UMARELA 2016 is tomorrow and UMAR Huatulco is looking good. We love Christmas here and everybody has managed to make the campus look great.
You can't do much better than an origami Christmas tree.
I spotted this nifty homemade tree by the photo copy office. A little creativity using the materials at hand and voila.
Thanks to Carmen and her assistant (not pictured here) the Tourism building looks spectacular. Here's Carmen herself and Oscar standing by the centerpiece of the decorations. If you're walking by, stop in for a look.
Finally, I caught one of Santa's elves putting the finishing touches on a little creation for the big UMARELA parade tomorrow.
While many of the people from Centro de Idiomas went straight home after work for a long winter's nap, Santa's most faithful fans stood by to join him in the march downtown for UMARELA 2011.
It was time to go. We weren't the only ones late for the starting point.
The original plan was to just escort Santa to the propane station parking lot but the parade had already moved ahead. We were late. We couldn't wait for the rest of the stragglers. Full speed ahead.
Normally, I would have made a video of this event but, when you're responsible for the safety of the number one VIP, it's both hands on the handlebars. I passed the camera off to a willing helper with two free hands who did her best to chronicle everything.
Hey, look. That's me in front of the Immigration office in Santa Cruz, proudly holding a brand new FM3 work visa. I had to break my lazy beach routine of getting up no sooner than feels right this morning. So many things to do. Eventually I had to re-evaluate the importance of everything on my list and strip it down to essentials. The main thing was getting the visa because after today they close until the 6th of January and I couldn't afford to wait that long.
I forced myself out of bed at 5:30 and was on the road before any place was serving coffee. I call that a very rough way to start the day but I can be tough with myself when I have to. Being cheerful, patient and considerate of others under the circumstances is another game.
First stop was Caryl's home to pick up a pile of documents. She invited me in and gave me coffee. Yay. Someone mentioned the imminent arrival of a big cruise ship today and that got me on the road again. No good getting at the back of that line. That taken care of, I did a little shopping. Some one is getting a surprise. I doubt she ever reads this blog so, if you're reading this, it's almost guaranteed not to be you. Not that you're not perfectly nice and deserving.
This little restaurant in the zocalo, Cafe Huatulco, may have the best brewed coffee in the world. I would never make a trip all the way to Santa Cruz without stopping there.
Now I'm waiting for the courier service to re-open. I should be able to get back to Zipolite before dark. Back to the beach
2008 is winding down pleasantly and 2009 is shaping up well but it couldn't possibly be better than today. I'm at Zipolite again until work starts in early January, with only a short interruption of beach bliss to run back to Huatulco and pick up my spanking new visa.
Time slips away like sand between my toes. I barely managed to get up off my beach towel and head back to Huatulco for December 1 to start all the complicated paperwork. Christmas decorations were already up on the streets of Isla Mujeres. A big artificial tree stood empty when I arrived in the Cancun bus station and the lights were flashing before my trip was underway.
No matter how close they look on the map, these two places aren't exactly around the corner from each other. Including station time, I had a 36 hour trip. Brrr. I ended up using my horse-shaped neck pillow for ear muffs.
Finding an apartment was the trickiest detail for the visa application. No apartment, no visa. No one wanted to rent for the month of December because they're all anticipating renting these places by the night for a lot more money. I doubt that will happen. I walked through sub-divisions with obvious vacancies and administrative people just lied to my face. "Todo occupado." It all worked out in the end thanks to Barry, the guy I'll be replacing. I'm simply going to take over his place and use all of his domestic conveniences until he returns in February. It's nice not to have to buy all of those little necessary things like cookware and a coffee machine right away. A little more than a week in Huatulco and everything was prepared that could be for my new beach job for 2009.
It's been frustrating living without a camera. I saw and keep seeing so many beautiful things every day: wildlife; exotic flowers; architectural quirks. Before landing in Zipolite, I took a detour to Oaxaca just to do some camera shopping. I went everywhere in that town and finally settled for another Canon, not the model I would have preferred but the best I could do.
Oaxaca looked absolutely great, much more prosperous than 2006/2007. The streets are repaired. It's always been a great city to buy a good balloon but now more than ever.
There is a bustle. The zocalos are tastefully decorated for Christmas with chrysanthemums on the curbs of all the walkways and garden plots.
Check out these before and after pictures of the same street near Hotel Aurora from different angles.
Miahuetecos has moved to a new improved station. Luckily for me, a young guy was waiting by the old locale to walk arrivals to the new.
Just a quick peek at Miahuatlan from the Miahuatecos station at the pee break. The construction has finally been completed that stayed dormant for about a year. Looks good. So does the cathedral across the street. I remember it looking a bit rough last time but there isn't a speck of graffiti to be found. As far as I can tell, every window is intact.
I'm seing improvements everywhere around here but the absolute best has to be the traffic lights on the highway crossroad to Pochutla. For years, the old system semed to work. The adjacent military checkpoint must have helped remind people to exercise restraint. Nevertheless, I like the new lights. Red and green. Very Christmassy.
Even this blog is bound to improve now that I have my new camera.
