Roger Clyne Returns with January Jam X 

Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers will bring its annual January Jam back to Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point), Mexico for 3 days over MLK Weekend January 12-14, 2018.

Telephone Prefixes to be Phased Out in 2019

Say goodbye to telephone prefix confusion: all phone calls in Mexico - mobile or fixed - will be made using 10 digits, and no prefixes will be required.

The Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT) announced the change this week, but it won't take effect until August 3, 2019.

The prefixes being phased out include the 01 entered before long-distance calls or non-geographical numbers (think 01-800 numbers), and 044 and 045, used to make local and long-distance calls, respectively, to a mobile phone from a landline.

A long distance call from abroad to a mobile number in Mexico will no longer need the number 1 before the area code.

The IFT said telecommunication service providers have more than a year and a half before the new system becomes active, enough time to adjust their networks and systems for proper implementation of the new 10-digit domestic dialing.

The agency said the system will allow for a more streamlined and standardized dialing procedure and a more efficient administration of numeric resources.

It will also save a lot of confusion for anyone unfamiliar with the current system.  

A recovery program intended to save the critically endangered vaquita marina porpoise from extinction has ended without maintaining a single rescued specimen in captivity.

The federal Environment Secretariat (Semarnat) made the announcement yesterday, maintaining that November 10 had been the date on which it expected to terminate the VaquitaCPR (Conservation, Protection and Recovery) project.

A team of 65 scientists from nine different countries started the operation in the upper Gulf of California in October, working for weeks in an attempt to capture some of the endangered mammals. The project's goal was to keep the captured vaquitas in floating pens to protect them from gillnets, the biggest threat to their survival.

The team used underwater microphones known as hydrophones to help them to locate the porpoises.

But while two vaquitas were caught, neither was ultimately able to be successfully nurtured in captivity.

A female vaquita of reproductive age died last Saturday after it was captured while a six-month-old female calf caught earlier in the program was released after it showed signs of stress.

An autopsy was carried out on the deceased female and tissue samples were collected and sent to a laboratory for further analysis of the cause of death and to carry out other genetic studies.

The program was always going to be risky because the small mammals don't cope well with the stress of capture but given how close they are to extinction, Semarnat approved the last-ditch effort.

The Animal Welfare Institute - a United States-based animal protection group - called for a halt to the program after the two unsuccessful attempts to maintain the creatures in captivity, stating that "not a single additional vaquita should be deliberately put in danger in this way."

But by that time, scientists working on the project had also already recommended that the capture part of the program cease in consideration of the suffering and ultimate death of the second porpoise that was caught.

The project's independent expert panel agreed and suspended capture efforts on November 4 although the team continued to monitor the species to learn more about its behavior up until yesterday. The team made a total of 32 sightings during the project with the vaquitas most frequently seen in pairs.

A team of specialists will now determine the best path forward to save the species, of which it is believed that fewer than 30 remain.

Gillnets used in shrimp and illegal totoaba fishing have posed the biggest threat to the vaquita marina leading to a permanent ban on their use coming into effect in June. However, a failure to prohibit the possession, sale and manufacture of the deadly nets means that they are still being illegally used, critics say.

Conservation of the unique species has received high-profile support, such as that from actor Leonardo DiCaprio and Mexico's richest man, Carlos Slim. Together with President Enrique Peña Nieto they signed an agreement earlier this year to save the species but despite their best intentions, the reality of conserving the vaquita marina porpoise remains a monumental challenge.

Mexico Creates Large Marine Reserve in the Pacific

The Mexican government has designated the Revillagigedo Archipelago as a national park. The Illinois-sized marine reserve in the Pacific will help conserve species endemic to the area and end commercial fishing.

The Revillagigedo Archipelago, also known as the Galapagos of North America, is located some 390 kilometers (242 miles) southwest of the Baja California peninsula.

On Friday, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto designated the 148,000 square kilometer (57,143 mile) area as a national park, prohibiting all fishing activities as well as the construction of hotels on the islands.

Nieto said the decree reaffirms the country's "commitment to the preservation of the heritage of Mexico and the world."

The marine park is now the largest ocean reserve in North America and will help conserve giant rays, humpback whales, sea turtles and dozens of other species.

The archipelago is also home to migratory birds, lizards and other endemic species that inspired the 19th century biologist Charles Darwin.

President Pena Nieto said Mexico's environment ministry and navy "will carry out surveillance, equipment and training activities that will include remote monitoring in real time, environmental education directed at fishermen and sanctions against offenders."

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has commended the move.

Fish populations in the area have been hit hard by commercial fishing activities. The creation of a marine reserve is expected to help them to recover.

Understanding this word takes not a fluency in the language but rather a fluency in Mexican culture.

By Susannah Rigg

www.bbc.com 

When I first stepped foot on Mexican soil, I spoke relatively good Spanish. I was by no means fluent, but I could hold a conversation. So when I asked a local ice-cream seller in downtown Guadalajara when he expected a new delivery of chocolate ice cream, and he said 'ahorita', which directly translates to 'right now', I took him at his word, believing that its arrival was imminent.

