Yucatan Living

Yucatan News: Recycling, News from Haiti

News Starting March 22

Recycle Electronics - March 23, 24, 25
Finally! A place to take all of your old electronics so they can be properly recycled! A government program, for these days only so far,  will be accepting DVDs, CDs, MP3s, computers, monitors, telecommunications equipment, video consoles, games, laptop video games, electronic cards, recorders, stereos, cell phones, palm pilots, Ipods, video projectors, printers, network equipment, faxes, and laptops. The proper disposal of electronics is an ongoing and rapidly growing problem worldwide. This is a great opportunity and we hope everyone takes advantage of it. We know we have a few broken monitors and obsolete cel phones, so we'll be there!
Who: Pro JRAP Environmental Recycling, SA of CV
Where: Calle 60 (north corner), Carrillo Puerto Parking, Century XXI Convention Center
Contact: phone: +5255-1166-1303, web: www.proambi.com  e-mail: recicla@proambi.com

Safety During Holy Week (March 26 – April 4)
Between the troops, rescue vehicles, 7 rescue boats, a helicopter, a fire boat, and 14 trucks, there will be a total of 800 additional Public Safety Department (SSP) employees available to keep everyone safe along the beaches of the State of Yucatan during one of the most active weeks of the year, Semana Santa. This does not imply that Holy Week is unsafe for tourists in Yucatan. In fact, it is quite the contrary. But if you have an accident on a jet ski, you want help to be there immediately. If someone is driving under the influence on the highway between Progreso and Merida, we all want them off the road immediately! If a yacht catches fire or if there is a motorcycle accident or if someone has a heart attack, those emergencies need to be handled quickly – before there is a loss of life. For this reason, the number of public servants on the street has been increased to help the increased number of people enjoying the beach areas. From everything we have experienced in Yucatan, all branches of the police here are actually here to protect and serve. We are more than thankful for them and trust that all will be well in Yucatan during Holy Week.

Fiesta Mexicana in Brussels, Belgium
As part of the celebrations of the bicentennial of Mexico's independence and the centennial of the Revolution, a Fiesta Mexicana was provided for the people of Brussels, Belgium this past weekend. The celebration was much like what we have in Yucatan every week and included film, piñatas, puppets, film, drama, wrestling, and even a mariachi band. Children took workshops in piñata making and were particularly interested in the puppets, the theatrical masks, and the wrestling classes, as well as demonstrations of ancient Mexican musical instruments. We are so glad that Europe is getting to see Mexican cultural events and would like to invite all of our European friends to pay us a visit in Yucatan for more cultural events than they can imagine.

Mexico: Economic Growth Predictions
Last month, the Mexican government noted that Mexico has begun to recover from the events of 2009 and predicted that the GDP for 2010 will probably grow by at least 3.9%. This month, the president of Banco Central has announced that Mexico's recovery is robust and that GDP will more likely increase by 4% to 5%. Despite that, they do not expect the economy to recover to former levels until the end of 2011. It should be noted that Mexico seems to have learned a valuable lesson from the events of the past year. From now on, ‘diversification’ is the watchword and finding ways to keep Mexico's economy from being tied to the economy of the U.S. is the goal.

United States to Ban Mexican Wild Shrimp
On April 20, the United States will institute an embargo against the importation of wild shrimp from Mexico due to the fact that a “few” shrimpers from the west coast and the Sea of Cortez have been caught not using turtle-excluder devices. In the first place, we do not understand why the United States would find it necessary to exclude the entire shrimp catch from all of the shrimpers in Mexico because of the behavior of what even they admit are only a “few.” We would also like to report that, just under the wire of the embargo, United States importers have bought 120 tons of wild shrimp in Campeche. What it looks like is that they want to have their cake and eat it too. They are pushing (hard) for people to buy farmed USA shrimp, even as shrimp farming is widely acknowledged as being one of the greatest U.S. Gulf Coast environmental disasters of our century. We encourage the local fishermen not to worry… there are plenty of other international markets that will more than welcome wild shrimp captured by the clear majority of ethical Mexican fishermen. (This is totally off-topic, but we love the image that the words "wild shrimp" conjures up in our heads... we're picturing a wanton shrimp dancing at Carnaval, throwing all caution to the wind, beads flying... but we digress!)

