Teacapan, Sinaloa

Teacapan, Sinaloa

We visited the peaceful fishing village of Teacapán this past weekend, a beautiful place for bird watching, kayaking, fishing or just relaxing that is located a couple of hours south of Mazatlán. The biodiversity of the mangrove forest and estuary were breathtaking.

The area between Escuinapa and Teacapán is scheduled by FONATUR for major development. In a few decades the Mexican government plans for this charming and pristine area, teeming with wildlife, to look a lot like Cancún.

This of course breaks our hearts, but it seemed to be excellently good news to most of the locals with whom we spoke. Development for them means jobs, income, food, and a better quality of life. To us, it means destruction of the incredible mangrove ecosystem, estuary and bird habitat, very similar, no doubt, to how Mazatlán’s Golden Zone looked in the 1950s, before the estuary here was filled in, the mangroves destroyed, and the hotels built. The estuary or lago as those in Teacapán called it, is filled with fish, oysters, crab, and shrimp.

Getting There
The drive from Mazatlán to Teacapán is very easy. You take Highway 15  (toll or free road) south through Villa Unión to Escuinapa (88 km from Mazatlán), then turn onto Highway 1 along the coast to Teacapán (another 40 km). The latter highway has its share of potholes. The vista on the journey is excellent. We made a very quick trip, arriving on Sunday afternoon and returning on Monday evening due to the holiday.

The Town
We were told Teacapán has 6000 inhabitants. It lies right on the border between the states of Sinaloa and Nayarit, though it is part of Sinaloa. It is built around a central plaza which has the traditional band stand and a quaint church.

It is right on the coast, but faces a long peninsula that the locals call “el otro lado.” Yes, that’s usually the term used to refer to the United States, “the other side,” but in Teacapán it refers to the “island” (it’s a peninsula but is called isla by the locals) offshore, covered in mangrove trees, the other side of which is supposedly an incredibly gorgeous beach. Trouble is, you need a lllloooooonnnngg drive to get to that beach! There is also a place on the island called “Texas.”

Looking from town, you can see what looks like an inlet/outlet to the ocean, but mostly you look at the calm lago (which is really a 30 mile long estuary) and beyond that the island. Thus, you don’t hear crashing waves as you would on a more usual bay.

The valley is rimmed with mountains, so it’s a very gorgeous view. One of the main mountaintops is said to look like a man’s face. The locals say it looks like George Washington.

Lodging and Food
Our hotel (María Fernanda) was clean, bright, affordable, had two pools and a restaurant, and the shower had hot water. It was located right on the water with beautiful views. There was wireless internet in the lobby but not in the room.

Teacapan, Sinaloa
The town seemed to have very few formal restaurants. We ate in the hotel; there was another restaurant run by a Canadian right next door (Wayne’s), and a family-owned palapa restaurant was just down the malecón. We saw was a cocina económica on the plaza, and various more informal eateries and botaneros on the main road into town.

We ate a wonderful pescado zarandeado for dinner the day we arrived, and there were crab, prawns, and scallops galore. We bought some fresh prawns and crab meat to bring home with us for dinner; yum!

Mangroves and Wildlife
The mangroves of Teacapán are a famous bird watching area, home to 250 species of birds. The Marismas Nacionales are the largest coastal mangrove area on Mexico’s Pacific coast. We saw great herons, and little blue herons, white herons, cranes, lots of osprey, roseated spoonbills, cormorants, a fairly unusual bird called a boot-billed heron (I believe), flycatchers, and a host of other birds big and small, including the usual gulls, pelicans and frigate birds.

(You bird lovers may like to read my “Crane Convention” blog post, which took place in Mazatlán last year.) 

We found a terrific guide, Victor Méndez Denis (tel 695-954-5386). He told us he is licensed by the federal Department of Tourism as an ecotour guide, the only one in town. He has a very nice, clean, covered boat with a very quiet motor that holds about 15 people. When he told us he could talk to the birds we thought he was joking; we laughed and called him Dr. Doolittle. But, indeed, Victor called quite a few birds, and seems quite adept at calling. I’m confident most birders would be thrilled.

He took us on a cruise out to “the other side,” Bird Island and a few other places, and we found him to be very knowledgeable. He explained to us that four out of the seven kinds of mangroves in the world can be found in Teacapan: black, white, red and button. The red mangroves are especially plentiful, extending their roots down into the water to form a “reef” in a very similar manner to the way in which coral grows. This reef teems with wildlife: birds in the tree branches, crabs and all sorts of aquatic animals among the tree roots. We were told there are cayman in the water, but we did see quite a few people snorkeling, either oystering or spearfishing.

In quite a few areas along the “other side,” the island, there are oyster shell mounds, said to be the remains of oysters harvested by native people over 4000 years ago. Some say they are burial grounds. The mounds are extensive.

Teacapan, Sinaloa

Fishing
There are loads of oysters to be found in the fresh water here. They are easy to harvest, too; not like the rock oysters in the ocean off Mazatlán, which require the divers to hammer and chisel. The Teacapán oyster divers that we saw only used their hands. Our guide, Victor, bought 10 kilos of fresh oysters for 150 pesos. Quite a great deal, we thought. He tells us they are much sweeter and better than the rock oysters.

