Here comes summer: spectacular surf and fabulous fishing, which you can read about in these pages. But we would also like to invite you to join us in supporting a program that is an important first step in the greening of Puerto Escondido:

EVERY DAY, Puerto Escondido's garbage trucks collect an average of 48 tons of trash. Among this daily detritus of a rapidly growing city are from 10 to 25 thousand plastic bottles. (This, of course, doesn't include the empties which are dumped on the streets, beaches and roadsides, many of which end up floating the oceans for decades.)

All of this discarded rubbish ends up in the city dump, a smoldering landfill on the outskirts of town that is rapidly running out of space. This smoldering litter brings grave ecological and environmental consequences. The burning of plastic contaminates the air with ozone-killing toxins and the rain and water with carcinogenic elements.

(Fish and sea birds are dying from eating plastic bottle tops, while turtles and dolphins suffocate mistaking plastic bags for jellyfish. Discarded bottles collect rain water and create the perfect breeding ground for dengue and malaria-carrying mosquitoes.)

Well, at last, something is being done, an initiative launched by Puerto's mayor (agente municipal) Eugenio Vázquez. Someone donated an industrial compactor to the city, which has erected a large shed and storage area on a city-owned lot to accommodate it.

Several weeks ago a modest pilot program was launched through the school. Large bags were delivered to the schools and all the bottles of juices, sodas, bleach and so on that accumulate during the school day were collected and delivered to our new recycling center when they were filled.

In no time at all dozens of 150 kilo bales of neatly trussed, pressed plastic, sorted according to color and density were accumulated ready to ship off to a company in Acapulco which pays 2 pesos per kilo for "quality" trash. Soon many other institutions, civic groups and individuals signed on and those small first steps hold the promise of becoming a giant leap forward in safeguarding the environment of Puerto Escondido, promoting the well-being of its residents and visitors, and ultimately, of course, the planet itself.

It's an obvious win-win situation: 25,000 plastic bottles per day translates to 670 kilos of plastic, times 2 pesos per kilo . . . well, you can do the math. These are funds that can improve our schools, city services, and lead to further ecological progress for our city.

Project coordinators Ing. Miguel Magaña and C. Getulio Cortez Pacheco want to eventually recycle other materials, promoting among the citizenry the concept of separating of the trash we produce, even using organics, such as leaves and kitchen scraps to produce compost.

"Our school program was very important," says project coordinator Magaña. " We're creating an awareness among the students to understand and participate in this process. It's part of a strategy for general environmental consciousness among our citizens."

But city and county administrations change every 3 years, so it's essential that this recycling program is successful and continues, despite the vagaries of local politics. (Terms end this month, with new elections for city, county and state offices scheduled for August.)

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

• Separate your trash into recyclables (aluminum cans, bottles, paper and now plastics) and organics.

• Talk to your neighbors and friends and get them involved.

• Let the restaurants and business you deal with know about the program and urge them to participate.

• Join the efforts of groups such as IFOPE in collecting bottles from the roadside, gullies and beaches and delivering them to the recycling center. Or, start one of your own.

This Month in Puerto

Monday 11 - Wed 13
Festival of San Antonio de Padua
There's a San Antonio on the main coast highway to Pochutla at the turnoff to Mazunte, site of the Mexican Turtle Center (always recommended for a day trip). Other towns and neighborhoods in the region named for this saint will also celebrate their annual fair, a fiesta to honor the town's patron saint.

For some of what you can expect to see if you attend one of these traditional coast festivals (and we recommend that you do), see here.

Saturday 16
Los Trovadores de Oaxaca
A night of traditional, romantic movement in celebration of Father's Day. Cover: $60.00 (But dads get in free.) Reservations and information at 582-0061
8 p.m. Restaurant Bugambilias, Hotel Villa Sol, Fracc. Bacocho

Sunday 17
Father's Day
Mrs. Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington first proposed a day to honor her father, a Civil War veteran, in 1909 and it quickly took root. In 1924 Pres. Calvin Coolidge proclaimed June 19 a national celebration for dads and in 1966 Lyndon Johnson proclaimed D. Day the third Sunday in June, same day as it is in México.

