About this time of year, if you don’t already HAVE plans, you are wondering what to do for Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. Here’s our annual rundown of what the local hotels are doing (all prices are in Pesos). For sure there are more activities going on, so If you know of another special event for either of these two days, feel free to add it in the Comments area.

Christmas

Hyatt Regency Merida
Christmas at Peregrina
Peregrina will be serving an International buffet Christmas dinner the night of the 24th. Price includes IVA, and la propina (tip) but no drinks. 50% payment required for reservation.
Price: $459 per Adult; $229 per children
Hours: 8 PM to Midnite
Christmas Eve at Spasso
Spasso will also be serving an Italian Christmas buffet dinner on the 24th. Price includes IVA and la propina but no drinks.
Price: $399 per adult; $199 per children.
Hours: 7 PM to Midnite

Location for both: Avenida Colon at Calle 60
Tel for Peregrino: 999-942-12-34 ask for the Christmas Dinner
Tel for Spasso: 942-1234 Ext. 3457

Fiesta Americana Merida
Christmas at Cafe Montejo
Cafe Montejo will be serving an International buffet Christmas dinner on the 24th. Price includes IVA, and la propina (tip) but no drinks. 50% payment required for reservation.
Price: $499 per adult; $250 per child
Hours: 7 PM to 11:30 PM
Location: Avenida Colon at Calle 60
Tel: 942-1111

Intercontinental Villa Mercedes: Christmas Eve Dinner

This Christmas dinner includes an international buffet with all the Christmas goodies. For an additional price, you can get an open bar of Mexican alcoholic drinks. There will be dancing to live music. The buffet includes a salad and delicatessen bar, soups, main courses and much more. There will also be all different kinds of meat and a dessert menu that includes creme brulée with fruits, Christmas chocolate cake, and traditional Mexican sweets like arroz con leche , champurradoand buñuelos. The restaurant will be open from 8:00 PM to 1 or 2:00 AM, depending on the clients.
Price: $480 pesos. IVA and service included. $680 pesos with open bar. Children 50% discount
Location: Avenida Colon between Calle 60 and 62
Tel: 999-942-9000

Rosas and Xocolate
A four course dinner from the Rosas and Xocolate kitchen including arugula salad, Turkey with almonds, Ossobuco and red fruits salad with Xtabentun for dessert. Children’s menu includes main course and dessert.
Price: $650 pesos includes IVA, doesn’t include tip or beverages. Children $350 pesos.
Hours: December 24th for dinner and December 25th open for lunch and dinner.
Location: Paseo Montejo at Calle 41
Tel: 999-924-2992

Hotel Castellano
A buffet dinner on December 24th with soups, salads and 6 different options for main course including: Christmas stuffed turkey, filet mignon, lasagna and a vegetarian dish. There will also be a great selection of international and national traditional Christmas desserts. Some of the great Chilean wines will be available.
Price: $499 IVA included and service included. Children under 12, 50% discount
Hours: Restaurant opens at 9:30 PM and closes depending on the clients.
Location: Calle 57 #513 between Calle 62 y 64
Phone: 999-930-0100
Website: www.elcastellano.com

Hotel Casa del Balam
Christmas Eve dinner includes stuffed turkey or filet Angus, a piñata, punch to drink and live music and traditional sweets. There will even be surprise gifts for guests.
Price: $495 per person starting at 7 PM. Includes a glass of house wine or a soft drink. IVA and parking included. No service included.
Location: Calle 60 x 57
Tel: (999) 924-8844 x 1702

Hacienda Xcanatun
Call for more information about the Christmas Eve dinner.
Location: Off of the road to Progreso in the town of Xcanatun
Tel: 999-941-0273
Website: www.xcanatun.com

