Que Paso June 28 Puerto Morelos Newsletter

At the Races - Last Sunday 3pm
There are races held irregularly and we managed to hear about the day at Rancho San Jose de Los Camotes and what a lot of fun that was! Anyone who tried to follow my directions from last week - I am really sorry about that! We will report when we hear of more race dates. The race track is 3 lanes marked off to 200 or 300 barras (a Spanish word used only in horse racing) and there were 10 races of 2 horses each. Everyone backs their trucks up to the track and the men wander around on the track between races up to the last minute like the running of the bulls! Lots of money changes hands - someone will walk up to you and want to bet 500p on one horse so you take the money and keep it if you win or he will come and find you and take 1000p if you lose. While the bets are being taken they walk the horses around in the crowd and then take them down to the start gate. You are so close when they go past that you are hit by the wind and the flying dirt from hooves. There were barbecue goat sandwiches which were delicious with ice cold beer although the fellow reaching his arms into the meat to serve you was a little scary! It was 50 pesos entrance and hours of plain fun.

Ceiba del Mar's Mangrove Road
Ceiba del Mar has started work on extending the road from their car park along the back of the houses to their north but only plan to take it half way and turn right to the beach alongside where Dinah Drago and the Schaeffers are. There is permission to take the rear road all the way through to the Aquaculture centre but I suppose money is talking. There are definite concerns about this as the road will effectively be like building a dyke on that corner, which raises the water on the mangroves threatening them the same as the issue at El Cid, it may also make it difficult for residents to exit in case of flood. Various government departments have been inspecting and there was a direction to remove an relocate the chit palms in the vicinity - six men were there yesterday with no supervisor, no water, no shade from the sun and no way to remove store and relocate the palms. If you want to know more about this please call the manager of Ceiba, Juan, and ask him to please explain!

Secret meeting about Cruise Ships for PM
Last night there was a meeting at Ojo de Agua (quelle surprise) to which very few people were invited or notified. There is a serious proposal to build a cruise ship terminal at Punta Brava (south side of South Beach) and introduce the wonders of cruise ships to PM. They are telling everyone how glorious this will be for the town - you all know that this will change PM into just another commercial junk stop and bring nothing but problems to the town. The citizens once again expressed their dislike of the proposal there were some supporters but still mostly against. Apparently the Director of IMPLAN is involved (did you know he is a realtor and sold the last big beach property here?)Please take action to stop this - write or call or email- here are some names and addresses:

Desarallo Urbano - Ing. E.V. Heyden Cebada Ramirez, Director General de Desarollo Urbano, Palacio Municipal P.B., Av Tulum #5 SM5, www.cancun.gob.mx or desarollourbano@cancun.gob.mx. To the same address - Arq. Santhy Montemayor C., Director de Zonification e Imagen Urbana and Arq. Enna Rosa Dzib Heredia, Directora de Normatividad de Obras Arquitectonicas y Civiles and Ing. Andres Nieto Foullon, Director Obras Publicas

Paradisus Meeting about tall buildings and the Plan!
And today at Paradisus a meeting about getting permission to build 8 story buildings at Paradisus and south of El Cid, will it ever end? The same group of people involved in the cruise ship lobby are involved in the proposal to increase the height restrictions in Puerto Morelos. The Director of IMPLAN, Sr. Hassau, who sold the beach block next to Amar Inn, has been talking about building a beautiful new entrance to PM and fixing our streets as well as supporting the increased building height! Imagine an 8 story building over that block.

Going to Merida?
Check out YucatanLiving.com, see the link on my right. It just makes you weep to see how much is going on in that town. Great for your visiting guests. It is a really well designed site and features an interview with yours truly!

Dog Day and Ojo de Agua
Today on the beach were 2 trucks from the Dept of Sanitation. I was alone on the beach between Tuna and Ceiba and they roared up to me and said they were going to take Alex - I said no it was legal to have a dog on the leash on the beach - see the sign! They said no no dogs at all and the head man ordered men out of the back of the truck to take my dog - we ran! Apparently there is a new federal law banning dogs from the beach - we will fight this. I went to talk to Felix at Ojo de Agua well known to support this and he said that it was to stop people from Cancun bringing their dogs and to keep the tourists happy. So lets see in one week we have this hotel stopping locals from walking their dogs and supporting cruise ships in PM - do you still want to support that place?

Oysters
I know this is a picture of an empty plate but boy they were good. Oysters bought at Soriana this week were fantabulous. Shuck them yourself if you can, they were really fresh and had that ocean taste, squeeze of lime, heaven.


