Surviving Mexico Adventures and Disasters

Photo credits: Timm Stolten / Daniel Di Palma Other names for jícara (Crescentia cujete) include totuma, güiro, luuch (Maya), maxat kgax (Totonaco), and guito-xiga (Zapoteco). In English, it’s most often known as the calabash tree. Botanical synonyms include Crescentia acuminata, Crescentia arborea, Crescentia cuneifolia, Crescentia angustifolia, and Crescentia fasciculata. Jícara is mostly…

One of the biggest challenges of studying herbalism is figuring out where to begin. You discover a course on making herbal remedies. Then a workshop on women’s wellness. Then a tea-blending class. Then a teacher whose work you admire. Then another fascinating herbal event. Sound familiar? Before long, your wish list has grown into hundreds—or even thousands—of dollars in courses and…

One of the biggest challenges of studying herbalism is figuring out where to begin. You discover a course on making herbal remedies. Then a workshop on women’s wellness. Then a tea-blending class. Then a teacher whose work you admire. Then another fascinating herbal event. Sound familiar? Before long, your wish list has grown into hundreds—or even thousands—of dollars in courses and…

Photo credit: Vengolis Manzanita de pollo (Malvaviscus arboreus) is a type of mallow related to the hibiscus, with red blossoms that never open completely. These native Mexican beauties are a favorite of hummingbirds. The flowers, fruits, and leaves can be used in the preparation of jellies, herbal dyes, and salads.  Other common names include tulipán (the generic name for most varieties of…

I know my posts seem to have dried up lately. Believe me, it’s not because there’s no drama going on in La Yacata. On the contrary, the melodrama is so pervasive, you’d think I was the star of my own telenovela. However, since I am still working through the red tape of a Mexican divorce, I am trying to be prudent and not air the dirty laundry flying everywhere (not necessarily my own) until such…

From June 23 through June 27, you can download these five diverse Kindle books completely free! Whether you’re an aspiring author, an expat living in Mexico, an herbal enthusiast, a parent looking for bilingual children’s books, or someone who enjoys Bible study activities, there’s something for everyone. Just take a look! Book Hawking: A Beginner’s Guide to Marketing Your Self-Published Book…

The lovely native Mexican plant Mirabilis jalapa has quite a number of names. In the area where I live, it’s known as Aretitos (little earrings), but it also has been given the names Maravilla, Hoja de Xalapa, Linda Tarde, Clavelina, Maravilla amarilla, Don Diego de Noche, and Maravilla de Perú in Spanish. In English, this plant is most commonly known as Four o’clocks, and in Maya ts’uts’uy xiiw.…

Photo credit: mvz-juangonzalezromero Bretónica (Lepechinia caulescens), not to be confused with betónica (Betonica officinalis) is also known as brenilla, cabezona de mata, xenxenekua, salvia del campo, chía tendida, sonaja, datha nejexmho in Otomi and chun chinaskua by the Purhépecha. Native to Mexico and Guatemala, primarily in the highlands, this square-stemmed plant has white flowers that…

Photo credit: BotBin Hierba de pollo or Mexican dayflower, was a difficult plant to identify positively. One of the issues was that several herbal sources had photographs of Tradescantia plants rather than the bright blue flowers that are the hallmark of hierba de pollo. To complicate matters further, Tradescantia is one of the ten genera in the Family Commelinaceae. In fact, several varieties…

Photo credit: Mokkie Culantro is also known as cilantro habanero, cilantro de monte, cilantrón, and cilantro camino although it is not related to Coriandrum sativum. Other names include chillangua, culantro coyote, alcapate, escorzonera, tlipotón, samat (with the spelling variant xamat, and spiritweed or Mexican coriander in English.  Although native to tropical Mexico, and Central and South…

Every year I tell myself I’m not going to make “rules” around reading… and every year I do it anyway. The truth is, I’ve really enjoyed my past reading challenges, not because I finished every category (I didn’t), but because they nudged me toward books I wouldn’t have picked up otherwise. The 2026 Reading Challenge is just that: a personal little nudge. No pressure, no leaderboard, just a loose…

Every year, I approach my reading challenge with equal parts ambition and realism. Some books are carefully planned; others show up unexpectedly and end up checking off multiple prompts at once. This year was no exception. As I look back at my 2025 reading challenge so far, I’m pleasantly surprised by how much ground I covered—and how flexible this challenge allowed me to be. Here’s a breakdown…

Photo credit: Juan Carlos Fonseca Mata Azomiate, Barkleyanthus salicifolius has the botanical synonym of Senecio salignus and is native to Mexico and Central America. Common names include chilca, jarilla, izcatzoyatl (faja de algodón) or necheloli (para recoger la bilis) in Náhuatl, it oksini in Purhépecha, ra-yhotitha in Otomí, baldag shi ingol in Zapotec, alzumihatl in Oaxaca and willow…

In 2025, my goal wasn’t to shout louder. It was to be seen more clearly. That meant focusing my energy where it mattered most. SurvivingMexico.com became the main stage, while ceflores.com quietly stepped into a supporting role. After reviewing performance and profitability, I’ve decided to keep ceflores.com on WordPress’s free plan in 2026 and concentrate my efforts where growth has been…

Things feel so stagnant right now that setting goals, intentions, or even choosing a direction feels premature. I’m hoping that over the course of this month, some of the issues keeping me stuck will begin to move toward resolution. In the meantime, I looked back at what I intended to do in 2025—if only to take stock of where things actually landed. Writing and Reading I didn’t get anything new…

December is here, which means it’s time for my favorite (and occasionally humbling) year-end ritual: digging through a year’s worth of stats to see what actually happened in my little corner of the publishing world. This month, I’ll be taking a closer look at: • Website stats – Who visited? What were they looking for? And how many of them stuck around long enough to click something besides…