Mazatlán

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Old buildings need love, too…

You can’t live in Centro without being interested in what is going on with regard to restoring the many crumbling old buildings.  Having lived through our two courtyard projects I have nothing but respect for people who can take on the restoration of a building that is missing its roof, needs all new systems, is situated on our small, congested streets, and where the restoration is governed by INAH.  If you’re doing one of these restorations, you get a hearty...

Everyone is on the defensive

I was ticked off this morning when the front page of the online New York Times had a very unflattering article about Mazatlán and the drug cartels. Supposedly pulmonía drivers (our golf-cart style taxis) take people for “narco-tours” in town.  Maybe this is true, who knows.  I’m sure taxi drivers in any city could take someone on a drug tour.  I am just tired of the sensational press having to do with the drug war in México. What I wish...

Whew! It was a blast!

Last night Paul and I headed out for our last Carnaval event, the final Mazatlan Carnaval 2009 parade. The parade got going quite a ways North of Centro at about 4:30, and it finally hit Centro around 7 pm. This is the final blow-out for everyone and there was enthusiasm to burn! The crowd kept building and building, along with the expectation and excitement. I don’t just have to tell you, I can show you what an awesome parade it...

the first carnaval parade was most excellent!

We went to the first Carnaval parade yesterday afternoon.  We didn’t go to this one last year, as there’s another parade that passes right through Olas Altas that seemed more like “our” parade.  I am really glad we went, though.  Afterwards we walked into the Carnaval area, paid our 20 pesos, and watched them setting up for the evening.  We sat over a couple of beverages, and somehow got sidetracked by the main stage band and ended up dancing our...

Naval Battle re-enactment

Last night was both the Burning of Bad Humor and the re-enactment of the 1864 Naval Battle where Mazatlan repelled the French.  It was quite a night! We were heading to Cerro de la Vigia during the Burning of Bad Humor, but we read in the paper this morning that they burned Héctor Carrillo, a judge in the election of the Carnaval Queen.  When the vote came out as a tie, he hastily said that he made a mistake, and...

It’s hard to explain sometimes

Paul and I spent yesterday with my cousin and his wife who came into town on a cruise ship and were only here for about 7 hours. They have been very curious our decision to move and have followed the blog to keep up on what’s going on. So when they decided to take a cruise that included a stop in Mazatlán in order to have a visit with us, we were touched. We picked them up at the cruise...

New style graffiti

I’ve become really interested in the new style graffiti I’m seeing around town.  Some is freehand, artistic painting and some is done using stencils or even collage.  English words are sometimes used.  Anyway, I’ll let the pictures below speak for themselves. x x x x x x x x x x  ...

Countdown to Carnaval!

x This is our second Carnaval here in Mazatlán, and already it feels different than last year.  Last year’s celebration was the first for the new city administration, and the previous administration had left no money in the coffers to roll over for Carnaval.  So if you were here last year things felt a little thrown-together, because they were. I’ll have a full series of photos of the changes here in Mazatlán in a couple of days, but I thought...

Never a dull moment

This morning while walking the dogs we stopped to watch the surfers at Olas Altas.  One surfer was way far too the left near the rocks.  I wondered what he was thinking and even asked Paul if he thought the surfer could catch a wave from there.  It seemed a strange place to be.  We headed back North and within a half block noticed a lifeguard on the beach removing his shoes.  He strapped a bullet-shaped foam life preserver on...

Insects on Parade

Last night there was a parade in Mazatlán of giant insects from Spain courtesy of the Instituto Sinaloense de Cultura.  Among them were an ant, a carnivorous plant, and the best of all (see above) a praying mantis. They were sort of part puppet and part robot as they marched along “munching” the palm trees and scaring kids. It was a blast, and pretty much impossible to describe.  I took a long video but we were actually too close for...

Another late summer evening

I’m out on the patio upstairs, the sun is down but it’s still mostly light.  I brought my book and a glass of wine intending to sit and read in the coolish breeze. But as soon as I sit down the evening captures me.  Someone is playing scales on a muted trumpet and the notes lilt up and down, mesmerizing me. People pass by, scraps of conversation lifted on the breeze. Cars pass by, mostly soft whooshes but once in...

Project update

We’ve had workers in the backyard for a week and a half now, and they have made a lot of progress!  The plan is for a long roofed patio to be constructed next to the house, and grass in the rest.  Sounds simple, but it’s not.  We need to maintain the slope towards the drain, reroute drainage from our other courtyard, and various other tasks. We are using salvaged column bases, columns, and vigas.  New tile will sit on top...

Iluminemos Mazatlán

Mazatlán will be joining with 67 other cities around the country in a silent march this evening to show solidarity against rising crime levels. Everyone will gather at 5 pm at the Fisherman’s Monument to sing the national anthem. We will all be wearing white and carrying candles. The march will be silent, and will end at the Plazuela Republica. It is the hope that this simultaneous march will send a message that the people of México are united in...

First rain of the year

We woke up this morning because the bedroom was stuffy and it turned out the power was off so the ceiling fan wasn’t running. Unusual but not that noteworthy. But when Paul got up to open the window we saw it was wet outside. Misting. No, raining! Sort of. More a drizzle than anything. But with the power off there was no chance for coffee so we leashed up the dogs and headed out. The air was smooth and warm...

How to beat the heat

It’s starting to heat up here in Mazatlán…it’s supposed to be 33 C (91 F)today and 59% humidity. We are still sleeping with the windows open and fans on – we aren’t in a hurry to get into air conditioning at night. It still cools off pretty nicely at night, thank goodness. We have great ventilation in our house but most of the time for the last few days the thermometer has been around 84 F inside. We’re fine with...