SCROLL DOWN FOR THIS MONTH'S EVENTS SCHEDULE!
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TODAY'S EVENTS--Festival of Light & Life between the Living & the Dead
4:30-Sales Expo of Young Entrepreneurs
5p--Presentation of Renatta Dance Studio's Grupo Selectivo
5:30-Pet Costume Contest
6p--Children's Costume Contest
7p--Children's show based on Coco
7:45-Pinata Fiesta
8p--Young folks Costume Contest (Age 14-29)
8:30, 8:40, 8:50-Presentations by Dance Groups: Sonidos Danza, Astro Salsa & Añoranzas (photo of Grupo De Danza "Añoranzas De Isla Mujeres")
9p-Sound and Light Show--Fiesta of Calavera-Skulls
Enjoy the colorful altar exhibits in the tourism zone businesses!
Check out all the great stuff in this drawing to raise funds for Isla's Diabetes Clinic! For more than a dozen years, this nonprofit organization has provided free glucometers, supplies, and education to diabetic islanders and providers serving them. A BIG Thank-You to all the supportive businesses! You're encouraged to patronize these generous folks who are giving back to their community!!
**OFFICIAL FESTIVITIES SUNDAY-MONDAY-TUESDAY**
SUNDAY, Oct. 31 **NIGHT OF CALAVERITAS**
On the Town Square
At 5p a Pet Costume Contest will award 1st, 2nd & 3rd prizes based on Creativity, Crowd Appeal ("sympathy"), and Presentation/Performance ("unfolding"). The registration fee is a bag of dry dog food.
The Children's Costume Contest follows at 6p for ages 2 to 13. First & second prizes will be awarded in two categories, Traditional and Modern, based on Originality, Creativity, and Presentation to the Public.
At 7p is a children's show based on "Coco", followed by a Fiesta of Pinatas at 7:45p.
At 8p is a Costume Contest for ages 14 to 29 with the same criteria.
At 8:30p are performances by three dance groups followed by a light and sound show "Fiesta of Calaveras" at 9p.
NOTE--Times are usually approximate. Photo credit to Asia Caribe of "Trick or Treating" on Hidalgo.
MONDAY, Nov. 1 **NIGHT OF THE SOULS**
At 6pm, the Procession of the Souls starts at the Cemetery with candle-carrying residents wearing black, white or traditional clothing, and some in Catrina makeup, walking up Hidalgo to the Town Square, where the following events take place:
An Altar display will be provided by the Jean Paget school, which in previous years featured representations of a tzompantil Aztec skull altar-rack and altars from different regions of Mexico. A dance performance "Hasta la Raiz" is scheduled before the Catrina Contest.
Catrina Contest at 8pm (or 8:30) with 1st & 2nd prizes in two categories, ages 6-12 and over-12. Judging will be based on Design, Originality of Makeup, Creativity, "Gracia" (charm/elegance), and Entrance (a costumed entrance is required). Pre-registration is free (and required) at the Casa de la Cultura 9a-4p thru Nov. 1st.
9p--Artistic Festival featuring performances by four dance groups and three singers.
TUESDAY, Nov. 2 **NIGHT OF HANAL PIXAN** On the Town Square
6p--Samples of Yucatecan Cuisine--The Traditional Pib Tamale
6:30--Origins of Hanal Pixan by our Town Historian Fidel Villanueva Madrid (In Spanish)
7p--Altar Contest will award 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes based on Originality, Creativity, and Adherence to Yucatan traditions. Pre-registration is required (free) at the Casa de la Cultura thru Nov. 1st, 9a-4p.
8p--Vaqueria of the Souls --Vaquerias feature jarana dancers in traditional finery
You're invited to come & watch some of Isla's youngest athletes practice at the Ariel 'el Picho' Magana children's baseball field, Monday thru Friday 4:30-7p.
Bring at least a kilo of dry dog food to participate in today's Pet Costume Contest on the Town Square at 5p. Costumes should have a Dia de los Muertos / Day of the Dead theme and prizes will be awarded for first, second and third places. Judging will be based on Creativity, Charisma-appeal of the animal (lit-sympathy), and Performance-presentation (lit-unfolding).
Catrina isn't just an internationally-known logo for Day of the Dead, she helped stir up a Revolution and "hung out" with Frida & Diego.
