Busy times

We have had some good visits with family. Jeff, Tarra and Aiden arrived on Dec. 26th; Angie and Matt arrived on Dec. 27th. Jeff brought his Wii game machine so we all, except Barb, engaged in various contests. It can be quite addictive, especially if one is at all competitive. Every time you lose, you immediately want a rematch to try to get even. Lots of fun and much better than TV watching with its passivity. Jeff and Tarra left on the 28th, leaving Aiden behind. He is really good. He likes is afternoon nap at about 1 p.m. and goes to bed at 7. The only downside is that he wakes up at 5 a.m. or shortly after. However, even then if someone says hello, he seems content to stay in his crib, talking to himself.

Matt had to work on Monday, Dec. 29th so they got up and left about 8 a.m. Later about noon, Barb's sister Emma and her spouse Sonya arrived. We had lunch in the lodge and spent the afternoon together. Last night, there was just Aiden with us. Jeff and Tarra are to return today to attend a cooking demonstration at the lodge and to pick up Aiden. Also today Dawn and Gordon are to arrive before noon to spent 2 nights with us as well as attend the New Year's Eve dance. Then, on Dec. 31st, Barb's sister, Faye, and her husband Keith from Toronto are scheduled to arrive. Wendy and Greg may also come. We shall have a full house with 8 adults; however, it is possible to sleep 10 in this cottage so we can manage.

Dawn and Gordon leave on Jan. 1st. We are not sure how long the others will be here. Our time ends on Saturday, Jan. 3rd when we return to Halifax. Barb's brother, Dave, and wife Jess are coming down to Bedford on Sunday, so that will complete the visits with family. We leave very early on Jan. 5th to return to Ajijic. The visit is a busy, at times hectic, period, but we have managed to see a lot of people and relatives. White Point is a lovely, and restful place so that has helped. We always enjoy being here.

Gazebo

Today at White Point, it is raining; also, we have lost power about 4 times, although the longest was only about 2 hours at most.

With all the busyness, I have not had time to post photos of our new gazebo, which was finished just before the end of November. Here are some photos now. The first is at an angle with the bedroom to the right. the second is from the back wall looking towards the house. The third is in close with the entrance hall in the house in the background.

We seem to be getting more company here at White Point. Barb's sister, Faye, has called to say that she and Keith are going to come down from Toronto to visit us Dec. 31 and maybe until the Jan. 2. There is a possibility, albeit a bit remote, that her sister, Wendy and her husband Greg may come at the same time. With Dawn and Gordon here, that would make a total of 8. That is not serious, because at a pinch, we could sleep up to 10 people here. At any rate, it will ensure that we make good use of our 3 bedroom, 2 bath cottage. And all for my birthday!

White Point Beach Resort

It has been over 3 weeks since I posted on this blog. It has been a very busy time. Marilyn and Del, friends of Nancy as well as Kate & Jack, visited the latter for a week in early December. We were busy going to dinner, going to the spas in San Juan Cosala and Tlaquepaque. I was also marking and grading essays from my course. Then, we had to get ready to make the trip to Halifax.

Jack and Kate are looking after Bijou for us. On the 15th we took Bijou and stayed at their condo to see if Bijou would settle there. Early (5:30 a.m.) Jack got us up and drove us to the airport. That was early and we got there with almost 2 hours before flight time. However, I then noticed that I had forgotten our computers--necessary because it had my grades to be submitted in Halifax. We rushed back home to Ajijic, got the computers and got back to the airport with just a half hour before boarding (an hour before takeoff). On going in to get our boarding passes, we learned that we needed our FM3 visa documents. Barb had packed them in our carryon luggage. We searched, but were unable to find them immediately; under stress like that one does not perform well. The lady at the counter gave us some forms that had to be stamped by an immigration official, if he was willing. We rushed down to the office; fortunately, although a bit grumpy, he agreed to stamp the forms. Then we had to rush to security; after that, we had to run to another terminal at the far end of complex. When we got there, they had already started the boarding process; however, there was a long line which we could join. This was still not the end. For some reason, there was another security check before boarding the Continental Airlines flight; my suspicion is that Americans don’t trust the Mexican security. This check did not have x-ray machines so everything was being done by hand going through our carryon luggage. The guy in my line, opened the suitcase, took a quick look and examination and waved me through. However, Barb got a young woman, new to the job, and she examined everything thoroughly. Barb had wooden knitting needles (ok), but the young woman didn’t know and had to call someone higher up. She also kept going over Barb with the wand because it kept setting alarm, probably the snaps on her coat. Barb was the last to get on the bus and was holding everyone up. Needless to say, we were pretty frazzled by the time we got on board. Thankfully, because we had not had time to eat, there was a decent breakfast on the airplane.

Everything went well until we got to Newark, N.J. Although the temp. was just above freezing, it was snowing and planes were behind schedule. There was a huge backup of planes because they had to be de-iced. We had a car rental reservation, but I was worried that there would be no one at the desk. We were supposed to get in just before midnight and they were supposed to close at 12:30 a.m. I had been warned to call if we were going to be delayed. I did that and the woman said that she would wait. However, when we were over 3 hours late, I didn’t expect her to be there. However, there she was even though it was about 3:15. She was very cheery, with a wry sense of humour. I had given her the flight number so she had watched as the time kept getting later and later. We were exhausted when we finally got to Barb’s sister’s house in Bedford (about 4 a.m.).

We then had 3 busy days in Halifax, keeping appointments, changing addresses, picking up my exams to mark, etc. We did get to the Brunch Club party at Estelle’s condo on Friday night. It was great to see so many of our friends in the Brunch Club. Barb had her computer with lots of photos of Ajijic, not just hers but Nancy’s and Estelle’s. I expect our Brunch Club friends were getting a bit sick of hearing about Ajijic by the end.

We finally got to White Point Beach on Saturday, December 20th. The temperatures are certainly a shock after leaving Mexico. The night of the party, it was -12 C. Sunday night there was a big storm hitting the Maritimes. There was some snow, which turned to rain; the big problem was the wind which reached close to hurricane force. We lost power here for a short time in the night, but nothing very long. However, quite a number of people in Halifax area lost power. Barb’s son Jeff lost power for about 9 hours; it turned colder today (about -5 C) so it was getting quite cool. We heard that Point Pleasant Park in Halifax has been closed until the downed trees can be removed. That park was devastated by Hurrican Juan a few years ago. It apparently got zapped again.

The forecast is for the temperatures to get warmer and even perhaps rain on Christmas Day. I finished grading my exams and submitted the final grades this afternoon. Thus, I am now free to enjoy our time here. What ever comes, we are very cozy in our White Point cottage with a nice big fire in the fireplace. I’ll try to keep up to date better now that we have got our must-do tasks pretty well taken care of.

Goodbye to the gang of 4 from Halifax

It has been a busy time, especially this last week with the ladies from Halifax. On Tuesday, Jack & Kate had the whole gang to their place for dinner. We relaxed on Wednesday night, but the ladies had all of us to their place for dinner on Thursday night. Friday night we all went to Bodega restaurant for dinner and a bit of dancing. Saturday night, everyone was here to help us celebrate the completion of our gazebo. We were lucky in that it was a warm day (27 C) and evening so that we could eat and sit out all evening. Tonight it is much cooler. This morning, I took the ladies to the airport for their return to Halifax. I think that they all enjoyed this short, but meaningful emersion in Mexican culture.

They got to witness most of the Ajijic’s San Andres fiesta (about 11 days). They went a couple of times in the evening to witness the activities (including the fireworks) and of course the morning firecrackers at 6 a.m. each day to wake people up for mass. Today in the plaza in front of the main church, there were Indian dancers putting on a long dance programme. I don’t know how they could keep going for so long. This is the last full evening of the fiesta. Each day’s events, including the fireworks and free entertainment in the town plaza, is sponsored by a different group or area of town. Apparently, as soon as one year’s fiesta is finished, the groups start saving money and planning for their day the next year. Each group wants to put on as lavish and grand a display as possible.

As I mentioned, the gazebo is finished. However, we also got a heavy screen door (with iron bars) installed in the guest bedroom. I had expected a frame that would be screwed into the walls. However, when it came (it was made-to-order by a blacksmith), it was intended to be embedded in concrete. They chopped the cement door step so that they could put the door with a piece of rebar down about 4 inches and recemented. Along each side were three 4 inch, v-shaped pieces of metal. They then chopped holes in the wall so that these could be put in place and cemented in! It is mostly done, except that the painter has to finish a few touchups on Monday. Like the gazebo, it is extremely solid and well built (cost including installation 4000 pesos--$400). Also, we had 4 other jobs done around the house while they were here. The extra charges for these was 850 pesos (about $85). I almost fell over because I was expecting 3 or 4 times that amount. Jose Luis’ reputation for good and very reasonably priced work is well deserved.

It is hard to realize that tomorrow is December and we shall be leaving for Halifax on Dec. 16, just a little over 2 weeks away. I expect that the temperatures and weather will be a bit of a shock. BTW, our friends, Kate and Jack also have a blog so you can get other news and views from Ajijic http://www.kateandjack.blogspot.com/

A small world

I think the workers finished the gazebo at about 6 p.m. tonight. I went out and gave them each a bottle of beer to celebrate. They’ll be back tomorrow to collect their gear, but I think the work is done and a fine job they did. It is a really solid structure and really looks nice. Tomorrow, we’ll do some cleanup, get the furniture moved around and under the gazebo and will take some pictures which we’ll post here to show off our new addition.

