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The grapevine April 15-08 |
The grapevine April 15-08
By Greg Brady
 Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico, April 15th 2008.- While springtime in most of North America is greeted with great joy, here in Mazatlan spring means the onset of the off season, as the flocks of snowbirds leave the tropics and wind their way northward. Canadians race to meet the six month deadline to keep their health insurance, and United Statesians have an April 15 deadline of their own to deal with. So the weather is perfect and the water is luscious, but the beaches are empty until the revival of national tourism in June.
 Fortunately for local businesses, the booming cruise ship traffic keeps the coffers jingling by day, at least. As many as three of the floating giants may arrive the same day, flooding the streets with mostly mature, clean cut, affluent tourists (so who misses the spring breakers?)…..Vendors at the Pino Suarez central mercado report that on cruise ship days their sales remain constant, but on the off days sales fall to about half what they were last month…
 And don’t worry, Stone Island, nobody is building a bridge to connect your palm tree paradise with civilization! The Port of Mazatlan (known by the acronym API) is just dredging and deepening the channel between the docks and the “island” (did you know it’s actually a peninsula?), and building new moorage facilities to better accommodate the “crucero” ships. For years the representatives of the ejido (communally owned land) of Isla de la Piedra have rebuffed governments offers to build a bridge to the mainland, seeking to protect the natural tranquility of the vast stretch of coconut groves and virgin beach, and community leaders expressed alarm at the sight of all that underwater activity and construction. The Port director hastened to reassure them that they are building a dock not a bridge.
 At the Tianguis Turistico convention held every year way down in Acapulco, two of the top tourist industry think tank analysts gave Mexico a rating of 9 out of 10 as a tourist destination while a third gave the country a 10 for the actual vacation experience, but just an 8 for promotion. So tell all your friends up north what a great place Mazatlan is to visit!
Gringos really don’t have much to worry about in terms of personal security here in Mazatlan, compared to, say, my old home town, but now the federal Secretary of Public Security is spending nearly 10 million pesos to install 26 video vigilance cameras at strategic locations throughout town to help catch crooks red-handed- or, as they say down here, “con las manos en la masa”- with their hands in the tortilla dough. They should be in place and filming by the end of April.
 Mazatlan’s annual dance extravaganza, Festival Internacional de Danza Jose Limón
Begins Wednesday, April 16, and continues throughout the week end, so look for some spectacular shows. Mazatlan boasts some world class dance troupes, notably Los Delfos and La Luciérnaca. Featuring Aura Patrón, Assa Diawara, Stefany Carreño, Erin Lane, Vicente Leyva and Pryska Vargas, the team La Luciérnaca is returning from a triumphant performance at Puebla’s University of the Americas dance festival to give a free (Yes! Free!) show at the Angela Peralta Theater Friday night. Please show your respect for the special occasion and dress up nice!: Program
Finally, on Saturday, May 3rd, the Mazatlan Historical Society is presenting a round table conference and the unveiling of a plaque dedicated to the presence in Mazatlan of various luminaries of the literary side of the Beat Generation. Back in the 50s and 60s, Mazatlan was a place that figured in some stories, poems and even impacted the history of these social rebels taking respite from the great “Moloch” of the USA. It will be held at the Art Museum. Watch the local papers for the times and program.
That’s all for now!
G Brady
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