Traditional Clothing

Here are some more photos taken of the display of traditional clothing that they had set up at the Palacio Municpal on the day the first cruise ship came in.

Sonora.




Veracruz.

Puebla.

Guerrero.


Oaxaca.

Sitka Is Home

Sitka, Cynthia and Mikes dog was returned home today around lunchtime. I saw her after my spanish class today, she seems fine and Cynthia and Mike were all smiles. I am not sure of all the details of her return; but a man returned her and that is pretty much all that matters.
Glad you are home and well, Sitka.

Daily Events

Hasn't been much going on here the last few days. Thursday evening we went out to a cafe to meet a fellow who had found the blog and emailed us. He is from Arizona and is building a home here in Guaymas. We had a nice chat with him and hope to meet up with him again sometime.

Roys computer decided to die so we have been looking for someone to repair it or declare it dead. We emailed one place, waited a day or two for a response, nothing, so Roy went down there and talked to the guy about it and found out a couple of things. We emailed them the information that they had asked for and again waited for a reply, nothing. The next day we went there again, I asked if he had received the email and he said, yes. Hmm, why not answer it then? Anyway, we arranged for the tech to come over and look at it the next day, Saturday. Meanwhile, a lady who we had met a couple of years ago is back in San Carlos so I went out for lunch with her on Saturday. Naturally, I returned home to the news that the tech had not shown up. So back to the drawing board on that one I guess. We will go to a couple of other places and see what we can get for service. I can't figure out why you would have a website for your business with an email link and not answer your emails, or why you would say you are coming and then not show up. Certainly not good business; but that is the way things are here, so we will look into other places.

Today before spanish class I am going to have a coffee with a couple of young ladies that I have not met yet. Should be fun.

The pictures below are of a display the they had up at the Palacio Municipal on the day that the cruise ship arrived. It was a nice display of traditional dress of various states of Mexico. There are more pictures than this; but to keep this post from having too many photos I will post more of them another day.

Sitka Is Missing

Cynthia and Mikes dog Sitka is missing. Mike took her out Friday evening and she took off on him chasing a cat and has not returned. They are frantic to find her and she also is on a thyroid medication that she is supposed to have twice a day.
She went missing from centro in Guaymas, so if you happen to see a dog that looks like the photo below please call Cynthia at 622-111-7973.

New Cinema Opens Today

Today the mayor and his wife will open the new cinema in Guaymas and it will open to the public on October 24th. We haven't had a cinema here since we have arrived and I read that the old one closed on the 2nd of March 2005. The old cinema was right in downtown Guaymas on about 20th Street.
The new cinema is on the outskirts of Guaymas, on the way into the city from Highway 15 from the north in a complex called Paseo Guaymas.
According to newspaper reports the building cost some 35 million pesos to build and is just the first step of a shopping mall complex where there will be some 32 businesses. In total they are saying that it will be a 70 million pesos investment.
The cinema has 8 theatres with the possibility of two more. It has digital sound, top quality projection, a sweet shop and cafeteria. Apparently it will directly and indirectly employ 155 people.
The first movie shown is supposed to be "Una Chihuahua en Beverly Hills”.
Photos taken from newspapers.

Mexico Marine Symphonic Orchestra and Chorus, Banda Sinfónica y Coro de la Secretaría de Marina de la Armada de México - 2

The local news program EntreTodos has posted a video of this years performance by the orchestra. So here it is.

Mexico Marine Symphonic Orchestra and Chorus, Banda Sinfónica y Coro de la Secretaría de Marina de la Armada de México

On Friday evening we went downtown to hear the 120 member Mexico Marine Symphonic Orchestra and Chorus. They were holding a free concert for everyone on the tourist malecón in centro. We had gone to see them on October 15,2006 and really enjoyed their performance.
I didn't take my camera as I thought it would be too dark for me to take pictures; but as it turned out with all the lights on the malecón and the lights from the stage I would have been able to get some good photos. Oh well, next time I guess.
We had taken our lawn chairs, as last time the chairs put out by the city had filled up before we got there. We got excellent seats close to the front and were able to see everything really well.
The orchestra/chorus did many arias from operas and then some older popular tunes such as Yellow Submarine, Hey Jude, some by Abba, Don't Cry For Me Argentina, Jesus Christ Superstar, etc., they also did my favorite song from the Phantom of the Opera. Naturally they did La Barca de Guaymas as I think the crowd would have revolted had they not.
Their musical and vocal talent are fantastic and the crowd truly appreciated them. There were thousands of people attending the concert and you could have heard a pin drop they were so quiet listening to the music. A wonderful experience, if they ever come to your corner of the world make sure you go and hear them. They perform internationally but according to the director, Francisco Hernández Cevallos, Mexico is best.
It was a lovely evening sitting beside the bay with a tiny, gentle breeze. The humidity was low, the moon was high and the malecón was full of entranced people.
Here is an old video from 2006, I couldn't find any posted of this years performance.

