Culture
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Jane Custer The town and the children have an advocate in Enrique Valdes. Guest writer Jane Custer interviews him in his role as cultural ambassador at Mayaland…
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Working Gringos A few things about buying a hammock from a guest writer, and a bunch of tips and tricks from the Working Gringos… all about hammocks!
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Working Gringos The Yucatan Symphony Orchestra’s Spring 2013 schedule…
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Working Gringos All week this week, there will be contemporary dance performances around the city of Merida. Here are two in particular that we think you might be interested in, including one performed by dancers from Asheville, North Carolina…
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Working Gringos The end of the world… uh, the end of the Maya calendar is December 21, 2012 and the whole world is coming to Yucatan! Here is an ever-growing (and continually updated) list of some of the events happening around that important moment…
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Working Gringos Here’s a first person account of the recent charity event at Hacienda Ochil, featuring the work of musician and composer Philip Glass and artist James Turrell…
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Byron and Rebecca Augustin At what is arguably the most perfect time of year in this part of the world, Isla Mujeres spends over a week honoring the Virgin of the Immaculate Conception, culminating on December 8. Learn the story behind this colorful celebration…
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Working Gringos Coming to Yucatan for the first time can be a bit like learning to read. So much is so new. In service to this metaphor, we present to you the Yucatan Primer. An introduction to Yucatan for new arrivals…
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Working Gringos The Fall 2012 Season of the Yucatan Symphony Orchestra begins this next weekend. Here is a rundown of the programs that will be performed in Fall 2012…
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Working Gringos Sopa de lima is a staple of the Yucatecan kitchen, a cornerstone of Yucatecan cuisine. This simple soup can be made simply or with a number of delicious twists, as this collection of alternative recipes makes clear…
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Working Gringos As more and more expatriates move to the Yucatan, we have found more and more books being written about the area. These are not scholarly works or textbooks… these are memoirs, novels, mysteries and more. Read all about it!
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Working Gringos March 8 is International Women’s Day around the world. Here in the Yucatan, we have a rich history of women’s rights and a group of dedicated young people working to further those rights for the women of rural Yucatan…
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Working Gringos Here is the January to June 2012 Yucatan Symphony Orchestra program in English, along with links to the Symphony’s own website so you can buy your tickets online.
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Working Gringos This year we were invited to a Christmas celebration with our friends and colleagues. It was a Mexican posada, and we enjoyed learning about the many traditions surrounding this time of year in the Yucatan…
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Working Gringos A few months ago, two graduates from California universities started a unique science-and-art project in the tiny pueblo of Tzucacab. This month, we bring you their story and in a few days, they will bring their project to exhibit here in Merida…
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Patti Murphy Here’s a little about Day of the Dead, its origins and how it is celebrated, including a recipe for Day of the Dead tamales and some background and insight into this wonderful celebration…
Every year, the music offerings in Merida get better! Here is a complete rundown of the classical music scheduled events in Merida from September to December, including the Symphony Orchestra, the Choir of Merida, the Chamber Orchestra of Merida and Opera Yucatan…
The end of summer in the Yucatan is the end of la temporada, Merida’s summer season at the beach. Families from all over Merida close up their beach houses and head home to start the school year…
Dr. Stephen Fry gives us a third lesson in basics of the Mayan language… all the better to enjoy an afternoon celebration in the Yucatan countryside with your new Mayan-speaking friends…
In our second installment of the not-tequila that is being produced in Valladolid, our writer brings you inside the distillery to see how tequila is made, to explain the different kinds of alcohol made from the blue agave and to tell you why you cannot call this elixir tequila…
Blue agaves are growing in Valladolid… our new correspondent from that area delves into why they are there, who is behind it and what they are planning to do with it. It’s definitely not about tequila…
In which we share our many years of experience with Merida’s Carnival and give you some hints and tips for avoiding frustration and getting the most out of your Carnival experience…
Here is a growing list of places to go in Merida for classes in everything from dance to yoga to art to dog obedience to Maya language. There’s so much to do in Merida… here are some of the places you might want to check out!
