Monthly Archives: November 2012

Mazatlán: Pulsating Center of Atleticísmo

malecón aerial view

You already know how much we love living in Mazatlán, and that one of our favorite delights is living in the center of the world’s largest and most beautiful gymnasium — the malecón.

For a couple of weeks now, during our morning walks, we have been accompanied by runners we don’t see the rest of the year. We know they are people who have come to acclimate and train for the marathon. They are also loads of locals, often accompanied by their children and friends, who decide to heighten their training this time of year in order to be prepared to participate in the shorter runs or the marathon itself.

42k marathon routeToday as Danny and I were out walking I was reminded how this, the day before El Gran Maratón del Pacífico, is so incredibly delightful. The space between the Bosque de la Ciudad/City Park and the baseball stadium pulsates with music, dancing and tents filled with running gear, as busloads of runners and their families and friends arrive from every corner of Mexico and beyond. They register, take a look around, and then fan out across the city. Nearly every restaurant, coffee house or juice stand we see is filled with healthy, excited, friendly people, eager to run and test their skills along Latin America’s largest bay. It is, truly, delightful.

marathon runners ocean viewTomorrow, non-runners that we are, we will awake to the sounds of that same music, plus the sounds of cheering, as the first runners glide by the front of our home. We will make coffee, get dressed, and go out to the street to join in the cheering. People compete in the 5k, 10k, 21k half-marathon, and 42k full marathon. Festivities will continue on the malecón until about 1:00 tomorrow afternoon.

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Then, tomorrow (Saturday) night, our bay lights up with fireworks launched from FOURTEEN different, coordinated locations around our beautiful bay. And, poor us, we are, again, right in the center. Gotta love it! On our beach the fireworks have been set up and ready to go since this morning. That’s different than in prior years, when they set up on Saturday morning during the run itself.

So, athletically speaking, we’ve got:

And, of course we have the normal daily, weekly and monthly athletic events of our good city, such as

I often imagine how it feels to live in the city that hosts the Olympics. Obviously it’s not a fair comparison to these events, but I can imagine the energy, the buena vibra, the buena onda, is very similar. And here, we get to experience it at least several times each year, rather than once in a lifetime (hosting the Olympics).

Mazatlán, a working port, center of tuna and shrimp industries, famous for its beaches, banda music and sport fishing, is becoming quite the hotbed of healthy, athletic living! And we are loving every moment of it!

Mazatlán Immigration Forum

Hello everyone,

Tomorrow morning in Mazatlan, the expat community is having a forum related to all of the recent changes in immigration. The forum was arranged by the Governor’s Advisory Council and will feature representatives from Immigration, Aduana and Hacienda in an attempt to clarify a lot of the things we have all read about on various forums on the Internet.

We have been given access to some of the prepared materials in advance and asked to make them available to interested parties. The first 9 pages are a slideshow in English followed by the same nine pages in Spanish. After that is a Q&A in both languages. The translation is not perfect, but I am presenting what I was given. Please share and enjoy.
******UPDATE NOVEMBER 29, 2012******

Well you didn’t miss too much today. Hacienda was a no-show, so nothing learned about capital gains. Aduana showed, but nothing was prepared ahead of time and they seemed a little lost as to why they were there.

There were a few new things learned after the meeting this morning. The good news for most is that all of the new financial requirements do not apply to anybody currently holding a valid visa. Just don’t let it expire. If it does expire and you go more than sixty days, you not only have to pay a fine, you lose your seniority and have to start all over (after leaving Mexico).

The switch to Permanente takes 20 days. If you need to come and go from Mexico during that time, you can purchase a permit for 320 pesos.

Aduana said that nothing on their end has changed. If you are in Mexico temporarily you can have a car just like in the past. If you are permanent, you need to return your car to the country of origin or consider nationalizing it if it qualifies. At the very end, the Aduana representative made reference to a category of Permanente – Rentista. He said that if you have the rentista designation you can keep a foreign-plated car here. There was no time at the end to circle back and verify with Immigration that they will have such a designation under the new rules for those who qualify. It seems to make sense as the Rentista category clarifies that you are not earning income in Mexico and are supported by sources outside of Mexico. Without this designation, it would imply that a Permanente can work, and we know this is not the case.

Overall, the main message is that this is much better for anyone with a current visa. Once you have four years, you have to go to permanente (or leave Mexico and come in under a new visa). Once you pay for permanente (4,815 pesos), you never pay again. Never is a long time and governments need money, but that is what they said. Also, when you think of it, the immigration offices will be a lot less busy in the future. With one-time applications for permanent replacing a lot of FM3 and FM2 renewals and multi-year temporary applications replacing much of the remaining – they will have a lot of time on their hands – this is perhaps part of the master plan.

The meeting was fairly well run. Somehow during the Immigration presentation the Spanish/English/Slides got out of sync and some people were confused. If you understood even a little Spanish you could understand what had happened.

