Saving Water - The water buckets in the guest rooms

In order to save water, which is very precious here in Oaxaca, the Hotel Las Mariposas puts water bucket in every guest room.

What are those water buckets exactly for? How does it work?

It is all very simple!

When you are about to take a shower you normally have to wait a few minutes until the water is getting hot. In order not to waste any water, you just take the provided bucket and “collect” the cold water until you would like to shower.

The full water buckets are going to be collected by the hotel management the following day. With this water the women are going to water the plants and it is also used for cleaning the floors!

If you are staying with us, we would be very thankful if you help us to save more water!

Thank you very much :)

Composting – Nature´s way of recycling

One of the mottos of the Hotel Las Mariposas is “Thinking Green”!

Therefore, we recycle our organic kitchen waste.

In the end of the process we get an extremely useful humus-like substance which we need to plant our plants.

The composting method the hotel uses is called “Worm Composting” and is the easiest and fastest way to recycle food waste.

First, we collect the organic kitchen waste and put it into bigger plastic buckets.

The organic waste stays in those buckets up to three weeks.

After this follows step two!

Therefore, you need a “Worm Bin”. The Hotel Las Mariposas built a wooden box and laid it out with a plastic foil. In order to make the process of composting work, you also need a little bit of soil and of course some worms which turn the organic waste into humus.

Very important is that the compost bin is kept out of the sun, rain and cold.

Otherwise, the worms die!

After two to three months you will get your “Black Gold”, the humus!

The hotel uses this method, because it is very environment friendly and easy accomplishable.

Café de Olla

This coffee is traditionally prepared in an earthenware pot called “Olla”.

To get started you have to heat the water in the pot. As soon as the water is boiling you add the coffee (approximately one tablespoon per cup), and if you like a little bit of cinnamon and sugar.

Leave the water boiling until all the different flavors are absorbed. The earthenware lends some of the special flavor to this drink, too.

Then remove the pan from the heat and allow it to stand or a while. (In the hotel we let it stand for a whole night to get a strong coffee taste!).

The following day we heat it up in a different pot in order not to burn the remaining coffee grounds.

Here, in the Hotel “Las Mariposas” we use organic coffee from a company called “La Café Organización &Organic Coffee”. The organization consists of a number of local coffee farmers from Oaxaca. They use only natural products to grow their coffee. By selling coffee the farmers have the chance to improve their living conditions and provide for their families.

Los pajaros de Piña Palmera

In order to support the local artists of Oaxaca the “Hotel Las Mariposas” exhibits a wide range of traditional art.

The Hotel stays in touch with several small art shops in Oaxaca and the nearby region, bringing the local handcraft, long living traditions and values one step closer to its guests.

In the rear courtyard the Hotel Las Mariposas displays some beautiful wooden birds which are painted with different bright colours.

Those birds are built by members of the “Piña Palmera Centro de Atención Infantil, A.C.”.

Piña Palmera is a non-governmental organization which is taking care of disabled people in the southern coast of Oaxaca for over 20 years. By buying a single piece of their art, you can support the life of the indigenous people and support their artistic talent.

For further information on Piña Palmera you can visit the website of the organization: www.pinapalmera.org

México Ciudad

Buenos días,
Good day,
 

Me llamo Thomas y estoy estudiante de Alemania. Desde un mes yo trabajo en el Hotel “Las Mariposas” como voluntario.
My name is Thomas and I´m student from Germany. Since one month I´m working for the hotel "Las Mariposas" as volunteer.

La semana pasada he visitado México Ciudad con mis amigos. Al principio nosotros hemos visto el Museo Nacional y el Museo de Arte moderno. Yo puedo recomendar a todos personas que gustan mucho aprender de la cultura de maya visitar el Museo Nacional. Además no pueden omitir de visitar las pirámides en Teotihuacán que esta 90 minutos del centro de México Ciudad.
Last week I visited Mexico City with two friends. First of all we have visited the Museum Nacional and the Museum of modern Art. In all conscience I can recommend to all persons they are interested in the maya culture and would like to learn a lot of the maya history to go to the Museum Nacional. Furthermore you need to see the pyramides in Teotihuacan that are 90 minutes away from the center of Mexico City.

Por supuesto ustedes no deben olvidar por visitar el Zócalo ya que hay muchísimos lugares muy importantes como el palacio nacional o el Templo mayor. El Templo mayor fue una de las primeras construcciones de los aztecas. Hoy ustedes pueden visitar las ruinas y su Museo. Para la mejor vista de la ciudad, tienen que visitar el Torre Latino.
Of course you should visit the Zocalo as well, where are a lot of important places like the Palace National or the Old Temple. The Old Temple was one of the first constructions of the Aztecans. Today you are able to visit the ruines and its museum. To get the most formidable view over Mexico City you need to go to Torre Latino.

La Basílica de Guadalupe es otro lugar para visitar ya es un buen lugar para relajarse, conocer otro aspecto de la cultura de México y disfrutar la mejor mirada sobre la ciudad. Esta a media hora distancia con el metro del centro.
The Basilica of Guadalupe is another place you need to see, where you are able to relax and enjoy your time.
Besides it is another aspect of the Mexican culture. By the way you have the best view over the city. It is a half an hour away from the center.

