Eric Nice Plays Mateja's every Thursday afternoon.
Page 1- Mexico News, Features
Page 2 - Features
Page 3 - Features, Weather, Sports,
Exchange, Community Calendar
Page 4 - Classifieds
Page 5 - Real Estate
November 10 2008 Page 3
Features, Weather, Sports, Exchange, Community Calendar
The Almost Twice Weekly Newspaper for the Jaltemba Coast
Saving Your Plants Without Slaying the Dragon
By Tara Spears
It is said that beauty is in the
eye of the beholder-so while I enjoy having this uniq
ue,
dragon-like visitor to my garden, others might shriek and consider the
scaly clawed Mexican iguanas a nuisance.
True, they are herbivores that are particularly fond of eating
tropical plants, flowers, stems, leaves, and fruit. Therefore, any
garden is very attractive, rather like a restaurant, for iguanas. If you
want to make nice, hold out a hibiscus flower. (It is equivalent to
offering a dog a bone.) I
am comfortable sharing space with these prehistoric looking critters
because they are not venomous and are not likely to bite people: I don’t
mind if they consume a branch or two of my plants…. but my neighbors and
a couple of readers, however, are highly annoyed with marauding iguanas
that decimate entire prized plants in 15 minutes’ time.
Although most people find
these animals fascinating, iguanas do sometimes create challenges for
residents of the Riviera Nayarit coast.
The two common species that live in our area are the Green
Iguana,
(photo
above) whose color varies according to its primary habitat, and the
fierce looking Black Spiny- tailed Iguana. (photo below)
The Black Iguana is the fastest running of all the iguana
species. The typical mature length of both of these terrestrial iguanas
is 3-6 feet (90-180 cm) but I have personally seen wild iguanas in the
remote jungles of Jalisco and Nayarit that were easily SEVEN FEET long!
I thought I had been transported back to southern Florida and was
face to face with an American alligator… they had to weigh 60 pounds
apiece. It was not an
isolated sighting: on every hike I stood in awe when I encountered these
giants. Iguanas live about 15 years and seem territorial: they do dig to
lay their eggs and tend to return to feed within a particular area.
All iguanas share the
characteristic of communicating via body language and head bobs, and all
are excellent swimmers.
The downside to having your yard become iguana territory is that
in addition to destroying landscaping efforts, iguanas also cause
problems by digging nesting burrows that can undermine sidewalks, sea
wells and foundations. Iguana feces are stinky, unsightly, and may
harbor Salmonella bacteria. Because iguanas often prefer to defecate in
or around water, it is not uncommon for an iguana to use a private pool
as a bathroom area. Large adults may be aggressive towards people and
pets if they feel threatened or cornered.
Plants that Iguanas love to dine on: If you have hibiscus, orchids,
impatiens, nasturtiums, broccoli, beets, lettuce, squash or melons in
your yard, the iguanas will come.
I have found that growing these types of plants in clay pots to
be less appealing to iguanas than when the plant is in the ground.
Plants that iguanas don’t like:
If you want to discourage iguanas from your landscape, try planting
some
oleander, citrus, or crotons.
Iguanas also avoid toxic and thick-leaf plants such as bromeliads
(aloe). Other measures that you can try to protect your plants are to
enclose the plant with wire mesh or if you want to discourage iguanas
from climbing fruit trees, wrap thin sheets of metal, such as aluminum
flashing, around its base. You may also have luck with a spray mixture
of 4 cloves of garlic and 4 hot peppers chopped and mixed with a bucket
of water. Spray a couple of
times a week around your plants to deter iguanas. I am unaware of any
commercial poison that is effective except coyote pee that is available
NOB. I have friends that
reasoned that since the iguanas have keen eyesight, hanging an
artificial owl bouncing around in the ocean breezes would make the
iguanas too nervous to eat.
It hasn’t worked but it looks good!
Even if the iguanas persist in dining on your plants, there is a certain
cache to telling your NOB friends and family: “Oh, I lost another
rosebush to the three foot iguana that lives in our yard.”
Just another unique perk to living in the Mexican trophics.
