I’ve answered some of your e-mail questions below.

1. A sampler of Mexican traditional music.

It’s almost 1 a.m. now in Mexico city and here I go, trying to write about nightlife here. My friend Jesús López and I talked about it at great length, and, with some suggestions from our e-mail friends, decided to concentrate on Garibaldi Square, home base for mariachi bands and other Mexican music. Mexico City at night offers what you’d expect from any large city: disco, table-dancing, restaurants, and clubs. But what interests me most is the music that is unique to Mexico.

So we threaded our way to Garibaldi in the back seat of a VW Beetle with no seat springs. Even blocks from the square I could tell we were close. Men dressed in smart mariachi suits leaned out into the heavy traffic, trying to flag down customers. A couple of cars in front responded to the pressure and pulled over. At the square, which is bordered by clubs and restaurants, rose the sound of trumpets, drums, guitars, as well as harps and violins. I didn’t count, but there were at least 150 men dressed in black suits, their pants laced with silver. These were the mariachi bands. But there were also men in white, centered around harps. They play music from the Veracruz region of Mexico, music with more delicacy, and that appeals to me.

The men dressed in blue satin, with white frills, were from the north of Mexico. They wear cowboy boots and play accordion and drums. Their music has a distinct staccato beat, led by the snare drummer. But make no mistake, no matter what region they represent, these men come to the square for one reason: to make a living. The competition was tough last night because it was cold, with occasional showers. The crowd was small. I was pressured to buy some songs, and felt slightly awkward as a man sang to me about a broken heart. People gathered around and I felt even stranger. I felt I should have known more about why there is such passion and intensity to this music.

“We grow up with this music, but it’s really much more,” Jesús told me. “It’s a tradition that ties us together, it’s music that is played at so many important events in our lives that it never really leaves us.” We took photographs and recorded sound for the next couple of hours, then left to file this dispatch. As we drove away the music was quickly drowned out by the whistling of our taxi driver as we wound through some tough Mexico City back streets.

It’s 2 a.m. now and I watch from my window the young boy I saw a couple of nights before , standing with his balloons. I watch for fifteen minutes or so, and then a dark Suburban pulls up and buys three balloons. I feel better now.

Doug, we’re running out time down here, so I’ll have to put that on my list. There’s a picture by David Harvey in the August issue of National Geographic, a special issue on Mexico, which really paints Guanajuato in an interesting light. Take a look.

Richard: Just came across your Daily Dispatches today while looking around and I am very impressed with what you have to say and show. What I want to know is how you got the job . . . . and are there any more left???? Keep up the GREAT WORK!! Justin Ide, Boston, MA

Justin, I think it was the alignment of the stars. Seriously, it’s hard to answer your question, but I’ll try. It really comes down to hard work and a bit of luck. . . . I spent 12 years on a newspaper and then freelanced for a few years when I got a call from the director of photography at National Geographic. I’ll tell you it was always a dream of mine, but the magazine’s standards are so high and they expect so much from their photographers, that it really had my stomach in a knot those first few years. I really think it’s a combination of a strong personal vision, technical skills, a passion to tell stories about other people, and that lucky break. And yes, there is always room for new talent at National Geographic.

My name is Jose Mondragen and I live in Toluca, 40 miles from Mexico City. I know that is very difficult to describe in a few lines what is happening in one of the most populated cities in the world. But you have done it well. In my own personal conception I think that Mexico is a great country, with great people, that has had bad authorities. I am pleased with your vision about us, because it is not a black-and-white vision, it’s simply a portrait of what you see, with a minimum of interpretation.

Otherwise, I profoundly disagree with the articles of Michael Parfit appearing in this site (I haven’t seen the magazine), because I have the sense that he took all the negative things about Mexico and put them in a series of articles. I believe that he didn’t stay here for enough time, and didn’t have sources of information. Finally, I invite people of all nationalities to visit our country to know about our people, our cities, and our history directly. Sincerely, Jose Mondragen Pedrero

Jose, thank you for the good words and encouragement. All I can say is that for anyone to come to a country and try to peel back the layers of a complex nation and people is an almost impossible task. We as journalists can only look into so many corners, ask so many questions, and then apply words and pictures onto a two-dimensional page, or in this case a website. Our hope is that it communicates this obvious compression of life as honestly as possible. I also add that it is important to get feedback such as yours. We do listen.

Hello, it is incredible what your doing on the Internet by putting multimedia and good reading into a format that is completely user friendly , which makes it worthy to read, not like 96% of the pages on the Internet. I hope you all keep up the good work and if you need any help let me know. I live in Mexico City, so good-bye. Perroleo, David

I appreciate your comments. Let’s face it, we’re breaking new ground in this new technological age and the rules are still being formed. Will people take the time to sift through the clutter of the web and read about people and places? I hope so. That’s what we want to do at National Geographic, carry on the tradition of story telling, but in a slightly different way. Let the experiment continue!