Yolisto: Articles

Note: The author of this article was Yolisto member YucatanStarTours.
It was posted in the forum and promoted as an article.

Thinking of taking off for the other side of the Yucatan for some adventure or seeing how the other side plays? There are some large parks that at first may not be on your list of things to see because of the thought of lots of tourist and cheesy tourism parks. But you should take another look. One park is called Xcaret and on a closer inspection, I believe most will find it very well layed out, interesting and a great display of Mexican culture. Here is a small survival guide for those thinking of going.

Tickets, you can find them everywhere for sale but if you are going to drive yourself then it is best to buy them at the entrance.(get there when they open to avoid lines) There are several options for tickets, basic and plus and there are lots of add-on's available. If you choose the basic option, you will need to pay for food and snorkeling in one of the three amazing rivers that wind through and under the park. You can save money by eating breakfast before you go, having a buffet lunch and eating outside the park after the final grand show. It should be noted that there are snack bars but tend to be very expensive. (i.e. 20-30 pesos for a small drink) The restaruants are all the same price and provide a very nice buffet at $350 pesos per person. It should also be noted that you can leave the park to your car during the day and re-enter. No food or drinks or non-biodegradable sunscreen is allowed in the park.

When you enter you should take a moment to look at the map and also make sure you have a daily schedule of the shows. Xcaret is an experience of Mexican culture and history. This is not a park of rides. The shows sometimes repeat themselves during the day and some aspects fo them are included in the most see grand show in the night.

Some of the shows include and Mayan village with "traditional" dance and ritual. Horse handling show, Mayan ball game, traditional show from Veracruz and others.You can time your route though the park to see the shows that interest you.

With as many people that visit the park, it is impressive that at times you are alone. It is so well layed out with so many corners, tunnels, and little places to visit, it eats up people.

Of course with all the walking and sightseeing you might want to rest in one of the many areas where you can just relax. The park faces the ocean and you can swing in hammocks while looking over the turquoise waters.

There are many animals you can observe as well. Tapirs, monkeys, dolphins, sea turtles, bats, bees, pumas, butterflies, raccons, lots of bird species, and there is an aquarium as well.

Make sure at the end of the day you go to the grand finale show in the large event pavillion. It is a great historical look at Mexico and many traditional dances. It is a two hour spectacular.

Leaving is easy and again, the park and grounds are laid out so efficiently that there is not a rush or lines of traffic.

I hope you get to enjoy this well thought out and educational park in the Yucatan.
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BAZARTE
Sunday April 1, 2012

African Food and Music Plus Great Arts and Crafts Show
Hosts: Hortense de Biarritz & Artistas de la Playa

Location: Mayan Pub, Calle 62 x 55 y 57, Centro, Merida
Time: 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Admission: No Cover - but this is a bazaar in support of the art workshop for the children of Chuburna and Chelem, so come prepared to enjoy yourself and maybe even find a piece of art you can't live without.
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This poem was copied from a post in a Yahoo Group (Civil List) in SMA, then sent to us by one of our Yolisto members. The poem speaks to a timely topic and one that Yolisto members have discussed at length in recent weeks. The paragraph in quotes was also copied from the Yahoo Group.

"This poem was published by the Backpacker Poet was a featured entry at the 2012 San Miguel Writers' Conference. I wanted to share it with you...please pass on to all your friends. It really sums up the entire issue of what we who live in and love Mexico know to be true."

Mexico: A Cautionary Tale by JC Sullivan

I was warned.
Repeatedly.
Warned.
... So many times it lost its potency.
Warned.
By well-meaning friendsliving in "safe" gated communities with armed guards
By acquaintances
who have never been here
By media reports
glamorizing and spreading alarm
Who have a different definition of danger. And of what
constitutes safety.

Stupid me!
I didn't listen
to any of it.

Adventurous, perhaps with a death wish,
I didn't look.

Worse.
I wasn't careful.

And…
In "dangerous" Mexico,
I was robbed.

Stupid, stupid me!

Yes, Mexico…
stole from me…
A smile.
At first.

And then,
they got bolder
and took…
A laugh.

and bolder still, they ran off with…
my poor self-image.

Which turned into a larger felony: They took …
time
to fill me with compliments!
Telling me
repeatedly
how wonderful it is…
to be a man
of experience.
Who smiles.
Who laughs.
Repeatedly.

Time after time. Again and again.
Until
finally, I believed them.

