Sonoran Star Beachfront Resort, the newest addition to the Sonoran Resorts family, is set to launch its presales to the public this month on May 21st, offering prospective buyers the opportunity to invest early in this exciting new resort. The Sonoran Star Resort will be located on Sandy Beach at Playa Hermosa, the absolute best location in Puerto Peñasco. I promise that you will be surprised and impressed beyond all expectations with the resort, the condo designs and finishes, and the multitude of amenities. This resort will undoubtedly set the very high standard for high-end resorts in the region, and possibly in all the tourist resort areas in Mexico.

The groundbreaking of the Sonoran Star Resort marks a major milestone in the growth and development of the northwest region of Mexico. With its carefully planned layout, stunning amenities, and luxurious living spaces, the Sonoran Star Resort is set to become the premier destination in the area. Interest in presales has already been strong, with a number of buyers expressing great enthusiasm for the project.

Planning for this major project has been in the works for a very long time in order to acquire the perfect location, the ideal amenities, and the best of everything that is involved in this project. I promise that you will be amazed and impressed with the total attention to all of the details of our resort. This the 5^th resort in the Sonoran Resorts family, and really will set the high mark standard that will be unequaled for many years to come.

Early investment in the Sonoran Star Resort comes with numerous benefits, including the chance to secure a prime condo at your preferred level and at a lower price point. As the resort continues to develop and grow, property values are very likely to increase, making early investment a wise financial decision. Additionally, early investors may have the opportunity to customize their units and choose from a variety of financing packages and pricing options. This allows buyers to tailor their investment to their specific needs and preferences.

Prospective buyers can take advantage of long-term developer financing as well. More details such as the resort layout, amenities, and floorplans will be released just prior to the May 20^th presales kickoff. As this exciting presales launch approaches, interested buyers should stay tuned for more information this newsletter and at the Sonoran Star website: www.sonoranstar.com. Please send me your contact information if you would like to be on a special list of people who will receive direct updates as they become available. The presales launch of the Sonoran Star Resort presents a unique opportunity for early investment in a highly anticipated new resort, with the potential for significant financial returns in the future through rental income and appreciation of the property value. Not to mention owning a condo at the very newest and best beachfront resort in all of Northwestern Mexico.

CHOLLA BAY, SONORA - Roger Clyne & The Peacemakers are finding it difficult to contain their excitement for their annual Circus Mexicus music festival (and party) taking place June 8-11, 2023 in Puerto Penasco.  Discounted advance purchase tickets go on sale Tuesday, March 14 at Noon at www.circusmexicus.net. Band line ups have also been announced on the website with daily performance schedules to follow shortly.

Sitting on his patio in Cholla Bay, Roger Clyne reminices, "I still can't believe we're doing this 23 years later. The crazy thing is it keeps getting better and more fun. We can't say enough about the people who have supported us and the festival over the years and we can't wait to introduce peacemaking to the next generation this June in Mexico."

Clyne added, "We also want to say thanks to the citizens and city of Puerto Penasco for their fine hospitality over the years."

Joining RCPM for the first time will be Red Dirt music icons Reckless Kelly from Austin, TX. Back for their second visit to Penasco will be the high flying country punk rockers The Vandoliers from Dallas. Dever's Mike Clark & The Sugar Sounds bring their soulful rock n roll on Thursday and Friday nights. All of these bands will play at least two sets throughout the weekend.

Dalton Domino, Parker Ryan, Dead Hot Workshop, Jim Dalton, Jim Bachmann, Amber Watson, The Jons, Shane Britt, Johnny Zapp and The Cole Trains will fill music venues throughout town as well as Banditos.

Rounding out the event will be JD Graham, the long anticipated reunion of Azz Izz Band, Drew Cooper, Agua de Coco, Purple Onions, Camping with Beavers, Jay Allan & The Uncommon Good, The Summer, Zara, Ricardo Rivera, Shawn Johnson, Natalie Merrill and The Lewinkskis.

New this year will be an exclusive VIP Only ticket holder Hangover Bash taking place Sunday morning with RCPM performing. Also new is an optional e-donation for fans when they buy tickets online. All donations go directly to support charities in Penasco. Discounted tickets for Students (16-24 years old) and Mexican Nationals are available as well. People 15 and under are free when accompanied by a paid adult.

Discounted advance purchase tickets will be on sale through June 7, 2023. Tickets will also be available at the door, but RCPM encourages all fans to grab theirs in advance and save money. Condos are still available at Las Palomas by going to www.laspalomasresort.net as well as other options throughout Penasco.

Potpourri!

Short Shorts of All Sorts!

Sometimes so much is going on in our little slice of paradise by the sea that we can't address the many short subjects with proper attention. To handle the hodgepodge of dangling subject matter, we invented the Potpourri Page. Here are a few "short shorts" to keep you up to date.



Online real estate platform Far Homes conducted a survey in February of mostly retired U.S. and Canadian citizens living in Mexico full time.

The international real estate platform Far Homes partnered with the magazine Expats in Mexico to poll non-Mexicans about the cost of living in Mexico. The results offer a snapshot of living expenses for foreigners who have relocated to the country.

The survey, carried out in February 2023, focused primarily on retirees over the age of 55 living full-time in Mexico, who had previously lived in the United States or Canada before relocating.

According to Far Homes, which sourced its data from the online database Numbeo, Mexico’s cities fall into the mid-range of popular expat cities worldwide.

The majority of respondents said they spend under US $2,200 per month on living expenses (34.3%), while according to 2021 data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, average retiree household spending in the United States is US $4,185 per month.

In terms of Mexican cities with a sizable population of U.S. and Canadian residents, Mexico City (44.62) ranks highest on the Numbeo Cost of Living (COL) index, which is calculated using consumer goods prices (groceries, restaurants, transportation, utilities) and does not include housing expenses.

These user-contributed prices are then compared to New York City; if a city has a Cost of Living Index of 80, for example, Numbeo estimates it to be 20% less expensive than New York (excluding housing costs).

Mexico City is followed by Cancún (43.14), Mérida (41.85) and Puerto Vallarta (41.15) on the COL index. Querétaro and Puebla City are on the low end, at 40.53 and 38.77, respectively, while Monterrey comes in as Mexico’s most expensive city, with a Cost of Living Index of 45.43, making it the 99th most expensive city in the Americas in the database.

While food costs for expats living in Mexico are comparable to the U.S., according to the Far Homes survey data (71.4% spending up to US $500 per month), the savings on rent and healthcare contribute to overall lower living expenses. The majority of respondents to the Far Homes survey pay between US $550 and US $1,100 per month on rent, and 62% say they only spend up to US $110 per month on healthcare, including medications.

Not surprisingly, the survey found that “cost of living” was given as one of the primary reasons for moving to Mexico (26.5%), second only to “lifestyle” at 32.2%. “Climate” came in as a close third at 24.2% of those polled.

Lizette Ibarra, Director of the Convention and Tourism Office, announced that promotional efforts will be intensified to help increase tourist flows even more for this summer, increasing expectations of higher tourism numbers than 2022, when over 500,000 visitors were registered as renting hotels and condos. She pointed out that from the performance in the first three months of this year, it is clear that tourism numbers will continue to be very high this year.

She commented that despite the concerns of a perceived economic slowdown in our neighboring countries, numbers continue to be very good, mentioning that the numbers this year are similar or better than last year. She mentioned that over the few months of the summer season alone, last year’s tourism contributed more than a half billion pesos into the local economy

She also reiterated that Puerto Penasco remains a safe and tourist friendly destination and also ensured that, as well as ensuring the services and security needed to make tourists feel welcome and safe, the city will continue to guarantee basic services such as street maintenance, cleanup and trash removal, electricity, and drinking water.

Lizette Ibarra explained that, despite the high tourist flow so far in 2023, promotions are being focused to continue to increase it, both on the international market and on the domestic market, which is widely regarded as having greater potential over the summer months of July and August. In addition, she said, efforts are underway to continue to increase outreach in foreign tourism markets, primarily Arizona and California.

Did you know that Barb’s Dog Rescue has set up wish lists for Amazon and Chewy to make it easier for people to help with the ongoing need for food and supplies? When you order using these wish lists, the donations are delivered directly to the valuable causes that you care about in order to help fund and facilitate rescues as quickly as possible.

