Tag Archives: Sinaloa

Behind the Chamber 2017: Voice On Point

voz-en-punto

I am proud to present to you a series of interviews with Maestro Gordon Campbell in which he gives us a sneak peek of the 2017 Temporada Campbell. The fifth concert in this year’s series will be held on Sunday, February 12, 2017 at noon in the Angela Peralta Theater. Entitled “Voice on Point,” the a cappella performance will feature Mexico’s most internationally recognized vocal ensemble, “Voz en Punto.” Comprised of baritone and director José Galván, sopranos Liliana Montiel and Vanessa Millán, dramatic soprano Sonia Solórzano, and tenors Sergio Quiroz and Luis Martínez, the group has performed with Bobby McFerrin and the King’s Singers and has received numerous international awards.

To hear Maestro Gordon Campbell’s “Behind the Chamber” interview about the performance click on the video below.

The full concert series takes place through March 5, 2017. You can purchase your tickets for specific concerts (300 pesos each) or a series pass (2000 pesos) at the Angela Peralta Theater box office—open 9am-3pm and 5-7pm—or online at CULTURA Mazatlán.

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Support the Camerata
Tax-deductible donations to recover costs of the Camerata and the community chorus are received by the Patronato Philomusica AC, Banco Bajio account number 14166839. Your donation is tax-deductible in Mexico and worldwide. Please help support the high caliber of arts in our community by pledging generously!

To watch other Behind-the-Chamber interviews click here.

Mazatlán’s New Olympic Pool

The largest swimming pools in Mazatlán have been 25 meters long. And they are private: Rex, Montfort… Last month, before Mayor Felton left office, IMDEM (Instituto Municipal de Deporte Mazatlán) inaugurated a new, public, 50 meter Olympic-sized pool. This morning I went to check it out.

The pool is beautiful, heated, and clearly built for lap swimming. There is no zero entry, no lift for special needs, but as of 11 February (updated) there is a ladder, and a second one is due on February 18. The depth of the full length of the pool was very welcome; no shallows to worry about scraping your hands or feet on. Each side has a ledge for standing if you need a rest.

There were 20 or so swimmers at 7:30 this morning, everyone smiling and friendly. It was a very welcoming space, full of people caring for their health.


Rafael Garcia is in charge of the pool. An affable man, he told me he’s instructor, janitor, night watchman…everything right now. He is currently not giving classes, but was highly engaged walking around helping and coaching anyone who wanted advice.

The pool is located on the west side of Ejército Mexicano, just south of UAS (Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa) and Avenida de los Deportes. The entrance is just north of the giant Tecate sign. Initiation fee is 200 pesos, with a monthly 500 peso fee; much more affordable than private options. Bring two photos (infantil-sized) with you when you register. The pool has no shade. Locker rooms, showers, changing rooms and bathrooms should be open within two weeks. The pool opens at 5am Monday-Saturday. It closes from 11-4 Monday-Friday, reopening 4-8pm. On Saturdays it closes at 1pm. From March plans are for the pool to be open 6am to 10pm. Monday and Tuesday of Carnaval it will have morning hours only.

There is a very large diving pool also, with equipment for boards or platforms of three different heights. These are not yet finished.

Bleachers are on top of the very large pool house, with a huge central hall, offices, and at least two additional good-sized rooms.


The Olympic pool and installations are a terrific new addition to Mazatlán, and I look forward to making the most of its availability.

This is the first post I’m writing and publishing from my cell phone. Let’s hope it works!

UPDATE 15 February: Still no bathrooms or showers, but Rafael tells me that within the month. It seems in the hurry to inaugurate the pool in December, the workers who installed the interior walls perforated the plumbing in the concrete floor. Rather than repair it, Protección Civíl has ordered that all the pipes be drilled out and replaced. Obviously a lengthier job than it would have been to just complete the project… At least the pool itself is sound, and the filtration system works fine, I am told. I know I am very happy swimming here!

Seeing Stars

starHappy New Year, and may 2017 bring you health, joy and many of your dreams! It is the time of year when many people around the world focus on much-awaited stars, including the star signaling the Prophet Muhammed’s (PBUH) birth, the Star of Bethlehem at Christmas, and the Star of David during Hanukkah.

December is also the time of year for stars of the not-so-desired variety. When I lived at 10,000 feet in the mountains of Colorado, we were blessed to regularly see the full Milky Way in all its glory, but we also had the unwanted joy of windshield “stars” (estrellas, as they are called here in Mazatlán—very apropos, as that’s exactly the shape of new windshield chips) each winter. The Colorado highway maintenance workers laid cinders on the snowy roads to provide us traction, and those tiny but mighty lava stones were murder on windshields. Nearly everyone on the road experienced a “starred” windshield at least once per season.

Though windshield “stars” were common in Colorado, I love that we have lived here in Mazatlán NINE YEARS and have never gotten one; at least not until earlier this week. Like I said, it seems to be the time of year for stars…

It also seems to be the time of year for our poor car to have trouble. First someone stole our motorized side-view mirror, then after we delivered the chickens and clothes on Christmas Eve a lady rear-ended us, and finally (we hope!), on the way back from picking up a friend at the airport, a rock flew into our windshield, creating a big, ugly, star-shaped crack. Friends attribute our bad auto luck to Mercury’s retrograde.

Thanks to Colorado mountain living, I am very familiar with the need to have “stars” fixed promptly, to prevent them from growing and necessitating replacement of the entire windshield. Our first Mazatlán window chip was very bad, so we knew we had to act quickly to get it repaired.

In Colorado, we luckily had special windshield insurance with only a $100 deductible, but repairing or replacing the windshield meant losing your car for the day while they worked on it.

Did we use insurance here in Mazatlán? Of course not. Did we lose our car for the day? Psshhht. We just headed over to Avenida de la Marina, across from Memín, to ask José Arzamendi to fix our windshield. He did so while we waited—the process took only 10-15 minutes. José used minimal tools that he took out of the trunk of his car. He worked with care and attention to detail, and repairing our star cost us 350 pesos. I’m confident we could have negotiated that price, but, hey, it is a holiday week and no one likes to feel like a Scrooge. Click on any photo to enlarge it or view a slideshow.

Nearly every neighborhood in Mazatlán has their own José Arzamendi. Estrella-fixers work with minimal tools and space, and seem to be able to make a living for themselves. José also takes out the cloudiness on car headlights, again with minimal tools he brings out from his trunk; his small business even has a website!

In addition to estrella-fixers there are so many great, affordable services available here in Mazatlán, whether it’s house calls when you need a doctor, the pharmacy delivering needed medicines, a caterer bringing you a special dessert or a favorite restaurant delivering lunch to your door. Just one more reason we are blessed to call this port “home.”

Thank you very much for joining us on this journey through a star-filled life, whether it’s stars we hope and pray for, or stars that we’d rather have pass us by. As we close out 2016, I trust you will be able to let go of those things that have not served you well, and fully embrace all the blessings and opportunities that 2017 will bring our way. May the Year of the Rooster wake us up fully to all the joy around us.

Behind the Chamber 2017: Mahler and Schumann

mahler-schumann

We have been publishing a series of interviews with Maestro Gordon Campbell in which he gives us a sneak peek of the concerts in the 2017 Temporada Campbell. The third concert of the series will be held on January 29, 2017 at noon and 5pm in Casa Haas. Entitled “Mahler and Schumann,” it will include works by both composers played on violin (Vyacheslav Rynkevich and Vitalii Khudovlyak), cello (Octavio Hidalgo), viola (Jorge Gutiérrez) and piano (Zlatina Nokolaeva Valkova Petkova).

To hear Maestro Gordon Campbell’s “Behind the Chamber” interview about the performance click on the video below.

The full concert series takes place through March 5, 2017. You can purchase your tickets for specific concerts (300 pesos each) or a series pass (2000 pesos) at the Angela Peralta Theater box office—open 9am-3pm and 5-7pm—or online at CULTURA Mazatlán.

15442147_1229524153781300_656067471523188239_n

Support the Camerata
Tax-deductible donations to recover costs of the Camerata and the community chorus are received by the Patronato Philomusica AC, Banco Bajio account number 14166839. Your donation is tax-deductible in Mexico and worldwide. Please help support the high caliber of arts in our community by pledging generously!

To watch other Behind-the-Chamber interviews click here.

Happy People with Chickens!

Thank you all so much!!! We had 2500 very happy families today, on Christmas Eve, who received a whole chicken, bags of food, clothing, toys and candy. Below are just a few of the faces. One man gave me a rose from his bush in thanks. Another lady put on her makeup and best dress, and waited all morning for us to arrive. Then she plead with me to take her photo. Several babies were just a few weeks old. All looked very excited to have a nice Christmas dinner! Click on any photo to enlarge it or view a slideshow.

Below I will share a few photos of their homes, most made of found, recycled items, including pallets and lonas/canvas signs. Kitchens are almost always outdoors, so boiled chicken will be much more popular than roasted.

Many thanks to EVERYONE who helped make this possible: people who made items, collected items, donated items, helped pack, helped deliver… Especially thanks to the Medina family, who lead this entire project and give us all the opportunity to have the best Christmas ever. Today is the 25th anniversary of Desayuno de los Pollos. Despite having THREE weddings and a baptism in the immediate family, the Medinas still managed to pull off our annual holiday tradition. God bless them, the people we shared this with, and you, one and all!

Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas! If you’d like to join us next year, there are MANY ways to help; click here to learn how.