Christmas Trees and the Legend of the Poinsettia

There is just something about seeing an underwear Christmas tree at the grocery store that really amused me!

Since I am posting Christmas trees, here is ours this year. That, and about a dozen poinsettias was my decorating in a nutshell. Oh, and of course the nativity scene to cover my catholic guilt for a year. I did not realize until I moved here that poinsettias are native to southern Mexico/Central America. The spanish translation for poinsettias is Flores de Noche Buena. Noche Buena means Holy Night, which is what they call Christmas Eve.

The legend of the poinsettia is about a poor Mexican girl named Pepita who had no gift to present the Christ Child at Christmas Eve Services. As Pepita walked slowly to the chapel with her cousin Pedro, her heart was filled with sadness rather than joy.
"I am sure, Pepita, that even the most humble gift, if given in love, will be acceptable in His eyes," said Pedro.
Not knowing what else to do, Pepita knelt by the roadside and gathered a handful of common weeds, fashioning them into a small bouquet. Looking at the scraggly bunch of weeds, she felt more saddened and embarrassed than ever by her offering. She fought tears as she entered the small village chapel.
As she approached the alter, she remembered Pedro's kind words: "Even the most humble gift, if given in love, will be acceptable in His eyes." She felt her spirit lift as she knelt to lay the bouquet at the foot of the nativity scene.
Suddenly, the bouquet of weeds burst into blooms of brilliant red, and all who saw them were certain that they had witnessed a Christmas miracle right before their eyes.
From that day on, the bright red flowers were known as the Flores de Noche Buena for they bloomed each year during the Christmas season.

How come I didn't think of that??

A friend told me this story a couple of nights ago. I really don't know if it is true or not, I tried to research it a little on the net and came up with nothing, but it is genius marketing nonetheless. Supposedly in the 1970's, Corona was looking for ways to expand their market to the vacationing gringos. What they ended up doing was making a deal with the airlines and they placed cards in all the seats on flights to Mexico with frequently used phrases or words and the spanish translation. It was like this;

Good Morning--- Buenas Dias

Good Afternoon ---Buenas Tardes

Yes/No--- Si/No

Thank You--- Gracias

Please ---Por Favor,

And so on.

The list ended with;

Beer--- Corona

Apparently they went to number one in no time. I really hope that person got a bonus!

8 things about me; by Chili

Chili here and this is my list of "8 random facts";

1. I grew up humbly on a rundown ranch in Bastrop, TX. I know, hard to tell by my regal manner, but I did leave it at 6 weeks of age.

2. I used to do missionary work, at least that is what I considered it to be. I worked with cattle in south Texas. Overall they were nice creatures, but not really that bright. They had to be shown how to walk as a group!! And not just once, EVERY DAY! Amazing they have made it so many years.

3. I was a fishing guide on Lake Conroe in Texas. This was done gratis as well. Some of the best fishermen currently on the lake learned from me! They would pick me up at the house and I would go help them out for the day. A few times I even had to dive in and grab the fish for them because it came off the hook. Why humans must complicate things and use a string and hook is beyond me. Simply, if you see a fish, jump in and snatch it up! You have opposable thumbs, how hard can it be!!

4. I like soccer, even though I do not know much about it. I am a native Texan, afterall, where football is king! Juan, the boy next door, lets me play soccer with he and his friends sometimes and it is fun. Of course, I am partial to any game that involves balls. I do like playing with the kids too, adult humans tend to wear out faster.

5. I am bi-racial. True, I am pure australian cattle dog, but my dad was a blue merle and my mom was a red merle. I am told it was quite scandalous at the time.

6. I have peed on the side of the road in 4 states in the USA and 2 states in Mexico and I am only 3 years old!

7. I like martinis. I tend to stop people in their tracks when they see me sitting in a barstool and drinking one without spilling a drop or turning the glass over.

8. I love water. It is great to swim in, there are fish and birds. Other dogs and their humans tend to go there as well. Love it.