La vida nocturna es muy activa en el centro. De miércoles hasta sábado ustedes pueden presenciar fiestas en muchos callejones cerca del Zócalo. Hay también calles con discotecas en el centro que ofrecen todas tendencias musicales.
The nightlife is very active in the center. From Wednesday until Saturday you can experience a lot of partys on many street corners near the Zocalo. There are also streets with clubs in the center offering all kind of music.

Si te interesa visitar la ciudad de México, puedes visitar las siguientes páginas:
If you are interested in visiting Mexico City you can visit the following pages:

www.mexicocity.gob.mx

www.allaboutmexicocity.com

www.visitmexico.com

www.mexicocity.com.mx

Cuidado del medio ambiente en Las Mariposas / Environment-friendliness / Umweltschutz

Para preservacion del medio ambiente, tomamos medidas seguidas:

• Ponemos una botella de un litro en el tanque del  WC  para ahorrar agua en cada descarga. 
• En nuestra lavanderia solamente usamos productos biodegradables, asi el agua la podemos utilizar para regar el jardin y lavar los patios.
• Nosotros usamos LEDs  para iluminar las areas comunes y en las habitaciones tenenos focos ahorradores.
• Seperamos nuestra basura organica y tambien el PET, tetrapak, papel, latas, vidrio y baterias. La basura organica se saca al sol y la mezclamos con la tierra para tener abono.
• Usamos bolsas de plastico biodegradables que se reintegran al ambiente entre dos a cinco años.
• Tratamos de reducir el uso de las bolsas de plastico, ofreciendo a nuestros huespedes bolsas reutilizables.
• Invitamos a nuestros huespedes a recolectar el agua de las regaderas en lo que esperan que salga el agua caliente y esta agua se utiliza para posteriormente para la limpieza de la habitacion.
• Sugerimos cambiar las sabanas y las toallas cada tercer dia.
• Estas son pequeñas ayudas para el planeta, que no serian posibles sin la ayuda de ustedes...MUCHAS GRACIAS.

To help the preservation of our environment, we implement the following measures:

• We reduce water usage with our low-flow toilets that save one liter of water per flush.
• In our laundry we use only biodegradable products.We recycle water from the laundry to keep our garden lush and green.
• We use energy-saving LEDs to light the common areas and our rooms have energy saving light bulbs.
• We separate our garbage and provide container for pet, tetrapak,  paper, cardboard and batteries.
• We separate our garbage using biodegradables plastic bags.
•  We dry our biodegradable waste in the sun and mix it up with the earth to feed our plants.
• We reduce using plastic bags and invite our hotel guests to use reusable bags.
• We would like to invite you collecting water of the showers in a bucket before it is getting warm, so our staff is able to use it for cleaning the rooms.
• We propose changing sheets and towels every three days.
• This are only little steps to help our planet, but without your help it would not be possible....THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

 Um die Umwelt zu schuetzen, ergreifen wir folgende Massnahmen:

•  Unsere Toiletten sparen bis zu einem Liter pro Spuelung.
• In unserer Waescherei werden nur biologisch abbaubare Produkte verwendet. Das Wasser aus der Waescherei wird wiederverwertet um unsere Gartenanlage gruen und saftig zu erhalten.
• Wir gebrauchen energiesparende LED Lampen um die ueblichen Bereiche des Hotels zu beleuchten. Zudem sind unsere Zimmer mit Sparlampen ausgestattet.
• Wir trennen unseren Abfall und beruecksichtigen Behaelter fuer Pet, Tetrapak,  Papier, Karton und Batterien. Wir verwenden biologisch abbaubare Plastiktueten fuer unsere Muelltrennung.
• Unser Kompost wird in der Sonne getrocknet und mit der Erde vermischt um unsere Pflanzen mit wichtigen Naehrstoffen versorgen zu koennen.
• Um den Gebrauch von Plastiktueten zu reduzieren, bieten wir unseren Hotelgaesten den Gebrauch von wiederverwertbaren Tragetaschen an.
• Wir bitten unsere Hotelgaeste, das Duschwasser bevor es warm wird in einem Eimer zu sammeln, damit unser Personal es fuer die Reinigung des Zimmers verwenden kann.
• Wir schlagen vor, die Bettlaken und Handtuecher alle 3 Tage zu wechseln.
• Es sind nur kleine Schritte um unseren Planeten zu helfen, die ohne Ihre Unterstuetzung nicht moeglich waeren....VIELEN DANK! 

XXIV Procesión del Silencio

Viernes 2 de abril

La descripción:

La procesión del Silencio va tomando año con año, un fuerte arraigo entre las celebraciones de la Semana Santa en Oaxaca. Hace 14 años, en la parroquia de la Sangre de Cristo se reunieron por primera vez para organizar esta procesión el padre Pedro Osorio, la señora Ana Bravo Vasconcelos, el maestro osé Humberto Palancares y el Sr. Carlos Ocampo Prieto; cada uno expuso sus ideas, la soledad y la quietud de las hermosas calles coloniales con su atmósfera señorial hacían pensar si sería posible hacer realidad un sueño, lograr algo que pudiera ser para el futuro contricción de los cristianos, curiosidad de los extraños revivir algo que hace cientos de años se realizaba y que ahora al rescatarlo pasaría a la lista de las celebraciones de Semana Santa en Oaxaca.


Recorrido:

Inicia en el atrio del Templo de la Sangre de Cristo - Macedonio Alcala - Gurrion - 5 de mayo - Hidalgo - Valdivieso - Macedonio Alcala, terminando en el lugar de inicio.

18:30 hrs

Imágenes: