Friday, January 1, 2016

It’s a brand new year!

Happy New Year - 2016

Well, it’s a brand new year for us to enjoy, or mess up, or make a dozen-soon-to-be-forgotten resolutions such as lose weight, get more exercise and eat healthier. 

We make the same resolutions year after year, so for 2016 we have only one resolution: no more stupid resolutions!

Life this past year has been busy, not just for us but for the whole island.  There were a number of large municipal projects that were finally completed: the fire hall, a bigger hospital, and the Casa de Cultura.  


New fire hall near the police station
These new facilities are a great addition to everyday life on the island.

Across the street from our house the seldom-used college basketball court was covered with a metal dome, and seating added for spectators.  

The improved facility gets lots of use by local teams, school drama presentations.  




Photo from FaceBook Folk Dancers' Congress  
Recently under the dome, an outdoor catering area was created to feed the two hundred or so folk dancers who were performing on the island in the last week of December.  

It was a very well-mannered group comprised of dance troupes from various parts of Mexico.  

They lined up quietly at seven in the morning for breakfast, then again for lunch plus practiced a few dance routines in the late afternoon.   We hardly knew they were there, except for the enticing aromas wafting across the street exciting our taste buds. 


Playa Norte
On a grander scale, tourism is up, way up, with an estimated two million visitors coming to enjoy the island amenities and our annual festivals: Island Time Music and Fishing Festival, the summer Whale Shark Festival, and the Caribbean Culture Festival.  Two of the most popular beaches on the island, Playa Norte, and Playa Centro have been designated as world-class Blue Flag beaches.  Those beaches must be maintained to a higher standard of cleanliness, with toilets available, and garbage and animal poop cleaned up on a daily basis.  Music, food, entertainment combined with sun, sand and surf!  It doesn’t get much better than that.

Carnaval
Separate from the “created” celebrations the Mexican culture has several annual events that are always interesting, such as Carnaval in February or March, Santa Semana – Holy Week (Easter) in March or April depending on the Catholic Church calendar, The Flowery Cross celebration in May, Independence Day in mid-September, Day of the Dead celebrations late October and into early November, and Revolution Day parade in mid-November. 

Kindergarten parade - Independence Day 


By that time we are at the end of the year and the calendar has rolled around into Christmas celebrations, with parades, parties and processions.  

(See our December 25th blog.)

So, we are off to a great start with the New Year.  Happy, healthy, enjoying life, and resolution free for 2016! 


Happy New Year / Próspero Año Nuevo

Lawrie & Lynda, 

Thomas the Cat, Sparky & Perla


Happy New Year from all of us! 



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2 comments:

Life's a Beach! said...

Love the photo of all of you on the upper balcony! Happy New Year to all! My New Year's resolution is to eat more lobster, but I only have a week left to fulfill that! We'll see you in April if you're around!

Lynda & Lawrie said...

We'll be here. See you soon!

Peddling my butt around town!

              Yesterday I bought my 5 th bicycle, a fancy e-bike that will transport me to new adventures. Its less expensive predecessors ...