Mexican Culture

Festival Photos and Videos

Festival Photos and Videos

  Festival of San Miguel Photos and Videos from various years: Danza al Pie de La Bufa de Zacatecas Raza de Bronce Los Olmecas de Aguascalientes The Saturday Horse procession, Xuchiles, and big parade The festival of San Miguel begins in the wee hours of […]

Cañada de la Virgen

Cañada de la Virgen

Today we visited Cañada de la Virgen, the pyramid site outside of San Miguel de Allende.  The site was built by the Otomí Indians around 500 BC and was inhabited until the 1500’s. You go with a guide and are driven to within a 20-25 […]

Diego Rivera’s Anahuacalli Musem

Diego Rivera’s Anahuacalli Musem

One Reason to love Mexico City: Diego Rivera’s Anahuacalli Museum in Coyoacan. Over his lifetime, Diego Rivera collected 50,000 pieces of pre-hispanic art. According to the museum staff he bought from ‘archaeologists’ who robbed temple sites and had a hand in taking pieces himself. Slideshow:

New Church Announcement

New Church Announcement

They came by at 6am this morning, rockets and all. The procession wound through town, past all the other churches for a blessing, then returned to our street about 1pm. The new church in our neighborhood opened its doors today and this is the formal […]

Virgen de Guadalupe Novenas

Virgen de Guadalupe Novenas

Last night was the 6th Novena for the Guadalupe in our neighborhood. Each day more people come and live music arrived on the fourth Novena. Don’t let the peacefulness of it fool you or make you nostalgic for simpler times because once it got started, […]

The Blessing of San Miguel

The Blessing of San Miguel

Pilgrimage of San Miguel to the Parroquia to be blessed for the upcoming town celebration – The Festival of San Miguel 2011 Blessing of San Miguel from Suzanne da Rosa on Vimeo. This Weekend’s Festivities:

Museo Antropologia

Museo Antropologia

Mexico City, the museum of anthropology. There’s more than I can write pecking a letter at a time on my iPhone so here’s some photos until I can get to my computer

Locos Parade 2011

Locos Parade 2011

Every June in San Miguel de Allende, they celebrate the feast day of San Antonio de Padua with first, Rockets beginning at about 4am, followed by religious processions and masses and a full size carnival with lots of kiddie rides, ending a week later with […]

Semana Santa Processions

Semana Santa Processions

Photos from the stations of the cross processions and Good Friday’s  Santo Encuentro procession. Photos from the stations of the cross processions and Good Friday’s  Santo Encuentro procession.    

Palm Sunday, 2011

Palm Sunday, 2011

For starters, a few photos.. more to come

Viernes de Dolores

Viernes de Dolores

Viernes de Dolores, Friday of sorrows, the day that altars are built to honor Mary’s pain. Our neighbor constructed this beautiful altar this morning and is serving drinks and snacks to everyone who comes by today to visit.

Pilgrimage from Atotonilco to San Miguel

Pilgrimage from Atotonilco to San Miguel

Two sunday’s before Easter, Sr. de la Columna, the Virgin of Dolores and San Juan are removed from their places in the santuario, wrapped in silk scarves, covered, then carried in an all night pilgrimage to San Miguel for the upcoming Semana Santa celebrations and […]

Follow up to Virgin of Guadalupe

Follow up to Virgin of Guadalupe

Slow but sure, I am catching up on my video footage.  December 12, the celebration for the Virgen de Guadalupe.  The celebrations started a few blocks down from our house where several new altars were built this year and a pilgrimage began on foot and […]

Virgin of Guadalupe

Virgin of Guadalupe

Today is the Virgin of Guadalupe’s day. December 12th. Last night, two streets down, our neighbors held the last novena for the Guadalupe and sang songs to her from 7PM until… well, they are still singing.  I awoke several times during the night to the […]

Hermanos Aguascalientes

Hermanos Aguascalientes

For the 33rd consecutive year, Hermanos Aguascalientes performed a concert to a standing room only audience in the Jardin. They were playing something like Stranger in the Night when we arrived. We rolled our eyes, the look that says if there’s one more like this […]

Mexican Independence In 2 Minutes

Mexican Independence In 2 Minutes

The Independence of Mexico, starring: Ignacio Allende Padre Miguel Hidalgo Dona Josefa Ortiz Juan Aldama Ignacio Perez on his horse The people of Mexico. Independencia in 2 Minutes from Suzanne da Rosa on Vimeo. For those of you who do not understand Spanish it goes […]

Let the Independence Begin!

Let the Independence Begin!

The Bicentennario, Mexico’s 200th Independence celebrations are a little over a month away, although activities have been going on for about a month now and the gang’s all here!  Today at noon, casually strolling down the street, posing for cameras, came five mojiganga’s dressed for […]

Corpus Christi 2010

Corpus Christi 2010

In last month’s Corpus Christi procession, Elvia’s son Beto was invited by personal invitation to carry the flowered litter, holding the chalice, in the procession. This is a big honor to anyone, and especially for a devout 18 year old young man. Early in the […]

Mexico Lindo

Mexico Lindo

Just outside the city limits, on the way to Dolores Hidalgo, there’s a roadside attraction – a mini theme park of sorts called Mexico Lindo.  Enter at your own risk beneath a large, sun-bleached cow skull, facing Christo Rey who resides as a centerpiece in […]

Man and His Magic Wand

Man and His Magic Wand

A few weeks ago we were in Mexico City at the San Angel Market. This entertaining man, not one bit shy about his toothless grin, and totally into the music, captured our attention and imagination, performing with his magic wand in the plaza while young […]

Street Musicians

Street Musicians

Mexico is a wonderland of visual and auditory treats. There seems to be no end to the number of people entertaining, festivals and personal acts of faith enacted in the streets here.  With all the big events here, it’s easy to overlook some of the […]

Semana Santa 2010

Semana Santa 2010

Semana Santa is the ultimate act of faith, Performed by the community in public, A series of one costumed re-enactment after another Depicting each aspect of the last week of Jesus’ life. At the Iglesia de San Antonio, On the Thursday of the siete casas, […]

Mega Bombas!

Mega Bombas!

They call them Mega Bombas And there’s a bunch on this video – Along with the firing of the canons, The men battling, Exploding sledgehammers, and a few photos. 2011 Sledgehammer Fireworks from Suzanne da Rosa on Vimeo. 2011 Sledgehammer Fireworks Festival from Suzanne da […]

Sledgehammer Fireworks

Sledgehammer Fireworks

You hear the din of battle next to the church, the sound of rockets booming and you feel the ground shaking from five blocks away. Each Carnaval, in the tiny town of San Juan de la Vega Mexico, there is a re-enactment of a 400+ year […]

Carnaval San Miguel Style

Carnaval San Miguel Style

There’s not much going on here for Carnaval, but in the Jardin, you can buy gorgeous hand made paper flowers, accordion legged ‘payasitos’ – little clowns – paper masks and confetti filled eggs – cascarones – which the children run around with – war style […]