The fishing tours advertise fishing for snook, red snapper, grouper, sea bass, trigger fish, jack crevalle.


Next Time
Next time we go, we’d like to tour the estuary at low tide. Victor told us many of the islands in the estuary actually become connected at low tide, and the birds come out from the mangroves to eat on the sand bars. Would definitely like to see that!

Teacapan, Sinaloa
Would also like to rent a kayak and glide through the mangroves; it would be gorgeous. I’d like to get out to the beach. Seems to me you should be able to take a boat out around the peninsula and access the beach that way, rather than making the long drive. But, as we didn’t do that, I am not sure.

Isla Isabel is a couple of hours boat ride from Teacapán. We could also go from Mazatlán. I have long wanted to go to this national park to see the blue-footed boobies. People call it a miniature Galapagos, nearby here in the Islas Marias. It is one of the main seabird nesting areas in the Pacific, with 92 bird species recorded. There is also good snorkeling. Due to CONANP protection, a visit means you must be accompanied by a licensed guide, and I believe you have to camp if you want to stay overnight.

Moving to Mexico (Mazatlán) with School Kids

The goal of this blog post is to explain some of the things we have learned while parenting a school-aged child in Mexico (or at least in Mazatlán, Sinaloa), and some of the contrasts with the US system of education. Much of the information below comes from the questions we are most frequently asked by those who are thinking about or planning to relocate.

Obviously the below is based on our experience as a family; many will have different opinions and experiences. It is worthwhile noting that people moving to Mexico City, Monterrey or Guadalajara will have many more choices than we have here in the “provinces,” as they say in Spanish.

I hope some of this might help you as you think about relocating. I only wish this sort of information had been available to us when we moved!

Choosing a School
Make the decision around choice of school with thought and care, after thinking about your goals and realities. In addition to the questions you’d ask in evaluating any new school, some of the questions I’d recommend when considering schools in Mexico include:

  • Do you want your child to learn Spanish? If so, do you want him/her to develop native-level fluency, or just foreign-language level fluency?
  • How long will you be living in Mexico? Will your next assignment be in another country, or back home?
  • Do you want to give your child an international experience or a Mexican experience?
  • Do you speak Spanish? Does your child? If not, are you committed to learning?
  • In what grades are your children? If they will be entering university after graduating school in Mexico, you want to be sure s/he will have the qualifications needed for the university of choice, of course.
  • How will the school help your child to acculturate, and to learn Spanish? Do they have a new student/family orientation, and a mentor/buddy system? Is there tutoring available?
  • It’s also wise to ask about testing and minimum grade requirements, as some schools require students maintain a certain grade average to remain in school.
  • Ask how the school will handle things if your child gets poor grades the first few terms due to lack of Spanish language skill.
  • Ask for a schedule of tuition and fees, including fees for after-school activities, transportation, books, uniforms and other miscellaneous expenses such as photo IDs.

Schools, both private and public, are clearly ranked by SEPyC (Department of Education) according to test scores. Ask other parents and people in the community for their recommendations as to the best local schools and why.

Class size can vary remarkably by school, sometimes with as few as 15 students per class to as many as 50 or more. School facilities will also vary. Be sure to take a look at computer labs, science facilities, sports fields and gymnasiums, if these are important to you. It can be especially difficult to find schools that have grass on the futbol (soccer) fields, or nets on the basketball hoops, for example. Ask about school-sponsored after-school activities, as some schools offer music, sports, and drama vespertinas, supervised by the teaching staff, on the school grounds. Some also offer after-school homework help or tutoring, sometimes at no additional fee. You may also wish to inquire about before and after school transportation, as walking or riding bicycles to school is not common in Mexico as it is in the the States or Canada.

Search the Internet, ask around, and select a few schools you would like to visit. Be sure to visit in person, and allow a few hours so you can meet with the staff, see the facilities, and visit a classroom or two. Please be aware that use of the Internet and email in schools is not nearly as prevalent as it is north of the border. Calling the school to speak with personnel, or better yet, a visit live and in person, will usually get you much more information than an email, which may often go unanswered or even unread.

Remember that schools are usually organized as primaria (grades 1-6), secundaria (grades 7-9) and bachillerato or prepa (grade 10-12). Primarias may include kindergarten and pre-K. Many schools will not include prepa on the same campus, so be sure to ask. Some prepas (preparatorias) lead directly into and are a part of a university. These tend to be the better schools, in our experience. Be careful; many Mexicans, when speaking English, will use the words “high school” to mean secundaria. This is perhaps because secundaria is the highest level of required education.

Something that new immigrants may not think about is to ask if the classrooms have air conditioning. Here in Mazatlán, as in most places in the US, we feel it is very important to also take a close look at campus security.