Hotel Aluxes
Hotel Aluxes’ Christmas Eve dinner will be at the Popol-Vuh salon and consists of a four-course meal, including a choice of entrada (house paté or cheese paté with pecan), a choice of salad, a choice of soup (mushroom or avocado) and a choice of four main courses (chicken, shrimp, turkey or beef) and dessert (Apple Strudel, Christmas Chocolate Cake or Chocolate Brownie). The price includes a Christmas toast, soft drinks, and the dinner, accompanied by a live musical group for dancing.
Price: $349 adults, $230 children from 5-11 years. IVA and tip included. Additional $110 for open bar, including national brandy, rum, vodka and tequila.
Hours: 9 PM to 2 AM
Location: Corner of Calle 60 and Calle 49 in the Centro

Hotel Zamna
This small hotel in the Santiago district will be serving a traditional Christmas day dinner on Sunday the 25th of December. The menu includes a 5-course traditional Christmas dinner. Drink of choice upon arrival and unlimited red or white wine served with dinner. Christmas fun prize quiz, carols played in the background.
Price:$300 pesos. Limit 28 guests so collect your tickets as early as possible
Time: Doors open 2:30 PM, Dinner: 3:00 PM
Phone:999-924-0103
Website: www.casazamna.webs.com

Reef Yucatan in Telchac
Call for more information about the Christmas weekend special.
Location: Reef Yucatan in Telchac Puerto.
Reservations: 999-941-9494 or reservaciones [at] reefyucatan [dot] com
Website: www.reefyucatan.com

Hotel Yakunah
This Progreso hotel is having a special dinner on December 25th with the following menu: potato soup, traditional turkey, ham, dessert and coffee. Reservations required.
Price: $200 pesos
Hours: Doors Open: 4:00 PM, Dinner Begins: 5:30 PM
Location: Calle 23 (21) No. 64 x 48 y 50 in Progreso
Phone: 969-935-5600
Website: www.hotelyakunah.com.mx
Reservations: Stop by the hotel, e-mail: info[at]hotelyakunah[dot]com[mx], hotelyakunah[at]yahoo[dot]com, Call: (969) 935-5600, (999) 262-2331

Las Haciendas
These five haciendas will be offering Christmas Eve dinners at their different locations. Welcome drink and hot ponche (liquor-infused punch) for the guests. Dinner has four courses. The main dish is a choice of Turkey roulade (Stuffed with chaya and dried apples, drizzled with tamarind and garlic glaze, served with wild rice and sautéed asparagus) or Agave Cod (Prepared with Mexican chardonnay and agave nectar, aromatized with fresh bay leaves and served with roasted yucca and pickled green bell peppers). Yucatan residents will have 15% discount on beverages showing proper ID.
Price: $800 pesos. Children under 12, $520 pesos. Includes IVA, service not included.
Hours: 8:00 PM to 12:00 PM
Location: Hacienda Temozon, Hacienda Santa Rosa and Hacienda San Jose in Yucatan; Hacienda Uayamon and Puerta Cameche in Campeche
Phone: 924-7411
Website: www.thehaciendas.com
Reservations: email: cristina [dot] arroyave [at] luxurycollection [dot] com

Hennessy’s Restaurant
Call for more information about the Christmas Eve dinner.
Location: Paseo Montejo at Calle 41
Phone:  923-8993
Website: http://www.hennessysirishpub.com/location.shtml

New Year’s Eve at Hotels and Restaurants in Merida

Hyatt Regency
New Year’s Eve at Peregrina
New Years Eve celebration includes an international buffet dinner.
Price: $510 adults; $255 children, which includes IVA and tip, but no drinks.
Hours: 8 PM – Midnite

New Year at Spasso
International Buffet Dinner with international open bar and a live band for dancing.
Hours: 10 PM to 3 AM
Price: Call for more information
Location: Avenida Colon at Calle 60
Tel: 999-942-1234 (ask for the New Year’s Eve dinner)

Fiesta Americana
A New Katun Begins
This will be a lavish affair in the Grand Salon of Hotel Fiesta Americana. International buffet, the traditional 12 grapes, national drinks included and entertainment by Montana, a great musical group. Full payment required before the event. IVA included.
Hours: 9 PM to 3 AM
Price: $1299 pesos, Children under 11: $650 pesos
Location: Paseo de Montejo #451 x Av. Colon
Tel: 942-1123 or 942-1100
e-mail: banquetesfamd [at] posadas [dot] com

