Photo of Elena Oetling Ramirez during her competition in Clearwater, Florida. Credit: Elena Oetling
Chapala sailor Elena Oetling Ramirez placed fourth in the US Open Series in the ILCA 6 women’s category. She previously competed in the Tokyo Olympic Games.
This first event of the year was held from February 3rd to 6th in Clearwater, Florida. She said that this event served as preparation for other international competitions later in the year, «this regatta is a good starting point, to evaluate where I am, and what to work on in the following months to prepare for the events coming up for the rest of the year.»
Oetling Ramirez finished behind Christina Skellaris (USA) who took first place, followed by Charlotte Rose (USA) in second place, and Coralie Vittecoq (Canada) in third place.
Translated by Amy Esperanto
Banda Auténtica de La Barca, will entertain the crowd during the closing of carnival, March 1, 2022. Photo: La Barca Authentic Band
Sofía Medeles (Ajijic).- The Association of Charros will celebrate the Carnival of Ajijic, from February 27 to March 1, 2022 with equestrian and bull roping, riding, and tying events enlivened by musical groups in the charro ring.
Ernesto Perez Reyes, the current president of the association, extended an invitation to the general public to attend the events. Tickets will be sold at the box office and the events will begin at 4:30 in the afternoon.
On the first day of the carnival, Sunday, February 27,2022, the groups that will perform will be Banda Perla Azul de Cuexcomatitlán, La Equidad Norteña, and Banda Estrellas del Lago. Tickets will cost 150 pesos per person.
On Monday February 28, Banda Nueva Casta and Santiago Guzmán y su Astro Norteño will perform. Tickets will cost 100 pesos. Closing the carnival at the charro ring on March 1 will be Banda del 70 and Banda Auténtica de La Barca. The cost of tickets for this final celebration is 180 pesos per person.
Perez Reyes asked that attendees wear masks at all times, and to refrain from going if they have symptoms of Covid-19.
«In this ongoing pandemic situation, the guidelines and restrictions will be respected. It is this observation of COVID protocols that has allowed us to celebrate the carnival, albeit responsibly,» he concluded.
Translated by Rebecca Zittle
The Mayor of Chapala, Alejandro de Jesús Aguirre Curiel, made a call to the citizens to work for a culture of peace.
Editor – The mayor of Chapala, Alejandro de Jesús Aguirre Curiel, urged the citizens to work for a culture of peace that leaves behind violence and useless bloodshed during the commemoration of Flag Day, on Thursday, February 24.
The municipal president, accompanied by directors and councilors of the administration, stressed that we must «work for a culture of peace that leaves behind violence and useless bloodshed. May the National Flag not only be a symbol that identifies us in the world, but a symbol that unites and brings us together.»
During the civic act that took place in the square located in front of the City Hall building, elements of the Municipal Police Department hoisted a large Mexican flag on its flagpole that unfortunately did not wave in the wind, because the air was still on that sunny morning.
Alluding to the emblematic colors of the national flag, the mayor spoke of recovering the green of hope and working to make it meaningful. He said, «Let’s move from conformism to action» and pointed out that we have to recover unity as one people and be as one family.
He also called on his team to commit themselves to fulfill the obligation they have with the people of Chapala and to bring unity internally and externally, in addition to seeking the balance and unity that the citizens have asked for so much.
«We need to know that the task we perform is very short and when we least expect it, we will be leaving. Let’s not get carried away by ambitions, let’s not get carried away by bad advice. The administration needs committed people…», he said. Likewise, the mayor reiterated his commitment and gratitude to the citizens for having entrusted him to lead the administration for the second time.
The municipal president ended his speech with the desire that the colors of the National Flag once again symbolize peace, magic, the flavor of traditions, culture, gastronomy and the greatness of being Mexican.
Translated by Colleen Beery
Marcos Cortez Gómez is a great conversationalist about the memories he keeps of Jocotepec. Photo: María Reynozo.
María del Refugio Reynozo Medina (Jocotepec).- Jocotepec is one of the great loves of Marcos Cortez Gómez. In his living room with his mementos hangs a copy of the oath he swore to the patron saint Señor del Monte or Lord of the Mountain, for whom he has a special fervor. Cortez Gómez is a member of the Guard of Honor.
There are also portraits of his parents and him and his wife Juana de la Torre, who opened the first clothing store in Jocotepec in 1965. They had seven children, 15 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
Nearing his ninetieth birthday, Marcos remembers the Jocotepec of his youth and one of the celebrations, the carnival for the bullfights of bygone days. “It was a most beautiful celebration,» he says, smiling nostalgically.
