Category Archives: Expat Kids and Family

Attention Puget Sounders! Sister Cities, Mazatlán-Seattle

Attention Seattleites!!! This is a wonderful opportunity, and VidaMaz very much hopes we can put you in touch with one another to do good things!!
Note from a reader:
“Hello, My name is Bill Hurley and I am vice president of the Seattle Mazatlán Sister Cities Association. Although the association has been dormant the past few years, we have a long history with Mazatlán dating back to 1979. We are looking for new members to help revive the great relationship we had with the city of Mazatlán.

Could you please help us by spreading the word with any of your friends in Mazatlán from the Puget Sound region who might be interested in such a venture?

Here is a brief rundown of some of the activities we have been involved with in the past:

  • Student exchanges with host families in Mazatlan in Seattle.
  • Hosting the delegation from Mazatlan for the Seafarer festivities in Seattle, including The Carnival Queen marching in the Seafair parade.
  • Bringing the Roosevelt jazz band to to perform atthe Angela Peralta Theater and El Quelite.
  • Installed computer labs at the boys Orphanage, El Quelite, and El Quemado.

Any help you can provide will be appreciated. Feel free to call me or give out my phone number to those who might be interested.

Bill Hurley
206-669-6489″

Bashing “The Donald”

US Americans residing here in Mazatlán, as well as their friends, were able to show our outrage with Donald Trump’s inanities yesterday, thanks to Oneil McGean of Cafe Playa Sur. Oneil filled two Trump-look-alike piñatas with candy, coins and hair combs (!), so that we could constructively and therapeutically release our feelings about his racist statements. Take a look: Kids and adults alike got in on the fun. Click on any photo below to enlarge it or to view a slideshow.

Those attending were so eager to hit the piñatas that I believe we could have destroyed about 20 of them. Thank you, Cafe Playa Sur, for this corrective and liberating event!

If you missed the piñata bashing, or even if you didn’t, you may enjoy releasing some of your irritation by watching the corrido below.

Reflections on a Seven-Year Anniversary

Kasbah Telouet

Kasbah Telouet, High Atlas Mountains, Morocco

June 16, 2008: Seven years ago today we moved full-time into our home in Mazatlán. We’d already owned the condo for a few years—chosen for its strategic location on the malecón, in the middle of the action and close to everything in the city we’ve loved since the 1970s.

Before we moved to Mazatlán, I often took our son with me when I travelled for work. He joined me on trips throughout the USA, Canada and Mexico; to Amsterdam, Berlin, and Prague; and to Bulgaria and Japan, among others. I very much treasured these times together.

Moving here, however, surprisingly and sadly brought an end to our very treasured, shared international travels. The first couple of years, Danny was too busy learning the language and acculturating to life here; we couldn’t take him out of school. His summer breaks were only a few short weeks—time we felt was time best spent reconnecting with family in the USA. During high school, he also had very short breaks, and the curriculum was difficult enough that he just couldn’t miss school.

As with any major life choice, there are pros and cons. Moving to Mazatlán has opened new worlds for us, fresh opportunities, friends and perspectives. On the downside, it has seriously curtailed our joint travel time. Suddenly, Danny was ready to leave for college, and I realized that the three of us, as a family, had never travelled outside North America! How could that be?

A high school graduation trip didn’t pan out due to the tight turnaround between Mexican high school graduation and the start of new student orientation at the US college. A trip this year, however, spontaneously presented itself. I was traveling to Spain for work, and Danny would be coming home from school just two days prior to me leaving. Having not seen him since January, this really upset me! I didn’t want to leave knowing he would be here! But Greg came up with the solution. They would fly to Madrid to meet me after my work was completed. Together, we would travel for three weeks, after which Danny could begin his summer internship here in town.

I am so very grateful to have had this time and this adventure together. The three of us enjoyed three glorious weeks of 24/7 family time, of watching each other’s eyes light up at new experiences, or at recollections of prior ones. We ate so many new foods (including camel) and drank so many new drinks, we met some extremely cool and talented people, and we walked more than we’ve ever walked! I feel the trip brought us closer together and allowed us to transition out of treating Danny like a child and into a more adult family relationship. Thank goodness! Things could have, of course, gone terribly wrong when people are together 24/7 for three weeks.

