Picnic site problems

Hey, I wanted to go and have a picnic at the beach, after biking a few km north of Punta Cerritos, but I ran into this problem:

Where should I possibly put my blanket down? What would you do??

Nice views from higher up

Looking back towards the Signal Hill above Old Town (or the Historic Center) and, more to the right behind Old Town, the Cathedral in the center of Mazatlan.

A little bit of artistic architecture and finishing...

Mexico has a longstanding tradition in arts and architecture, rooted in Spanish and Indian cultures, I presume. Compare this with a young country like Canada where the building tradesmen mainly use standard measures, cut off at right angles, slap over a piece of plywood and forget overall that your living space would be much enriched if only you would put a bit of decor into your structures. Like window frames, some artistic finishes, some organic curves on visible structures etc. etc. Anything to get away from the prefab look.

Here are some shots of simple buildings or building elements that turn simple buildings into optically pleasing structures: Window framing, post heads, outside finishes and a nice partition in the coffee shop next door. It looks like the workmen would be ashamed of themselves if they did not put a bit of decor and design into what they leave behind...and it seems so simple!

Die Liebe zum Detail!

Nice Manager?

With a manager of the Trailer Park like that, who would ever argue about the cost of renting a space...meet Teresa:

Food cost

One 7 kg water melon, 15 fresh eggs, 6 super-sweet oranges, two real tasting bananas...what would that cost in Canada, Germany, St. Vincent?

I paid 53 Pesos, about 5 US Dollars.

Now you know part of the reason why I had to move to Mexico.

Blogging my way...

Many people write to me and ask, who is this fantastic blogger? Well, using the self timer, here I am blogging my way, in our homely 5th wheel, a great place to work on 5th Estate stories. But I will stop now and move outside and read something. See you later.

One brick at a time

On the way to Kopala, we stopped by a local brick maker's place: At a bend in the river bed, with a foul water pool by the steep bank, he has two resources readily at hand: water and clay. The other ingredients are cow dung and coffee bean shells from the local big roastery (they impart the red color to the finished product). There is a fifth ingredient - I forgot what that was. Maybe some cow urine or something?



He mixes the ingredients by stomping them with his feet over and over again. Just like the wine makers extracting the grape juice...


I found that the complete mixture tastes a bit sour - I expected a small hint of coffee.



This amazing technique has been practices there for ages - and October is when the start their manufacture because they need weather brickmakersdryfor the next step:


Then he shovels it up into an old wheelbarrow and on the flat plucks the mix with his hands in to a small wood frame on the ground where the smear is left to dry. Later the hardened bricks will be fired in a simple kiln. This is hard work, and he gets only a penny or something ridiculously low for each brick.


But this particular guy is lucky: the tour company has made him a stop, and his young and pretty daughter jumps around the place, pulls out a sign that says something like "Donation please" and places it behind a cutoff plastic bottle: She knows about two words in English: money and thankyou. That suffices - the gentleman's income I guess quadruples, and why not! The tour guide explained that he has another two daughters who both can go to college - because of his income boost!