Mardi gras

They really make a big deal of the pre-Lent period. For 3 Sundays, there was a parade around Ajijic. In the parade were a number of people on horseback. Also, there were a number of young men dressed in women’s clothes, well padded to look very bosomy and often with masks. Most carried sacks containing confetti or flour; they would throw the latter at spectators lining the street. However, the targets are usually children or young people. The parade would make its way to the bull ring which is on the boundary with La Floresta. There were usually some events at the bull ring, sometimes bull riding (no bull fights here). These events were increased during the last 3 days before Lent began, especially on Shrove Tuesday, the day of Mardi Gras. That night we could hear loud music going almost until midnight.

Today was both exciting and frustrating. Last summer we got a small desk that held the printer, the router and VoIP box; I could put my laptop there also, but it had little space for working or for storage. Barb had no desk and sat on the sofa with her computer. A few weeks ago, she stopped at a furniture store which makes furniture to order. She asked about a desk. They would make a pine one to her specifications for 2600 pesos; formerly that was about $260, but with the decline of the peso, it is closer to $217. That included a bottom drawer that served as a file cabinet with rails to hold file hangers and a pull out shelf for the laptop. They also would stain it to match the china cabinet. Barb ended up ordering 2 matching desks (each 48 inches wide) that would just fit in the dining room on either side of the china cabinet; as you can see, they arrived today. The only difference is that my desk has the file drawer for legal size and hers is letter size. Thus, for less than $440, we now have 2 very nice desks with good storage for files, etc. This was the good side.

However, we had to move the hardware for printer, etc. including the modem/router and VoIP decoder for the internet phone. Getting the latter to work last May was a real trial. After a couple of very frustrating weeks, suddenly, for no reason that I could figure, it started to work and has done well ever since. I tried to disconnect as few wires as possible and return them to exactly the same connections. However, while everything else is working, the internet phone is not! I have been fiddling with it all afternoon and evening, but with no success. I don’t why it started to work last year and thus no idea what I need to do now.

Amor in Acción (con'd)

After looking at a number of the charities in this area, Barb is especially interested in Love in Action. There is another orphanage on the other side of Jocotepec.That puts it quite a distance away (probably over 20 kns) while L in A is only about 5 - 6 kms in Chapala. On Sunday, there was a picnic for some of the children and godparents from Love in Action as well as an information session; Barb attended, but I didn’t. It was held just up the mountain in a gated community above La Floresta. Barb had been saying that there should be some program for the retired expats here to be ‘foster grandparents’ or some such. This would allow expats who are missing seeing their grandchildren as often to have an outlet. Then, she discovered that Love in Action has such a program, although they term them godparents to the children.. The most important contribution from godparents, they insist, is just taking them out for excursions, remembering birthdays, etc. Otherwise, they say that the children have few opportunities to go outside the center except to school. They say, yes, give presents, but small, relatively inexpensive ones; otherwise, there may be big gaps between what the children receive. The other thing is that they have some infants who need to be handled and given attention if they are to thrive. The workers there tend to be busy just feeding and changing. As you might imagine, Barb is especially interested in doing that. The children at the center have their tuition paid by the government, but there is no money for school uniforms or school supplies; they estimate that these extras cost about $100 per child per year. They hope that the godparents can contribute that as well They also are eager for sponsors who perhaps do not live here or who don’t feel able to give the personal attention desired from godparents but are willing to help with money contributions. Barb is going to go further with this.

Last night, there waa another Music Appreciation Society concert. This was a family from Toronto. Actually, the parents, both pianists, were originally Russian, but have lived and worked in Canada for a number of years. Their daughter, a soprano, has no accent and was mostly brought up in Canada.The parents did mostly arrangements for 4 hands of orchestral pieces. LLana, the daughter, did at least 3 songs or arias in Spanish; she is working on her 6th language! Altogether, it was the most extensive concert yet--over 1 hour for each half. Although some of Llana’s songs were 20th C, most of the music was 19th C--Brahms, Chopin and Lizst--and more in line with my preferences,.Jack & Kate were there, as was Sonya, from Dartmouth.

Lily

We have been having quite warm weather (highs of 26 -29 C, although one day up to 30 C). This may be a bit warmer than usual for this early in the year; I’m back to shorts and sandals.


