May has arrived and the weather has been perfect. Today is "Labor Day" in Mexico, so government offices, banks, and many businesses are closed in observance of the holiday. Of course, we're still here, hard at it, and the beaches and pool areas seem to be pretty active as well. After a cooler than normal winter, the weather over the past couple months has been great. This is a perfect time to visit, before the heat and humidity set in sometime between late June to mid July. Still fun to visit then but it does get a bit hot and humid outside if you're not in the water. Things start to cool down in mid to late September but many times it's October before the weather gets to the "just right" stage again. We've got it pretty good here. Maybe two months of cool, jacket weather and about 3 months of hot and humid weather. As I see it, that gives us about 7 months of near perfect weather. And, the rest isn't bad either compared to most places around the globe. I mean, who wants a snow storm in late April? No thanks.

May also brings Cinco de Mayo and Mother's Day. Both of these holidays are also celebrated in the USA and, in fact, the May 5th celebration is actually celebrated more in the USA than it is in Mexico, even though it is a Mexican holiday - although mostly a regional one primarily celebrated around the Puebla area. And, FYI, Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day. It is actually the celebration of a victory in the battle of Puebla against the French. Somehow, it has become a reason to celebrate and drink tequila in the USA, much like the Irish holiday, Saint Patrick's Day, has become a very popular party day in the USA.

Everything continues to grow and prosper around town. There are more new businesses opening up all the time, new houses and building going on everywhere, and the local economy seems to be very strong. We are staying busy and it appears that everyone is doing well. The big news story about the border shutdown didn't seem to make any difference and, for what I have heard and seen, things have continued operating normally and without anything being different than before the discussions. If you're going to leave on Sunday at noon after a busy weekend, be prepared for a long wait at the border. If you leave early morning, late afternoon, or during the week, crossing is normally pretty quick and easy. Just as it has been forever. So, don't let the sensational media scare you away from visiting. Life is good at the beach!  

One thing that I have noticed lately is a whole bunch of new stop signs around town where there used to be none. Watch for them and be sure to obey the traffic signs and signals. Many of them now have fines posted and, while the fines may sound low compared to a similar infraction in the USA, you still don't want the expense or the hassle of getting pulled over and following the police to the station to pay the fine. Just drive here with the same respect that you drive there and you'll be OK. No fines and no accidents is the best way to enjoy a vacation.   

We've started to gear up for this year's Las Vegas Night for Charity. This year our event will be held on July 6th. Once again, there will be lots of prizes and fun to be had by all so please make plans to be here. I promise that you'll have a great time and that you will want to come back every year for the event. More info below on the event. Of course, if you have questions, want to donate a prize, or want to volunteer as a dealer (training included), just give me a call or send me an email. We can always use more prizes and more volunteers. 

 

Enjoy your month, come to Rocky Point if you can, and if you need anything don't hesitate to ask. Let me put my experience and expertise to work for you, and re member, as always, I've been here full-time for 11 years and I am more than happy to help you with whatever you need, whether Sonoran Resorts related or not.

Just give me a call or send me an email any time and I will do my very best to help you. If I can't help you myself, I'm sure that I can point you in the right direction and help find you someone who can. 

    

President/Volunteer

Tourist Assistance Unit Advisory Committee

602-774-1777

www.touristassistancerockypoint.org

[email protected]

Las Vegas Night for Charity Coming July 6th! 

CMV Reveals Puerto Peñasco Program on Astoria

 

 

Puerto Penasco Exceeds Expectations for Semana Santa 2019

 

 

 

Puerto Peñasco mayor Kiko Munro reported the city continues to attract more and more visitors, with the arrival of an estimated 125,000 people during the Semana Santa vacation period from April 18th - 28th.

 

In being the "gateway to the world's aquarium, the Sea of Cortez", the mayor highlighted Puerto Peñasco is home to the only certified clean beach in Sonora, which is the longest stretch of beach to hold such distinction in Mexico.

 

Mayor Munro detailed Puerto Peñasco offers over 6500 rooms for lodging, and more than 80 restaurants and multiple recreational activities, making it one of the most important service and culinary sectors in Sonora and the region.

 

The mayor acknowledged a safety operative entailing 350 members from different levels of government was launched to ensure safety during Semana Santa, reminding residents and visitors to respect traffic rules, wear seatbelts, and use the emergency 911 number as needed.

   

No Fatalities in Puerto Peñasco Over Easter Weekend 2019

 

The federal government will set a minimum wage for domestic workers next month, said National Minimum Wage Commission (Conasami) president Andrés Peñaloza.

 

Of the more than 2.3 million people who work as domestic employees in Mexico, the commission expects 950,000 will benefit directly from the requirement.