Today, I went early to the restaurant where we play bridge to get a bite of lunch. There was a woman sitting alone (although I knew that she was also going to be playing bridge) so I asked if I could join her. In conversation, we discovered that we are both from Canada. We chatted as we ate. Just as we were getting up to go play bridge, we exchanged names. It was then that I discovered that her name was Rajhathy! She is Judit’s mother. She was surprised that I had met Judit in Dartmouth. We keep getting reminded that it can be a small world. When Jack & I were playing bridge, the first couple we played with are from New Brunswick; they are snowbirds, but have been coming here for 12 years. The next couple we played with are from Alberta. Lots of Canadians here. Nancy’s son-in-law mentioned to his boss that Nancy was in Mexico. She asked where Nancy was . He couldn’t remember the name, but his boss then asked if it is Ajijic. When he confirmed that it was, his boss then had a relative who is visiting or living here also. The word seems to be spreading rather widely.

There is a little story about Barb’s bowflex exercise equipment. We had originally discussed with the seller taking the machine apart to try to fit it into our station wagon. However, when we got there, he said he had worked out a better arrangement. A friend who has a pickup was coming with another friend (all in the same neighbourhood) to take the machine, more or less intact, to our place. We got here and they were very intrigued to see the place. One of them had lived right next door and the other one just in the same block down the street. Barb said, “So you all lived here and then moved to the mountain.” They agreed, then they said as they were leaving, “We’ll see you next year when you move to our neighbourhood.” Their neighbourhood is well out of our price range, but we are not sure that we would prefer theirs anyway. Their views are gorgeous; however, they are not within walking distance of anywhere. They are at least 5-6 kms from Ajijic and over 3 from Chapala. Thus, except for walking along the Carretera (there is a walking/bicycle path for at least 15 kms), they have to go by car or bus to get anywhere. We often go for several days without ever getting into the car as we can walk to everything in Ajijic.

It turned out that they also knew the workers who were working on our gazebo. Jose Luis had done work for them. In fact, the seller of the bowflex said that Jose Luis had been up that very day to look at a faucet or some such at his place. They spoke very highly of Jose Luis and his workers. The latter certainly have built up a big, solid reputation among the ex-pats down here. Jose Luis was recommended to us by fellow Nova Scotians, Gary and Cathy.

Fiesta time

We have been busy. The work around the house, especially on the gazebo, has continued and is almost finished. I just spoke with the contractor and he says that there will just be finishing touches for Monday. The roof is about 80% tiled. On Friday, the blacksmith came and took measurements for the screen door to be installed on the spare bedroom. That too will be finished and installed sometime next week. With the tiles mostly fiinished on the gazebo roof, it is looking very good, as good as I had visualized it.

Barb had been trying to find a way to get a Total Gym exercise equipment, but has found that there is no way to get one delivered in Mexico and no one seems to sell them here. She even went to the new Wal-Mart store which opened just last week a few blocks from us. Barb was swearing that she would never go to Wal-Mart, but she was desperate. They had nothing worth buying. However, she saw a classied ad for a Bowflex machine. We went to see it; it is a professional model with all the bells and whistles. We bought it. Barb will be able to start getting herself in shape again.

The guy we bought if from has a very interesting story. He and his wife are Canadians (from Nova Scotia) who have lived down here for 12 years. He said that they had been in the restaurant business for many years and had been able to sell out and retire early. However, they had invested their money in the US and have lost so much in the current financial collapse that they have to sell and go back to Canada to return to work. As you can imagine, he was pretty bitter about those responsible; however, for some reason, he is blaming Democrats in the US Congress, rather than the Republicans who I hold responsible--the entire ‘deregulate everything’ bunch since Ronald Reagan. He says that his wife is already back in Nova Scotia working while he tries to sell. The house (for which they are asking almost US$550,000) is beautiful. It is up the side of the mountain with gorgeous views of the lake. It has 3 bedrooms and 3.5 baths. Very luxurious in all respects. I noticed and commented on the huge stainless steel BBQ. It was obviously his pride and joy as he described all the features. He said that it had cost over $6,000. All the furniture is going with the house.

The Ajijic annual saint’s fiesta officially go started yesterday. That means big, loud, ‘boom’ firecrackes (rockets) in the evening, and again in the morning. They were going for almost half an hour starting about 6 a.m. this morning. The fiesta lasts for about 2 weeks. The entire area about 2 blocks around the town plaza is closed to traffic and rides for the children as well as all kinds of stands to sell food and other things are set up in the streets. Then, there are entertainments almost every night in the plaza. Our ladies from Halifax are down near the center of all this. It should be very interesting for them even if they would be happy to do without the firecracker serenade at 6 a.m.

The weather this week has been cooler than it usually is this time of year. However, the forecast is for warmer weather next week. Of course ‘cooler’ is relative. It has been going down to 9 - 11 C at night and only up to about 20 - 22 C in the afternoon. Not exactly frigid, but one does have to put on a sweater at night and I have given up my shorts for long blue jeans and my sandals for shoes and socks. Real hardship!

Barb goes solo into Guadalajara

The work on the gazebo continues. Doing the roof rafters was quite a problem for the workers, because with 6 sides, the angles are very tricky and Jose is very demanding and requiring that they not only get it right, but that it looks right. He had them move some secondary rafters because he wanted them turned the other way. We also found out about how some things are done here in Mexico. The workers need 240 volt power for their welding equipment. However, because we don’t use use electric stove, electric water heater or clothes dryer, we have only a single 120 volt wire into the house. However, this problem was solved by bringing 2 long wires (at least 150 feet) to go from the back of the house, across the street to the power pole. There, they use a long bamboo pole to hook the wires over the power lines. Today out walking, I saw another house with wires leading from the power pole into a house where there is no meter! Apparently, construction workers do this all the time. I expect there are quite a few places where the meter is bypassed.

We have had Jose’s workers do a couple of other jobs as well. There was a leak in the master bathroom where the drain from the roof (it is flat there) comes down through the wall. Also, they added about a foot to the bevelled lift up the curb to the driveway. The front of the car (and in the middle too if there was a load in the car) frequently scraped. Finally, they installed an electric plug beside the fountain and ran the wire under the grass, up the side of the wall and into a kitchen plug with a switch. Now we can turn the fountain on/off from inside the house.

Today is an adventure for Barbara. There is a big craft/art show in Tlaquepaque with artisans/artists from all over Mexico and even farther in Latin America. Someone had to stay home to let the workers in. I did that while Barbara drove the 4 ladies from Halifax in. This is the first time that she has driven much in Guadalajara and certainly the first time she has driven in by herself. She called on the cell to tell me that they had made it in without any trouble and she has now reported that they are all back safe and sound in Ajijic. Driving to Tlaquepaque is pretty straightforward. However, after this, Barbara may feel more confident about driving in.

More Brunch Club in Mexico

We have had a busy time since the contingent from Halifax arrived. Also, the mid-term exams for my online course finally arrived. Thus, I had to do some marking during the other activities. However, as Barb can drive, she and the other women went to San Juan Cosala to check out the spas and had dinner at Reuben’s restaurant. Last Friday, we all (8 of us) went to Chapala for a display of Indian art/crafts. Barb and the 4 women went by car while Kate, Jack and I took the bus. The latter is a really interesting Mexican experience just on its own. The buses run very frequently all along lakeside so that one does not have to wait very long. However, the one we got on made it way down into San Antonio before going to Chapala; the bus had no springs or cushions on the seats. You could feel every bump (some really big ones) directly in your bottom. There are direct buses, but we didn’t want to wait. Next time, it might be worth it. However, as I said, it was an experience.

Almost everyone bought something at the show. I got a ‘rainbow’ shirt. Once I got it home and tried it on, it seems a bit too big, but maybe we can take it to a seamstress to get it adjusted. After, we went to the restaurant on the pier. It has wonderful mocajetes. These are a special Mexican dish. It can have beef, chicken or shrimp (or in this case a mix of all three) plus some vegetables (onion, green peppers, etc.) and lots of cheese. It is then served in a large bowl carved from lava rock and heated to a very high temperature. They are really too big for one person. For the 8 of us, we got three and everyone had more than enough. There were 2 bands playing for some of the other patrons; they took turns playing songs. I know that the one band (9 players) charges 100 pesos per song. However, when they came to our table, we demurred.

This morning at Open Circle, the speaker was Judit Rajhathy, another Nova Scotian from Dartmouth. I mentioned meeting her at the Canadian Consulate in Guadalajara in October; it’s a small world after all, as the Disney song says.

There is a bridge club every Monday. Jack & Kate played last year, but Kate is not too keen this year; Jack has asked me to be his partner. However, while they are here, the 4 ladies (all bridge players from the Brunch Club) are going to go as well. That is tomorrow. We shall continue to have a busy time, I’m sure.

Halloween and the Day of the Dead

Halloween was a bigger deal here than we expected. There is a 2 day event here, the Day of the Dead, Nov. 1 & 2. Mexicans set up small altars with candles, flowers, etc. in remembrance of dead relatives and/or friends. This custom predates the Spanish conquest and appears to have been tacked on to the Christian All Souls Day. The Catholic Church does not like it very much and has long tried to discourage it because they feel (correctly I think) that the Indian population simply used it as a cover to continue a pre-Christian custom. It is like the cult of the Virgin of Guadaloupe which was a way to continue worship of a pre-Christian Aztec goddess. According to our Spanish instructor, the Day of the Dead seemed a few years ago to be dying out as the enthusiasm for the imported Halloween custom was taking over. However, deliberate efforts have been made to revitalize the Day of the Dead. The restaurants we went to over those two days all had altars commemorating the custom. However, Halloween is popular with the kids who love to go around collecting candy, etc. We had 60-75 at least--a lot more than we used to get in Bedford. Luckily, we had been warned by Rosendo, our gardener, in the afternoon and had stocked up on candy. Even then we got cleaned out.

