Welcome

photo by jeremy
TEPOZTLAN, Morelos--This dramatic entryway greets some lucky homeowner here. Tepoztlan is just south of Mexico City and is a popular weekend destination for Chilangos (Mexico City residents) who want to leave the hustle and bustle of the megalopolis behind. Jeremy and I treated ourselves to a Valentine's weekend here, and then didn't want to leave. Officially recognized as a "Magic Town," Tepoztlan overflows with charm. An Aztec pyramid in honor of an ancient **Pulque god towers over the city on the mountainside.
**check out Jeremy's story about pulque by clicking on the blog title "Welcome"

photo by jeremy
TEPOZTLAN, Morelos-- Another beautiful entryway--this time to a church and convent here. Locals build an archway beaded with seeds for this entrance every year.

Haystacks

EL ARBOLITO,Queretaro--We visited the Ramirez family house while in Queretaro to interview their 16-year old son, who used to help tourists poach rare cactus species in the desert. The family no longer encourages this and their son Alvaro now runs a greenhouse to protect these species. These haystacks rested on the Ramirez family property.

CADEREYTA, Queretaro--Growing up along the Texas/Mexico border, I've been lucky enough to see different species of the Maguey plant, which many times is used to produce Mexican liquors like mezcal. But never in my life have I seen the plant flower like this. This species is commonly known as the Century Plant because it takes about that long for it to flower. Seeing it up close was amazing. The thin stalk can grow up to 10-14 feet high. We found this unique native Mexico plant growing in the Cadereyta Regional Botanical Garden.

Powers of Bernal

photo by jeremy
BERNAL, Queretaro-- On our way back to Queretaro City, we stopped to visit this "magic town" which has the world's third-largest monolith. Many believe that the giant rock has mystical powers because of its strong magnetic energy. Curiously, Bernal residents tend to live long lives. I must admit that while there I felt tingly, and as if I were being pulled up from the ground. Mexican mystique never ends.....

New Look

After some HTML-induced headaches, I finally present a redesign of my blog in order to bring you bigger and better photos. Enjoy!

Afterparty

EL ARBOLITO, Queretaro-- The Ramirez family recently celebrated their daughter's quinceañera (15th birthday) at their house in the dusty desert of Queretaro. Remnants of that special night still hang a few days after the fiesta. It must have been some party.

Simplicity

EL ARBOLITO, Queretaro-- Children in this tiny town enjoy the playground in front of their one-room school building.

Tamale Time

The Christmas holiday season is now officially over in Mexico. Yes, it's just now coming to an end! Feb. 2 was Dia de la Candelaria, which represents the day that baby Jesus was presented at the Temple in Jerusalem. In Mexico City that means that people take baby Jesus dolls to church and have them blessed and dressed in nativity scene clothing. It also marks the day that faithful can take down their own nativity scenes.

Tradition also says that those who got the plastic baby figurine in their Rosca de Reyes or Three Kings Cake, must throw a tamale party.

In honor of this tradition, the city held various tamale festivals across the megalopolis. We went to one of them and were treated by not only Mexican tamales (there are about 800 different kinds), but tamales from all over Latin America.

My favorite were the Chilean tamales.