Tag Archives: 2012

Can You Feel the Love Tonight?

Inspired, Life in the Yucatan, , , , ,

Ahh yes. Sir Elton John is at Chichen Itzá tonight.

I didn’t go – and I am thinking that I should have gone, to get a first hand account of what goes on at one of these fund-raising events – to what will undoubtedly be a very interesting night, for various reasons:

1. I have had the fortune to see Elton John in concert up close and personal in Vegas, where he was filling in for Celine Dion when she went on a month-long break from her stint at Caesar’s Palace. He is a great performer and with all those hits, you can’t go wrong. So I didn’t need to actually see him again.

2. The prices were through the roof, IMHO.

3. The whole Chichen Itzá as a Sala de Fiestas concept, which I am not a fan of. Besides the possible damage (or not) caused to the site by all those trampling feet and the vibrations or whatever some people are saying, the fact that the site is being used for commercial purposes like this one when there is no benefit to the Yucatecan taxpayer or average citizen.

4. The idea that Elton can come and play and the story about the Mayan elders who can not perform their ceremonies there, probably because no one can make a buck off of them. Seems a little strange to this neurotic foreigner.

5. An abhorrence for crowds and dubious organizational skills as relayed to me by a friend who was at the Sarah Brightman concert. I guess all those volunteers who were recruited a week before the concert didn’t really have the training to handle crowds of this size.

So I am not going. But I look forward to the comments that will surely appear in tomorrow’s papers!

Volunteers needed for Elton John

Life in the Yucatan, , , , , , , ,

As I mentioned earlier, Elton is on his way to Chichen Itzá, where he will perform April 3 under the auspices of the state government, Jorge Esma etc.

It seems that they are now ready to contract volunteers to help in the organization/running of the concert itself; I suspect these people will help direct people and cars and that sort of thing, in exchange for a view of the concert or Elton up close or even to shake Jorge Esmá’s hand which would be the best thing of all.

Tickets are still for sale, from $70 USD to $700 USD (seven HUNDRED dollars, yes) and there now young people, presumably volunteers also since there is no budget to pay these earnest youngsters, handing out leaflets at intersections in Merida’s fashionable north, where one supposes that those who could afford these ticket prices habitually circulate in their late model vehicles.

But, let’s not criticize; it’s all for the promotion of the state (people have probably forgotten about Chichen since the Seven Wonders thing) and tourism. Or is it?

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In a related-but-not-really note, there was a tiny ad in the Diario de Yucatan offering an excursion to see Elthon Jhon. I wonder if this is the same guy as Elton John or an imposter? It is normal for Yucatecans to add an H where there really isn’t a need for one, ie JanetH, WilbertH, YanetH, HumbertHo,  etc. but one would think that if you are going to promote this excursion you would probably have seen Eltons’ name SOMEwhere, no?

Elton John is Coming! (coming to the Yucatan)

Life in the Yucatan, , , , ,

Sorry about the headline if it threw you off there for a minute.

Since I wrote about Sarah Brightman and her concert at Chichen Itzá, I should probably do the same about Elton John. I only wish that I could announce that Sir Elton’s visit will result in a great increase in tourism which in turn will benefit someone other than a few officials.

In a few weeks – April 3 to be exact – Elton John will present a concert at the Mayan site of Chichen Itzá, supposedly to ‘promote Yucatan’ in some vague touristy sort of way. I am pretty sure that Yucatan is already on most people’s tourist maps and that the money paid to bring Eltom (as he is know locally) could be better used elsewhere.

But whatever. Who am I – a neurotic foreigner – to question the infinite wisdom of the sage decisions made by the higher-ups?

All that exposure will mean more people coming to the Yucatan and then wondering how the hell you can have such a huge tourist attraction as Chichen Itzá next to the dirt covered poverty of the nearby hamlet of Pisté, whose residents evidently receive little to no benefit of having this cash cow next to their village.

S’Tai Restaurant – Review by Chris

Casual Restaurant Critic, Inspired, , , , , , , , ,

Hi William. I check out your reviews whenever I’m looking for some place decent to eat out in Merida. We’ve been curious about S*Tai for a long time and finally went last night. Have you been there and did you review it? I didn’t see a review if you did.

We were pleasently surprised – very nice tuna encrusted with black sesame appetizer (but small – order something additional if you’re hungry,) chicken with green curry – overly spicey and salty BUT edible. Last but not least – a delicious Pad Thai (with pretty hefty grilled shrimp) – that was the highlight of the night. It was the one thing we ate that pretty much hit the mark on authentic thai cuisine.

The decors is nice, modern, very loungy and comfortable. Typcial yucatecan service…..after carefully reviewing the menu and the special card that was laid on the table, we were ready to order and ordered the scallops that were on the special card. Of course – they were out of scallops – something the waiter should have mentioned when he laid the special card on the table. Lots of waiters and bus boys walking around but no one got around to cleaning the wet noodles off of the table and we had to track people down whenever we needed anything additional (like a glass of water.) We were the ONLY table in the restraurant – you’d think that they would have been more attentive to our needs. Oh well……can’t have EVERYTHING!