9. Some call me obsessive about balls. I prefer "focused".

10. I really like cats. My colleagues that are purists will most likely scoff at me because we are not supposed to like anything that refuses to comply to our herding directions, but they really do have their charms. Some of my best friends have been feline. Hanging out with cats probably helped me adjust to life here in 'Manana-land'. After all, I never met a cat that got in a hurry about anything except for maybe dinner.

(BTW- Sans forgot this in her previous post: There are a few rules one must follow to play the game. When tagged, you must link to the person who tagged you. Then post the rules before your list, and list eight random things about yourself. At the end of the post, you must tag and link to eight other people.)

Back to the real world and 8 random things about Sans

We just spent a few days out at Estrella del Mar. It really was a great "not really a vacation" vacation. Even for David it was a nice break even though he, of course, worked. He did have a 1 minute commute and could take a nap at lunch. It was wonderful to have miles of empty beach and the only sounds that can be heard are the waves crashing and an occasional bird chirping. The traffic and noise of Mazatlan are a world away out there! Chili and I would start the day by walking about 20 minutes down the shore to the clubhouse and then I would hit some balls on the driving range. The rest of the day was spent deciding between "times" : pool time, beach time, tee time, and nap time. It was tough, light a candle for me.

We also let loose baby turtles one evening, which is quite a treat. I highly reccomend, if anyone is in Mazatlan during the hatching season (August through early December), you should go out to Estrella and help gather or release. It is one of those things that gives you a feeling hard to describe. It just feels good and we'll leave it at that! They do have a very succesful turtle egg program, last year they gathered over 75,000 eggs with about an 80% success rate.

Chili is one happy dog out there. Birds to chase, ocean to swim in, new people petting her. I had forgotten to pack a ball for her, but she managed to meet a strapping male yellow lab by the name of Bailey who had a tennis ball. Thank the gods for friends with benefits!

Ok, so now I have been tagged by both Victoria on myspace and Nancy of www.countdowntomexico.blogspot.com with the same game. Come up with 8 random facts about myself. I will play this a little diffrently since my knowledge of adding links to my blog and things like that are not exactly high on my marketable skills, so I won't be sending this on, but I will respond. Victoria has been a great friend since Dallas, 1991 or so. We met when I hired her to work with me at a veterinary clinic in Irving and we went together like peas and carrots! She is now in Atlanta belly dancing her way to fame and success (http://www.inarasbellydance.com). Nancy has a great blog that I have been reading from the onset. She started it when she and her husband decided to move to Mexico when he retired. The blog covers scouting trips, yard sales, decision making, remodeling the Mazatlan house and all. (Yes, they picked Mazatlan after all the traveling and research!) Anyways, here we go, useless information about me:

1. I hate open drawers and doors, must close them. Same goes for crooked pictures, must straighten. Now, ask me if I have brushed my hair today......

2. I am a classically trained flautist. For those not in the know, I used to play a mean flute.

3. I am a proud Spica-billy, half Spanish, half Appalachian-American.

4. I love boxes (chests, etc) ,bracelets and anything shiny. I was once told that I was half crow.

5. I read, ALOT and ANYTHING, kind of the same taste I have in music.

6. I played pool seriously for a number of years, I even played on an female

amateur 9-ball circuit and was ranked in the top 5 in Texas.

7. I will compete and/or gamble with anyone at anytime at whatever game.

8. I used to show hunter jumpers and one of my best mounts was actually a mammoth mule.

Best day ever!

Mucho Lucha Libre

As we are enjoying some shrimp, fresh mango juice with a touch of hooch, and a beautiful sunset on Isla de la Piedra Sunday, Juan says to us, "Do you guys have plans Wednesday night? It's time you saw some real Mexico". Hell yes, sign us up!! So we meet up with him and Corrina last night, pile in the USS Ford together and head to the German Evers Center. It is Lucha Libre night! Talk about a colorful cornucopia of sights, sounds, and smells. Draft beer, kids in masks, fireworks, sabritos, fake blood, grandmothers screaming and shaking fists at wrestlers, it was one loud, funny evening. There was even a midget chupacabra! He certainly rounded out the lineup perfectly. The wrestler's acrobatics were very good and they worked the crowd into a frenzy by the end of the night. We had an excellent time, it was certainly an entertaining change from our normal activities.