Masah
Fernanda in Calle Galéon 15b in Villas Morelos is offering 2 for 1 facials, 2 full facials for 300 pesos June and July only . Fernanda used to work in the hotel zone and now works from home so she can be with her little girl 998 1891466

Bacabs
Dinner at Bacabs recently where they have revamped Gustavo's grill area and served an excellent Filet Mignon, such a pretty view too.

Vieja Pescador
In their new location between Pelicano's and Baraka, Vieja Pescador still has some of our favourite staff and a beautiful spot on the beach. The menu has not changed and I had some fish fillets that were fine, Bioné was cooking so they were not overdone. Valerie really enjoyed her Chile Rellenos.

Portabellos
has closed and the business is up for sale - anyone feel like being enterprising for the high season?

TUNA
FRIDAY 7PM
MIKE MANZUR pure Blues

SATURDAY 8PM
DR Reggae, good time music

BARA BARA
FRIDAY
Alvin and Tato from Costa Tecnocolor
SATURDAY
Rasta and Pepis from Tuna!!!

CASA AZUL
FRIDAY 7:00-10:00 p.m.
Billy Chapman
SUNDAY 12:00- 5:00 pm.
Rosy Flores and Billy Chapman
Happy Hour 5-7pm every day
Check out those breaded shrimp

BARAKA
FRI 7.30
Flamenco Trio
SAT 7.30
Flamenco Trio
MON 7.30
Latin American music with dance
TUE 7.30 w
Bossanova jazz

Que paso? June 21

Welcome to the Puerto Morelos newsletter, please see the music what's on at the bottom of the page.
DAY OF THE FREE BOOKS
A wonderful thing this week was delivering books to the schools. Valerie and John Ware from Iowa arrived with close to 500 books for the children of Puerto Morelos. Valerie raised funds from friends and residents of Playa Sol and went on the net searching for Spanish and bilingual bargains, she breezed through with a green light at customs and Monday and Tuesday saw the volunteers from El Mundo para Puerto Morelos delivering books to three kindergartens where every child chose a book of their own and the 2 primary schools where 1st and 2nd year all received books. Valerie was a bit sad when it was all over she was looking forward to the next school. It was a delight to see their faces and be a part of the schools programme to encourage children to read. We will definitely be doing this again, so bring books too.





HAPPINESS
Weddings are wonderful too and when it is close friends it is indeed a very moving event. Gary and Carol were married in an elegant ceremony on Saturday at the El Dorado Hotel. We luxuriated in the cocktails in the Presidential Suite and then the undecided weather cleared at the last moment and created a perfect afternoon. All went well and the night was full of laughter and a few happy tears. Congratulations to you both!

WINE SPA
No not a new bar but wine therapy, now what a good idea. Fernanda is offering a treatment using grapes that exfoliates, reduces wrinkles, firms and nourishes the skin. It is a whole body treatment and takes 1.5 hours. The normal cost is 600 pesos but the special for June is 350 pesos. For an appointment call 998 1891466 (Villas Morelos Calle Galéon 15b)

POLITICS
Casa Azul was host to a gathering of citizens active in the community to meet the PRI candidate Victor Viveros, taxi driver, who has been active in PM for 10 years, Tuesday 8pm. He was not there (I left 9.45) and Laura Fernandez answered questions from the floor. There was a lot of bitterness towards Cancun expressed. Where does all the money that we send to Cancun from our hotels go? What about our roads, medical clinics, schools, emergency services. Where have we heard this before. I think we should secede! Then we'd have to decide if we wanted to take Mayan Palace with us or not, mmm tough one.


NEW CLINIC
Dra Eugenia Arenas Zapata has opened a clinic in Villas Morelos to look after your emotional health! The good doctor is also the representative for DIF in Puerto Morelos and happens to be married to the Mayor. She offers various therapies for stress, sleeplessness, depression and so forth and uses homeopathy as well as medical surgery. So if you would like a consultation call 2089020
(Calle Catamaran y38 L14b)

HORSE RACE
Feel like something different? There is a horse race on Sunday at 3pm. It's on the west side of the highway between here and Petempich, you enter where there is a big sign that says Delta. 50 pesos. Your intrepid reporter will report back.

EDUARDO'S SPECIAL SUNDAY
One block north from the Extra at the corner of Villas Morelos, Eduardo is serving up special Sunday food between 0800 and 1200. Barbecued meat with special frijoles. Let's support his new endeavour, get out of bed.

