Author Archives: Dianne Hofner Saphiere

COVID-19 Update Mazatlán, 17 March 2020

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There have been so many unsubstantiated rumors going around about COVID-19 and so much erroneous information that today I spoke with Julio Birrueta, head of the 30-year-old Mazatlán Tourism Board and the Hotel Association, about how Mazatlán’s tourism sector is responding to the virus threats. As Canadians flock home and there are rumors of the US closing its border as well, I wanted to know the latest thinking, and I want us all to be better able to respond to the tourists wishing to visit Mazatlán with information rather than conjecture.

Julio confirmed with me that this evening the elderly woman being tested for COVID-19 here in Mazatlán came back negative. Therefore, to date we have no confirmed cases in Mazatlán and only one confirmed active case in Sinaloa (Los Mochis). Julio assured me that the measures put in place by hotels and restaurants for the H1N1 problem in 2009 have remained in place, ­and three weeks ago the hotel association revised and updated those procedures and trained staff and management in pandemic response procedures. “If necessary, we will cease operations and quarantine. We will do everything necessary to avoid the spread of the virus,” Julio stated. “Our priority is the safety of visitors, citizens and staff.”

“If necessary, we will cease operations and quarantine. We will do everything necessary to avoid the spread of the virus.”

By now most of our readers know that private schools in Mazatlán have canceled classes from today, Tuesday; public schools have cancelled classes from next week until April 20, expanding the normal two week spring break to four. Not wanting to wait, many families are already keeping their children home. ISIC—the Sinaloa Institute of Culture, and Cultura Mazatlán have canceled events through April 20th, in addition to closing the Art Museum and the Municipal School of the Arts. The municipal sports authority (IMDEM) has also cancelled its events and closed its venues through April 20.

Just today the municipality installed a “Mazatlán Health Advisory Board,” and tomorrow, Wednesday March 18th, business leaders including the hotel and restaurant associations will meet with the ayuntamiento—city leaders—to make decisions about how to proceed to protect Mazatlán from the pandemic’s spread. They are relying heavily on learnings from China, Spain and Italy.

Santiago Reyes, epidemiologist of the 6th Sanitary District, today proposed the closure of diverse establishments including pre-schools and daycares, gyms, nightclubs, the aquarium and any events in which massive groups gather, including upcoming scheduled concerts. Birrueta confirmed to me that cancellations will no doubt include the Somos Musiq Fest, the Banda MS concert and the carnaval and fair scheduled for Holy Week. He also indicated that any attempt at a second moto-week will be denied  permits and met with strict enforcement of guidelines and policies—though Birrueta said that no one can prevent bikers from arriving.

Restaurants and hotels have already put in place the following preventive measures:

  • Hand gel at reception and in restaurants
  • Frequent cleaning of flat surfaces
  • Trash cans outside bathrooms so visitors can open doors with a paper towel and throw the towel away away

Mazatlán’s Mayor Guillermo Benitez Torres explained that “we are going to suggest that restaurants work with certain necessary precautionary measures while providing food to people, and ask bars, casinos, theaters, night clubs, dance clubs and music venues to have solidarity and close down to prevent us having to mandate them to do so.”

Birrueta told me that at least three major hotels including the Hotel Playa Mazatlán and the Riu have had doctors meet with all new check-ins for at least a week. Some guests have been returned home and others have been directed to medical care. He tells me that while some Mexican families are taking the school closures as an extended vacation, others understand the severity of the health threat and will stay home. He believes that over the next week Mexicans and Mazatlecos will increasingly buckle down and self-quarantine.

Tourism Mazatlán is predicting a Semana Santa at about 60% of normal numbers. To ensure safety, they are implementing a “Responsible Tourist” program that will be announced next week. People will be asked:

  • To stay at least two meters away from others at all times, including from other parties on the beach
  • To wash their hands frequently
  • To use a paper towel to open bathroom doors

I know we’ll hear more after the big meeting tomorrow, and I’m told there will be many new announcements in the upcoming days and weeks. In the meantime, please wash your hands frequently. While you’re at it, clean your nose, eyes, ears and throat frequently, too. Keep door handles, cell phones and car interiors wiped clean. Get your neighborhood or condominium association to put in place sanitary practices for the sake of residents and staff. Reach out to neighbors and friends who may appreciate extra assistance. Buy what you need but don’t hoard. Together we’ve got this! Stay healthy, everyone.

Truck Lovers

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The first Semana de la Troca hit Mazatlán this week and over 500 pickups—from classic and beater to custom and modern—hit the Avenida de la Bahía facing the new Central Park this weekend. Participants arrived Friday for a parade last evening followed by a concert (we live streamed it on Facebook), and are partying again this evening. The event will finish tomorrow (Sunday) morning.