Sand dollar photos

I call this series of photos;

"Waiting patiently for David to get off work" .

(yes, I was bored)

Ficus tree art

Trees are not simply trimmed around here, they are formed into works of art!

The times they are a-changin'

Monday night, David and I were discussing the weather, how there seemed to be no wind all weekend, but then it appeared again Monday in a different direction. Tuesday we awoke to a crisp morning and the windows have been open every since. Could it be rainy season is over? It is a little early and there is Tropical Storm Kiko churning off the coast keeping my hopes alive for another good squall (although it does not, at this time, look like it will impact us) We have had no rain for a couple of weeks, so I have been back to topping off the pool and watering plants. I did not realize how many more plants I had accumulated the last couple of months until I had to start hosing them down again! Anyways, I really hope summer is not coming to a close, it is my favorite season here. I love watching the thunderheads building over the mountains in the afternoon and the spectacular sunsets over the Pacific those very same clouds create. Something else we heard "pre-move" was about how brutal the summer months are in Mazatlan. After living through two of them, I can tell you this, add about 10 degrees to the temperature, keep the humidity the same, take away the ocean breeze and the frequent thunderstorms at night, add 4 months and you have San Antonio. I do realize that it is all relative depending on what you are used to, of course. Someone from Edmonton, for example, would find it a wee bit more uncomfortable than we do. Now don't get me wrong about the winter weather, it is great. Think 75-80 farenheight during the day, around 55-60 at night, low humidity. This lasts for 8 months and you will almost never see rain, so to me, it does get just a little dull. Of course, in the bigger picture, there are alot worse things to bitch about!

Neighbors having a picnic

Luckily I have had no problems with iguanas eating plants in my yard yet, but how would you iguana-proof? We did have leaf cutter ants ambush us one night this past summer. I walked out the back door, hot mug of tea in my hand, ready to enjoy a lovely morning only to find all my plants with no leaves and a path that looked like a herd of buffalo created where everything was perfectly normal the evening before.

A bad day fishing is better than (fill in blank)

So it wasn't the best day catch-wise, but nothing beats good friends, sunny skies, and an excellent meal to round off the day. We went out fishing with Juan and Corinna, caught dorado and had Ken at Olas Altas Steakhouse cook it up for us. His resturant has become a favorite haunt for us - some of the best food we have had ANYWHERE, and trust me, we like to eat. We usually hold the bar up- look for us in there.

Festival Cultural Mazatlan 2007

I thought I would post the schedule of events for the Cultural Festival this year. Keep in mind, the schedule can change! Check here for updates;

http://www.culturamazatlan.com/index_en.php

Octubre

18 Banda de Jazz Col. Flores Magon 20:00 hrs

19 Escuela de Ballet Clasico CMA Col. Flores Magon 20:00 hrs

23 Ballet Folklorio CMA La Noria 19:00 hrs

24 Angelique Kidjo Angela Peralta Theatre 20:00 hrs

25 Ensambles de Percusiones CMA Col Flores Magon 20:00 hrs

26 Escuela de Ballet Clasico CMA Col. Flores Magon 20:00 hrs

27 Danza Contemporanea CMA Col. Juarez 20:oo hrs

29 Banda de Jazz CMA Infonavit Playas 20:00 hrs

30 Escuela de Ballet Clasico CMA Infonavit Playas 20:00 hrs

31 Orquesta Sinfonica Junvenil CMA Col. Juarez 20:00 hrs

Noviembre

1 Callejoneada Exposicion dia del Muertos Centro Historico 19:00 hrs

3 Hurkan Ayvazoglu/Flauta 20:00 hrs

8 Orquesta de Cuerdas Inglesia de San Jose 20:00 hrs

9 Jose Luis Cuevas Exposicion Galleria Angela Peralta 19:00 hrs

9-10 La Boheme Teatro Angela Peralta 20:00 hrs

13 Delfos Danza Contemporanea Teatro Angela Peralta 20:00 hrs

13 Camarata Mazatlan San Carlos Borromeo 20:00 hrs

16-17 Compania Nacional de Danza La Bella Durmiente Teatro Angela Peralta 20:00 hrs