Contact Tara:
terri_sprs@yahoo.com
Scholar Finds Mayans' Buried Highway Through Hell
Mark Stevenson – Associated Press
go to original
Tzibichen Cenote, Mexico — Legend says the afterlife for ancient Mayas
was a terrifying obstacle course in which the dead had to traverse
rivers of blood, and chambers full of sharp knives, bats and jaguars.
Mexican archaeologist Guillermo de Anda is
aided by two young archeologists as he prepares to dive into an
underground lake inside a cenote cave in Tzibichen on the
Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.
Guillermo de Anda, right, and an assistant
look into an underground lake entrance inside a cenote cave.
Guillermo de Anda prepares to dive in an
underground lake in a cenote cave.
Guillermo de Anda prepares to lower into a
cenote cave.
(AP Photos/Dario Lopez-Mills)
Now a Mexican
archaeologist using long-forgotten testimony from the Spanish
Inquisition says a series of caves he has explored may be the place
where the Maya actually tried to depict this highway through hell.
The network of
underground chambers, roads and temples beneath farmland and jungle on
the Yucatan peninsula suggests the Maya fashioned them to mimic the
journey to the underworld, or Xibalba, described in ancient mythological
texts such as the Popol Vuh.
"It was the place
of fear, the place of cold, the place of danger, of the abyss," said
University of Yucatan archaeologist Guillermo de Anda.
Searching for the
names of sacred sites mentioned by Indian heretics who were put on trial
by Inquisition courts, De Anda discovered what appear to be stages of
the legendary journey, recreated in a half-dozen caves south of the
Yucatan state capital of Merida.
Archaeologists
have long known that the Maya regarded caves as sacred and built
structures in some.
But De Anda's
team introduced "an extremely important ingredient" by using historical
records to locate and connect a series of sacred caves, and link them
with the concept of the Mayan road to the afterworld, said archaeologist
Bruce Dahlin of Shepherd University, who has studied other Maya sites in
the Yucatan.
The Associated Press followed de Anda and his team into the caves,
squeezing through tiny, overgrown entrances and rappelling down narrow
shafts and slippery tree roots.
There, in the
stygian darkness, a scene unfolded that was eerily reminiscent of an
"Indiana Jones" movie — tottering ancient temple platforms, slippery
staircases and tortuous paths that skirted underground lakes littered
with Mayan pottery and ancient skulls.
The group
explored walled-off sacred chambers that can only be entered by crawling
along a floor populated by spiders, scorpions and toads.
To find Xibalba,
De Anda spent five years combing the 450-year-old records of the
Inquisition trials the Spaniards held against Indian "heretics" in
Mexico.
The
Spanish were outraged that the Mayas continued to practice their old
religion even after the conquest. So they used the trials to make them
reveal the places where they performed their ceremonies.
Time after time,
the defendants mentioned the same places — but the recorded names
changed over the centuries or were forgotten.
Armed with clues
from trial records, the archaeologists asked locals for caves with
similar-sounding names or coordinates that would place them nearby.
The Mayas used
the sinkhole caves, known as cenotes, as places of worship and
depositories for sacrificed humans. Many cenotes still contain pools
that supply villages with water. The best-known is the broad, circular
pool at the ruins of Chichen Itza.
The cenotes De
Anda found were drier, better hidden and farther from villages. They
seem to have had a special religious significance because even as the
Maya were forced to convert to Christianity, they still traveled long
distances to worship there.
Among De Anda's
discoveries are a broad, perfectly paved, 100-yard underground road, a
submerged temple, walled-off stone rooms and the "confusing crossroads"
of the legends.
"There are a number of elements that make us think that this road is a
representation of the journey to Xibalba," De Anda said. "We think it is
no coincidence that the road which comes out of the crossroads leads to
the west," the direction described as the way to the afterlife.
At the center of
one of the underground lakes, De Anda's team found a collapsed and
submerged altar with carvings indicating it was dedicated to the gods of
death.
In some
of the chambers, it is almost impossible to move without slashing one's
skin on stalactites and stone formations projecting from the walls and
ceilings, leading De Anda to believe they are a representation of the
feared "room of knives" described in the Popol Vuh.
Bats are depicted
in the ancient texts, and visitors have to duck to avoid swarms of them.
There's the "chamber of roasting heat" which indeed leaves visitors
soaked in sweat. Cool currents of surface air penetrating some caves
feel almost frigid, just like the legend's "chambers of shaking cold."