Nauticopa Boat Races 2008

The Nauticopa boat races were held here on Saturday the 18th and Sunday the 19th, we decided that we didn't want to go both days so we waited until Sunday to go.
We took our lawn chairs and sat up on the cement border that separates the malecón from the rocks at the water of the bay. Perfect seats. It was hot sitting in the sun though as it was 35 C. (about 95 F.). They did have shade areas set up but we wanted ring side seats so took the sun. As we sat down a policeman came over to talk to us, I thought he was going to tell us that we couldn't sit there; but he just wanted to chat. We chatted back and forth with him for quite awhile as we waited for the action to begin. There were quite a few people there to watch and of course lots of places set up to get food and drinks from.
As starting time got closer more people crowded in and we were glad that we had gone early and gotten a good place to sit. There was a little boy of maybe 2 or 3 yrs. old, he could talk already anyway, he was standing up on the cement border right behind our chairs and talking a blue streak to us. He was so cute, he had some candies and offered to share with us. We were afraid that he was going to tumble off the cement so asked his mom if he could come forward and sit between our feet. She didn't mind and he was quite happy. The tourist pirate boat motored into a good viewing place in the bay so I showed him and then he had to go back to his mother to show her the pirate boat. When I asked him if he liked the pirates he looked very solemn so I asked if he was afraid of them and he very seriously said, "yes". He was so funny jabbering to us and looking/waving at the boats when we pointed things out to him. He made the waiting time go quickly and enjoyably for us.
The races started and we enjoyed being able to see so well. Last year we had gone on the first day and the heats had been run a bit differently than they were this year; but maybe the final day things are different. Anyway some of the races had 10 boats in them. Fun to watch; but I was never sure who was the winner, as some were so fast that they lapped the slower ones. Interesting to watch. We stayed for about 3 hrs. and then decided that we had had enough both of the sun and the races so headed home.
More pictures and videos here .

The Cruise Ship Arrives

Yesterday was the day that the first cruise ship arrived in Guaymas, it was the Ryndam of the Holland America line.

We didn't try to go to the terminal where the ship docked but later on headed downtown to see what was happening. There must have been alot of people in from out of town or else everyone in town was trying to drive downtown as the traffic was heavy. The bus driver finally opened the bus doors about 2 blocks from the Plaza de Tres Presidents, shook his head and let everyone off.
There were people everywhere in centro. They had stages set up by the 13 de Julio park,

on the tourist malecón,

and at the Plaza de Pescador.

In the Plaza de Tres Presidentes there were booths set up by the vendors from the old mercado and possibly others, I am not sure. These booths were set up to sell crafts and things to the cruisers.

There were singers and dancers on all the stages and there were people everywhere.

The Governor of the State of Sonora was supposed to address the people at some point in the afternoon.

There were displays of typical dress of some of the states of Mexico and also some fossils and paintings set up in the Palacio Municipal.

There were school children everywhere, parading down the streets with banners and also just milling around in the crowds.

There were a lot of the older children from the schools, that can speak some english, wearing white shirts with the words "Can I help you" written on them. They were handing out small phamplets with the downtown area of Guaymas on a map. We were asked if we needed help and I explained that we were not cruisers but that we lived here and they gave us a brochure anyway. The brochure highlighted some of the old buildings in town and various sights to see.

We wandered around everything and when we got hot, we decided to go over to the 13 de Julio park and sit in a bench in the shade. We secured a spot on a bench and just people watched. A couple of cruisers came by and we began to chat, they were from California. Some younger students with notebooks were waylaying the cruisers, talking to them and getting email addresses from them, so we chatted with them for awhile, their english was quite good and I am sure it was good practise for them. We were having a nice chat when a couple of students with clipboards, from the local university came over to chat with us. Again I explained that we were not cruisers; but that the other couple was. The students wanted to ask the cruisers some questions; but they could not understand their english. The students then relayed their questions to me and then I relayed them to the cruisers. Once the cruisers were busy filling in the questionaires we got up and went on our way.

