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.