The place was packed – standing room only and then some. Most people were polite, but there were a few cantankerous individuals in the crowd as always.

There were only a few questions from the floor and they were helpful to keep the car conversation going.

It will be interesting to watch this unfold. I’m glad that I won’t have to let our FM3’s expire and then reapply – that never made sense. We don’t renew until May/June, so we are lucky that others will go through this and iron out the system before we arrive!

 

The Wonderful Music of Carnaval

Quick! What was the official song of Carnaval this year? How about last year? Do you remember the official song?

I guess it’s a trick question, as there are no official songs of Carnaval—the key word being official. Each year, the “People” choose the songs through very informal group think. You will hear the same handful of songs all Carnaval long blaring out of parade floats, car windows and band stages. Songs of the young people you say? Perhaps, but I’m pushing 50 and I love them.

With this thought in mind, I have been paying attention the last few years and submit to you the popular songs of Carnaval Mazatlan 2009-2012, along with my guesstimate for the popular songs of the 2013 Carnaval.

Some of you may not be familiar with the music below, or maybe you want to check out the videos. To make things relatively easy, I have created a YouTube Playlist. As you may know, YouTube playlists are subject to the whims of YouTube and the uploaders of the content. I apologize if any videos are unavailable when you try to watch them. You can find the play list here.

 

2009

  • Las Mulas de Moreno (Fine Fine Fine) – Julion Alvarez – One of Mazatlan’s hottest acts scored big with this hit featuring an English language chorus that anyone could sing along to.
  • Te Presumo – Banda El Recodo – This year’s King of Joy, Mazatlan’s Banda El Recodo gave a free concert on Thursday night and reigned over Carnaval with style and grace.
  • Cumbia del rio – Los Pikadientes de Caborca  – There are many versions of this Norteño/banda tune, but this version charted shortly before Carnaval and was getting a ton of radio play going into the big event.

2010

  • La Maria– Julion Alvarez – A wildly popular Norteño/banda hit by one of  Mazatlán’s favorite sons
  • Ni Con Carro Nuevo – El Centenario – This Norteño/banda tune is performed by Mazatlán’s own Thomas Antonio “El Centenario” – it didn’t hurt that he was elected King of Joy that year as well. The video has some great views of Mazatlán.
  • I Gotta Feeling (tonight’s gonna be a good night) – Black Eyed Peas – This pop dance hit took Mazatlan by storm as it did the rest of the world just in time to add some interesting variety to Carnaval
  • El Cochi – Banda El Rey – A very popular song performed by one of the great banda bands of Mazatlán. The video is still popular on Videorola and the band is poised to release a new CD in the coming weeks.  Banda El Rey – Puro Sinaloa!

 

  • Anything by Michael Jackson – Michael passed the previous June and his songs were prominent in the parade including a huge dance team performing Thriller with the crowd all the way down Avenida Del Mar during the Sunday and Tuesday events

2011

  • La Peinada – Chuy Lizarraga – a popular Banda/Norteño tune by Mazatlán’s own Chuy Lizarraga with a great video filmed on the Avenida Del Mar and featuring La Botana

 

  • Mi Niña Bonita – Chino y Nacho – a reggaeton dance smash hit – very popular with girls due to the handsome lead singers and melodic tones. Put your hands together and make a heart and sing-a-long.
  • La Maria – Julion Alvarez – Second year in a row for this smash hit by one of the best musicians to ever come out of the Mazatlán area.
  • Mueveme Pollo – Banda San Jose de Mesillas – Great band, great video, great tune – another banda hit that increased the heart rate of Carnaval. This band went on to play opening night in Olas Altas at the 2012 Carnaval.

2012

  • WEPA – Gloria Estefan – Spanish and English versions – This is another pop dance tune made extra popular having the Cuban rapper Pitbull perform a remix and add some vocals.
  • Mentiras – Paola Preciado – This remake of a popular Latin tune was given a banda twist and modified lyrics for the female lead singer and scored huge.
  • On The Floor – Jennifer Lopez – Another huge pop/dance hit that caught fire on both sides of the border – this tune also features Pitbull.
  • Inténtalo – 3BallMTY (pronounced Tribal Monterrey) featuring El Bebeto and América Sierra – Of note is that this group went on to be named New Artist of the Year at the 2012 Latin Grammy’s. Their music is Tribal – which is similar to House music – a lot of synthetic drums and other electronics going on. It got a lot of play on the Reggaeton video station and even VideoRola. This dance tune was and is very popular with the young folks.
  • Nube Gris – Margarita (La Diosa de la Cumbia) – Originally released a few years back, this live version came out in 2011 is more up tempo than the original and received really heavy airplay leading up to Carnaval

2013 – With less than three months to go before the start of Carnaval, I base my guesstimates on what has had major radio play this past year (weighted more heavily towards recent months) and the music that lends itself to Carnaval parades:

  • Gangnam Style – PSY – Not much of a stretch to guess that this International hit by the South Korean pop singer would be number one on my list. With 800 million YouTube plays and counting – it is a hands down favorite. If you happened to catch the Revolution Day Parade, you may have caught a small preview. So, if you plan on dancing with the kids in the parade this year, gotta learn how to dance Gangnam style!
  • La Niña – Julion Alvarez – He missed last year, and I have no doubt he will return with this great song. Mazatlán is very proud of Julion’s success and I’m sure it will get celebrated next Carnaval.

