The northeastern “finger” of the strangely shaped state of Jalisco has characteristics all its own. It’s called Los Altos because the altitude is typically over 1,800 meters (1.12 miles) above sea level. The ecosystem there is rather unique: mostly flat grassland, but just about the time you’re ready to pronounce it “boring,” you discover that this prairie land is cut by the deep and dramatically beautiful 150-kilometer-long Río Verde Canyon, dotted with majestic waterfalls and numerous hot springs.

A few weeks ago I wrote about Parque Ecológico Los Hervores, a delightful recreational area created by Don Roberto Castro on the shores of the Patitos (Little Ducks) River, located 42 kilometers north of Guadalajara, near San Cristóbal de la Barranca. The big attraction on this bend of the river are 14 hissing, bubbling and even banging geysers, making this the only geyser park I know of in the state of Jalisco.

“You have to come for a test run of the Autotrén,” wrote Luis Enrique Lazcano, Quality and Safety Manager for ModuTram México, the manufacturer of an unusual and imaginative solution to the mass transit problem.

I walked into the Tec de Monterrey’s impressive Centro de Congresos and found it buzzing with excitement. At 26 stands around the perimeter of the hall, groups of teen-age girls were holding enthusiastic discussions with visitors like me who had come to watch the 2017 Technovation “finals” for Mexico.

There were no bookshelves in the home where I grew up and I can’t remember a single instance of seeing either of my parents reading a book.

I was born in Milwaukee, once famous for its beers. When I moved to Mexico, I happily found beers just as good as those in my old home town and several much better.