 Por Liliana Elena González
@mexatua
If you have buyer´s agent, make sure he/she is an attorney, or a certified Mexican Realtor. However, nowadays more than ever, owners are selling their properties by themselves and buyers are brave enough to risk their investment buying with no appropriate legal representation.
If you are one of those “brave hearts” mentioned above, this post is for you. I have written this list to help you a little bit, but nothing will substitute legal advice in your particular case.
Anyway, make sure seller provides the following documents:
1.- Certificate of free liens (CLG: certificado de libertad de gravamen)
2. – Predial (yearly taxes) payment receipts for the last 5 years
3. – Water payment receipts for the last 5 years (or a certificate of “no debt”)
4. – Payment receipts for services such as phone line, cable TV, Skype, Dish or similar.
5. – Cancellation letter for any service installed in the house that you don´t wish to continue.
6. – Liquidation letter for each worker of the house, like gardener, house cleaning person, etc.
7. – Certificate of número oficial (if the house number does not match the escritura).
8. – Certificate of IMSS payment (if the house was built within the last 5 years).
9. – Certificate of “terminacion de obra” (if the house was built within the last 3 years).
10. – Builder´s agreement or any other document stating building warranties, no payments owed and so on.
Some of these might not apply to your purchase but better be safe than sorry. Don´t you think?
Finally, my advice on this matter is: get appropriate legal representation please.
 By John K. Glaab, CIPS
Morelia is more than the political capital of Michoacan. It is also the cultural center. In 2003, the city embarked on an activity,” Plan Luz.” Buildings and historical monuments are lit up at night. The architecture is a true sixteenth century jewel…
In 2010, Morelia was named, “Latin America’s Illuminated City”, by the organization, Lighting Urban Community International. Created in 2002, at the behest of the City of Lyon, today LUCI is an organization of nearly 100 members, comprising around 63 cities covering four continents and 35 associated members (international companies, lighting designers and architects, universities, independent lighting professionals.)
One of the first buildings to be lit was the city’s magnificent cathedral. It has the second largest organ in Latin America. The cathedral is home to the annual International Organ Festival. Speaking of festivals, there is a new one starting almost every week. Among them are the International Organ Festival, Mariachi Festival, Cine Festival, Dance Festival and the popular International Music Festival, which honours a different country every year. Conservatorio de Las Rosas, founded in 1743 is said to be the oldest music conservatory in the new world. Along with the Cathedral it is lit up at night.
Plan Luz continues with new sites being added every year. At the end of 2011, there were 38 sites that are lit up each evening. This includes, buildings, monuments, and plazas. On Saturdays fireworks and music can be seen and heard in front of the cathedral. Locals and tourists alike crowd the closed Calle Madero.
Morelia is certainly a city worth visiting.
About the Author: John Glaab is a founding member of AMPI Los Cabos. A Certified International Property Specialist, he is active in the National Association of Realtors® Business Alliances group. John is Vice President of International Marketing for The Settlement Company® Mexico’s oldest escrow and title company.
 2500 sq ft livable space featuring living room w/wood-burning fireplace insert from Spain, dining room w/gas heater, 4 BR/4 BA, home office, soaking tub, whirlpool tub, 2 tankless hot water heaters, laundry room w/under-counter washer and dryer and cistern.
This property is located in Corazon de Durazno, five minutes far from Patzcuaro. This is a gated community of 34 Michoacan Colonial Style houses surounded by gardens, pine trees and lake & mountains views.
Corazón de Durazno features Lake Patzcuaro and mountain views, cobbled stone streets, gated entrance and more. Each home has a pressurized water system, private cistern and they are all linked to a state of the art water treatment plant belonging privately to the subdivision. Entrance gate and security fence for 24 hour a day security.
The living room has 2 large picture windows, a wood-burning fireplace with lovely hand-carved cantera mantel, long range mountain views as well as views to the inner courtyard. The formal dining room features a large picture window and french doors with views of the garden and Mt Estribo, and leads to a sunny wrap-around portico. A great place to sit and watch the fabulous sunsets.
The kitchen is located in front of the dining room. It has talavera tiles and a large island work-place, instalations for appliances: refrigerator, stove, microwave and dishwasher. Double-basin stainless steel sink with soap dispenser and spray nozzle.
See more photos of this home.
The laundry/sewing has washer and dryer instalations, long counter area for sewing or other hobbies, Iron-Away built-in ironing board with timer, hot iron storage shelf, appliance outlet, and lamp. Plenty of cabinets, drawers, and shelves to store all your sewing, laundry, hardware, tools, and pantry items here.
There are 2 bedrooms w/closets and private bathrooms in the first level. One of them opens onto the sunny inner courtyard that features a cantera fountain and lush tropical plantings.
There are 2 bedrooms w/closets and private bathrooms in the second level. One of them opens onto a sunny private balcony with long range mountain views and view to inner courtyard patio.
An spiral staircase leads to a fabulous sunny roof-top terrace with 360 degree long range territorial views of the Western Sierra Madre Mountains, Lake Patzcuaro, and the Island of Janitzio.
Contact me about this property
See more properties in Patzcuaro
 Altar
By Lic. Benjamin Lucas Juarez.
The making of the altar, its size and complexity depends on the tastes of those involved. But if it’s the first year of celebration or if it is a small altar just for family souls are facts that are also taken into account.
It has been said without sufficient grounds that the altar has four levels that correspond with its elements. As it has been explained, each community lives its customs in a particular a way, which allows finding similarities in terms of the use given to certain elements, but there is no single model to follow. There are models where the space of an entire room is used and others that have just a little cross and a small space defined by a mat or petate (Bed roll made out of woven fibers) on the floor where the offering is placed. The best-known altars are those that have an altar-table with ketsï’takua in the frontal an lateral spaces.
One must not forget that a decorated grave constitutes an altar around which the ritual of waiting happens.
Concluding remarks
As it is known, since November 2003, UNESCO declared the Day of the Dead celebration as a Masterpiece of oral and intangible human heritage. It was said that it is “… one of the most important representations of the living heritage of Mexico and the world, and one of the oldest and strongest cultural expressions of indigenous groups in the country.” Making an explicit reference to the indigenous origin of this celebration, we seek to promote this event and its conservation through an informed and respectful approach to manifestations that have a great cultural value for the owners of the tradition but also for humanity.
Finally, the same declaration document warns about the individual and institutional endeavors and tasks “…its aesthetic and cultural dimension must be kept from the growing number of non-indigenous expressions of a commercial nature that tend to affect its intangible content.”
Image credits: Prácticas comunicacionales
 The Offering
By Lic. Benjamin Lucas Juarez.
In Purépecha communities there is a basic principle of reciprocity, which greatly strengthens community life. Mutual help and service spirit is reflected in major activities and holidays like animecheeri k’uinchekua.
A lot has been said about the different stages of the offering, but what is the offering?
Apparently, the offering is nothing more than a container with chayotes, bananas, guavas, loquats, corncob, candles and bread, either to place it over the grave of the souls that are awaited or in the altar set at home for the same reason. However, because of values that come from indigenous cultures, sometimes it’s not easy for the average visitor to understand why a chayote, a corncob, a flower or a cigarette has such value that it’s offered at a celebration as relevant as this one. It’s necessary to understand that there are cultures that place a special value to what they sowed, cultivated and cared for. As a result of that effort, nature responds with fruits and products that are worthy of being offered. This is the offering for the souls, something that is not only worth because of what it is but also for the value that represents for both the giver as the receiver of the offering. In this particular case, offerings are made with food that is truly the sustenance of the living, the gods and the souls.
Certainly, the Purépecha knows and feels what this celebration is all about. However, much of that is expressed through several symbolic elements that are present before, during and after animeecheri k’uinchekua.
As an example, one of the elements that stands out for its aroma and abundance is the tiringuini flower (Cempasúchil in Nahuatl), that most people know as “flower of the dead”, which is the name used in non-indigenous societies. How can it be explained that for the Purépecha world the flower has a totally opposite sense compared to the one indicated by its Spanish name? Tiringuini Tsïtsïki is the flower most associated with the sacred. Because of its color and shape, the flower is a sign of celebration, life and joy (tsipekua). By placing it in abundance, the flower transmits these qualities to the space it’s in. It revives and purifies things. It sets a clean environment for the encounter with the soul and the sacred.
Another element is bread, but not just any bread. The shape is important. It has a human form: male, female and child, and although it’s made with bread flour used for other celebrations, it has another meaning: it has the shape of the soul that is awaited. It’s placed next to the altar or grave, where the soul eats it and soaks it with his divine essence at the same time. This way, when people feed off of it, the essence of the soul nurtures them. It is understood that the round type of bread with little bread bones is not significant in this case, even if it is in the context of other cultures and regions.
Much has been said of the food. In a nutshell, the offerings consist of “what the deceased liked”, and as noted above, the food is the result of a process in which each community defines what is significant according to the occasion.