Mi Bodega Aurrera Tekax
The chain store Elektra has been in Tekax, the largest city in the southern part of the State of Yucatan, for several years. Now they are going to have a bit of competition from Wal-Mart. This is something that the people of Tekax have wanted for a long time. Although Elektra and Wal-Mart do not overlap products and services completely, they are in competition for a sizable portion of their business and this is a good thing for shoppers in Tekax. Wal-Mart will be building a Bodega Aurrera store in Tekax, which supplies both groceries and other items.

Yucatan's Got Limones and Sour Oranges
We are not the only state that grows limones and sour oranges, but other states that grow citrus have experienced both floods and frost damage, resulting in a shortage in those states. Buyers have begun to arrive in Yucatan and the price of fruit is going up. At the present time, limones are going for $190 pesos for a 17 kilo box – up from $150 pesos for the same box from central supply just 2 days earlier. While this is not good news for growers in other states, it means economic security for our citrus farmers after a number of recent years in which they too were affected by weather and flooding. We would like to encourage our local readers to take a day-trip to Oxkutzcab and check out all of the activity that surrounds one of the most productive citrus markets in the nation.

Global Warming and Yucatan
The 6th International Alexander Von Humboldt Conference was just held in Merida. During the conference, research scientists from geological oceanographers from UNAM to researchers from the European Space Agency warned that the average temperature of the Earth has already increased by 0.7 °C and that another degree will cause polar ice to melt at increasing rates sufficient to raise sea levels 10 meters. This is not good news for Yucatan because most of our state is only 8 meters above sea level. Such a rise in sea levels would cause the sea to simply wash over Yucatan from three directions with nothing to stop it. While we do not like to hear stories of the likely collapse of the peninsula due to flooding, perhaps this will spur us on to work toward reversing some of the effects man has had on the environment.

Local Stars of “Grease” to Wed in Merida
Two young Yucatecos are set to marry and begin their new life together in April. They have known each other since they were children. As young adults, they played the leading roles in a theatrical production of Grease and turned fantasy into reality, with the help of their others and the approval of all who know them. These two special young people are students at La Ceiba, the Municipal DIF center for special children and youth. They have done well in their training for work, as well as in their preparation to be independent and have a better quality of life. They are outstanding Special Olympics athletes – he in weightlifting, she in gymnastics and swimming. ...and they will be married on April 16. Down Syndrome? Intellectual disability? ...and was that supposed to keep them from having a full and rewarding life? Not in Yucatan it won't. While the happy couple has all of our best wishes, we would also like to recognize the courage and bravery of their mothers, and DIF, without whose forward thinking programs for special children none of this would have been possible.

9 Year Old Needs Blood Donors
Heidi Alondra Herrera Camas is in need of 28 blood donors. She has leukemia. At first, her recently widowed mother was told that Heidi was terminally ill and that nothing could be done. Now, Heidi is at O'Horan Hospital and her mother is told that she can be helped with treatment over the next 3 to 4 years. Unfortunately, the hospital is requiring that Heidi and her family must come up with a total of 28 blood donors. If you can help, please call O'Horan Hospital or the Health Center in Tzucacab, or the family (01-997-974-4463).
If you would like to donate blood for Heidi, all you have to do is go to the Blood Bank at O'Horan, give the complete name of the patient, and tell them that she is a patient in oncopediatria (the children's oncology unit). They will take any blood type except A+.
Hours: 7:00 AM to 11:00 AM and 1:30 PM to 5:00 PM
You will need to follow all of the blood donation requirements. We recently published an article on donating blood, and those requirements can be found HERE.