Spanish in Mexico

Are you feeling Kool? This week's feature is Kool Beachclub. As you can see it's superbly luxurious and unarguably gorgeous! It's located just a 5-minute walk away from the school and offers a range of very affordable services and amenities.

It has an enormous private swimming pool with VIP area, an open palapa bar that serves everything from your favorite beer to the fanciest cocktail; there are private diamond beds for two ($10 per day), and pillowed individual lounge chairs available for rent ($2 per day).

It also has a fantastic gourmet restaurant, which has live music almost every evening. What more could you want?!

This is El Faro.

Isn't is gorgeous?! It's located downtown, on 5th Avenue going down 10th. It's right on the beach and has restaurants with bars on both sides of it. The food on the beach is great, and the people are even better !

It's so great to come down here and order some delicious food or delectable drinks, enjoy the gentle breeze, and take in the view of the powdery white sand and crystal clear turquoise water!

En el mercado de comida típica mexicana que se encuentra en la Calle 6 entre las Calles 10 y 8, destacan los deliciosos olores de la comida que ahí se prepara.

Es imposible no detenerse para curiosear y saber qué es eso que huele tan bien y resulta más difícil no sentarse a saborear los deliciosos platillos que preparan: son una maravilla de la cocina regional yucateca. No solo se disfruta de la comida sino también del paisaje urbano, así como de todo el folklore que este maravilloso lugar ofrece.

Y en tu ciudad, ¿hay un lugar como este?

In Playa del Carmen, you can taste every flavor from Mexico. A great place to eat camarones (shrimps): Los Aguachiles.

You have a wide variety of shrimp tacos with a huge assortment of sauces: cilantro (coriander), spinach and cream, refried black beans and mushrooms with chile de árbol…

Then there's a great selection of tostadas, including tuna, shrimps, shrimp ceviche…

And our favorite at this restaurant: "Los Figurines", tacos served in lettuce leaves with a homemade dressing (see photo, above).

Still hungry…? Don't miss the desserts: Apple with pulpa de tamarindo (tamarind pulp), chile and chamoy sauce.

Prices: tacos $16 pesos; tostadas $16-20 pesos; figurines $18 pesos.

Nice atmosphere, outdoor restaurant, local people…

Los Aguachiles is on Calle 34, esquina 25 Av. Norte, and is open Monday to Saturday, 11.30am to 7.00pm.

Let's just suppose for a moment that you're tired of trying Mexican food (yes, we know it's unlikely!) and are ready for a change? If you ever do feel that way, go try the Euro-Thai Fusion food at Babe's.

They serve astonishing margaritas (mango, blackberry, and many more…) and have some delicious appetizers with original sauces, with the crab rolls with peach sauce and the shrimp rolls with mango, spinach and mango-mint sauce being particularly out-of-this-world.

The specialties include Thai Chicken, rice noodles, peanut and coconut lime-chile dressing, Curries, Teriyaki salmon filet with veggies and rice, Arrachera filet with mushrooms, garlic, spinach and parmesan on mash, and Swedish meatballs with cream sauce and pickled cucumber on mash… And we could go on!

Good location, nice atmosphere, good prices, and understandably always crowded.

>> Website www.babesnoodlesandbar.com
>> Babes: Calle 10 between 5th and 10 Avenue; and 5th Avenue between Calle 28 and 30

El Alux is in a truly spectacular location. Not only because it's underground, but because it is an underground cave which we here in Mexico call a cenote.

It is complete with stalactites, stalagmites and a little lagoon that is lit by a blue light that illuminates the waterfall, the sound of which adds to the ambiance, almost as much as the live music does. One might say that it is very dark, which it is, but visitors should expect this along with the slightly rocky and uneven floor, both small drawbacks truly worth enduring to eat dinner in a cenote.

Vegetarian enchiladas | Photo: Vanesa Rodríguez

If you are a vegetarian, don't worry, Playa del Carmen offers you options like vegetarian enchiladas, which you can find in one of the restaurants we've recommended previously El Nativo. Apart from enchiladas you can find other vegetarian dishes like tacos, quesadillas, tortas, and an amazing salad called El pájaro.

