Time for slow after
noons and early evening walks as the days have turned into sizzling heat and the night sees everyone
emerging for the relative cool of the air and a stroll around town. Not that there's many people here, quite the reverse, you can do your morning walk and not see anyone else and I relish that feeling which is in such great contrast to our high season this year. Puerto Morelos is getting more and more popular, rental home owners have noticed an increase in the early bookings for the high season coming and many return clients starting to
look for a place of their own.
Breaking news is the bridge! A Federal and State initiative has been the work on Highway
307 further south and it is now time for us. As of next week work will start on building an overpass that will take the highway over and above the intersection at the entrance to Puerto Morelos. The structure is 17.8 metres high, 73 m long and access roads 647m. Pedaestrain crossings will be included and a number of other safety issues addressed as well as 'beautification' of the entrance. Another meeting is to be held to discuss the solutions to the inconvenience during construction. A visit by our
Municipal President Greg Sanchez occasioned the meeting in the Taxi Union hall where is it was also announced that work is to recommence next month on
all the roads in PM, Puerto side and colonia, estimated completion end December along with the bridge. The
Puerto Morelos Plaza is being built on the highway near Villas Morelos, it is one of those plazas with a group of small shops (no super). The
new palapa going up on the beach near Amar Inn is being built by the owner of that lot for his family's use. We were succesful with getting
sponsors for 5 of the 
8 children at the Primary School, 3 remain Geovanny, Diana (no photo) and Victor, you can sponsor their school fees for as little as 250 pesos and if you want school shirts are available at the school and shorts and skirts are made at home, so material purchase would help too. Dan from Playacar has donated enough to buy 5 backpacks full of useful school things for next year, Rose from Australia has adopted and so have Emily and Patti and Dafne and Mikki and Ann Elliot. If you can help please email Jill Yager:
jill.yager@gmail.com.
Palm trees at the kinder - the charity bought 10 palm trees and had them planted at the kindergarten on the beach where there has been no shade since Wilma, lets hope they survive for the little ones to
enjoy. Big news is that
Rotary in Austin and Rotary International are stepping in to help our charity (El Mundo para Puerto Morelos). Their first project with us is to help the teachers at the high school with all the materials they need to complete the curriculum, the first of the supplies arrive next week. If you are interested to see the full high school list click
HERE. If you are interested to see what's needed at the primary schools and kindergartens in the whole village click
HERE.The
free classes in English program has grown a little: Jill Yager has been teaching 2 English classes a week at the high school, Erik Sanchez is starting a 6 week Adult ESL course at the
library, Ana continues at the library on Friday and Saturday afternoons for the
little ones and Mary Haffner with 4 classes a week, adults and children, at the Casa de Cultura. They all need teaching supplies. The Cody family recently visited from Colorado with school supplies, their littlest one being a great attraction. Please see the column on the
right for where to send money for the charity. We have ongoing problems with the
Ambulance and the Fire Brigade that I could use some help with! There is a Muncipal breakdown between the delegado and Leon who manages our ambulance that may result in a competing ambulance being brought in! The new
Fire Chief in Cancun appears to have sideswiped our pumper, the Mayor says he is continuing to apply pressure but I see no results.
The Police! The Taxi Union and the Truck Drivers led by Pepe Espinosa (own the little supermarket etc) held a demonstration in the Town square 10 days ago against the Tourist Police - they said they were b eing victimized by these Police. The meeting was attended by the Chief of Police from Cancun and lot of media. It was a fairly ugly meeting with a lot of aggression from the taxi and truck drivers. Deena Drago spoke up as best she could in the heated crowd and told the media that we actually think they are the best group of Police we have ever had and how we all feel more secure as a result and that maybe if the taxi and truck drivers obeyed the law they wouldn't get stopped so much! In the end the Police left town! That day and night we had only one Police truck until the old Transito returned. I told the Mayor that I think it is outrageous that the taxi and truck drivers can attempt to run this town, he assures me that the Tourist Police will return next week. Please if you are in town, drop in and show your support and
appreciation, its a tough job and they'll be sitting there right opposite the taxi drivers every day! Do you know any artists? The Mayor wants to
paint the town and paint the schools with beautiful murals. He said he'll provide the walls if we can bring the artists - what a great initiative and isn't that a great match for Puerto Morelos? So put on your thinking caps and let's paint the town. Someone has already started as you can see from this newly painted house opposite the high school. Pleased to announce the
Mega has opened up again beside
Costco in Cancun, bigger and less character, a direct copy of the one in Playa but very
convenient. I visited
Secrets Silversands recently (you get to it from the road to Petempich)
and was pleasantly surprised, delightful looking hotel, modern classic. Gorgeous spa facility, nine a la carte restaurants, nine pools and yes you can go there - you can buy a night pass for USD65 (they kick you out at 1am) in the meantime you can sample ALL their food and drink, they have some great wines and top brand spirits so you could really make that work. A day pass at the spa is USD55 to use all their facilities, treatments additional of course 998-193-1800.