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We met truck lovers from several states, lots of families, members of truck clubs, Mazatlecos now living outside the city and coming home for a visit. The car show, rally and musical event is sponsored by Mzt Trucks and the Asociación Trokera Nacional. We experienced a whole lot of excitement and bonding, and big hopes for making this an annual tradition. I guess Mazatlán is becoming the motorized vehicle capital of the area?

I am recovering from major surgery, so hobbling around with a cane. I was excited to get outside, if even for an hour, so put on my fisheye lens and had a bit of fun with what we saw. I trust you’ll enjoy the pics! Click on any photo to enlarge it or view a slideshow.

 

Lost Mazatlecan Tradition?

DSC_4630©Mazatlán has a tradition of fishing that dates back probably a thousand years: shrimping with hand nets. The gorgeous way the tarayas spread out and then splash onto the water has always fascinated me; it’s a very tranquil, rhythmic dance. Below are a couple sequences of the net throwing, to give you a better idea.

Riparian shrimp fishermen go out in small pangas in pairs. Reminiscent of the gondoliers of Venice, the non-fisherman sits in the back of the boat and holds a long stick (la palanca, made of mangrove wood) with which he pushes the boat through the shallow lagoon or estuary. The second person stands in the front of the panga and casts the net. Click on any photo to enlarge it or view a slideshow.

Toño, “El Cubano”
Felipe, the fisherman who kindly let me join the group

Watching shrimp fishermen work in the estuaries and lagoons of Mazatlán has brought me joy since I first arrived here on La Bala train in 1979. Back then much of the Golden Zone was still covered with waterways (Laguna Gaviotas and Estero El Sábalo), as was the whole of the marina area (Salvador Allende). El Venadillo, Laguna del Camarón and Estero del Yugo were much larger. And there were shrimpers everywhere! We were all in shrimp heaven!

Just as we can hail an oyster diver or a fishermen to buy his catch today, up to a few short years ago we could buy the catch direct from shrimpers easily here in Mazatlán. But now? It’s a gorgeous and delicious tradition awaiting the final nail in its coffin. I posted a couple of photos on Facebook a few days ago of buying shrimp from the shrimpers in Estero de Escopama, and I immediately had about 20 people asking me privately (they don’t want others to know!) the secret to where they could go to buy such shrimp. Now that we’ve cemented over our waterways, we have to travel that much farther to see the beauty of the tarayas.

If Mazatlán were Patzcuaro, we’d be promoting the beauty of our traditional fishing methods as tourist attractions. There, of course, the “butterfly net” fishermen catch tourist tips much more frequently than they catch fish. In Mazatlán, however, we seem to have purposefully worked the past 50 years to kill our centuries-old tradition. At the same time we seek UNESCO certification as a Creative City in Culinary Arts, we lose the tradition for harvesting the shrimp for our famous aguachiles.

I was very fortunate to be welcomed into the last hand net shrimping cooperative in our city, The Veterans of the Mexican Revolution. They most kindly agreed to take me out with them while they fished. The first day I joined them, they caught 135 kg of shrimp that they sold to the owner of a pescadería at the Stone Island Embarcadero. The second day I joined the group they sadly caught far less: maybe 35 kg. They told me that was because it’s the end of the season, and because it was a cloudy day. Cooperative members share equally in their catch. Some may choose to take their daily pay in shrimp, others prefer cash. Either way, it’s equal: you fish, you get paid.

85 year old José Ibarra Rodriguez is the only surviving founder of the cooperative. In the video below he tells me that they started the fishing cooperative in 1967, and their first day of fishing was August 16, 1968. At the time, they purchased a 50 year federal concession to fish. There are currently 24 members in the co-op.

However, due to the government losing documentation, and to the emphasis on tourism and development over the environment, over the years they have lost most of the estuaries that they used to fish, and are currently fighting over the rights to everything between Escopama and Pozole (Dimas).

The estuaries and lagoons of Mazatlán used to be lined with mangroves, filled with shrimp and fish, and home to endemic and migratory birds. Our gorgeous bay, dozens of miles of beaches and the wetlands, with our view of the Sierras to the east, is what attracted the Who’s Who of Hollywood as well as so many renowned writers and artists to our city.

The sad thing to me is that very soon we will have to go even farther to see the beauty of the tarayas. Other fishermen in the group tell me they have lost their concession to fish the Escopamas, and that the Salinitas concession has also expired. Mazatlán’s centuries-long culinary tradition continues to die out at the very time we seek UNESCO accreditation.

I leave you with a few happier shots of the pelicans that gladly clean up the smaller fish that the fishermen fail to throw back in, as well as some cormorants fighting over a fish.