As I was smiling and laughing, and actually trusting myself,
They had the nerve to go and pick-pocket my lingering self-doubts,
my well-nurtured insecurities including
my belief that "real beauty" was limited to youth…

While I was still reeling in shock,
from having been robbed,
and pick-pocketed
Mexicans took
the opportunity to kill my previous ideas of what constituted
"hospitality",
replacing it with a generosity
that
is frightening
to even try to emulate,
yet so, so fortunate to know.

See how really dangerous Mexico is?
And it got even worse!

I hadn't recovered from such brutal behavior, when
they committed another truly horrible,
almost unspeakable
crime.

They gave me hope and optimism.
Repeatedly.
About who I was.
About who I could be.
About who we could be together.

Amongst wrapping me in love and force-feeding me laughter and
compliments and
smothering me in generosity
and unfathomably fabulous hospitality,
I was rendered helpless.
Utterly
helpless.

Stupid, stupid, stupid me.

I did not cry for help or
run away.
Mexico took complete advantage of my situation and committed the
biggest atrocity of all. Once again, they stole …
my heart –
and my soul.

Now I'm so scared -
deeply, utterly terrified -
that I cannot return the favor.

Never happier,
I steal away…
to wish
this kind of "danger"
on everyone.
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Tonight, March 9, 2012, the Symphony Orchestra of Yucatan played the first of two performances of Program 6 for the January through June season. The second performance will be held on Sunday, March 11, at 12:00 PM.
Location: All Symphony Orchestra of Yucatan performances are held at Teatro Peon Contreras
Admission: Tickets are available at the Box Office and Online, as well as through Ópticas Espadas. A seating map and ticket prices are included on the Symphony Orchestra of Yucatan's website.

PROGRAM 6

Juan Carlos Lomonaco, Music Director
Inna Nassidze, cello
Manuel Lozano, violin

March
Friday 9th, 9:00 PM
Sunday 11, 12:00 PM

Ludwig van Beethoven: Egmont Overture
Johannes Brahms: Double Concerto for violin and cello, op. 102
Johannes Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Haydn, op. 56
Alexander Borodin: Polovetsianas Dance

The Egmont Overture represents the 1788 tragedy of the same name by Goethe. Soloists will be a duo of great talent and brilliance from Xalapa, the Georgian cellist Inna Nassidze and concert master of the Xalapa Symphony, Manuel Lozano. The Double Concert for Violin and Cello is actually the music that is most famous as having been written for these two instruments and it was the last work for orchestra by the composer. The Variations on a Theme of Haydn is a Brahms masterpiece and his Fifth Symphony is generally considered admirable for its thematic development. The Polovetsianas Dance is the best known fragment of the opera Prince Igor of A.Borodin. It is often interpreted as a separate part in concerts and is one of the most popular works of the classical repertoire.

If you are trying to plan ahead and want to hear the Symphony Orchestra of Yucatan sometime later in the Spring/Summer 2012 Season, the dates and times have been published, but not the content. We are including the dates and times here and will republish this list when more information is available.


Program 7
March
Friday 16, 9:00 PM
Sunday 18, 12:00 PM

Program 8
March
Friday 23, 9:00 PM
Sunday 25, 12:00 PM

Program 9
April
Friday 20, 9:00 PM
Sunday 22,12:00 IM

Program 10
April
Friday 27, 9:00 PM
Sunday 29,12:00 PM

Program 11
May
Friday 11, 9:00 PM
Sunday 13,12:00 PM

Program 12
May
Friday 18, 9:00 PM
Sunday 20,12:00 PM

End of Season Gala
Opera Samson and Delilah
June 15, 17, 19 22, 24 and 26
Time: 8:00 PM
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Note: This text in this article was taken directly from Monique's Newsletter.

Once upon a time…

Yes, yes. It´s actually happening. This weekend is the last weekend that my bakery will occupy the current location in Chuburna de Hidalgo. Thank you sweet house on Calle 31 #70 con Calle 12. Thank you Slow Food Yucatan for putting your market on my front porch for two years! We became -- you and I -- became an intersection, really, an intersection of people, of energy of beauty unleashed. Thank you spot in history. Thank you neighborhood for not towing away our cars. Thank you neighbors for shyly coming to visit us and accepting us into the neighborhood. Thank you vendors for enduring the heat and the long hours to bring our clients such fabulous, heartfelt food. Thank you Julio and Conchi for renting the house to me three years ago and letting me laugh with 9 goats and 40 chickens. Thank you for that. Thank you mango, naranja agrio, zapote, ciruela, fallen allspice tree. Thank you iguanas, thank you Sunday guy with salsa music blaring and revving engine smoke. Thank you casting shots. Thank you milk man on a bicycle.

