December 2022

Many poor girls do not attend school when they menstruate because they cannot afford their pads and they feel ashamed. The girls do not have adequate information. It is not only them, but many more who do not know the basics of their bodies and anatomy. They were brought up with the idea that it […]

Death, Continued My cellphone rings and I hear a very low, urgent whispering. “You won’t believe where I am. Forest Lawn Cemetery! I’ll call you when we finish this appointment.” My friend Athena calls me later to fill me in on her cemetery visit. “We are making plans for our (her and her husband’s) burial.

Everybody knows that in Mexico, around Christmastime, the local parishes reenact the Posada. A procession of school children follow Joseph and Mary as they go from door to door in search of a place to spend the night. Ultimately, they end up in a stable. And the rest is history. Most people down here are

Play Ball! The union of word nerds and sports fanatics is not quite as unlikely as one might think. Listen up. For baseball fans, summer isn’t officially over until the best teams of the National and American leagues clash in the World Series. The Fall Classic was won this year—most impressively—by the Houston Astros. Were

I experienced my first church-centered fiesta a month after arriving in Mexico. Resplendent with Aztec dancers, fireworks, parades, beer vendors, carnival rides and nightly music until dawn, the nine-day party celebrating Saint Francis (the patron saint of the main church in Chapala) keyed me into the understanding that Mexican Catholicism was not the Catholicism of

As I write this month’s editorial, I am in the United States wishing that I were back in Mexico! First, I’d like to wish all of our readers a wonderful and meaningful holiday season. For people of all faiths. This issue is a little different because it contains holiday articles, along with articles about life