Yucatan News: Tizimin and the Virgen

9 December 2014 News 0

Casa del Cultura in Tizimin

As a project of the itinerant art program of the MACAY, Merida's contemporary art museum, a new Casa del Cultura has opened to promote art and culture in Tizimin. On Saturday December 6, the House of Culture "Tizimín Kah" opened. It houses the first cultural space that Macay AC Cultural Foundation has created through the itinerant art school and it is open to the public.

Xíimbalarte is the name of the program, and it has as its objectives to bring art to all corners of the state. Each cultural space will include a temporary exhibition room, a library and reading room.

The opening ceremony of "Tizimín Kah" was chaired by CP María del Rosario Diaz Gongora, Mayor of Tizimín and Licenciado Roger Metri Duarte, Secretary of Culture and Arts of Yucatan State, who were joined by other special guests.

Playa Del Carmen, Q.R. to have Snow!

Yes, Playa del Carmen is going to have a Christmas Fair (December 12 – January 16), and they are going to have snow and an ice slide, and a place to make snowmen. Rides will be free to all citizens of the municipality, and the area to make snowmen will be open and free to everyone. Yucatan has a sizeable community of expats from Canada and the Northern United States. We think it would be a fine idea if they head over to Playa del Carmen, build a snowman, and show us how it’s done. Photos as proof will be gleefully accepted and posted right here on Yucatan Living!

Rain of Falling Stars of the Virgin, December 6 - 19

The annual rain of meteorites of the Virgin should be visible in the night sky over the Yucatan Peninsula between December 6 and December 19, and will probably drop about 100 meteorites per hour. It is so much more romantic to claim that these shooting stars are in honor of the Virgin, or that Geminids (the twins) are shooting at Virgo, than it is to report that all of that wonder is just the dust and debris from a partially disintegrated meteor that comes around and falls on us every year about this time. They tell us that the best nights to see the Falling Stars of the Virgin will be between 7:00 PM and midnight on December 11 through 13. What a wonderful way to begin the Christmas Season!

Merida Hosts IV Mexican Tourism Convention

An amazing number of tourism boards, agencies, and representatives are in the city this week for the fourth annual strategic planning conference for all of Mexico. We have 47 international representatives, 31 national representatives, 112 representatives from individual tourism destinations, 26 directors of the Mexican Tourism Board, 46 representatives from the Mexican central offices of tourism, and three representatives of the Mexican Tourism Board itself. They will be planning the national and international strategy for tourism throughout Mexico for the next year and beyond. Merida and Yucatan welcome them and will make sure they have a wonderful week in the White City.

Chichen Itza Airport Maybe?

The State of Yucatan is proposing to partner with the Government of Mexico, and possibly private investors, to finally open the Chichen Itza International Airport as a cargo center. There are still a lot of variables that are hindering talks and plans. One of those variables is where would the air cargo center be located: at the airport? or in Valladolid? Another issue is that you can’t get investors unless you have customers who say they will use the airport, but you can’t get the customers unless you either actually have the airport or have the commitment to do the work necessary to open it. No matter which way it goes, an investment of $120 million pesos is needed to get this project underway. We should know something by the end of this month, because work is actually planned for the first quarter of 2015. In fact, further investigation shows that some decisions have already been made with regard to this project. First, it will be in the Municipality of Valladolid and, second, it will be a multiyear funded project that is set to begin in 2015 and continue until the end of the present administration (mid-2018).

Work on Progreso’s Logistics Center Ready to Begin

A new 330-hectare logistics center will begin construction at the beginning of 2015 and is funded through the end of the present administration (mid-2018). The entire project should run between 240 and 300 million pesos.This project has been coming for some time, mostly due to the fact that the oil and gas industry, in states that border the Bay of Campeche, has run out of coastal space to expand. They have only been waiting for the results of a number of 2014 studies and funding to bring this logistics area to Progreso. In Spanish, this facility is a plataforma logística, which is an area that provides space to different companies and in which all activities are related to the storage, transport and distribution of goods, both for domestic and for international traffic. So this is much more than just a storage area for oil and gas. This is a long-awaited storage facility that will allow Progreso to function on an international scale, as a complete service distribution center for Mexico and other parts of Central America. The best part of this news, at this point in time, is the number of jobs this project will bring to the Progreso area. Also, the current governor estimates that he can have 15% to 20% of the spaces developed (that means paying customers!) by the time the project is finished. What a wonderful beginning to the new year for everyone who lives along the beaches of Yucatan!

