A Tropical Christmas

Feliz Navidad!.  

A familiar sight in anticipation of Christmas 

Vehicles with pictures of the Virgen de Guadalupe are seen guiding young people who run, walk, ride, roller skate from their community to a local shrine in a neighbouring community.  Often this involves many kilometers.. It is their way of showing love and worship for Our Lady of Guadalupe ( the Virgin Mary)   

Our Lady is officially proclaimed by the Roman Catholic Church as the Patroness of Americas, Empress of Latin America and Protectress of the Unborn Children.

         Local homes are adorned with pictures and alters celebrating the Virgin.

According to Roman Catholic tradition, on December 9, 1531, Juan Diego, a recently converted Aztec indigenous peasant, had a vision of a young woman while he was on a hill in the Tepeyac desert, near Mexico City. 

The shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe is the most visited Catholic pilgrimage destination in the world. 

"The Aztecs…had an elaborate, coherent symbolic system for making sense of their lives. When this was destroyed by the Spaniards, something new was needed to fill the void and make sense of New Spain…the image of Guadalupe served that purpose."^{[41] ( from Wikipedia)}

Nativity Scene in Progreso...the manger is empty until
the Dec.24th candlelight evening procession 
from the nearby church 

Xmas Tree in front of the Municipal Building 

The entrance to one of the many universities in Yucatan...this one is in the Merida Centro.... All decked out with poinsettias and a nativity scene.

Poinsettias are native to Mexico and are referred to as Noches buenas 

The children from the Free English School in Chuburna caroling outside our house... They sing at 5 houses and at each house we make sure there is an audience..so friends get together to enjoy the caroling and send the children off with candies and cookies for their party.  Certainly put us all in the Xmas spirit.

A view thru the gate at the local nursing home in Progreso... very peaceful

Manger in Chuburna 




Children waiting patiently in line

30 degrees at 6:00 pm and Santa arrives to give
Toys to over 600 children... 
Mucho ninos feliz ( many happy children)   






We have had an incredible 2011 and are blessed to have shared 

                    the journey with our family and friends   

        Feliz Navidad, Paz, Salud y Felicidad en 2012

             (Merry Christmas, Peace, Health and Happiness in  2012) 

Dorothy and Gord.

Construction Begins

                     We've had two coconut trees removed with the only tools being;

• bare feet to climb, 
• a machete to cut the fronds, 
• an axe to cut into the trunk and later to cut it up into movable chunks
• a rope to pull the top of the tree over once the trunk is cut midway up 

The trunk wood is used for carving masks and bar stools; the green fronds are used for weaving baskets and hats.. 

With the trees gone, our contractors can begin their work on the ground much more safely.. no bonks on the head by a deadly heavy, milk filled coconut!.   

Construction Begins: To replace our cisterns. 
Locally provided water comes into one cement box and is pumped to another closer to the house; then up to the tinacas ( 2 large black plastic containers on our roof).  Then gravity feeds the water to the bathrooms and kitchen.  Needless to say, we buy our water for drinking.. 100 pesos which is about 80 cents for each big bottle... delivery to the door or buy in the village. 
                   

Rock for the Foundation 

Our contractor Don Lauro and 2  family members have begun to build our "bodega" in which we will set up our Water System...softener, ultra violet, pressure tank...with the ultimate goal of having drinking water and softened water for showers...  YEAH!.

Digging the foundation by hand and then 
chipping the rock to fit like a puzzle with 
cement added to hold it all together. 

Cement blocks arrive 

Rebar for the corners... ..looking pretty rudimentary at first glance for sure. If we hadn't witnessed our contractors successfully building homes for friends from BC and Sask. we would be worried.  

Cement is mixed by hand; rarely by machine.

HOW TO POUR A ROOF 

Mix cement on the ground; 

Shovel into bucket; 

Carry bucket on shoulder up the scaffold; 

Hand to worker on roof who pours and trowels the cement.

Use 3 long slim tree trunks inside to support the roof while drying.

 What Am I Doing While all This is Going ON ??????

Yoga 3 mornings a week and Bible Study Group on Thursdays

 Full Body Massage during a "Girls Day Out: at the beach... we are on a side terrace facing the ocean .  

Gord and I  went to the Local Artisans Show in Merida... these lamps are of paper made from the "Mother- in-Law tongue plant. All the displayers come from the local pueblos, Merida and several are women's cooperatives. 

Watching the local fisherman... the way to stay warm on cool mornings is to cover your entire head...looking like mummies...

These guys were here at 4:00 a.m. laying their nets across a wide stretch of sea in front of our beach houses; then tonight at 5:00 returned to gather them all up.. 

