Take Me Out to the Ball Park!

Kukulcán Sports Center.

Last Friday, April 2nd, Pablo and I attended our first LEONES DEL YUCATÁN baseball game of the season. The season started last month, we just got around to going. The Leones beat the Veracruz Rojos del Águila,  9-8.

Pablo bought me a Leones Tshirt. Now I am ready for more games!

We learned Fridays are two for one nights.  Therefore we splurged 90 pesos for seats in the butaca baja (lower Mezzanine?) and found seats at the first base line with a great view of the batters and entire field.  It wasn't very crowded since it was Good Friday, residents mostly in church or at the beach.  

The seats are made of the hardest plastic ever made, and they sit low to the ground.  I practically had to look over my knees to see the game.  I didn't think to take a cushion, and my bony ass and confused back could only handle 7 innings.  We drank one large beer each per inning, and we don't even like beer that much. Especially Modelo, blaaaahhhh.  They sell Corona too, but again, blaaaaaahhh.  

The game was long and boring.  I hate to say this, because baseball is always kind of a slow game.  I love going out to the ball park!  It's just that they walked practically everyone, usually with a full count.  So at 6 pitches per batter, that's a lot of time and spitting. Since I was physically uncomfortable and forcing down those beers, it just seemed like the night moved in slow motion. 

Things did pick up eventually, Fernando Valenzuela Jr. hit one out of the park, bringing in at least one other guy with him.  I was yelling, "Vamonos, Fernando!  Uno para tu papá"...of course I was the ONLY person yelling (what's up with that?) and whammo! Home run!  It was just an unexciting game, but we do want to return to watch them play again soon.  I have their site bookmarked so maybe there will be a more exciting game to report on later.

At most US baseball games, THE most popular food item (not counting beer) would be some variation of HOT DOGS.  Plus the french fries, more fried things, and variations on junk food.  I was fascinated with the food sold at the local baseball park last time and managed to get some good shots of these venders last week.

This is the peanut guy. These guys have pillow case type carriers made out of a sheet, I think.  The pockets hold plenty of delicious HOT fresh roasted peanuts!

Pepitas (roasted shelled salted pumpkin seeds), peanuts in chili powder and salt, plain roasted peanuts with or without pepitas....with chile-salt and fresh lime added. Served with a utensil..fork or spoon...I am getting these next time.

Here we have the Modelo beer guy on the left, and a vendor of a variety of marshmellow candies.

These are my favorites, the white ones, but I can't remember what they are called.  Pablo says they call them chicharrones or fritura. They are like puffed up styrofoam in texture and crunchy, but they melt in your mouth. The white ones are made with potato or potato flour.  They serve them with hot chile poured over the top. 

I really did want to post photos of all the different foods they walk around selling. It is so different from our NOB customary baseball game.  So, tomorrow's post will show photos of more of the vendors from the baseball game.  

PS.  They sell beer during the entire game, they don't stop sales during the 7th inning. 

Fleur de Sel

Salt: Its preservative powers make it an absolute necessity of life and a virtual synonym for live-giving sources.

Fresh harvested sea salt, le fleur de sel, processed and bottled by my Anonymous Roommate.


On August 14th we introduced our new roommate to Celestún and cruised the salt flats. When we visited the area in March there were extensive salt deposits on the beach which resembled soap bubbles. This time we noticed mountains of harvested salt piled around the flats, but the salt on the beach was not as prominent. While researching the salt flats I found this link about Celestún, which I think is full of great information.

Anonymous roommate was on a mission: to harvest and produce fleur de sel, French for 'flower of salt'. Top of the line sea salt! The clean fresh patch pictured below appealed to her. She took off her shoes to walk in the water and quickly learned about the HEAT generated by the solar evaporation process. She jumped back into her shoes - her feet on fire. The ground was as hot as fresh lava. Maybe THAT was why the water was so red, I thought, it's actually on fire.

Anonymous roommate had researched sea salt and carefully picked out the best area to harvest.

