Movie stars

Again, quite a busy week. We only went one afternoon this week at the Amor en Acción. Barb was pretty tired after the busy week before. Also, we had Sonia from Dartmouth on Tuesday evening. She returns to Nova Scotia, Monday, the 30th and we wanted to have her before she left. Then on Saturday afternoon, we (Kate, Jack, Sonia, Barb & I)went to a concert by Los Cantantos del Lago. It is a choral group of about 65 singers. Most are ex-pats, but there are a number of Mexicans too. The choral master is very demanding and the group is quite good. This was the first of 3 concerts the group is doing over 4 days. It is for fund-raising as the group goes on a couple of trips to other cities in Mexico. The concert featured a wide variety of music from Mexico, Canada and the US. It also covered a range of time periods. Some of their songs they do achapella. The concert was held in the Sol y Luna (Sun and Moon) hall which is part of the Danza del Sol hotel complex. It is about 2-3 kms on the other, western side of Ajijic. It was the first time that Barb & I had been there, mostly because it is a bit far to walk from our place. The hall is quite good for a concert, although it was quite warm on a sunny afternoon. After the concert, the five of us went across the street to a new (to us) restaurant called Villa del arte. It used to be an art gallery and the owner of the restaurant is an artist; there are some of his paintings on the walls. We had expected the place to be filled with other concert goers, but there were only about 8 or 9 other patrons besides us. The food was good.

Today, we had the 3 little girls again. While Elvia was supposed to come again, when we got there we found that she was going to be cooking the dinner for everyone. The system is that each dormitory has a kitchen and the children and houseparents make and eat breakfast and the light evening meal in their own dormitories. However, there is a large kitchen and dining area where everyone gathers for the main meal of the day in the early afternoon. So Elvia was the cook for this main meal, although some of the children were away (as our three were). In her place, Elvia sent a 13 year old girl, named Cynthia. She was pleasant and a good help with the little girls. Barb had prepared a BBQ chicken dinner which we had almost immediately as it was after 2 p.m. The little girls ate a bit, but neither of the twins likes green beans, we found out.

After eating, we had the little pool set up again. This time, Barb had bathing suits for the girls. She had spent a good part of Saturday trying to find them. She went to WalMart (not something she likes to do even though it is only 3 or 4 blocks away; nada in bathing suits for little girls. She did find balls and a couple of toys as well as sunglasses. She bought 5 pairs of the latter, not just for the 3 girls, but also for the other 2 who live in the same dormitory--Leo and Belen. She thought it would cause trouble if they didn’t all have a pair. She ended up making a fast trip into Chapala to the Soriana supermarket (in fact it is like WalMart with appliances, clothing, etc. besides a food supermarket. She did manage to find bathing suits there; we were a bit worried that they might not fit because they looked pretty small. However, they are very stretchy and were fine. Barb used different colours to be able to tell the twins apart. Again, they loved playing and splashing in the pool. At one point, I thought that it needed more water, so I got the hose. We put the nozzle on fine spray and the girls had a whale of a timegetting sprayed and spraying each other. When they finally tired, we got them out for ice cream and cookies. When they were back in their regular clothes (after 4), we were wondering if they would lie down to sleep as it was well past their usual nap time. However, they were not interested in that. Our next plan was to drive to Chapala, park and take the girls for a walk along the malecon. However, by the time we found a parking spot (Chapala is packed with people from Guadalajara on weekends this time of year), the girls were all fast asleep. We ended up driving around a bit and finally took them back to the center at about 5:30 p.m. There were 3 tired little puppies. Truth be told, Barb and I came home and immediately lay down for over an hour of rest and sleep ourselves.

Our 3 niñas

We have had a busy week. Twice we went to Amor en Accion in the afternoon (Wed. & Friday). We took some diapers for the baby on Friday. Also, we found out that the water for the kids had run out and everyone had been too busy to get any and the water company didn’t come. I ended up going to get 4 20 liter bottles. We also arranged to take our 3 goddaughters on Sunday. Elvia, the housemother for the little ones hardly ever has a break, so that our taking the girls would be something for her as well. I’ll come back to that.

On Saturday night we had Gary and Cathy to our place. They are going back to Nova Scotia at the end of the month and time is running out. They hadn’t been over to see our place. We had a very nice evening.


