May 15

A couple of days of frustration regarding the internet. I tried to call Telmex helpline. However, I got one of those “Listen to the following choices . . .” It was all in Spanish and I had no idea what to choose and I think that there were a couple of menus to negotiate. I called Fernando (thank God for deciding to hire a manager) and he got through the hurdles and reached an English-speaking technician. She walked me through programing the modem to get internet service. I was so excited that I forgot to ask about setting up the mail program to receive and send on the new prodigy email address; also, Barb wanted her own email address. I tried for hours to guess the addresses of the out-going and in-coming mail servers because they are so similar for different internet providers. No luck and I finally had to ask Fernando to come back again today; this time we had a really long wait to get through to a real person. When we did, I found that I was only 1 number (I guessed and tried--among a number of other possibles--‘pop1’ and the actual address was ‘pop3’) from being able to do it myself. However, I remembered this time to get an email address for Barbara. Using our Mail program is so much easier than using the internet webmail sites. 

I have made no progress in getting the VoIP equipment to work, in spite of hours of attempts. Primus has a helpline in Canada, but I need a phone to contact them. The landlines from Mexico are so noisy that it is virtually impossible to hear anything. The cell phone is better, but very expensive and you have to load it up with a lot of peso credits to be able to make a long distance call. Barbara got cut off in the middle of a call to her sister because she had run out of the first $10 (100 pesos). I may have to get a computer expert down here to help.

Yesterday afternoon, Damyn took Barb & I in to Guadalajara to Costco. Actually, in the same mall area, there are Wal-Mart, Sam’s, Sears, and a huge supermarket. Also, it is relatively straight forward to get there, but takes almost an hour even though much of the way is on freeways. 

The maid who was supposed to come today was sick and I ended up vacuuming the house (not a new experience). Fortunately, it is overcast and relatively cool; I don’t think that it got above 28 C all day. She has been rescheduled to come on Monday. With the doors and windows open so much, dirt and dust seem to accumulate fairly quickly.

There are various little municipal zones along the shore of Lake Chapala. We are in La Floresta which is just to the east from Ajijic itself. Just 3 blocks farther east, San Antonio Tlayacapan (I have no idea how that last word is pronounced) begins. It has a lovely central square and church. On Tuesday evening, we walked there (about 20 minutes); I think it is a little closer to us than the square in Ajijic. It was lovely with a cool breeze and like Ajijic square, is a gathering place for families from the very young to the very old. There do not seem to be nearly as many ex-pats or stores, restaurants, etc. catering to them as in Ajijic; thus, it is more Mexican. We have been so busy during this first week in our new house that we have not been to LCS except for Open Circle on Sunday. However, we are getting a lot done and once we have most things in place, we shall be able to relax and have more time. I have started to learn Spanish, but it requires a good deal of time and I have only been able to do a few hours so far.