Mazatlán

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The first few days of Carnaval 2014

Carnaval is always so much fun.  This year has been amazing, as the city has absorbed so many visitors, and many of them are from Durango, taking advantage of the new highway. At the top of this post you see the effigy of Lucero, the Mexican singer and actress who enjoys hunting and killing animals and then posing with their corpses.  Some reports have said she has shot endangered species.  So I think she was a great choice for the...

How to know what’s going on in Mazatlán

Wherever you live you want to know what’s going on in your community, don’t you?  We have a lot of great resources here in Mazatlán to keep us in the know, but for me, Facebook beats all.  Many people scorn Facebook but it really is an excellent source of information.  At the top of this post is a screen grab of the Antonio Haas theater’s sharing of Camino al Teatro’s upcoming show.  We attended their fabulous performance of Hairspray the...

Mazatlán is just fine.

Unless you have been away from the news today you must know that  the head of the Sinaloa Cartel, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was taken into custody today in a joint Mexico/US effort.  He was apprehended in a condominium in the middle of the malecón, about halfway between Centro and the Golden Zone.  I went for a walk this morning after being woken by a few loud helicopters, but on the malecón the triathalon that was being held was the...

Getting Ready for Carnaval in Mazatlán

  We all start getting Carnaval fever when we start seeing the large statues go up along the malecon, and the first few were installed yesterday.  Then this morning on my walk I saw them installing one that seems to be of Che Guevara playing the guitar. (picture above) In the same picture you’ll also see someone installing what I think is a guy wire into the palm tree. I’m not sure what all of the rest of the statues...

Weird but Wonderful Winter

There has been strange weather all around North America this winter, from polar vortexes to late season hurricanes and everything in between.  I can’t say that it’s that dramatic here in Mazatlán, but all of us here know that this is a very strange winter.  Usually by now we have had some chilly days (and nights) where we hunt down socks and shoes and even a sweater or coat to put on.  We add a blanket to the bed and...

Lots more shopping in Mazatlán

Paul and I went out for breakfast this morning at Surf’s Up Cafe on the beach in Nuevo Mazatlán.  (Yes, it was amazingly delicious!)  On our way home we decided to stop at the newly opened Galerías Mazatlan mall.  The Liverpool store has been open for a while but the mall itself just opened November 8.  The other anchor tenant, Sears, isn’t open yet. The mall is a stylish two story mall that is all ready for Christmas.  Poinsettias are...

…methinks the lady doth protest too much….

Yes, that’s a quote from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, but every time I see yet another video or article about how great Mazatlán is, I think of it.  I’d love it if Maz would just continue working on making itself a better place to live and to visit and tourism will take care of itself. I do think that our new tourism secretary Francisco Córdova Celaya is doing a good job, and the city continues to make improvements that we all appreciate....

Hello again from your friend in Mazatlán

I’ve been in a bit of a funk with the blog lately… it actually came over me when I started getting ready to write a blog post about the Day of the Dead.  It was a wonderful night that started with First Friday Art Walk and continued on with Day of the Dead festivities, the highlight of which is the callejoneada.  We had a blast… and I did take some pictures and video, but then I realized that since we...

Summer does grind on in Mazatlán…

Here we are, finally.  The end of September.  Rainy.  Hot.  Humid. And there’s more than a month to go.  Rainy season usually ends in the first week of November. We’ve had two huge rains this season – one about 10 inches and one more than 11. (That’s from my unofficial bucket rain gauge.) October is the tough month.  You’ve just had enough. Last year we went to Mexico City for two weeks, and this year we are heading to Ajijic....

Weird, Wacky & Wonderful Mazatlán

Every story has a picture, or maybe every picture has a story? The picture above is at the newly remodeled Plazuela Zaragoza. That’s a story, though… because the demolition and the first part of the work there was done a couple of years ago. There was some sort of budget issue with the State of Sinaloa or something… finally the work got done over the last year, more or less. It appears that the bathrooms and food stand are still...

No More Bugs in the Pasta, Please

There are so many differences between my new life here in Mazatlán and my old life in Washington State.  One of the main differences is the weather, of course.  I will never get tired of living where our windows and doors are open all the time. It’s summertime, though, and all that openness means the kitchen is between 84 and 88 degrees most of the time.  We’re used to it, and as you can see in the picture of our...

Summer is flying by…

Wow, a whole month has passed since my last post! I had such good intentions – truly I wanted to be blogging more frequently but I was just having so much fun! What was I up to? Here we go, in no particular order… Paul and I bought a new car. We got tired of our little Honda Fit, wanting something that felt a bit roomier and was higher up off the road. (If you drive in Mazatlán during a...

A Week of Swimming and Sunsets

We are back from our delightful week of relaxing at Pueblo Bonito Emerald Bay. The resort is on the beach at Cerritos, just past the MazAgua water park and the Estero de Yugo that we’ve written about twice before. One of our friends wasn’t going to be using their timeshare this year and so, so kindly offered it to us! What a treat! We spent the week sleeping in, swimming or floating in one of four pools, napping, reading, and...

It’s Summer Vacation for Us!

Paul and I are off on a week’s vacation.  And please don’t say “vacation from what!?!”  Even those of us enjoying life here in lovely Mazatlan like a change of scene now and then.  See you when we get back – the picture at the top was taken last Saturday during El Dia de la Musica.  What a night!...

Medicine is Personal in Mexico

I’ve had a lot of experience with health care in Mexico over the last four and a half months.  Seemingly endless tests, lab work, doctor appointments, surgery, and chemotherapy.  It’s been pretty intense, and I thought you’d be interested in why I love medical care here.  Mainly, it’s because it’s personal. All of my appointments and surgery have been at smaller clinics and hospitals.  I had my surgery at Central Médica Quirúrgica back in November, my chemotherapy at Hospital CEMSI...