Front wall of the Romero Pérez brothers’ home is illustrated by masked Sayacos, created by Aarón, one of the brothers. Photo by: María del Refugio Reynozo Medina
María del Refugio Reynozo Medina (Ajijic).- José de Jesús Romero Pérez still has the first hermit-like sayaco mask he made 15 years ago. The dark brown, immobile, sharp face is made of copal, a wood that he brought from the hills. The hollows of the eyes and the slightly open mouth are decayed. The eyebrows, beard and straw-colored mustache are made of a fiber obtained from coffee sacks.
Making a mask can take José de Jesús about two and a half weeks, working in the afternoons after his usual workday. Although he does not make them for commercial purposes, the unique masks which bear his signature, can sell for up to three thousand pesos. The masks that depict women (sayacas) are colorful, with embossed or painted eyelashes and eyelids splashed with glitter. Once carved with a chisel, vinyl paint is used to outline the eyebrows, eyes and eyelashes. The lips and cheekbones are painted deep red circles.
The male masks of the sayacos are made of natural light or brown wood, with long beards, bushy eyebrows and moustaches made of horsehair. Romero Pérez’s masks are instantly recognizable. The images flow, as he chisels each feature. A face will emerge unexpectedly from the wood. He knows perfectly well the type of wood needed to design each face. In addition to wood from the native copal tree, he uses native tecomaca wood, which is soft and light.
He has sold eight masks. Buyers do not necessarily wear them in parades. They are purchased by collectors as unique pieces, inspired by the sayacos.
The Romero Pérez brothers Abel, José de Jesús, Gaspar, José, Aarón and Modesto, each year transform themselves into sayacos mainly to inaugurate the carnival. They also attend other celebrations throughout the year.
On a wall outside their home there is an unfinished mural painting drawn by Aarón. The image shows a dancing female sayaca dancing wearing a yellow dress trimmed with colored ribbon and brown booties, accompanied by two male sayacos. One is dancing wearing a brown jacket, denim pants and booties. The other sayaco has a black dress with white dowels as buttons. All of them have long faces, although their appearance in the parades brings smiles and laughter.
“The sayaco is a very old character in the life of the people of Ajijic”, says Abel. They used to be called sayacal. Now they are called sayacas and sayacos. It is that mocking character that appears mainly in the carnival. They throw confetti and sometimes flour. Sometimes the flour is delicately smeared on their cheeks.
One of the main dances of the sayacos is called the dance of the «papaqui» which is accompanied by wind instruments. Sometimes they are invited to perform their dances at weddings or quinceañeras, the celebration of a girl’s 15th birthday. Abel remembers as a child watching the sayacos in the daily festivities. He and his siblings would race through the cobblestone streets following and teasing the sayacos amidst happy laughter.
The carnival parade is open to the entire population and a diversity of characters appear. The traditional attire is wooden or papier-mâché masks, sacks, shirts with dowels, booties, and hats. The sayacas wear bright printed dresses.
There is pride in being a sayaco. It is a nice, mocking, very old character who makes people laugh. The sayacos are mainly men. Even the sayacas are usually men because of the pushing, shoving, brawling atmosphere.
Behind the masks of tough men or picturesque red-cheeked women are the Romero Perez brothers. They appear in the parades and processions so that the legendary figures of the sayacos do not die and because Abel says «behind the wooden masks is the inner child.»
Translated by Nita Rudy
By Leticia Trejo
The beliefs that dwell deep in our minds are the hardest to eradicate. For many years I firmly believed that 30 minutes of physical activity a day was what everyone needed to be fit and improve their health. That is, until I read an interesting piece of research that convincingly proved the 30 minutes a day claim was a myth.
Researchers chose 300 people from a company with a working schedule from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 150 of them (office administrative workers) were asked to do 30 minutes of exercise a day. They could choose between going to the gym, getting on a treadmill or going for a walk outdoors. The other 150 – workers from the cleaning and maintenance service of offices throughout the building – were asked to continue their daily activities. Evaluation was through a blood test at the beginning of the study that measured levels of triglycerides, cholesterol and sugar. This evaluation was repeated after six months. The surprise for everyone was that the cleaning and maintenance workers had better test results than those who integrated 30 minutes of exercise into their daily routine.
This is not to say that exercise doesn’t work, but that sedentary lifestyles can kill us. Some scientists even say that sitting at a desk for eight hours is equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes a day.
Ian Jansen, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences of the School of Kinesiology and Health Studies at the Physical Activity and Obesity Research Institute in Canada. In addition to this study, he has conducted many more on the influence of sedentary behavior on health.
This reminds me of the time I heard – during an international congress – the perfect formula for maintaining physical health. A very important lecturer gave a talk full of knowledge and wisdom about stress, exercise and life habits. In the question and answer segment someone asked him, «Professor, what is the ideal formula to be in shape?» He answered, «Go for a walk with your dog three times a day, after every meal… whether you have a dog or not.» The auditorium was full of laughter, but he was right. Our lives should be physically more active. For example: use the car less; walk more to stores, banks and malls; do the house cleaning yourself; and walk 20 minutes after every meal.
A doctor who was my friend and student in yoga classes told me another way. He said when a patient asked him how often they had to exercise he would answer, just every time you eat.
This applies perfectly to people who are not physically active, because Dr. Jansen studies sedentary lifestyles. But for people who have been athletes, gym lovers, fitness friends or intense marathon runners, he applies a different rule: Relax the same amount of time they trained. An alternative is that after an intense workout, they should not repeat the activity until after 24 hours so that there is a good recovery. We will write about these intense people in the next edition. In the meantime, I hope you had a happy Day of Love and Friendship on February 14, and received and delivered great amounts of kindness and gentleness.
