• 29Jul

  The ABC’s of Mexico (part 1)

  around México 1 Comment

  … or some of the things I love about México -- a blog series…

  
  

  
  

  

  Agave - beautiful vistas of dusty blue, and when harvested - Tequila!

  

  Amar - lovers share a private moment in a city park. Many people live in small houses overflowing with family... so a moment shared in public is actually quite private.

  

  

  Banda - The favorite music of Sinaloa! Yes, that is a tuba there on the right of the photo, an album cover from Banda El Recodo, Mazatlán's favorite.

  

  Blue corn tortillas - my personal favorite.

  

  

  Chinampas - when you visit Mexico City's Xochimilco, you will take a ride in a chinampa. Think Mexican gondola. I promise you'll have a wonderful afternoon.

  

  Comal - this isn't a Mexican comal - I inherited this one more than 35 years ago. A must-have in a Mexican kitchen, and used daily in mine.

  

  Cuauhtémoc - the last emperor of the Aztecs, is venerated throughout México, even though he was defeated (by Hernan Cortéz). There's another Cuauhtémoc who is currently very popular - Cuauhtémoc Blanco - of México's World Cup football team.

  

  

  Deer - Mazatlán is the Land of the Deer. Above is a picture of our Deer Monument.

  

  Deer - the deer-corn-peyote symbols are at the heart of the Huichol religion, and the deer symbol above is from the Sinaloa state shield. (Photo swiped from Yod.ca, with thanks)

  

  

  Equipale furniture - We love our equipale furniture - it's comfortable and durable for our climate. The word comes from the Nahuatl language, and it means "chair for gods." Sorry, Coco, I don't think you are royalty, exactly!

  

  Estacionarse - or in the sign above, no estacionarse. I love this word! To park yourself, basically, as it is a reflexive verb.

  

  

  Frutas - This tile mural is above my cooktop. The fruit in México is spectacular.

  

  Frutas - more tropical fruits - aren't you intrigued?

  

  

  Gaspacho - this is a fruit treat we first ate in Morelia... cut up fruit with a bit of cheese and chili on top. Mmmmmmm.

  

  Guadalupe - The Virgen of Guadalupe is the most revered saint in México and the first brown-skinned saint ever.

   

  Below, our Virgen of Guadalupe lighted wall art.

  …..to be continued

  

  Tags: Living in Mazatlan, Living in Mexico

• 22Jul

  Summer is here, but where is the rainy season?

  our new life, weather 7 Comments

  Summer arrived in Mazatlán a bit late this year, but it is in full swing now.  I think there have only been four rains so far this year, though… and that just doesn’t seem like enough!  Yesterday seemed like a particularly steamy day and towards evening we had our usual discussion about whether it just might rain overnight.  The rain brings a bit of humidity but it cools off the concrete, too, and that helps a lot. In the middle of the night I was pleased to hear the rain and got up to shut the doors to our upstairs patios just in case it started raining hard.  (We have wrought iron doors so we are secure.) This morning it felt a bit fresher, so that was nice.

  In the summertime I kind of hole up at home during the day.  Dog walks and bike rides are over by 10 am and the rest of the day I putter around with my projects.  Then in the evening we venture out again.  Recent projects… well I rearranged my office into more of an office-craft-sewing space.  I made terry cloth arm covers for our tv room chairs.  I sewed new dog bed covers.  I knitted.  I baked bread.  I read.  I have read a lot, lately.

  When I was a kid I used to go to the library every week and come home with a pile of books I could barely carry.  The only time I  haven’t been an avid reader was when I was in college when there was too much required reading to do.  One of the things that I love most about this time in my life is that I can read whenever I want to and as much as I want to.

  Before I had a Kindle I used to stockpile books for the possibility that I’d be stuck it the house or something and couldn’t get out and get books.  I didn’t feel right unless I had about a dozen books in the house waiting for me.  Now that I have the Kindle I can just relax – I can fill it up with books and read to my heart’s content.

  I have a large library of ebooks I have accumulated.  They’re all in various formats but it is easy to convert them to Kindle formats (.mobi and .azw) using the free software Stanza or Calibre.  In addition to those, there are lots of books available through Project Gutenberg, Full Books,  Free Books,  and MobileRead.  If you’re considering or have an e-reader, check them out.  I am having the time of my life being able to read all I want anytime I want.  I keep track of my books on a Google documents spreadsheet, if you are looking for ideas of books to read, check it out.

  Paul has been reading a lot, too, but most recently he has been working on learning some new web content management tools just for fun.  That’s when he isn’t working or snacking on my latest bread creation!

  While we are lounging around reading and mopping our perspiration, we also have been enjoying our new puppy, Coco.  You can watch her play with Henry, below – while Lucy supervises.

  
  

  

  Tags: summer in Mazatlan

• 15Jul

  Everyone is moving slowly now

  Centro, Mazatlan 11 Comments

  It’s summer here, finally, and it is hot and humid.  Everyone is carrying their washcloths with them and mopping their brow as needed.   The streets are empty at mid day, or if you head out you carry your umbrella.  Not for the rain, silly!  For the sun.

  So far so good for me using chia seeds to help with my hydration this summer.  I seem to have a normal amount of energy and no headaches so far. (knock on wood)  Yesterday I really tempted fate though with a bike ride from here to Valentino’s and back at 11 am!  That is a bit late for bike riding, especially without a hat.  I’ll try to go earlier, but it’s still fun – the national tourists are here in droves and they are all really enjoying the water.  It’s great to feel their enthusiasm.

  The summer crankies have hit two out of three message boards in town with people criticizing each other for writing messages with capital letters or advising this and that about satellite tv.  It happens every summer when people either lock themselves in the air conditioning with their computer… or maybe it’s those who swelter and drip, I don’t know. It is tiresome, though.

  Paul and I have been crossing things off our to-do list, too.  We finally got a fan hooked up over our cooktop – the fan is attached to the chimney at the roof.  The curved hood over the cooktop is actually a chimney so this is how we had to do it.  You should see our roof, it looks like we have a restaurant or something with all fancy metalwork.  This was important to me since Paul and I cook left-and-right and I am a vegetarian.  Now all odors go up and out!

  We’ve made arrangements with a local carpenter to build an island in the kitchen.  We’ve had a metal work table there but some of the stainless steel is already rusting and it just isn’t big enough.  I’m really looking forward to this, especially since I have been baking so much.

  Projects around town are proceeding slowly.  If at all!  Here are a few updates:

  

  Zaragoza Park - They have been working on this for about six months. It is still a big mess.

  
  

  

  Pino Suarez Mercado - The fire in February brought about a gigantic renovation that includes all the adjacent streets and sidewalks, undergrounding utilities, and other work including as you see above, window replacement or repair.

   

  

  Plaza Hidalgo, also known as Plaza de Los Leones or Library Plaza because there is a library in the center. More than a month ago some of the walkway was removed without proper permits, and INAH shut the work down. About two weeks ago they started jackhammering and removed all of the walkway surfaces. It has been sitting there with just dirt for at least two weeks. It is rainy season, and I am wondering what kind of mess we will have when it really starts raining? This park, like all in México, is well used. Where did all those old timers go who sat there every day?

  

  The Hotel La Siesta on the malecón has been upgrading its look. They are adding molding above the windows and the balconies have been structurally improved with steel and the railings changed. This will give it a look more in keeping with Centro Historico. I wonder what colors they will paint it?

   

  

  Tags: Living in Mazatlan, Mazatlan's malecon

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