Coco ( Corinne le Page) had a
housewarming recently for her new house in the jungle, her friends turned out in support and to enjoy the barbecue.
Doggy business - as you all probably know Diane at Mama's Bakery is a great carer, you get extra special treatment if you are a dog or a cat (bunnies and birds too) but she has run out of funds for her work treating ill and ill treated animals, if you can spare a peso for the
abandoned and homeless animals don't forget to drop in at Mama's Bakery. Some pampered pets live out at the
El Rey Polo Club whic
h recently hosted the 3rd Annual Copa Del Rey, a huge event with players from Canada, USA,
Guatemala and all over Mexico co
nverging with 80 horses to
battle it out in style on the field. Major sponsors were Lemmus, Hotel Valentin, Quien, Tipa y Cana and El Rey.We were entertained by the Cancun Irish dancing team and various cocktail parties, see rare photo of me with make up and hair do and social pages superstar Cedric Schweri! The event was won by the Quien team (from Hacienda Andalusia, red shirts) , there was only one injury when one of the players jumped from the dance floor at the Club and broke his ankle. All the horses are well too! I am sorry to tell you that
Eric passed away recently. Eric had been suffering from Hep C and complications for some months and died in hospital in Merida with his family around. He suffers no more. We will miss his smiling face around town and our thoughts go to his family and friends . The wonderful Casa de Cultura has a great new programme of classes for adults and children and you can view their programme by clicking
HERE. I leave you with some photos of the
Marine Day Festival (and the upcoming swimming competition in Bacalar), along with the normal fish killing there were three nights of music and lots of stalls in the Town
Square and cultural
presentations
on the beach stage including these dancers - will someone tell me why Mexican teenagers would put on white face to do a rap dance? I am culturally confused.
noons and early evening walks as the days have turned into sizzling heat and the night sees everyone 
emerging for the relative cool of the air and a stroll around town. Not that there's many people here, quite the reverse, you can do your morning walk and not see anyone else and I relish that feeling which is in such great contrast to our high season this year. Puerto Morelos is getting more and more popular, rental home owners have noticed an increase in the early bookings for the high season coming and many return clients starting to 
look for a place of their own. Breaking news is the bridge! A Federal and State initiative has been the work on Highway 
307 further south and it is now time for us. As of next week work will start on building an overpass that will take the highway over and above the intersection at the entrance to Puerto Morelos. The structure is 17.8 metres high, 73 m long and access roads 647m. Pedaestrain crossings will be included and a number of other safety issues addressed as well as 'beautification' of the entrance. Another meeting is to be held to discuss the solutions to the inconvenience during construction. A visit by our Municipal President Greg Sanchez occasioned the meeting in the Taxi Union hall where is it was also announced that work is to recommence next month on all the roads in PM, Puerto side and colonia, estimated completion end December along with the bridge. The Puerto Morelos Plaza is being built on the highway near Villas Morelos, it is one of those plazas with a group of small shops (no super). The new palapa going up on the beach near Amar Inn is being built by the owner of that lot for his family's use. We were succesful with getting
sponsors for 5 of the 
8 children at the Primary School, 3 remain Geovanny, Diana (no photo) and Victor, you can sponsor their school fees for as little as 250 pesos and if you want school shirts are available at the school and shorts and skirts are made at home, so material purchase would help too. Dan from Playacar has donated enough to buy 5 backpacks full of useful school things for next year, Rose from Australia has adopted and so have Emily and Patti and Dafne and Mikki and Ann Elliot. If you can help please email Jill Yager: 
jill.yager@gmail.com. Palm trees at the kinder - the charity bought 10 palm trees and had them planted at the kindergarten on the beach where there has been no shade since Wilma, lets hope they survive for the little ones to 
enjoy. Big news is that Rotary in Austin and Rotary International are stepping in to help our charity (El Mundo para Puerto Morelos). Their first project with us is to help the teachers at the high school with all the materials they need to complete the curriculum, the first of the supplies arrive next week. If you are interested to see the full high school list click HERE. If you are interested to see what's needed at the primary schools and kindergartens in the whole village click HERE.The free classes in English program has grown a little: Jill Yager has been teaching 2 English classes a week at the high school, Erik Sanchez is starting a 6 week Adult ESL course at the 