Another restaurant where you can find vegetarian food is "100% natural", which is on 5th Avenue between Calle 10 and Calle 12.

Of course, these are not the only two options to eat vegetarian food. More and more, restaurants in Playa are offering other options than meat or fish. So if you don't eat meat or fish, don't worry, Playa del Carmen is still a place for you.

A nuestros estudiantes les gusta comer en La Floresta… | Foto: Iris Unternaehrer

Claudia tells us about a great little restaurant that is well worth the taxi ride…

Claudia, Iris, Gregor y Nicole fueron a comer. Claudia nos cuenta:

La Floresta es un restaurante buenísimo en Playa del Carmen. No está en el centro de la ciudad, queda en la Carretera Federal pero en taxi se tarda sólo unos 5 minutos. El taxi cuesta unos 20 pesos y, no te preocupes, todos los taxistas saben como llegar.

Puedes comer de camarón (¡sólo 15 pesos un taco!) que son la especialidad de la casa y son riquísimos. Tienes que poner aguacate, salsa y limón.

El pico de gallo también es muy bueno en este lugar, ¡ah! y tienen las mejores micheladas de toda Playa del Carmen.

No es un sitio turístico. Es un buen lugar para ir a almorzar y el fin de semana hay mucho ambiente.

Si les gusta bucear, pueden hablar con Gonzo de "Dragons Divers" y después de bucear, unos buenos tacos de camarón en la Floresta.

Claudia Smith (Gran Bretaña)

Sandra previously told us about the best clubs in Playa del Carmen; now she tells us about two of her favourite bars, plus one on the beach at Tulum…

Bodeguita del medio
It has very good salsa lessons for free Tuesday and Thursday at 7:00 pm. You can meet a lot of nice people there, both locals and tourists. There's live music every night and you can practise what you have learned at the salsa lessons at school also !

At the Bodeguita you'll find the best mojito in town, and the prices are reasonable.

• Address: Av. 10 s/n Local 47, Esquina con 1ra Sur
• Website labodeguitadelmedio.com

Kitchen
I love this bar. It looks on to the Quinta Avenida and you can sit outside and watch people go by. They have a different live band every night with different types of music (rock, pop, salsa etc). Drinks are cheap for a bar on Quinta and the food is also very good. The staff there are very friendly too, so it's a perfect atmosphere for a night out in Playa del Carmen.

• Address: Quinta Avendia con Calle Constituyentes

La Zebra (Tulum)
It's beautiful.There is a live band playing salsa and merengue and the dance floor looks directly out on to the beautiful beach of Tulum. You can see the stars, the moon… It's "muy romántico"! It has a lot of cool places to sit and enjoy the atmosphere. Prices for drinks are normal, though the food is a bit costly.

• Website: lazebratulum.com

Sandra Buergi (Suiza)

El jueves 24 de abril se celebró el encuentro "Sólo Español" en Playa del Carmen. Este evento, organizado por la Directora General de IHRM, Tere González, propone un distintivo para los estudiantes de español que lleva por nombre "Sólo Español" en una zona turística como la Riviera Maya donde a los alumnos se les tiende a hablar en inglés o en su lengua de origen.

La idea es que nuestros estudiantes puedan distinguirse de los otros turistas, siendo turistas lingüísticos y que por medio del distintivo "Sólo Español" (escrito en un brazalete que se les va a entregar el día de su llegada), la gente les hable en español, practicando así el idioma no sólo en la escuela sino también fuera; en las tiendas, los restaurantes, etc. Queremos que los estudiantes sientan que sí han estado en México y que han platicado en español.

A la cena asistieron las revistas La Quinta y Voz de mujer. También fueron invitados representantes de otras instituciones educativas de Playa del Carmen, ya que la idea es que todos participemos en este proyecto. Una muy buena iniciativa que fue aplaudida por todos los presentes en la convención.

El evento se celebró en el restaurante Byblos, donde los estudiantes de IHRM pueden comer a muy buen precio y está justo al lado de la escuela.

El concepto, que ya se puso en marcha en nuestra escuela, ha tenido muy buena aprobación por parte de nuestros estudiantes.