Types of Schools
International
Large urban areas in Mexico may have international schools or American schools abroad. These schools teach in English, using the US or another international system. Such schools also teach Spanish as a foreign language, sometimes as a second language. I’d recommend an international or American school abroad if you are planning to only spend a year or two in Mexico, and particularly if there is a good chance that once you complete your assignment in Mexico you’ll be moving to another international location. The advantages to an international school are that your child will be meeting kids from a broad variety of nationalities. Connections tend to be good: children of business executives, diplomats. Families at these schools tend to be mobile, so it’s easier to make friends quickly, and the schools are accustomed to welcoming and integrating new children and families. Downsides are that you and your child will not get a very “Mexican” experience at school. As of this writing (and still in 2014), there is no official International or American school in Mazatlán.

Bilingual
Most Mexican cities will also have “bilingual” schools. These are private schools with classes taught in Spanish, but with a major emphasis placed on the children learning English (or another) as a second language. Some classes will be taught in English, and others in Spanish. You will need to pay careful attention, as many schools that are not really “bilingual” call themselves such, though there are many that truly seem to be.

Talk to several of the teachers; are they bilingual? Talk to some of the children; are they? Review the curriculum and the textbooks your children will be using. The advantages to a bilingual school are that your children will have an easier transition to learning Spanish and adjusting to the system, and as parents you’ll be able to speak to school administrators in English to help clarify and resolve initial adjustment issues. Other advantages include that your children will be attending school with Mexican children from families that are committed to their success, and often who have themselves traveled or lived internationally. Disadvantages of the bilingual school include that tuition can be pricey for Mexican nationals; thus, your children may go to school primarily with children from wealthy families rather than from a cross-section of society. According to your beliefs, this could be perceived as an advantage.

A bilingual school was our choice. When we arrived in Mexico, our son did not speak Spanish. Having some of the classes (in his case English and science) in English really helped with the transition and his self-esteem while he settled in, and having school mates and teachers who could speak English, at least somewhat, helped, too.

Public
Every community will have public schools. These schools teach in Spanish and are publicly funded. These schools are free to the public, although there are still fees associated with attending, and books and supplies to buy. Parents at public schools are expected to participate more in school activities (such as cleaning the school if there is an illness) than are parents at private schools. English as a foreign language is part of the curriculum. Some of the public schools can be very excellent. Facilities tend to be basic. Check if the school has heating or air conditioning, as may be needed in your area, and its track record on flooding or leaking during the rainy season if that happens in your area. Even a public school may have a principal or key teachers who speak English or who have lived overseas, so you may get lucky in that regard.

Advantages to the public school are its ease and affordability, and the fact that most of the children attending the school will be local. Thus, your children will be able to get to know their neighbors and easily meet playmates. As parents you will also get to know your neighbors and more easily become part of the local community or neighborhood. Another little-touted advantage is that most if not all public schools have testing every other month, according to the SEPyC calendar.

Disadvantages tend to be in the quality and maintenance of the facilities, which will vary by school and parental/teacher involvement. We visited our local public school before enrolling our son in a private school, and that school was our second choice. The principal and teachers were very enthusiastic and excited about having an international student in their student body, and we felt very welcomed.

In our experience many Mexican families who are middle class or above avoid the public schools and put their children in private schools. However, our experience in Mazatlán has taught us that there are some truly excellent public schools. If you are interested in this option, check them out, ask around and compare. It seems pretty easy to have your child go to a high quality public school other than the neighborhood school, if that’s your enrollment preference.

Parochial
There are parochial (mostly Catholic) schools in most communities. These schools have varying degrees of religiosity. Some are run by the church/priests, others by nuns, some by lay people. The quality of the education and facilities can be very good, but varies by school.

Private
There are also private schools that are not “bilingual” per se. Many of them are “chains” that you will see in most Mexican cities. Some schools may specialize in technology, global citizenship, a Montessori approach, or some other subject. Some are much better regarded than others, and the tuition varies as well. These schools tend to have a good diversity within the student body, attracting students from all over town. Advantages to these schools are that you can select the quality and the focus of education that you desire. We have found that most Mexican families who can afford the tuition prefer to send their children to private school. Private school tuition in Mexico is much lower than in Canada, the US or Europe. Tuition at private schools in Mazatlán, for example, can be anywhere between US$50 and US$300/month.

Documents for Registering Your Child for School
Be sure to get all your child’s school documents in order before you move. Remember that Mexican officials love to be official; they require documents on letterhead that include signatures and stamps or embossing—the more the better. If you bring a computer printout from the USA, which is so common there, have the principal or some other school official sign and stamp the printout. You will need:

  • Original certified versions of your child’s birth certificate—be sure they are stamped, preferably with an embossed seal. Bring several of these with you when you move, as they are harder to get from Mexico, and you’ll need them for visa purposes as well as school registration.
  • Apostillized records of your child’s school record, particularly noting the last grade completed and the next level of education the child is authorized to enter. Apostillized records can be a bit challenging to obtain. You’ll need to call your school’s district office and may have to visit your state’s Secretary of State’s office. They will give the records to you in a sealed envelope that you should not open.
  • At least one and preferably three years’ worth of original, signed grade cards/report cards.
  • Passport-sized photos of your child.

Not necessary but helpful:

  • Letters from the school principal, a teacher or two, a Scout leader, minister or community leader, recommending your child. While these are not required, they smooth the way to help you get into the best school, and can help ensure a quicker SEP (Board of Education) registration as well.
  • Copies of any awards the child has received.