We went to the shelter and they all arrived back from church at 1:30. We hadn’t quite understood that Elvia was going to come too. It was really good that way; at least one of the twins was afraid to come without her. They had not eaten so we went to the waterfront in Chapala and went to a restaurant after a walk along the malecon (everyone holding hands); I think that we made quite picture walking 6 abreast (2 Gringos, a Mexican woman and 3 little Mexican girls. The latter were dressed up as they had just come from church. After eating and walking back along the malicon, we came to our house; it was after 3 and the time the girls lie down for a nap. We had set up the little wading pool that we got for Aiden last year; they were promised that if they had a nap, then they could play in the pool. After about an hour and a half, we got them up. Well, the pool was an enormous success. They frolicked and played with great enthusiasm (see photo; Fatima is in the pink bathing suit). We then fed them (of course, finishing with ice cream) and took them back after about 6:30. It was all hugely successful. We also had lots of time to chat with Elvia; she had quite good English and we learned a great deal.

First, Elvia is a sister of Anabel, the founder and director of Amor en Accion (the photo is a bit dark; Fatima is in the center between Elvia and me; the twins are at the extreme right and left). Another sister also works there (they come from a large family of 10). On the waterfront, Elvia introduced us to her brother and sister-in-law (Barb had seen the brother at the Center also). What we also learned was that many of the housemothers have their children with them. Elizabeth (the housemother for 6 girls aged 7 - 10) lives with girls in another section of the same building where Elvia and the toddlers live. We knew that she had 2 sons living there, but there is a third as well. Thus, the mothers are given shelter with their children. Elvia does not get paid and I expect that is true of the other housemothers as well. Basically, they get food and shelter for themselves and their children. Six years ago, Anabel started simply by providing a meal for children in the neighbourhood. That mushroomed as more and more showed up. Then, she started a day care to help some working mothers. Finally, she started a shelter for children and in some cases their mothers. Right now they are scrambling to get more organized with the move and the expansion. The old place up the mountain is going to be entirely a daycare center. I don’t know if Anabel is continuing to run it or if someone else is. There is some government money for daycare, while the shelter does not get any at the moment. However, on Friday as I was passing Anabel and a couple of others talking near the front entrance, I overheard Anabel saying that they were applying for some sort of grant from the government. At the pool party last week, one of the godparents said that her 2 sons, who both belong to Rotary Clubs, were coming to collect information in order to apply for a substantial grant from Rotary International. The Center really needs additional money for basic operating expenses. The sponsorships go entirely for school and education expenses, not for basic operations or facilities. My admiration for Anabel grows as I see how much responsibility she is taking on.

Fatima

Our social calendar is getting very full at the moment. Some of our snowbird friends from Nova
Scotia are going back at the end of the month and Barb wants to have them over to our place to see our casa and visit a bit before then. Kay and Paul, who are from Kentville and have been coming down here for about 4 years, were over Saturday night. Although we have been to some functions with them and met them frequently on the street (they are great walkers every day), this was the first opportunity to really get to know them. Next Saturday, Cathy and Gary, who did live in Five Island Lake but bought another house and moved to Fall River, have accepted our invitation to visit next Saturday night.

Today, Barb and the four women from Nova Scotia (Kate, Cathy , Kay and Sonya) went in to Tlaquepaque. It was successful and they arrived back safely in due course, having done a fair bit of shopping.

Sunday we went to the picnic for the godparents and children from Amor in Acción. It was held in a beautiful house in Vista del Lago, which is a gated community about 7 miles east of Chapala on the road to Mexcala. The development, which has its own private security force, also contains the Chapala Country Club; I’m not sure if the golf course is 18 holes or 9 holes. It is kind of out in the country. However, the houses are very grand. The house for the picnic is a 2 story on a hill. You come in to the main upper floor at street level. The ceilings are high with large beams for rafters, much like our house. The lower level opens on to a large patio; then the property goes down to a 3rd level where the pool is and another building, that may have been a casita, but it is now a games room (with a billards table and large bar). It is quite spectacular.

The kids loved the pool, as you might imagine. Barb had already been assured that we could have the 3 girls that Barb had decided were her first choices for godchildren. However, only Fatima (the emphasis is on the middle syllabele) was there (see the photo). The twin girls, (Dareli and Dariana, again emphasis on the 2nd last syllable) were both sick and unable to come; we had noticed that both had coughs on Friday. We found out a bit more about Fatima (about 3 years old). She has 4 other siblings in the shelter by the same mother. The little baby (I’ve forgotten her name), about 10 months old, is a full sister by the same father; however, 2 older sisters and a brother, have different father(s). Fatima seemed a bit overwhelmed by all the people. She was a bit afraid of the pool, but did finally, after a lot of coaxing by the other kids, get into the water. When asking about the twins, one of the staff, who is a registered nurse, talked to us and said that they needed some antibiotics and decongestant. We agreed to buy what she said was needed and dropped it off at the shelter at about 8 p.m. The medicines were not expensive, but the shelter is operating pretty much hand to mouth; however, volunteers are stepping forward. There was an article in the Guadalajara Reporter (an English language weekly that does a lot of reporting on the Chapala area) did a story this week. It featured a girl (about 12 years and who was at the picnic) whose father had held her hand over flames and burned them. She has just had a 2nd operation to correct some of the damage. That will probably bring more people to volunteer and support the shelter.