 

  • I Like How it Feels – Enrique Iglesias (featuring Pitbull) – Not a new song, as it was released over a year ago and could have been a Carnaval song in 2012, but it was a little slow catching on locally. It has not received a lot of play recently (partly due to changes in local radio programming). English language dance songs do well in Carnaval, especially by Latin artists and having Cuban hit-maker Pitbull involved can’t hurt!

 

  • Serenata de un Loco – Chuy Lizarraga – Here’s Chuy again with another great up-tempo dance tune whose video, filmed right here in Mazatlán, features cameos by other local bandas and characters.
  • Con Cualquiera – La Leyenda featuring Genitallica – This is a fairly traditional Norteño song, but it has an added twist of bringing together two bands from Nuevo Leon – La Leyenda and Genitallica – La Leyenda is a Norteño band that’s been around since the mid-90’s and Genitallica is a reggae/punk/ska/rock/hip-hop band that’s been around for almost as long. A mash-up for them is not unfamiliar; Banda El Recodo performed in one of their singles a few years back.
  • El Chile – Oscar Padilla – Just because I like this song, which features Huichol along with Spanish, is not enough to be included in my list. However, in recent weeks this great tune is getting lots of radio play and while there is no guarantee, it could make it. I see dancers wearing authentic Huichol dress and dancing along. What do you think?

 

So, what are your guesses for the official music of Carnaval?

A Friday Morning Walk

We take a walk, hike or bike ride most every morning. A few times a week we climb the lighthouse and the mirador. Today we wanted to do something a little bit different, check out somewhere we’re not that familiar with.

So, I had an idea: how about we climb up to that cross we see up on Cerro del Vigía? We have never been up there. I’ve heard it’s called Cerro de la Cruz, and I’ve had a few friends tell me it’s public property, that they used to celebrate the Feast of the Holy Cross there.

Well, those of you who live up on the hill may of course be very familiar with this route and can enlighten me more. For us malecón dwellers, we enjoyed a lot of cool discoveries this morning. First was a grass-filled park with a killer view of the port, bounded on the perimeter by gorgeous carved stone columns.

Anyone know how this space is used today? We feared it could be the occasional parking lot. What a perfect place for an open-air concert or public performance of some sort. I imagine in the day it hosted quite the gatherings.

The little park faces and perhaps is part of the property across the street, a very large, beautiful, and historic looking house. Neighbors told us that to see the cross we had to enter through this property; that if we rang the doorbell and asked permission they would let us through. There was no bell to ring (wires have been cut), and no one we could hail to ask, so no luck there.

From the street we could see steps and a handrail going up to the cross. Ominously we also saw a bunch of buzzards, just waiting there on top of the hill. We walked around the block, hoping that there might be an entrance there. As with so many blocks in Mazatlán, we discovered a hand painted Virgen de Guadalupe on the wall, with a lit candle and plant to complete this roadside shrine.

The old house is architecturally interesting. A neighbor told us it belongs to the Campos family, an old ship building family here in town.

The area looks pretty cool. I fell in love with the brick and stone entry steps to one of the houses across the street.

Of course right now there are so many flowers in bloom everywhere, and I had to get a photo or two of that.

We also saw tree roots that appeared to be growing right through the rock. Incredible how living things can find a way to survive and have stability even in the toughest of circumstances!

The whole top of the hill seems to be privately owned. This Noroeste article from 2010 confirms that, sadly.

Giving up on seeing the view from the cross, we decided to walk over and find that old fort that we’ve seen photos of. Years ago a pulmonía driver took us there, but that’s been decades ago.

Well, we couldn’t find the fort either. Two for two this morning. Obviously we need a local guide. We’re thinking the fort access is through a gate? We did, however, see some most gorgeous views. All in all a beautiful walk on a beautiful morning.

New Skate Park?

We have the terrific skateboard park on the malecón in Playa Norte. We all love watching the kids enjoy themselves. Maybe some of you even enjoy it, too.

We’ve heard that the work being done right now in front of the Bosque de la Ciudad, city park, in the median there of the avenue, is another skate park. I can’t find where we read that now in my searches online, but we did take a few photos today.

Hopefully this will be one more terrific thing for kids to do in our gorgeous city. If that’s what you’re here wondering about, you can check out an earlier post, Visiting Mazatlán with Kids.

If you know more about this project, would you please let us know in the Comments below? We know quite a few teenagers eager and hopeful!