Tag Archives: expatriate life

Mayor Felton Thanks Expat Community

Yesterday morning during a groundbreaking ceremony in the Plazuela Machado, Mayor Carlos Felton spent a significant amount of time thanking YOU, Mazatlán’s foreign resident community, for the investment and contributions you have made and continue to make in the city. He held us up as an example of how to actively engage in civic life, noting how many of us have made efforts that have transformed Mazatlán into a better place for all to live. He spoke about how foreign residents were some of the first, and most vocal, to defend Mazatlán during the years of violence and economic downturn, and how foreign investment has helped to restore many historic homes. He told a story of one expat who, during the city elections, knew all about the issues, and he also spoke at length about our friend Janet Blaser’s most recent editorial in M! Magazine about recent city improvements. Here’s a short video of his speech:

Glen Rogers, local artist and community leader, announced her plans to donate the design for a piece of interactive public art for the Plazuela Machado. Her design is a four-sided bronze chair with a 10-foot-tall back, decorated with cutouts of local flora and fauna. The Mayor said that they will begin looking for sponsors for the art project in the new year. Glen is the woman who started the very successful Art Walk/Camino del Arte ten years ago. In its first decade the Art Walk has grown to not only showcase a broad spectrum of local artistic talent, but also has become a monthly boon to downtown restaurants and cafés. Here’s a short video of Glen talking about her new piece:

 

Glen Sorrie, owner of Casa de Leyendas B&B, was also on hand and spoke of his and his wife’s experience moving here and opening their business. Mazatlán has a long history of foreign residents and investment; heck, the city was in large part founded by European, North American and Asia-Pacific immigrants during the gold rush days! We are blessed to live in a city in which foreign immigrants have historically been not only welcomed but embraced, and this heritage gratefully continues.

The event this morning was actually a press conference and groundbreaking ceremony (banderazo or flag waving in Spanish) for the rehabilitation of the Plazuela Machado, led by Alfredo Gomez Rubio, owner of Pedro and Lola restaurant and a key leader of the restoration of our Centro Histórico. I believe we all recall that some upgrades to the Plazuela just happened. We all know there are other areas of the city, including the main Pino Suarez Market, that could much use renovation. But, hey, we’ve got palm trees on the malecón, plans for an expanded city park that includes a major art museum (thank you, Neto Coppel), and soon, a new Carpa Olivera outdoor pool in Olas Altas. Refreshing the Plazuela is definitely a good thing for our city’s image.

Click on any image below to view it larger or see it as a slideshow.

Glen Rogers, artists
Mayor Felton with Glen Rogers’ design
Glen Sorrie of La Casa de Leyendas
The Banderazo/groundbreaking
Drawing of the planned art installation
Drawing of the planned art installation
Drawing of the planned art installation
Glen with her drawings
Alfredo with Emery and Greg

 

Have You Got Your Laugh On?

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Laughing is good for your health; there are loads of studies showing that. Do you get enough laughter in your life? One of our own local expats, Cheryl Gaudet, singer and guitarist extraordinaire, is looking out for us. Soon, everyone in Mazatlán will be able to easily and enjoyably improve our health with loads of laughter therapy at the new Mazatlán Comedy Club (MCC).

Nationally recognized comedians from the US will be joining us for five all-English shows, one Sunday each month, November through March. The comedians have all been on primetime TV and have played some of the best clubs in the world. Many of them have multiple albums. Each show includes performances by two comedians.

Doors open at 5:30 so that the show can begin at 7:00 pm. Get there early to eat, so you don’t choke while you’re laughing at the show! Each 500 peso ticket gets you a buffet dinner, OPEN bar, parking and the double-headliner performances. What a deal!

The shows will be “clean,” family-friendly, and will take place at the gorgeous Venados Showroom in the Hotel Playa. Tickets can be purchased at the concierge’s desk in the lobby of the Hotel Playa. The venue seats 350 people, at tables set up for anywhere from 1 to 15 people. You can choose your seats on a chart at the concierge desk, and you can reserve a table for your family and friends. Get all your mates together and enjoy a night of fun! There is also balcony seating. Please note that only cash is accepted.

We bought our tickets a couple of weeks ago, and today I sat down with Cheryl to see if I could get some of the inside scoop. I learned that she has always led a double life, and a very interesting one at that. This is what she had to say.

Here’s the schedule for this season:

When you go, remember to bring non-perishable food items to donate to Friends of Mexico, who will get it out to those who need it. I’m proud to learn that Cheryl continues her lifelong passion for inclusivity and community outreach by partnering with FOM in this way. We hope the Mazatlán Comedy Club will be laughing its way into our hearts and to success!