Admiring their balance. Both stand the whole time.  One poles along, stopping for both of them to pull up the meters and meters of net while the boat rocks and rolls. .....no life jackets and unfortunately no fish either!

Buenos Noches...24 degrees = perfect sleeping weather. 
Dorothy and Gord 

Celebrations and Work

At the end of the last Blog I told you about the Dias de los muertos ( Day of the dead) or as the Mayans call it, Hanal Pixan...  Here is an alter  a local woman set up to honor her aunt. Altars are usually more simply set up at home on a table covered with a white table cloth.  It is believed that the spirits of the dead return to bring blessings. Their favorite foods and candles and other offerings (ofrendas) are placed on the table along with photos, momentos, belongings. Family members spend time together sharing stories of their loved ones. 

                 What a wonderful way to dedicate time and effort to honoring the lives of those who have died.    

Marigolds and Pan Muerte ( bread for the dead) are part of the celebration; as is the Mukbil Pollo or Pib which our Mayan contractors made for us to sample... It is a tamale stuffed with chicken and a broth of corn, cooked in the ground .  We have been invited next year to watch how it is made and cooked which is quite an honor as this dish is the most characteristic of this celebration.

Halloween happens at the same time. The Free English School children from the village came trick or treating to experience what Halloween is like for children in Canada and the US... We volunteered to be one of 6 families hosting the trick or treaters.  I am the ghost handing out candies with scary music and jack-o-lanterns.  It was a dark, blustery night and they had fun running up our long driveway yelling trick or treat..

  THE EVERYDAY BUSINESS OF LIFE CONTINUES regardless of where we live.. Our state and federal -beach taxes are paid at the green municipal building in Progreso.

Opening our Mexican Bank Account....Unlike lots of other services where waiting in line means standing, standing, and more standing...this bank has chairs...  Hooray!   No service charges either if we keep at least 1000 Mx pesos ( about $85.00) in our bank account each month.) 

And the work never ends.... seashells to shovel

Protectores to be scraped and painted 

   

And of course... siesta time!

We met with our contractor and, with the help of a local interpreter,  have a plan in place for several improvements.  Sharing this part of our adventure with you will be fun and, hopefully as interesting for you as it has been for us to witness.  These hard working people work in flip flops, mix cement by hand, carry huge heavy buckets of stone on their shoulders, and bags of cement on their heads... Rough cement boxes become attractive haciendas. 

We leave you tonight with an introduction to our beach dog..Zeus. He was skittish at first, having lived on the beach and around the local hotel; kicked and yelled at, finding his food where ever he could find it.. He has turned out to be a very good companion making sure we get lots of walks.......!! 

Funky Monkey Market

         

A  local cafe Taco Maya, in the fishing village of Chelem which we are only 5 minutes from, held their annual Octoberfest Funky Monkey Market. 

The cafe operates Thurs. Fri and Sat. from 10:00 - 2:00 by  Englishman Paul and his partner, Carol from Quebec. They serve regular and mexican breakfasts and the best coffee... so if very popular with the expats.         Def'n of expat is someone who is living in a country not of their citizenship...or who hates snow!


Every year they hold this Market, serving Mexican food and German beer! 
 The fish you see above are made from the part of the coconut tree called the inflorescence from which comes the branches the coconuts grow on... .with shells glued on for the gills and mouths..  and painted..


This hombre makes 

Bamboo screens, garage doors, deck furniture.  He will make some bamboo screens for us  to close in some openings in our wall facing the beach access so the air can move through but we have more privacy.  

Local artisans..some Mexican; some not.. 

The local plant guy.... expert in Bromeliads and landscaping ... He will be taking out some of our coconut trees in another few weeks..

 Green gourds are very heavy compared to when they are dried and painted.













Which gourd did we buy? 

Our next experience is the Day of the Dead (" Día de los Muertos) or as our Mayan community calls it, Hanal Pixán.  Originating with the Aztecs it has been celebrated for 3,000 years.


It is  a holy day celebrated on November 1, when the spirits that traverse on the earth are welcomed and remembered fondly. Family members and friends  pray for and speak of all the funny and trivial things. 


Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds  and the favorite foods such as Pan de Muerto ( see below) and Mukbil chicken or Pib  and beverages of the departed and visiting graves with these as gifts.


It is believed that the souls of the dead will visit the altar and consume the offerings. Of course, the food is not really eaten, but its soul or essence is consumed by the spirits. The same food is then consumed by all the family members. 

When the spirits come down and are not happy with the offerings made to them, they return unhappily, without blessing the family. Therefore, many people take the rituals followed in this festival very seriously. A lot of time and money is spent on the decoration and the offerings made, to please the souls of the dead.


más por venir más tarde ( more to come later)