Uniforms
Most schools in Mexico require that the children wear uniforms, even from pre-primary. Usually there are at least two and fairly often three different uniforms you will need to purchase. Uniforms include shoes and often specify the color of socks and belt. There is the everyday uniform, most often a logoed polo shirt and slacks with black leather shoes for boys, and a polo and skirt or jumper with black leather shoes for girls. There is also usually a “deporte” or PE uniform, most often shorts, logoed t-shirt, and white sports shoes, but often also including a sweat suit with logoed jacket and pants. Finally, many schools have the dress uniform or “gala,” which for boys includes a tie.

In addition to uniforms, most schools also have a dress code including requirements on length of dresses/skirts, length of hair, etc.

Adjusting to School and Life Here
Your children’s experiences will of course be different than ours, but I’ll explain our son’s experience adjusting. We moved as he was entering middle school (secundaria), seventh grade. We purposefully moved then, before he was much older, because we believed it would be harder to move as friendships solidified in junior high and high school. Moving as we did seemed to be perfect timing. Our son was changing schools from elementary to middle school anyway; he just changed countries of residence and language of instruction, too.

Language
We knew Spanish would be a big hurdle. We very much wanted our son to become bilingual. Therefore, before we moved we had a tutor come in to our home twice a week for a year to help our son learn Spanish. His school also taught Spanish twice a week, k-6 (but unfortunately the kids could still barely count and say “hello how are you”). At the end of the year of tutoring, he still didn’t speak Spanish, but the experience he gained and the familiarity with the basics of the language were invaluable.

Once we arrived, we again hired a tutor to help him with Spanish, homework and test prep for about the first 4-5 months. This got expensive and oh-so-time-consuming, but it was invaluable. He learned little by little, and about the time we were all starting to go crazy because the homework load felt so heavy and there was no light at the end of the tunnel, he went to bed one night and woke up the next morning understanding Spanish. Honestly, I don’t know how else to explain it. He had a steady learning curve with the language until one day, boom, the light switch flipped on and he could understand. I’m guessing something similar will happen for your child as well. I wish it would happen that way for us!

Friends
From the first day of school our son felt very comfortable and welcomed by the other kids and by the teachers. He of course felt completely lost because of his lack of language comprehension, but he did not experience exclusion, bullying, or anything like that. He was invited to parties (he often didn’t realize he was being invited, or he wouldn’t understand who/where/when, but he was invited) and gatherings. People here tend to be inclusive and very friendly. Though of course there are jerks everywhere! Our son likes his alone time, so with the stress of acculturation the first year, he chose not to socialize a whole lot. This worried us a bit. We feel that the second year has been a lot better. He’s much more relaxed, and is attending at least two parties or outings each week.

Another great thing we did was to have our son continue with Scouts. He was a Boy Scout in the US, and he was interested in continuing here. Here in Mazatlán there are four troops, and those troops include both boys and girls from k or 1st through about 23 years old. It is an absolutely terrific experience. They meet in the city park each Saturday afternoon, they get a lot of exercise, release a lot of energy, learn a bunch, and these kids truly love and care for each other. They also go hiking, biking and camping, and do some out-of-state regional or national Scout activities several times a year. It was very fortunate for us to have a second group of friends for our son to bond with.

On our one-year anniversary living here, our son said that moving to Mazatlán was the best decision of our lives. He loves it here. He has a terrific lifestyle on the beach, he’s getting a sound education, he has terrific friends with good values, and teachers, neighbors and friends who care about his welfare. We are blessed.

As far as adjusting goes, it tended in our experience to be the little things that would trip us up. For example, in the beginning you don’t know where to buy school supplies. The notebooks we ended up buying were too small, and one of the teachers told Danny to go to a papelería and have them stitch two notebooks together into one! And, surprisingly to us, they did this for us! We were also told we had to have the notebooks laminated. We procrastinated for quite some time, figuring it was one detail we could blow off and not bother with in our very busy setting-in schedule. But, no, it seemed to be a highly important requirement. Live and learn.

US Schools vs. Mazatlán Schools
In the US our son went to a public school, a very good one. The school here is much smaller than what had at home. The homework load is about the same—a couple of hours a night. This feels MUCH heavier in the beginning, when everything needs to be translated. The kids here wear uniforms to school, which includes a dress shirt and tie on Mondays, and leather dress shoes with slacks and polo every day except gym day. Hair is kept short. Cell phones are not allowed.

Our son’s friends in middle school in the US study 6 subjects, at least two of which are electives. Our son has no electives and 13 different classes: Spanish, math, history (last year geography), civics and ethics, PE, technology, theater, home room, religion, critical thinking, English and science (last year biology, this year physics), and social participation. In addition, he also has a social participation activity once a month on Saturday morning, an outreach program in which the students do some good for the community around them.

We feel that the caliber of the basic classes is not as strong as what he had in the US. The math is at a lower level than we were used to, for example. But it’s still strong, and he went to a very good school in the US. The thing we love about the school here is the breadth of subjects that are studied. There is also a good depth of subjects, including, last year, how to be a good citizen of the community! We are very happy with the values-based education he is obtaining here.