There was a short meeting of the godparents. Apparently, this programme was started only last fall and has been a terrific success. Over 90 % of the children now have godparents. Some of the latter are snowbirds so there was discussion about how they could remain in contact and assure the children that they would be returning while they were north for the summer. Anabele, the woman who started the shelter and who is the director, was there and I was greatly impressed. She started this from nothing about 6 or 7 years ago. What impressed me was her determination to ensure that the children get an education so that they will be prepared and have the opportunity to have a decent life. She wants to use the gifts the godparents give to be used as incentives for the kids to do well in school. One of the older girls (15 years) made the honour roll at school. Her Canadian godparents agreed to buy the cell phone that she wanted as a reward. Anabele is pretty firm; if they don’t do well, “then we’ll say,’Too bad; maybe if you work hard next year, then you’ll get a gift.’” The sponsorships for the older kids pay for school uniforms, shoes and school supplies; for the young ones, the money goes into an education fund which pays for a pre-school teacher to go in mornings to work with the pre-schoolers.

Amor in Acción (con'd)

We have become more deeply involved with Amor en Acción. On Thursday morning, Barb went to a meeting organising ‘Loving Arms’. These are volunteers who go in to play with and cuddle the infants and toddlers in the shelter. While there, she found that the houseparents and staff are being given training classes for 1-1.5 hours five days a week for some months. For houseparents of older kids it is not too much of a problem because they can play and look after themselves. However, for the housemother of the little ones, there is no one except some of the older girls; one we met is very responsible but is only 13 years old. They could use some help to supervise during that period. There are about 7 children plus the son of one of the other housemothers. That was too much for Barb alone so I went too in the afternoon for a little over 2 hours. Most of them were sleeping for their afternoon naps when we arrived, but gradually they all woke up. A couple were very shy because they had not seen us before. However, others warmed up very quickly. All have big, brown eyes. There was also a baby (about 8 months or so at a guess). She was amazing. She was awake very early. During a period of 2 hours, she did not cry or make any fuss whatever. She came to us strangers immediately. We went back again today for the same period. We certainly can’t go every day for the course, but we will go as often as we can. With a couple of the older girls helping, it is not too onerous. It is a good thing for the kids to interact with other people besides the staff etc. of the shelter. Of course for us, it is adictive. Those big brown eyes are irresistable. We’ll take the camera next time and put a couple of photos in a future blog.

For Barb’s birthday next week, Matthew and Angela are going to sponsor a child in Barb’s name. [A sponsorship is about $100 for a year; for the older kids that is to pay for school uniforms, books and shoes.] They also want to sponsor another in Angela’s name. Barb wants us to go the godparents route; that involves taking a child for outings and showing some attention (and contributing the sponsorship money if able). So far the godparents have been choosing from the older children. Barb is eager to do three children from among the little ones; she already has 3 picked out. We’ll see; this Sunday there is another picnic for kids and godparents. They are planning to take some of the little ones to see if potential godparents might be interested in choosing them. Barb says that we should get first dibs on those for our godchildren.

On Saturday I have promised to help another charity, the elders’ home in Chapala. As I mentioned in an earlier post, they have been collecting items for a giant yard sale to be held tomorrow and Sunday. I have my Spanish conversation class from 11:30 - 1. So I will be going to help at the yard sale only after 1. I was intending to go help on Sunday too, but with the godparents’ picnic in the afternoon, I won’t be able to.

Kiss me, Kate

There is a Little Theater in San Antonio. They put on several productions each year. Barb and I had not been to one of their productions. Last year in June with the heavy rains, the street from the theater was washed out and they had to cancel a couple of productions during the summer. Then we have been pretty busy. However, Kate & Jack had received 2 tickets for Monday night’s performance of the current production of “Kiss me, Kate”. They asked if we would like to go. We decided to do it; however, all the tickets were sold out. Because there are almost always some no-shows, they have a system of a waiting list. An hour and a half before the production, you can show up and put your name on the waiting list. We did that but there had been 5 people on the waiting list for the previous night who were at the top of the list. We got #6 & 7 on the waiting list. We then went back to K. & J.’s for chicken dinner. Sure enough, several people did not show up. About 5 minutes before curtain time, I overheard the manager say that there might be 12 seats available. The first 5 on the waiting list were seated. However, literally in the last minute, four people with tickets showed up. However, Barb & I got in and only one other after us.

