Ritmos de Brasil, Brazilian guitar teachers leave smiles and 100 new guitarists in Zihuatanejo

Ritmos de Brasil, Brazilian guitar teachers leave smiles and 100 new guitarists in Zihuatanejo


      Photos by Margaret Reid and Olga Grishkova   Ritmos de Brasil, workshop and concert series was held January 20-30 and was part of the 10 year anniversary of the Zihuatanejo International Guitar Festival.  The event was sponsored in large part by the Brazilian government. Our special invited...

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Museo Dolores Olmedo

Museo Dolores Olmedo

Tranquillity in the Big City


You can travel thirty-two kilometers from the zocalo (town square) to the quaint canals of Xochimilco and still be in Mexico City. Just short of this is a retreat, the sixteenth century monastery/hacienda/Museo Dolores Olmedo, home to the largest private collection of original Diego Rivera paintings, Frida Kahlo works and...

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José Clemente Orozco

José Clemente Orozco

"Art is knowledge at the service of emotion."


Unappreciated in his native land for much of his life, José Clemente Orozco was eventually hailed as “the greatest painter Mexico has produced” during the years preceding his death by none other than arch-rival Diego Rivera. Orozco (1883-1949) dreamed of being an artist since early childhood, but tragedy struck before...

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David Alfaro Siqueiros

David Alfaro Siqueiros

Courtsey of MOLAA (Museum of Latin American Art)


Artist and political activist, David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896 -1974), was a vital member of the Mexican School of Painting along with Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco. He continues to be viewed as one of the most important Mexican artists of the twentieth century while his artistic influence spread far...

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Olmecs of Mexico

Olmecs of Mexico


The Olmecs, which means “people of rubber” in Nahuatl (the language of the Aztecs) began their civilization in southeastern Mexico between 1600 B.C. and 1400 B.C. It wasn’t until this century that the Olmecs were acknowledged to be part of Mexico’s history. Researchers prior to this time attributed many of...

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Nopales

Nopales


A cactus salad, scrambled eggs with cactus, a cactus shake … probably doesn’t make most people’s mouths water with culinary anticipation, but nopales –the flat paddles of the Opuntia cactus– have a rich history in Mexican cuisine and are a fine addition to a healthy diet. Nopales are so revered...

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Fredrick Catherwood’s Lasting Legacy

Fredrick Catherwood’s Lasting Legacy


In  the early 1840’s, two haggard men on mules emerged from Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula telling stories of a lost civilization discovered and unknown cities explored, long before the days when Nikon cameras and National Geographic magazine told us of these things. Between the years of 1839-1842, American John Lloyd Stephens...

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The colorful currency of Mexico honors history

The colorful currency of Mexico honors history

revolution, religion, arts and sciences


Mexican Bills come in six denominations: 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and the newly unveiled 1000 peso note. The 20 peso note (re-issued in 2001 in a plastic form) shows dapper Benito Juarez. Born in March 1806 in a village in the state of Oaxaca from a poor, illiterate peasant...

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Traveling Mexico - Mayan Ruins

Traveling Mexico – Mayan Ruins


“Like the pharaohs of Egypt, he built a pyramid tomb as though it was his direct gateway to the underworld.” “Noble white robed ladies draw blood from their tongues next to pot-bellied dwarves.”   The Maya have eluded scientists and researchers for years. Their language, their religion, their societies, basically...

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Latest ADIP Articles

Wouldn’t You Love to Ride a Train to the Beach … or Mayan Pyramids?

Many Americans and Canadians love riding trains. While the use of practical trains for commuting is returning, far more interesting are the tour trains that run through picturesque locations with beautiful scenery and stopping at interesting little towns. Why We Love Trains So Much For myself, I remember riding a train through the countryside back...

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NAR Mid-year Meetings, Washington, D.C.

As usual the midyear meeting of the National Association of Realtors ® (NAR)  had a truly international flavor. The Global Networking Reception presented an opportunity for REALTORS® from around the Globe to renew acquaintances with old friends and make new ones. Dr. Lawrence Yun NAR’s Chief Encomiast shared the podium with La Vaughn Henry from...