The school year in the States is usually based on two semesters, four quarters. Here they have five “blocks.” The school year here starts in mid-August, and goes through early to mid-July. The length of the school year was a big surprise to us. We expected to have more time during the summer vacation to visit family north of the border. We did find last year that classes often end in late June. There are a couple of semi-“dead” weeks, when kids come to school or not, and there are lots of group activities. Then, in early July, there are awards ceremonies, graduation, and final grades handed out. For those of us eager to get out to visit grandparents and cousins, the end of the year finds us chomping at the bit. Our son, however, looks forward to this low-key time with his friends.

Grades are given each month, and a formal report card is given each block. In the States, grades tend to be A, B, C, D and F. Here the grades tend to be 1-10, with 10 being the high score. In our school 7 or below is unacceptable and considered failure.  It seems to us a much narrower scale than we are used to. Grades for a given class or grade level seem to cluster heavily in the 8s and 9s, with a difference of only a hundredth or perhaps a tenth of a point to distinguish the top in the class from the bottom.

One of the realities that we really dislike here is the constant testing. Sometimes we feel they spend as much time preparing for and taking tests as they do learning anything! The board of education (national and state) requires bi-monthly testing, to ensure that students are meeting minimum standards. While this is no doubt a great thing, the problem we see is that most private schools (or no doubt good public schools) are way beyond those minimum requirements. This then begets a double system of testing. One month the kids do 3-4 days of SEP (board of education) testing. The next month they are tested on the more advanced material that the school is actually teaching them. It’s sort of like keeping two sets of financial records. Our son found this very confusing and difficult to get used to, but now we’ve got it down.

Another interesting phenomenon here is the emphasis on group work. We have been told that the national government has instructed the schools to teach Mexicans to be more collaborative, to work better in teams. Thus, the board of education requires (we have heard) that a certain amount of work be done, not individually, but by small groups (3-7 kids in our case). We were excited about this, and we still enjoy it. But it is definitely logistically challenging. As one might expect, some kids tend to do all the work and others not much; some kids always show up for group meetings and others don’t; large projects tend to be left till the last minute and then panic sets in; kids love to get together and play and school work is the last thing they want to do; etc. As parents we have really appreciated the chance to host the kids’ group meetings in our home, as it allows us to get to know the kids better. It’s just that, in our experience, there is a lot of it.

The PTA was a big deal in our school in the US. In our experience thus far, it is not so important here. I am a “room mother” this year. The duties seem to entail opening official test packages on occasion (requires parental supervision) and conducting the school carnival/fund raiser. We do not feel nearly as connected to the school here as we did in the US. Part of that of course is the difference between primary school and junior high, but in the States it seemed like we were always at a school event. Here we have the school carnival, sports games, and the occasional play or poetry reading, but nothing near the parental attendance and socializing that we were used to NOB.

It is worth noting that many schools here do not have a school library. Those that do frequently have a very small library that is very rarely used. A school library does not seem to be the resource here that it is in the US. Most of the kids here seem to eat school lunch, which is a la carte, at least at our school, and reasonable in cost. Food ranges from tortas (sandwiches) to sushi, raw veggies and burritos or molletes (beans on bread with melted cheese). Our eighth grader attends school from 6:50 am to 2:30 pm, and during the school day he has two recesses/lunch breaks.

A final difference that comes to mind is the ritual of the drop off and the pick up. This can be a major social activity for the Moms, depending on the school, and it can be a major pain in the butt traffic- and time-wise. We have found it MUCH easier to use the school-provided (but expensive) bus transportation, which picks our son up right at our front door, and drops him off there as well. It was pretty funny when we first came to town. Since we live five minutes from school, we asked if our son could ride his bicycle to school. The administrators were horrified we’d even consider such a dangerous activity!

Extracurricular Activities
Our school has quite a broad selection of after-school activities, as do most of the private schools and some of the public ones. This is definitely a good question to ask.

Most schools have after-school asesorías or tutoring in the core subjects (science, math). There are usually several sports teams or clubs (futbol/soccer, volleyball, cheerleading, and gymnastics at our school), and some arts clubs as well (theater, music, choir, guitar).

In addition to the school-affiliated activities, most towns and cities have private sports leagues and clubs, art and music institutes, language schools, and country-club facilities (golf, tennis, swimming).

Providing your children access to another culture and language are invaluable gifts. We highly encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity, and to do so as thoughtfully as possible. Remember that transitions are delicate times, and can be trying for all family members; be gentle with yourselves.

Links to Some Well-Known Schools in Mazatlán
A complete list
Colegio Andes
Anglo Moderno
ICO (Instituto Cultural del Occidente)
Tec Milenio (prepa)
Instituto Británico

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This post was part of the #MyGlobalLife Link-Up

Who Is This Guy? Jesús Malverde, Patron Saint of the Drug Lords

In the nearly two years we have lived in Mazatlán, I’ve become accustomed to seeing political candidates’ names and faces everywhere—posters, billboards, t-shirts, bumper stickers. So, quite innocently some months ago, I asked a local friend who this “Malverde” is that I keep seeing in decals on trucks and in windows of homes. Was he a new candidate for city council, or someone to give the mayor a run for his money?

