Fiesty Cruz Roja director is in for the long haul
Blanca Batencourt, a 27-year-old woman from Puerto Vallarta, took up her position as the administrator of the Cruz Roja Chapala Delegacion just three months ago. She’s in charge of the day-to-day operation of the organization with its four ambulances (in two stations), the 24-hour-a-day clinic, 35 employees, at least some of the bookkeeping and collecting money. Certainly, the graduate of Centro Universitario de la Costa (CUC) in Business Administration is not a stranger to hard work. The eldest of seven children, she began working in her uncle’s tortilla store every day before school when she was 11 years old. She put herself through each level of her education. Her position before she decided to relocate to Lakeside was as a manager of the Deportenis sports equipment company in Puerto Vallarta. The change from her hometown is a big one, but she’s excited about what she’s doing. She managed a couple of hours away from her job this week to talk about it with Jeanne Chaussee.
A few people milled about outside in small groups waiting. Just before 9 p.m. the first riders glided from Calzada Independencia into the parking lot wearing reflective yellow vests and came to a stop at the back near the short but wide inviting mouth of the grey concrete Teatro Experimental. Tonight, Al Teatro en Bici would be holding its three-year anniversary—three years of Tuesday night bicycle rides to various artistic venues throughout Guadalajara, with the aim of promoting both health and art.
Overlooking Guadalajara, the Cerro del Cuatro is the only public green space that residents of Tlaquepaque, the city’s most polluted municipality, can enjoy.
A three-hour hike and a beautiful canyon – La Barranca de Huentitan – lie just on the edge of the city—if you can brave the rocky incline.
From all appearances, they are like any other upscale swimming pool. But a handful of Guadalajara pools boast something invisible that their owners say is increasingly important to swimmers — water purification systems that rely less on questionable chemicals and more on safer technologies.
The Museo de la Ciudad de Guadalajara has served as custodian of the city’s culture and heritage since its ceremonious opening in 1992. Even the site it occupies comes with a shred of history. The square yellow colonial building downtown began life as part of a convent in the 1700s, running through other uses over the centuries until City Hall purchased it in 1991. Currently, the museum is proudly showcasing a “Pilgrimage of the Huichol Indians to Wirikuta” exhibit.
Read the words “Mexico” and “chainsaw” in a news story and you might expect a gruesome account of narcos attempting to outdo each other in recreating the Texas chainsaw massacre. This is not one of those articles.