We have a new addition to our entourage. We have taken a rescue dog, named Lily. A little over a month ago, a woman (from Montreal, named Cher) found her very sick in the Plaza. She took her to a vet. Lily was in really bad shape and close to dying. She needed IVs for 2 or 3 days because she was so dehydrated. Cher paid to have her treated with shots etc. Then, she took her to her place to get her back to health. However, as she couldn’t keep Lily, she put a notice up at LCS looking for a home. Barb was looking at the notices and planing to contact a couple. By chance, as she and Bijou were leaving LCS, they met Lily and her rescuer. With Cher’s agreement, Barb brought Lily home for a small test to see how she and Bijou would interact. It went well enough that we called and said that we would like to keep her. The woman gave us all the toys and things she had bought for Lily. The vet estamated that Lily is about 8 - 9 months old. She is a bit taller than Bijou, but may not grow too much taller. She is very sweet tempered, affectionate and I think very trainable. Unlike the 2 dogs over the back wall, she does not seem very barky. Bijou keeps reminding Lily who is boss, but Bijou has adjusted quite well. Lily and she play and we think it will be good for Bijou to get more exercise. Our first night passed entirely without incident; fortunately we have a king-size bed so that there is lots of room.

The other matter of interest to describe is Centro Amor in Acción (Love in Action Center). This is an orphanage in Chapala that I mentioned briefly before when we donated our old washing machine. They are in the midst of a big move and transformation. We visited their current establishment up the mountain in Chapala. It is very cramped with little grounds around; it provided a shelter and care for about 50 children ranging in age from infants to about 15, but conditions are spartan to say the least. However, they have acquired another, much more spacious propeerty. It has 5 or 6 buildings with fairly extensive grounds for play areas, about 3 acres in all. They are creating 4 dormitories for about 60 children in all. Each dormitory will have 15 -17 children with a small apartment for house parents. One area will be a nursery for infants and in some cases mothers. In addition, there will be a library and study area and some computers. They have quite a few expat volunteers, as well as paid Mexican workers doing the renovations in hopes of being able to move by the end of this month. When we dropped in, we got a tour plus lots of details about their plans. It was very impressive. The property had at one time been the estate of a very wealthy family in Guadalajara. However, a few years ago a couple acquired it and set up a shelter for women and children. However, they have gotten older and have health problems. Apparently, they had about $800,000 invested and the property was appraised at $1.2 million. However, they have sold it to Love in Action for $300,000 and we were told that even that money is going to another charity. This is not the entire story of this impressive operation, but I think that I’ll leave more details until my next post in a day or two.

Los Niños Incapacitados

The charity dinner and dance was quite an affair. It was held at the Real de Chapala Hotel. It is the fanciest hotel (5 star) in this area. It is one block behind our house, but we had not been there before. We had seen their tennis courts because they are right on the street where we frequently pass. They also have quite a large pool inside the hotel courtyard. The dinner and dance were held on a huge courtyard outside with a band playing 60s & 70s rock and roll. There were over 30 tables with 10 persons each. Jack had organized us and reserved a table for 10. Paul & Kay (snowbirds from Kentville, N.S.), Cathy & Gary (formerly Five Islands Lake, now Waverley), Jack & Kate and Barb & I made up the Bluenose contingent. Completing the table were Mike and his Mexican wife. Mike, a Canadian, has lived here for quite a number of years and has owned a couple of restaurants as well as other buisnesses.

[There is an interesting story about Mike and Paul. Last year as a result of Jack’s bringing them together, they met for the first time in over 30 years. They had gone through basic training in Ottawa in the RCMP together. Mike resigned from the force after only a few years, but Paul remained in until his retirement a number of years ago. It is sometimes amazing how small the world can be.]

Anyway, there were apparently over 300 guests paying 700 pesos per head. Also, to raise money they had auctions, a live one and a silent auction. The live auction was interesting with over 10 items. Most of the items were donated by couples or foursomes for gourmet dinners for 8 persons; however, one item was a cocktail party for up to 30 persons. All of these were in some of the fanciest homes in the Lakeside area. The bidding was quite lively, in some cases by rival groups. Most were sold for 12-15,000 pesos each ($1200-1500). Thus, it appears that they raised a lot of money. Mexican governments provide pracitically no services or support for handicapped children so that Los Niños Incapcitados fills a real need. I read a newspaper article that said that one of their programs was horse therapy. On Satuday mornings, some of the children are taken for short rides on horses. Research has shown that such rides do wonders for the morale and well being of such children.

I was contacted by another charity, this one for an old people’s home. They are collecting donations of household items for a yard sale in March. They have a truck sitting on the Carreterra for donations, but they needed someone to man the truck for the afternoon. I agreed that it was a small thing that I could do and spent the afternoon before the dinner/dance doing that; if needed, I’ll probably do that a few times more. Indeed, there are a large number of charities who are all trying to raise money from the expats. However, I expect that a great many of the customers for the eventual yard sale will be Mexicans; it’s a great way for them to pick up household items relatively cheaply.

