Our friends Dianne and Greg moved to Mazatlán from the US a couple of years ago with their middle-school age son.  They have a blog post that I thought I’d bring to your attention if you are considering moving to Mexico with your kids.  Their blog is linked in the Mazatlán blogs at left, and the post I am referring to is here.  It is very interesting, even if you aren’t moving to Mexico with kids!

I’ve talked before about how there is always a lot going on in Mazatlán in the wintertime.  Here’s a taste:

Last Friday was the First Fridays Art Walk.  (actually the second Friday because of New Years Day) A couple of friends came over and the four of us headed out together.  There had to be several hundred people cruising around Centro clutching maps (see above) and visiting artist studios, galleries, and private homes.  We saw some wonderful art while chatting and sipping wine.  It would be impossible to visit all the studios on the tour in one evening, which means every month you have a chance to see new things.

We ate dinner in the Plazuela Machado after checking out the voting for the King of Joy (Thomas Antonio “El Centenario”), the Prince of Joy (Juan Reyes), the Child Queen (Karime de la Cruz Barrón) and Flower Queen (Adamaris Flores Cortez) that was taking place at the Plazuela Republica. (Left to right in picture, above)

Saturday there was a meeting that overflowed the meetingplace put on by Democrats Abroad Mexico.  The topic was Medicare in Mexico.  I didn’t attend the meeting, but it sounds like the new national officers of Democrats Abroad are excellent and there will be more to come on the work to promote Medicare in Mexico.

Sunday morning there was a dog walk fundraiser for the Amigos de los Animales.  It was a lot of fun.  Paul and I were amazed that when you get a group of dogs together who have never met before, they behave like a pack, just walking along together like they’d been doing it forever!  If you’re on Facebook, pictures of the Caminando are here.

Authors Stella Bell, Ethel Stockton, Marshall Mason, Ruth Clarke, PJ Reese, Susan Carnes

Sunday afternoon was a fund raiser for the Mazatlán Membership Library.  Called Write on Maz, it was held in the courtyard of the art museum.  Six published authors discussed the ins and outs of  finding inspiration, writing, publishing, and promoting their work. It was an excellent afternoon that began with great music and food, continued with the excellent talks, and finished with many nice raffle prizes being distributed.  And the fundraiser was a success, with an air conditioner to be installed in the library… sure to make browsing in the summer more pleasant!

Coming up is a chance to see a one man play called “The Power of Ignorance.”  Our friend Ken Albanese is performing the show, which is a theatrical fundraising event to benefit Friends of Mexico Scholarship Fund and Proyecto Animales de la Calle.  It is being performed on January 26 and February 3 at 8 pm at Canuck’s.  Tickets are 150 pesos.  (To reserve your e-tickets send an email to ignorance.maz (at) gmail.com)  Provde your name, date & number of tickets desired.  Payment is made at the door)  The last I heard the first show was almost sold out, so inquire soon if you are interested!

There are lots of other things going on, too.  I try to keep the calendar page updated as much as possible, but it can be a challenge sometimes… there is just so much to do here!

There are some very talented urban artists here in Mazatlán.  Last week we were walking down Mariano Escobedo and watched several artists working on a ruin.  This was broad daylight and they signed the work, so we believe that the property owner gave his permission.  So without further ado, here are pictures of the new work.

There are more Mazatlán urban art pictures here, taken over the last few years.