“He’s the patron saint of the drug lords,” was the response I heard. What??? Drug lords have a patron saint? And people driving around town are stupid enough to advertise their patron saint on their trucks and in the windows of their homes??!! Isn’t that a bit of an obvious clue for police?

“He’s like Robin Hood. He robs from the rich and gives to the poor. There are shrines to him all over the country. I think he was real, but he may be a legend. People sing songs to him. He has a saint’s day.”

Huh??!! As in, the Catholic church sainted the guy? No, of course not, but some people worship him as if he had been canonized. Robin Hood? I know that in many of the poor mountain areas of Mexico, drug lords are seen as the protectors of the local population; they do good deeds, support widows and families, pay teachers or doctors and are, in turn, protected by their communities. It’s part of what makes fighting the drug war so difficult.

In doing a bit of research, I learned that Jesús Malverde, the “narco saint” or “angel of the poor,” is known as the Rey Guey de Sinaloa. Meaning, he originates from my home state! There is no evidence proving he actually existed, though word on the street says he was a bandit who was born in 1870 and died May 3, 1909 (May 3 is his “saint’s day”). Some versions of the legend say that Sinaloan Governor Francisco Cañedo, a good friend of Porfirio Díaz, had put a bounty on Malverde. The first shrine to Malverde is in Culiacán, our state capital, and it is in that chapel, legend says, that his bones are buried.

Jesús Malverde is seen as the patron saint of lost causes, similar to Saint Judas Tadeo or the Sacred Heart. Quite a few miracles, including lives saved, have been attributed to him. While originally revered by those involved in illicit activities, particularly drug trafficking, today prayers to Malverde are said by those who are poor, imprisoned, sick, or hungry, and by illegal immigrants. It is said that if you give your problems to Malverde, they will be resolved. He is said to be particularly popular among women without means, those who have been abandoned or widowed, pregnant or with children but no income. Thus, today, he’s much more than the patron saint of the drug lords; he’s a patron saint for a society in crisis.

Malverde has various shrines along the drug routes from Cali, Colombia through Mexico (DF, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Sonora…) and into California, USA. He has three movies to his credit, quite a few narcocorridos (songs) dedicated to him, various prayers or novenas, at least one novel, a stage play, and even a beer that’s named in his honor! You can buy scapularies, decals, stickers, candles, busts and statues…all sorts of products with the Malverde image. I guess it’s just me that had never heard of him.

A couple of the prayers:
  • Hoy ante tu cruz postrado, ¡oh, Malverde!, mi señor, te pido misericordia y que alivies mi dolor. My rough translation: “Today kneeling before your cross, oh Malverde, my saint, I ask for your mercy and for you to alleviate my pain.”
  • ¡Hay Malverde! Ataron tus manos y dejaron colgado tu cuerpo, pero no ataron tu ánima y no pudieron destruir la fe en ti. Así como has sobrevivido a todo, haz que yo sobreviva y que nada pueda atar mis manos, ni mi cuerpo, ni mi espíritu. Haz que yo salga venturoso. My rough translation: “Oh, Malverde! They tied your hands and they hung your body, but they could not bind your soul nor could they destroy my faith in you. Just as you have survived everything, help me to survive, so that nothing can tie my hands, nor my body, nor my spirit. Make me come through adventurous.”
Some of the narcocorridos:

The police in Mexico have a museum on narcotrafficking, that they use to train officers. This is a link to an article in the Noroeste newspaper.

And finally, here is a link to an insightful article on the Mexican drug war.

UPDATES to this post, 4 December 2011:

  1. A new movie about Malverde is currently filming in Álamos, Sonora. Titled Yerba Mala, it is being made by Corazón Films.
  2. Quite a few politicians and government agencies in Mexico have attempted to ban, and have urged musicians to stop making narcocorridos, recognizing that these songs lead to the romanticization of a destructive culture.

Whale Watching

We went whale watching today, one of our Christmas gifts to each other. It was an INCREDIBLE day!!!!

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We were told we’d go out 3-5 miles to see the whales, but we were barely on the outer edge of the bay when we saw two whales:

All of a sudden there were three:

Before we knew it there were four…

We’d be with a pod of whales, and then we’d see another off to the right, and yet another off to the left. We were surrounded by humpbacks! We were told humpbacks often travel alone, or maybe in twos (most often 2 males or a male and female), but we were so fortunate today and saw several groups. By the end of the day, we way lost count of how many whales we saw.
Below is some video that Greg took of the whales, to give you an idea of 45 seconds of our day. It starts out a bit blurry but gets much better. Or,  click here to view the video in higher def.

