Ex-pats often give newcomers among them an appraising eye as they ask about “their story” – this, an invitation to describe what it was that caused them to abandon home and hearth for distant parts. The answers, of course, depend a great deal on the locale of the conversation. 

If it’s a tropical beach where catching rays by day and dancing away the nights are the primary attractions, you’ll hear one thing. If it’s a mini-version of what was left behind, but doable at a greatly reduced cost of living, you’ll hear another. 

Such is especially true in the Mexican state of Michoacan where no one is looking to attract newcomers unless they bring with them an appreciation for authenticity. 

Surrounded by the states of Guanajato to the north, Mexico to the east, Guerrero to the south and Jalisco and Colima to the west, Michoacan has six geographic regions replete with rich examples of a variety of cultural assets that give the seeker of authentic other world experiences true joy.

These include the continuing pursuit over thousands of years of traditions in faith, dress, dining and dance, plus the production of works in pottery, wood, stone, textiles, straw, leather and metal. Michoacan, in fact, has been singled out, along with Oaxaca, as one of the major metal working centers in Mesoamerica dating from before Spanish colonization.

In each of these little villages, native artisans may be seen at work often in the very homes their ancestors’ occupied, sometimes still garbed in the same style of clothing – not because they are on show for tourists, but because this is how they still live today. That peek into a past that has so completely disappeared for so many can be a marvelous awakening to those of us who’ve just arrived from a faster-paced, modern society. One excellent example is the region around Uruapan, known as the place where the trees always bear fruit.

Some 25 pueblos surround Uruapan. The drive from one to the next features an unending panorama of pine-filled Sierra Madre mountain-sides. Arriving at each, the visitor finds a town square fronting a church, small stores that are usually a part of the storekeeper’s home, a basketball court, a soccer field, and the indigenous Purepecha people, working at the arts and the crafts that represent their livelihood.

Their work is well-represented across the state and frequently known and appreciated internationally, but there’s nothing quite like visiting them as they work in their homes and shops and feeling their pleasure when you admire what they’ve created.

The Purepecha Indians, also known as Tarascans, are a handsome people who take fierce pride in their history and in their work. They are hospitable and genuine in their appreciation for your visit and your interest. 

Still, you can’t help but notice the occasional television blinking away in a back room or the modish shoes worn by the young girls in the town square. Can’t help wondering if they realize how badly they come off compared to the hand-embroidered aprons that top their colorful pleated satin skirts and lovely white blouses – the costume of their mothers that they most probably are beginning to balk at wearing. 

A fascinating way to get a taste of what’s to be found in this area is to follow the trail of professional art restorers as they work to reclaim and preserve the native art found in the chapels of Don Vasco de Quiroga in Uruapan and seven of its surrounding pueblos.