 

"We cannot ignore that there are 950,000 domestic workers that make less than the minimum wage . . . We are talking about a direct positive impact on the [their] lives . . ."

 

The commission president suggested that the minimum wage should be a "well-balanced" amount so as not to be so high as to stifle new employment, and at the same time create formal work arrangements that benefit employees.

 

Suggestions for the minimum wage level range from the current national minimum wage of 102.68 pesos daily (US $5.40) to 300 pesos (US $15.80), proposed by labor unions and other organizations.

 

"This will be the first step towards settling a historic debt not only with this sector, but with all workers that have lost all purchasing power for decades on end," Peñaloza said, staking out the commission's new position on the issue after years of holding down wage increases.

 

The commission estimates that of the 1.3 million households that employ domestic workers, 67% pay employees more than seven times the national minimum wage.

 

"These households are paying 250, 300, 500 or even 700 pesos a day. Even with a set minimum wage, there is no reason that they should not continue to pay that amount; what we want is to promote formalization with a contract."

 

He added that despite a new labor law recently approved by the Senate that states that domestic employees should not earn less than double the national minimum wage, or 205.38 pesos daily, the final decision on the matter belongs to Conasami according to the constitution.

 

According to the newspaper El Sol de México, the vast majority of domestic employees are women, more than 98% of whom do not have access to basic health care. Thirty-six percent begin their employment while still minors, and 96% carry out their duties without any formal contract or guarantee of salary or benefits.

 

Peñaloza was named head of Conasami in December by Labor Secretary Luisa María Alcalde, who said at the time that "change is in the air" for the commission. Peñaloza replaced Basilio González, who had held the post for 27 years.

 

"We will work together toward a new policy to restore the minimum wage," Alcalde said.

Man Trapped in the Tunnel He Dug to Spy on Ex-Wife

She had left him due to his jealous behavior

Overcome by jealousy, a Sonora man attempted to tunnel under his ex-wife's property to spy on her but his plans went awry - he became stuck in the tunnel.

Police in Puerto Peñasco were called by Griselda Santillán, 58, who said she had been hearing strange noises behind her house during the past week, but had believed they were caused by cats.

But the noises became stranger, prompting Santillán and a neighbor to inspect her yard. They discovered the mouth of a tunnel and several knives and water bottles. Inside was her ex-husband, who had been trapped for some 24 hours and had been calling for help.

Emergency services personnel spent an arduous 45 minutes rescuing César Arnoldo Gómez Gómez, 50, Santillán's husband of 14 years.

She told authorities that she had decided to leave him due to his jealous behavior, and had obtained a restraining order against him.

Gómez was hospitalized and treated for dehydration before being taken into custody for violating the restraining order.

Spanish Homophones: 5 Common Mix-ups and How to Tackle Them

 

Most world languages have some pesky homophones-words that sound the same but mean different things.

 

Some languages do this more than others, of course.

 

Spanish is a pretty big offender, even mixing up its native speakers with trickier sounds!

 

As though we needed more obstacles thrown in our path when trying to learn Spanish.

 

But, c'mon, you're an English speaker.

 

English is infamous for its homophone usage-their, there and they're, anyone?-so count yourself lucky that you don't have to learn those from scratch.

Why Learn Spanish Homophones?

 

As big a pain as it is to learn and recognize the homophones, it's a deed that must be done.

 

Much like mastering gender or the plural in Spanish, it's a step you must take to reach fluency. If you can't learn to recognize homophones in oral communication, you'll be tripped up in conversation time and time again. (Remember to brush up on those listening skills, and stay on top of your false friends!)

 

Your conversation partner might tire of your confused looks, so it's best you learn to embrace the homophones. With time, you'll learn to focus on contextual clues. But when first starting out, it's important to have a mental list going of the homophones of a language.

 

And now for the good news: Spanish has far fewer homophones than English. In this respect, it's a really easy language to study.

 

The phonetics, or sound system, of Spanish is relatively uncomplicated. Each letter is assigned one sound, with only very few exceptions. Compare this with English, where a simple "e" can take on a multitude of different sounds, and Spanish suddenly seems like a piece of cake.

 

Let's start by identifying the type of Spanish homophones that are out there.

Spanish Homophones:

Common Mix-ups and How to Identify Them

1. The Accents Pitfall

 

Some words not only sound the same, but are written exactly the same. Well, almost. The Spanish language helps us out by throwing on accent marks where it deems necessary.

 

Take, for example, el and él. Same exact letters. The only difference is in the symbols. Normally, Spanish accent marks (called tildes, not acentos) are used to show where the stress should fall. In the case of él and el, however, the accent is simply used to differentiate meaning-with the accent, él means 'he," and without the accent, el is the definite article "the."

