Monday, February 20, 2006

A few more blogs

Two more English-language blogs about Mexico have linked to our Yucatan Living website recently, and they are two worth exposing to our ever-growing audience.

Website Title: Sparks Mexico
Type of Website: Personal Blog
Excellent source of...: Recent photos off the beaten tourist track and hidden gems of information

Sparks-mexico.com is a combination travel and photo blog written by an expatriate living in Jalisco, it appears. The website really does not have much information about the writer, but that is not necessary to enjoy the information presented. The author has recently traveled around central Mexico and has posted extensive photo collections of areas like Patzcuaro, Costalegre, Mexico City, Cuernavaca and the Michoacan Coast. The photos are usually accompanied by a short explanation, but the real value is in the photos themselves. They are well composed photos of subject matter not always covered by travel websites. After you've read up on Patzcuaro, how many different photos of the central square do you need to see? But if you are interested in traveling there, it's helpful to see photos of side streets, typical hotels, restaurants, etc.

And the website has a few little hidden gems. One of my favorites is the Fruit Calendar, a simple table showing which months are the best for buying all the different fruits that you find in a typical Mexican mercado.

Website Title: KATravels
Type of Website: Personal Blog
Excellent source of...: Philosophical and often poetic insights with a fresh eye on the Merida experience. Also, perhaps, the experience of someone (dare I say it...?) younger than most of us!

Karen Taylor is in Merida for the next year on a Fulbright Scholarship. Lucky Karen! And lucky to those of us who remember to read her blog regularly. Written with wit and intelligence by a young woman with a degree in education, this blog seems to be a fairly regular report of her experiences here. She is working with the local university, becoming a regular guest on a local talk show about learning English and, apparently, learning how to cook frijol con puerco like a pro (I'm so jealous...). KAT isn't just one of those kids who saw teaching English as a way to travel for less...she's really into the technology of teaching language. If you are too, follow this link to her other blog, the one with the long name: Instructional Technology Greenhouse.

1 comment:

Karen Taylor de Caballero said...

Thanks for reviewing KATravels here in your blog-- which, by the way, I'm really happy you decided to start. There's so much out there on Mexico, and it's great to have someone looking at it piece by piece with a careful eye for quality of information, purpose, formatting, etc. All the more reason that I appreciate your kind comments. I'm a regular reader of Working Gringos, and I look forward to your next posting.
- Karen