Living and Working with Mexicans

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Many in the VidaMaz community are bilingual and bicultural, and many others aspire to be. Francisco Santana has a new Udemy course entitled, This is Mexico: Living and Working with Mexicans that he has offered to give to VidaMaz readers for free if you click this link in the next 72 hours. Once you register, you can complete the course at your leisure. As payment he requests you to rate the course.

I have just taken the course and believe it is a very worthwhile way to spend an hour or two. It communicates to the learner some of the fundamental concepts of intercultural communication in a simple, clear, affordable and easy way. Francisco covers a lot of territory, summarizing key things to remember concisely. He is careful to say things like, “generally speaking” or “Mexicans have a tendency,” in order to avoid stereotyping and overgeneralizing the huge diversity that is this country.

The course contains some outdated constructs, such as the use of the iceberg as a metaphor for culture—which its creator Bob Kohls himself hated in his later career, and the overly-used and overly-conceptual “dimensions of culture”— which are useful as pieces of knowledge but aren’t especially helpful at improving skill. It’s at this point the course started to feel like a lecture and became quite slow for me.

The “Living with Mexicans” section will be the most helpful to most VidaMaz readers, I believe. There are some very salient points that can go unnoticed if you’re not careful, such as this line, “Mexicans have never been obsessed with planning for the future,” or Francisco’s contention that Mexican friendships tend to be based on mutual need—a very different dynamic than friendship elsewhere in the world. I found it particularly interesting and valuable to look at friendship in a historical context. Francisco’s explanations of Mexican humor, the “mañana” mentality and use of excuses to avoid disappointing people will also be salient and helpful for many; there are many gems in this section, from which we could learn more deeply for hours.

I fully support expats integrating into and participating in the local community as much as we can, and I hope this short course, available to you now for free, might help you. It is well presented and very accurate, in my experience. Here is Francisco’s course description:

By knowing where people’s values and beliefs come from you can learn to expect and predict their behavior, and then, you will be on your way to a successful cultural adjustment. The Mexican culture is rich in customs, traditions and intriguing behavioral patterns; and this one-of-its-kind course offers you the opportunity to dive into the very roots of the Mexican way of life.

The curriculum and practical activities are carefully designed for:

  • Expats (retirees, executives, foreign service employees)
  • Foreign students
  • Foreign investors and import/export professionals
  • Travelers
  • Enthusiasts of the Mexican culture

What you’ll learn

  • The fundamentals of culture
  • Key values and attitudes of the Mexicans
  • The roots of the Mexicans behavioral patterns
  • Mexicans communication patterns
  • Social and business manners in Mexico
  • Management and negotiation style in Mexico

Are there any course requirements or prerequisites?

  • Interest in learning more about Mexico and the Mexicans

Who this course is for:

  • Executives in an international assignment in Mexico
  • Expats retired or considering retiring in Mexico
  • Leisure and business travelers
  • Current or future foreign exchange students
  • Entrepreneurs and business seeking to negotiate with Mexicans
  • Current or future foreign service officers assigned in Mexico

Content is comprised of six sections, each with a video, activity and quiz:

  1. Introduction
  2. Culture and human behavior
  3. Roots of Mexican cultural identity (history of Mexico)
  4. Living with Mexicans: Traditions, values and attitudes (family, friendship, courtesy, helping others, humor, Day of the Dead, concept of mañana, excuses, bribery)
  5. Working with Mexicans: Management and negotiation (leadership and management, perception of time and space, communication patters, negotiation and meetings)
  6. Case analysis (interviews with four young adult expatriates living in Mexico—a Dane, a German, a Finn and a Czech)

Enjoy, and please let me know what you think! Kudos to Francisco for creating this method for helping expats and visitors to better understand and partner with our Mexican hosts!

Custom Hats and Jewelry

IMG_5501 (1)I have fallen in love. Again. Yes, it happens every so often when a gorgeous smile and a beautiful soul cross my path. This time it is with Andrea Salas Pinedo.

Andrea is a sculptor and painter from Durango, 22 years old and the mother of two small children. She is a delight—a talented young lady with a huge warm smile and a soul that radiates joy. She has been painting for ten years, and for the last four months she has been here in Mazatlán with her husband and children selling hats on the beach and in the foreign craft markets.

I love her hats! She charges 300 pesos for each one, and you can choose from those she has on hand, or you can order one special. I just ordered one for a certification event I am hosting this week. It will be one of the prizes during the workshop. I believe it will be very popular. Click on any photo to enlarge or view a slideshow.

Andrea also molds earrings that are so very cute! I bought a few of those for gifts as well. At only 50 pesos they are a bargain. If you’d like to see Andrea’s work, look for her on the beach in the Golden Zone, or at the market at La Catrina restaurant on Wednesdays from 9 am till noon. Easier yet, message her through her Facebook page.

Her Oaxacan family sells embroidered shirts, blouses and dresses, so if you’re looking for those, you can get them through Andrea also. Have a beautiful week!