5C's Que Pasa

Cruise Ship Passenger Falls into Sink Hole

..article from the online Mazatlan Messenger…

When San Diego resident Dary Remi disembarked from the cruiseship Oosterdam at port in Mazatlán yesterday, he did not expect to end up at the bottom of a four meter sink hole.

His tour of Mazatlán had taken him to the Cliff Diver’s plaza (Glorieta Sánchez Taboada) where a large, open sink hole had developed. Unrelenting waves had undermined the sand and earth supporting the concrete walkway causing the concrete to collapse. The Spanish language daily Noroeste had published a warning photo of the dangerous area on November 28th.

As tourist Remi walked by the sink hole, the concrete collapsed under him and he fell four meters to the bottom of the pit.

Alerted by vendors at the Glorieta of the accident, the Red Cross and Civil Protection attended and cordoned off the area to prevent any other tourists succumbing to the same fate.

It took rescuers, assisted by two cliff divers, thirty minutes to maneuver the bruised and dazed tourist up a ladder to safety, where the concerned crowd burst into applause at his rescue.

The San Diego resident was taken to hospital as a precaution.

The incident caused the national president of the Mexican Association for Attention to Cruise Ship Tourists, Rafael Rivera López, to lash out at Mazatlán’s municipal government.

Their association had publicly complained about the defects in the area of the Glorieta, and nothing had been done to repair them, he said. He went on to say he found it incredible that when they went to other ports and told officials what needed to be repaired, it was done in a month. But here in Mazatlán, they had to battle for results.

This accident, he told media, represents the lack of responsibility of authorities in charge of maintaining these popular areas, and in this case it is City Hall. It was lucky, he said, that the tourist was walking ahead of a group because if they had been together twenty more people could have been injured.

Noroeste reported that later that afternoon municipal and Jumapam workers appeared at the Glorieta to fill the hole. Permanent repair of the sink hole is expected to take one week.

One of the errands we did the other day was a visit to la dentista for me, Contessa.  The dentist in Mexican is feminine whether female or male, something I am not going to even try and explain!!!  So I saw a dentist, recommended by Mazatlan Mary, to have my teeth cleaned.

Much cheaper than in Canada.  Cost 300 pesos.  I decided to book an appointment to have my teeth whitened.  At home this is an expensive process, here  it cost me 1800 pesos, approximately  147.00CAD.  There are many different methods to have this done both here and back home.  One method here is to take the trays with you and use them several nights in a row, sleeping with them inserted in your mouth.  I chose the easiest method which was  to be completed in one hour .  It is recommended that you avoid citrus for 3 days prior to the bleaching to reduce sensitivity.  Now this fellow does speak English but is low key and fairly non verbal, somewhat intimidating at first.  “Open wide”….suddenly my mouth is filled with something and I can barely breathe so I rip it out….”what are you doing” says la dentista.  “What are YOU doing I reply”?? He explains and with very few more words he proceeds.  This thing is placed in my mouth, not really uncomfortable but certainly not natural.  A gel is applied followed by an ultra violet light tooth by tooth.  Then a different gel is applied, I sense it is somewhat acidic and feel a tiny bit of burning in the one area of my mouth.  Ten minutes of just sitting, then a bit more gel is applied and then a different type of light ( I found out later it was simply a form of LED light) within a metal mount that was placed over my mouth.  Within two minutes I was feeling electrical impulses to one particular tooth and was in a good deal of agony so I ripped the metal/light apparatus off….Senor Dentista was not amused.  He did flush my mouth with water and remove the source of pain all the while asking what was wrong.  How to explain when your mouth is full of ‘stuff’.  Suddenly the finger that brushed off the apparatus started to throb, I held it up and he handed me a wet paper towel.  Whatever was on my teeth had burnt my finger tip…strong stuff.  He reapplied the gel but did not put the LED light back on.  Later he said that perhaps I had a crack in my teeth that had caused the reaction???????  Anyway I sat for an hour with these gels on my teeth.  At the end of this magical time period he showed me before and after color samples.  Yes my teeth had changed color.  This is not guaranteed for more than six months but if you use products like Listerine Whitener twice per day and whitening toothpaste your whitening could last for up to a year or perhaps longer.  Yeah!!!!!!  I was tired, an hour is a long time to sit still with whatever clenched between your teeth.  Yes my teeth looked much whiter but my gum hurt where it got ‘bleached’ as did my finger tip.  Within a few hours all this was forgotten although my teeth were sensitive to cold for another 24 hours.  Meanwhile Colin acknowledges that my teeth are whiter & brighter but to what purpose.  

Obviously..the after....Mom..stop with the wrinkle comments!!!!!!! Just look at the teeth!

“Was I going to start smiling differently”..he asked”  !!  It’s done and I am happy with the results.  Will it affect or change my life..absolutely not!  Will I do it again?  Not sure at this point.  Ask me in a year!

The other errand we did that day was to head to the Golden Zone to buy a few more pots to match what we already had.  Sold out!!!  Sigh.  Maybe more in 8-10 days.  I did buy four more plants but still waiting on my pots.  Just think how many pots 1800 pesos would buy!!!???!!!!

..wanted, 2 matching pots....

Yes we have been here that long.  Very hard to believe. A month has passed in the blink of an eye.  We really have to get busy and relax more, smell more flowers, play the guitar longer and just enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.  Time passes too quickly here on the Isla.  It is easy to become mesmerized by the sounds of the ocean, the smells and the sights.  However right now I have a complaint, yes an honest cranky not happy thought.  It is cool here, the winds are blowing too much and I’ve had to resort to wearing a sweater on occasion.  Plus we had to make special arrangements to secure our awning.  I just know the response this will bring from our Canadian friends but I would be much happier with more heat and less wind.  If you’re not happy where you are, come on down, lots of room for everyone.

Today we travelled via water taxi into Mazatlan to complete a few errands.  More on that another day.  Despite a cruise ship in port there was very little tourist traffic here on the Isla or in town.  So sad for the local economy.  I really am doing my best to spread my pesos around.  At least I am trying!!

This fellow from the Isla was having trouble with his life vest!

Loved the color of this home.

As we left Mazatlan I saw this fellow repairing his nets....

…is it a conspiracy to keep us sleepless in Mazatlan?  First the iguana or possibly it was a grande gecko and now a mouse.  Yes we have a mouse in the house.  Well not exactly in the house but between the walls and at 5 AM up in the ceiling.  We may just have to get a cat or  perhaps we could borrow one?

We continue to enjoy life on a day by day basis.

This little one popped in for a wee visit the other day.

Some of it's older friends dropped by and left a calling card. Sorry we draw the line at dog droppings!

Two veggie trucks come by daily as does the water delivery guy.  Now we are getting some fresh watermelon right out of the fields.

Such a treat and the price is hard to believe, 10 pesos or 90 cents for the melon in my hands!

You will hear more in a few weeks about the generosity of this RV Parks’ residents towards the less fortunate on the Isla.  Meanwhile most of us came down with boxes of used clothes, blankets, etc for Mary ( a USA ex pat now living here on the Isla ) to distribute on her walkabouts to help those in need.  This is the third load we have given her.  Mucho gracias  everyone!

Thank you Mary for distributing it all!

…what we see and how we look!

Lighting & photos by Colin Jewall Photo Studios Inc.