Traditions

Palm Sunday this year was on the 20th of March. It will be an  early Easter. There were many things going on at the Ajijic Plaza on that afternoon and evening. A Verbena Event, which is a food event where all the food is traditional Mexican food prepared without electricity or any synthetic materials, served on baro plates. These plates are made out of red clay. And then later on in the evening there was...

This was the 38th annual Chili C00k-off. It was held in the Tobolandia water park in Ajijic on February 26, 27, and 28th, 2016. It is the biggest fund raising event of the year for all the charities in the area. If you would like to be part of next year's event, please go to their website: www.mexicanchilicookoff.com. Also, if you would like more detailed information about the event, you will find it...

The Fat Tuesday parade, otherwise knows as the Mardi Gras parade, always starts with the running of the boys.   What are they running from? The people behind them throwing flour at them.  By the time the parade is over, the entire town is engulfed in flour. For ten days before the Fat Tuesday parade, there are smaller parades in town. Just about anytime you walk into town during these ten days, you are...

The New Year's Day parade was fun. I went into town around nine in the morning. I thought the parade started in the morning but it didn't start until two in the afternoon.  The town was practically deserted in the morning until around noon and then it got crowded. There was more traffic here than I had ever seen. Traffic was at a standstill. Lots of people were waiting for the parade too. Parade...

I walked into town in Christmas Eve to be part of all the activities and take photos of the Crèches at the church. Surprise, surprise. Very little action was taking place in the plaza this year and there were only four live crèches. Last year the church yard was filled with crèches and the plaza was very busy. We have had weeks of excitement here, including parades and fireworks going off every evening....

Mexican Revolution Day was November 16th but the parade and other celebrations didn't happen until the following weekend. On Monday, the legal holiday, many places of business were closed. But the celebrations didn't begin until the parade on Friday the 20th. The Mexican Constitution dates back to 1917. When you think about it, that was not very long ago. Not even a hundred years. When people in my...

The Day of the Dead is a big Holiday in Mexico. Some people say that Mexicans don't celebrate Halloween. Tell that to the little girl in the photo below. She was all ready to go trick or treating in the evening. Just like in the United States, parents take their children out trick or treating to the expensive neighborhoods. I bought enough candy for a hundred children. Only five children knocked on my...

The 2015 Globos Event was a huge success.  It is one of my favorite events. I put two photos of our own globo at the beginning of this article because we at Access Lake Chapala are proud to participate in it and also proud that our globo was a lift off. Accesslakechapala globo. Both last year's globo and this year's globo made it into the air. That is a minor miracle as larger ones often do not...

El Pajarete is a party, in a barn early in the mornings when the cows are being milked. It is also the name of the drink that they make out of fresh cow's milk, liquor, chocolate, sugar and instant coffee. My friend took me to one on a Sunday which is the biggest day for them although people drop in every morning at milking time. Pajaro Above is the cow fountain which is filling up the cup.  The...

The 37th Annual Mexican Chili Cook-Off was a great success. It started on Friday, February 27th and went through Sunday. It ended at five p.m. on Sunday, March 1st. It was held at the Tobolandia water park. This year the parade was very small. The Shriners were in it and the tour bus from Chapala. Instead of starting at six corners as it did on previous years, it started by the bank up on the Carretera....