Yucatan Living

Yucatan News: Passports and Fashion

16 September 2012 News 1

News Starting September 17, 2012

Yucatan’s Amazing Passport Numbers

No! Not our passport numbers... Yucatan's passport numbers! From January through August, Yucatan has issued an average of more than 2,000 passports per month to Yucatecos. This number is approximately 15% more than the number of passports issued last year during the same time. However, it is expected that November will increase the year’s growth in new passport numbers to at least 25,000, which is over 20% more than last year. It seems that people want their passports already in hand when December arrives. We expats tend to think that absolutely everybody goes to the beach for all holidays in Yucatan, but this is no longer the case. December is the time when many Yucateco families now vacation abroad for the holidays, while others leave to take new jobs, to work in international industries, or to attend college or graduate school. For Mexicans, passports are $955 pesos for three years, $1,360 pesos for six years, and $2,015 pesos for ten years. Senior citizens get 50% off the price of their passport. So far, there are no statistics on where they are going and why but, wherever it is, we wish them all a safe and successful trip both there and back home again.

Anonymous Calls to Police Help Protect the State

It has just been released that Yucatecos make approximately 700,000 anonymous calls to either 089 or 066 each month, which contributes greatly to making the State of Yucatan the safest state in Mexico. In effect, this is a warning to criminals to move along, because it is a natural part of society in the state of Yucatan to be vigilant toward one’s surroundings and to call the police when the safety or tranquility of Yucatan is threatened. This citizen vigilance led to the arrest of five foreign nationals last weekend who have been linked to terrorist attacks in the United States. Although one of the individuals is considered to be dangerous, all five were arrested without even the need for firearms. This is not an everyday occurrence, but people are asked to continue to guard their safety and tranquility as they always have so that Estado de Yucatan will continue to be the safest state in Mexico.

Young Expat Family in Telchac Pueblo

What if you want to move to Yucatan, but you don’t want to live in a big city (Merida), or at the beach? Is there still a place for you here? What if you are young and have small children? Would you be crazy to move to Yucatan? Through a happy accident, we found a blog post that just might help answer questions about whether there are any young expat families in Yucatan, and whether the beach and Merida are the only choices one has for creating a new life here. Since this week marks the beginning of an eleven day fiesta in Telchac Pueblo, we thought you might like to see pictures of the life of a young couple who chose to live in that small town, just a few miles inland from the beach. The photos also show their preschoolers who are now growing up there. See these lovely photos on Latin Journeys: Loving Mexico and Beyond.

Progreso Skateboarders Paint a Wall

There is a growing number of young skateboarders in the Municipality of Progreso and they are having a hard time convincing the adults that they are not the ones who leave graffiti all over the public walls in the municipality. So – on their own – a group of about 40 skateboarding children and teens volunteered to cover the graffiti left by others on a wall in the Plaza Civica. When they were finished, they promised to continue to do more civic projects if the municipality will help them find space where they can skate. It was agreed and now, beginning September 28, anyone interested in skating or skateboarding is invited to be on the basketball court of the Felipe Carrillo Puerto Sports Unit at 2:30 PM. We hope that everyone who can will attend and watch the skateboarders, to show support for these wonderful young people as they set about to change the image of their municipality with paint in exchange for a place to skateboard.

Xiimbalarte: Yucatan’s Traveling Art School

This is certainly an idea whose time has come and kudos to the MACAY Foundation for seeing the need and making it happen. Each session of Xiimbalarte travels to schools in outlying areas, lasts for several days and has a different theme. The first session is about “Feelings,” while later sessions will promote painting, cinema, literature and other forms of art. We have watched in awe as Yucatan’s children excel in everything they attempt, in every kind of sport, in chess, in music and in singing. This opportunity, brought to every corner of the state, will have a profound effect on the quality of citizens these children grow up to be. In effect, through Xiimbalarte, the MACAY Foundation is literally insuring the future of Yucatan by helping to create a thinking, feeling, educated citizenry. Well done!

