The mariachi band may be no more typical of Mexico than the sahuaro cactus is typical of the American deserts. Nevertheless, the mariachi is now as prominent in Mexican culture as the giant cactus is in the desert landscapes of Arizona and Sonora. Even those unacquainted with the term associate the music of the mariachi with Mexico much as they associate the bagpipe with the Scottish Highlander. Perhaps because the mariachis have become a symbol of Mexico, there is a tendency to take them for granted... Charles & Martha Bogert.