16-17 Compana Nacional de Danza Un cuento de ballet Teatro Angela Peralta 12:00 hrs 18 Compana Nacional de Danza La Bella Durimiente Teatro Angela Peralta 12:00 hrs

19 Exposicion Fotografica "Cultura el incio" Plazuela Machado 19:00 hrs

21 Pasarela Pacifica Teatro Angela Peralta 20:00 hrs

23 Jazzarata Betuco Jazz Band Camerata Mazatlan Teatro Angela Peralta 20:00 hrs

27 Requiem de Mozart Teatro Angela Peralta 20:00 hrs

28 Tributo a Queen Fabrica de Villa Union 20:00 hrs

30 Don Pasquale Teatro Angela Peralta 20:00 hrs

Diciembre

1 Don Pasquale Teatro Angela Peralta 20:00 hrs

4-5 La Boheme para ninos Teatro Angela Peralta 10:00 y 12:00 hrs

5 Camerata Mazatlan Inglesia Christiana 20:00 hrs

6 Orquestra de Cuerdas Inglesia de la Sagrada Familia 20:00 hrs

7 Jane Saborio Exposicion de Pintura Galeria Angela Peralta 19:00 hrs

8 Tania Libertad en concierto Teatro Angela Peralta 20:00 hrs

10 Romance de Tablao Miura Expresion Flamenco Teatro Angela Peralta 20:00 hrs

14-15 Gala Navidena Teatro Angela Peralta 20:00 hrs

17 El Cascanueces Escuela de Ballet Clasico CMA Teatro Angela Peralta 20:00 hrs

18 El Cascanueces Ecsuela de Ballet Clasico CMA Teatro Angela Peralta 18:00 y 20:00 hrs

Another day in paradise...

So, we have now been living in Mazatlan for about a year and a half. We are definately still loving it and have not regretted this decision for a moment. The people here are warm and gracious and we genuinely feel part of the community. Things are diffrent, for sure, in some ways good, some ways bad, but David and I both feel the quality of our lives have overall improved. There is a slower pace, for example, I am currently on Day Three of Satellite Hookup Watch. Things like that do not really bother me, though. We have lived the last 15 years in a place where the 'request for service call' always ended with, "There will be a technician in your part of the county the end of next week, will someone be home between Wednesday 9 am and Saturday 3 pm?". In other ways, service is exemplary. We had a toilet problem about a year ago. I won't go into details, but let's just say I would have moved and left everything behind rather than to have dealt with it myself. I got a number to a plumber who came highly reccomended, and he was at the house within 30 minutes. It probably took him an hour or so to fix it. He then, very nervously, was telling me what a mess it was and because of that he was charging me more than his normal fee. The "more than normal fee" came to a total of 200 pesos (that would be about 20 USD). I tipped him. The abundance of inexpensive, fresh fruits, vegetables, and seafood year round has us spoiled. I have about four spots in town where the price for a kilo(2.2 lbs) of jumbo shrimp consistently runs around 45 pesos(4.50 USD). I like that my house gets cleaned from top to bottom twice a week for 300 pesos. I like never having to pump my own gas, wash my vehicle, or load my groceries. Color me rotten. Two things that I can say I was somewhat nervous about, because of reputations, were healthcare and police, not neccesarily in that order. Knock on wood, I have only been pulled over here in Mazatlan twice, both times for speeding. Anyone that knows me, knows that if I go six months without a speeding ticket, I obviously was never behind the wheel during that period. Each time, I was let go with a warning and one was even a federale and they are famous for ticketing their own grandmothers. As far as the healthcare situation goes, I had an emergency appendectomy last October here at the Sharp Hospital. We got to the emergency room about 11 pm, saw the doctor, had the labwork done and was talking to the specialist by 1 am. I was waking up and recovering in my nice big private room by 6 am. Menus every meal (and good food!), four nights in a private room with american TV, handsome doctors, cleanliness and efficency that would make alot of US hospitals blush, PR ladies checking in with me twice a day to see if I needed anything. All this came to a grand total, which, by the way, was on ONE sheet of paper, of 35000 pesos (yuppers, that's 3500 USD!). Crazy. Anyway, I have two goals for the next year of living here, improve my spanish ALOT and to post here more often. We'll see how it goes!

