Mazatlan-November 25, 2008

We continue to enjoy the city of Mazatlan and the activities it has to offer. We recently attended a professional baseball game. Playing was Venados de Mazatlan vs Algodoneros de Guasave. What an event! Far different than watching baseball in the states. There is total particaption by those in the stand with singing and clapping. There are mascots on the field with continual antics. After each inning souveniers are thrown into the stands. The food stands are quite good and beer flows freely at each section in the stands. Final score was 3-2. We have continued to watch the baseball games on TV in Spanish. Venados de Mazatlan continues to win.

We have mastered the bus sytem. One can get anywhere in the city one way for a cost of 5-8 pesos. We have found and shopped at Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, Home Depot, drug stores and local grocery stores. So far we have been able to find all the items we wanted. The difference is all the stores are obviously in Spanish, so often we look at pictures to determine the right item.

We continue to enjoy meeting new friends everyday. We are the newbee's to cruising here at the marina. Most of the other cruisers have been cruising from 3-10 years. They are from both Canada and the United States. In preparation for cruising we read many books on the subject. However, we have learned far more from the cruisers. Everyday we get new tips. Most of the cruisers return to Mazatlan in November after escaping the summer heat and humidity of Mazatlan. Some leave their boats up in the Sea of Cortez and cruise up there, others go home for the summer and some return to work for 5-6 moinths until cruising season begins again. Most are preparing their boats to head south after Thanksgiving.

The local people are very friendly. The University of Michigan's World Values Surveys compiles data on the happiest countries in the world for the past 20 years. Mexico was listed as Number 2. Canada is listed as number 10 and the United States is number 15. We have found the pace and stress far less here than at home.

Last Saturday we went with a group of friends to share the city. We first went to Hotel Freeman to the top floor where we had a 360 degree view of the city. We watched the sunset. From there we went to a favorite local restaurant. We have no idea the name of it. Some of the best food is on the local streets where a vendor will set up table and chairs and serve food. We had the best "baked potatoes". It was stuffed with butter, sour cream and covered with carne asada. At the table there was salsa, guacamore, radishes and cucumbers. The cost of each dinner was 30 pesos.

Today we were visted by family and friends who were in port while cruising on a cruise ship. We enjoyed swimming at the local beach and having lunch together.

We would love to hear from anyone who reads our blog. We miss our friends at Ventura West and would love to have an update. Either post a comment or email us at AndanzasAdventure@gmail.com.