The Yucatan Symphony Orchestra begins its season on September 10. Here is the 2010 Program with details about the music and the musicians…
Bridging the gap between ourselves and the local Maya culture can start by learning some basic conversational Mayan Language phrases with Dr. Steven Fry…
An important part of Yucatan culture is to show respect in every sphere of public life. Joanna van der Gracht de Rosado, author and long-time resident of Merida who moved here from from Canada, explains…
Follow Heather to Na’ Lu’um on her quest to experience the therapeutic and spiritual purifications of an Aztec/Mayan sweat bath or Temazcal…
The first time we circled the park in Itzimná, a wedding was just finishing and people were filing out of the church. By the time we found a parking space and walked up to the church, it was filling up with the guests for the wedding that we had been invited to attend. (and as [...]
Did you know that the Cathedral on Merida’s Plaza Grande houses one of only two organs in Southern Mexico? and that it is one of the largest organs in all of Mexico? More…
On her latest trip to the Yucatan, Heather Rath found herself in the hut of a traditional Mayan healer, seeking relief from the stress of 21st Century living…
Here’s the schedule for the Yucatan Symphony Orchestra for the Spring of 2010.
Every year for 12 days the city of Valladolid, Yucatan honors its holy patron the Virgen de la Candelaria. Be ready for cowboy boots, crockery, prize winning bulls, barbeque and carnival games…
Juan Carlos Lomónaco, the new director of the Yucatan Symphony Orchestra gives Yucatan Living an interview about his work and the program for their fall season “Sounds of the World”.
In the quiet corners of Merida and the state of Yucatan, a cultural envoy from the United States is bringing the gift of music to old and young alike…
Our new music and performance correspondent, Katalina McNulty, reviews five of the top local musical acts in Merida and tells you why you don’t want to miss their next performances…
The Barber of Seville will be performed in Merida this year, with José Adán Pérez in the leading role of Figaro. This young man from Mazatlán has come a long way in a very short time…
Coming up the last weekend of November, here’s your chance to discover some new and exciting artists from around the state of Yucatan. Don’t miss this!
The Yucatan Symphony Orchestra has begun its 2008-2009 Season… and things are changing. When we saw the names of four different conductors on the schedule, we asked our friend, violinist Elizabeth Arnott, to tell us what is going on…
A growing hobby around the world has a loyal contingent of fans here in Merida. The Working Gringos ventured out on a Saturday morning to find out more about the RC airplane community here…
The Symphony Orchestra of the Yucatan is a fairly new addition to the cultural landscape of Merida. What it lacks in age, it more than makes up for in quality… and it just keeps getting better. Read more here…
Bob Martin, the executive director of the Tree-Land Foundation, writes about the recent inauguration of the “See Well to Live Better” Clinic of Visual Health in Merida…
After moving to Mexico, we were confronted with a whole new set of Spanish names, unusual nicknames and names you’ll probably only find in Yucatan…
If you live in Yucatan, sooner or later you’ll need to read and speak some Mayan. Here are the basics of how the language works…
The other day we were working on a website for some Mexican artists who now live in Merida. While reviewing the titles of their paintings, we saw one called “Cual de Los Dos” (Which of the Two?)…
We recently received the following email from a Yucateca friend. It contained a “Rosetta Stone” of local, modern Yucatan culture…
Anyone who has traveled by car in Yucatan – or anywhere else in Mexico for that matter – quickly discovers the tope…
Not long after we moved here, it occurred to us that Mexicans and Mayans have a collective sweet tooth…
Here in the center of Merida, we see four different types of policemen. Now we know what they’re called. Sort of…
We’re dreaming of a whiiiiiiite Chriss-mas! Can’t really sing that song here. It never snows in the Yucatan. So instead, Mexicans opt for a bright Christmas…
These words used to conjure up visions of Hare Krishna, orange robes and George Harrison for us…
For any animal lover who travels to or lives in Mexico, there are few sorer (is that a word?) subjects than the state of dogs in this country…
We’d always heard that the mail in Mexico doesn’t work that well. And it does take longer for things to get where they are supposed to go when you use it. But we like the idea of supporting our local mailman…
For those of you who know anything about the hispanic culture, you know that a girl’s 15th birthday is a sort of coming-out, a celebration of her graduation from child to woman…
A new comida casera just opened around the corner. This place used to be a store that manufactured screws to order, and so the doors still bear the name, Casa de Los Tornillos…