CATRINA! She's a modern icon of Dia de los Muertos, reflecting the Mexican holiday's attitude of wry familiarity with death, popularized by muralist Diego Rivera in the mid-1900's. However, she also has a political past and was created more than a century ago to fuel a revolution and overthrow a dictator. (We'll celebrate that in three weeks.)
"Catrin" was Spanish slang for a well-dressed European and the Calavera Catrina was created as political satire circa 1910 by Jose Guadalupe Posada. He was mocking Mexican society's obsession with all things European and the associated massive corruption of dictator Porfirio Diaz. Incredible wealth was concentrated among a privileged few, which led to rebellion & revolution by the repressed majority.
Catrina's original name was "La Calavera Garbancera," and she portrayed a vain indigenous woman who sought to elevate her social status by adopting the aristocratic styles of rich Europeans, disdaining her own culture. A "Calavera" is a skull and a "Garbancera" was typically a poor, indigenous woman who sold garbanzo beans (a European product). The caricature abandoned her native clothing and products to dress-up like a European lady, with only a fancy hat to adorn her poor bones.
The character's meaning evolved after Diego Rivera renamed her "Catrina" in 1947, when he portrayed her in an elegant dress at the center of his 50-foot mural "Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park". She has become an iconic symbol for Dia de los Muertos, and a representation of an attitude toward death that encompasses familiarity and wry humor.
Diego's mural pays tribute to her creator, Posada, who stands at her left, while she holds the hand of Rivera as-a-child. She sports a Feathered Serpent boa around her shoulders (a legendary indigenous deity), and Frida stands behind her in traditional Mexican dress.
The massive "Alameda Mural" portrays four centuries of Mexico's past, from the Spanish Inquisition to the Mexican Revolution, with dozens of historic figures mingling with everyday characters. Located in the Hotel del Prado by Alameda Park, the mural somehow survived the tragic earthquake of Sept. 19, 1985, which killed thousands and devastated large parts of Mexico City. The hotel nearly collapsed, but the mural only sustained a few small cracks and was extracted from a second story window by a crane before the building was demolished. A flatbed truck carefully relocated the 39-ton artwork nearby, and the Museo Mural Diego Rivera was constructed around it.
It's an historic location for one of Mexico's most-recognized symbols. Alameda Central Park is considered the oldest public park in the nation, created in 1592 on the site of an Aztec marketplace. It was named Alameda for the large number of poplar ("álamo") trees planted along the streets bordering the park. (The battle-site located in what is now Texas was also named for poplar trees.)
Catrina's roots can be traced further back to the ancient grande dame of the afterlife, Mictēcacihuātl, who was the queen of the Aztec underworld. She watched over the bones of the dead and played a key role in death festivals.
Written by Ronda Winn-Roberts for Isla Mujeres History sponsored by Maravilla Caribe Bed & Beach. Photo credit-Bruce Roberts of Yazmin, who is dearly missed.
Although
the video shows it landing okay, Isla Mujeres al Momento published the last
photos showing it flipped on its side in the street, in which they appear to
be fine & pushed it back upright. Video by DJ Dani.Screenshot from video.
Mayan trains, traffic lanes, and a really rare canoe....
Construction of the Tren Maya / Mayan Train between Cancun & Izamal, Yucatan hit the international news this week, after archeologists doing salvage work discovered a rare intact precolonial Mayan canoe, while they were taking a decompression-break during a cenote-dive. This section of the track is being built along the Merida-Cancun tollway, where scientists are collecting ancient items from an archeological site found in a 'buffer area' of the roadway.
THE CANOE & OTHER RELICS--"The relevance lies in the fact that it is the first canoe of this type that is complete and so well preserved in the Mayan area; and there are also fragments of these boats and oars in Quintana Roo, Guatemala and Belize," said Helena Barba Meineck, expert with the Yucatan Peninsula office of the SAS (Subdirección de Arqueología Subacuática) of the INAH (Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia).
The platform-type canoe is so small that scientists assume it was used for carrying water from the cenote or offerings during rituals. It's about five feel long, a foot and a half wide and 15 inches tall (1.6m x 80cm x 40cm). They estimate it's from the Terminal Classic Period (830-950 AD), but further testing is planned, with assistance from the Sorbonne University of Paris.
