The end

Finito!

In the beginning of March I returned to Canada, to get ready for a visit back to St. Vincent - for some teaching at the new Trinity University School of Medicine.

In Canada, there was still wintertime - a long winter this year and a cold one, even in Vancouver - where I almost froze my rear end off while watching Rick and his soccer team smother the competition and win yet another big city-wide tournament. And in Kaslo it was -15 at night and all covered under snow. What a contrast to the warm days in Mexico....

My last bull fight

Today I went to my last bullfight - and it also was my first. I must say that, although the animals (4 bulls) of course were tortured, it did never take too long - maybe 5-15 min. I have seen slaughter lineups in Canadian slaughterhouses and have witnessed the way they slaughter a steer or cow in a commercial facility in Saudi Arabia (winching the whole body up by one hind leg, whereby attaching the hook or sling takes a lot of chasing around , and then slicing its throat with a sharp knife) and the animals are always similarly stressed out.

The famous Pablo Hermoso from Spain was the "featured" matador: he has some beautifully performing horses and does the whole 'thing' from the horse, an incredible performance I must admit. The horses move sideways as fast as the bull charges, and his horns are never any farther away from the horse than a few inches. Tickets were not cheap: about 35$, maybe 15$ on the side of the rink where you have to sit in the sun. Lots of Mexican and gringo visitors as the pleased crowd.

They used to have bull fights regularly - but since October there have been only 3 events, and so I managed to catch this third one today. I almost missed it because the guy who was to tell me and remind me didn't.

Weather Questions: Droughts and Fires?

Looking back at the 4.5 months I have spent in Mazatlan, I can report that during that entire time there has been only one rainfall, for 20 min, back in late October. And on most days, with the exception of a week or two, the sun has been shining, the atmosphere being clear and everything looking bright and sparkling (beautiful for biking).

I have some concerns for the future, and these ideas came to me while watching the terrible bush fires in Australia: The entire countryside here, with only a few open areas in between, and as far as the eye can see (and as I noted from the airplane already), is covered with dense low brush. Why are there no fires here?

According to climate forecasts, the tropical regions, and that would include essentially all of Mexico, will suffer most in terms of droughts and dryness causing immense migration pressure away from these areas where it will become harder to grow foods and where potentially fires will destroy much of the dry forests, bushlands and forests. The city and recreation areas along the sea may not be affected by fires - the winds blowing inland or parallel to the coast line - but the many villages further inland, surrounded as they are by bush and vegetation would seem to be perilous places to live. I think the only thing that saves these areas right now from spreading fires is the fact that the bushland does not include any quick burning coniferous vegetation like you see in California. But with months of no rains and the potential for hotter and drier seasons - who knows.

Well, mark my words! And I will try to take some pictures of our burning 5th Wheel before heading into the sea with a wet towel over my face!

Sushi - International Cuisine...

Hey, I do not need to go back to Vancouver to get Sushi's: there are at least 4-5 or more Sushi places in Mazatlan, this one here right at the Plaza Marchado in the Historic Center of town! Tell you the truth; I never tried any here. Somehow it does not feel right. But, why not: we are right by the sea with plenty of fish. It's just that I do not recall having seen a single Japanese in town.

Historic Mazatlan

Mazatlan's historic core of the city dates back to the heydays of silver mining in the neighboring Sierra Madre. To day the Centro Historico is a place where wonderfully restored and maintained buildings are seen side-by-side with decaying structures that still reflect beautiful Mexican architecture but, as a real estate agent explained to me, are not being restored and saved because there my be a dozen or more heirs where
sorting out what belongs to
whom is next to impossible and
will never produce a clear and
clean deed.

Anyway: here are just a few shots of building that have been maintained and restored...

Some of them have apartments, others businesses including restaurants and bars...

Feeding frenzy

Today swarms of fish seemed to come to the surfing area of Playa Bruja:



The pelicans somehow figured this out and assembled by the hundreds, mingled with the surfers and were dive bombing for fish like crazy.




Quite a spectacle reminding me times where I still attended meetings - at the times the doors opened to the banquet halls with food-laden buffets and bars.

Weather Comparison

Where is the better weather - in St. Vincent or Mazatlan - from the 13th of January 2009 onward??

St. Vincent nice and warm even at night, lo humidity, howling winds and clouds plus rain. In Mazatlan nice and warm midday, pretty cool at night (and accordingly of course also cool in the mornings and evenings) and only little wind and no trace of rain, few clouds, a bit more humid? I guess it depends whether or not you you close your eyes, are inside or out, have warm clothes at hand and an umbrella. Certainly things are growing nicely in St. Vincent - here in Mazatlan there has been only one rainfall since October (see blog below).

Ah well, the trick is to try and be content with what you have.
Like the folks in Yellowknife!

Christmas Dancers

Let's try to insert a short video this time - showing a short clip from a video I did of the Salvation Army Xmas performance at the Park, all done by the kids from the group home. The link for the full video (45 MB) is this: http://www.screencast.com/t/yT0YMkRUC9Q

This following video is a "Northern" State dance, and the one below is from Jalisco, the state where the Mariachi bands developed.