The carnival festivities began on Saturday and ended on Tuesday. Every day began with the mañanitas, the popular Mexican song sang on special days like saint days or birthdays, with a band playing in the streets. The invitation to the carnival began at eleven o’clock in the morning. This was a parade of the riders who were going to participate in the bullring with some tame bulls in the middle of the procession. The parade ended at the bullring. This parade was traditionally called the “toro de once” or bulls of eleven, so-called because the parade started at 11:00 with eleven bulls. They held tryouts to see which bullfighters were going to fight in the afternoon. At the bullring they welcomed bullfight sponsors from Zacoalco, Navajas, Ahuisculco, San Pedro and Zapotitán.
The famous Ignacio Zaragoza Band from Jocotopec played classical and popular music. The promoter, Rodolfo García Ibarra allowed his house to function as a rehearsal hall. The evenings ended with a serenade and dance.
At the serenade the women would turn one way and the men the other. There was an exchange of flowers or decorated, perfumed bouquets between girls and boys. Cortez Gómez remembers that while the band played El Papaqui, they would break the eggshells stuffed with confetti on the girls and their friends and they would throw streamers and confetti at them.
The queen of the carnival was crowned on the last day. The municipal president or the group of charros (horsemen) selected the lucky girl and her two princesses. All were accompanied by their escorts. The royal court made their entrance to the bullring in a carriage, went around the ring and then settled in their box of honor that had been prepared for them. They awarded the participants bands made with colored ribbons. Cortez Gómez was given a sash, and he had great pleasure showing off that trophy to his friends and the girls.
The bullfights were at four o’clock in the afternoon. Sometimes the bullfighters came from outside Jocotopec and at other times, spontaneous bullfighters appeared and at the moment they ventured into the ring they became sometimes not so lucky bullfighters. The güero (blonde) Loza, was one of the bullfighters originally from Jocotepec.
At the bullfights there was no lack of clowns with their jokes. One clown named Candelario, came from Pueblo Nuevo. Another clown was nicknamed La rata (the rat). The clowns had a great ability to compose jokes on the spot, Cortez Gómez still remembers:
The girls of Jocotepec, they are like the otate flower.
Very good at making boyfriends, but bad at using the metate [to grind corn].
Another joke was:
Don Fulanito de tal is a very brave man,
He keeps looking at his leg from underneath the platform.
Once the festivities of Shrove Tuesday [Fat Tuesday] were over and Ash Wednesday arrived, there was no more talk of bullfighting or festivities. They said goodbye to joy as bullring wooden beams were dismantled.
Cortez Gómez likes dancing and singing very much. He sometimes shared meals and songs with his friend, the singer Jorge Valente. They loved each other like relatives, even though they were not. The composer Gilberto Parra was his cousin.
Don Marcos is a great conversationalist who also composes music while narrating a story. He raises his voice to sing.
I’ll wait for you under the camichin trees, where the trucks go by
To go far away to unite our hearts.
I swear to you that our love will remain forever.
Cheer up chaparrita, you’ll see that you won’t regret it.
He has has written three ranchera songs that he keeps for himself.
he keeps remembering and raises his voice to sing with emotion:
Tonight, with the moon I sing you my illusions,
I swear to you that my love is with good intentions.
«I am very grateful to God for having let me be born here and live here, in the land of my love,” he affirms without concluding, because Don Marcos Cortez Gómez has many memories that he would not finish telling.
Translated by Nita Rudy
Since its construction, the beltway has had failures; currently, potholes and unevenness make it almost impassable. Photo: Archive.
Héctor Ruiz Mejía (Jocotepec).- The work for the rehabilitation of the five kilometers of Jocotepec’s beltway has been authorized, announced the municipal president José Miguel Gómez López.
Through a video posted on his social networks, the mayor, who visited the offices of the Secretariat of Infrastructure and Public Works of Jalisco (SIOP) accompanied by General Director of Road infrastructure Omar David Paredes Flores, said that the state government approved «a large investment» for the repair of the road.
The purpose of the project is to restore the very uneven stretch that extends for five kilometers and that, since its creation in the 2007-2009 administration, was a «poorly done work» that only a year after its inauguration developed so much unevenness and potholes that it has become impossible to travel on, said Gómez López.
«We are talking about a section of road that is going to be totally fixed, since it was built with many deficiencies and there are flaws and conditions that are unsafe for anyone traveling along it».
The president announced that the work will begin this year and, although the amount to be invested has not yet been specified, he explained that the bidding processes are already active and that «it will be a significant amount» of money.
The Libramiento de Jocotepec has received several minor repairs, the last one in August 2020, when 500 thousand pesos were spent to repair a dangerous sinkhole.
Finally, in the same video, José Miguel Gómez also announced the rehabilitation of the three kilometers of the Huejotitán intersection, especially at its junction with the Guadalajara-Morelia highway.
Translated by Patrick O’Heffernan
El lago más grande de México ha perdido 36 centímetros en lo que va del estiaje. Foto: Archivo.
Redacción.- En lo que va de la temporada de estiaje, el Lago de Chapala ha perdido 36 centímetros, por lo que se ubica en la cota 95.75, al 71 por ciento de su capacidad, según la Comisión Nacional del Agua (CONAGUA).
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