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.