The production was better than I expected. Several of the actors have had extensive experience in local and regional theater, mostly in the US. Not too many of the actors had really good singing voices, but the main female lead doing Katherine and the main actress had an outstanding voice. What was also interesting was that a number of the women in the chorus, who are in my age range, were able to do a creditable job of dancing. Also, the 2 men who played the gangsters and then sang the “Brush up your Shakespeare” song were terrific. The Little Theater is really lovely. It has very nice theater seats (about 250 or so seats). It also has a lovely patio for drinks and the intermission. The theater has been on the go for about 30 years, but the building is relatively new. It is very close to us (about 6 blocks or so). We shall certainly try to get to more of their productions.

Today was the March meeting of the Canadian Club at the Nuevo Pasado Hotel. They said today that this is the largest Canadian Club anywhere in the world. For today, they had arranged for 10 of the private hospitals in Guadalajara to present their medical services and facilities. They all seem first class facilities (internationally certified) with top specialists and technology. Americans especially drool at the prices they charge as compared to the US. The more we learn about the medical system here, the more impressed and amazed we are.

After the meeting, there was a Mexican fiesta. We had extra seats at our table and we were joined by an interesting couple from Lunenburg. The fiesta (including an auction of donated art) was a fund-raiser for the Easter passion pageant. It is a reenactment of the entire Easter story beginning with Palm Sunday and especially events associated with Good Friday. The actor has to carry the cross from the main church in Ajijic up the mountain to the shrine where the reenactment of the crucifixion takes place; then the body is carried back down the mountain to the church. It is the most elaborate Easter pagent in Mexico. This will be the first time for us in April.

Equipals

We have had a busy couple of days. In fact, tonight we are feeling a bit tuckered out. I had been asked to help for 3 hours on Saturday with a charity. It is a fund-raiser for the Old People’a Home in Chapala. In fact, some of the gringos go there and it is said to be quite nice and people there are well looked after. They are collecting almost anything that can be sold in a yard sale. They have a truck that they bring every day on the highway across from Superlake supermarket. It is one of the main places that stock foods from the US and Canada where gringos pining for their favourite things (for example, Barb’s Shredded Wheat) can satisfy their longings. Anyway, it is a good place because most gringos go there frequently. Anyway, I had agreed to sit in the truck. However, I have my Spanish conversation class on Saturdays, 11:30 - 1 p.m. However, Marilyn seemed so desperate that Barb went in my stead. Then, when Marilyn called to confirm the person who had agreed to do the shift from 1 - 4, he said he couldn’t (or wouldn’t) do it. So as soon as I finished my class, I went to relieve Barb and stayed until 3:30. (I have agreed to help next weekend when they are doing the yard sale itself.) I couldn’t stay longer because our friends, Kate and Jack, had arranged a big cocktail party for about 40 people from 4 - 6 p.m. at their place. Thus, I had to hurry home, change and walk to their place. It was very interesting, although we knew only a few of the people.

While there and talking to Sonya, who is from Dartmouth and whom we had met last year when we were down here, was going to the final concert in the Northern Lights Festival; she mentioned that she had an extra ticket which her landlord had given her. She was very willing to give it to us. Other people assured us that at the previous concert they had announced that contrary to rumour, there were still tickets available for the final concert. We took the chance that we could get a second ticket. In fact, the woman at the door exhanged the single ticket and gave us two seats together in the same row (there seemed to be 25-30 empty seats). It was a terrific concert. We were very pleased to be able to go. Needless to say, we were pretty tired by the time we got home.

Today, the talk at Open Circle was about local lore here in Mexico and it was very interesting and informative. Some things we had learned before, but there was lots new too. Jack and Kate did not attend as they were still recovering from their exertions for their cocktail party; some guests did not leave until about 11 p.m.! However, they joined us for brunch at Neuvo Pasada restaurant which is just down the same street where they live. Sonya joined us as well to make 5. After brunch we went to Sonya’s place which is just a couple of blocks from the restaurant. She wanted Kate and Jack to see her apartment because friends of theirs are looking for a place for next year. The apartment is lovely., newly redone, with new furniture and lots of appliances. It is only one bedroom, but is very convenient location also. In fact after seeing photos online and J & K’s favourable review, the couple are very interested.