We wandered around for awhile longer before heading home. Everyone seemed to be having a good time and hopefully the cruisers got a good impression of our town.

Later on in the evening, I am assuming about the time the ship was leaving there was a fireworks display. We stood out on the patio and watched.

So the first ship has come and gone and hopefully the expectations for all were meet.
This video is from the Entre Todos news site here in Guaymas.

This one is also from the same site:


There are some really good photos of the cruise ship on the Viva San Carlos forum. Someone posting under the name JPBUK posted them in the thread entitled "Cruise Ship". This link might just take you to the forum itself, if so, then you need to go to: Community Bulletin Board and then to the thread "Cruise ship". Very good photos. Viva San Carlos .

Upcoming Events

There are a few upcoming events being held here in the next little while that people in the area might be interested in.

October:
16-- Activity: Arrival of the first crusier to Guaymas

Activities being held in the plazas around town to welcome the cruisers and showcase some of the talent and crafts, etc. of the area.

17 --Activity: Orquesta Sinfonica de la Marina concert
Three President's Square, approximate time 8:00 PM
Free admission

18-19-- Activity: Nauticopa boat races
Guaymas Bay / Tourist malecon

November:

1st--Judging of the Altars for the Dias de los Muertos at the Plaza de la Pistola at 5 or 6 PM depending on which site you read.

Inaugurating The Cruise Terminal

Yesterday the President of Mexico, Felipe Calderón Hinojosa accompanied by the Governor of the state of Sonora, Eduardo Bours and the mayor of Guaymas, Antonio Astiazarán inaugurated the Centro Internacional de Cruceros (cruise terminal). The total cost was 110 million pesos according to the newspaper.

Photos from El Vigia newspaper.

They then went on to view the hurricane damage in Alamos. 800 million pesos of aid was promised for the areas affected by Tropical Storms Julio and Lowell and Hurricane Norbert.

Photo from La Voz del Puerto newspaper.

Damages From Norbert

Here are some of the highlights (or low lights) on the damages from Hurricane Norbert taken from the newspaper El Vigia.
The hurricane came onto land in Sonora at Yavaros, which would be about 275 kms. south of us. We visited the little town of Yavaros in January 2006 ,it is a small pueblo and it did not look like the most prosperous of places, I am sure that the hurricane will cause much hardship there.
Some of the photos that I took in Yavaros, January of 2006.





The Valle del Mayo in the municipality of Huatabampo received 150 kilometer per hour winds. One town, Bacabachi received 139 mm. of rain, Alamos received 100 mm.. Sadly in Alamos there were 3 deaths because of the storm. according to El Vigia newspaper.

La Voz del Puerto newspaper says that there were 4 deaths and still 1 person missing. La Voz also says that 60 cars were carried away by the current of the Arroyo La Aduana. Bridges within the city are destroyed and many, many homes and businesses are damaged. Many people had to climb onto the roofs of their homes to avoid being swept away. The newspaper article is here.
You can read more about the damages to Alamos here, the picture below of the main road connecting Alamos to Navajoa was taken from the above site.

You can see more photos of the damages here .

Photo from La Voz del Puerto newspaper.

The governor of the state and the director of civil protection have already toured the area and looked at the damages so hopefully help will be forthcoming.
The mayor of Guaymas has promised help and support to the city of Alamos to aid in the cleaning up process.

Legal For Another Year

With all the excitement about Norbert coming I forgot to mention that we are legal again for another year.
We had applied to renew our FM3's and about 4 weeks later we have them back, nicely stamped and ready to go for another year.

Norbert Is Gone

Norbert is gone and we are fine. I am not sure how the people on the Baja fared or how the people are further south of us where it hit when it made its landfall on the mainland.

It was supposed to come ashore somewhere around Huatabampo/Yavaros south of us; but I haven't found any information as yet this morning. Both of the local papers have not put up their sunday edition on the internet and I have not gone out to buy a paper either. I am having a lazy morning.

If you hear that it hit San Carlos, that is Puerto San Carlos on the west side of the Baja, not the San Carlos close to Guaymas.

Last night our landlord told me that they had had some rain in Obregon; but that the wind had not been too bad. Our landlady is there at the moment visiting some friends and he had talked to her on the telephone.

We had a bit of rain here during the day yesterday. I had gone to the store to get some coffee as I had forgotten it the day before. When I came out of the store it was raining pretty hard. I was soaked by the time I walked the 3 or 4 blocks home and shortly after I got home it quit and that was it for rain here. Not a drop overnight, just a bit of wind. So we were spared, hopefully it was not too bad anywhere; but I don't know that as yet.