While De Anda has
not yet encountered a specific "jaguar chamber," jaguar bones have been
found in at least one cave.
Subterranean
"roads" interrupted by deep pools of water may signify the rivers of
blood and pus.
But why go to the trouble of reproducing hell? "Perhaps it was to
demonstrate power," De Anda speculates, or to give the living an idea of
the terrors they would meet en route to paradise.
Clifford Brown, a
Florida Atlantic University archaeologist who has worked in the region,
agrees that the Mayas saw the cenotes as a portal to the underworld.
"Everybody has
heard of the cenote of sacrifice at Chichen Itza, but it's less widely
recognized that it was part of a generalized cenote worship that existed
at many sites," Brown said.
"There are a
number of sites in the lowlands where there are caves right underneath
the principal temples, palaces and pyramids, which are thought to
represent a religious 'access mundi,' where you have the pyramid
representing the heavens, and the caves representing the underworld
underneath."
Peruvian striker Andres Mendoza scored three goals, including two in six minutes, as Morelia rallied to beat Jaguares 5-2 on Sunday and take the Group 2 lead in the Mexican Apertura……
More
No recount this time
After a controversial split decision victory over Matt Vanda in Mexico in July, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. left himself needing to reassure his superiority over Vanda, this time on neutral turf. ….
MoreMexico on Thursday night...
River Plate are in a must-win situation at Chivas de Guadalajara, after falling to a 2-1 defeat in Buenos Aires in the first leg of the tie last month. As well as needing a victory, they have to find the back of the net at least twice…..
MoreEl Tri: Get Used To
It Eriksson
'Bora' Milutinović recommended to current México
boss Sven-Göran Eriksson to get used to the criticism that he has
received in the past weeks, after the Swede manifested his dislike of
judgments of his work in the press. Former coach of the México National
team, Velibor 'Bora' Milutinović, indicated that Sven-Göran Eriksson
will have to get accustomed to criticism if he wants to stay at the helm
of el Tri….More
Silver guaranteed for Irish boxers in Mexico
Ireland's incredible journey at the AIBA World Youth Championships continued last night and in the early hours of this morning after Ray Moylett and Jamie Kavanagh marched into tonight's finals following semi final wins in Guadalajara, Mexico…..More
Darts winners this week . Every Wednesday at 2 p.m. at Crazy Nelly's
First big winner of Women's Darts at Hinde and Jaime...Maddy!
Every Friday at 2 p.m. at Hinde and Jaimes Restaurant La Penita
Sunday golf winners
Bill, Jan and Gary...five under par WOW!
Come out and join the the many American and Canadian veterans on Tuesday at 10 am to honor those who have served their countries . Field of Dreams
WEATHER
SAN Pancho Weather www.sanpanchoweather.com
Weather in Mexico
Currency
Last Week
Against The
Odds
David Lord - PVNN
My story started a few days ago, I
received a simple email with the heading "41 years ago," it was
something I nearly didn't open, thinking it some past event or old news
item from a stranger. The contact was made by the wife of the most
important combat Marine I had ever known, a Marine who showed courage
under fire - in a war that had no glory.
Bill Meade at Khe Sanh in 1968
The Marine Corps gave a twenty day leave to enlisted men to say our
goodbyes to friends and families in 1968, it was then that "the culture
of Peace and Love" being made up of our peers made sure we "the
enlisted" were held apart, ostracized for merely wearing our military
uniform in public.
We learned about the protesters on this leave, they marched against the
war as we headed over to S.E. Asia. If you thought the suspensions were
one-sided by the protesters it wasn't, because in transit aboard
chartered aircraft, wearing our combat gear,(except for weapons) we were
watched by armed Military Police, preventing any Marine from leaving the
terminal at Anchorage, Alaska.
The civil unrest grew and was boiling over after the assassination of
Dr. King, we were forgotten by America during the civil riots at home,
despised by some. In this war we Marines were alone, Americans had not
yet separated us from the Politicians that ordered us there, support the
troops was yet to come.