Happy Independence Day!

Happy Fourth of July to our fellow NOB'ers! Since one of the key elements to the 4th of July is hot dogs, I thought I would include this picture of a stand we saw while at the Plaza de Toros a couple of nights ago for a bullriding. (sorry-no pictures from that- it was a torrential downpour from start to finish-we were soaked but it made for interesting bull riding!) Because of all the jokes as to what is REALLY in hot dogs, the name of this particular stand gave us a good chuckle.

Help?!

Anybody know what type of tree this is?

Pies and Politicians

This is the Banana Creme Pie recipe made famous by Daniel's Resturant in Copala. Apparently it was a favorite of Bill Clinton. I don't think we should hold grudges about politcs with desserts, in my opinion, so here it is! This is the recipe as it was given to me, so it is a little awkward in places. Enjoy!

Copala Banana Coconut Creme Pie

Pie Crust:

2 cups flour

4 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup lard or Crisco

3 to 4 tbsps cold water

Stir together flour, salt and sugar. Cut lard or Crisco into flour mixture. Sprinkle 1 tbsp water over the mixture. Gently toss with a fork. Push to side of bowl until all is moistened. Form dough with hands. Roll dough out and place in a 9" pie plate. Bake at 250 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Filling:

1 cup of evaporated milk

1 cup of Sugar

1 cup water

1/4 cup butter

1 tsp vanilla

3 tbsp flour

4 egg yolks

1 cup fresh coconut flakes

2 to 3 sliced bananas

In a saucepan, combine sugar, flour and gradually add milk and water. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly. Reduce heat and cook 2 more minutes. Remove from heat. Beat egg yolks in a separate bowl. Gradually stir into saucepan. Cook 2 more minutes, remove and add butter and vanilla. Pour hot filling into shell. Add banana and coconut. Spread merangue over filling. Bake at 350 12 to 15 minute

Wow.

Nineteenth-Century Harpoon Found in Live Whale
Wednesday, June 13, 2007

BOSTON — A 50-ton bowhead whale caught off the Alaskan coast last month had a weapon fragment embedded in its neck that showed it survived a similar hunt — more than a century ago.
Embedded deep under its blubber was a 3½-inch arrow-shaped projectile that has given researchers insight into the whale's age, estimated between 115 and 130 years old.
"No other finding has been this precise," said John Bockstoce, an adjunct curator of the New Bedford Whaling Museum.
Calculating a whale's age can be difficult, and is usually gauged by amino acids in the eye lenses. It's rare to find one that has lived more than a century, but experts say the oldest were close to 200 years old.
The bomb lance fragment, lodged in a bone between the whale's neck and shoulder blade, was likely manufactured in New Bedford, on the southeast coast of Massachusetts, a major whaling center at that time, Bockstoce said.
It was probably shot at the whale from a heavy shoulder gun around 1890.
The small metal cylinder was filled with explosives fitted with a time-delay fuse so it would explode seconds after it was shot into the whale. The bomb lance was meant to kill the whale immediately and prevent it from escaping.
The device exploded and probably injured the whale, Bockstoce said.
"It probably hurt the whale, or annoyed him, but it hit him in a non-lethal place," he said. "He couldn't have been that bothered if he lived for another 100 years."
The whale harkens back to far different era. If 130 years old, it would have been born in 1877, the year Rutherford B. Hayes was sworn in as president, when federal Reconstruction troops withdrew from the South and when Thomas Edison unveiled his newest invention, the phonograph.
The 49-foot male whale died when it was shot with a similar projectile last month, and the older device was found buried beneath its blubber as hunters carved it with a chain saw for harvesting.
"It's unusual to find old things like that in whales, and I knew immediately that it was quite old by its shape," said Craig George, a wildlife biologist for the North Slope Borough Department of Wildlife Management, who was called down to the site soon after it was found.
The revelation led George to return to a similar piece found in a whale hunted near St. Lawrence Island in 1980, which he sent to Bockstoce to compare.
"We didn't make anything of it at the time, and no one had any idea about their lifespan, or speculated that a bowhead could be that old," George said.
Bockstoce said he was impressed by notches carved into the head of the arrow used in the 19th century hunt, a traditional way for the Alaskan hunters to indicate ownership of the whale.
Whaling has always been a prominent source of food for Alaskans, and is monitored by the International Whaling Commission.
A hunting quota for the Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission was recently renewed, allowing 255 whales to be harvested by 10 Alaskan villages over five years.
After it is analyzed, the fragment will be displayed at the Inupiat Heritage Center in Barrow, Alaska.