It has been downgraded to a tropical depression and is already close to Texas, NOAA has issued its last warning about Norbert.

Odile has also been downgraded and looks like she will not do too much further damage.

Waiting For Norbert

Are you all sick of hearing about Hurricane Norbert yet? We are; but he still keeps coming. He is close to or on the Baja now and they expect him to hit the mainland around 5 PM this afternoon. It looks like the trajectory has moved a bit southwards so we may not get hit too bad; although they still expect him to be a hurricane after he passes over the Baja and gets to the mainland. He is still a Catagory 2 hurricane right now.
It looks like we will be on the very northern edge of it. From what I can figure out they are forecasting 34 Kt. - 50Kt. of wind for Guaymas, which would be about 39-57 MPH or 62-92 KMP according to some conversion charts I used. What can you do but sit and wait and see.
I feel sorry for the people close to where he is supposed to come onto land, as they are still dealing with the aftereffects of the storm Lowell. They certainly do not need another storm.

It looks like Tropical Storm Odile is projected to turn out towards the ocean so that is good news. Hopefully it doesn't cause too much damage anywhere before it does turn.

Hurricane Norbert And An Anniversary

The latest update for Norbert put out at 8 AM by NOAA has the following to say, (Norbert is now a Catagory 2 hurricane):
...NORBERT STRENGTHENS A LITTLE...NEW WATCHES AND WARNINGS ISSUED
FOR MEXICO...

AT 8 AM PDT...1500 UTC...THE GOVERNMENT OF MEXICO HAS ISSUED A
TROPICAL STORM WARNING FOR THE COAST OF BAJA CALIFORNIA FROM SOUTH
OF AGUA BLANCA SOUTHWARD TO CABO SAN LUCAS AND NORTHWARD AROUND THE
PENINSULA TO MULEGE. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING MEANS THAT TROPICAL
STORM CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITHIN THE WARNING AREA WITHIN THE
NEXT 24 HOURS.

AT 8 AM PDT...1500 UTC...THE GOVERNMENT OF MEXICO HAS ISSUED A
TROPICAL STORM WATCH FOR THE COAST OF MAINLAND MEXICO FROM
TOPOLOBAMPO NORTHWARD TO GUAYMAS. A TROPICAL STORM WATCH MEANS THAT
TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE WITHIN THE WATCH
AREA...GENERALLY WITHIN 36 HOURS.

A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE WEST COAST OF BAJA
CALIFORNIA FROM PUERTO SAN ANDRESITO TO AGUA BLANCA. PREPARATIONS
TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY SHOULD BE RUSHED TO COMPLETION.

A HURRICANE WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR COAST OF BAJA CALIFORNIA
FROM SOUTH OF AGUA BLANCA SOUTHWARD TO CABO SAN LUCAS AND NORTHWARD
AROUND THE PENINSULA TO LORETO.
My suggestion for anyone in the area and for those who are intending to travel to the area is that they should continue to monitor the NOAA site for information, the next update will be at 11AM.


On a lighter note, today is the 3rd anniversary of us coming to Mexico. Three years ago today we crossed the border and entered Mexico, not realising what a life changing experience that would be. Our one winter away from the cold has turned into a new life completely.
When I said "Happy Anniversary" to Roy this morning he said, "man, that was a good day" and life continues to be good. Everything was so new and exciting at that time, now things have settled down into a normal life for us here; but things are still at times new and exciting.
We have no regrets and continue to enjoy our lives here.
I think we will go out for dinner this evening to celebrate.

Norbert And Odile??

It could get interesting around here for the next while. Now there is another storm called Odile, Odile has now been upgraded to a Tropical Storm.
Norbert has gone from a Catagory 3 storm yesterday to a Catagory 4 and now has dropped back down to a 3. Hopefully he will just go away and not cause damage to anyone; but it doesn't look like that will happen. It looks like Norbert will come over us, if he does, early Sunday morning. It is cloudy this morning so far and will probably stay that way. They are forecasting rain for us for the next few days, so we will see what we actually get.
All this weather around and the first cruise ship leaves San Diego on the 12th and is supposed to arrive here on the 16th. Hopefully things will have cleared up by then.

Hurricane Norbert

It looks like Hurricane Norbert is on his way. At the moment he has strenghtened to a Catagory 3 with winds of 125 MPH, so he is not playing around.
So far we are forecast to receive rain on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We will see what happens in the next few days.