Columns

There’s an old Mexican folktale that claims at midnight on Christmas Eve the animals – goats and pigs, cows and sheep, and whoever just happens to drop by, most in a misanthropic mood, including the wise old owl, who occasionally speaks in Latin – will lay about the barn and discuss vital issues until dawn.

Catholicism is everywhere in Mexico during this season. No massive frenzy maybe, as might be expected. But heart-felt celebrations, nonetheless, over an event long ago when kings with gifts came long distances to celebrate the birth of another king – each arriving at exactly the same time, possibly camel-pooling.

The decades-old trope of our Christmas being too commercial has become a pointless cliché, met with total indifference today.

The Guadalajara Reporter’s big news this week is Ajijic becoming one of Mexico’s vaunted Magic Towns, Pueblos Magicos. It was nominated for the honor three years ago, but came up short.

Are you tired of reading about the latest “studies”? You know, all the investigative testing that is done to prove or disprove whether it is okay to eat dairy products, what to eat instead, when to eat it, how to supplement with vitamins and stuff you never heard of, what the best exercises are, how to manage anger and why you shouldn’t eat eggplant.

These days there seems to be a run on superheroes – creatures of extraordinary powers and bold and courageous actions wearing Halloween costumes.