, Spain. The best description I have found is this one from Islamic Arts that offers you a virtual walking tour. How to Buy Tickets It is not easy to […]
Morocco Journal 8: Magic Carpet Ride Rug Buying Guide
Rules for rug shopping in Morocco and other advice from a seasoned shopper who admits to being a naive novice when it comes to bargaining in the Land of a Million Carpets. Carpet merchants fill the souks in every Moroccan city. Then, there are the random carpet shops on high traffic tourist pedestrian avenues. […]
Morocco Journal 1: What To Wear and Other Notes
The debate about how a woman from the western world is to clothe herself while traveling in the Moslem Kingdom of Morocco continues. I want to be respectful and also comfortable as the temperatures hover close to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Cover your elbows, advises one friend. Another says, elbows are okay, just don’t show forearms […]
Oaxaca Portrait Photography Workshop, Day Two–Lighting
Today, we are focusing on how to use flash and how to set up lighting for a portrait photography studio shoot. Instructor Matt Nager brought with him strobe lights on tripods, a soft box, umbrella diffuser, and a reflector. Later, this afternoon weaver Erasto “Tito” Mendoza and his family would come to El Diablo y […]
Norma Hawthorne’s 9 Tips for Living in Mexico Successfully (Mas o Menos)
Norma Hawthorne’s 9 Tips for Living in Mexico Successfully (choose your own priority order): Speak the language. Learn to speak the language. Try to learn to speak the language. Keep trying. Hire a tutor. Take a class. Don’t give up and expect Spanish-speakers to understand you! Otherwise, you will stay isolated within the gringo community. […]
Technology on the Fly: Travel With Your Computer
Here is a handy New York Times technology blog about tech tips for travel. Travel life is now more than taking your laptop — it’s about iPad, Droid, iPhone, BlackBerry and Kindle (more?). My travel life includes schlepping my MacBookPro, iPhone, iPad, portable LCD projector, Mexican cell phone, Nikon D40X camera and two huge lenses, extra […]
Writer’s Guide to Reading in Public: 8 Tips
Writers are solitary, work in silence, and are often intimidated by the daunting prospect of reading their work in public. Robin Greene, MFA, the leader of our Women’s Creative Writing and Yoga Retreat attributes this fear to our collective wish to “get it right and not make mistakes.” She says that imperfection is what makes […]