If you would also like to donate cash or food, canned food high on the list as it is always in need at the rescue and it is hard to find a reliable supply source in Mexico. You could also can also set up a recurring order! Life for Barb and her her volunteers (and, of course the dogs) is always an ongoing struggle and they can definitely use all the help that they can get.

Hey, BTW: Did you know that they sell T-shirts? J

Here are some links for you to use when shopping on Amazon or Chewy:

https://www.amazon.com/.../2UHX7.../ref=nav_wishlist_lists_5

https://www.chewy.com/g/barbs-dog-rescue_b93315602

But first, a bit of taco history

The word taco comes from the Nahuatl word 'tlahco' which means "half or in the middle", referring to the way it is formed.

Delicious and historic, the taco forms part of the cultural and gastronomic diversity of Mexico. Whether it be an al pastor, carnitas, longaniza, cochinita, barbacoa, birria, carne asada, chicken, chile, nopal with cheese, grasshoppers, avocado, and many, many more. The taco has an incredible variety that suits all kinds of tastes, and it is a heaven for those who can't tolerate gluten. Almost everything in Mexico starts with corn. Although its origin is unknown, it is believed that the taco was born as the basis of an Olmec diet thanks to the first traces of nixtamalized corn. 

In an interesting interview with Jeffrey M. Pilcher, researcher and professor at the University of Minnesota, he recounts his findings in regards to the history of taco. For the past 20 years, Jeffrey has been devoted to the investigation of Mexican food, he is about to publish a book called "Global Taco: A Global History of Mexican Food" (edited by the University of Oxford). Some of the results of his investigations point to interesting chapters like some of the following.

The oldest table of nixtamal comes from the year 1,500 BC and was found in Soconusco, Chiapas.

It is said that Moctezuma used the tortilla as a "spoon" to hold the food, which were prepared on hot stones and decorated with cochineal, beans and chili. While women used to send food to their men who worked long hours in the fields and could heat it and eat it half a day later, wrapped in tortillas. 

"And as a celebration for the arrival of the Spanish caravels and their pigs", according to Bernal Díaz del Castillo, "the banquets organized by Hernán Cortés for their soldiers were based on pork dishes with tortillas." In fact, in True History of the Conquest of the New Spain, Coyoacán witnessed the first taquiza (taco party) in history. Since then, the taco became the base dish consumed in all areas of the Conquered "New World". 

It was not until 1908, in the State of Morelos, that the revolutionary era brought the emergence of the armored tacos: tortilla, a bed of rice and finally a stew of pork rinds in green sauce, smoked pork, mole verde, sausage, potato with chorizo and many others more which brought unexplained pleasure to the palate. It is said they were born Cuautla, Morelos, eventually finding their way to its capital Cuernavaca. 

In the 1950's, during an economic crisis and shortage of jobs, the residents of San Vicente Xiloxochitla, in Tlaxcala, began selling the famous basket tacos. In fact, this site became the capital of the basket cue; where dozens of taqueros (taco makers) with their bicycles are seen every morning reaching their points of sale in the nearest municipalities. They leave their homes with a basket loaded with tacos, covered with a small tarp and with some bottles of red and green salsas to sell to the workers, students and employees, who find them on their way to school and work.. There are even those who take vans, carrying bicycles, basket, jars and coolers, to keep them warm, allowing them to reach more remote areas such as Mexico City, Puebla and Hidalgo, etc. 

Finally, in Puebla, tacos al pastor are born - the undisputed adaptation of the Arab shawarma to the Mexican palate. Between the 1930's and 1960s, during a large Lebanese migration to Mexico, an attempt was made to recreate the foreign dish, however they had to resort to marinating and changing the type of meat according to the ingredients available in the city. The tacos al pastor come, in fact, from the gyros of Greece, the döner kebab from Turkey and the shawarma from Lebanon. Who could have thought that one of the most prevalent dishes in Mexican culture had a common origin in the cuisine of the Ottoman Empire? 

The taco, in its entirety, is part of the Mexican culture that provides, in addition to being food at an accessible price, it also brings nourishment to the body. 

Mexican cuisine has endless styles, flavors and colors; it is so extensive and multifaceted that it has been named as an "Intangible Heritage of Humanity" by UNESCO. The Taco has become the symbol of Mexico's cuisine. 

Eating tacos is an art, "the art of eating with tortilla." Any day is a good to enjoy them... and as that famous Mexican saying goes: "A taco is not denied to anyone".