The other very cool thing? You! Our family, friends, and social media community! So many of you accompanied us on the journey, telling us you were joining us vicariously via our photos, giving us recommendations on places to go and things to do, sharing in our excitement. Thank you, most sincerely! That sort of support and virtual camaraderie is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before, and was really a thrill.

Our first stop together was Spain. It was the first time there for both Danny and Greg, and they loved it: the ease of communication, the incredible architecture and art, the fun-loving people, the green spaces, and the tapas, beer and cava. I had lived and studied years ago in Salamanca. Madrid and Barcelona were both huge hits with our family, and my boys now join me in my love of Gaudí. You can view the slideshow below if you’d like to see a bit of the Spain portion of our trip.

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Next we travelled to Morocco, where we enjoyed the warmth of the people, the depth of the culture, the artistry of the craftsmen, the gorgeous architecture, natural scenery, and the general foreignness of the milieu. We spent almost a week in Marrakech, and also a couple of days in the High Atlas Mountains with the Berber people. We rode camels in the desert, ate camel burgers, drank lots of fresh mint tea, and enjoyed ourselves heartily. There were so many commonalties between Morocco and Mexico, as well as, of course, so many differences. Below is a slideshow with some of our photos from Morocco, if you’d like to take a look.

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Finally, we travelled to Italy. And, while we all loved Rome—the Coliseum, the Pantheon, the rivers and bridges and seven hills with their incredible views, the Vatican—none of us enjoyed the crowds and the constant need for planning and coordination that navigating throngs of tourists entails. A slideshow with select photos from the Italy portion of our journey follows.

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Along the way we stayed in AirBnB apartments. I imagine most of you travel this way as well? If not, be sure to check it out. We stayed in some lovely, large, and extremely well-located apartments. The space was so much better than a hotel room would have been for a family, and much more affordable as well. And, usually we were able to be based right in the middle of where we wanted to be, so that coffee shops, restaurants, bars and sightseeing were just a few minutes’ walk from home.

So, readers, not much to do with Mazatlán in my post today. Rather, a realization that our trip was sort of a seven year anniversary gift, which provided us a renewed commitment to an intercultural life as global nomads and world citizens. I am most grateful to have a family that enjoys sharing these commitments with me, as well a community of family, friends, colleagues and readers who are like-passioned. Thank you so much for your willingness to join us!

Virginal Zarandeado

P1280223You most probably love zarandeado—the barbecue fish that is so iconic here in Mazatlán—as much as we do. We’ve ordered it from our friends at Pili on Stone Island for at least l5 years, and in Costa Marinera and other restaurants here for about 30. It is generally cooked over an open wood fire, and it ROCKS!

We also love Pescadería del Mar in Playa Norte. We’ve visited the fishmongers there three times a week every week that we’ve lived here. In addition to fresh fish brought in from the fishermen across the street, they make fresh paté of marlin and tuna that’s the best in town, and only 50 pesos a pack. They also have some of the best fresh-smoked marlin and tuna around. They are so helpful to tell us what’s in season, what’s fresh, and even how to best prepare our different local fish. Of course, I also teach them a bit about how to prepare more international dishes, but that’s beside the point. NOTE: the photos below were not taken today, but on an earlier visit. Click on any photo to enlarge it or see a slideshow.

The point is that this morning we got to the fishmonger rather late. The only thing that looked good to us was fresh pargo, and it was huge for two people—over two kilograms. Perfect for a zarandeado! But what’s the catch? In all these years, we have never before prepared a large zarandeado at home, and we were, honestly, a bit intimidated.

You perhaps prepare this lovely dish at home all the time. With the low price of it in restaurants, there’s no real need to do so. But, our fishmongers gutted and split the pargo, all ready for us to take home and barbecue.

I washed it and sprinkled spices on top. Greg then put it in the fish-griller-thing-a-ma-jiggy that our friend gave us years ago, and put it on the grill.

