It's here, and it's working. For over a year we've been promoting the development of an Internet server in Puerto Peñasco, and we'd just like to let everybody out there know that it is here and readily available for hookup.

What will this mean to you?

1. Anybody who has a computer can connect to the local server, Infotec, which in turn is connected to the Internet and the rest of the world. The prices are very reasonable.
2. The dollar-a-minute long-distance phone call is dead in Puerto Peñasco. Now users can communicate with computers anywhere in the world for 79 pesos (about 10 cents) a call. This is the price, we are told, for a local call of any length.
3. Users can now send and receive inexpensive e-mail (electronic mail). The way it works is this. Each user has an address with a local server. It's like having a box at the post office. For instance, our address in Tucson is print@rtd.com Print is our individual address (post office box) and rtd.com is our local server (post office). So other users of this service might be charley@rtd.com, jfk@rtd.com , bigbucks@rtd.com, and so on. When Romeo in Puerto Peñasco wants to send us a message, he types it in on his computer, and it comes to our server in Tucson, where it is stored. Then when we turn on our computer and open up the e-mail section, we can click on a button and read the letter. If we're out, the letter waits till we ask for it, for days, if necessary. When we reply, we send our letter to Infotec in Puerto Peñasco, where it is stored until Romeo retrieves it with his computer there. This form of communication is much less expensive than long-distance phone calls.
4. We've been talking about benefits of the Internet for months, so we won't repeat them in detail here, but it will now be possible for Internet users in Puerto Peñasco to have access to such things as information about any specific subject, such as helicobacter pylori; viewing of paintings in El Prado; requests for U.S. income tax forms; ordering of commercial products. Perhaps more important, they can advertise their own products and services, show photos of the city to potential visitors, and manage such business transactions as hotel registration, all via the Internet. To see an example, type in our Internet address http://biz.rtd.com/plaza and view some possibilities. If you have any questions, e-mail us at our Puerto Peñasco address: elfuturo@infotec.net.mx A copy of your message will automatically be forwarded to our address in the U.S.

How did all this happen?

Infotec is being developed by Juan Vanegas, an Internet expert from Hermosillo, who grew up in Puerto Peñasco. He's had support from his two brothers-in-law, from Gerardo Portugal, and from other local citizens who encouraged this project. We wanted to be his first customer, but some others beat us to it.

We had an interesting conversation with Juan Vanegas and his wife Patsy. They have been staying at her parents' home while Juan gets the Internet up and running. Patsy is a beautiful young woman who radiates energy and goodness. She and Juan have two daughters, Alejandra and Cristina, whom we also met. Patsy's family owns Maderera Peñasco, a local lumberyard and hardware store. They have been in business here for years and are well-known. Patsy's brothers, José Luis and César, have joined her and Juan in this Internet server enterprise. They have provided the financing, and he has provided the computer expertise.

Juan told us that as of May 3 he had 30 subscribers, 40% of them Mexicans and 60% Americans. He said he was hoping to get 80-100 clients. We predicted he'd have 400 within a couple of months. (Don't let us down, all you people out there.)

Obviously Juan needs to hire more people for his office. He told us he was looking for an administrative assistant and a technical support person. He needs people who are simpatico, who like to work, and who will give excellent service.

Alejandra and Cristina were playing with their cousin Mireilly. We were introduced to all of them, as well as their grandmother, who was watching them and the baby, but we were a little confused by all the names and relationships. Juan obligingly drew a family tree for us, which is reproduced here. It shows the Mexican naming system in which every person has two surnames, father's and mother's. The father's is the officially used name, just as in the U.S., but the mother's is also retained to indicate family relationships. In Mexico wives do not change their names or stop using them when they marry, as has been the custom in the U.S. until recently, but they attach their husband's surname with a de to their own names.

While we were talking, José Luis came in from the lumberyard and joined the conversation. He speaks very good English, and when we asked him how he learned, he told us that when he was young he used to go to Los Angeles with his father to buy materials. He always wanted to go to McDonald's afterward, and his father told him if he wanted anything to eat, he'd have to order it. So he learned fast. We also had the chance to meet Patsy's other brother, César, who gave us a tour through the yard afterward.

As we were walking around the yard, looking at the concrete blocks, bricks, lumber, nails, and hardware, it occurred to us how fitting it was that the abstract electrons of the Internet world should be built on the lumber, concrete, and steel of the Durán family (Durán means lasting*).

Later, when we asked Juan what some of his long-term goals were, he said he wanted very much to introduce computers to those who have none. He told us that one of his dreams wass to have an Internet Center for young people, a place where they could learn and communicate with others anywhere in the world. The students could create their own Web pages, advertising the beauty of Puerto Peñasco and its people to our global neighbors.

* The Dictionary of American Family Names, ed. Elsdon C. Smith.

For Spanish

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Rocky Point Information Center