 

Another instance of this is de and dé. Again, the accent here doesn't mean "pronounce the e with a little more force." It's simply used to distinguish the two words, since they're spelled and pronounced exactly the same. Without the accent, de is the preposition "of." With the accent, it's the command or subjunctive form of the verb dar, meaning "to give."

2. The B/V Pitfall

 

If Spanish is completely phonetic, why can't they do away with either the B or the V? It's a question that keeps me up at night but, alas, both B and V make a light b sound. Not quite as forceful as the English b, but with the lips a bit more relaxed (a voiced bilabial fricative, if you want to get technical). Therein lies the reason Spanish speakers have difficulty hearing the difference between "berry" and "very" or "vest" and "best," but I digress.

 

An example of the B/V pitfall would be hierba (weed) and hierva (he/she boils [water]). Also: iba (I/he/she was going) and IVA, an acronym that stands for "sales tax." See? Not the same meanings at all, but these sounds make it easy to get tripped up if you can't understand the context.

3. The Silent H Pitfall

 

I mean no disrespect to Spanish here, but its H is useless. The letter is a remnant of Latin, Spanish's predecessor, but it serves no purpose in pronunciation today (except to trip learners up). Therein lies the problem with homophones such as Asia and hacia, the first one being the continent, the second being the preposition "towards." So you can move "hacia Asia," but you should know the difference between the two.

 

The silent H pitfall doesn't just occur with the vowel a. Some examples with other vowels:

 

With o we can use the simple example of hola (hello) and ola (wave). These are pronounced exactly the same.

 

An example with e is echo, the first-person conjugation of echar, a verb which has about 20 meanings but we'll go with "to throw away" here. Then you have hecho, with a silent h, meaning both "fact" and also the participle form of hacer (to do or make).

 

See what a headache these homophones can be?

 

4. The Y/LL Pitfall

 

These sounds are pronounced slightly differently. To the untrained, non-native ear, the difference is hardly discernible. If you travel to Argentina, however, you're in luck. There, the double L is pronounced similarly to the English "sh," so it's clearly distinguishable. Elsewhere, however, the problem of homophones rears its ugly head once again.

 

Examples:

 

Arroyo - a small stream or river

Arrollo - the first-person conjugation of arrollar, which means "to run over, to knock down"

Rayar - to draw lines, to scribble

Rallar - to grate (cheese, for example)

 

5. The C/Z/S pitfall

 

Here we have not just two but three sounds to look out for. With the C/Z/S pitfall, it's important that we separate Castillian Spanish (from Spain) from the rest of the pack.

 

In Spain, the S makes an English "S" sound, but the C and the Z make an English "th" sounds. That's what people are talking about when they affectionately (or mockingly) refer to the Spanish "lisp" (the real term is ceceo, said, of course, with two lisped C's). And due to Spanish phonology, C and Z can never appear in the same letter "slot" of a word, so there's really no C/Z/S pitfall in (most parts of) Spain.

 

In Central and South America, and the Canary Islands of Spain, however, we do see the C/Z/S homophones. The C, Z and S all sound alike - like the English "s" sound. So you can never quite tell if your conversation partner is talking about his house - casa - or hunting, caza. Another example is ciento (one hundred) versus siento (I feel).

 

Now we've identified the types of Spanish homophones. They may seem tricky, but don't despair. There are ways to tackle them that don't have you bowing down in defeat.

Step #1. Study vocabulary.

 

It seems like a no-brainer, but if you know that both the words casa and caza exist, you can begin to see which one fits better in context (and I'm willing to bet it's casa 90% of the time).

 

Step #2. Context is your best friend.

 

As you begin to get fluent in the language, you'll use contextual clues to fill in vocabulary you're not familiar with. This will also help you to choose which vocabulary makes the most sense. In the beginning, when you're just starting out, you can probably know that people are greeting you with hola, not ola. But if the homophone in question is more complicated, or the two words share the same part of speech - two high-level verbs like rayar and rallar, for instance - context becomes hugely important to ascertaining meaning.

Step #3. Focus on the nuances of the Spanish sound system.

 

Like I said, to the untrained ear, the above pitfalls make these pairs sound like true homophones. But in reality, certain accents and speakers do pronounce some of the letters slightly differently. Focus on whether you can hear a tiny, minuscule difference between the B and the V. Is one softer than the other? Is one sound produced by using the teeth a bit, and not just both lips?

 

The nuances of the Spanish sound system also extend to the accents and the geographic areas in which you're learning or speaking Spanish. If you're in Spain, the "lisp" should give you a big clue. If you're in Argentina, no need to fear the Y/LL pitfall. It's good to familiarize yourself with the basic rules of Spanish everywhere, but if you plan on moving to Ecuador, for example, read up on Ecuador's specific accents and sound system.