I was born and raised in and around Boston, Massachusetts. In December 2006, my wife, Ma Eugenia (Maria) and myself relocated from San Jose, California to a small town in the Central Highlands of Mexico in the state of Michoacan. For Maria, it was indeed a homecoming as she was returning not only to the place of her birth that she had left at the age of twelve to move to the USA with her parents and six siblings but was returning to her familial home. For me, it was and continues to be a welcomed opportunity to attempt to satisfy on, hopefully, a permanent basis my lifelong wanderlust as Mexico provides virtually unlimited potential to explore its many wonders, both positive and negative.
Not only has living in Churintzio with my bilingual and culturally aware/sensitive wife provided me with the chance to learn about typical Mexican customs, traditions, superstitions, religion, politics, mores, festivals, foods, crafts, ecology/nature, architecture, daily living, and culture, it has been an excellent base to travel to other parts of Mexico from. I have traveled extensively throughout Mexico with a particular emphasis on Colonial regions/cities, beach towns of the non-overdeveloped kind, and sites to observe and appreciate nature.
To give you an idea of where I am coming from and where I most like to go around and about in Mexico, the following are three (really five) of my favorite places in my adopted country: Mazamitla, Jalisco for its quaint, alpine-like small mountain town ambience with its harmonious architecture, forested trails, excellent birding, and delicious selection of antojitos/snacks; San Blas, Nayarit for its funky, undeveloped small beach village atmosphere, fabulous and diverse birding habitats, and inexpensive and delicious grilled fish; and a tie between Morelia, Michoacan, Queretaro, Queretaro, and Oaxaca, Oaxaca for their grand and majestic colonial centros/historic downtowns, gracious plazas, expansive indoor markets, and outstanding antojitos- Morelia’s “super” quesadillas, Queretaro’s stuffed gorditas, and Oaxaca’s tlayudas. Conversely, where I would never go and have never been to (except for its airport on my way to the Riviera Maya for primarily birding) is Cancun, Quintana Roo as I have no desire to experience its tourist ghetto, er, I mean zone with its outlandish prices and its hedonistic tourists who can survive on U.S dollars in a English speaking environment while keeping themselves isolated from any semblance of traditional Mexican culture.
Furthermore, my careers as an executive chef in various US cities and in Thailand and Australia and more recently as a MSW level economic social worker has provided me with the skills (not just culinary-wise) to have an understanding of and appreciation for cross-cultural experiences. Living in Mexico has also afforded me with a world-class platform to discover or expand upon my interests of mascota/pet care and maintenance, birding, nature photography, rockhounding, and cooking.
This was my first foray into online writing.
I am also BellaOnline´s Birds site editor. If you would like a birds eye view of me, please go to the Birds site and take a look at my biography there.
Your input and feedback are encouraged and will be greatly appreciated.
Bienvenidos a Mexico.
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