Sunset over Deer and Bird Islands

I don't know if it is because I am still in the honeymoon stage of living here, but I swear the sunsets are spectacular every night. I do think that for whatever reason(s) the summertime ones are the best.

Banda Music

Nothing says "Welcome to Mexico" quite like moving into a neighborhood where two banda groups practice and throw parties. Banda is a type of music that originated here in the state of Sinaloa during the late 1930's, and exploded in popularity during the 1990's. The groups usually consist of 12-20 members. There are generally 2 singers and the rest are brass, percussion and woodwinds. Let me assure you, they play with alot of heart, soul and most importantly, lungs! Me, being the former band geek that I was, can really appreciate this music. It is most definately lively! We have one group on the same side of the street, two doors down and another across the street and catty corner from us. Trust me, when they get wound up, they may as well be playing at the foot of our bed! The nights that they practice is not too bad, they usually wrap up around midnight or so. The nights they have parties is a whole other matter. The latest I recall that one band played was until 10 am the next morning. I found this clip on YouTube of Banda el Recodo, considered to be one of the best, to give you an idea of the sound.

The "Colonial Pearl"

David, Mom and I made another road trip to a neighboring village. This time we chose El Quelite (founded in 1564) about 40 minutes north of Mazatlan on highway 15. It is a pueblita consisiting of brightly colored houses, rolling cobblestone streets and flowers so vibrant it almost hurt to look at them. There is a famous song called “Que bonito es El Quelite” (How beautiful is El Quelite), this song is very well known in all of Latin American. Anyways, for a small place there seems to be alot of activity; the largest game cock farm in Northern Mexico, charrerias and ulama games are held often, there are 17th century paintings in the church, cheese factory, a very good bakery, couple of inns, etc. We had a good lunch at El Meson de Los Laurenos. This place is a resturant and hotel and is owned and run by Dr. Marcos Osuna Tirado. He is a talkative fellow, and will happily sit with you and answer any questions you may have. He was born and raised in what is now the hotel, and he only left long enough to attend medical school. He has made making El Quelite a tourist destination, while keeping it a traditional colonial village, his lifes work. For his efforts, it was named one of the 10 most beautiful colonial villages of Mexico.

Jalapeno Chicken

Here's another popular request for my peeps:

Jalapeno Chicken

6 chicken breasts

1/2 cup lime juice

1/4 cup honey

2 TB cilantro

3 jalapeno peppers (diced)

2 TB soy sauce

3 cloves garlic (chopped)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Combine all ingredients(except chicken of course) and process until smooth. Reserve 1/4 cup marinade and pour remaining over chicken breasts. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours. Drain chicken and grill, turn and brush with marinade as needed.

Buen Provencho!

Random Carnival Photos

First Parade- "Sorcery in the Old Port"