Yucatan Living

Yucatan News: Shamans & Mangroves

4 September 2015 News 2

Traditional Religion and Shamanism Course Underway

It is a rare culture that is secure enough in its current identity to fully explore its religious and spiritual past. However, that is just what is currently going on at academic locations throughout the Yucatan Peninsula. This course, being taught at universities all over Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo apparently, boasts 35 PhD teachers, working with a whole host of academic and governmental agencies to make sure that the students who finish these 120 hours of instruction will be able to continue research in this area. After all, a people cannot know where it is going if it doesn’t understand where it is and how it got there. Part Anthropology, and part Religious studies, this course runs from September 4, 2015 to February 13, 2016. We look forward to finding out more about it!

Natural Gas Shortage Leads to Lower Quality Product in Industry Only

In March of this year, there was a platform accident in Campeche Sound. The effects of that accident on the national supply of LP gas have finally arrived here in Yucatan. Gas production is down by 60%. Pemex is bringing in a lower quality product for industrial use only. This will not affect LP gas for homes, and certainly not gasoline at the pump. Word has it that this is just a temporary alternative while the natural gas supply is restored. Since this product is cheaper than the higher priced product they are used to, business owners actually stand to come out a financially ahead because of it. We hope it works out well and that the usual high quality of LP gas will soon be back for those in industry.

The Importance of Mangroves

Every year, enormous sums of money are spent trying to save land from rising sea levels. While some of this devastation is caused by global warming, much is caused by the fact that coastal areas decided to get rid of those ugly old mangroves and cultivate pristine beaches and a brand new tourism industry. After all, those old mangroves weren’t good for much. A few fish were born there, but mostly they were areas where local drunks and smugglers hung out and where people illegally dumped garbage. And so the beaches and the tourists came, but the sea began eating away at the beaches and even small storms began leaving increasing loss of life and property. Now, beach communities around the world, including Yucatan, are building back their mangroves and caring for them properly. They are stunning and just as much of a tourist draw as beaches. Many thanks to all of the newly installed politicians and agency heads who are vowing to continue with conservation and restoration of mangroves along Yucatan’s coast.

Naples, Italy: Yucatan’s Young Dance Team Wins!

Congratulations are in order for young Yucatecos Jade Esmeralda Castro Cruz and Jorge Efrén Peraza Solís (ages 13 and 14), who just won first place in the category of Modern Dance at the Sorrento Campus Dance International Workshop 2015. In the wake of this win, we also discovered that Yucatan currently has a total of 12 fellows studying dance abroad. This level of activity and contact with the rest of the world is what keeps Yucatan’s events scene so vibrant all year long. Congratulations again to Jade Esmeralda Castro Cruz and Jorge Efrén Peraza Solís, as well as to their families and teachers.

Yucatan Public Health Planning for U.S. Lice

It has just been announced that a difficult-to-kill strain of lice has now invaded 30 states in the United States. For all practical purposes, Yucatan is practically next door to them and it would not be difficult for the lice to migrate within a matter of days. Super-highways, cruise ships, and thousands of air flights give travelers opportunity to come into contact with each other going in both directions. Add hotel, restaurant and retail employees to that on both ends of the journey and the odds that the mutant lice will come to Yucatan increase daily. If you, or someone you know, finds evidence of head lice, please consult your physician. Home remedies do not work for this particular strain and may be highly toxic. Your physician will know what to do.

Eight Car Wrecks Per Day on the Periferico

Law enforcement stays busy with 8 accidents and 200 tickets on the Periferico, and all of it due to just three causes: speeding, talking on a cell phone, and not wearing a seat belt. In fact, of the 200 tickets they write per day, 30% are for excessive speed, with the other 70% split equally between talking on a cell phone and not wearing a seat belt. One has to wonder how drivers can continue these behaviors in the face of concrete evidence as to their danger, but evidently that is falling on deaf ears. If you are driving on the streets and highways anywhere in Yucatan, please be careful and assume that every vehicle you meet has an inattentive driver.

Sour Orange Fights Diabetes: No Recipe Yet

Researchers at the Intercultural Mayan University of Quintana Roo have announced that both the seeds and juice of the sour orange, mixed together in a new remedy, have proven effective in fighting diabetes, with some subjects being able to give up medication completely. Fortunately, they are calling for replication of the study prior to announcing the exact manner in which this process works and is given to individuals. In effect, let them make sure of their findings and then they will get a recipe to the public. This is very responsible on their part, especially because the sour orange is so well known in herbal medicine and would likely be used improperly if good information is not coming soon. We are keeping our fingers crossed in hopes that this is one bit of good news that will be here soon. Diabetes is a terrible disease and anything we can use as a weapon against it will be deeply appreciated.

Quintana Roo: No More Sargasso Sea

Quintana Roo has tried out the PVC kelp barrier and it works. The barrier apparently stops the kelp from reaching shore and has no effect at all on turtles. Now, they have moved ahead to Playa Del Carmen and hope to have all 220 kilometers of PVC kelp barrier in place by the end of September. From then on, the kelp will be picked up by offshore ships designed specifically for that purpose. Of course, Yucatan is watching, as is the rest of the world. A PVC pipe boom is a simple and inexpensive fix for one of the most irritating inconveniences the sea has to offer and it would be wonderful to know that it is being properly recycled before reaching the coast. And of course, tourists and residents alike will be glad to be able to enjoy those beautiful beaches again.

Weather: Did the Sky Really “Fall” in Yucatan?

Yes. The sky really did, figuratively speaking, of course, “fall” in Yucatan – in the form of rain,rain and more rain. One day, the accumulation was so great that it actually bent the canopy that had been erected to protect the induction of the new Mayor of Merida. Word from weather bureaus is that the rain is going to continue to fall for the next few days, at least. High temperatures will continue as well, but not so high that they will be life threatening. Overall, we can be thankful that these are strong thunderstorms and not hurricanes.

Yucatan Goes to 2015 Milan World Expo

All this week, officials from the governor’s office, the education department and the tourism industry will be manning the Yucatan exhibition in the Mexico Pavilion at the Milan World Expo. The overall theme of this expo is “Feeding the Planet. Energy for Life.” For much of the past year, education, tourism, academic, and industrial officials from Yucatan and Italy have been working toward solidifying support for the development and continuation of Merida-Milan air flights, as well as support for programs in each of their areas of expertise. The size and complexity of the world, for Yucatan, is growing right before our eyes. Congratulations to everyone who has worked so hard to see this vision become a reality.