Spring is in full swing here in Mazatlán. The sun is higher in the sky, giving the plants in our central courtyard the rays they’ve been craving – our hibiscus plants have been blooming non-stop for a month! It’s been a bit over a month since my last post, probably the longest gap in posts ever here on Countdown to Mexico! Here’s a snapshot of what we’ve been up to since Jess & Lourdes left at the end of March.

Semana Santa came and went. Since it’s so easy for people to get here from Durango, the city really gets packed to the gills! All the hotels are full and the city enacts a lot of traffic re-routing trying to make it even somewhat passable but with mixed success. Paul and I don’t take the car out during Semana Santa, we just shop and visit restaurants within walking distance of home. Last year and this year both they closed off Olas Altas and turned it into a party zone for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday with several bands playing all night long. It was a big success, especially since there weren’t beer stands in the street so people purchased drinks from the tiendas in the area making it a much more “family” atmosphere. People were dancing and having fun into the early morning. Still I can’t deny that when the mass exodus got going on Sunday we were happy to see all those visitors head home.

After Semana Santa Paul and I hosted more houseguests. The first was a former work colleague of mine and the second was our son Phil having a bit of a break from the rain in Bellingham. He came down for a short time in Mexico City with his brother and then hopped over here. It’s always fun to show people our town and hope they understand why we love it here. We spent plenty of time on the beach, went to several dance shows at the Angela Peralta Theater, saw a play reading put on by Mazatlan Film & Theater, went out for Art Walk, and saw the Moto Week parade. We even drove over towards Durango to see the new bridge. We had a blast.

Once our houseguest season ended it seemed most of our snowbird friends headed home, too. The weekly Organic Market has closed for the summer, but thankfully Chuy Lizarraga is is going to deliver produce weekly during the summer. (Chuy’s link is to email him to be added to his list.) For the most part the city belongs to its residents again, at least until the middle of July when school lets out for six weeks… then the city will fill up with Mexican families enjoying summer vacation at the beach.