While it's not the big deal that Mom's Day is here, there will be special activities planned to please papa, including Saturday's program at Villa Sol, special dinners at local restaurants and:

Fishing Tournament
This 'Mini-Contest" for sailfish is being sponsored by the tourist service providers at Puerto Angelito Beach. Enrollment is $1,000.00 pesos per launch. The money will go into a pool which will be awarded as prizes for the winning contestants.
7 a.m. - noon, Puerto Angelito

Thursday 21
First Day of Summer
It officially begins at 1:06 p.m.

378th Anniversary of San Pedro Mixtepec
The administrative center of the county (municipio) to which most of Puerto Escondido belongs celebrates the 378th anniversary of its founding today with a civic ceremony and cultural program. It's a picturesque community in the Sierra foothills just 20 minutes from Puerto Escondido on the road to Oaxaca via Sola de Vega.

Mixtepec comes from the Nahuatl word meaning "Hill of Clouds" or "Cloudy Hill" -- mixtli - cloud and tpetl - hill. It has probably had many names, including the Zapotec, Danicahue, which has the same meaning.

According to the archives, on June 21, 1629, Don Juan de Peralta, in return for "1000 arrobas of cotton and 1000 pesos," ceded the lands to the people living there. (An arroba was about 25 pounds; I can't imagine what a peso was worth then.) The ceremony was witnessed by the colonial authorities and San Pedro Mixtepec officially became a county.

San Pedro is a pleasant, well-ordered community that sits on a river and is surrounded by densely wooded, frequently cloudy peaks. It boasts a spectacular tourist attraction: the awesome El Chorro waterfall near the small town of La Reforma. Now there is a passable road all the way out to El Chorro (depending on rainfall and the level of the river; Do check before you go.) The town has even built a set of concrete steps that lead you through the flowing streams and a series of rocky pools to the main event: a magnificent, thunderous cascade of water that plummets from a height of some 130 feet into a cool, fresh water lagoon, irresistible for swimming.

Friday 22 - Sun 24
Festival of Saint John the Baptist
Another fiesta (imagine that!) in many local communities. The celebration in Santos Reyes Nopala, important center of Chatino culture, is of particular interest. It's one of their traditional mayordomia fiestas, in which a mayordomo or sponsor, named by the town authorities the year before, is responsible for throwing the party, which means providing food and entertainment for all who show up. Neighbors help out, but it is a huge financial burden and also a great honor for the mayordomo.

It's quite a sight to see the women tending huge cauldrons of beans, mountains of tortillas and vast sides of beef. There's also lots of tepache, fermented cane juice and champurrada, hot chocolate with corn atole. This one is a "horse fiesta", which includes horseback processions and horse racing that has roots in pre-Colombian religious rituals. The object is to capture the live chicken strung up by its feet above the track.

Nopala sits on a hilltop surrounded by even loftier peaks thick with trees. The views are spectacular and it's great town to explore: the churches, the market (and small restaurants where you can sometimes find venison, quail or crayfish on the menu. You can see archeological remains dating from around 600 to 800 AD of the ancient culture in the municipal palace, the kiosk in the main plaza, and in some private homes. Visit a coffee plantation or see how the traditional trapiche works, a wooden mill, powered by oxen to crush sugar cane to produce raw sugar and tepache.

Tue 26 - Thur 28
Fiesta of Our Lady of Perpetual Help
An important religious observance in many communities, including Santa Maria Colotepec.

Wed 27 - Sat 30
Fiesta of Saint Peter & Saint Paul
Fiesta time in the previously-mentioned San Pedro Mixtepec, San Pedro Pochutla, the busy city close to Puerto Angel, San Pedro Tutútepec, one of the oldest settlements in Oaxaca, the ancient Mixtec capital on the coast; In Santos Reyes Nopala, where they'll hold another "horse fiesta" and many, many others communities, including San Pedro Amuzgos, center of the Amuzgo culture in Oaxaca, land of weavers and healers, where there will be traditional masked dances. (See El Sol, June, 2006)

Saturday 30
Night of Sorrow
In 1520 Aztec troops led by Cuitláhuac attacked Spanish forces killing 400 Spaniards and 2,000 Indians loyal to them, forcing Cortes and the survivors to flee the city of Tenochtitlan. The attack came in response to the brutal slaughter of hundreds of Aztec nobles participating in religious rites in the temple. Legend has it that the distraught Cortes wept beneath an ahuehuete tree over this Noche Triste, Night of Sorrow.

Read This Month's Feature Article:
The Traditional Fiesta
Summer Surfing
Go Fish!