Trade Expo Features Entrepreneurs of UADY

Just two of the products created by the Entrepreneurs of UADY are honey wine and tire furniture. These will be in competition with other products such as sisal bags, which have already earned a place in national competition. All of this will be on display at the annual Trade Expo at Siglo XXI from October 18 through October 21. Every year, these new and innovative products amaze us because, like everyone else, we wonder why no one thought of this design or that much earlier. However, with these new entrepreneurs on the job, the future looks brighter and cleaner and greener than ever before. We wish the best of luck to everyone who enters the entrepreneurial competitions across the entire country. We will all be winners because of their imagination and dedication.

Civil Protection Advances in San Felipe

We see them in the movies all the time… sleepy little Mexican beach towns, where nothing ever changes and its always 1950. Well, San Felipe, Yucatan, is not your father’s Mexico! They may still have the look of a sleepy little beach town, but they are high-tech and rolling when it comes to dealing with weather by land or by sea. All of the municipal managers are receiving training so they can not only understand modern weather phenomena, but also so that they can work with other authorities, with their communities, and with weather research institutes, especially with respect to hurricanes. All of this has come together to make the citizens of San Felipe, and all of Yucatan, safer than ever before because there is now a competent, well-trained, weather outpost reading from San Felipe. In addition, the officials there will be responding correctly to all information that comes their way. They realize that no two hurricanes will ever be the same and that they are our first line of defense in case of weather emergency. We all want them to know how proud we are of them and how thankful we are that they are on the job.

New Autism Treatment Center Coming Soon

The Psychiatric Hospital of Yucatan is getting ready to begin construction on a new center for the treatment of autism. This unit will include pharmacological therapy, along with cognitive-behavioral and psycho-educational therapy. The aim will be to reintegrate patients into society. Yucatan has children who suffer with both typical and atypical types of autism and plans are to give specialized care to both groups. Since autism is the most diagnosed of all attention disorders in the Yucatan, this unit, staffed by trained specialists, is an absolute must if their needs are to be served. The project is expected to cost between eight and ten million pesos and will be funded by the Psychiatric Hospital of Yucatan itself. With more than 600 children diagnosed with autism, Merida and the State of Yucatan have been proactive in this area for a long time. Experts are brought in to assess and advise, parents go to school to learn to properly care for their children, and volunteers work with the children in equine therapy, as well as other forms of therapy. We are all deeply appreciative of the devotion of staff, parents and volunteers, and we know that this new center, with its cutting edge technology, will be another star in Merida’s health care crown.

Hanal Pixan in Chicago

The United States’ National Museum of Mexican Art is in Chicago and they wanted to have a real Day of the Dead altar, complete with all of the appropriate foods for the souls. Where better to find their experts than at UADY in Merida? On Saturday, September 8, Juan Pablo López Lara, Ingrid Elena Díaz Pérez and Sergio Ricardo Canché Santiago, representing UADY, along with Daniel Rivas Urcelay, UADY's Coordinator of Artistic Promotion and Cultural Diffusion, arrived to set up the sample "Hanal Pixan Food for the Souls: Day of the Dead” altar in the museum. It opened on Thursday, September 13 and will remain open until December 16. It is billed as the largest Day of the Dead celebration in the United States, and will be visited by thousands of students and teachers, as well as members of the large Mexican community that has settled in the City of Chicago. To get an idea of just how big this Chicago based celebration is, visit the National Museum of Mexican Art online.

Merida Fashion Designer in Vancouver

Twenty-one year old Sofia Palmero, a student, will be the first Yucateca to participate in Fashion Week in Vancouver, where she will present her spring-summer swimwear collection. She will be only one of three Mexicans invited to participate in this important event in the fashion world. The brand Sofia Palmero will be able to capture the attention of fashion editors and the media in Vancouver because this young lady has already put in years of hard work. She has studied fashion design in Milan, Italy, and in Yucatan, and is currently a graphic arts student at Universidad Anahuac Mayab. Her designs are currently sold in Merida, and she will soon open her own stores in Cancun and Playa del Carmen. We expect that Sofia Palmero’s rise to the top of her profession will get quite a boost from her participation in Fashion Week in Vancouver and wish her all the best.