The theater festival this year was wonderful, as usual. We are so blessed with terrific arts in this small city! What really capped it off for me was the “pasacalles,” an ambulatory “theater in the streets.” It was Sunday October 13 at 7:00 pm. starting at the Glorieta Sanchez Taboada and winding its way around to the Machado.
35 students from the Municipal School of the Arts theater workshop participated, along with two terrific singers—Flor Estrada and Jorge Echeagaray, plus a few wonderful dancers. It was directed by Jorge Gorostiza Zatarain.
What a fun event! There was live singing and dancing (“Perfume de gardenia”, “Personalidad”, “Luna lunera” e “Historia de amor” “La Tombola”), dramatic acting, and a really cool “theater-on-feet”—the students held a sheet as they danced, and a projector showed clips of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema onto the white sheet. How creative is that?
Looking at the costumes, you can tell what most of the participants are dressed as, right? Come on…. Label them… (Mouseover a photo to cheat, click on it to enlarge and view slideshow.)
La Araña, La Estrella, y El Sol also
El Katrin
El Valiente
La Mariposa
El Borracho
La Sirena
Help me with this one. El Negrito? El Músico?
Lotería, of course, in this most Mexican of fiestas! Once we entered the Plazuela, Lotería was called, and the “board”—in the center of the street—was filled in with live people. It was great! Once that was complete, four luchadores put on an exciting show. The fight saw “El Santo” and “Blue Demond” against “El hombre lobo” and “Los vampiros.” You can view my 1-1/2 minute video of the event below.
Every year since 1990 (that’s 23 years!), thanks to Yolanda Medina and her entire family plus friends, over 2000 families in the very poorest areas of Mazatlán receive a whole chicken, 10 days’ worth of food, some gently used clothing, toys and candy for the kiddos.
Waiting my turn
This is a truly multinational effort, with loads of locals, foreign residents, snow birds and even tourists joining in. It’s quite magical. It is our favorite event of the year. The joy of being able to bring such joy to people! Won’t you join us or help out? There are options for nearly everyone. Here are a few:
Buy tickets for the fundraiser breakfast on Saturday December 7, 2013, from 8:30 am at the API/cruise ship dock. Your ticket, which costs 150 pesos, will include breakfast, a raffle, and entrance to a Christmas Bazaar and Silent Auction. Tickets are on sale at the Mazatlán Membership Library in the Centro Histórico, as well as at Post-N-Ship in the Golden Zone (across from DHL and Aeromexico, next to Dolce Mami). You can call me at 118-4114, or Jorge Medina, in English, at cell phone number 6691-10-0744, and he’ll get you tickets. Quite a few foreign residents will be selling them as well.
Can’t make the breakfast? Please give a donation! 100% of your money goes to buy food for those in need, as all of us who work on this project are volunteer. People who are out of town asked if they could please donate, so I’ve set up a link on the right of this blog, right under where readers subscribe. Just click on “Donate” and you can do so via PayPal. I know recipients will appreciate your help!
Collect your gently used clothing, toys, and stuffed animals, buy some candy to give the kids, donate used blankets or coats, and bring it by Jorge’s shop, Quince Letras Wrought Iron (corner of Francisco Villa and Tampico, just down the hill from the Church of Cristo Rey /Christ the King church), downtown.
Make items for the Christmas bazaar—craft items, sewn items, canned goods, pies, cakes. 100% of the money collected at the bazaar goes to buy food for those in need.
Donate items for the Silent Auction. Do you own a restaurant or know someone who does? Do you own a spa or frequent one? How about a hairdresser? Do you make stained glass or paint, or…? Please, help us collect items to be sold in the Silent Auction. It’s a great way to promote a local business, and for such a good cause!
Solicit donations of foodstuffs with a shelf life: rice, beans, pasta, canned tuna, tomato puree, vegetable oil, sugar, salt, instant coffee, and cookies are most welcome!
Join Yolanda the week of December 16th, to pack bulk foodstuff into smaller portions, so we can be ready to go on the “big day,” December 24th.
Let us know you have a truck and are game to drive it on December 24th. We (almost) always need more vehicles in which to transport the frozen chickens and food sacks.
Join us on December 24th! That is the day we will meet early in the morning at Quince Letras to assemble ourselves into routes, pack up the items we’ll need for that route, and then drive to the colonias to hand it all out. Show up at 7:00 if it’s your first time; 6:30 if you know the drill.
Want to know more details about this project? Other posts on this blog about Breakfast of the Chickens:
Sometimes routines can be a really good thing. We hike the lighthouse hill, as you know, several times a week. It’s wonderful to see those who also have that routine, and to notice the small, day-to-day and week-to-week changes.
Sunrises are always gorgeous here, and today’s over the harbor was no exception.
Flowers are in full glory right now. The smell is intoxicating, and they are also a definite feast for the eyes. I love how the flowering vines grow over and decorate the cacti, and I especially love watching the shrimp boats just outside the port.
The other day we noticed some young men painting new murals on the walls of Colegio Pacífico on the hill. There was already one there from 2011, but now there are quite a few more.
And, finally, as we worked our way home to start the day’s work, we met up with a march for World Mental Health Day. Marines, nurses, and a whole lot of young people took part in the parade. It was encouraging to see.
And, we’re showered and at our desks by 9:00 am! Thank you, Mazatlán, for all your beauty!
