The Chapala area has no shortage of animal protection advocates, but step into the private world of Siegrid Hernandez and you’ll find someone in a league all her own.

Like a comet trailing sparkling stardust, Jalisco Philharmonic Director Alondra de la Parra has swept into Guadalajara, five weekends into the orchestra’s fall season and showing signs of her renowned drawing power, which promises to fill the Teatro Degollado at every concert she directs.

Lagos de Moreno has become the fifth town in Jalisco to be recognized as one of Mexico’s Pueblos Magicos (magical villages).

The human cost of Mexico’s war on drugs has been well documented, with almost every news story written about the country ending with the now obligatory statistic that over 60,000 people have been killed since December 2006.