On a totally different topic, I went to the LaFloresta business office with our deed to get the house recorded in our names. While there, I asked for the amount of our fees.for water, street lighting, garbage collection and security. The base rate is a little over 500 pesos per month or a bit over 6,000 pesos per year. However, if you pay upfront for the year by the end of February, there is a 10% discount. As a result, it is less than $600 per year. I think that we have another tax of about $100 per year. So our entire costs for the equivalent of property taxes at home is probably no more than $700.

Local administration

I apologize for the gap in posts. One of my readers asked me if I had developed writer’s block. Well, I have lots to report on but we have also been rather busy. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

Last Sunday, February 1st, after some considerable delay, Blake Brunt, our second grandson and brother for Aiden, finally made his appearance although we had had ultrasound video appearances earlier. Especially from Jan. 25th when he was due, Barb had been spending a great deal of time at home, talking to Jeff to get updates on progress and waiting for the big news. I attribute Blake’s distinct unwillingness to make his grand appearance to the cold, winter weather being endured by Nova Scotians (as well as much of North America). I think his attitude was, “I don’t want to go out there; it’s nice and warm in here.” However, even the greatest reluctance cannot resist nature indefinitely. He finally struggled his way into the world just before midnight. Tara and the baby were fine and able to return home on the 2nd day. Aiden seems greatly intrigued by the newcomer; he aleerts his parents whenever Blake cries and wants to help with feeding. Barb is delighted but also dismayed that it will be July before she can make the trip to hold him and make his acquaintance; however, she has completed knitting a sweater with hood, a hat, and booties.

Also, last Sunday, the LaFloresta property owners’ association held its annual general meeting. La Floresta, our development (called a fraccionnamiento--division) is run for several basic services by the association. I have not quite figured out local government in Mexico. All the local divisions (fraccionnamientos) provide local services. In our case, the services are water, garbage collection, street lighting and some security.. For the security, there are 2 pickup trucks (a 3rd vehicle is being discussed) which continuously patrol up and down the streets all night and some day looking for intruders or suspicious characters. Because the association is an NGO, we pay “fees’ rather than “taxes”. However, LaFloresta, Ajijic and other villages along the lakeshore are part of the main municipal government of Chapala. It is about the size of a county in Canada or US.

On arrival and our credentials as property owners accepted, we were given small receivers with earphones for simultaneous translation. Thus, the meeting was held in both Spanish and English although Spanish predominated as most executive and board memebers were Mexican and the most active speakers in the audience were Mexican. Some residents are complaining about the rental of horses businesses which operate further up on Camino Real (our street). We think the horses add character and a Mexican flavour; however, our house is 300-400 meters from where they tie up. Thus, we have little inconvenience.A Chapala government official came to disuss this aspect. He was very much the caracature of a politian. “Yes, we take your concerns very seriously, but others (the renters of horses, the tourist officials, etc.) have interests as do their customers. We don’t know if they have permits, but that is not in our jurisdiction, etc. etc.” However, members of the audience (espeially the Mexicans) were pleased to bring other complaints to the official. He a couple of times said that he was glad to hear their views and that he wasn’t angry--meaning that he was being at least irritated. Speakers in the audience often did not have a microphone so the translator couldn’t tell us exactly what they were saying, The vigour with which they were speaking seemed to indicate that they were giving him a piece of their mind.

A number of propert y owners are Mexicans, many professionals, including our MD who is a member of the board. Mexicans are fastidious in using professions as titles when addressing or referring to each other: “Engineer José whatever or Dr. Garcia, etc.One of the issues is that there is a substantial arrears in payments of the fees. Most of these relate to vacant lots which are scattered here and there throughout the village, although a few are being biuld on currently. Some fees have not been paid since the inception of the development in 1974. However, a property cannot be sold unless these fees/taxes are paid. The administration claimed a substantial payment of arrears last year. However, in order to increase the reserve fund, fees are being raised by 5% which amounts to a little over 330 pesos per property. This will make our bill somewhere between 6,500 and just under 7,000 (i.e., $650-700). The fees seem to be flat-rate per property rather than on some sort of assessment. There may be some variation for larger properties involving more that one lot. For example, out neighbour to the west has a property with at least 2 lots because it runs the entire distance from out street to the street immediately behind. Maybe, such owners pay the same fee for both lots.

On Tuesday night, we attended another Music Appreciation Society concernt; this time 2 classical guitarrists from the faculty of the school of music in the U. of Guadalajara. This was the biggest crowd in the Auditorio; I would estimate close to 80% of the seats filled. We enjoed it.

Finally, last night we attended a charity dance for a local charity, Niños Incapacitados (Handicapped children); It was quite an affair, because this post is getting rather long, I’ll save that for my next post in just a day or so.