Mazatlán

Category

Here Comes Mazatlán’s Carnaval 2012

The theme for Mazatlán’s Carnaval celebration this year is The Empires Celebration. The empires of France, Russia, Rome, and China will be represented by Carnaval royalty. Carnaval celebrations begin on February 16 and run through February 21. Today they were still working on erecting four large monos along the malecón. These huge paper maché figures represent the four empires. Here’s a nice schedule of events for Carnaval 2012. They have been installing lighting and electrical conduit for the various stages....

Just Regular Life in Mazatlán

Life here has finally settled down a bit since the holidays.  I always love the crush of parties and visiting and the festive feeling but I am often ready for life to calm down a few days before it does! Now life is normal for winter – I am just the right amount of busy. I wrote a new column for January’s M! Magazine – on food treats from around México. Last Saturday was the first weekly Organic Market at...

Let’s Make a Community Center in Mazatlán

If you read my previous post, you read about my dream for a community center in Mazatlán.  But it isn’t just my dream, it is one shared by many of us. I hope you’ll read the piece Ken Albanese wrote below. I had a dream the other night. It wasn’t like world peace or anything, but it was a good one nonetheless. I dreamed there was a space here in Mazatlan where expat individuals and groups were creating all kinds...

A New Year’s Dream for Mazatlan

At the end of a year I always like to do a bit of “summing up.” I think about what went well and what didn’t for the year just ending  and often think of about my hope for the future. I did make my own resolutions this year, but that’s not what I’m talking about here.  I’m talking about my Mazatlán hopes for the new year. So many of my previous “hopes” have come to pass – the new organic...

Mazatlán Film & Theater performances were a success!

We are very lucky here in Mazatlán to be able to enjoy interesting international films in English every Tuesday night thanks to Mazatlán Film & Theater, but with the addition of play reading performances we are truly charmed. Last night was the second (and last) performance of Crimes of the Heart by Beth Henley.  Both performances were sold out, and the response was enthusiastically positive. The venue is the 50 seat Cinematografo in the School for the Arts in the...

Our Dia de los Muertos altar

Every year we celebrate El Dia de Los Muertos (the day of the dead) along with the rest of México by creating an altar in our home.  Our only loss in my family since last year was our sweet Lab mix, Lucy, so you’ll see her picture and collar on the left.  There are also pictures of our parents and grandparents and some tequila and beer to keep them enjoying the hereafter happy hour. Sadly, the empty frame remains in our...

What’s going on in Mazatlán?

It is late October and that means that snowbirds and folks who like to get out of the heat for part of the summer are returning. (I was going to say returning in droves but to use it with snowbirds seemed wrong… I would have to use flock…. oh, forget it!) Anyway, on many aisles at the grocery store – every time I walk on the malecón – pretty much everywhere – I am greeting someone who has been away....

Mazatlán sultry summer Sunday

After our big rain last week (NINE inches in just a few hours!) it has cooled off a lot here – today the temperature in my kitchen hasn’t risen over 78 degrees! We don’t expect to see temperatures this cool until November!  We know it’s just a little break, but the whole city is enjoying the cool.  I think it’s probably perfect for surfers, with nice waves and some clouds to shield them from the sun.  The picture above is...

Mazatlan’s Estero del Yugo revisited

You may remember that Paul and I visited Mazatlán’s Estero Del Yugo (Estuary) last December.  It was very dry and nothing was blooming. Many of the trees did have pods hanging from them, though, which of course are an essential food for many birds.  I thought the place was amazing (please click above to read about our previous visit)  and I knew I wanted to come back during the rainy season. The other morning Paul and I headed out to...

Guess what I saw at my tropical hummingbird feeder…

Last night I passed by the back yard hummingbird feeder in the dark.  It looked like something was on it. Check it out, above! Geckos are on the hummingbird feeder! I crept over for a look thinking it might be a bat.  You can see what I saw, above! Geckos! A trio of geckos hanging about on the empty feeder. Are they drinking the last of the nectar?  Or were there bugs by it that they were eating? I’ve written...

My tropical garden – Mazatlán hummingbirds

We have a new visitor to our garden this summer, a plain capped starthroat hummingbird!  (That’s a picture of him at the top of the post)  I knew right away it was a newcomer by the assertive way he flies and the white underside and patch on his back.  It took a little while to identify him – and I was grateful for the help of some birders at BirdForum.net. He’s a big bird, maybe even bigger than the cinnamon...

Random Mazatlan

Here are some random observations about my beloved home, Mazatlán. There is always a lady in a caja. Most stores and restaurants have a (usually) female employee as a cashier.  No one else handles the money.  In some places – like fabric stores – there is a separate place to pick up your merchandise.  So yes, you wait three times. (for the employee to write up the merchandise ticket, to pay at the cashier, and at the merchandise pickup) The...

Mazatlán art tease

Paul and I started a tradition not long after we got married. Instead of buying each other gifts for our birthdays, anniversaries or Christmas, we shop together for artworks for the house. We have bought some wonderful things over the years.  I think it’s a great tradition – instead of a closet full of unworn items  we can enjoy our gifts every day of the year. I’ve been thinking about anniversaries since it is the anniversary today of two of...

Why I love Mazatlán

One of the most common questions I get asked when I travel is “How did you happen to choose Mazatlán?”  Of course that question usually comes from someone who hasn’t been here or who didn’t have time to explore it much. When Paul and I first started exploring various locations in México with an eye to retirement we made up a list of the things a community needed to have.  I wrote a blog post about it back in October...

Rain!

Since we moved here from the Pacific Northwest you would probably think I’d have had my fill of rain.  Maybe I even thought I wouldn’t miss it when we moved here. But surprise! – I do miss it – especially since it’s been such a long dry season here in Mazatlán – nine months this time.  Our last rain last season was on September 30, 2010! We had a little bit of rain – chipi chipi they call it –...