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Uruapan, Michoacan - a city of Festivals

Uruapan, Michoacan – a city of Festivals

All year long there are festivals occurring in Uruapan. The two most noteworthy and that fill the hotels are; Noche de Muertos (Night of the Dead) and Semana Santa (Holy Week) The first is November 1 and the second is Holy Week. Michoacan is the center of the part pagan, part Christian celebration of Noche...

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Study the Mexican Real Estate Market, Network, Play Golf and Have time in the Sun

Study the Mexican Real Estate Market, Network, Play Golf and Have time in the Sun

¡VIVA México!  Investment Resort & Second Home Forum – Los Cabos, Mexico Hotel Barceló in San Jose del Cabo from June 7-9, 2013 http://www.icabo.com/viva-mexico.  Register and bring your golf clubs! ¡VIVA México!  An investment, resort and second-home forum that will take place in Los Cabos, Mexico, June 7-9, 2013.  It will also have a golf...

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J.C. Superstar ! Julio Cesar Chavez: Boxing legend

J.C. Superstar ! Julio Cesar Chavez: Boxing legend

If you mention the words “J.C. Superstar” to an American, the chances are they will think you are talking about a Broadway play. Utter those five syllables south of the Rio Grande, and get ready for an onslaught of words about Mexico’s most beloved practitioner of the sweet science. Julio Cesar Chavez is emblematic not...

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Mexican Cuisine: Over Five Centuries in the Making

Mexican Cuisine: Over Five Centuries in the Making

Mexican cuisine is one of the best known and loved the world over, and for a reason, its flavors, sometimes robust and varied and sometimes mild and subtle, always have a haunting, mysterious quality that hints at the range of spices, herbs and condiments that it uses. Mexican food can be delightfully different from the...

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Exchanging Money in Mexico

If you’re coming down for a few weeks or even for the entire “high season,” you can convert your funds in three ways. First, you could bring U.S. (or Canadian) cash and trade it in for Mexican pesos at either a bank or a casa de cambio (a money-changing station). Second, you could arrive with...

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The Bookstores of Donceles Street, Mexico City

The Bookstores of Donceles Street, Mexico City

Step into any one of the dozen or so bookstores on Donceles Street in Mexico City´s historic center and you might find yourself in a predicament similar to the following: Do you stick to the game plan, zeroing in on that novel about the Mexican Revolution that you haven’t been able to find anywhere else,...

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Trip Report – Ixtapa, Mexico – Feb 27 –  Mar 13, 2013

Trip Report – Ixtapa, Mexico – Feb 27 – Mar 13, 2013

Last year we opted for a spontaneous trip to Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo to attend the International Guitar Festival. We loved it so much, we decided we needed to return this year. We booked a condo through VRBO (Home Away) and our airfare through Westjet, using our trusted travel agent. The value of a good travel agent can’t...

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Tonala and Tlaquepaque

Tonala and Tlaquepaque

  Tonala and Tlaquepaque….no, neither a singing duo nor a rock group, but sister cities southeast of Guadalajara where you can shop till you drop and do much less damage to your pocketbook than you would have ever thought possible. Some people still consider Tlaquepaque and Tonala “suburbs” of Guadalajara, but with the population of...

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Magic Carpets, Oaxaca’s Master Weaver Preserves a Zapotec Tradition

Magic Carpets, Oaxaca’s Master Weaver Preserves a Zapotec Tradition

When you enter The-Bug-in-the-Rug store in Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca, you are greeted by the master weaver himself, Isaac Vasquez, a friendly, soft-spoken man with salt and pepper hair. He invites you into his workshop, housed in the sunny courtyard of his family compound. Your eyes are immediately drawn to the carpets on the adobe...

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The Pros and Cons of a tattered bag

This is my carry-on hand luggage.  Yes, that is black duct tape, yes I do love it.   I bought it for $5 at a thrift store in Long Beach, CA, and on that trip alone I took it to 12 cities, 6 states and 2 countries.  In a pocket I found an in-room information...

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