I sat near his shop and waited, my Englishness making me feel it would be rude to leave. Half an hour passed and still no ice cream arrived, so I timidly wandered back to the shop and asked again about the chocolate ice cream. He told me again, dragging out the "I" - "Ahoriiita".  His face was a mix of confusion and maybe even embarrassment.

I was torn. Waiting longer wasn't appealing, but I felt it was impolite to walk away, especially if the ice cream was now being delivered especially for me. But finally, after waiting so long that I'd built up an appetite for dinner, dark clouds appeared overhead and I made a rush for the nearest bus to take me home. As I left, I signaled up at the sky to the ice cream seller to let him know that I obviously couldn't wait any longer and it really wasn't my fault. His face was, once again, one of total confusion.

As I sat on the bus, rain pattering on the windows, I replayed the conversation in my head and decided indignantly that the ice cream seller was a liar. 

This incident faded from my memory until years later when I came back to live in Mexico. I discovered that cracking what I came to call the "ahorita code" took not a fluency in the language, but rather a fluency in the culture.

When someone from Mexico says 'ahorita', they should almost never be taken literally; its definition changes dramatically with context. As Dr Concepción Company, linguist and emeritus researcher at the Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City, told me, "When a Mexican says 'ahorita', it could mean tomorrow, in an hour, within five years or never."

Ahorita llego, which directly translates to 'I am arriving right now', in fact means 'I will be there in an indeterminate amount of time', while ahorita regreso ('I will be right back') means 'I will be back at some point but who knows exactly when'. 'Ahorita' is even used as a polite way of saying 'no, thank you' when refusing an offer. Even after almost seven years in Mexico, this response can still catch me off guard when I'm hosting friends; I find myself hovering, unsure if I should get my guest what I offered them or not.

Mexicans are famous in the Spanish-speaking world for their extensive use of the diminutive. While in most Spanish-speaking countries the addition of the diminutive 'ita' to an adverb like ahora (meaning 'now') would strengthen it to indicate immediacy (i.e. 'right now'), this is not the case in Mexico. Dr Company explained that Mexicans instead use the diminutive form to break down the space between the speaker and the listener and lessen formality. In this case of 'ahorita', the addition of the diminutive reduces urgency rather than increasing it - a difference that can be extremely confusing for foreigners.

Subtle adjustments to the pronunciation of the word also affect the way 'ahorita' is interpreted. "The stretch in the 'i' sound in the word 'ahorita' is a demonstration of the stretching of time," Dr Company informed me, implying that the longer the sound, the longer one can expect to wait. Equally, "if you want to imply that you really mean right now, you would say 'ahorititita'," she explained, noting the short, sharp sounds represent the idea that something needs to happen at once.

Difficulty interpreting what I have come to call 'Ahorita Time' is a reflection of different cultural understandings of time. Dr Company explained that if she is giving a talk in Mexico and goes over her allotted time, Mexicans "feel like I am giving them a gift". In the UK or the US, however, "The audience starts to leave, feeling like I am wasting their time." My Mexican friends plan parties for 7pm knowing that no one will show up until at least 8:30pm. Foreigners who are new to Mexico organize events for 8:30pm not knowing that means that most people will arrive at 10pm.

I have heard foreigners complaining about Mexicans' tardiness, viewing lateness as a lack of manners and respect. This stems from the notion that 'time is money' - a finite, valuable resource that should not be squandered. Mexicans on the other hand have a much less loaded attitude, viewing time as something flexible and malleable; something that cannot be controlled. Ahorita Time makes little commitment and allows for spontaneity, because you never know what might happen between now and 'ahorita'.

However, some expats living in Mexico just cannot get used to this more fluid way of measuring time. After moving to Mexico from the US, Elizabeth Wattson found a unique way of working with Ahorita Time. "Whenever my boss said 'ahorita', I would respond by asking 'ahorita when?'. I just couldn't work with this vague concept of something getting done at some indeterminate point in the future," she said.

For me, cracking the "ahorita code" - and understanding why my ice cream never arrived - came when I relaxed into the flow of Mexican life, which felt far less hurried than my life in London had been.

Cracking the 'ahorita code' has allowed the author to live far more in the 'right now' than before (Credit: Credit: Craig Lovell/Alamy)

Cracking the 'ahorita code' has allowed the author to live far more in the 'right now' than before (Credit: Craig Lovell/Alamy)

Since moving to Mexico, my attitude towards time has changed dramatically. I don't worry so much about being late; I am generally still on time to appointments (old habits die hard), but when I'm not, I don't panic. And while I still get frustrated when waiting for a plumber who may arrive in the next five minutes or the next five hours, I know that the payoff is feeling far less controlled by time and I enjoy the spontaneity that this adds to life.

Ironically, it would seem that Ahorita Time has actually allowed me to live far more in the 'right now' than I ever did before.

LINK to Article: