Lily, the watch dog

Well, we did take the girls for 2 swimming lessons. The first one went well (see photos). The woman instructor (about 50) was terrific with the girls. Every 10 minutes or so, she would change the activity so that they didn’t get bored for the 90 minute lesson. However, they were tired on the way back to LIA. The next week we had a cold spell, which I’ll come back to in a minute. By 4:30, the pool was in shade and it was too cold. Fatima lasted about 15 minutes until she simply wouldn’t do anything. The twins were trying, but lasted only a little over half an hour. We’ll wait for the weather to get warmer before doing more lessons.

We did have a cold snap. It started with high winds that, as usual, brought down an enormous amount of debris from the eucalyptus trees all over the property, although we had only a brief power outage during the middle of the night. Usually, we have little or no breeze, but for the next 3 or 4 days, we had strong breezes which kept the temperatures low in spite of bright, sunny days. On 2 mornings when we got up at 7, the temperature was 9; it doesn’t usually get much colder than that. In the afternoons, the outside temps did not get much above 20. As a result, we have had to dress more warmly. I abandoned my normal shorts and sandals (see the 3rd photo) for long pants, socks, shoes and heavier, long sleeved shirts. However, the high pressure system that brought the cool temperatures has dissipated and the temps are 5 or 6 degrees higher and very much in the perfect range.

We had an interesting experience on Sunday night with Lily. She pounces on any spiders or cucaraches that run across the floor and kills them; we have been worried that she might do the same thing with scorpions, which are dangerous. She went over to the chest of drawers near the front door and began to bark and was very excited. This was different behavior so we immediately got up to investigate. We moved the chest, but whatever it was moved under and we couldn’t see what, if anything, was there. We sat down again, but Lily knew something was there and kept watching. Then, she began yipping again and we noticed that she was jumping back when it moved towards her. Sure enough, it was a scorpion. Lily followed it, but stayed several inches away at all times. Even after I killed it, she stayed away. We had heard that the most venomous are the small, light coloured ones; this was large (over 2 inches long) and black. It is very unusual to find one in the house; it’s been months since the last one. We are relieved because not only did Lily know not to touch a scorpion, but she also warned us and followed it like a good watch dog.

Virgins in Mexico

We have now had 28 days without rain. The lake level has started to go down, about 8 cm. (about 3 inches) so far. Nevertheless, it was a good year for the lake. Also, there was much less lirios (water lily) infestation this year. Another good sign as the lirios bloom is based on water pollution (often fertilizer runoff).

In Mexico, the cult of the Virgin is really important. Fairly early in the Spanish colonial era, an appearance of the Virgin was proclaimed at Guadelupe and the Virgin of Guadelupe has been an object of veneration ever since. It is believed that for many of the Indian population, she became a substitute for an Aztec goddess. In fact, Catholicism was conflated with a great deal of Indian religious ideas and motifs. Later, the Inquisition was brought with full fury to try to stamp out this intrusion of ‘paganism’. Despite the tortures and executions, it was only partly successful and Catholicism here still has lots of pre-Christian elements. Some statues depict Guadelupe with a very dark skin. She became a virtual patron saint of Mexico. Father Hildago’s army fighting for independence from Spain carried banners dedicated to Guadelupe in the war for independence 1810-21.

However, there are a multitude of other ‘Virgins’ highly venerated; most of these are little statuettes, dolls really. Many have corn stalks or husks for the body and many are very old. However, they are beautifully dressed. In fact the Virgin of Zapopan seems to have a lot of gold (her halo and her cloak, for example). Here in Ajijic, there is the Virgin of the Rosary. No one knows how old she is. There is a definite reference to her in 1733, but many believe she is much older. Franciscan missionaries arrived here on Lake Chapala about 1530, only a few years after the Spanish conquest. Shortly after, they built a shrine to the Virgin and later a church here in Ajijic to the Virgin. The little chapel on the north side of the plaza replaced that building in the early 18th C. This little chapel is the home of ‘Rosario’. However, for most of October, she is in the parish church and subject to daily masses. On the last day of the month late in the afternoon, there is a big parade to take her from the church back to her normal ‘home’ in the chapel; there is music and celebrating all evening.

The Virgin of Zapopan (Zapopan is one of the 5 cities in the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area ) is the most celebrated in this area. Her normal home is in the Basilica of Zapopan. There are a number of miracles attributed to her, including stopping at least one plague in the Guadalajara area. Every year in September and October she is taken on a peregrination to a number of churches in the region, including to Chapala during its festival honoring Saint Frances, Chapala’s patron saint. Last week, her annual visitation was brought to an end. After spending several days in the cathedral in Guadalajara, there was a hugh procession along the approximately 5 mile route to the Basilica. People gather along the route the night before and an estimated 1.5 million observe the procession, with floats and thousands of dancers, etc. Many people offer prayers and requests as she passes believing (or hoping at least) that she answers such requests.