The work on the gazebo has started as of Friday. Jose was absolutely meticulous in measuring out where to put the six anchors for the posts. One of his workers then cut out the concrete and stone for 8” square holes and other workers chopped them out and dug down for about 30 inches. The gazebo is certainly going to be well anchored. They had to stop before noon today because Jose was not able to get the iron rebars that he needed; they should do the concrete tomorrow as they brought the cement and sand today. We have asked Jose to do a couple of other small jobs while his men are here. One is to put screen doors on the spare bedroom. It has patio doors, but no screen doors. We are also getting him to fix a small leak that we had in the master bathroom.

All the Halifax people arrived on Saturday, although Jack and Kate had their luggage go astray. But there we all were (8 members of the Brunch Club) at Open Circle and then we all went to the Neuvo Pasada Hotel for brunch. At Open Circle, first timers are asked to introduce themselves; there were loud cheers as the 4 women from Halifax introduced themselves. The moderator happened to be a Canadian and she commented that the Maritimes was certainly being well represented. The weather, which had been overcast for at least 3 days last week, has turned absolutely perfect since their arrival. The ladies seem well pleased with their house for the month; however, they commented on the fact that the roosters seemed to be crowing at all hours, day and night. Barb saw Kate & Jack’s condo townhouse (I haven’t seen it yet) and says that it really terrific; it is very new, with marble floors, brand new appliances and a gorgeous view of the lake.

Gazebo

We are having a cold spell. The high temp today according to our themometer was 21 C. The last couple of days, we have been having a lot more wind than we have been accustomed to and there has been more clouds. That is what holds the temperatures down. At 7 a.m., the temperature was about 16 C; that is not very cold. Monday night when we went to the Viva la Musica! concert, I wore long pants for the first time since we arrived here in May. It wasn’t cold, but cool enough that I felt that I could ‘dress up’ and not be too hot. By the way , the concert (a brass quintet) was really enjoyable. The guys really hammed it up, while still playing good music. They go much further than the Canadian Brass in their slapstick.

We have decided to go ahead building the gazebo in the patio. We had been thinking about combining it with solar panels. However, the latter are very expensive and since we got the new refrigerator, our consumption has dropped way down below the DAC rates. We had gotten the consumption down to just under 8 kwh/day which is just barely under the 250 kwh/month that is the limit to avoid the DAC. However, with the new frig, our rate seems to be just about 6 kwh/day. That would be about 180 kwh/month--well under. Thus, it is not economic to do the solar cells at this time.

We called Jose, the contractor recommended by Gary and Cathy. We had talked to him in July and got an estimate. However, we did not have the money then. He came over very quickly Monday when I called. I think that he had probably given up any expectation that we would call. He came back today with a revised estimate (we want to make it slightly smaller in order not to cut off the sun shining in the windows in the winter months). We gave the go ahead and some materials were delivered this afternoon; he plans to bring at least one worker tomorrow by noon to start. Barb also saw a wrought iron and glass top table with 3 chairs at a used furniture place. We bought it as he gave us a special price of 2300 pesos (about $230) because there are only 3 chairs. The table is bigger and much more substantial than the plastic one with umbrella that was here when we came. Thus, things are moving along. Jose said maybe 2 weeks to finish, but with the fast start, maybe even sooner.

Time change

We have had a couple of days of cloudy and cooler weather. However, it was sunny today, although the temperature only got up to about 26 C. Early this morning, Mexico turned the clocks back to Central Standard Time. I was confused and thought that that would put us only 1 hour behind Atlantic time in Halifax. However, it works the other way. Right now we are 3 hours later than Halifax and 2 hours later than Toronto and other places in the Eastern time zone. It will be that way until Canada and the US go back to standard time in about 3 weeks or so. It was strange to have it get dark at 6:30 p.m. I guess that we will have to eat before that time if we want to eat outside on the patio for dinner.

We are having a relatively quiet period, getting back into our routine. Open Circle this morning and then brunch at the Secret Garden Restaurant. We do have the final Viva la Musica! concert of the season Monday night. However, next Saturday, November 1st, there will be the invasion of Brunch Clubers from Halifax. Jack and Kate return until next April and 4 women are coming to stay for a month. We are very much looking forward to seeing everyone. Jack and Kate, of course, were the ones who invited us down last February and introduced us to Ajijic and Mexico. Thus, they know about things down here. However, for the 4 ladies, this will be new and we are interested to see how they react and respond to Mexico. So far, everyone who has visited seems to have enjoyed it here, although no one has so far followed our example.

Barb can drive the car!

Well, we have just learned that we were misinformed about Barb’s right to drive down here! The restriction on driving foreign plated cars applies only to Mexican citizens; they are not allowed to drive foreign plated cars unless the owner or another foreigner is in the car or they are relatives of the owner. I’m not sure how well the ban on Mexicans is enforced because I see many Mexicans driving foreign plated cars. In any case, in addition to family, any foreigner with a valid visa in Mexico (i.e., Barb) can drive the car, even though it is in my name. Also, Barb is listed on the insurance as a qualified driver so we are covered there; insurance companies are very restrictive about who they will cover in the event of an accident. This will make a big difference for Barb; she has been chaffing at not being able to drive. We’ll still the change the ownership of the car to both names in December, but in the meantime, she can drive.

While RoseMary and Larry were here, we had to two big rains, one with a big thunderstorm. We had thought that we were just about finished. Maybe now. The weather is just about perfect. It gets up into the high 20’s in the daytime, but down to 15-18 at night. The days are getting a bit shorter now, but not nearly so dramatically as you experience in the northern climes. Also, we go back to standard time on Sunday. Mexico did not alter its timing when the US (Canada followed) changed the dates to later in November last year. This change will make it better for doing my run in the morning as it has been a bit dark when I run between 7:30 and 8 a.m.

Barb has now moved her fountain more into the middle of the back stone wall as we have cut down some of the Virginia creeper (it is all going to go in the next couple of days). She is thinking of getting bougainvillea to replace it. It does extremely well here and unlike Virginia creeper, it has flowers.

The circus has come to town! Almost directly above us in Upper La Floresta above the Carretera is a water park called Tobolandia. The circus has pitched its tents there. Every day for the last week, trucks carrying or pulling wagons with animals go around the local towns with loud speakers urging people to see the circus. We have seen a tiger, a llama, a baby lion and 2 camels being hauled around. We haven’t gone and don’t really know what kind of show they put on. I think that circuses have pretty well disappeared from Canada and the US.

RoseMary & Larry

It has been a long time since I entered a post. RoseMary and Larry left this morning; we have had a busy time. Mostly, we wanted to show them the sights and places around here that we show everyone--Chapala, Jocotepec, San Juan Cosala, etc. In fact, on Wednesday, Oct. 15th, we took them to San Juan Cosalá and then to Rueben’s Grill for their 42nd wedding anniversary. It seems that they had a good time. They are planning to go on a big tour to Hawaii, with a cruise back to Vancouver next year; because to that, they say it will be two years before they come back, but really do want to come back. They are even talking about renting a place and staying 2 or 3 months!

On Sunday, October 12th, just after their arrival, I had gotten tickets for all of us to Ballet Tango. I think that they are Mexican dancers, but were doing a whole range of tango dances from early 20th C to very modern. The dancers were very good. The dance troupe is going to give another concert late in November although I’m not sure whether it will be only tango again. We’ll certainly try to go to that as well. They performed at the Auditorio, which is just a few blocks from us; I hadn’t realized the location, even though we have passed in innumerable times, because the sign is partially faded. Then, on the 13th, we went to the Canadian Club’s Thanksgiving Day dinner at the Nuevo Pasada Hotel. It was a very traditional and delicious dinner--turkey with stuffing, cranberries, and sweet potato. The dessert was pumkin pie.

Another piece of exciting news is that we now have our FM3s--the permanent tourist visa; they are about the size and shape of passports. Early in September when we had enough money, we had gone to a small company in Chapala that does all the paperwork. It is a rigamarole because documents have to be translated into Spanish. We finally got a call in the afternoon to go the next morning to Chapala by 8 a.m (not much warning). There was a young man who drove us (another couple, plus a Canadian, 5 altogether at the same time) to Guadalajara. It went like clockwork. The fellow had all the documents and took each of us in turn to the window to sign the final papers and affix our thumb prints. We were back in Chapala in 3 hours. Somehow, we had gotten the idea that it would cost about 3,000 dollars for the two of us. However, it came out to just under 8000 pesos (800 dollars). We were getting a bit worried because Barb’s FMT (the 6 months visa) would have ended in the first week of November.

On Friday, we all went in to Tlaquepaque (I just discovered that officially it too has a saint’s name tacked on the front--San Pedro, although it seems that hardly anyone uses it); we wanted RoseMary and Larry to see urban Mexico after seeing the older, not much changed towns of the Lake Chapala area. While there, we ate at another great restaurant; we seem to end up at a different one each time we go! When we were there a couple of weeks ago with Dawn and Gordon, Barbara saw a water fountain that she has been yearning for ever since. She headed there and insisted that I go in to look at it again. There was no holding her back this time, and we bought it. The woman in the store said that they could deliver it on Saturday, which they did. It was soon set up (it’s made of fiberglas, but made to look older and weathered) and working. It is against the back wall. in a spot where there was little of the Virginia creeper vine. However, it is not centered as Barb would like and I expect that it won’t be too long before it is moved. It is not very heavy once the water is emptied out. However, where she wants to put it, there is a large, old vine going up the wall. It would have to be cut down. However, all the Virginia creepers along the wall are looking very sick and Barb thinks that they are dying. As a result, they may have to come down anyway. In any case, she can now go out and sit in the courtyard and listen to her fountain.