BEAUTY TIP
Well I don't know about you but the mayonnaise hair treatment worked really well. Here is another locally available and economical idea:
The best facial mask is honey. Place a cloth in warm water and apply to your face to open the pores. Smear on honey, and leave on for 15 to 30 minutes. Rinse off with warm water, then use cold water to close the pores. Use once a week.

DID YOU KNOW? 3rd in the seed series
Doe eye, horse eye, true sea bean, burning bean and hamburger bean this pretty little favourite is a delight when found on our beaches, it feels so friendly when held in your palm. It comes from a voracious woody vine that engulfs shrubs and trees in South and Central America and the West Indies. It has a wonderful defense against foraging monkeys, insects and parrots. Firstly its pod hangs on a long stem and is hard to reach; secondly the pod is covered in stinging hairs that are so potent that they cause" an almost unbearable itching and burning of the skin and can cause blindness if they get in the eyes" and thirdly if the predator gets past this and to the skin they will find it very distasteful and containing a drug know as ''L-dopa" which can cause hallucinations, extreme anxiety, sleepiness, nausea and hair loss but is used effectively in the treatment of Parkinson's. It was also once used to make buttons but we know it as the sweet decorative seed used in jewelry and wall decorations.Mucuna Urens (reddish) and Mucuna sloanei (greyish).

TUNA

FRIDAY 7PM
MIKE MANZUR pure Blues

SATURDAY 8PM
JJ Reggae, rock and funk

CASA AZUL
FRIDAY 7:00-10:00 p.m.
Billy Chapman
SUNDAY 12:00- 5:00 pm.
Rosy Flores and Billy Chapman
Happy Hour 5-7pm every day
New are some killer Albondigas, and they have invested in Oysters for
this week. Dave can do almost anything with them, including shooters,
battered and we are also making oyster ceviche and cocktails.

BARA BARA

FRIDAY
Ivan Villa from Italy - house, minmal
SATURDAY
Rasta sound system - reggae

BARAKA

FRI 7.30
Flamenco Trio
SAT 7.30
Flamenco Trio
MON 7.30
Latin American music with dance
TUE 7.30 w
Bossanova jazz


Best to all and don't forget to tell your friends and clients visiting PM to bring some of the things on our needs list - you can see the list on franks site which you can link to through my blog!!

Catriona Brown
Administrator
El Mundo para Puerto Morelos SC

www.catinmexico.blogspot.com

Que Paso? June 15th

Computer issues, power issues at the house, car problems, workmen everywhere when I've just had the floors cleaned, normal day in Puerto Morelos. We have a lot of visitors in town which is great and everyone is gearing up for the July and August season. It has rained for days and days but clear skies now. It was enough rain for us to discover all the new leaks and to make the gardens go crazy with delight. And the beach is just fabulous.

Here is a music update and a few gratuitous around town photos taken today (June 15th) in case anyone is missing home or are on their way here.

Have to say thanks to Cynthia and Jeronimo who cleaned out their houses and donated all sorts of great things for the next charity bazaar! We will turn these things into money that helps the families of Puerto Morelos, keep it coming.

We also had four lovely young people staying at El Dorado who bought a suitcase full of goodies for the schools, thank you guys, hope to see you back here soon.

TUNA BEACH CLUB

FRIDAY 7Pm
MIKE MANZUR pure Blues

SATURDAY 8PM
DR. REGGAE (playa del carmen)

CASA AZUL

FRIDAY 7:00-10:00 p.m.
Billy Chapman
SUNDAY 12:00- 5:00 pm.
Rosy Flores and Billy Chapman
Happy Hour 5-7pm every day

BARA BARA

FRIDAY
Santa Mostazza Crew - electro tech
SATURDAY
Rasta sound system - reggae

BARAKA

"Spanish Fabada weekend"
Fabada is a thick soup made with "Fabes" (large white beans), beacon, chorizo and lot's of love!; a very traditional Spanish dish

FRI 7.30
Flamenco Trio
SAT 7.30
Flamenco Trio
MON 7.30
Latin American music with dance
TUE 7.30
Bossanova jazz

Marthe and Andreas want us all to get healthy with Goji Juice, if you are interested please visit their site www.marand.trygoji.com. Saturday June 23rd from 12.30pm - 3pm there is a free presentation by the Royal Ambassador to Puerto Rico about Himalaya Goji juice at the Hotel Hacienda Radisson in Cancun downtown. All welcome.

Best to all and don't forget to tell your friends and clients visiting PM to bring some of the things on our needs list - you can see the list on Frank's site which you can link to through this blog.