It turned out perfect—juicy and succulent and oh-so-savory—and it couldn’t have been easier!

If you have by chance not yet tried to do zarandeado on your own, please, don’t worry. Greg tells me to be sure to heat the grill and the fish holder well before cooking, and remember to oil the fish holder. He warmed the grill on high heat and turned it down to medium to cook the fish. After about 20 minutes—oilá! It was magnificent. And we now have terrific fish for the next couple of days.

I made the rice like Spanish rice, with diced tomatoes, but today I added a few chipotles to the mix. The rice was incredible! Really, really good. Ashamedly, we haven’t gotten to go grocery shopping since our return from Las Vegas over the Easter break, so we didn’t have fresh veggies to put on top of the zarandeado. That’s why the raw carrots. 😉

Thank you, griller extraordinaire. It’s wonderful to have a “virginal” experience with you today. I know we will be barbecuing many more fish over the summer, thanks to this success!

Whale Watching in Mazatlán

 

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One of many happy humpback couples we saw on our excursion last week

I love how you all join in the excitement about our whale-watching trips with Onca Explorations. On our first trip in 2009 we had unbelievable good fortune; we had so many pods of whales come right up to the boat—breathing beside us and playing with us—that we lost count of how many whales we saw! The video on the link above will give you an idea. Remember, the camera is not zoomed on those shots! We felt like we could almost reach out and touch the whales, they came up so close to us.

Each year we have been blessed to see whales, though each time out has been a bit different. The humpbacks (ballenas jorobadas) that frequent our waters are the most acrobatic of the baleen whales; in fact, that’s how they got their name—the humped back motion they make when they breach out of the water. In addition to breaching, humpbacks spy-hop, lob-tail, tail-slap, and fin-slap. In our various outings we have seen humpbacks jump on top of each other and hit each other with their pectoral fins, which the males do to establish dominance and secure a mate. This time out, however, we saw a bunch of couples romancing—swimming around slowly and gently, courting and most probably mating with one another. Here, in warmer waters, is where the humpbacks mate and have their babies.

Onca’s owner, marine biologist Oscar Guzón, had to teach a class so did not go out with us this time. Saúl Herrera was our guide, and he told us that no one has ever recorded seeing humpbacks mate. Apparently it’s not uncommon to see huge gray whale penises in areas such as Baja, where they frequent. Saúl lowered a microphone so that we could hear the male humpbacks singing. They produce their haunting songs by pushing air through their nasal cavities.

Below is a short clip of one of the happy couples, swimming about romantically, with the Baja Ferry and the smaller Onca I (we were on the Onca II) in the background. First you’ll see their spouts, then the dorsal (back) fins come up, and, finally, the whale on the right dives sharply enough that the fluke comes briefly out of the water. Ah, love. You can see how coordinated their water ballet is.

The gestation period for humpback whales is 11-12 months, so calves this year were conceived in our waters last year 😉 Mature humpbacks reach 40-50 feet in length and weigh about 80,000 pounds (females are bigger than males). Their tail flukes—up to 18 feet across—are like human fingerprints: individual identifiers. No two flukes are alike.

Humpbacks live up to 50 years and are sexually mature at 6-10 years. Below you can see some of the great variety of flukes, as well as some of the spouts, that we saw during this trip. As you can see, there was a whole lot of love going on out there! Click on any photo to enlarge it or view a slideshow.

Oscar is a marine biologist, and he, Saúl and the crew of Onca have now spent nine years cataloguing and tracking the whales that frequent our waters. Their research has made huge contributions to what scientists now understand about humpback behavior at the southern tip of the Sea of Cortéz. Below is a clip of Saúl telling us a bit about cetaceans in our waters, including that they have recorded sightings of 17 species of cetaceans here in Mazatlán.

In addition to whales, this year we saw two species of dolphins (bottle nose and spotted) and, the stars of the trip, the mantas. Be sure to click on the link if you haven’t seen those photos!

Another great advantage of this whale-watching excursion with Onca is the great view of Mazatlán from the water.