Election day

Yesterday (Tuesday) late in the afternoon close to closing time for the Canadian consulate in Guadalajara, we got a call. They said that our voting packages had come in. I was surprised because they said that they were only going to send the applications on Monday; however, I think that they must have faxed the applications; courier would be slower than that. The information said that the ballots had to reach Ottawa before October 14th. However, on the phone, they said that we had to get in and complete the ballots before noon today. We left right after breakfast as I wanted to be back in order to go to my Spanish conversation class at 11:30. Of course, we knew how to get there having just gone there last Friday. It took about 50 minutes driving as there was some fairly heavy traffic going in to the city.

I had expected to see the usual ballot with the candidates in the riding listed with the places to put the X. Not so. These were really write-in ballots. There was just one slot and you had to write in the name of the candidate you wished to vote for. This was a problem because we had not looked up to see all the names of the candidates! This reduced the choices considerably! However, we can say that we went to some effort and expense to do our civic duty. There was not too much traffic on the way home and the entire trip was completed in just about 2 hours and I had plenty of time to get to my class.

Tomorrow, my sister RoseMary and her husband Larry arrive for 9 days. This will be the first time that they have travelled outside Canada and the US, although they did do an Alaskan cruise last year. However, unlike Sarah Palin, they do not claim to have seen or learned a lot about Russia as a result of being in Alaska.

A busy Friday

We had a very busy and interesting day, yesterday. It started early as Barb had an appointment with her GP at 8:30 a.m. She was thinking of getting the blood work that her doctors in Canada had ordered regularly; however, even in Mexico it would cost over $300. It boggles the mind to think how much it costs in Canada. Actually, as it turned out it was just as well she didn’t .

Anyway, at 12:30 we had an appointment with Jsun Mills; a coincidence that we have the same last name. He is a consultant on alternate energy sources--the sun. He was coming to see what we might do. We have been planning to do a gazebo in the courtyard and we finally have the money. However, we wanted to think about the possibility of solar panels for electricity. We were wondering if we could combine the 2, but we probably should think of 2 separate structures. We finally got a new refrigerator so that that should lower our consumption and we are now just under the level that would trigger the DAC. Anyway, Jsun had a little gizmo which shows where the sun and any shadows are all year round. Our backyard is very good for getting the maximum sun for solar panels. Also, he says that whether planned or not, our place is excellent as far as maximizing the passive solar heating in the winter months and minimizing the heat buildup in the summer. He has a designer and architect who he works with and will outline our situation to see if she has ideas on what we might do.

Then, we were going in to Guadalajara for 2 things. Barb had an appointment with a rheumatologist recommended by her Halifax rheumatologist at 6:30 p.m. We also wanted to submit our application for absentee voting in the election to the Canadian consulate in Guadalajara, which has hours 9 - 2, & 4 - 5. The consulate is sending all applications to Ottawa early next week, then the ballots will come back to the consulate. We go in and pick up the mail-in ballots, complete them and then the consulate will send them to Ottawa. I got out the maps and planned our route. It was actually not bad as the consulate is just south of the Cardenas freeway and the main street to the doctor’s office was close; we only had to go 2 - 3 kms north from there. Security in the building where the consulate is (Guadalajara World Trade Center) is very tight. It was a bit of a rigmarole to get in. While we were in the consulate waiting room, we started to chat with another woman, who turned out to be from Dartmouth. Not only that, but it turned out that she was Judit Rajhathy (I’m not sure that the spelling is correct). Both Barb and I had had brief acquaintance with her in Dartmouth! She wrote a book in the early 1990s about how to deal with allergies and sensitivities, especially among children. We had discovered in February that she had moved to Ajijic a few years ago and started a workout gym on the Carreterra. We had intended to contact her (Barb actually went to the gym, but she wasn’t there that day), but had not got around to it. Thus, we met her in Guadalajara where she was trying to get her renewal passport and was frustrated that it was taking so long; she in fact had had to change her plane reservations because the new passport was so slow in being sent. Anyway, we were trying to calculate the odds of meeting her there in those circumstances and decided that it was a very large number indeed.

We had lots of time to get to the doctor’s office. We did well navigating, Barb reading the map while I drove. We made one late turn, but back on track in just a few minutes. Going there and coming back, we had to go through several large traffic circles, which we had not done before. That is challenging, because the signs are not always very clear. However, we managed all of them successfully; that was very satisfying. We got to the doctor’s office with almost an hour and a half. Thus, we had time to go out for dinner, to an Italian pizza restaurant! Well, it was better than the McDonald’s, which was also nearby! Actually, the pizza was good.

Barb really liked the rheumatologist; it turns out that he did some of his training in Canada in New Brunswick! However, some of his comments were sobering. He wants to make significant changes to her medications, but is going to talk to her Halifax rheumatologist first. When we were coming home to Ajijic, we were surprised at the traffic; it was well after 8 and after dark. With the afternoon closing of many businesses, many people are not going home until later than we expect in Canada and the US. It was just about 9 p.m. before we got home and were very happy to drive into our own yard and ‘nuestro casa’. However, we noted that we had managed to get around Guadalajara without either of us getting short-tempered; we are obviously getting more confident and even comfortable in getting around Guadalajara. That is good because we have to go in to get blood work done in about 4 weeks and then back to see the rheumatologist in about 6 weeks.

Opossum in the BBQ

On Sunday night at about 3 a.m., all 3 of us (including Bijou) were awakened by a noise coming in through the bedroom door out to the courtyard. It was a metal sound and we immediately thought that there might be someone trying to break in. We went all around the inside of the house, but could see nothing, even when Barb had the presence of mind to turn on the patio lights. Not seeing anything, Barb & I went back to bed, then we heard Bijou whining outside the door. We had not fastened or locked that door; Bijou had pushed it open and gone into the courtyard. We then concluded that the wind must have been causing the door to swing and make the sounds.

Then, on Monday night, just after going to bed, we heard the exact same sound. This time the door was faatened and locked. Again, turning on the lights and looking around the courtyard, we could see nothing. However, this time I stood for several minutes in the door listening. When the sound started again, I was able to determine that it was coming from the BBQ. Opening the lid and looking around, we could see nothing except that the little aluminum plate that catches the juices and fats from food being cooked was moved a bit. Finally, removing part of the grate and getting the flashlight, there it was, an opossum. It had been in there all day Monday. However, they are nocturnal animals so it probably slept all day. The drip pan was licked clean so that it had had some nourishment. I know that one of their defence strategies is to play dead. Ours did not do that, but it didn’t move. Just hunched there staring at us. We took the grates off completely and a few minutes later it climbed down and left. This did provide an explanation for several events during the night this summer. Bijou would suddenly jump down, run to the door and start barking. We would look around, see nothing and order Bijou to lie down. I was trying to think of some animal that might be able to climb up the vines that are along one side of the property, but never thought of opossum. I don’t think this was its first visit to us.

Just a few minutes ago, I looked up the Wikipedia entry for opossum. Apparently, they have now extended their range north of Toronto. What I hadn’t known is that they are widely sought for food. I had heard how ‘possum hunting’ was a big time pastime in the Southern US, but had thought it was just ‘sport’. Eating opossum has declined in the US, but is still popular in many places.

By the way, it is getting cooler at night. This morning it was 15 C when I got up and even dipped down to 14.5 C. Today, the high was about 28 or so. There have also been very nice breezes the last few days. Thus, it is very pleasant and comfortable.

Dawn & Gordon's last day

We did climb up the mountain on Friday morning. We went early enough that it was still cool. We drove up to the end of the residential area and the beginning of the path up the mountain. We took our time so that no one got very tired and it still took only about 25 minutes. The views as we went up and at the shrine were great as it was a clear, sunny day. It was well worth the climb up.

About a week ago, Matthew called to ask if we were alright as he had heard that there was a bad storm and flooding. We were fine and said that there was nothing here. However, when the weekly newspaper came, it turns out that on Sept. 19th, the day that Gordon and Dawn arrived, there was a huge storm in Guadalajara with lots of flooding and damage, although no deaths. During that night here in Ajijic there was rain, but not that heavy and certainly no damage.

The water level in the lake is still rising. It is to the top of the wall in the waterfront park and they are piling sandbags 3 feet on top of the wall so that they can pump out the park, which is completely flooded now. Many places along the lake shore, people bagan to move farther out and build where the lake had receeded. Now they are getting flooded out.

Today is Dawn and Gordon’s last day in Ajijic as they must get up and leave for the airport at about 4:30 a.m. It was also Gordon’s 65th birthday. He is now officially a senior citizen. We walked around Ajijic for a while, including down to lake, and had a cappucino at the LCS. We then got into the car to go to San Juan Cosalá. We intended to go to the Spa restaurant up on the mountain, but it is not open on Monday. Instead, we went back to Reuben’s Grill at the other spa. This time we looked around. It is a hugeestablishment with many motel like rooms and 6-8 pools. This is the spa that most Mexicans go to and the prices are very inexpensive compared to the upscale spa on the mountain. The pools seemed to have warm, rather than hot water. There was a sign on one pool saying that the temp. was up to 41 C and that people should stay no longer than 15 minutes, but it was only warm to the touch. The food and service at Reuben’s was as good as when we were there before. Reuben and the staff even sang ‘Happy birthday’ for Gordon. Actually, they first sang a Mexican birthday song, before doing the one we know at the end.

