Dec 16, 2008
Dec 15, 2008
Catemaco corruption
After years of being involved in a property possession fight, we finally received an official judgement declaring us owners of the contested property.
This legal maneuver, occupying more than two years was never a priority to us so we never paid the customary bribes to advance its case in court. NOW after finally receiving an ultimate court decision in our favor, the frigging judge who is supposed to officially publish the judgement wants 20,000 pesos.
Guess what? We paid him.! Just another beautiful downtown Catemaco vignette.
This legal maneuver, occupying more than two years was never a priority to us so we never paid the customary bribes to advance its case in court. NOW after finally receiving an ultimate court decision in our favor, the frigging judge who is supposed to officially publish the judgement wants 20,000 pesos.
Guess what? We paid him.! Just another beautiful downtown Catemaco vignette.
Dec 13, 2008
Catemaco Virgins
I have never seen so many Virgins in my life.
Beautiful downtown Catemaco was overrun by thousands, or maybe 10's of thousands of placard bearers in the last week. Most all featured a likeness either on their sweatpants, foreheads, windshields, mobile phones, etc. of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
Spirituality seems to have soared in Catemaco in the last few years. Maybe this has something to do with global warming, or the lower than average temperatures in Los Tuxtlas.The Catemaco Virgen celebration is not just a local phenomena. Pilgims regularly arrive here by the busloads from most of southern Mexico. During the festivities surrounding her various "anniversaries", thousands of impoverished pilgrims arrive on foot treks from the communities south of Catemaco in the Santa Marta volcanoes where apparently there is a Virgin statue shortage.
The religious folks, throughout the week, run their processions before 6 am, the more sleepy taxis and driveable religious vehicles have their fun in the afternoons and the party crowd does their thing with beauty contests of virginal high school students in the evening. All are accompanied by choruses or the equivalent of bull horns or oom-pah-pah music.
I should have posted this on one of those "I love Mexico" blogs where people love reading about the shenanigans of the have-nots of Mexico, before returning to their quiet, isolated life in mortgaged homes in Anywhere, USA.
PLEASE! if this keeps on going, invite me!
A little history: The shrine of the Catemaco Virgin
Photo: Diario Eyipantla
Beautiful downtown Catemaco was overrun by thousands, or maybe 10's of thousands of placard bearers in the last week. Most all featured a likeness either on their sweatpants, foreheads, windshields, mobile phones, etc. of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
Spirituality seems to have soared in Catemaco in the last few years. Maybe this has something to do with global warming, or the lower than average temperatures in Los Tuxtlas.The religious folks, throughout the week, run their processions before 6 am, the more sleepy taxis and driveable religious vehicles have their fun in the afternoons and the party crowd does their thing with beauty contests of virginal high school students in the evening. All are accompanied by choruses or the equivalent of bull horns or oom-pah-pah music.
I should have posted this on one of those "I love Mexico" blogs where people love reading about the shenanigans of the have-nots of Mexico, before returning to their quiet, isolated life in mortgaged homes in Anywhere, USA.
PLEASE! if this keeps on going, invite me!
A little history: The shrine of the Catemaco Virgin
Photo: Diario Eyipantla
Catemaco Crime
Beautiful downtown Catemaco is allegedly becoming a retirement home.
The ZETAs, one of the most feared drug gangs in Mexico, are supposedly declaring Catemaco a protected turf without the reported Mafia style protection rackets and kidnappings now so popular on the Mexican gulf coast.
Welcome home ZETAS!
They can not be any worse than the corrupt national and state politicians who have scooped up prime pieces of real estate in Catemaco and Los Tuxtlas and stolen a large percentage of Catemaco's yearly fiscal budget.
Current US newspapers are in a frenzy over Mexican drug related killings. What they, and most foreign tourists, forget is that Mexico is an extraordinarily violent country. Fortunately most of the violence is bestowed on fellow Mexicans, leaving gringos virtually unscathed.
Murder rates traditionally have been 3 to 4 times higher in Mexico than the US! And that includes flawed Mexican statistics which are know to to depend on bullets in the heart to be reported as heart attacks.
So who cares about a few thousand druggies wasting each other!
I know you don't believe me, so here are the somewhat outdated statistics:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_percap-crime-murders-per-capita
The ZETAs, one of the most feared drug gangs in Mexico, are supposedly declaring Catemaco a protected turf without the reported Mafia style protection rackets and kidnappings now so popular on the Mexican gulf coast.
Welcome home ZETAS!