Holiday Inn
Call for details.
Location: Avenida Colon between Calle 60 and Paseo de Montejo
Tel: 999-942-8800 ext. 609

Rosas and Xocolate
Five course dinner with mousse, salad, lobster with cacao, korobuta pork or beef, and strawberries with Grand Marnier cream for dessert. Dinner includes 2 drinks, a cocktail and a toast.
Location: Paseo Montejo at Calle 41
Tel: 999-924-2992

Intercontinental Villa Mercedes – Barroco Party
This year, the Villa Mercedes celebrates New Year’s Eve with a back-in-time international buffet dinner. The three restaurants will each have a different ambiance. The Grand Salon will be a Gala party, Restaurante Frutas y Flores will be a night club with a lounge concept and live DJ, and VJ en Vivo will show back-in-time videos from the 70′s and 80′s. Traditionally they also serve cochinita in the early morning hours. The music starts at 10:30 PM. The restaurants will be open from 8:30 PM to 3:00 PM.
Price: $990 includes buffet, soft drinks and IVA. $1250 per person with national liquor bar and $ 1590 with international open bar. Children 50% off.
Location: Avenida Colon between Calle 60 and 62
Tel: 999-942-9000

Hotel Aluxes – New Year’s Eve Dinner
This will be dancing to a group called Enlace, and an international buffet at the Gran Salon Popol-Vuh. They’ll have the 12 traditional grapes, a champagne toast, soft drinks and national drinks including beer are included.
Price: IVA and service are included in the price of $690 for adults and $320 per child.
Hours: Festivities start at 9 PM and end at 2 AM. Call for reservations and to put down a 50% deposit.
Location: Calle 60 at Calle 49
Tel: 999-924-2199

Hotel Casa del Balam
Dinner includes a glass of house wine or soft drink, music by a DJ and a sparkling wine toast and 12 grapes at midnite. IVA and parking included. Dinner starts being served at 7 PM. The menu consists of a three-course dinner a choice of filet mignon or turkey with sea food.
Price: $590 per person. Children 50% off. No service included.
Location: Calle 60 x 57
Tel: (999) 924-8844 x 1703

Hacienda Xcanatun
Call for information
Location: Off of the road to Progreso in the town of Xcanatun
Tel: 999-941-0273

El Castellano

Dinner, dance and drinks included in the last night of the year at El Castellano’s spectacular party. Buffet dinner includes more than 25 different options and there is also a great selection of desserts. Wines, national beer and some spirits are included as well as IVA, service and music. Party starts at 9:30 PM.
Price: $799 per person, children 50% discount
Location: Calle 57 # 513 x 62 y 64 Centro
Tel: 930-0118

Trotter’s
Trotter’s will have a special four-course meal.
Price: Drinks and service not included.
Location: Circuito Colonias, between Paseo de Montejo and Mega grocery store
Tel: 999-927-2320 for reservations (50% deposit required)

Pancho’s
Price: Drinks and service not included.
Location: Calle 59 between Calle 60 and 62, Centro
Tel: 999-923-0942 (call after 6 PM) for reservations (50% deposit required)

La Tratto
La Tratto will have a special four-course meal.
Price: Drinks not included
Location: Prolongacion Montejo # 479 C between the Monumento a la Bandera in front of Centro Cultural Dante (the Dante Bookstore).
Tel: 999-927-0434 for reservations (50% deposit required)

Bryan’s
Bryan’s will also feature a special four course meal. One appetizer for 2 people. A selection of seafood, poultry, beef or veal.
Price: Drinks and service not included
Location: Calle 20 # 116 x 5 y 7. Col. Montecristo
Tel: 999-927-0434 for reservations (50% deposit required)