Touring the Cuauhtémoc

Our mermaid and the Cuauhtémoc

Our mermaid and the Cuauhtémoc

Earlier I shared with you our photos of the Cuauhtémoc’s arrival in Mazatlán, as the cadets and staff stood on the spars of the three-masted barque, singing the anthem. It was a once in a lifetime experience, for sure! Many of you seemed to think they were just standing up there, but we could tell they were fastened on in some way. As we toured the ship yesterday, some of the staff members demonstrated the harnesses they use to climb up into the rigging. They also told us some of the favorite ports of call they’ve had, and whether we’ll be able to see the Cuauhtémoc with its sails up. See the video below.

The captain of the Cuauhtémoc is Juan Carlos Vera Minjares. The ship is traveling with 254 people on board, including 69 fifth-year cadets who will receive degrees in Naval Science Engineering. 19 of the cadets are women!!! Woot woot! I most unfortunately did not meet any female cadets, or you’d be hearing from her. 😉 We were also told that on Sunday 4300 people toured the vessel.

Upon boarding the Cuauhtémoc, the first thing that struck us is just how many thousands of kilograms of rope this Class A tall ship uses! Rope, rope, everywhere rope! Officially called cordage, we saw everything from thick halyards (used to raise heavy yards) to thin, smooth, flexible sheets (used to control the orientation of a sail). We even saw rope tied around steel cable. The rigging looked incredibly complicated and intricately woven. And, of course, we saw impressive knots as well. Click on any photo to view it larger or see a slideshow.

Second to the quantity of rope everywhere, we were impressed with the beauty of the wood on the Cuauhtémoc. The deck itself was gorgeous, most of the pulleys we saw to help hoist that rope were made of wood, but also the stairways of the ship, the lifeboats, seating areas and doors were all wooden. After leaving Mazatlán the ship is headed to an astillero in Acapulco for repairs and refinishing, but it looked in fine shape to us.

What would a historic replica barque like this be without brass? Lights, portholes, binnacles, telegraphs, cleats, bells, propellers… all shined to a brilliance. There were even brass plates on the deck where heavy equipment is serviced, so that it doesn’t scratch the wood decking.

Binnacle (compass)
Telegraph

One very interesting bit of trivia that we learned is that the Cuauhtémoc sports a unique innovation: tercudos, or handwoven yellow “fluffy things” that cushion the rigging to protect the sails from damage. A cadet told us that when they are punished for misbehavior, they are often ordered to make tercudos.

As with any community, part of what makes the Cuauhtémoc so special is its crew. Everyone we talked with during our tour of the vessel was outgoing and friendly, ready to tell us stories and answer our questions. We learned that the staff (tripulación) wear blue and white striped shirts, and the cadets, the day we visited at least, were in white uniforms. They all seem to enjoy purchasing gifts for family and friends as they travel, but the huge challenge is where to store the gifts, as they only have very skinny tall lockers into which to cram their loot. The cadets sail on the Cuauhtémoc in their final, fifth year at the Naval Academy. Most of the staff are older and have family at home, and have made multiple journeys: Istanbul, Barcelona, Tokyo, Shanghai, Alexandria, Ukraine, Venezuela…

Because this ship is so special, even the signage and trademarks are very cool. See below.

Because it is such an old-fashioned ship, I converted a few of our pictures to black and white. I like how they turned out; I hope you’ll enjoy them.

I guess the photographic opportunities of this gorgeous vessel have seduced me, because we drove over to the port again today at sunset, just to see if we could get some shots with the colored sky and, closer up of the lights at night. The sky, unfortunately, didn’t cooperate so well—not one of those over-the-top sunsets that we are so frequently blessed with.

Thank you for reading and watching along with me! I sure have enjoyed the Cuauhtémoc’s visit. Thank you to all the staff and cadets who helped us learn and kindly showed us how things worked!

Día de los Muertos, Mazatlán 2014

La Pareja: Together in life and death

La Pareja: Together in life and death

What a welcome home! The callejoneada (alley parade) this year for Day of the Dead in Mazatlán was the best ever, if I dare say so! It was a perfect evening weather-wise: clear skies highlighted by a gorgeous crescent moon, and warm weather that was cool enough for comfort. More people and especially more complete families participated, more dressed up, the beer flowed more freely and was better organized, and the main costumed characters were spectacular!