Uncommon valor amongst the Marines of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion,
26th Marines of the 5th Division went unnoticed as we struggled during
the Siege. The Fifth Marines had fought at Iwo Jima in the Pacific, now
twenty five years later, the 5th Marines manned the combat base at "Khe
Sanh."
Under this Siege we endured more incoming than all the munitions fired
in all the battles of the Pacific, by all forces during W.W. II. The
tonnage of bombs dropped, rockets impacting, mortar rounds incoming,
projectiles fired was compressed into 77 days and nights of mind-numbing
hell. This Siege by forty thousand hard and battle tested North
Vietnamese Troops were General Giap Divisions, they had us surrounded,
in a ever tightening noose, we must hold or be overrun. Two young
Marines, who had entered boot camp together, trained side by side while
preparing for the Viet Nam War, were going to live or die in each
other's company.
Bill Meade and I are now 40 years past that longest battle of the war, I
searched for him for decades, turns out we both made it home, were both
wounded and disabled from gunshot and both surviving against the odds.
This is our reunion as it happened:
Dear David,
A friend of ours (Bill Buford) sent us a link to your website. What a
surprise! Do you remember my husband, Bill Meade? He was with you when
you were shot in Viet Nam. I had met you before your trip to Viet Nam.
Bill & I will celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary in Feb. We are in
Oklahoma, have two children and two grandchildren. I am still working,
but Bill is "retired"! A couple of years ago he was awarded 100%
disability from the VA. Bill was shot a short time after you were.
Occasionally he will tell "stories" about the two of you.
I wrote:
My God, Bill I have thought of you a million times, thank God you're
o.k., and please keep in contact, God I have looked for you for so long,
you were the only one to have the guts to come pull me out after getting
hit... Jesus, how long I have worried if you were o.k., I am so happy to
hear from you... (I then gave details of my family.)
Semper Fi Brother,
David
His response:
Dear David,
It's great to hear from you. I'm sorry that I haven't replied sooner.
It's taken some time for me to adjust to this, I've lived in a world
with nothing but memories for 40 years. Then all of a sudden I find the
real deal, my friend. It's kind of like a new world. Now I've got to
learn how to live in it, I'm glad that you've got your legs.
Viet Nam has played through my head like movie reels, night and day.
I've dreamed about it at night and wake up looking at a world obscured
by barbed wire. I only say this, because after all this time I have
forgotten more than I know. Sometimes, I don't know if things really
happened, or if I dreamed them. So if I get something wrong, forgive me.
It's not intentional.
I'm sorry but I don't remember Simms. I know I should since he was right
there with us. I guess it's one of those blanks.
Do you remember Adolphus? He was the new guy that had only been there a
couple of weeks. He was the one that told us he wasn't gonna make it.
Well, he didn't. He went in about 20 feet to the right of us and
straddled a spider hole. Charlie shot him up through the groin and blew
him away.
Do you remember when we got caught on top of that mountain by an
incoming barrage? We both dove for the same hole and barely made it. You
had your M-16 by the sling but couldn't get it in the hole. It blew
everything away except the end of the butt stock, swivel, and part of
the sling. The new Marine with the Mohawk haircut was 5 or 10 feet in
front of us and was killed.
The last memory that I have of you was when I glanced over my shoulder
as I went back in. You were lying hurt below the drop off, and had a
1911 A-1 45 pointed dead on at some Marine or corpsman, (telling them to
help you). I couldn't hear the words but I got the message. That's the
man! A Marine's Marine! Somehow, I knew you'd make it.
David, you said you owed me. You got that all wrong. If you ever owed me
anything, you paid it back a long time ago, and many times over. I'm
proud to have served with you, and would do it again. To live or to die.
Semper Fi,
Bill
David
Lord has been a National Veterans Service Officer doing veteran's
benefits in Mexico for over a decade. David is a combat veteran, wounded
by gunshot in Viet Nam 1968 and is a retired Marine. The Veterans
Administration has played a critical role in his life, by his having
both medical and compensation benefits. He uses his personal experience
in the claims process along with having legal and credentialed
Accreditation by the Department of Veterans Affairs. His use of
Congressional approved Veterans Organizations, to steer veterans and
dependants through the maze of regulations and entitlements due them
from military service is outstanding. For more information, email him at
david.lord(at)yahoo.com.
