Yucatan News: UADY Vets and GPS
University Hospital for Dogs and Cats
On February 18, this long awaited specialty hospital, in coordination with the Veterinary School at UADY, opened in Merida. This hospital will serve as a local and regional extension of specialty resources for the veterinary students at UADY, for veterinarians throughout the city and region, and for the general public. Services provided at this vet hospital include preventive medicine, internal medicine, surgery, diagnostic imaging and hospitalization. In only a few days, local veterinarians and the public have come to this new hospital in amazing numbers and surgeries quickly rose to an average eight per day. Don't hesitate to call – or have your veterinarian call – when additional help is needed. The contact information for
Hospital Universitario para Perros y Gatos is:
Location:Calle 18 # 160 x 17 y 19-A, Col. San Jose Vergel, CP 97173
Hours: Monday through Friday: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Telephone: (999) 166-1158
e-mail: hospitalv@uady.mx
Sisal Exports Fish Directly to the U.S.
The seventeen member fish cooperative in Sisal has been exporting a wide variety of fish directly to New York and Miami for the past six months. The project has been quite profitable and they are currently looking for additional markets. They find that the best situation is working directly with a buyer they met at a Fish Fair in Boston. The buyer deals directly with restaurants and upscale shops, cutting out several marketing and distribution layers and improving profits for everyone. Congratulations to the fishermen’s society in Sisal! What we want to know is… What comes back to Yucatan on the return flights? There are any number of potential return of foods from expat home states that would not compete with foods already found in Yucatan. Someone ought to look into that!
Global Positioning Comes to Motul
The Catastro in Motul is being modernized to the point where locating and measuring land in the municipality (county) will now take place via a space-based Global Positioning System. This will allow for increased rates of tax collection, and will make certain that taxes assessed are correct. This will also help those who are both buying and selling property within the municipality can be certain of the description of the property in question. These are important issues to both governments and to property buyers and sellers. This is a project of the Ayuntamiento (City Council) of Motul, but is in coordination with and the support of the State of Yucatan. And knowing that, its probably just a matter of time before this same global positioning system makes its way across the state in the very near future.
Chaya Workshop in Ticul
After noticing that the consumption of chaya is declining here in the land of its origin, the Cultural Mission in the area of Yotholin put on a chaya workshop that was attended by members of approximately 100 local families. Chaya is well known for its protein, vitamin, calcium and iron content, but today’s population knows little about the “Tree Spinach” that grows in most of their yards. We found it interesting that chaya leaves contain a glucoside that can release toxic cyanide when the leaf is fresh. But simmering the leaves for 20 minutes or more changes the toxicity, making the leaves safe to eat. That’s nice to know when one considers that chaya is currently under investigation as possibly having an antidiabetic effect. Another thing we learned is very important: Cooking chaya in aluminum cookware can result in a toxic reaction that causes diarrhea. With only two warnings (boil for at least 20 minutes, not in aluminum cookware), we think the beneficial chaya plant ought to be growing in every garden in Yucatan.
Drought Continues in Southern Yucatan
Since most expats live in Merida or somewhere along the coast of Yucatan, the idea of a drought going on in Yucatan must be jaw-dropping because there is obviously no drought where you are! Unfortunately, such is not the case in all parts of the state, and especially in the Citrus Zone in the southern cone of the state. There, fruiting and reflowering is off of its regular schedule, as is the relationship between citrus farming and beekeeping. There is, however, a little bit of hope on the horizon. The southern part of the state is experiencing a light rainfall that encourages trees to flower. This brings new hope to the beekeepers and renewed hope that fruiting and flowering will soon be back on track. Does it mean that the drought is over? That is a question for another day. Please keep the fruit farmers and beekeepers of Yucatan in your thoughts as we go into the hottest months of the year.
Plea from YAPA: Attend a Sporting Event Fundraiser March 16, 2013
This week, we received a proposal for a fundraiser and a request for readers to get in touch with YAPA if they are interested. Of course, we hope everyone will respond because this is an urgent cause. The e-mail we received reads:
In a recent discussion with the Director of Ecology for Progreso, he pointed out that the community of Flamboyanes is in a state of crisis caused by a population explosion among animals. Flamboyanes’ location, for the past four years, has made it too far for the people to get the larger dogs to the free spay/neuter clinics. The people are asking for our help! In fact, they are screaming for help from anyone!
There is no money to buy the materials needed to do a spay neuter campaign but there is already a commitment from the Vets; a location can be easily secured; the promotion and education of the need can be taken care of; they just need to be able to buy the surgical materials to do the operations.
Dan Powell is thinking that if we could do an event, quickly, to raise some of the money to help - what would I want to do that is different?
Attend a sporting event!
So if we organized renting a 52 seat Volvo bus (From ADO, The nice tourist type buses with bathrooms) to take us to a Mérida Soccer game on March 16, 2013 between Venados (Club de Fútbol Mérida) vs Reboceros (Club de Fútbol La Piedad, Michoacán) - how many others would be interested in attending?
So, contact YAPA at yucatanayudaparaanimales@gmail.com or go to their website at yapamerida.blogspot.com.
Graduate Education in Tizimin
This past week, at the Tizimin campus, 25 students were awarded either a Law degree or a Master of Education from the Universidad Interamericana Para el Desarrollo. These are the young leaders of Yucatan and Mexico. While others have had their attention elsewhere, these young people kept their eyes on the prize and now they will lead the state and the nation. To all of Yucatan's credit, this same scenario has been duplicated throughout the state, giving Yucatan a growing population of young, very well educated young people. To keep the momentum going, UADY has just held an event in Tizimin, in which 700 middle-school students were able to learn about 45 different degrees that are open to them if they want to continue their studies. Congratulations to each and every one of them, to their families, and to their teachers for bringing such a bright future to Yucatan.
Paralympics Compete in Progreso
Congratulations to Chuburna's very special Olympians: Jesus Emmanuel Tuz Sosa, NeidyGabriela Uicab Balam, Teresita de Jesus Tzab Gomez, Daniel Salvador Tzab Gomez and Luis David Pech Sosa. These Paralympians will represent Yucatan in the National Paralympics to be held in Baja California in June. Club Nemos, formed by Paralympic athletes in Chuburna, serves citizens with different abilities. Members' ages range from 7 to 30. If you know of anyone who has a disability in Yucatan, there is a venue for them to shine.
Urban Legend Survives
In Ticul, there is a park where a mythical bull can be heard and sometimes seen about 4:00 AM. This legend is only about 30 years old, but seems to have taken on a life of its own. Some believe the sound they hear is the wind. Some say it is the sound of an entire herd of bulls. Some claim that the bull has played with children in years past. Some say the bull suddenly disappears if anyone tries to put a rope on it. To add yet another layer to the legend, some say they have heard the howl of a wolf as well. One thing is certain, whether legends are old or relatively new in Yucatan, there is plenty of room for more stories of the mysteries to be found here.
Ticul Shoe Fair
No hard and fast dates yet for the 2013 Spring Shoe Fair in Ticul. We know that "usually the week before Semana Santa" is a bit vague, but we've got a website for you this week, that will not only give everyone an idea of the types and quality of shoes to be found at the fair, but also maps to every shoe store in Ticul. We hope everyone enjoys Zapaterias en Ticul. All you have to do is click on any store in the rolling menu to find a popup of exactly how to get there. Enjoy!