Time for chapter 2.

The facts:

ABOUT MONIQUE´S BAKERY

Location: My bakery will be moving to a space right down the street from Starbucks at the Gran Plaza. The address is Calle 29 #478 x Calle 46. It´s the two story building at the corner.

Opening Day: Friday March 2

Hours: 10am to 4 pm Tuesday to Saturday.

Closed: Sundays and Mondays

Directions: Go north on Prologacion Paseo de Montejo as if you are going to the Gran Plaza. Turn right just after the Comex paint store and before the Starbucks parking lot. Go to the end of the block, pass the barbacoa restaurant. I´m in the large two story house at the corner.

The Menu

Monique´s Bakery will be re-focusing on the production of nutritional whole wheat and sourdough bread. We´ll continue to offer our excellent dairy products -- yogurt, kefir, ricotta cheese and butter -- using locally produced milk. We will be serving refreshing beverages and smoothies. We want our bakery to grow organically, slowly increasing our food menu and events calendar. We are excited about all of our plans for moving into the future through workshops that will cover an array of topics all designed to connect us to our that eternal desire to live lives of deep significance. We intend to begin an organic market at this location at some point in the future. We love the juxtaposition of an organic market in the shadow of an industrial food corporation!

ABOUT THE SLOW FOOD YUCATAN MARKET

Our favorite fun market will be moving to another location as well. We don´t mean to confuse you with this division! Think of this as us spreading and multiplying the love! You will eventually be able to find my bread at the Slow Food Market (hopefully on the first day of at their new home but please bear with me as I get organized in my new location.) Slow Food Yucatan will continue to offer their great products

Location: Avenida Reforma (calle 72) por Avenida Colon, Centro Comercial Colon --

See link to Slow Food Market map!
Opening Day: Saturday March 3 between 9am to 1 pm

Hours of operation: 9am to 1 pm EVERY SATURDAY!

Fun vendors! Great food! Come and enjoy the vibrancy and energy of this fabulous group.
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Editorial Note: This article was written by Yolisto member Bookworm.

I would like to outline my experience with a young local businessman who pulled out all the stops, and then some, to come to my aid.

I was feeling pretty lousy the day we arrived in Cancun for a three month stay at our place in San Bruno with what I thought was a particularly nasty cold.
We called our car rental agent, Joaquin Castillo at LaCurva, to tell him we wouldn't be picking up our rental car until the next day because I was too sick to come into town that night.

After asking a few questions, Joaquin called his own medical specialist and arranged for an appointment the very next day. But he didn't stop there.

Although he is incredibly busy with several businesses including LaCurva in addition to overseeing construction of his new house, Joaquin met us in the north of Merida and drove with us to Clinica de Merida for my medical appointment. He also stayed with us and handled all the details in Spanish while I got an X-ray. I then headed home to await the results.

Later that day, Joaquin picked up the X-ray (I was resting at the beach with my husband, who was himself nursing a cold), he took it the doctor, who prescribed medicine and suggested I see another specialist the next day.

Then - can ya imagine this? - Joaquin drove all the way from Merida to the medical clinic in Progreso (so I wouldn't have to drive back into the city) with a prescription for shots and we met him there.A long drive for him, but he did it to save us the trip into Merida.

The next day, he once again led the way to Clinic de Merida, sat with us for several hours while we saw another specialist. He translated for us and when the doctor recommended I stay in hospital for a few days to get over what was a quite serious and pernicious bacterial pneumonia (I stayed for six days), Joaquin handled all the admitting details.

This very busy young businessman took two complete days out of his life to help someone who is renting a car from him. He spoke to the doctors several times over the next week on my behalf and helped John sign me out and he offered to come countless other times.
I want to publicly express our gratitude to Joaquin for his caring selflessness and his superior customer service.

And that attention to detail extends to his cars. They are always well serviced and if you have a problem, he is on the scene within minutes to fix things.
I have rarely met a businessman as on top of things as Joaquin Castillo. No detail is left untended.

And, he has the best rates in town, about one third that of his competitors.
On all counts, he can't be beat.

So take that Hertz!! You and the rest of Merida's mainstream car rental agencies are all Number Two compared to Joaquin Castillo and LaCurva!
Long may he prosper . . .
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