BTW, notice the name above, San Juan Cosalá. There are quite a few towns around that have a saint’s name followed by another. It turns out that some time, I think in the 18th C, a fanatic Catholic prelate was sent over to Mexico and considered that the Indian population were still far too pagan in spite of being nominal Catholics. He brought the Inquisition and a lot of persecution and was trying to stamp out as much of indigenous culture as he could. A lot of towns were renamed with saints’ names being tacked on the front. The town next to us is San Antonio Tlayacapan.

The Whiteheads

Dawn and Gordon Whitehead, our friends from Nova Scotia, arrived on schedule last Friday, Sept. 19th. We have been busy showing them around and going to a number of restaurants, including some new ones. On Monday, we all went in to Tlaquepaque. We have been looking for new wine glasses for a long time and finally found what we were looking for. They are a common style here--thick clear glass with a blue strip around the rim and blue base. We went into a restaurant for a snack and a rest, but ended up with delicious deserts and cappuchinos.

Today we went to San Juan Cosala, which is about half way between Ajijic and Jocotepec. It has hot springs and there are 2 spas there. One is an absolutely fantastic hotel and spa way up the mountain. The restaurant and hotel have fabulous views of the lake; there are several hot pools and saunas with many rooms for massages of various kinds. We were very taken with the whole thing. The prices were not that high for such sumptuous facilities. We think that sometime when we want a real treat and romantic outing, we might go for a night or so. There is another hotel and spa right down on the lake. It is not nearly as spectacular, but prices are very low. However, the owners had built part of the facilities out on the shore of the lake when the water levels were much lower. Part of their facilities have now been flooded with the recovery of the lake levels.

However, on the property, there is Reuben’s Restaurant. Reuben was there and came over to charm and tell us about the area. He was born here, but spent many years in the US and claimed that he had had 2 restaurants in Los Angeles at one time. However, he said that he finally decided that he wanted to return to his roots (he is now 62). He is a very good saleman. He also organizes tours on the new cruise boat in Jocotepec. The cruises are for 2 and a half hours out on Lake Chapala with dinner provided. The big surprise was the food. It was absolutely terrific, probably the best we have had in Mexico and most have been good to very good. The prices too were in line with local prices. For 4 dinners, with beers and a margarita, the total was 550 pesos, about $55 or about $11 each! We will definitely be going back. A specialty is that on Saturdays or Sundays, he gives Spanish lessons with breakfast; there is no fee beyond the price of breakfast. Jeff had found out about this, but we were not able to fit it in when he and Tarra (and Aiden) were here. One other thing we learned from Reuben is about Mexican names. Everyone has 3 names: their first or Christian name, then their father's family name and finally their mother's maiden family name. I had noticed that everyone had the 3 names but often only used the first 2 in common speech, but when you see it written officially, there would be the 3rd name. He also mentioned that the law is about to change, but I'm a bit confused; I'll try to get it clarified, once the change takes place.

Tomorrow, Dawn and Gordon are planning to go to one of the B&Bs (Casa Blanca) for the next few nights. It is right downtown in Ajijic and right across the street from the Lake Chapala Society. We saw inside and the Casa Blaca is very nice. However, before they go there, we are all planning to go to David’s for breakfast and then do the walk up the mountain to the little shrine. It should be cool in the morning. Jeff and Tarra did it and said that it was not too difficult and is well worth the effort as the views are excellent.

Celebrations

We went to the Sunday night festivities. I’m not sure if we missed part of the parade of women and girls in dressup clothes. There was a small procession, although only about a dozen women and the same of little girls. However, there was a band and some singers to entertain. Also, there was lots of confetti being showered around. Tonight, there was supposed to be a folk dancing group and entertainment until the annual reenactment at 11 p.m. of the call to revolution and independence by Padre Hildago in 1810 which initiated the war for independence. Hildago was captured and executed by the Spanish in 1811. The war, very bloody, lasted for over 10 years before Mexico finally achieved independence. However, it has been raining for much of the day and is pouring down tonight so I don't know how much will go ahead. Around noon, when the rain stopped for a while, Barb and Bijou walked down to the pier and park. Just as they got there, it started to rain. Although they sheltered for a while under a tree, they got home soaked. I wonder if this is one of the tail ends of Hurrican Ike; it stretched for hundreds of kilometers.

There are parades and celebrations all day tomorrow and evening as the 16th of September is the official independence day. However, some of the smaller towns, San Antonio and San Juan Cosala for example, are holding their celebrations next weekend in order to avoid conflict with Ajijic, Chapala and Jocotepec. They really celebrate down here.

Barb, after threatening for some time, finally went to a hairdresser and had her hair cut much shorter. She had been finding the hair too hot on her neck. Here is a photo of the new ‘do’.

Regata de Globos

We did go to the paper balloon flying exhibition on Saturday. We went shortly after 2 p.m. because that was the time it said in the Lake Chapala Review, a free monthly here. However, there were few people there and most of them were Gringos; they had read the same info as we did. We did have our choice of cement seats (no backs) in the covered stand. In the newspaper it said about 3 p.m. and if fact, nothing got under way until well after 3. However, there was a small band (about a dozen or so) boys and young fellows to provide music. It did go on for a long time. We finally left about 5:30; we heard today that there were still balloons going up at 7:30. Large numbers of Mexicans did not begin to arrive until after 4.




There were many balloons of different sizes, shapes and often bright colours. Some were about 3 feet tall, but others were 12 - 15 feet high. It is a tricky business getting the paper balloons inflated with hot air without setting them on fire. One or two fellows climb up ladders to hold them during the inflating process. However, one team (there were 6 or 7) had a guy on stilts to help with that job. Then, they have kerosene soaked cotton swabs which are lighted and fixed in the mouth of the balloons to give lift. The first couple of hundred feet seem to be the most critical. If the balloon swings from side to side too much, the balloon catches on fire, the firebrand plunges to the ground (kids were all over the field and would go running to put out the firebrands) and the paper balloon burns up. Some catch fire before they even leave the ground.. However, once they are a couple of hundred feet in the air, they are usually ok. It is amazing how high and how far some of them go. Some go over and disappear behind the mountain. Some seem to keep going for miles until they disappear in the distance. Getting the right size, balance and correct size hole must require quite a sophisticated set of calibrations. The firebrand from one flameout came down on a rooftop across the field from us. There didn’t seem to be anyone there and no one went rushing to put it out. It was a tile roof so there might have been little danger, but that firebrand continued to burn for at least 20 minutes on the roof.



Today we went to another concert of Viva la Música! Today it was a couple of young fellows doing piano/cello duets. The organization also presented awards to 4 young musicians, all in middle to late teens, who are this years scholarship awardees; this is what they do with the money they raise. This evening, we went to the Plaza for more celebrations; I’ll say more in the next post.

A Cold Shower

No, it wasn’t because Barb was mad at me. Yesterday morning before the ill-fated trip to Costco in Guadalajara, I was attempting to take a shower after my jog. Because the water heater is at the other side of the house from the bathrooms, it takes a couple of minutes to get hot water. However, after running for about twice as long, still no hot water. I think now that I should have treated it as an ill omen of how the day might go! I knew that our propane tank was getting low; the needle was in the red although it was still some distance from the empty mark. As a result, my first thought was that we were out of gas. Barb reported that the pilot light on the heater was out, but the stove started showing that we still had gas. She gave a try but could not get the pilot light and the water heater started. I was naked and wet and there was no help but to finish the shower in the cold water. It isn’t really cold, probably about 18 or 19 degrees, the same as our low temps in the early morning; nevertheless, it was not very comfortable. Once I was dried and dressed, I went out (the water heater is under a small roof over a veranda, but outside) and fiddled with it to get it going. Before we got the BBQ lighter, it was a real hassle. There is a small hole, but the pilot light is too far in to reach with a match; thus, you needed to light a rolled up piece of paper. At the same time you have to hold down a button on the side by the control. Thus, you needed at least 3 hands. However, with the lighter and a certain amount of digital dexterity, it is possible to get it lighted with 2 hands. I don’t know why the pilot light was out. It is only the 2nd or 3rd time since we moved in. Although it’s outside, we don’t get much wind and during storms when we do get some wind, it has never gone out. We seem to have no shortage of adventures in Mexico.

On Saturday afternoon as part of the independence day (next Tuesday 16 September) celebrations, people are coming to fly their paper hot air balloons at the field (formerly a bull fighting ring) just down the street from us. Apparently, some of these are really large in spite of being made of tissue type paper. Then, they put a fire at the bottom of the balloon so that the heated air gives it lift. Some fly quite high while others catch on fire and crash. We are told that it is quite spectacular and worth seeing.