Vallarta to
Host Lesbian Artists Festival
Adriana
Thomas - lesalebrijes.com
From November 6-9, 2008, Puerto Vallarta will
host the 1st Annual Les Alebrijes Festival Artístico Lésbico - a
4 day/3 night adventure of arts and tours for lesbian women
interested in creating a professional arts and tourism existence
in Mexico.
When we extend our wings, love gets up in flight and we raise up to the
top of the fullness. We are a group of lesbian women interested in
creating a professional arts and tourism existence in Mexico.
Click image to enlarge
As Puerto Vallarta's gay and lesbian community grows, so do the events!
Each year, more gays and lesbians are moving to Vallarta and more and
more come to visit.
Les Alebrijes is an adventure that aims to go beyond the mythical ideas
of gay groups, to raise gay and lesbian acceptance and to foster a
society that has a great capacity to embrace and contain many
communities. We are convinced that together we can generate radical
changes to society and put lesbians in an important place in the economy
of Mexico.
We invite you to participate in this effort by taking advantage of the
spaces that we have available to promote your talent, your art and your
strength. Here you can exhibit your paintings, drawings, records, music,
books and anything else that represents your vocation and your work.
Everyone is welcome to learn about the art produced by this group of
talented lesbians. Buying their art work allows them to be financially
secure and strengthens their drive to be successful members of the
Mexican art community.
Those who are not artists, but who are in the art business, are also
invited to participate in the business directory that we are about to
open. This effort aims to generate lesbian synergy while promoting the
growth of our businesses. Interested participants should send
information about your business, arts, products or services to
lesalebrijes(at)lesalebrijes.com.
A limited number of rooms have been secured at the Buenaventura Grand
Hotel. To check room availability and request a reservation, send an
email to reservaciones(at)lesalebrijes.com. For more information,
contact Adriana Thomas at 52 (555) 689-9978 or (555) 341-7503.
Les
Alebrijes Fest Vallarta
Adriana Thomas - lesalebrijes.com
Cuando las mujeres nos decidimos somos capaces de generar cambios de
gran envergadura, damos vida a nuestro entorno, iluminamos los caminos,
rompemos barreras.
Disfruta de la hospitalidad de Jalisco en un hotel de cinco estrellas
totalmente acondicionado para asegurarte vacaciones en un ambiente
privado y divertido.
En una atmósfera moderna y con detalles mexicanos, Buenaventura nos
ofrece una experiencia exclusiva y adecuada para disfrutar del mar y la
arena.
Tres restaurantes prometen una experiencia gastronómica memorable.
Noches temáticas que serán enmarcadas por exposiciones de pintura y
escultura de nuestras artistas lésbicas.
Disfruta del festival y participa en las actividades que hemos diseñado
para tí: Voley ball de alberca, Fútbol de Playa, Kayaks y si te hace
falta más, podemos organizar unos aeróbics acuáticos.
Costos Por 3 Noches y 4 Días Habitación Deluxe: Todo Incluído (Alimento
y Hospedaje) sin Avión
1 persona en habitación doble: $6,897 pesos
2 personas en habitación doble: $7,760 pesos
Precio por persona en
habitación doble: $3,880 pesos,
por persona en habitación triple o
cuádrule: $3700 pesos
Máxima ocupación por cuarto: 4
Habitación Honey Moon (Con Jacussi) y Junior Suite tienen costos
superiores, favor de consultar.
Incluye:
• Impuestos
• Asistencia a todos los números musicales y
exposiciones de pintura, escultura y presentaciones de libros.
•
Todos los alimentos sin costo
• Bebida Nacional Ilimitada
•
Minibar con refrescos, agua y cerveza, sin costo
• Internet
inalámbrico
• Centro de negocios (para quien requiera)
• Traslados
Aeropuerto-Hotel-Aeropuerto (para quienes toman la tarifa con avión)
• Cocktail de bienvenida
No incluye:
• Propinas
• Los servicios del spas. Los masajes se
pagan de manera individualmente.
Reserven Ahora Su Lugar - La demanda es fuerte y parece que se nos van a
terminar los lugares antes de tiempo.
Información de contacto: Adriana Thomas o Gabriela Ortiz al: (555)
689-9978, o (555) 341-7503.
