By JUAN DE JESÚS BREENE Are “the holidays” a time of heightened depression? Maybe for some, but it does not seem that way in Mexico. In Mexico, we have the magical mix of events called Guadalupe Reyes. Translation: everything that happens from the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Dec. 12 to the Feast of the Epiphany on Jan.
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By JUAN DE JESÚS BREENE I’ve heard it asked time and time again: What if I am arrested in Mexico? Myths and urban legends abound in Mexico surrounding the ease with which foreigners are arrested, for all kinds of offenses, from drugs to public intoxication. Nothing is further from the truth. Foreigners are rarely arrested in Mexico. There is definitely
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By JUAN DE JESÚS BREENE “Have you gotten your flu shot?” Whether your mother is asking you or not, now is the time to be scheduling that jab. Once never questioned, especially by those old enough to remember the horrors of polio, vaccines have been more in the news these days, and often with a negative taint: discovered as not
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By JUAN DE JESÚS BREENE When is a city too big to be livable or too small to have the quality of life that we feel we need? The answer would be worth a fortune. Of course, social scientists try to measure such things. A recent study by Elaine Siu of the University of British Columbia looked seriously at the
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By JUAN DE JESÚS BREENE How many times does an expat, or even a Mexican who lived for a time abroad, say, “I wonder who I know who is coming to my city so I can ask them to bring me…” Mix that with the number of times you have heard, “There’s an app for that!” Then, join the two
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By JUAN DE JESÚS BREENE Lots of foreigners have worked in Mexico long enough to have contributed to a Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) pension. In Mexico, accreditation is calculated in terms of weeks worked, 500, if you started to work anytime before 1997, when the law was changed to require more weeks from younger generations. So if you worked
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By JUAN DE JESÚS BREENE Someone asked me recently if cash was still the main form of payment in Mexico. And just like the answer to other broad and vague questions, when assessing whether cash is still king in Mexico, the answer is yes … and no. At the height of the covid-19 pandemic, the Mexican government, in conjunction with
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By JUAN DE JESÚS BREENE PUERTO VALLARTA, Jalisco — Mexico’s two-day Day of the Dead celebration (Nov. 1 and Nov. 2) has always been an intricate element of the national culture, taking its roots in pre-Hispanic observations and incorporating Christian tweets under the watchful eyes of the Catholic Church during colonial times. But how did celebrating the Day of the
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By JUAN DE JESÚS BREENE Invariably on flights between Mexico and the United States, I meet someone traveling to Mexico for a destination wedding. Those headed down are often excited for the exotic experience. Those headed back home, especially seniors, often comment on the number of unexpected steps on challenging terrain, rides in boats to reach certain events and other
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By JUAN DE JESÚS BREENE Remember a few years back when there were constant references to Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner’s “Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences”? His premise was that beyond what most of us grew up believing about intelligence and notions of IQ, that intelligence was basically about academic smarts. His definition of intelligence pointed out that
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