Hotel Zamná
Tonights theme is Hellzapoppin. Tonight there will be no buffet. We will be serving you a six-course New Year Banquet. This will start at 8 PM. Whatever your choice of music, we’ll play it. Whether you want a slow romantic dance or disco or salsa or to just sit and watch the fun… the choice is yours. There will be a small Zamna prize quiz. At midnight we will toast the new year in. All local beers, spirits and house wine are included throughout the night.
Price: $400 per person
Time: Doors Open: 8:00 PM, Dinner: 8:30 PM
Location: Calle 53 #547 x 70 y 72
Reservations: 999-924-0103

Reef Yucatan
Call for more information.
Price: Children under 8 stay for free. Three night minimum stay.
Location: Telchac, Yucatan
Phone: 01-800-000-7333
Website: www.reefyucatan.com

Hotel Yakunah

This Progreso hotel is having a special party on New Year’s Eve with a buffet dinner, music, a champagne toast at midnight and fireworks and again this year – they will burn el viejo! as well.
Price: $300 pesos
Time: Doors Open at 8 PM
Location: Calle 23 (21) No. 64 x 48 y 50 in Progreso
Phone: 969-935-5600
Website: www.hotelyakunah.com.mx

Las Haciendas
These five haciendas will be offering New Year’s Eve dinners at their different locations. Welcome drink and hot ponche for the guests. Dinner is a four-course meal. The main dish is a choice of: Almond and sesame crusted grouper filet served with sweet potato pureé and sauteéd asparagus, served with pumpkin seed and epazote sauce… or Grilled beef filet with pasilla pepper and balsamic reduction sauce. Served with aromatic roasted carrots and potatoes. Yucatan residents will have 15% discount on beverages showing proper ID.
Price: $900 pesos. Children under 12 $585 pesos. Includes IVA, service not included.
Hours: 8:30 PM to 12:00 PM
Location: Hacienda Temozon, Hacienda Santa Rosa and Hacienda San Jose in Yucatan; Hacienda Uayamon and Puerta Cameche in Campeche
Phone: 924-7411
Website: www.thehaciendas.com
Reservations: email: cristina [dot] arroyave [at] luxurycollection [dot] com

That’s everything we know! We will add in any new events we find out about when we know. We hope you all have a wonderful holiday season, and we look forward to more Yucatan Living in 2012!

Strategic Holdings, the company that publishes both YucatanLiving.com and YucatanYES.com, is pleased to announce that they have purchased and will now also be publishing YoListo.com.

We trust that this is good news to everyone, and we are certainly excited about it. For years we have questioned whether or not we should add a forum to YucatanLiving.com. When Merida Insider was going strong, we considered it, but decided not to compete with a website that already had such a loyal following. When MI went dark, then YoListo.com seemed to take its place in the community, and again, there was no point in competing with that.

But now, we have taken YoListo under our growing wing, where we plan to keep it safe, warm and going strong.

Yucatan Living’s website introduces the reader to the culture, destinations and people of the Yucatan through articles, photos, listings and comment feedback. Yucatan Expatriate Services’s website provides detailed and practical information for people serious about investing, living and working here. And now, YoListo provides a place where those who are a part of the Yucatan community can exchange information, upload their own photos or stories and hold a regular conversation.

So, What is YoListo?

For those of you who are not familiar with the YoListo website, we invite you to explore it. We think the YoListo website is the perfect third website for our community, rounding out the services that we now provide for anyone interested in investing, working, living or visiting the Yucatan Peninsula.

We’ve redesigned the logo, by the way. The strange "bug" that looks like a squared Yin-Yang symbol is taken from the Mayan symbol for "town". We don’t mind that it also echos the give-and-take of the famous Asian symbol. We trust that the participants in YoListo will continue the conversation while appreciating and making room for each other’s differences, working to get along as people strive to do when sharing a space, a village or even a planet.