After that, I walked up to J. & K’s to pick up the car as we had loaned it to them so that they could pick up stuff for their party. I then drove Barb and Sonya to the Great Chili Cookoff. This is a 3 day affair with the profits going to 5 local charities. In fact the governor of Jalisco State and other bigwigs made an appearance on Saturday (dozens of police all along the highway). On Saturday, after a parade, a number of couples make their chili specialties; it kind of like the Idol TV series because people can taste the chilies and vote for the best one. On Sunday, various chefs from restaurants locally do their chilies and again there is a contest. Apparently, this used to be an All Mexico Chili Cookoff, but organizers felt it was just too much to do on such a big scale, so it is now just in the Lake Chapala area. Nevertheless, it is still a pretty big deal. Also, there are a large number of people with stands selling all sorts of goods. Barb finally decided to settle the problem of what additional furniture we need for the living room. Up to now, we have only a sofa; it is a good size, but still seats only 3 people. We were thinking of a couple of leather lazyboys, but they are pretty expensive. One of the local specialties are called equipals (see photo). They come in many different levels and qualities; many restaurants have very basic ones. However, at the Cookoff, Barb found a furniture maker who does bigger, more padded and fancier versions. He said that he doesn’t usually sell retail, but just to furniture stores. He didn’t want to take his chair home (it was only a little over an hour before closing) and offered her a deal. She ended up buying 2 chairs and 2 foot stools. These chairs have tooled leather backs. It is really quite comfortable, even without the foot stool. We got the one chair today and in 2 weeks or so, they are going to deliver the second chair and 2 foot stools. With the 2 desks (which are a great success) and now getting the living room furniture settled, we shall be pretty well set for furnishings. We are gradually checking off items on our list of priorities that we felt we needed.

Just a brief comment on the weather. It has been getting warmer with temps in the afternoon getting up to 31 - 32 on some days. In fact, in the newspaper it said that a new record high for Jalisco state was set for February --33.4; the old record had stood since the 1920s.

VoIP connected again

Well, we have our VoIP phone again. Finally, after getting nowhere for almost a week, I used Skype to call Primus. As it turned out, all I needed to do was to use the reset button on the VoIP box. I had thought of doing that but was worried to do that without checking. However, on the 3rd try, the tech said to do that (others had wanted to get into the box, but I had had to do a reboot of my computer, which cut me off from Skype). However, as soon as I did a reboot after the reset, it connected! I shall know what to do next time. However, I also discovered that Skype could be a good alternative. What I need is a headset with microphone. Just using the built in microphone on the computer has a lot of echoes in our casa with solid plaster walls.

Today we had a new experience. Barb had learned that there is an Office Depot store on the highway from Jocotepec to Guadalajar. Always before, we have gone on the Chapala to Guadalajar highway; that way we get into the Guadalajara metro area on the south-east side. Going west to Jocotepec and then north to Guadalajara brings us into Guadalajara farther west. It was very interesting. It is much more rural from Jocotepec than from Chapala. The latter goes past the airport and it is much more built up along the highway. Near Jocotepec, we saw fields covered in white plastice with raspberry bushes under. Farther along, there were lots of pastures and cows.

We got right to Office Depot and Barb spotted the sign early enough that I could get over to get off the highway. Barb had wanted some supplies and that became more urgent with the 2 new desks (more file folders and file hangers for the file drawers). Also, we needed another desk chair. We ended up getting one for me and Barb can take the old chair I got last year. The new one has a screen back so will be cooler for down here. When we got back on the highway into Guadalajara and were looking for a turn-around to go back, we saw a sign saying to go to the airport. We would go in farther, then across Guadalajara to the Chapala highway. It was farther in than I figured, but we in fact did the circle around to get back to La Floresta. We didn’t take a wrong turn or get lost, which was an accomplishment. as it was mostly new territory in Guadalajara.We are certainly getting more comfortable about going into the latter, even though we have been doing that a lot less. We have been trying to buy as much as we can locally. In fact, it usually doesn’t cost more and we want to support the local businesses as much as possible.

There are an enormous number of events taking place right now; with all the snowbirds here, this is the time many of the organizations want to arrange fund raisers, etc. We cannot possibly do everything. The Northern Lights Festival is on for little over a week. This has been organized for 6 or 7 years by a Canadian musician from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. A number of musicians from the TSO come down here. They give 7 concerts here in Ajijic and 2 in Guadalajara; the musicians also give master classes for some of the advanced students in the music school in the Univ. of Guadalajara. However, we waited too long and by the time I went to get tickets, they were all sold out! There are other concerts during March and April.