Chris

Blog Update

Inspired, Life in the Yucatan, , , , , , , , , ,

I have been tweaking and pinching this and that WordPress theme, and this one seems to be the winner so far.

Yesterday, I imported all my posts on blogger.com, from both the Casual Restaurant Critic blog AND the NotTheNews/EL Maloso blog. They should be all here now. Unfortunately, I lost some of the new posts I had put up here, but I am certainly not Hemingway so no big deal there.

I also figured out the FTP concept; downloaded a freeware FTP program and started loading photos (previous cropped, resized and chopped into the directory where they will appear ‘rotatingly’ at the top of the page.

There must be a search button widget here somewhere in order to look for a specific post; that’s next. Plus, a way of seeing the post archives since at the moment only the latest 10 appear.

Ideally, the categories will appear on the main page so you can click on Casual Restaurant Critic and only those posts will show up so you don’t have to wade through the other stuff.

No More Tenencia?

Life in the Yucatan, Politics, , , , , , , , ,

For those of you who do not have the privilege of owning a vehicle in Mexico, this will be of little interest.

For those that do, you probably know it already: in Mexico we have to pay a tenencia, or tax just to own a car. This on top of all the other taxes that one must pay in Mexico, this great land where those that pay taxes (30% of the population) pay for the other 70% who either evade taxes completely – those at the top end of the economic spectrum with good fiscal lawyers – and those who are ‘too poor’  at the bottom, because ‘ay poooobres‘ the government and politicians feel sorry for them.  They don’t want to help them, educate, raise the minimum wage, whatever; but they do feel sorry for them. And so they don’t pay taxes either.

Once again I digress. I was talking about the tenencia.
In a nutshell, it is a tax that is based on the value of the car and decreases as the car ages. Implemented in the late 1960’s to pay for the Mexico City Olympics, it turned into such a cash cow that it never went away.

There has been talk about the tax being unconstitutional and the voices, during the 20 years I have lived here, have become louder and more strident; this tax is obsolete ie. the Olympics have been paid for many times over , it is unconstitutional and should be abolished for once and for all.

In the last presidential election campaign, Felipe Calderón promised to eliminate this tax. Today I received an email that explains that he has eliminated the tax at the federal level and has left it up to each state to decide whether or not they want to continue charging this tax. This is why, in a bold and rare move, the state government of Queretaro has eliminated the tenencia tax altogether. Finally, some good news!

So if you are here in the Yucatan and wondering why we pay this onerous tax, know that it is now in the hands of our governor, not Felipe Calderón.

Welcome to LawsonsYucatan!

Life in the Yucatan, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

If you have found this then you are on the new William Lawson Yucatan site!

This will be the new repository for all things related to William Lawson and my take on life in the Yucatan, which dates from the NotTheNews days to the elmaloso blog to the Casual Restaurant Critic blog. This is over 10 years of writing about life here. Eventually, it will all be here.

The immediate priority is to get the theme (the look of this WordPress blog) working, and then transfer content from the other online areas and sites to ‘populate’ this one. Sort of a one-stop for all things related to the topic of life in Merida or Yucatan, from a neurotic foreigners point of view.

Comment at will and spread the word!

Wake-Up Story about Crime in Merida

Life in the Yucatan, , , , ,

Yes, Virginia, there is crime in the formerly white city. Fortunately, it is not of the narco/violent variety so prominent in every single other state of this great country.

Ms. Gorbman just put up an interesting post:

http://gorbman.com/2010/01/22/crime-in-merida-a-mean-con/comment-page-1/#comment-867

Read and be aware!

The Mystery of the Black Christ at Chumayel

Inspired, Life in the Yucatan, , , , , , ,

Note: If you are under the impression, from the suggestive title “The Mystery of the Black Christ at Chumayel” that I am going to explain in definite terms why the altar in the church at Chumayel has a black Christ on it’s cross, then stop reading now, because I haven’t found the answers. If you have the answer or know of a good theory, let me know!

On a very recent (last week) visit to the church at Chumayel some friends remarked on the black Christ, finding it most unusual and so asked me about it. For those of you who haven’t seen it, it’s your typical representation of Jesus on the cross except the material seems to be black. While the fact that the Christ is black is unusual, what is certainly not unusual is that I don’t have a clue, being a lapsed catholic who has turned further and further from organized religion and so I was not able to answer their question on why the usually Nordic looking Jesus was in this case, black (without the facial features associated with the black race, of course)

After some poking around, superficially I admit on the internet, I have come to the preliminary conclusion that there is nothing tremendously scandalous or mysterious about the black Christ in Chumayel. Nor is it particularly unique, as there a few others literally hanging around.