Saga of the Coffee Maker

What a day! We went in to Costco for wine and other things, most of which we did not find. One of the big items on Barb’s priority list is a thermal caraf coffee maker. There was only one choice at Costco. We decided to go to the Galleria (mall), especially at Liverpool and Sears, 2 department stores across the street. What she really wants is a Cuisinart, but none seem to be available. After running all around the mall (going to Liverpool and Sears twice each), our best choice seemed to be a Krups model at Second Cup for 1,430 pesos (i.e., over $145). After going back to Costco a 2nd time and then returning to the Galleria, we bought it and brought it home. Total time in the various stores shopping, almost 5 hours although that included about half an hour getting a Sub for lunch. However, when we tried to use it at home, instead of the hot water going into the caraf, it spilled out over the counter. We finally figured out what is wrong. Krups makes 2 kinds of coffee maker--an insulated thermal caraf and a glass caraf. It is exactly the same machine except that the one for the glass caraf has a small hot plate at the bottom and the other, I think, just has a plastic plate. Ours has the hot plate! This means that it does not push the thermal caraf up enough to open the valve at the top of the caraf to allow the hot water/coffee to go into the caraf. Barb was thinking that we could just put something on the hot plate to raise the caraf about 1/4 inch; I called it a duct tape solution. Her first solution didn’t work; however, the hamburger flipper seems to be working. We were not sure if we could take it back. That was the only one the Second Cup store had so we can’t exchange it. In Mexico, retailers are not accustomed to taking things back or giving refunds on credit cards. Earlier, we lost over $40 when the credit never arrived on our credit card account. I guess that we’ll be keeping it, although the instruction booklet says explicitly not to use a glass caraf with the thermal machine or the thermal caraf with the glass machine! As long as the hot coffee goes into the caraf, it should be ok and we just shut off the machine once the coffee is brewed in order to shut off the hot plate. Necessity is the mother of invention, as the old expression says.

Mexican Wedding!

No, it’s not what you might have guessed at first. Barb & I are not doing anything like that. For one thing, the paper work for foreigners to get married in Mexico is too formidable and daunting, even if we were contemplating such a drastic move. Rosendo, our gardener, has invited us to his daughter’s wedding in December, just before we go back to Halifax for 3 weeks over Christmas and New Year’s. Yesterday, at the end of the eco group lecture (it was a very informal talk by Maria because the scheduled speaker at the last minute couldn’t come), Barb asked about what to expect, what to do etc. at a Mexican wedding. They gave us lots of information and advice. First, they said to expect to be treated as honoured guests. That usually means that they put a bottle of tequilla at your table. Often, they do as eastern Europeans (Poles, Ukranians, etc.); one has a short dance with the bride or groom and pins some money to their clothing--20 or 50 pesos. They assured us that Mexican weddings are both interesting and enjoyable.

This afternoon we went to the Canadian Club’s first meeting of the season at Nueva Posada Hotel. There was a light drizzle for part of the time and the crowd was much smaller than they expected. However, we enjoyed ourselves. The Canadian consul in Guadalajara (a woman of Asian background) was there although we didn’t speak to her. However, the Canadian vice-consul and trade commissioner was also there and we had a long chat with him. He is a young fellow, in late 20s, and I think that this might be his first full time posting. He and his wife just arrived in Guadalajara 2 weeks ago. The international director for the governor of Jalisco was also there and we had a long chat with her. She is in her mid-30s, very attractive and ambitious. She said that her present job has a great deal of international travel. She just got back from Alberta helping to smooth things for a group of Mexican workers going to do construction work there. She had recently been to Chile and Europe. She has been to China and Asia in the last year and will soon be going to New Zealand. She hopes that this is a stepping stone to a career in politics. We didn’t talk to any of the Canadian members, but we have memberships and will be going to others of their functions.

The Club organizes trips to various spots in Mexico and internationally; they seem to have these several times a year. I don’t know if we will be interested in doing any of those, certainly not in the next year or two. There are so many places within a day’s drive that we will want to explore first; there are Zacatecas, Saltillo and Monterey and those are just to the north. There are other places in the other directions. We haven’t even gone to the south side of Lake Chapala. So much to do so little time!

Tonalá

Although it did nor rain much after Monday, the level of Lake Chapala has really risen. In the lakefront park, there is a low ledge that sticks out about 3 feet in front of the concrete wall. That ledge was sticking above the water by a foot or more. Now, it is completely submerged and the water level is some inches up the wall. In fact, in 3 areas where the wall drops down to ground level in the park, they have had to put sandbags to keep the water out of the park. There seems to be more waves than we are used to seeing and some of the waves splash over the fence. In addition to the direct runoff from the mountains surrounding it, the lake is fed by rivers and streams from farther away. We must be seeing the effects of earlier rains farther away just reaching the lake now because we have not had heavy rains for some time. Even the water running down the street to the storm drain beside our house is drying up and is only a trickle now.

Barb has been wanting to go to Tonalá; it is another old city to the east of Tlaquepaque which has become part of Greater Guadalajara. It said on the sign that the population of Tonalá (emphasis on the last syllable as indicate by the stress mark) is 500,000. It is especially known as a manufacturing city, ceramics, clothing, etc. Barb had been told that china, ceramic pots etc. are much cheaper there. It was raining this morning and we decided to go. There is an east-west highway through Guadalajara. We go this route all the time: go straight ahead to Tlaquepaque, turn left to go to Costco etc. and this time we turned east to go to Tonalá. In the latter, there is a central shopping area with some streets being pedestrian only, like in Tlaquepaque. This was very disappointing and not nearly as nice shops as in the latter. However, we did get a large, blue & white, teapot in one of the stores. There is a main thoroughfare just a short distance away which were taking to return home. This is where we should have been looking. There seemed to be many large shops all along this main drag. If and when we go back, this is where we will go to shop. BTW, it had stopped raining before we got to Tonalá and by afternoon, we had sun in Ajijic.

Produce in Mexico

With all the lurid stories about the dangers of eating produce in Mexico, many people are leery and even afraid. I thought a few comments might be in order:

First, any produce that we do not peel or cook, we sterilize for 15 minutes. Thus, bananas, melons, potatoes, etc. we do not sterilize; however, everything else, we do. By the way, this really should apply to produce in the US and Canada too. In May, I saw a study done in the US. The old advice was wash everything well and it would be alright. No so, according to the study. Washing will get the loose dirt and some of the chemical residues, but not all the bacteria. North American produce should also be sterilized if one wants to be really safe! Thus, with our sterilization practices, we are actually safer than those of you who do not have such practices (and who does in Canada?). BTW, most restaurants also sterilize their produce.

Moreover, I have discovered that quite a bit of the produce we get here in Mexico, especially fruit, actually comes from California, including most of the strawberries, grapes, pears, apples, etc. They are often labelled that way in the supermarkets, but I noticed in the 'tianguis' (street market where most of the venders are resellers, not farmers and producers) that many of their produce boxes and crates were marked as produce of California. Thus, it is the same stuff you often get in Canada! Tomatoes and many vegetables are grown here as well as other fruit, but it’s hard to know. Anyway, since we arrived in May, we have had no problems whatsoever.

DAC'd in Mexico

Today we learned the facts of life regarding power bills in Mexico. Production of electricity is very expensive; the government very heavily subsidizes the costs. On our last bill (for 2 months), it said that the cost of production for the power we used was 1,931 pesos, but we were charged only 1,172 pesos. However, the more one uses the higher the rate; rates are steeply graduated. Thus, the first 150 kwh on a bill are only 0.65 pesos/kwh, the next 100 kwh are 1.7 each and the rate then jumps to 2.27. The last is about Can.$0.25. There is an even higher rate, but we have not used enough to get that. However, this is not the end of the story. If a customer uses more than 250 kwh./month for 12 months, then they are put into a completely different category, called DAC. If you get in this category, you no longer get any of the low rates and every kwh costs 3.9 pesos (i.e., over 40 cents/kwh). Actually, rates are going up on a monthly basis. They said that rates are already up over 20% since the beginning of 2008 and still 4 months to go. Once you’ve been “DAC’d”, you have to have 12 consecutive months of less than 250 kwh to get off or move to a new location! Our first full 2 month billing period, we used 609 kwh (i.e., over the 500 limit to avoid being DAC’d if we continued this for a year).

Actually, we thought we were doing pretty well. In the first month, we used 12.35 kwh/day. By the first full 2 month period, we had brought that down to 9.8 kwh/day. I just checked and during the month of August since our last reading, we have our consumption down to 8.25 kwh/day. That would leave us just about 250 kwh/month and on the borderline. We changed all our bulbs to florescent. The next thing on the agenda is to get a new refrigerator. We knew it does not work very well and I expect that it is an energy hog; replacing it was already on our priority list. However, with what we learned today, it has now been moved to the top of our list as an energy efficient frig should get us below the DAC limit. However, we could still have up to 250 kwh at the 3rd rate level, 2.27 pesos/kwh and pricey.

We also heard 2 lectures today on saving energy and on getting alternatives. Photovoltaics is becoming very big down here. Mexico has recently put in place a program to allow customers to trade power with the electric company. That is, during the day if you produce more power than you need, you can feed it into the grid; the meter goes backwards. Then at night, you can draw from the grid. There were several people at the meeting who have done that or are doing it. The amount of daily sunshine here is quite high, just slightly lower than Las Vegas. As a result, the economics of both photovoltaics and solar heating of hot water are very good and rapidly getting better. We are going to look into it. The fellow giving the lecture and doing consulting on this (his last name is Mills, BTW) says that the payback period is under 10 years now and rapidly getting shorter as power rates keep going up; however, that may be calculated for someone on the DAC rate. The huge surge in the price of oil is certainly changing many economic calculations. We are all going to need to pay much more attention to energy efficiency and alternative energy sources; the oil prices are also making these alternatives more viable economically.