Just Getting Started

For now, not much about YoListo has changed. Yes, Malcolm Bedell is no longer the owner… and we wish Malcolm and Jillian the best of luck in their new ventures north of the border, not the least of which is a baby on the way. But Khaki (Carol Scott) will continue to modulate the YoListo discussion groups, with help from the Working Gringos. And the Yucatan Living and YES standards of civility, respect and usefulness will be upheld on the YoListo website as well. We encourage those who have participated in the YoListo community in the past to come back and check it out again. And for those of you who never have participated, please come give it a try.

We are not announcing any plans to change YoListo in any other way right now. Out of the three websites, YoListo is all about the members… and we want to make sure that it serves the greatest good for the greatest number of members. We will be opening up a forum where members can talk to us about changes they would like to see, or things they definitely do not want to change. When and if changes do come, they will be announced there first.

Local Advertising

YoListo will also now join our websites as another place to advertise to readers interested in, visiting or living in the Yucatan. In addition, YoListo will be available for small businesses on a budget to advertise only to the YoListo audience. If you or anyone you know is interested in advertising on YoListo, please contact our Sales Manager, Luis Escalante at lf [at] yucatanyes [dot] com.

As You Were

We hope you continue to enjoy YoListo or learn to enjoy it. We hope you continue to enjoy YucatanLiving.com and YucatanYES.com as well. And we hope to hear from you!

****

YoListo.com

YucatanYES.com

Editor’s Note: Mexico´s Constitution was amended on June 6 and June 10, 2011 in several significant ways that affect expatriates, and we thought you ought to be informed about this. There are issues in the news today that are creating strong emotional reactions among expatriates and native Yucatecans. The difference is that we, as guests in the country of Mexico, must be very careful what we say and how we react. Mexico has a history of being invaded and otherwise influenced by the United States, and for that reason, has written laws that limit that kind of influence. We appreciate and value all our expatriate friends here, and want to make sure that we all understand both our rights and the restrictions we live under as guests in Mexico. As the political environment in Merida and Yucatan heats up with the impending elections, and as expatriates gain more years and confidence living in Merida and want to spend time improving the situation of orphans, AIDS patients, teens and stray dogs, we think it is important for us to know what the rules are for our behavior in our adopted country. Thanks to Steven Fry for investigating and reporting on this issue.

Mexico’s Constitutional Rights for Expatriates

While individual American states have chosen to limit expatriate rights and not honor international agreements like the Geneva Convention, Mexico’s Constitution specifies that the Government is bound by the Human Rights requirements of any treaty it has signed. As some countries find ways to limit expatriate rights, Mexico has increased additional rights and protections to her expatriates. The recent Constitutional changes affecting expatriates are both major and minor. Several wording changes now make the government not only responsible for violations of human rights, but also for its omissions.

In another significant change, the Constitution used to only say that the Government “shall have exclusive authority to expel from Mexico, immediately and without trial, any foreigner whose stay is deemed inconvenient.” Now it says “The Executive of the Union, after a hearing, may expel foreigners from the country on the basis of the law…”. This means that inconvenient expatriates are now entitled to legal hearings before they are expelled. (See Articles 33 and 30 of the Mexican Constitution at the official Mexican Judicial website, and use the arrows to scroll between Article pages.)

Why are these changes important? There are a number of activities that most expatriates would normally consider legal and reasonable but are expressly forbidden by the Mexican Constitution. As in other countries, ignorance of the law does not equate to innocence, and the consequences are permanent deportation, and sometimes property seizure. Of course, we imagine that this is something that any expatriate who has bought property and set up a life here will want to avoid whenever possible.

Expatriate Constitutional Restrictions

Since the restrictions on expatriate activities are not intuitive, here are some common activities that might trap expatriates and expose them to liability under the law.

“Only Citizens of the Republic may take part in the political affairs of the country.” From Article 9, this means that visitors or permanent residents are not allowed to take any action that can be construed as being political. For example, in 2008, the Diario de Yucatan, Merida’s most popular local newspaper, reported the story of a young man who had been watching a political demonstration in Merida. As things got heated, he moved off the street into a nearby store to shop and escape the demonstration. The police noticed him, took him out of the store, arrested him, and permanently expelled him from the country for “political activities”.

