Yucatan News: Storms and Mexico Fest
Lots of Weather Coming Yucatan’s Way
As of Sunday, August 31, 2014, NOAA is reporting a 40% chance of this tropical storm turning into a hurricane over the next 48 hours and a 60% chance over the next five days. The same report implies that because it will be traveling over land, it probably won't be so bad for the Yucatan Peninsula. They say the real development (the higher risk) will come after it exits the Yucatan Peninsula, hits the Gulf and heads north. The link to NOAA to read more is here.
MexicoFest 2014: Experience Yucatan in Vancouver
MexicoFest, in Vancouver, began in 2008 as a celebration of the anniversary of Mexico’s Independence and is now the most important, and fastest growing, festival hosted by the Consulate of Mexico in British Columbia. The organizations working together to bring this festival about include The Consulate General, CCIE Western Canada, the Mexican Tourism Board in Vancouver, and the Mexican Trade Commission. The events, all in Vancouver, for this month-long festival are listed on Experience Mexico in Vancouver. We also suspect that there will be plenty of Canadian Snowbirds there to enjoy a little taste of “home” before they set out on their winter in Yucatan.
Aggies Coming to Progreso
No – not football! Members of the Texas A&M Research System will be coming to work with Yucatan’s Technology and Development experts to plan the future of the connectivity to Yucatan and to optimize the selection of technology for the most environmentally sound passage of ships into Yucatan’s waters. Other members of the group will work with other agencies in Yucatan to further expand and optimize technology as sea water rises around the globe. Welcome Aggies!
AFAD Call for Sponsors for Fundraising Events
If you, your business, or your association would like to participate as a sponsor of a calendar event, please send an e-mail to afadmerida@gmail.com with “Sponsor” as the subject and telling us about your desire to become a sponsor. The annual De Mano a Pata (From hand to paw) will be held on November 15, so time is of the essence if you want to participate in this event. Those interested may send an email to afadmerida@gmail.com with "Sponsor" as "subject". Last year there were 30 sponsors. This year, they hope to increase their numbers dramatically. Since AFAD has a social network following of more than 20,000 individuals, becoming an AFAD sponsor is a win-win situation for the shelter and for the sponsors.
Yucateco Now Heads National Gendarmerie
With degrees in law and criminal science, Manelich Castilla Craviotto entered the academic life by teaching Guilt Theory and Forensic Practice in Criminology. He then went to work for TelMex Foundation, where he developed a program that paid the bail of more than 100,000 men whose only crime was to steal food and others who had been unjustly imprisoned. In the meantime, Castilla Craviotto saw the effects of organized crime on the grinding poverty levels in areas where it existed. He went to Colombia, France, and the United States to be trained to deal with these issues within the population. This past week, the President of Mexico announced a new police department at the Federal level called the Gendarmería Nacional, and the official in charge of the 390 officers assigned to the Gendarmería Nacional is none other than 40 year old Yucateco Manelich Castilla Craviotto. He has prepared himself well and is surely to become a legend of success throughout Mexico.
Swifter Justice Comes to Yucatan
The Yucatan State Prosecutor's Office now has an Army of Peace: 43 trained, certified legal mediators who will be dealing with misdemeanor complaints in families and between neighbors. Two of these mediators have been assigned to Progreso and have a newly remodeled building for their office. The Unit of Mediation is located in Agency 11a of the Fiscalia. No word yet where the other mediators will be assigned, but it is certain that small issues can now be resolved before they become bigger problems. It is believed that these types of negotiated resolutions to problems will strengthen the services provided to the people by Yucatan state, as well as contribute to social peace. Congratulations to all of the new mediators on their certifications, and to the people who will benefit from their new skills.
Former Prisoners Learn a Trade
When seven prisoners were released from prison (the Center for Social Readjustment), they began a class that will teach them to operate a backhoe. This is part of a new agreement between the Mexican Chamber of the Construction Industry and the reintegration arm of the prison’s Social Assistance section. This will give these men the skills to return to society in a position that will pay them enough to support their families and ensure that they are on the road to a new life.
The Eat Well Plate of the Maya
El Plato del Bien Comer Maya is a graphic wheel that divides food into three groups: those that provide vitamins and minerals (fruits), carbohydrates (grains) and proteins of both plant and animal origin. Researchers at UADY designed this system when they realized that education is the key to changing ways of living and habits or attitudes about food that were formed in childhood. With a huge push in increasing the number of backyard gardens, it is expected that El Plato del Bien Comer Maya will become a major educational tool in reducing the rate of childhood obesity and diabetes in Yucatan. Perhaps the old ways really were the good old ways. We certainly hope so.
Yucatan Peninsula Featured in Eat Your World.com
“Eat Your World” is a website created on the simple premise that what you eat depends on where you are. Their goal is to be a premier guide for regional food and drinks around the world. A view of their world map shows that they have managed to get a pretty good start in the past three years. This month’s issue contains recommendations for what to eat on the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, as well as one dish from La Tradicion in Mérida. We would love to have “Eat Your World” visit Yucatan again to see the variety of regional foods we have here. In the meantime, our congratulations to “Eat Your World” on a very nice website and on a topic that is of interest to every traveler. Our congratulations, as well to La Tradicion for ranking as Merida’s finest example of regional food. We have some excellent chefs, food critics, and food photographers among Yucatan’s expats and you are invited to get involved by writing and uploading food stories and photos to “Eat Your World.”
Yucatan Sweet Potatoes: Good and Healthy For You
Here are three recipes for Mexican Candied Sweet Potatoes, Yucatan Sweet Potato Desert, and Coconut Candy (made with sweet potatoes, of course). We hope you enjoy them as much as we did. By the way, here in Yucatan, the Yucatan Sweet Potato Desert is called Atropellado de Camote y Coco.