Translated by Mike Rogers
The portal contains fact sheets about the fauna present at Lake Chapala, one of them being the American White Pelican. Photo: Farid Bak.
Editor.- The Program “Bosques+Agua+Gente para Chapala” (Forests+ Water+ People of Chapala) has created a website about Lake Chapala and its environmental importance to the region.
The website’s goal is to inform the public about the wonders of, and challenges to, the Lake Chapala basin. This digital space presents clear, organized and solidly sourced information, aimed both at the public of the Lake Chapala shore, as well as those of the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area (ZMG).
The website discusses in detail the biological heritage of Lake Chapala. Information and photos are listed about the unique birds, animals, reptiles, fish and mammals found in the region. Another area of the website discusses the value of vegetation, forests, mountains and groundwater. A chart of the 19 problems that affect the world’s lakes has been posted. The 15 problems present in the Chapala basin are discussed in detail. There is a map of the region listing the current projects addressing environmental concerns.
This website is part of a program to conserve the beauty and natural wealth of the lake. It will be an important, informative platform for anyone who loves or lives at Lakeside.
It is funded by the Fondo Mexicano Para Conservacíon de La Naturaleza, A.C; Rio Arronte Fundación and the Corazone de La Tierra Institute de Desarrollo Ambiental.
The address for the website is www.lagodechapala.org. It is in Spanish only, but can be viewed in English with a Chrome browser and Google Translate plug-in.
Translated by Nita Rudy
The accident was recorded on the Guadalajara-Morelia highway, at the height of San Luis Soyatlán.
Laguna Staff.- A berry picker died after falling from the truck in which he was being transported. Despite the rescue efforts of his colleagues, the Chiapas native died.
The accident occurred on February 10 at around 5:30 in the afternoon in San Luis Soyatlán, municipality of Tuxcueca, when, as the vehicle entered the Guadalajara-Morelia highway, the worker fell to the asphalt.
The male, who was a migrant from Chiapas and was riding alone in the back of the vehicle, died after the impact. Although the emergency occurred in the neighboring municipality, the ranch for which the deceased worked belongs to producers from Jocotepec.
Translated by Sydney Metrick
María Alcalá Ortiz fue coronada como la reina del Carnaval Chapala 2022 durante la noche del 25 de febrero.
D.Arturo Ortega.- María Alcalá Ortíz fue coronada como la reina del Carnaval Chapala 2022 el pasado 25 de febrero en el Lienzo Charro, J. Jesús González Gallo, de la cabecera municipal.
La reina del Carnaval 2020 – 2021, María Fernanda Ochoa Cárdenas cedió la corona a la nueva representante de los festejos, ante poco más de 300 personas; además de la presencia del alcalde, Alejandro de Jesús Aguirre Curiel quien acudió acompañado de la presidente del DIF, Erika Erín Torres Herrera.
Fue la noche del 25 en la que María Alcalá, Esmeralda de la Torre y Anahí Mora fueron confirmadas como las candidatas del certamen, luego de varias nominaciones que surgieron en las diferentes redes sociales.
Luego de la presentación y dos pasarelas en el que las participantes lucieron un atuendo casual blanco y uno de noche en el que María lució su belleza en un vestido rojo que; el jurado deliberó a favor de la nueva reina de la fiesta más grande de Chapala.
Durante la semana epidemiológica ocho, se aplicaron 77 mil 444 dosis. Foto: SSJ.
Redacción.- Un millón 295 personas mayores de 30 años han acudido por el refuerzo de la vacuna contra COVID-19 a los distintos módulos habilitados en Jalisco, informó la Secretaría de Salud Jalisco (SSJ).
Durante la semana epidemiológica ocho del presente año, que fue del 20 al 26 de febrero, un total de 77 mil 444 personas acudieron a recibir alguna dosis de la vacuna para protegerse contra COVID-19.
En dicho lapso se suministraron 39 mil 657 dosis que corresponden a los laboratorios AstraZeneca, para segundas dosis y rezagados; 17 mil 296 de Moderna para segundas dosis; 12 mil 404 a laboratorios Pfizer-BioNTech para adolescentes; 7 mil 987 de la farmacéutica Cansino para refuerzo a mayores de 30 y 100 a Sinovac aplicada para segundas dosis.
Por lo pronto, la SSJ informó que la plataforma estatal continúa abierta para que la población de 30 años y más obtenga una cita y pueda acudir por la vacuna de refuerzo. Este día también hay citas disponibles para la cobertura de adolescentes de 15 a 17 años y para aplicar segundas dosis de AstraZeneca a las personas que ya les corresponde por fecha.
Respecto a la vacuna Cansino, que se está aplicando ahora como refuerzo la Secretaría de Salud Jalisco recordó a la población que se trata de un biológico aprobado por las autoridades sanitarias federales y contemplado dentro del Plan Nacional de Vacunación, por tratarse de una vacuna segura que ha demostrado su eficacia para proteger a las personas de las complicaciones graves y el riesgo de muerte por la infección del nuevo coronavirus.
CORTE SEMANAL
De acuerdo con datos de la SSJ, en Jalisco, durante la semana epidemiológica 08 de este año se registraron 7 mil 986 contagios nuevos (45.2 % menos casos nuevos respecto a los reportados la semana anterior), para un acumulado al 26 de febrero de 564 mil 119 casos. Se reportaron además 192 defunciones para un total de 18 mil 861 muertes registradas en lo que va de la pandemia hasta el pasado día 26. Los decesos pudieron ocurrir días atrás, debido al rezago en la notificación por parte de los hospitales.
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