For example, one of the more popular ‘Black Christs’ is on display in Guatemala in a village called Esquipulas. Beyond the usual back story on why a carved Christ is commissioned in the first place (humble villagers, miracles, rural area, etc.) the reason given for its blackness is the darker wood used combined with natural aging over the years.(1) The local arquitect Eduardo Andrade indicates that it’s color is due to years of being prayed to amidst candle smoke and soot.(4)

The Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City also features a black statue of Christ, known there also as Lord of Poison which is a pretty interesting name for a Christ figure. This is the most venerated statue in the entire cathedral and is located at the Altar of Forgiveness and apparently dates back to the 18th of August, 1602 when the Dominican Fathers came to Mexico with several Christ sculptures, all white.

Legend has it (2) that this particular figure was installed in a small chapel in Tlanepantla where the regent archbishop prayed daily and at the end of a prayer, would kiss the feet of this statue. When his enemies saw what his routine was, they applied poison to the feet of the statue in the hopes that they could off him in this way after his next prayer. Alas, their cunning plan was foiled when the statue (faith, people, faith) shrank back from the archbishops approaching lips, thereby saving his life and providing for yet another biblical story. The most interesting part of this tale – for the purposes of this article anyway – is that the statue then absorbed the poison that had been applied by the evildoers and this is what turned it black.

The story quickly got out and spread rapidly amongst the flock; the great back story and the fact that the chapel was not open to the public heightened the mystery and devotion to this black Christ. After being under wraps for many years (ie the marketing plan had worked and the product was ready) in 1935 the now heroic black Christ was moved from its private location to the Metropolitan Cathedral so as to be available for worship by all.

Apparently there is another black Christ in Veracruz, in the town of Otatitlan.(3) The investigator Carlos Navarrete proposes another theory; that these black Christs were made on purpose (as opposed to “Oops, it turned black we need a legend here, people”) and that they can be found on ancient trade routes established by the Pochtecas or prehispanic traders. In the work there is a mention of a substitution in Otatitlan, of a singular black Christ that replaced Yacaecutli or God of Commerce, who happened to be black also.

An article about Campeche mentions 3 black Christs; one in Merida, one in Calkini and one in the church of San Roman in Campeche itself (5), making the one in Chumayel another in a whole series of non-Nordic statues of Jesus.

And finally, beyond Mexico and Guatemala, there is another one of these statues in Portobelo, Panama. From the website: (6)

  • Nobody knows exactly how or when the Black Christ (El Cristo Negro) arrived in the tiny community of Portobelo on Panama’s Caribbean coast. Some put the date at around 1658. But the stories of miracles surrounding the eight-foot wooden statue of the Black Christ are enough to overwhelm the village with tens of thousands of pilgrims every October 21.

So there you have a brief look at the black Christ. Now the next time I am in Chumayel with out of town guests asking in hushed voices about the mysterious figure on the cross, I’ll be able to tell something reasonably intelligent.
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1. http://peregrinacion.org.ar
2. http://www.elnuevoheraldo.com/articles/cristo-12171-negro-catedral.html
3. http://www.mexicodesconocido.com.mx/notas/1882-El-Cristo-Negro-de-Otatitl%E1n,-Veracruz
4. http://www.viajeaguatemala.com/Chiquimula/200411293719.htm
5. http://calkini.net/municipio/festividades3.htm
6. http://www.yourpanama.com/black-christ.html

Dzibilchaltun Museum is an Embarassment

Inspired, Life in the Yucatan, , , ,

As I alluded to on William Lawson’s Driving blog, yesterday I took some folks to Dzibilchaltun. I had told them about the site and it’s small but well-put-together museum.

I was shocked at the state of the museum: it is literally falling apart around the exhibits. Not that you are going to get hit in the head with falling plaster, but you may stumble a bit on the floor, which is made of wooden slats which have either rotted or fallen prey to an insect invasion, known here as comejen, that make it sag and uneven. Some of the wooden slats have been crudely replaced by someone with about as much skill in carpentry as I have, using approximate-sized replacement unfinished wooden strips nailed down with the flair of an 8 year old backyard fort builder. Other slats are covered with pieces of carpeting; the sag you feel as you step on them makes you feel you are on the dance floor of the Mambo Café.

Looking up, it is evident that the finishing coat of cement has fallen off in places, leaving rebar and concrete roofing material exposed. Also, while you are gazing up that way, note that the illumination is at about 30% capacity ie. 70% of the light bulbs are burnt out or off. In any case, they are not working, and many of the exhibits suffer from this lack of proper illumination.

It seems both a shame and a disgrace that the INAH does not or cannot maintain this building that must have hundreds of visitors each week, especially during this ‘high’ season (and the just finished Christmas holidays which saw Yucatan’s attractions mobbed by tourists both national and international) and now that Dzibilchaltun is on the cruise ship excursion map.

Very embarrassing, and as a Yucatecan – according to the definition proposed by Tony in the Diario de Yucatan a few weeks ago, a Yucatecan is everyone that resides here and contributes, in one form or another, to the political, social or commercial life of the Yucatan – I find it unacceptable that our so-called authorities show such disdain towards this important showcase for Mayan and Yucatecan culture.