Mexican dance

There have been some free concerts in the Ajijic square in the evening this past week. We didn’t find out until lste in the week; however, yesterday (Friday) we did go. It was a dance troup doing Mexican dances, including Mexican hat dance (I recognized it as they were dancing around ‘los sombreros’. The dancers looked Indian. The girls and women had long, billowing dresses, tied to their wrists so that they could swing them in arcs as they danced; the dresses were very colourful. their performance lasted about an hour. It was in front of the cultural centre. The plaza is raised about 3 steps there so that it was like a platform. In one dance, the young men had knives which they twirled and clicked together rythmically. It was a beautiful night and very interesting occasion. This series of concerts I think was a warmup for the big celebrations for Mexican independence day--16 September. The festivities are spread over almost a week. We are looking forward to that as the descriptions sound really interesting.

Tonight, we went to the ‘Blue Moon’ festival held by ACA, the organic farm and ecology group. It was quite large, with enormous amounts of food, including turkey, duck and rabbit, all grown on the farm. It was well organized, with tents. The latter was necessary as there was a bit of rain for part of the time. We sat at a table with another couple who turned out to also be Canadians, originally from Winnipeg. They are both real estate agents and have been living here for just over 10 years. Lucy said that for about three years she worked in Trudeau’s office on press relations. There are so many interesting people here.

I signed up for Level 1 Conversational Spanish. It starts next Wednesday, once a week until the first week of December, just before we leave to visit Nova Scotia. The 3 classes in Level 1 Spanish were filled up just before I got there, as I intended to enroll in one of those. However, I got the text/workbook used and I can work on that on my own. The oral conversation is always the aspect that I am weakest on in learning foreign languages. Thus, this may turn out to be the best for me. I just hope that they are not expecting a larger Spanish vocabulary than I possess; however, I have a few more days before the first class so can learn some more before then. These classes through LCS are only 500 pesos each (i.e., about 50 dollars), compared to the thousands that the commercial language schools charge. My online course at St. Mary’s starts on that same day, Wednesday, Sept. 3; thus, I’ll have to field questions and last minute requests to get into the course--no time to be bored.

Samson & Delilah in Mexico

OK, I may have exaggereated a bit; I am certainly not an heroic strongman, but as you can see from the photos, Barb is pretty proficient with the shears. In June when Angie was here, she cut my hair. However, it was getting a bit long. Last Sunday, Barb decided that she would cut my hair and trim my beard. She sent the results to some of you. However, probably we should have a permanent record on our blog. The photos were taken in front of one of our butterfly palms that we got earlier. They seem to be thriving. In the one photo you can see a new hummingbird feeder that we got. I managed to break the old one by tightening it too much. Although we have had a few small wasps, we have not had a return of the honey bees. Dawn & Gordon will be bringing the HummZinger with them in September--getting close now.

History of chocolate

Not too much to report. Today we went to the weekly lecture by ACA, the organic farm and ecology group. This week it was on chocolate. Mickey, who is down learning to farm organically and is soon to return to the US, gave the lecture. He recounted the history of chocolate. The Mayans and the Aztecs, who were the first to discover how to process it for consumption, did not have sugar to mix with it and used chiles and other spices instead. It was relatively scarce so was used only by the elite in society and as a drink. He talked about how it was taken to Europe by the Spanish, who changed the use by adding sugar and dropping the chillies! It was very interesting. He had a pod from which the beans come. While originating in Mexico, cultivation of cocoa had been taken to other places in the world, especially West Africa. The beans are fermented, then roasted and finally ground and have all the cocoa butter extracted. Michey is an admitted chocolate nut. He even had what is virtually 100% chocolate without any sugar--cocoa paste-- which is what all manufacturerers use as a starting point. It is bitter, like Baker’s Chocolate. Some people apparently eat is as a medicine--all those antioxidants without the sugar! Barb even said that she liked it! However, recently we had some chocolates with 78% cocoa and she didn’t like it as well as ones with a lower percentage--go figure! I think I mentioned in an earlier post in June that when we were at the restaurant with Matt and Angie in Tlaquepaque, I had chicken in a chocolate sauce with chile. The menu said that it came from an Indian recipe from the Oaxca, one of the most southerly states in Mexico, It was delicious and unlike anything I had had before.

ACA is putting on a special buffet supper out at their farm this Saturday night. It is a fund-raiser, but much of the food will be from their own farm and they are doing the cooking and preparation. We are intending to go, but have to wait for our finances to be replenished on the 28th August before we can buy the tickets. I’ll report on that on the weekend.

Boomer invasion?

Well, today Barb went to see Dr. Garcia and was very pleased with the result. He was very much less casual than Dr. Leon. He went through the materials from her chart from Canada with her, he gave her a physical check and said that he was friends with the rheumatologist recommended by her Halifax doctor. He said that he would arrange for her to see him. She was there for almost an hour. He says that the lab associated with his clinic is certified to US standards. We also discovered that the clinic is open for emergencies 24 hours a day with a doctor there. They do what they can there and arrange for patients to be taken to Guadalajara if necessary.

We went to a lecture at LCS by an American academic who has been studying migration of foreigners to the Lake Chapala area for over 10 years (currently updating his research). He reviewed some of his findings. He also drew attention to the changes taking place, especially with a growing influx of expats and what that might mean. He noted that the boomer generation is starting or will soon be retiring (75 million in the US alone) and that they are much more likely to retire to foreign destinations than their parents were. While a number of other countries, especially in Central America, are trying to attract these potential migrants, Mexico is and will probably remain the most frequent destination. Another interesting fact is that many Hispanics (not just Mexicans but others from farther away, such as Peru) who have lived many years in the US and who have families stillthere are retiring to Mexico and Lake Chapala. Althugh they speak Spanish, they have also been assimilated to Gringo ways, foods, etc. In Lake Chapala area, with so many Gringos, Wal-Mart and other American chains, a growing number of migrants feel that the area is losing the culture and things that attracted them in the first place. Some are moving from Lake Chapala to other areas of Mexico that have been much less touched by these American people and influences. There is a great deal of development and not much evidence of planning or control being exercised. One example arose in July in San Antonio, the village next to us. Development of condos above the town altered and interrupted the existing water courses for runoff during the rainy season. A couple of streets in San Antonio were washed away, literally, and houses flooded as rain water was no longer able to follow the old routes to the lake. One street is having to be completely rebuilt. This is a bit unsettling for us as we don’t want this area to become just another Florida or Arizona. However, at the moment, we are still very happy with our decision to move here. Moreover, as the lecturer also pointed out, Lake Chapala has had other booms in the past which were then followed by relative busts. Maybe, things will taper off again this time.

Garden Club

Meeting Jane at the BBQ was really fortuitous. Barb had noticed when she had her blood test last Wednesday that it took a very long time for the blood to clot. However, when she got the result, surprisingly it said that she was just about exactly where she should be.(2.7) and Dr. Leon said to stay at the same dose of warfarin for a month. However, suspicious, she reduced the dose a bit. On Saturday, she was out gardening with her pants with the knee pads and kneeling a good deal. When she was taking a bath, she noticed that one knee was all blue and bruised looking. She had not banged it and with the knee pads had not noticed any discomfort; she concluded that it indicated that her blood was too thin. On Monday, she called the other doctor, Dr. Garcia. Although she could not get an appointment until Friday morning, she could go an get another test at their lab. This lab reported that the INR level was 3.5 (too high), even though she had reduced the warfarin she was taking even more over the weekend. Thus, it appears that Dr. Leon’s lab is not very dependable. She sees Dr. Garcia on Friday. His office is not as convenient as it is a good 3 kms and a bit too far to walk. However, it is on the Carretera (highway) so is only 5 minutes or so by car.

There is a garden club that holds monthly events--a tour of someone’s garden and then lunch at the Nueva Posada restaurant. Barb decided to join. Because this month’s garden was in West Ajijic, I drove Barb there. It was a really spectacular place--a big, luxurious house with 2 story casita (guest house). The couple are both avid gardeners, but also have 2 full time and one part-time gardeners employed! Among many different types of flowers, they also specialized in roses. They apparently propagate many themselves. At the lunch, Barb sat with and got acquainted with some other ladies. Two of them have offered her plants from their gardens. One said that her garden was overgrown and that Barb was welcome to take any and all that she wanted! This is very good timing. On Monday, we arranged with Rosendo to dig out the hard clay soil in 2 of her beds, because it is hard to believe that most flowers would do well there. He took a load of it away in his pickup; he finished that today. He also arranged to get a pickup load of good composted soil, which was delivered today. This will allow Barb to get started. One of the beds just under the kitchen window, she wants to use as a herb garden. She has cilantro, rosemary and a very ‘picante (i.e., hot) pepper plant that she discovered in the corner by the wall. However, she also wants to get and experiment with a number of others. Every time, she wants to reduce the grass for more garden space, I expect that she will have to do the same (i.e., dig out the heavy clay dirt and get good soil).

There are so many clubs, organizations and events that one could be going somewhere all the time and have no time at home. It is hard to decide and choose.

Going green in Mexico

I mentioned in a previous post that Jalisco is trying to implement a reclycing/composting aspect to garbage collection. Up to now everything has gone to landfills. Thus, this is really a quantum leap here in Mexico, especially because awareness among Mexicans is still rather low. It has been the ex-pats who have tended to take a leading role in arousing ecology awareness, although there is a growing ecology awareness movement in Mexico. The problem here is that the state government passed laws and regulations for a change to the 3 stream system in June with municipalities supposed to implement and have suitable systems operating by September. There is only an embryonic recycling infrastructure and no composting; most municipalities already have garbage collection contracts in place. Thus, everyone knows that such systems cannot be implemented according to this timetable. However, there is movement and over time it will gradually be implemented.