And, while the Apple Pie Taco, may not have such a long and rich history, it sure does look good. So, here's the recipe in case you want to make some...

You'll Need:

Apples peeled & sliced

½ C Sugar

2 tsp Cinnamon

½ tsp Nutmeg

½ C Water

Tortillas (flour) 6" size

Oil (for frying tortillas)

1/2 c sugar-cinnamon mixture

Whipped cream

Steps:

Place apples, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and water in a sauce pan.

Stir until well blended and cover and cook on medium stirring frequently

For 10 minutes or until apples are semi soft. If needed, thicken sauce using

1 Tbl of cornstarch to 3-4 Tbl of water. Mix into sauce and stir until thickened.

Heat oil on medium heat in a skillet and holding the tortilla folded in half, place the bottom on tortilla in the oil for a few seconds. Then lay it on one side until browned and then place other side down until browned. Remove from oil and Sprinkle browned tortilla with sugar-cinnamon mixture.

Fill taco shells with apple pie filling and top with whipped cream, and sprinkle a little more of sugar-cinnamon mixture on top.

Longstanding ideas about the face of one of the most famous works of Aztec sculpture are being challenged by a new theory from a University of Texas at Austin researcher.

Art history professor David Stuart argues that the image on the Aztec Sun Stone is more than a calendar or a simple representation of the sun god, but rather a named portrait of the ruler Montezuma II as a “sun king,” dedicated a few years before the arrival of Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés.

Scholars have debated about the identity of the central face on the stone for more than 100 years, but this new line of inquiry from Stuart shows there may be more to the story.

“This new theory historicizes the imagery and the monument, going beyond seeing it as just a religious or cosmological sculpture,” Stuart said. “Previous scholars had identified the name glyph of Montezuma on the stone, but the next step was identifying the name as a label and not just a note about who made it.”

During a recent trip to Mexico City, Stuart guided a UT delegation through the National Museum of Anthropology and its iconic display of the Aztec Sun Stone. “I remember noticing a new detail in the hieroglyphs on the stone that gave me pause,” he said. “I continued with the tour, but I made a mental note to return to the photos and drawings. That moment led me toward a new line of inquiry.”

The famous stone, also known as the Aztec Calendar Stone, was unearthed in Mexico City in 1790. It is almost 12 feet in diameter and covered in hieroglyphs, with a solar deity at its center. Stuart believes that the two glyphs that appear above the central face refer to Montezuma II and the Méxica patron god Huitzilopochtli. Based on what scholars know about text-image relationships in Mesoamerican art, Stuart hypothesizes that their placement has a direct bearing on the identity of the face itself. In Méxica art, name glyphs seldom function as standalone entities and are instead almost always found in conjunction with portraits and images as a means of image identification. Stuart argues that they both label the central face of a deified king — Montezuma II — embodying or assuming the supernatural identity of Huitzilopochtli.

“The face on the Aztec Sun Stone is not either the face of a sun god or a portrait of Montezuma, but both,” Stuart said. “Montezuma looks out from the center of the stone as a personalized representation of time and space. It’s a metaphysical depiction of royal power.”

He also speculates that the stone might have been originally displayed in front of the king’s palace in ancient Tenochtitlan, in front of what is now the Palacio Nacional in Mexico City. In his tentative hypothesis, Stuart argues that two other signs on the stone, which frame the face and create the circular design of the stone, refer to “sun” and “market” and that they are references to a substantial market and the palace of Montezuma II that have been documented near the stone’s found location. Historical texts published by the 16th-century Dominican friar Diego Durán refer to an “image of the sun” in the same area, indicating that it may have been on display in or near what is now the Plaza Mayor in Mexico City for decades after the 1521 conquest of Tenochtitlan by the Spaniards.

I have always been interested in the Aztec Sun Stone because my dad wore a ring with the symbol since I was very young. I never knew why and he passed before I ever thought to ask him, but the fact that he did has always intrigued me. Whatever the reason, I will always miss him and will in some small way associate the symbol with him and with my childhood.

April 2023

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January 2023

December 2022

November 2022

October 2022

September 2022

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July 2022

June 2022

May 2022

April 2022

Let me know if you would like links to any of the earlier ones. (Over 12 years worth)