The same happens with alcoholic beverages or cigarettes. It is often argued that these are offered because the deceased liked them, but if we understand the role of these elements in all Purépecha celebration, we will understand that both elements relate to the concept of community. Thus, when they are present in the offerings, they renew family, relatives and community ties. That is, cigarettes and drinks help recognized souls as important parts of community life.
If all these explanations show diversity, what happens with the rest of details that are also a part of the altars and offerings yet to explain, such as candles, floral crosses, arches, incense, corncobs, honeycomb, chilacayotes (Cucurbita ficifolia a type of squash), pumpkins, fruit (bananas, guavas, oranges, loquats, sugar cane), personal objects, religious icons, flowers, water, salt, tools or toys, items of clothing and photographs among others.
Image credits: Nirundia
 The Rite
By Lic. Benjamin Lucas Juarez.
There are as many different ways to celebrate the feast as there are communities in the Purépecha territory. Although the most widespread ways to celebrate come from the communities that sit on the shores and islands of Lake Pátzcuaro, the highland, stream and marsh communities of Zacapu also have their own way to celebrate.
In some communities, the celebration is more muted and intimate, with just a small altar at home. In others, the decorations are big and bring large families, relatives and friends together.
According to tradition, when someone dies within a Purépecha community, the starting time for “the wait” begins almost immediately after the rites to bid farewell to the body and the soul of the dead one are over.
It is accustomed to have a big celebration for those who died in the previous year (from November to November), who are those who return for the first time, but there are also communities where they celebrate for three consecutive years.
In the house where someone will be “awaited”, everything is prepare in advance, especially the food, as this will have to be enough to offer to all those who come and present an offering. Among other recipes, it’s common to have pozole and meat tamales as main dishes.
The location where the altar will be put and its elements are decided. Tradition states the tasks that go to each of the persons involved in the rite depending on their relationship with the soul or the awaiting family, so there is no confusion and everyone knows what they have to do.
Starting on the eve of October 31st, the little angels start coming back, that is, the souls of children passed, although people who died without getting married are also considered angels.
At midnight on November 1st, the little angels stop coming and then it’s time for the souls of the elders to come. They are awaited until midnight of November 2nd.
For both cases, the central ritual of the offering consists of people, those who made the food and set the altar and visiting relatives and friends, waiting for the soul together.
Those who pay visits do so in small groups, either families or friends, and carry offerings in baskets or trays mostly with fruit, bread and candles. When they arrive at the house and after they say hello, they put the container with the offering on the altar, light a candle and sit on wooden chairs that have been placed around the altar where they can remain in silence for a moment or say a short prayer.
The people who live in the house offer guests a drink or a cigarette first and then they offer them the food they prepared to share and taste it beside the altar. The atmosphere gets more relaxed and the feeling of a celebration is felt, but in a solemn way.
Once they finish eating, the fruit and the other contents of the offering brought by the visitors are placed in the altar and the containers are returned to their owners. In some communities, the containers are filled with food to be shared with their other family members.
Next, the group says goodbye and the visit ends. This little ritual is repeated again and again for most of the night and day, so almost always there are people gathered with the soul by the altar.
An alternative is what it’s known as the vigil at the cemetery. For some communities, it is more relevant to wait in the cemetery. So, graves are carefully decorated, crosses are made out of flowers, a flowered arch decorated with fruit and bread is placed over the grave, candles are lit and the offering is placed over the grave. With everything set, the family and relatives sit around to “keep vigil over the dead”, which is a way of defining the wait and the gathering with the soul. They eat there as well, they drink hot beverages and more than one falls asleep, but everything is done gathered with the soul.
Who has the opportunity to visit a cemetery during this celebration finds that every notion of loneliness or fear disappears after seeing a cemetery filled with flowers, life, light and celebration. Also, as mentioned before, all communities are different and so, not all the communities that have cemetery vigils do it all night long; some begin the vigil at midnight, others arrive very early in the morning and others just go to the cemetery during the day.
Something important, although less and less used, is the ringing of the bells on these days. Bells can be heard day and night of the celebration in certain communities that a lot of people consider to be the voices of the towns that call their souls home so they don’t get lost and are able to recognize their houses.
It will also be possible to hear the explosion of fire works that each group of people paying a visit sets off to announce their arrival, representing also the joy of the celebration.
Image credits: Babs Blog
 The Myth
By Lic. Benjamin Lucas Juarez.
Unlike Western cultures for whom myths equal fictional stories that lack truth and are therefore irrelevant as a source of information about the historical past of a town, the indigenous world and the Purépecha in particular, think of the myth as an essential part of the set of explanatory arguments that enable the understanding of the past, the present and the world itself. The origin of the world, the presence of the gods, the water, the hills and man is explained by the original myth that says creation began with little ash pellets.