They can not be any worse than the corrupt national and state politicians who have scooped up prime pieces of real estate in Catemaco and Los Tuxtlas and stolen a large percentage of Catemaco's yearly fiscal budget.
Current US newspapers are in a frenzy over Mexican drug related killings. What they, and most foreign tourists, forget is that Mexico is an extraordinarily violent country. Fortunately most of the violence is bestowed on fellow Mexicans, leaving gringos virtually unscathed.
Murder rates traditionally have been 3 to 4 times higher in Mexico than the US! And that includes flawed Mexican statistics which are know to to depend on bullets in the heart to be reported as heart attacks.
So who cares about a few thousand druggies wasting each other!
I know you don't believe me, so here are the somewhat outdated statistics:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_percap-crime-murders-per-capita
Dec 6, 2008
Movies of Catemaco
There is no reason to come visit us in beautiful downtown Catemaco. Just stay home and enjoy the local scenery portrayed in dozens of films, TV shows, and documentaries.
Here is a sample of some of them:
Apocalypto (2006)
USA, director: Mel Gibson, star: Rudy Youngblood.
Piedras verdes (2001)
México, director: Ángel Flores Torres, star: Osvaldo Benavides.
Hijos del viento (2000)
Spain, director:José Miguel Juárez, star: José Sancho.
Nanciyaga (1998)
México, director: Julio Fons, star: Felipe Fulop.
Ámbar (1994)
México, director: Luis Estrada, star: Martin Altomaro.
Enfermeras en la Linea: El accidente del vuelo 7 (1993)
USA (TV), director: Larry Shaw, star: Lindsey Wagner, Jennifer Lopez.
Medicine Man (1992)
USA, director: John McTiernan, star: Sean Connery.
Mina, viento de libertad (1977)
Cuba / México, director: Antonio Eceiza, star: Pedro Armendáriz Jr..
Muerte en el jardin, (1956)
France / México, director: Luis Buñuel, star: Simone Signoret.
Sombra Verde, (1954)
México, director Roberto Galvadon, star: Ricardo Montalban
See More: Movies of Catemaco
Dec 4, 2008
Catemaco Recipes
I hope you enjoy the home cooking in beautiful downtown Catemaco as much as I do.
MOGO-MOGO OF MALE BANANA
6 TEETH OF GARLIC
5 SPOONFULS OF BUTTER
2 LITERS OF WATER
4 MALE BANANAS Or PINTONES
SALT NECESSARY
SUGAR To the PLEASURE IT FORMS TO PREPARE ITSELF:
IN A POT WITH WATER And SALT, IT IS PUT TO COOK GREEN The MALE BANANA BETWEEN And PREVIOUSLY BARE And CUT PINTÓN IN WHEELS. Meanwhile, GARLIC PLASTADOS FRY THEMSELVES IN The BUTTER WITHOUT THEY GET TO BURN ITSELF.
The COOKED BANANA SLIPS Of the WATER And IT CRUSHES SMOOTHLY STRIKING IT WITH A WOOD SPOON. THE HOT BUTTER IS ADDED TO HIM IN WHICH GARLIC FRIED THEMSELVES. ONE RIPENS WITH SALT And SUGAR. ONE USES IT WARMS UP FOR The BREAKFAST Or IT HAS SUPPER And IT IS ACCOMPANIED BY HOT CHOCOLATE.
You get the drift, I hope
Source: Venavernos
MOGO-MOGO OF MALE BANANA
6 TEETH OF GARLIC
5 SPOONFULS OF BUTTER
2 LITERS OF WATER
4 MALE BANANAS Or PINTONES
SALT NECESSARY
SUGAR To the PLEASURE IT FORMS TO PREPARE ITSELF:
IN A POT WITH WATER And SALT, IT IS PUT TO COOK GREEN The MALE BANANA BETWEEN And PREVIOUSLY BARE And CUT PINTÓN IN WHEELS. Meanwhile, GARLIC PLASTADOS FRY THEMSELVES IN The BUTTER WITHOUT THEY GET TO BURN ITSELF.
The COOKED BANANA SLIPS Of the WATER And IT CRUSHES SMOOTHLY STRIKING IT WITH A WOOD SPOON. THE HOT BUTTER IS ADDED TO HIM IN WHICH GARLIC FRIED THEMSELVES. ONE RIPENS WITH SALT And SUGAR. ONE USES IT WARMS UP FOR The BREAKFAST Or IT HAS SUPPER And IT IS ACCOMPANIED BY HOT CHOCOLATE.
You get the drift, I hope
Source: Venavernos
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)