Recipe for Misdiagnosis

Spanish-speaking physician + indigenous patient who does not speak Spanish + volunteer interpreter (sometimes certified, most times not). Taken together, that combination can lead to misdiagnosis and death. At the present time, there are approximately 300 certified indigenous language interpreters in the justice system in Mexico, and only approximately 100 certified indigenous language interpreters in the health care system. This last group is spread over Guerrero, Veracruz, Chiapas and Yucatan. Realizing that any individual encounters the health care system far more often than the judicial system, INDEMAYA looked at why there would be so many more certified interpreters in the judicial system, rather than in the health care system. The answer came down to payment for services, which equates to professional respect as well as to simply being paid for one’s time. With a full dozen newly-certified health care interpreters under its belt, INDEMAYA is in a perfect position to effect change and save lives throughout the nation. This is an important issue and we congratulate Yucatan’s INDEMAYA for championing this worthy cause. We can also see that this might be a great career opportunity for qualified young people here in the Yucatan.

CRIT Goal: More Than 5 Million Pesos

Yucatan has approximately 140,000 disabled citizens and does everything it can to see to it that all of their needs are met, as well as giving them every opportunity to rise above their limitations and live as normal a life as possible. Major funding for these efforts comes in the form of an annual Disabled Children’s Telethon (CRIT) in Merida and throughout Mexico. Indeed, the country of Mexico takes this issue seriously and has a national goal of more than 400 million pesos. This year in Merida, CRIT has sponsored everything from wrestling matches to costume competitions, anything and everything to make donating not only fun, but meaningful as well. We look forward to hearing that their goal has been met.

Living the Experience of Disability

Unless someone is disabled, they have no idea what kind of strength it takes just to try and get around, especially in crowds or unfamiliar situations, and especially with uneven sidewalks and speeding buses! The week before the CRIT marathon, 80 physically fit individuals, many of them university students, divided into three supposedly disabled groups: motor, vision, and hearing. Then, with blinders, or ear plugs, or in wheelchairs, they made their way across Merida’s centro as part of the V Cultural Week for Human Rights. Now, there are 80 people who clearly understand what it is to try to go to school, or seek health services, or even take part in any kind of recreational activity if one is disabled. These are the people who will now lend their voices to helping make Merida a city with true accessibility for people with disabilities.

About that Environmental Impact Study

Those who own property or conduct business near the coast or near state or federally protected areas are required to do an Environmental Impact Study prior to making any changes to that land or to the nearby public land. This verbiage is in Section 171 of the General Law of Ecological Equilibrium and Environmental Protection. The Environmental Impact Study is filed with SEMARNAT (the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources). If you are required to file an Environmental Impact Study and do not do so, SEMARNAT turns the issue over to Profepa (The Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection) in Yucatan and they remind you with hefty fines. If you actually went ahead with construction, or other land-altering projects, you will be shut down and fined even more. The fine will be 30,000 to 50,000 daily minimum wages, and you will be kept shut down (in whole or in part) until your fine is paid and the property is restored to its condition prior to the changes. If it cannot be restored, you will pay Mexico (the Mexican people) for the damage you have done. That is not a difficult law to understand. Yet, people continue to attempt to evade or ignore the rules, always to their own ruin. From what we have seen, Yucatan takes its environmental laws quite a bit more seriously than some other places in Mexico. So, please, even if you are not an environmentalist in your heart, obey the law in Yucatan. SEMARNAT and Profepa mean business.