Thanks to the myth, man explains to himself why the rites exist and is able to give a voice to the symbols.
By the logic of the myth -which is explainable-, the Purépecha not only believe but assert that when someone dies, his or her body is buried but the soul is still living and meets with grandparents and gods and is able “to return” from that life to be together with his or her people and once more.
In the myth, the place where the souls live is an ordinary place, not a place for eternal rest with no work or suffering as suggested by the Catholic religion. In uarhicho, the souls keep working on their crafts; they work, they walk, they eat, they sleep, they get tired, they get angry and they celebrate as well. According to the elders’ tales, they need our help to meet certain needs. Sometimes they lack work tools, food, candles for lighting, clothing, toys (if they are children); and all that can be given to them on the day of the souls, when they come to visit and take everything that is placed in the offering with them.
When they arrive, they come in a subtle and familiar way, not at all related with the images of supernatural and grotesque beings, which are often broadcasted in the media.
Nature works together with this and reinforces the myth with its own language: at the end of October, little white butterflies start to flutter along the banks of the flowery paths and communities. “Don’t frighten them, they are the souls arriving”, say the grandparents. Prickly pears, pumpkins and Cempasúchil flowers (tirínguini or apatsekua in Purépecha) have grown and blossomed in the backyards. Cempasúchil flowers stand out from the rest because of its vivid orange color. Corn is almost ready for harvest in the fields. A harvesting cycle is nearing completion and all these elements will be present at that special place in which the celebration will be made to welcome the souls, which will be the first to enjoy the harvest.
Continuing with the myth, it is known that the souls bring back sacred messages and are sacred messengers themselves because they are closer to God or to the gods. Therefore, the meeting place is an altar decorated as such, for them to share their divine essence with relatives and friends who have gathered around to eat together in celebration. The soul is offered holiday food, bread, fruit, atole, etc. But, also, flowers, incense, candles and holy water.
After the soul has gotten together with his or her loved ones, shared blessings with them and ate the holiday food, the soul loads all of the things placed in the offering before returning to uarhicho. These will be his or her provisions for the entire year and not until the next celebration will the soul be able to return again to renew community ties.
In some communities, the soul is offered some animal made out of wood or wild twigs so the soul can take all the things that were offered more easily from this world to the other.
But, what happens with the souls that no one awaits and had no offering laid out for them? According to tales, they arrive sad and go back crying, picking up the scraps and crumbs of those who were celebrated.
These myths are told by grandparents in the afternoons as preparations are taking place so both little ones and grown ups listen and understand why they must make an offering and celebrate the feast of the souls.
Image credits: My Opera
 Before and now
By Lic. Benjamin Lucas Juarez.
Animeecheri k’uinchekua has its roots in the ancient past and the mythical notions about the relationship between gods, man and nature.
According to sources, in the Purépecha world, everything was determined by the will of their deity Curicaveri. Man and nature were created for Him and wars, conquered land, work, sacrifices, offerings, feasts, life and death were all dedicated to Him.
Whoever died in combat and doing other worthy actions could join Him and other gods in auanda, heaven for the Purépecha, or uarhicho, the place where those who die, “live”. Curicaveri, as chief god, had several representations on earth or echerindu, such as the sun, the fire, the obsidian rock and the eagle, among others. In those distant times, communication between gods, men, nature and the inhabitants of uarhicho was everyday. Man lived in harmony with nature; he carried out the will of the gods and talked to the grandparents and relatives that resided in the afterlife.
A lot of these notions about the divine and life and death survived despite the imposition of new order derived from the Spanish Conquest and evangelization. Understandable as it is, over the years, the pre-Hispanic celebrations were suppressed while others were strategically adapted and inserted in the liturgical calendar of the new religion. Thus, that everyday contact between man and gods and grandparents in uarhicho is now limited by liturgical calendar to the celebrations of All Saints’ Day (November 1st) and All Souls’ Day (November 2nd). In spite of that, it’s important to mention that this holiday goes far beyond the range of these two days for indigenous communities, in both the preparation and the making of this celebration; however, the new calendars are respected.
Much of the past had to be forgotten. However, despite multiple attacks of various kinds, surviving elements from ancient times still exist. Catholic concepts introduced to explain the meaning of the Christian faith, such as the concept of earth, heaven and hell, were not entirely contradictory with the Mesoamerican point of view, which made it possible to keep representations from the indigenous world. These elements give the celebration its symbolic strength and its remarkable aesthetics.