After she burned her feet, Pablo went in to get her fresh near-boiling sea water....

Meanwhile I decided to grab some salt, but I found it more convenient to take it from this big pile.

Look at these chunks of salt! Mikey likes 'em!

Once home, anonymous roommate boiled the sea salt in the sea water for two hours. Once it looked like erupting volcanoes, she scraped the top white crystalline layer and put it on a fine screen in the sun. Dried, crushed and filtered, the final product was bottled for our use at home, and the completion of the process made her very happy.

Before I posted these photos, I wanted to do some research on salt. I found out I knew less about it than I'd thought. We used sea salt in Hawaii, but it was orange because of the clay soil, and very chunky. I learned how popular sea salt is when I came across this blog.

I found out about the extra vitamins and minerals found in freshly harvested sea salt. Regular table salt is so highly processed that nutrients are added back to it, like iodine. Refined salt is bad for us, but evidently we can use all the sea salt we can tolerate and live happily and healthily ever after, never to be burdened by high blood pressure, diabetes, gastritis, or any other ills again! Now that we know, we'll go directly to the source for la flor de sal....like we ever need an excuse to go to Celestún.

On a final note, the water is not red because it is hot like lava. It is red because of its high salt and algae content. On one of our guided tours of the biosphere I was told the water was red because of the red mangrove. I have since learned that this red algae grows in water with the highest salt content. The mangroves, red, black and green, all contribute to this specific algae growth and produce a large amount of tannin, but mangrove itself does not cause red water. While the assumption that the flamingos are colored by the carotene in the water is correct, the tidbit about the red mangrove having anything to do with it is completely false.

The Night Swim

Before it gets too dark, check out these cool wall decorations our students gave us. Everyone knows I love dolphins.


This macaw is life size and almost looks alive.



I often mention the aquatic exercisers. I have to give these folks credit for their determination to stay in shape. Mike, pictured below on the left, is very dedicated in his workouts. He comes every morning and a few evenings a week. Most of the time he works hard for an hour or more, but we have some night swims that are more relaxing, laid back, and sometimes include a sunset cocktail or two.

Also pictured below is Theresa, another regular aquasizer, but her "Husband" is sneakily hiding from the photo! Often in the evenings the water is warmer than the air, and it feels so velvety and soothing as we gracefully(?) move around the liquid medium. We actually feel a little chilled when we get out, which is refreshing because it lowers our body temperatures after a long day of intense 100 degree plus heat.



I started writing this post in May, when Jill, another occasional swimmer/imbiber joined us for cocktail night. I have been promising to post these photos for nearly three months. I guess having my main computer on the fritz is inspiring me to work on some unfinished projects.

The look on Mikey's face is more likely guilt at being caught on film drinking during exercise hour than actual inebriation. We really only have a couple of cocktails, if any at all. Jill is in the background acting out YMCA to the disco music we are moving and drinking to.

Just in case you wondered, the air temp is mid 80's and the water 88! Come join us some time! Watch the pitaya flowers open, the cats chase geckos, walk around the pool stopping only for a sip of margarita, michelada or tequila, or just float and meditate.

School's Out

The side of a traveling party truck....Lights and Sound Fokuz...the atmosphere of your fiesta.
Sounds like a fight ready to break out to me. It's all in the name.






In yesterday's paper I could have sworn it said today is the last day of school. But I have to mention that I often misunderstand what I read in Spanish. Today is June 24th. Ordinarily the kids are in school until the end of June. When the Mexican government shut down the entire country in April due to the influenza, the schools were closed for two weeks. It was decided at that time that the kids would attend school into mid-July to make up for lost time. That was not a popular decision, since July is vacation time for most Mexicans.

The father of two of our swim students confirmed that today is the last day of school...for most schools. Some private schools and smaller schools who passed the hygiene test will remain open. What happened?

The flu came back around. The Yucatán now boasts the second highest number of cases in the country, around 500. There is even another suspected death but no one is willing to go near enough the guy's house to investigate.