Well, since the SATs (college entrance exam for many schools in the USA) are held in Mazatlán only in the springtime, we drove to Durango this weekend so Danny could take the test. The last two times we drove that route, it took 3 and 3 1/2 hours for us to get from Mazatlán to Durango. This time, on Friday, it took 5 1/2! Granted, it was raining and foggy, and there was a whole lot of truck traffic. But we counted only 18 tunnels and 12 bridges that we crossed. We would swear that more of the new highway was open the last times we went. Perhaps more has closed due to damage from the recent heavy rains?
Needless to say, we arrived on Friday evening much later than we would have preferred, since we had to get up at the crack of dawn to get Danny to the test. But we had a great weekend! Unbeknownst to us, Durango is celebrating its 450th birthday (since summer), and right now is the Festival Cultural Revueltas—music, literature, dancing, theater. The streets were packed and all were having a grand time. While we have seen a lot of folkloric dancing in our day, it was the first time we’d witnessed ballet folkloric danced to banda music! (I post a short video below, if you’d care to see.)
We stayed in a beautiful hotel very near the American School, where the test was held—the Hotel Gobernador. Click on any photo below to enlarge it or view a slideshow.
Hotel Gobernador registration desk
Comfy corner of the lobby
View of the café
Outdoor seating in the café
View of the swimming pool
View of the lobby
Chandelier from underneath
Huge wooden chandeliers in the lobby
While Danny took the test, Greg and I spent a whopping 20 pesos to go round-trip on the teleférico, or gondola, one of four in Mexico. What a gorgeous day we had, and such incredible views! At the top of the route is the Santuario de Nuestra Señora de los Remedios, a beautiful, small, and very old church, dating back to the founding of the city itself (and worship at the site by native Mexicans even earlier). (Click on any photo below to view it larger or view a slideshow.)
Sign for the gondola
Sign for the gondola
Sign for the teleférico
Looking from the gondola
View looking down from the gondola
View looking down from the gondola
View of the city from up top
The teleférico
Nuestra Señora de los Remedios
Crucifix in the sanctuary
Inside the church
Bell tower
View of the city from up top
New cross to be built up top the cerro
On top of the cerro, a hole for the new cross?
View from up top
Kids inside the gondola
Sign for the church
Us up top the hill
At the top of the gondola, a group of folkloric dancers were performing. Many of them were the same dancers that we’d happen to see again that evening in the Plaza de Armas. (Click on any photo below to view it larger or view a slideshow.)
Folkloric dancers
Duck quickly!
Hello, lady!
Folkloric dancers
Acting out a funeral
Acting out a funeral
Acting out a funeral
Ready for action
The smallest dancer
Once Danny was finished with the test, we ate lunch at an incredible restaurant, Esquilón (Hidalgo #411, tel 618-811-1632). The space was awesome, the food was very, very good, and they have loads of private party areas. We highly recommend it. (Click on any photo below to view it larger or view a slideshow.)
Main dining room
Ceiling decorations
The front room
The patio
Patio
Our appetizer
A party room
Upstairs party room
View from upstairs
View from upstairs
Dianne’s lunch
Danny’s lunch
Greg’s lunch
Our dessert
Goofy and the dessert
Private dining room
Us on the patio
As part of the festival there was a handicraft market going on. As always, I was interested in the native peoples. There was a lovely Huichol couple doing beadwork, and several Tepehuanos sewing barbasca de pino/pine needle basketry. While we weren’t able to make it this trip, there is an Artesanías Tepehuana (O’dam) at Tuxpan 227, cel. 618-151-9862 or 618-116-8849. We also learned that there is an Indigenous Art and Culture of Durango Cooperative at Isla Acerralvo 211, cel. 618-171-9661 that sounds well worth visiting. Danny was able to buy a nice birthday gift for his friend, made of animal skin, so he was also quite happy. (Click on any photo below to view it larger or view a slideshow.)
Huichol couple
Huichol couple from the rear
Huichol lady beading
Tepehuano gentleman doing basketry
Tepehuano gentleman doing basketry
Tepehuano gentleman doing basketry
Our favorite part of Durango, always, has been the beautiful architecture. The climate there seems to be so much more forgiving than ours here in Mazatlán, and they light the buildings up so gorgeously at night! It is breathtaking.
An old doorway
Plaza IV Siglo
Church near our hotel
Church near our hotel
Night lighting
Night lighting
Cathedral and main square fountain
Siglo IV at night
Night lighting
Night lighting
Night lighting
Night lighting
Cathedral at night
Night lighting
Cathedral at night
Cathedral at night
Finally, let me share with you some various shots of children playing and other city scenes.
Bicycle
Ready and waiting
Playing in the fountains
Old convent hotel
Door to the old convent hotel
Great cena place!
Cucumber juice and tequila!
Cenando
Night lighting
Night lighting
Once the highway and the Puente Baluarte are truly open, they are predicting that the trip to Durango will take 2 1/2 hours. Even at 4 hours, it is well worth a visit!
One of the most commonly searched out foods in Mazatlan is great ribs. Most of what passes for great ribs in town are not, they are just relatively better than what everyone else has. Well, the bar has just been raised. Oswaldo Cordero opened his new barbecue stand on Saturday Sept. 28. These are meat packed ribs with incredible smokey flavor and a homemade sauce. Oswaldo lived in the Bay Area for over 12 years and is happy to speak English with you. Click through the pictures to learn more, like how to find him!
¡VidaMaz! 