Catriona Brown
Administrator
El Mundo para Puerto Morelos SC

Que Paso? June 6

Hello Everyone, Welcome to our weekly news spot for Puerto Morelos. The charity will soon have its own website in the meantime Frank keeps the list of goods on his site for us www.vivapuertomorelos.com also at http://www.almalibrebooks.com/elmundo.htm.

So rainy season started. Really started. A relief not to have to daily water 2 houses and it certainly keeps the dust down but oh the poor tourists. Lots of clothes washing went on yesterday and today, people ran in to Cancun to get supplies, bills paid etc. Temp dropped to 80F, (5.30pm) and we have full cloud cover, talk on the beach amongst the locals is what storms are coming. Have a look at the following if you are bored too, it explains predictions for this year and why they got it wrong last year, to do with El Niño versus La Niña: http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2007/s2864.htm.

KEYS
Most adorable addition to town this week was a key cutting kiosk next to Villas Latinas, see pic of Eduardo and Amancia getting keys cut by Anai, the owner Martin's niece.

FISHING
The Fishing Tournament was succesful for the fishermen not the fish, I guess that was the plan! The winner from Cancun brought in a 70kg White Marlin and a local fishermen got second prize with a 50 kg one, congratulations to all. Thanks for the pics Florencia - who, by the way, wants you all to know she is still performing nightly at Giaconda!

YUCATAN POLO CLUB
I was in the lovely Merida for the weekend and saw the start of the Yucatan Polo Club, very exciting. Soon we will have quite a group of Polo clubs in this area, Puerto Morelos, Cancun and Merida. If you are interested in being a player in Puerto Morelos or Merida please let us know. See Pic of polo players Paul, Xavier and Cousteau at the Yucatan Club party this weekend.











EL QUINTANARROENSE
and the paper INTERNATIONAL did a launch in Puerto Morelos today. International is in English and prints international news provided by the BBC, they had some really interesting articles. Their local content is still 'in development' shall we say. The CEO of the paper, Miguel Ramón Martin Azueta, spoke eloquently and passionately about the paper and how he is keen to have Puerto Morelos involved and featured and how he wants our input. Of course they have already received some from me (Jack and Jean I've already pitched the roads issue) but if you want to send them information feel free: international@elquintanarroense.com

JARDIN BOTANICO YAAX CHE
Our Botanic garden celebrated its 25th Anniversary yesterday June 5th. If you have not been in some time it really is worth a stroll, They've added a little ampitheatre, medicinal herb garden , palm garden, fern garden, there are Mayan ruins and a recreation of a chicle camp and lots of new signage on the plants

TEMAZCAL
The traditional Mexican sweat bath is not primarily used for ceremonial purposes, it is and was, as far back as has been traced, a therapeutic instrument, an arm of the medical practices developed in what anthropologists like to call, Mesoamerica, that vast area that now includes Mexico, Guatemala and Belize. We know it best, in its ancient forms, through the Aztecs, and Temazcal, as it is still called in contemporary Mexico, is a Nahuatl word, bath house. You can enjoy the healing effects of the Temazcal in Puerto Morelos call 044 998 1019546 or sign up at Amancia's for Friday or Saturday night 7.30pm 150 pesos

BUDDHIST MONK IN CANCUN
Ven. Tenzin Palmo's advice: "It is important to use our daily life: our relationships and family, our work, and social time, in fact everything we do, as our spiritual practice." and "We need to learn to open up the heart and to be able to give whenever we see a need. This means even little things. Not just material things, but smiles, a nice word. Time to listen, sometimes just being there for others." -- Tenzin Palmo
You can take part in meditation with the Venerable Tenzin Palma Saturday 10 June 10am-12pm and 1pm-3pm at the Flex Gym in Avenida Luna on the corner of Alma in Cancun. More information on the order at www.gatsal.org and more information on the event on 044 998 7349073

WHATS ON?

TUNA BEACH CLUB

THURSDAY
Billy Chapman
FRIDAY
Mike Manzur and Stratus Band (blues)
SATURDAY
Dr Reggae

CASA AZUL

FRIDAY 7:00-10:00 p.m.
Billy Chapman
SUNDAY 12:00- 5:00 pm.
Rosy Flores and Billy Chapman
Happy Hour 5-7pm every day
Food special this week: full and half racks of baby back ribs with Dave's
homemade BBQ Sauce (Yummy stuff) and if you snorkel before you dine you can get a free beer, water, juice,
soda, and free appetizer.