Ms Meineck said that while she & the other divers were taking a decompression-break in the cenote, "I noticed that five meters (16ft) below the current water level. there was a dark imprint on the stone wall, which was between 60 and 90 centimeters (2-3 ft), and indicated the old water level." A cave was located at the top of this mark, and they realized that the hardwood trunk it contained was a platform-canoe, when they saw its symmetrical cuts.
Ancient ceramics were removed from a nearby 50 meter-deep (165 feet) cenote-well, which also contained a human skeleton. Ms Meineck said the variety and chronology of the pottery spanned several centuries. "It is evident that this is an area where ceremonies were held, not only because of the intentionally fragmented pottery, but also because of the remains of charcoal which indicate exposure to fire; and the way in which they placed stones on top of them, to cover them," she explained.
At a third body of water on the site with intricate passages, SAS researchers found hand-print mural paintings on the rock ceilings, as well as an intact incense-burner from the Late Post-classic period (1200-1500 AD), a rock-stelae, a ritual-knife and more than 40 intentionally-broken ("slain") ceramics.
The relics were transferred to the Archaeological Zone of Chichen Itza for their protection. The site (named "San Andrés") is under the protection of the INAH since the researchers noticed evidence of looting in the cenote.
SECTION IV OF THE TRAIN (See map)
Delays from encounters with archaeological remains aren't expected along this 160 mile (257 km) section of the track because it's being built along the existing toll road and its right-of-way. One side of the highway is being expanded from two lanes to four lanes, while the other two lanes are being replaced by train tracks. The train will provide both passenger and cargo service.
This "Section IV" was inaugurated on June 1, 2020, with expectations of completion within 28 months. (That would be one year from now.) Work has progressed more slowly than anticipated, which officials blame on the pandemic and last year's intense rains.
This summer, the government released plans (#3) for the train station in Nuevo Xcan, which is a ~60 mile drive from Cancun. It's a village of about 1000 people living in 219 "indigenous households". More than 500 of the residents over age 5 speak an indigenous language, who also speak Spanish, although there are 15 who do not. One news article mentioned that FONATUR (National Tourism Development Fund) had begun offering some classes in English.
This station is expected to facilitate tourism access to Holbox via Chiquilá, with an eventual light rail connection, which would also bring customers to the tourism businesses in Kantunilkin. The Nuevo Xcan station will include an eco-tourism hotel and a business-class hotel, as well as shops, community dining room, gas station, light transportation module, and areas providing traveler-services. The station may eventually interconnect by rail with the archaeological zone of Cobá, although previous plans for construction thru that area were tabled in response to concerns about the abundance of ruins and relics they are likely to encounter. Written by Ronda Winn-Roberts
Yesterday. VIDEO ...Municipal workers continue cleaning up and beautifying the municipality as part of the Mayor's "Caring for Isla Mujeres" program. Today they worked at the Mundaca Hacienda and on the mainland at Ranch Viejo.
A very green-looking National Semaforo of Epidemiological Risk for November 1-14 from the Secretary of Health who says "Remember--Vaccinate, Wash Your Hands, Wear Face Masks & Maintain Healthy Distance. We're close to achieving it! Maintain measures to manage to beat Covid-19"
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Fine dining a few steps away at Da Luisa or try the neighborhood eateries a couple blocks farther. We provide a list of links & direction to over 20 eateries within ten minutes walk, including Mango Cafe, Mike's Pizza, Brisas, Rosa Sirena, Coco Jaguar, Manolitos, Green Verde, Kash Kechen Chuc, and the large department store-grocery Chedraui & the local craft brewery. Visit marinas, bars, & beach clubs that are minutes away by bike or on foot. Attend Yoga classes a couple villas away at Casa Ixchel. Fresh juice, produce & tortillas a few blocks away in the village, as well as a variety of other stores.
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Sources for Weather Information:
LINK to Civil Protection Q Roo weather bulletin (Spanish)
LINK to Mexico National Weather Service (Spanish)
LINK to satellite images for the Mexico National Weather Service
LINK to GOES East Band 16 GIF (animation)
LINK to a private weather station on Isla Mujeres
LINK to US National Hurricane Center