This year’s event was a tribute to Maestro Rigo Lewis, the long-time creator of our unbelievably gorgeous Carnavál carrozas/floats, so the callejoneada for Day of the Dead had a Carnavalesque air to it this year; it was a beautiful fusion of two local traditions for which Mazatlán has international fame. Kudos and thanks to CULTURA and to the Centro Municipal de Arte staff and students! By the way, I’ve been told we will STILL this year AND next year in the Carnavál parade will have carrozas designed by Maestro Rigo! His legacy lives on, thanks to his hard work and passion.

Click on any of the images below to see it larger or to view a slideshow.

I loved how this Katrina had so many faces, thanks to Carnaval/DOD masks.
Ghostly revelers; I really enjoyed this fortuitous pic!
So young and gorgeous…pirates die, too.
Dancers can die young as well…. Such a festive celebration of our ancestors and departed friends this year.
The wee ones are always the cutest, particularly this sister and brother enjoying dinner at La Tramoya.
Mazatlecos! The main reason most of us so love it here! THIS is joie de vivre!
The free beer was given out from five different carts this year, and refilled a few times over the route. This year pitchers were used rather than everyone waiting for the tap.
Mother and daughter beauties.
Spinning fire dancers
More ghostly revelers, due to the rapid movement and the low light. I personally love it!
We had one very scary katrina this year!
Handsome lads to be departing this world so young
Maestro Rigos photo crowned this former Carnavál queen
Closeup of the tribute to Maestro Rigo Lewis.
This aerial of the crowd from CULTURA
The setting, our gorgeous architecture, is such the star of Day of the Dead
Jesters apparently retain their sense of humor in the afterlife.

I am sorry to have been so long away from this page, but after seven years it was wonderful to reconnect this summer with family and friends north of the border in a lengthier, more meaningful way. We were able to celebrate my aunt’s 80th birthday, be with my sister-cousin through surgery, and settle Danny into his dorm room and college life. For that I am ever grateful! Plus I had a month of work in Europe, where I met incredible people and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Of course we missed home, and our friends and family here, terribly.

Saturday night felt like our personal welcome home party, as we hugged loved ones everywhere we went. Funniest, to me, was how often I had to ask, “Who are you?” as the costumes were so excellent that they disguised identities quite effectively!

Apparently you can, indeed, take it with you to the grave!
Lovely people and gorgeous setting!
The hat, the parasol, gloves, dress and makeup were incredibly sophisticated.
So hard to have fun, you know… 😉
Great photo opps for posing our friends
As usual, some of the makeup was just unbelievably detailed, with full costumes to match!
Groups of good friends having makeup parties and then enjoying the night’s festivities
Every year a different costume and makeup, all gorgeous
Soon good to reconnect with good friends!
Smiles, smiles and more smiles. The warmth of this town is infectious.

I can’t imagine not dancing in the parade with the live music, if one is able to do so, as it is just so much fun! There are, however, many people who line the route to watch and enjoy, as well as those who camp out at front-row-seats in bars and restaurants to watch the parade pass by.

Terrific live music
The moon over the stilt-walkers
Even the beer servers were made up this year
Dad and daughter
The moon again
Life in the Plaza Machado after the callejoneada was a sight to behold as well. I unfortunately can’t tell you anything about the event inside the theater, as though we waited in line at the Machado for about 90 minutes to get tickets, they ran out long before it was our turn.
We met one woman who was here in town to celebrate her 50th birthday, all the way from Washington DC with two of her best girlfriends. They obviously brought complete Day of the Dead costumes with them for their holiday! We saw store-bought costumes, handmade costumes, traditional and modern versions, and fortunately there were many of us who were still alive and un-costumed to enjoy the rest!
50th birthday girl from DC on the right, her girlfriend on the left
Loved her approach!
Modern costuming makes things much easier!
A modern version of a costume. I need this dress!
Getting in on the fun
My absolute favorite moment of the evening, and there were so many awesome ones to choose from, was as the callejoneada entered the plazuela. Just in front of the theater, a group of young men started cheering loudly, dancing and jumping around. “Güero! “Güero!” they were shouting. As I turned around to see what all the happy commotion was about, I realized they were cheering on my partner, Greg. He was dancing happily, having been soaked with beer head to toe earlier in the evening.
31.DSC_0378Guero!
CULTURA TV is going to stream it’s video of the callejoneada this Wednesday, November 5, at 5:00 pm local time. Be sure to check it out! There are many more aspects of Day of the Dead in Mazatlán; the callenjoneada is just one activity. This blog post can give you a broader idea for your trip. I know my favorites include making an altar to remember my departed family members and friends, as well as remembering them in Mass each year. We hope you’ll join us so we can dance with you all next year!

5 Things Mexicans Say to Avoid the Word “No”

5 Things Mexicans Say to Avoid the Word “No”. Excellent article by Susannah Rigg.