Coastal Creations

 



A month ago, maybe a little more, a former UMAR student invited me to the official grand opening of Coastal Creations, a cool new art store down the side street behind the Soriana store.

"Do you remember Pita?"

"Uh, maybe."  There have been so many.

"She was your student."

"Mmmm."

"She sells her art at the organic market in Santa Cruz."

"Oh, Guadalupe!   Sure.  Of course. "  But I had no idea people were calling her Pita now, an affectionate nickname.  I'll try and get in the groove.  I can adjust.

Pita has her own boutique.   She's been selling her all natural sculptures and art pieces at the monthly organic market for years.   This is such a major step forward.  Everyone is very impressed.

Above is where the magic happens.  Notice anything missing in this workshop?  That's right.  Not a single power tool in sight.

Coastal Creations is now the best option for people to bring home something truly special from their visit to Huatulco.  It is slightly off the beaten tourist track, well away from the generic T-shirt souvenir type places but well worth the modest effort to find it.  Look for Soriana, the big grocery store near the  ADO bus station, and walk down the side street on the left.  You can't miss it and the giant Soriana sign can even be seen from the town centre.
   

 

Sales were brisk and Lucy (above) was kept busy for hours. 

 







 

And here's the lady of the hour herself, Pita, formerly known to me as Guadalupe.  All of our respect and admiration goes to this talented young artist.  Well done, Pita.

 

Here's a link to something I found about Pita this morning from something called Revelacion Magazine.  It shows her gathering working materials from what looks like La Bocana after some heavy wave activity.

 

I'll try linking the map.  Let's see what I can do. 

Coastal Creations from before Pita and friends transformed the place.  Well, no map appeared but there's a very outdated picture of the location from Google Earth.  It's much more upscale now. 

 

 

The Mighty Thor, God of Thunder: classic style costume

Having made mjolnir and some helmets courtesy of dali - lomo's instructions, it seemed almost mandatory to go ahead and make a complete costume.  I did even though  I can't sew.  Even if I knew how, it would take me forever to get the thread through a needle.  I managed all the same, with the help of a talented seamstress for the cape.

I think I look rather noble in this pic.  I feel powerful. 

The design is copied from the classic 1960s comic. The princess wig is pretty shaggy but the helmet keeps it out of my eyes.  The medallions are lids from olive jars, attached with safety pins, scrap plastic and contact cement.  The shirt used to advocate wearing a motorcycle helmet.  I turned it inside out, cut off the sleeves, painted six circles cut from a cereal box and stuck them on with spray circle.  That means I'll probably have to replace them after the first wash but, in the meantime, I'll try not to sweat too heavily.

When I wear the entire ensemble, I'll be wearing jeans, not tights.  It doesn't look like Thor himself wore tights on his legs.  It looks more like body paint really.  I've figured out I could probably make fake boots with a cardboard shin splint and some yellow emergency police tape but I may not bother.  The same for the belt he wears high across his shirt.  Do I really need one?
       

 

Yeah, maybe the belt wouldn't be a bad idea.  Thor's belly never popped out when he summoned lightning.

 

Hey, look.  It's Thor and Jane Foster!  With all this beauty and intelligence, no wonder he abandoned Asgard to live here on Midgard.

 

 

No, that's really Adriana, the highly skilled seamstress who cut this magnificent cape for me in less than 5 minutes.  Thank you so much, Adriana.  Regular readers of this blog may remember her and the cool snowgirl costumes she made for our Umarela Christmas parade last December, 2015. That's not the real Thor either.  Just me.

Recent Thor related videos.  Audio comics,

 

Trekking Adventure Tour

Students from the tourism department of UMAR organized an after school walk downtown yesterday. Coincidentally, my bike was locked up in my apartment after repairs and I had planned on walking home anyways. All I knew was that people were walking home in a big group but it was a big deal in honor of Children's Day and people were dressed for the occasion.

I took a lot of pictures but people were in motion and the light was fading. These are the ones that turned out.

It was dark when we arrived downtown so no pictures of the dancing and water balloon fights that took place. Good times.

Life in UMAR Huatulco

Just outside of Huatulco is a little place called Rio Copalita that features an iguanarium for tourists. I’ve considered stopping in some time to have a splash in their cool little river on the way to Barra de la Cruz but, as for the iguanarium, I often feel I work in one. They are everywhere on campus.



Behind our language lab, this preening cactus is ready for a close-up.

They really take care of students and staff here at UMAR. I’ve been too busy to hear anything about the swine flu vaccination being available already and I probably wouldn’t have had time to line up at the hospital for my shot anyways. I stepped out of my class a few weeks ago and there it was, waiting for me. They brought the flu vaccination to us.




Nobody likes needles but everyone stepped up. Neglecting the shot isn’t just a matter of personal risk. If you catch the flu, you can pass it on to others. My trick is to just look away. If I watch, my arm will stiffen.

It’s a friendly cooperative atmosphere. Theresa, one of our English teachers, got a flat on her lunch break. Within minutes, she found herself surrounded by helpful and willing assistants.




It’s a small community here. I finally found a little rock ‘n’ roll cafe, La Impudenta Patata Cafe, I’ve been looking for. Surprise, there is one of my best students working on a slow night. It’s a groovy little place in Sector J, near Infonavit. It was just me and Alexis on the school night but by Friday, people were spilling on to the street and it was standing room only for latecomers.



This last pic is relatively early on a Friday night.

I had no idea Teacher’s Day was last week but a hard working student didn’t forget. Nice surprise. It was a nice coffee mug filled with chocolate.


Life is full of surprises here. Most of them are good and some are even delicious.

UMARELA: Let's Go!

Woohoo. Time for the parade. Away we go. Everyone marches to the starting point at the bottom of the hill.





It takes another half hour to get everything organized again. Excitement mounts.





Santa takes a short contemplative cigarette break before greeting the children. Another great mystery solved. Santa smokes Camels. I believe some of the elves roll their own. Toy making doesn't pay well enough for tailor mades.

This float is simple and genius. Put a young lady in a Santa costume, minus the beard, and tow her sleigh with two bicycles dressed up as reindeer. Excellent idea.










Thanks everybody, especially Santa for wearing that warm suit the entire way and making everyone happy. Merry Christmas to all.