library, Ana continues at the library on Friday and Saturday afternoons for the 
little ones and Mary Haffner with 4 classes a week, adults and children, at the Casa de Cultura. They all need teaching supplies. The Cody family recently visited from Colorado with school supplies, their littlest one being a great attraction. Please see the column on the right for where to send money for the charity. We have ongoing problems with the Ambulance and the Fire Brigade that I could use some help with! There is a Muncipal breakdown between the delegado and Leon who manages our ambulance that may result in a competing ambulance being brought in! The new Fire Chief in Cancun appears to have sideswiped our pumper, the Mayor says he is continuing to apply pressure but I see no results. The Police! The Taxi Union and the Truck Drivers led by Pepe Espinosa (own the little supermarket etc) held a demonstration in the Town square 10 days ago against the Tourist Police - they said they were b eing victimized by these Police. The meeting was attended by the Chief of Police from Cancun and lot of media. It was a fairly ugly meeting with a lot of aggression from the taxi and truck drivers. Deena Drago spoke up as best she could in the heated crowd and told the media that we actually think they are the best group of Police we have ever had and how we all feel more secure as a result and that maybe if the taxi and truck drivers obeyed the law they wouldn't get stopped so much! In the end the Police left town! That day and night we had only one Police truck until the old Transito returned. I told the Mayor that I think it is outrageous that the taxi and truck drivers can attempt to run this town, he assures me that the Tourist Police will return next week. Please if you are in town, drop in and show your support and 
appreciation, its a tough job and they'll be sitting there right opposite the taxi drivers every day! Do you know any artists? The Mayor wants to paint the town and paint the schools with beautiful murals. He said he'll provide the walls if we can bring the artists - what a great initiative and isn't that a great match for Puerto Morelos? So put on your thinking caps and let's paint the town. Someone has already started as you can see from this newly painted house opposite the high school. Pleased to announce the Mega has opened up again beside 
Costco in Cancun, bigger and less character, a direct copy of the one in Playa but very 
convenient. I visited Secrets Silversands recently (you get to it from the road to Petempich) 
and was pleasantly surprised, delightful looking hotel, modern classic. Gorgeous spa facility, nine a la carte restaurants, nine pools and yes you can go there - you can buy a night pass for USD65 (they kick you out at 1am) in the meantime you can sample ALL their food and drink, they have some great wines and top brand spirits so you could really make that work. A day pass at the spa is USD55 to use all their facilities, treatments additional of course 998-193-1800. Coco ( Corinne le Page) had a 
housewarming recently for her new house in the jungle, her friends turned out in support and to enjoy the barbecue. Doggy business - as you all probably know Diane at Mama's Bakery is a great carer, you get extra special treatment if you are a dog or a cat (bunnies and birds too) but she has run out of funds for her work treating ill and ill treated animals, if you can spare a peso for the
abandoned and homeless animals don't forget to drop in at Mama's Bakery. Some pampered pets live out at the El Rey Polo Club whic
h recently hosted the 3rd Annual Copa Del Rey, a huge event with players from Canada, USA, 
Guatemala and all over Mexico co
nverging with 80 horses to 
battle it out in style on the field. Major sponsors were Lemmus, Hotel Valentin, Quien, Tipa y Cana and El Rey.We were entertained by the Cancun Irish dancing team and various cocktail parties, see rare photo of me with make up and hair do and social pages superstar Cedric Schweri! The event was won by the Quien team (from Hacienda Andalusia, red shirts) , there was only one injury when one of the players jumped from the dance floor at the Club and broke his ankle. All the horses are well too! I am sorry to tell you that 
Eric passed away recently. Eric had been suffering from Hep C and complications for some months and died in hospital in Merida with his family around. He suffers no more. We will miss his smiling face around town and our thoughts go to his family and friends . The wonderful Casa de Cultura has a great new programme of classes for adults and children and you can view their programme by clicking HERE. I leave you with some photos of the Marine Day Festival (and the upcoming swimming competition in Bacalar), along with the normal fish killing there were three nights of music and lots of stalls in the Town
Square and cultural 
presentations
on the beach stage including these dancers - will someone tell me why Mexican teenagers would put on white face to do a rap dance? I am culturally confused.
1 comment:
Thank you for Que Pasa. You are doing more for Puerto Morelos than you know. Keep up the great work.
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