Oscar and Belen from Onca Exploraciones RoCK!!! If you haven’t gone out with them yet, you definitely need to. I have gone whale watching about eight times in my life, I’ve seen much bigger whales (blue whales vs. humpbacks, for example), and Danny and I even spent ten days at a marine biology camp, but this was really special. The boat, Oscar, and Belen are pictured below (Belen is in the middle in the photo on the right; Oscar’s photo is blurry because he’s always moving and speaks with passion—surely no photographer error, lol):



Oscar and Belen are both marine biologists. Oscar is working on his PhD research, a project to photo-ID the whales that frequent the waters of Mazatlán. Amazingly, to date this has not been done. Over the past three years, Oscar has photo-identified 174 different whales. Like human fingerprints, whales have unique visual identifiers, often the underside of their tail fins, sometimes also the scars they bear, and this is what they track. I post a couple of photos of flukes below, so you can see the uniqueness, as well as a close-up of some scarring, to give you an idea of how they ID the whales. Oscar, if I’m wrong about this, let me know and I’ll correct this wording. Below you can see:

  1. The first tail has white spots all along the edge.
  2. The second has barnacles or something stuck to the edge of the tail.
  3. The third has specks of white on the outside, becoming more fully white in the center underside of the tail.
  4. The fourth has white on either side, but a black triangle in the center underside of its tail.
  5. The last photo below shows some typical scarring, which can also help identify the whales.




So, anyway, their goal is to take photos of the whales and give each of them a name or identification, so that they can then be tracked and their patterns learned. The good thing for us is we get to ride along. It is a small boat—maximum six passengers, so we were able to get very close to the whales. We were able to get so close that we felt we could almost reach out and touch the gorgeous creatures. Danny and our neighbor Brian wanted to jump out of the boat and swim with the cetaceans.

 

 

 

 

 

Oscar gave us a pre-trip briefing on whales, particularly humpbacks. We learned a lot both before departure and during the cruise. For example, humpbacks are balleen whales. There are three main northern Pacific groups: those that migrate from the Arctic to Japan, those that go from Alaska to Hawaii, and the whales we see here, that migrate along the coast of North America. The humpbacks have striations on their stomachs, the wrinkles we have all seen in pictures. We learned these are like stretch marks (my analogy :)), so that the whales’ stomachs can stretch out when they suck in a bunch of plankton and water, and so that the stomachs resize themselves to normal when the whales push out all that extra water. We learned that when the humpbacks are up north, in the summer, they eat and eat and eat, storing up blubber. Then, when they come south, they don’t eat for four months or more! Down south here is their breeding ground, where they have their babies. The adult males are busy showing off for the adult females, since there seem to be MANY more males than females, and great demand to win the honor of partnering with a lady whale. The men sing to attract the women; the longer the song, the stronger his lungs. The men also fight to attract the women, or at least to establish their ranking in the whale hierarchy and be the first in line to collect their winnings… We saw whales thrashing around a lot. Typical me, I delighted in the fact that they were playing. No, Oscar told me, they are actually fighting with each other–hitting one another with their fins, and we even saw some jumping on top of one another as if they were wrestling. A slide show is below:

Whales Fighting

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Today was the first day of Christmas break, so of course Danny was NOT excited when he had to wake up for a 7:30 am rendezvous in the marina:

But, after a few whales, here’s what the teenager had to say about the day:

The thing that made this trip so different for me was the SOUND. It is quiet out there, with the motor off and only a few people on board the boat. If you’ve been out in a sailboat, you know the feeling. But, when you are in the midst of so many whales, what you hear is silence plus, suddenly, the whales breeching, or blowing; you can even hear them breathing…. it is sooooo beautiful! The first photo below you can see a whale’s blowhole, on the whale on the left. The second photo below shows a humpback’s head.

 
National Geographic Traveler highlighted whale watching in Mazatlán as one of the great adventures on our planet. 🙂

 

Whales Diving

Finally, let me conclude this blog post with one last slideshow, of a humpback taking a dive. Merry Christmas and happy new year!

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The Posada

It’s posada season in Mazatlán! Everyone you talk to is a bit bleary-eyed from all the partying going on this time of year. “Posada” is a term for parties traditionally held during the nine nights just prior to Christmas: December 16 through 24. A posada can be a private party held in a family home, but it is more typically a street or block party or an end-of-the-year celebration for company employees or club members. If you didn’t attend a posada last night, you no doubt heard the banda music from the party down the street, well into the early hours of the morning. The badge of honor is to be able to brag that you partied till 4:00 or 5:00 am—desvelarse or stay up till morning. Yes, even if, like me, you are nearly fifty, or if you are seventy, or older. Posadas have no age limit.

Music and Food

A typical posada has music, of course, preferably live music. There may be dancing, and partygoers often sing villancicos or carols. Typical posada dishes include tamales, buñuelos, pozole, colación (candy mix), and atole or ponche. Ponche is made from seasonal fruits like tejocote, guava, plum, mandarin, orange, or prune, sweetened with piloncillo (a brown sugar) and perfumed with cinnamon sticks or vanilla. Some piquete (sting) may be added for grownups—a bit of rum or tequila—to make the ponche “happier.”

Piñata

Children at a posada enjoy breaking open a piñata in the shape of a seven-pointed star. It is said the piñata originated in China as a springtime festival treat. Marco Polo transported the idea to Italy, where piñatas came to represent the triumph of good over evil. The seven points of a traditional Mexican Christmas piñata represent the capital sins, and the stick that the children use to break open the piñata represents the power of faith to overcome those sins. The people watching the child with the stick, hitting the piñata, sing this song:

Dale, dale, dale,
 no pierdas el tino;
porque si lo pierdes,
 pierdes el camino.