BTW, Barb did get her composter. It is almost exactly like the ones Halifax was selling in terms of size and appearance, except this one is made of fibreglass (rather than plastic--perhaps more durable) and is green instead of black. She has used all the kitchen waste and yard waste; she was wondering (in jest) if she should go down the street and pick up some of the horse manure! We are assured that, because of the hot weather, materials decompose and are ready for use in 6-8 weeks and this can be done year round. Barb can hardly wait to get some for her garden. The woman selling the composters in Zapopan (one of the municipalities of Guadalajara in the north-west corner) is very interesting. She lives in a gated community, called Rancho Contento, with a golf course. There was a gatehouse with guards and getting in was almost like going through US Immigration or a military establishment. She had been importing composters from Germany but found it was such a hassle; she finally found a manufacturer in Guadalajara who makes these composters for her. They have a waterless, composting toilet outdoors in the back yard. She proudly showed it off to us. In fact, it did seem ingenious, and unlike outdoor toilets that I knew, this one had little smell. The juxtaposition was interesting though; here is an outdoor toilet in a very high priced residence. Except perhaps at times in the rainy season, there should not be the uncomfortable conditions that one experienced in outdoor toilets in Canada in the winter.

On Friday afternoon and evening we went to a BBQ at LCS put on by the Red Cross of Mexico. The local chapter is run by volunteers, mostly ex-pats. They do an amazing amount of good. They have 3 ambulance crews (fully trained in first aid, resusitation, etc.) standing by 24 hours a day at 3 different spots in the area. They claim that response time is 15-20 minutes anywhere in the Lakeside area. Clients are given a breakdown of costs for any assistance given, but payment is voluntary, with about 50% paying some or all of the costs; the others are serviced for free. The bulk of their funding comes from fund-raising and donations. We have been greatly impressed by what they do and have been trying to support them in little ways. The event was very interesting for us. We were joined by 4 other couples at a table for 10. They, like the ex-pat community in general, are very interesting and diverse. All have been here for much longer than we, 3 years, 5 years, etc. One of the women is a nurse and was able to give us valuable information about medical practitioners and facilities here. She was especially adamant that she had had bad experiences with Dr. Leon, the doctor we are going to presently, and the lab he operates. Barb has been getting uneasy about him already. This woman, Jane, had someone else she recommends highly. Anyway, we greatly enjoyed getting acquainted with these people. The affair lasted for about 4 hours.

Barb's 3 month review

After 3 whole months in Mexico, I thought it would be good to have a look at how we have adjusted to this new life. Wally and I are still very pleased to be here. It was great to see the boys and their families but it made me very sad to have them leave. But we have only 4 months and Wally and I will be back at White Point Beach. And then we will be back in July again for a visit. Matthew and Angela will be back in February and at first Jeffrey and Tarra were talking about coming back for a month next year but Aiden was so unhappy (he screamed most of the flight back). I think they are reconsidering coming down next year with 2 children!

When we first moved here we were lucky to have our real estate agent suggest we hire a property manager to assist us with the setting up of our utilities and hiring the maid and gardener. He really was there to translate for us. It would have been much more difficult if not impossible without him. This was our first indication of how much our lack of knowledge with Spanish was about to affect us.

We are very pleased with the house. At first I thought that we would be replacing all the furnishings, but for financial reasons that was not going to happen in a hurry. And now that we have lived here a while, I have decided not to replace as much as I thought. We lived for 2 months without a barbeque which was hard, but once we bought a wonderful barbeque for me and then a microwave for Wally, we were much happier cooking. We have had no TV which we both thought we would miss but do not! We read and/or 'work' on our computers. We had put all our CD's on the iPod as we were only allowed to bring a few CD's with us. This meant we had all our music on the iPod but only ear phones to listen with. This was less than satisfactory. There was one music station on the radio here that played classical music, but we still missed our music. So yesterday we made a trip to Costco and bought a speaker system for the iPod. Even the maid, who was here today, did not get to play her Mexican music on her transistor radio! Also, I finally found someone who sells compost bins in Guadalajara and we picked up one yesterday as well. How to make Barbara very happy!

The weather is as wonderful as was predicted. We arrived in May which is the hottest and driest month of the year and then we have experienced the wettest part of the rainy season; neither the hottest or wettest weather has deterred us in the least. We have had some considerable downpours with definite leaks appearing in our wonderful house, but none of the leaks were over furniture and the floors are all ceramic tile, so no great damage. The rain can happen during the day, but 95% of the time it rains at night and we have sun during the day. Who could ask for more? The mountains have all changed from brown to wonderful shades of green and all the gardens are in bloom. We do have the interesting experience of having rivers flowing down our streets after a heavy downpour, but the water is warm and usually passable.

The social life is progressing nicely. There are infinite opportunities for involvement in a great many areas. Every Sunday, we have been going to the Open Circle which is held outside in the Lake Chapala Society (LCS) gardens and then we go out for lunch. If the speakers are not that interesting, you can just relax and look at the gardens and listen to the birds. Mom would have loved it! On Tuesdays the organic farm group give a talk on gardening, cooking, Mexican folklore, local history etc. I always go to those and Wally joins me sometimes. Every month there is a classical music group who present Mexican musicians from all over the country who preform in a local church which is open to the garden; again you can see the gardens and hear the birds singing. Next Wednesday I will be going to my first Gardening Club garden tour and then to a meeting at the Nuevo Passada hotel for a gardening talk about roses and lunch in their garden. Almost all of the restaurants have gardens as part of their dining area. One of our particular favourites even has a peacock who seems to be on constant display for the peahens. Jeffrey and Tarra bought us a book on hiking in the Ajijic area, so Wally and I would also like to follow their example and start hiking.

My gardening has given me much pleasure as I learn about new plants and how to treat the familiar plants from home to this Mexican climate. I have found a great large garden centre which has an English-speaking staff member who is very helpful. The plants are incredibly inexpensive and very healthy. I am happy that my yard is pretty bare except for the bougainvillea vines and virginia creeper. I have tried to focus on the courtyard as it is very bare and the courtyard off the guest room. However, my poor gardener and I are having a couple of problems because of the language barrier and my reluctance to let him do most anything. He is here three days a week for 2 hours each day and he is used to doing everything and of course so am I! I have been successful in having him leave the grass on the lawn when he mows, but he still wants to plant the bushes after I allow him to dig the hole. I guess we will somehow work this out. Wally is adamant that he needs the work so we must keep him all three days. He is a very pleasant fellow but I just don't want him out in the garden doing the things that I want to do. On the other hand, although I think having the maid 2 days a week for 5 hours is way more than needed, I can appreciate that I have never had so clean a house!

The food is another interesting experience here in Mexico. First of all we love the spicy food! We have it whenever we eat out. At home it is more like we ate back home. I still really like to cook so we don't eat out very much except when we have company and then we love trying new foods and new restaurants. Matthew, who is a great cook and loves Mexican food, stocked my cupboard with all the spices and accoutrements I need to cook Mexican food. As well he gave me some cooking instructions to get me started. However, the only things I have attempted are guacamole which I can make quite quiet or very spicy, salsa which can have a lot or little amount of cilantro ( I like a lot) and margaritas which until Tarra made a batch with strawberries and crushed ice, I have been completely unsuccessful with.

The grocery shopping is again a novel experience. Firstly, as strange as it may seem, everything is labeled in Spanish! Wally and I did not have time to learn it before we came. So our initial foray in to grocery shopping took us a long long time! We are better now, but have not really been successful with reading the ingredient lists. But it will come. The experience at the weekly market is better in that you can point to what you want without knowing the appropriate name but... then they tell you the price! No comprendo! Wally is getting much better at this as I always let him pay! The local produce is fantastic, fresh and inexpensive; however our reliance on our familiar food from home is not conducive to inexpensive food costs. Once we got over the initial excitement of finding a familiar cereal or cracker and positively snatching it off the shelf, we started to notice the COST! Kate and Jack became very good at shopping at the small local stores instead of the two gringo supermarkets that we use. Another new skill for us to learn.

Our health has definitely improved a lot, especially mine! Wally is feeling great and is very pleased with his care from our new doctor. He is taking fewer medications since we moved here. I have come off all my asthma medications and have come off or reduced some of my lupus medications. My specialist in Halifax has sent a referral to a specialist in Guadalajara; I will be pleased to go see him soon as he will check my blood work and then hopefully further reduce my medications. My fatigue has almost disappeared. I am down to one lupus day a week, which means the other 6 days I am raring to go! Well I guess I am still 61 years old which is slightly limiting.

I have left the most trying part of our life in Mexico to the end, learning Spanish! Wally has been much more attentive to learning the language. I have been much more attentive to the house and garden! We have a 'learn Spanish' course on our computers and I have finished the first Cd and started the second of 8 Cds, while Wally is on CD #7! We both started beginners Spanish at the LCS for 1 month. I did one class and Wally did 3 classes. So I am relying on Wally not only for driving me around but also to communicate for me! Speaking of driving me around, I will be very pleased when we get back to Halifax and change the ownership of the car into both of our names so I can drive again. I do walk a lot and enjoy it, but man will it be good to drive again!

So I guess to summarize our limited experience in Mexico we would say 95% is wonderful and 5% is frustrating. So I hope you all will be able to come down and see what life is like in Ajijic, Mexico with Wally and I, as I think we will be here a long time.