In a more current context, if as a local expatriate, you are upset or even curious about the construction of the traffic underpass at the Fountain Glorieta on Prolongacion de Montejo (a.k.a. the “Burger King” Circle), you could find yourself arrested and deported for publicly commenting on the issue or even for being close to the protests.

In addition, expatriates, also called immigrants, who become Naturalized Mexican Citizens can be stripped of their Mexican citizenship if they live abroad continuously for more than five years, under Article 37, Item II. Such Naturalized Citizens also cannot render voluntary services to a foreign government, unless approved by the Congreso Federal o de su commison permanente, nor can they accept or use foreign government titles of nobility (no fealty). This may not be something you are considering, but in case you are, it is good to know.

Finally, Article 32 of the Constitution bans immigrants, foreigners, and even naturalized citizens of Mexico from serving as Mexican-flagged airline crews or ship crews, Military Officers, or chiefs of seaports and airports.

This list of requirements and restrictions is not meant to cover all legal restrictions for expatriates, but it is a simple guide to avoiding unnecessary problems in these recent times of political and legal turmoil.

As a final note, even though “inconvenient” expatriates now get a legal hearing when accused of participating in political activities, there is no guarantee that the expat will win this hearing. especially if they get involved in political issues, make public political statements, or stick around witnessing protests over road and bridge constructions. As expatriates, we will have opinions. Any efforts at voicing those opinions or attempting to influence the government or Mexican citizens based on our opinions must not be taken lightly.

If you want more information on the changes, the Mexican Supreme Court has assembled a list of the changes at Reformas Constitucionales en Materia de Amparao y Derechos Humanos Publicadas en Junio de 2011. Read it in the original Spanish, and if you have any question about it, we suggest you contact a respected local lawyer or notario who speaks English to interpret it for you personally.

A Canadian general election is taking place on May 2, 2011. The Yucatan Living editors were contacted by the Canadian Consulate in Cancun to deliver this information to all our expatriate Canadian readers, to inform them about the resources available to them to assist them in voting in that election.

The Consulate would like to invite any and every Canadian to take the time to vote in this election. The following links will give you the information that you need to make that happen.

About the general election on May 2, 2011

Where to find out who and what you will be voting for

The web page to register for voting by mail and deadlines

For further questions, you can contact the Consular Program Officer:

Alie Bourgeois-Charbonneau

Consular Program Officer | Agent du programme consulaire
www.canada.org.mx
Tel: (011 52) 998 883 3360/61
Mitnet: 379-3652
Fax:(011 52) 998 883 3232
Centro Empresarial Local E7 Blvd. Kukulcan K.M. 12 Cancun, Quintana Roo
Consular Agency | Agence consulaire
Gouvernement du Canada | Government of Canada

We thought you might be interested to know that the State of Yucatan is currently employing various consultants and spending a lot of time and some amount of money to figure out what we expats do here in the Yucatan. They are trying to understand what we like about Merida and the Yucatan, what kinds of services we might expect and desire here in the future, and what things might attract future expatriates to this area.

To further that understanding, they are working with Margaret Wylde of ProMatura Consulting in Mississippi. Some of you may have had the pleasure of talking to Margaret in focus groups at the end of 2010. Margaret’s practice "is a full-service market research and advisory firm specializing in 50+ consumers and their housing, services, consumer products, customer service, marketing, and sales."

ProMatura has prepared a short survey that asks questions pertaining to your life here in the Yucatan and your plans for the future. Please click on the link below and take ten minutes to take the survey. The survey is anonymous and your individual answers are confidential. The results of the surveys will be compiled and presented to the Yucatan state authorities. We also plan to publish a summary of the results here. Your answers to these survey questions will help shape the future of the state of Yucatan.

Please take this survey!!

CLICK HERE to take the SURVEY

Thank you for your participation!