In English:
Hit it, hit it, hit it, 
don’t lose aim;
because if you lose it, 
you will lose your way.

The Pastorela

Traditionally a posada also includes a pastorela, a procession commemorating Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem for the census. As the Bible tells us, they searched everywhere for lodging and were turned away, there being no room at any inn. Sometimes a boy and a girl dress as Mary and Joseph, and Mary may even ride a burro. In some pastorelas you may see shepherds, cows, kings—it can be an entire Christmas pageant.

More typically, however, the guests at a posada carry candles, and they parade from house to house along a street or block. One person or several carry a nacimiento or manger scene. Some members of the posada group stand outside, and some stand inside the gate of each house. The people standing outside, carrying the nacimiento, ask for lodging, usually using the song or chant below. The people standing inside the house gates turn them down, again following the chant or song below. This pattern is repeated at each house on the block: the Holy Family and group outside plead for lodging, and the group inside the house turns them down in a threatening manner. It’s a sad and moving scene. Below is the song:

Español
English
Outside Singers
Inside Response
Outside Singers
Inside Response
En el nombre del cielo
os pido posada, pues no puede andar mi esposa amada.
Aquí no es mesón,
sigan adelante. Yo no debo abrir, no sea algún tunante.
In the name of Heaven I beg you for lodging, for she cannot walk, my beloved wife.
This is not an inn, so keep going. I cannot open; you may be a rogue.
No seas inhumano,
tennos caridad, que el Dios de los cielos te lo premiará.
Ya se pueden ir y no molestar porque si me enfado os voy a apalear.
Don’t be inhuman;
Have mercy on us.
The God of the heavens will reward you for it.
You can go on now and don’t bother us, because if I become annoyed I’ll give you a thrashing.
Venimos rendidos desde Nazaret, yo soy carpintero de nombre José.
No me importa el nombre, déjenme dormir, pues que yo les digo que nos hemos de abrir.
We are worn out coming from Nazareth. I am a carpenter, Joseph by name.
I don’t care about your name. Let me sleep, because I already told you, we shall not open up.
Posada te pide,
amado casero,
por sólo una noche
la Reina del Cielo.
Pues si es una reina
quien lo solicita,
¿cómo es que de noche anda tan solita?
I’m asking you for lodging dear man of the house. Just for one night for the Queen of Heaven.
Well, if it’s a queen who solicits it, why is it at night that she travels so alone?
Mi esposa es María,
es Reina del Cielo y madre va a ser del Divino Verbo.
¿Eres ú José? ¿Tu esposa es María? Entren, peregrinos,
no los conocía.
My wife is Mary
She’s the Queen of Heaven and she’s going to be the mother of the Divine Word.
Are you Joseph?
Your wife is Mary?
Enter, pilgrims;
I did not recognize you.
Dios pague, señores,
vuestra caridad, y que os colme el cielo de felicidad.
¡Dichosa la casa
que alberga este día
a la Viren pura, la hermosa María!
May God pay, gentle folks, your charity, and thus heaven heap happiness upon you.
Blessed is the house that shelters this day the pure Virgin, the beautiful Mary.
Finally, at the last home, the owner of the house throws open the gates and joyously welcomes in the Holy Family. Upon opening the doors at the final stop, the tune changes, the pilgrims enter, and all sing these final verses in unison:
Entren, Santos Peregrinos, reciban este rincón, que aunque es pobre la morada,
os la doy de corazón.
Enter, holy pilgrims, receive this corner,
for though this dwelling is poor, I offer it with all my heart.
Oh, peregrina agraciada, oh, bellísima María. Yo te ofrezco el alma mía para que tengáis posada.
Oh, graced pilgrim, oh, most beautiful Mary. I offer you my soul so you may have lodging.
Humildes peregrinos Jesús, María y José,
el alma doy por ellos, mi corazón también.
Humble pilgrims, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I give my soul for them and my heart as well.
Cantemos con alegría todos al considerar
que Jesús, José y María nos vinieron a honrar.
Let us sing with joy, all bearing in mind
that Jesus, Joseph and Mary honor us by having come.
To conclude the pastorela the guests often sing “Ave María” and perhaps “El Rorro” (Babe in Arms).
Flores de Noche Buena/Poinsettias
 
Poinsettias are native to México, and their name in Spanish means “Flowers of the Holy Night.” Its name in English comes from the last name of the American man who popularized the shrub. It is a very typical Christmas gift as well as a decoration here in Mexico.

There is an interesting legend surrounding the poinsettia. A young child, Pepita (the child is variously a boy or a girl and with varying names depending on the storyteller), is heading to church on Christmas Eve. Pepita’s heart is filled with sadness; she very much wants to give the Christ Child a gift, but she is poor and has nothing to give. The child’s cousin, Pedro (or variously her mother, friend, or brother, again depending on the storyteller), tells Pepita that even the most humble gift when given in love will make Jesus happy. Pepita kneels down by the side of the road, her heart full of love, and gathers a bouquet of weeds. When Pepita places her weed bouquet beside the baby Jesus in the church, miraculously the weeds burst into blooms with bright red, star-shaped petals and brilliant yellow centers.