Play Ball! Lions and Tigers!

The baseball stadium at the Parque de Kukulcán, home of LOS LEONES DE YUCATÁN.



Wednesday, March 25th was opening day for baseball....or beisbol....season here in México. Our team, the Leones de Yucatán played against the Tigres de Quintana Roo. It was an entertaining game. The Tigre opened the first inning with a run and the Leones followed with five runs! Off to a good start.

The last time I went to an inaugural baseball game was the LA Dodgers in 1979 (I think) where Fernando Valenzuela was the star, and thirty years later I watched his son, Fernando Valenzuela, open the season for the Leones in Mérida. Fernando hit a grand slam in the first inning, but slowed down considerably as the innings wore on. Hey, first time out for the season so I see it as a warm up game. We hope to have a strong season. We have some great players who last won the national championship in 2005. Wednesday The Tigres beat the Leones 10-8, but we put up a good fight.


The stadium reminded me of the days my brother Jay took me to see the Mudhens play in Toledo, Ohio. I don't remember the exact size, but it looked like a similar layout. Above the teams are being introduced. The Leones, whose colors are green, orange and white, on the left, and the Tigres on the right. We didn't catch any foul balls but we had great seats near the first base line.



A few differences I noted: They do not stop selling beer after the 7th inning. What if there are extra innings? A fan needs his beer. I noticed they were selling beer even after the game ended.

They have cheerleaders! For me that was a first at a baseball game. They didn't lead any cheers but they kept the male fans entertained during inning changes with their sexy salsa dances.

Although they have bat boys, they have ball girls. Good looking girls in short shorts and tight tops bounce out to the umpire with new balls every other pitch.

They eat different foods at Mexican ball games. Below is the kibi/piedra salesman. In his glass box he has the Lebanese treats ready to dress up with their repollo. Below him is the pepita, pistacchio and cacahuate (peanut) vendor. The vendors walk around with hot pizza in individual boxes, platters of fresh made tortas (sandwiches) on bolillos, tamales, corn on or off the cob with seasonings, candied apples of some sort, probably tamarind, air puffed chicharrones, cotton candy, frappuchinos, strawberries and cream, something that looked like Chinese stirfry but was actually Mexican nachos, home made potato chips and fried banana chips, candies, gum, cigarettes, etc. Also they walk around the stadium tossing out promotional items. This week I got a new pen and a handful of new cookies made by a local cookie producer. There was a lot going on, the atmosphere was light and happy, the spectators were good sports, and we had a lot of fun.

English Class

Roll call...The Lengthy Hello Song

Well, I volunteered again at the Women’s Club. We are teaching children in an afterschool program called “Let’s Speak English”. The kids range from 7 to 17 years old. I am not a trained language instructor, but I taught snorkeling and scuba diving to people of all ages. And I’ve tutored English in a few countries so I thought I would give it a go. We have lesson guides prepared by two certified teachers. It is a simple but fun program.

We drive up to Colonia Nueva Mulsay. It is on the southwest side of town, about fifteen minutes through traffic. The houses there are small and simple, the people are friendly, and their children are excited to learn. They all have backpacks or T-shirts with an American logo. The common feeling among most Yucatecans is their children need to learn English to get ahead in this world.

We roll in at 4pm for an hour and get the 26 kids organized. Everyone sings a hello song as we pass out name tags so we can get to know them. Then we split up into three age groups. I work with the newest attendees, the littlest kids, from 7 to 10 years old.

There are 8 kids in my group. So far we’ve worked on the alphabet, numbers, colors, parts of the body. The past two weeks I worked with Teacher Elise, and together we kept up the kids’ interest. The time goes fast. It is difficult to express to them what we want them to do when we speak nothing but English. The blank stares are distressing to me. Elise and I both speak Spanish and are able to explain what we are asking them to do, but I think the plans are more understandable to the two older groups who have been attending these classes for a couple of years. I can see them understanding the calendar and days and months etc. The 7 year olds were more interested in what color they should fill in the columns. It was a challenge.

