August 1910: Guadalajara, like Mexico City, is a hive of jolly expectation and schizophrenia.

When English-speakers first arrive in Mexico they encounter a clutter of linguistic surprises. There are a lot of words they already know, some of them Spanish, some “secretly” Nahuatl. And as they take on the heady revelations of Mexica history, they quickly run into a strange looking word — Huitzilopochtli, the Mexica’s chief god — and a startling cultural view. This is particularly so for those with the foresight to take a preparatory dip into a little serious research before arriving here — an applaudable impulse.

A week crowded with provocative news. Widely nominated by many jaliscienses as most doubtful: Jalisco Governor Emilio Gonzalez’s declaration that he didn’t know that drug trafficker Ignacio Coronel had been living for some time in Colinas de San Javier. (“Nacho” Coronel was killed by government forces — including 100 soldiers — July 29 at one of his mansions in the Guadalajara suburb of Zapopan.)

• August 1 President Felipe Calderon said that crime groups have “no limits or moral scruples.” Then, in what many interpreted as a plea of desperation, he asked citizens to make suggestions for altering and improving the current strategy. The first was not news. The second, which asked citizens to believe that any Mexican politician would know fundamental change if he saw it, and if so, would or could implement it, was scoffed at by many candid adults of all classes.

• August 30, security forces (100 soldiers) shot drug trafficking boss, Ignacio (Nacho) Coronel, 56, 16 times, killing him in one of his two “mansions” in a Guadalajara suburb. This was termed a crippling blow to the Sinaloa drug cartel, with which Coronel was associated.