Family and Friends

Below Vinicius' newly married cousin Maylo, wife Cintia and childhood friend and neighbor Elisa





The barrista at the local café- makes a mean lactose-free latte!



My friend and former English student Sylvia. She is a biology teacher at the University and trying to improve her English so she can do her PhD abroad.


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Alcohol, Religion and Art

The privately owned corner convenience stores all have names. This one sells beer under His Name.



In this little store they sell ONLY Catholic religious merchandise. This sign is to put on your door at home. "This home is Catholic. We don't accept propaganda from Protestants or other sects. Christ the King Lives! Miraculous Saint Judas Thadeous Lives!"






Vinicius' drawing of guess who.



An exhibition space inside an old bus funded by Nike. Artists also paint the exterior. It stays parked on the plaza of a pretty urban park in a trendy neighborhood in Mexico city.

UNAM Ofrendas

The photos below are of the "offerings" at The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). The UNAM is a publicly funded colossus of an institution in Mexico City.









The theme of the UNAM Dia de Los Muertos Ofrendas this year is the three great anniversaries that are celebrated this year: The Bicentennial of Mexican Independence from Spain, the Centenary of the Mexican Revolution and the Centenary of the secularization of UNAM.









The images below are of "La Catrina". She is the female personification of Death. She is dressed in her hallmark attire: the colonial-style long skirt, a broad-brimmed hat decorated with flowers and a scarf which some say represents the plumed serpent god Quetzalcoatl.






I took this photo in REI in SLC a few weeks ago. It's a snowboard.



This wall was decorated with colorful felt skulls made by school children.







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Ofrendas en La Condesa

Ofrendas are "offerings". Each neighborhood of Mexico City has a public space where local merchants, community organizations or other groups create these Day of the Dead public art memorials.





















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Miscellaneous Urban Exotics

Various Mexico City colors.















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Saturday in La Catedral del Zócalo

The Cathedral where I took these photos is in the Centro Histórico of Mexico City, on the Zocalo, the huge central plaza at the centre of the city. It was built on top of an Aztec temple by the Spanish. It is sinking into the now dry lake bed and the government spends a lot of money propping it up.




This painting is framed in red velvet. People ask for their prayers to be answered and leave behind the photos of loved ones and symbolic medals.





Below is an alter of offerings at the Chapel for Mothers To-Be. Some of the padlocks have keys next to them and others written messages taped to the front.













Below is a sculpture of Pope John Paul The Second made of keys. The Catholic Church asked each Mexican to donate a key. The statue is made from the metal of the keys. And on the torso of the pope is the image of the Virgen de Guadalupe.












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Location:Luis de La Rosa,Mexico City,Mexico