Before we were half way through the concepts of the day, time was up and we were advised it was time to gather together in one group for the weekly book reading. I read aloud this week’s book, Ten in a Bed. I thought that was funny since these kids probably sleep in hammocks. Ten of what in a bed? I asked. Farm animals. Hmmm. We have few supplies but much imagination. Sometimes that is all it takes. That and the Hokey Pokey or the mind-gluing Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.

Progress is limited. After two weeks I said to one of my students, “Hello, Vanessa. How are you today?”

Her response was simply, “My name is Vanessa,” as she shied away into the folds of her Mom’s dress.

Ok, so we still have a lot of work to do. It’s a start. Next week we are throwing a little Christmas party. It should be fun to watch the kids stare at us as though we are aliens while we sing English Christmas Carols.

Fashion Photos

My previous article, Theresa's (http://theresainmerida.blogspot.com/) photo posts, and this final entry should pretty much cover the fashion show.

Hats and Fashion

The International Women's Club of Mérida held a fashion show event last night, Nov11, 2008. I was on the planning committee. We began with a cocktail party with delicious brochettes and fresh mango, tamarind, strawberry, and assorted dacquiries. There were plenty of door prizes awarded. Other than the exquisite fashions of Martín Lopez, the highlight of the evening was the hat contest. It was amazing how many people participated...men and women. The Galería de Arte La Luz provided a comfortable and elegant background. We had our challenging moments, but a delightful time was had by all.

Marianne (Left) was the coordinator of the show, although I was her right hand person so to speak. The lady on the right won one of three prizes in the hat contest. Hers was chosen the most elegant. The prizes for best hats were gift certificates toward Martin's fashions.

Harriet made a very elegant hat and must have been in contention for a winning entry! She's a card. Harriet volunteers at the Mérida English Language Library, and is a Dead Head.


This hat won the most original award. It is created on top of an African mask, is made with natural fibers, and patterned after a tribal African design. It was unique!

These hats did not win but they were fun.

Neighbor Theresa. She coordinated the hat contest. She made her hat, her dress, her purse, the pumpkin table decoration in her hand. We are all disappointed she slacked and did not make her own shoes. Oh well, maybe next time if she doesn't have to make all the decorations and coordinate the hat contest she will have time to cobble. I thought Theresa's hat was fantastic.

Here I am holding the table decorations that I made. I do not wear hats, but I wear flowers. I made a hakulei from the neighbors' plumeria and carnations. This yellow dress is wild, but it was a fun purchase from Bali I do not have much opportunity to wear. Same with the foot long yellow beaded earrings.

I made the hakulei the night before with the help of six cats. They love raffia.

One of the fabrics Martín used in many of his designs.

I liked this action shot. Too bad about Tom's head in front of me.

Little blurry, but this is Vilma, one of the IWC member models. Martín says he can make anyone look good in his clothes. Vilma was a star attraction.

Our other model, Debi and her husband Tom taking her photos. She looked great in Martín's designs also. It was fun to have two of our members modeling. I don't know how much fun it was for them, with the fittings, rehearsals, and dealing with the rather large ego of the designer and the models.

This is Erika. She was Miss Mexico a few years ago. She is gorgeous but I was unable to get a good shot of her. At this point we are into evening wear. Shiny solids, bright colors.

Current art display at La Luz Gallery. These are paintings of a variety of Mérida doors. There are some incredible, and huge! old doors on these colonial homes. It is a beautiful collection. La Luz Gallery is worth a visit if you are in Mérida. It is across from Santa Ana Park on Calle 60.

All in all UNA NOCHE DE OTOÑO (A night of autumn) was a success. The committee I worked with organizing the event was fantastic. I am sorry I could not include all their photos and say something nice about each of them. We are looking forward to planning a bigger and better event next year and now we have some inside tips! Thanks to all.