Therefore, it’s pertinent to note that animeecheri kúinchekua is not a recreation of a pre-Hispanic celebration as such, nor it is the Christian Catholic liturgy taught by the colonizers. It is a remake of ancient traditions and also the appropriation and reinterpretation of what was imposed during the centuries of colonial domination that each community, due to its customs, leads this celebration to the realm of the ritual.
So, although it may seem there are dissimilar elements in the offerings and altars in terms of origin and significance, these have been “purepechized” in order for them to be a part of a whole.
Image credits: Trip Advisor
 Animeecheri k’uinchekua / The Feast of the Souls
By Lic. Benjamin Lucas Juarez.
From the Purépecha standpoint, the celebration is an opportunity to live through an extraordinary time in which everyday life is left aside for a few days to make way for a particularly special moment where it’s possible to encounter the sacred, the collective togetherness, the rites and the elements that relate to the festive nature of the celebration. In this regard, Animeecheri k’uinchekua complies with this principle, but it is a ritual celebration, in which each person and element involved has a specific role to play in order to give that cheerful and solemn sense to the occasion.
Decorations are made with flowers, altars are raised, spaces are purified, offerings are given, food that each community regards as holiday food is prepared and shared: tamales( traditional Latin American dish made of masa which is steamed or boiled in a leaf wrapper. The wrapping is discarded before eating. Tamales can be further filled with meats, cheese, vegetables, chilies or any preparation according to taste, and both the filling and the cooking liquid may be seasoned), pozole (traditional stew with meat, usually pork,chicken, turkey, pork rinds,chili pepper and other seasonings and garnish), atole (traditional masa-based Mexican and Central American hot drink), hot chocolate, bread, etc.
It is often said that death is celebrated, but this can’t be farther from the truth, at least for the Purépecha people. The reason to celebrate is not death, but life continued or the “other life” and the opportunity for those in this world to gather and get together with those in the other world. That is the reason for the feast of souls that, although explained in a very elemental way, is a very complex process that takes place within the community.
This “encounter” with those who are no longer here but return for just one day a year to get together with their families in their towns and their homes is the central aspect of the elaborate ceremony. That is why the joy is shared among relatives and families gather to eat next to the ones who “return”, offering them the best available things, all of the elements that come into play in this occasion, such as flowers, food, fireworks, bread and the decorations themselves.
Thus, death makes sense when it’s no longer just that and it becomes our grandfather, our mother, our brother, our daughter and all those relatives that, although are dead physically, live in that other world and communicate life to their families thanks to the ritual.
Image credits: Mexican Sugar Skull
By Lic. Benjamin Lucas Juarez.
 The Feast of the Souls
Animeecheri k’uinchekua
By Lic. Benjamin Lucas Juarez.
Within the spectrum of cultural events taking place in the State of Michoacán, those related to the celebrations of what is commonly known as “Night of the Dead” stand out. These are particularly important in Michoacán and especially in Purépecha indigenous communities, as they are one of many ritual expressions with profound significance that goes beyond its unique showiness.
Each year, during the days before and particularly the 1st and 2nd of November, the cemeteries and houses in which “the wait” is carried out are covered with Cempasuchil flowers (Marigold Flowers) , candles, fruit, bread and incense. Altars and graves are lavishly decorated, food and drink is prepared and shared, offerings are made and prayers are said; there is a festive atmosphere while at the same time a deep sense of community and ceremonial order.
What makes this celebration, a tradition of our thousand-year-old past and an appropriation and reinterpretation of other cultures and beliefs, able to stay and renew itself each year as animeecheri kúinchekua: the feast of the souls, as it is known among the indigenous communities.
In order to be clear and to have a better understanding of this celebration, which is done differently by the vast majority of indigenous peoples living in Mexican territory, it is best to distinguish between the urban manifestations for the night of the dead that, while they do have some elements coming from indigenous cultures and are valid cultural manifestations of entertainment value that introduce skulls made out of the most diverse array of materials, clever verses, drawings and ornaments to “play” with death among other things, they must not to be confused with the celebrations taking place in indigenous communities, for whom the meaning of this party is far from just fun. For the Purépecha people, an indigenous group known for its particular way of doing this celebration, the motivation comes from deep convictions having to do with the particular way of conceiving life itself in all its dimensions.
In a nutshell, the feast of the souls is a ritual ceremony that is controlled by rules that the community knows and respects. Each element and activity plays an important role in the celebration as a whole. With animecheri k’uinchekua, annual cycles and community commitments are met and family bonds are strengthened.
Moreover, according to the own experience and customs of each community, the particular way in which the celebration is carried out is determined. Thus, it’s possible to find as many variations as there are Purépecha communities.
Image credits: Sara Dobie
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