Christmas Bazaar | Mexican Style | San Carlos | Mexico

Mexico is colorful - traditional Mexican dress and homes are full of color.  San Carlos had a Christmas Bazaar this past week, and all sorts of crafts and food were available. 

 

 

In addition to the Mexican crafts and clothing for sale, there were booths of handmade items available that would benefit the children in the area.  This booth was for Castaway Kids organization, who give financial help to local kids for their education, as well as many other items they need.

 

There was also jewelry and matted photos for sale.

 

Stained glass is always one of my favorites, it's not easy to do, but very pretty. 

Even this far south, it gets cold, especially during the evening and night.  One of our local residents makes doggy sweaters in many sizes.

 

 

And then there's the food for sale - this was mostly baked goods and I tried not to linger too long there.

 

 

These are hiking sticks, very helpful on some of these trails around here.  Colorful also! 

 

 

 

 

 

This booth was to benefit a womens' shelter, including some children who helped make some of these crafts, as well as helping with the sale.  I volunteered some time to help produce some of these crafts, since I think it's a worthy cause.

 

This is the crew who were on hand to take care of customers for the shelter booth during the Bazaar. 

 

San Carlos, Mexico | Castaway Kids Benefit

 

 

On my last day in San Carlos, there was a huge benefit with music by various local performers and a BBQ.  I left after 4 hours, after hearing multiple groups, since they were only given time enough to do 3-4 songs each. For two of those hours, I volunteered to sell tickets, so I kept busy.  They were still going strong when I left.

This is only part of the crowd, and inside the restaurant was packed.  The photo below shows a great way to attend, except I don't think they got any food!

 

One of the groups performing was the Steel Pan Band of Esperanza Azteca Sonora, school children who have been trained on the steel pans.  One of the players was probably only 6 years old, so they start young.  As always, great performance by them.

 

 

I was able to get this shot of the bass player for Assterisko from the ticket sales table - nice to have a good zoom on the camera!

  

There were only one or two solo singers, this guy has a great voice.

The dance troupe also gave a performance.  Unfortunately, I missed some photos while I was selling tickets.  However, the event was well attended and everyone enjoyed it.



Of course, the vendors were outside the restaurant, just waiting to sell all sorts of goodies to anyone willing to buy.

Anyone wanting to find out more information about Castaway Kids can check out the website at http://castawaykidsmx.org/

San Carlos, Mexico | Music on the Beach!

Mark Mulligan, in the colorful shirt covered with chiles, is a musician who has played gigs in San Carlos for years, as well as venues in the States.  This is the second time during my stay here that he has brought the band Forasteros, from Hermasillo, about 2 hours north of us, to play a concert for us at La Palapa Griega, which is located right on the beach.  They have been quite a hit in this little town. 

This last concert was attended by over 250 people.  As usual, the festivities started at 5 PM and continued to 8 PM.  During this time, the serving staff was kept running to provide drinks and food to everyone.  The photo below shows a great way to see the concert, just a short distance from the beach.  We got to sit right on the beach - since the restaurant isn't big enough to seat that many people, tables and chairs were set up on the beach near the stage.  Great ambience!

The band is billed as playing country music but they include music by the Eagles and Jimmy Buffett as well.  They sure know how to put on a good show, as you can see when two of the guitar players joined the audience for a line dance.



I got a kick out of this guy's guitar.  Obviously, he is a fan of the Dukes of Hazzard TV show and the Charger that was featured with the 01 painted race-car-style on the doors.

 

Thanks to Mark and everyone else involved for bringing us a fun evening!

Mark Mulligan was instrumental in developing the organization here called "Castaway Kids".  This organization, all volunteers, raises money to provide school scholarships to needy kids, provide food, clothing and shelter to families in emergency situations as well as other projects.  A thrift shop bearing that name also provides funds.  Anyone interested in learning more about Castaway Kids can find information on their website at http://castawaykidsmx.org/