A few years ago when the level of Lake Chapala had fallen very low and many thought there was a danger that it would dry up completely, special prayers were offered to Zapopan requesting that she save the lake. Now that it has recovered, many credit her. (Of course, the agreement by all the states that are part of the watershed to limit the amount of water used in irrigation is much more relevant.) As a result, she was given a new title, Queen of the Lake. This week she is being brought from Zapopan to Chapala for a parade and special service of thanksgiving for such a bountiful year for rain. With all these Virgins, this seems to me to be polytheistic, rather than monotheist, but that is true of all the saints in Catholicism which arose from the amalgamation with pre-Christian polytheistic religions during the Dark Ages in Europe.

Although Guadalajara is very cosmopolitan and a declining percentage of thre population are Catholic, the influence of the Church is stronger here in Jalisco State than in many other parts of Mexico. However, the archbishop of Guad., who is the highest Catholic prelate in Mexico, currently has 2 lawsuits against him: one for alleging that the Mayor of Mexico City had bribed the judges who had ruled that refusing to allow gays to marry was unconstitutional. (Many areas are in the jurisdiction of the states, and Mexico City has many more liberal laws, allowing gay marriage and abortion, to name a couple.) The second lawsuit was launched because of some strong, inflamatory antigay remarks the archbishop made while denouncing the idea that gays should be allowed to adopt children. The Governor of Jalisco, a member of the PAN party which has close ties to the Catholic Church, also has a lawsuit against him for his antigay comments. Who knows where these lawsuits will go, but they do show that the conservative influence of the Church is being challenged strongly, unlike the US where religious conservatism seems to be growing in influence.

Last week we took the 3 girls to Tobolandia. As usual, they had a great time and we had a fairly easy time sitting in the shade and watching them. They give swimming lessons there late Saturday afternoons, 4:30 - 6 p.m. We are planning to take them there this Saturday. It will be less nerve-wracking to take them next door to Steve’s pool if they can swim as it is over their heads everywhere.

Kate and Jack arrived on Wednesday night. They were very relieved and pleased to be here to recuperate. Jack is trying to fight off a case of pneumonia and Kate fell and sprained here ankle the day before they left Halifax.The weather is perfect. They are planning to stay for close to a year.

Tree trimming

We have been having trouble with our internet service for some time--before we went to Nova Scotia. We would have to repeatedly request it to download something. Finally, I noticed that the little LED green light for the internet would go off and even the red light would come on. During that time, we could not get or send anything to the internet. It has been getting worse. Finally, I went to Telmex to report this. The man I talked to said very decidedly that that should not happen. The green light should stay on; it flickers when anything is being uploaded or downloaded, but it should stay on. He entered a report. The very next day, I was called and they located a fellow who could speak English. I described the problem and he said that it could be a problem in the line and noticed on the phone that there was some static. Anyway, they would send out a repairman to check the line and things here. It took 2 days, but the fellow showed up and checked things out. I was able to show him the problem eventually. He went back and reported that the line was all right. The next day I got another call asking if we still had the same problem; we did. I suggested that maybe it was the modem and he agreed that that was possible. He gave me an order number to get a new wireless , modem/router. I went down to the Telmex store in Ajijic and soon had a new modem. The new one has worked perfectly since and that was over a week ago. The modem was obviously the problem. We got it new when we arrived in May 2008 and usually they last longer than that; however, there are big fluctuations in voltages and spikes. I have always used a surge suppressor, but we did not get the voltage regulator for the house until less than a year ago.

We have been very pleased with the speed with which we can load things from the internet. Telmex is fairly expensive; we pay 1000 pesos per month (approx. $85). For that, we get local phone service, unlimited long distance in Mexico (which we use infrequently), some special deal on calls to the US (which we do not use because we have the VOIP phone) and the internet Since we moved here, they upgraded the service; it is now claimed to be 5 million bits per second, but when I test it, the best I get is 4.3 or 4.4 million bits (i.e., over 500 K bytes/second) which is not too bad. However, upload speed is rather pathetic and well under 100K bytes/second. However, I am impressed by the customer service. Once I had reported the problem, I got a call every day following up.

On Monday morning Sept. 20th, we had a knock on the door. A workman was there to ask if we wanted to trim one of our eucalyptus trees. It had some boughs that were dead and other branches that were looking kind of sickly. We have been thinking that we should do something. This seemed like something we should do. He didn’t have any English and my Spanish is limited; as a result, communication was not perfect. However, we knew that we had to get permissions and he knew all about it. He took me to the La Floresta office and the manager agreed to give the initial ok, even without doing the usual inspection. Then Jose, that is the man’s name, got the documents needed and took them all into the municipality office in Chapala which gives the final permission. Jose was running around for 3 or 4 hours. He got started on Tuesday. He had waved his hands making some cutting motions and we thought that he was intending to take down only the obviously dead limbs. As it turns out, we had not really understood what he intended to do. What he ended up doing was cutting off all the limbs about 15 to 20 feet above the ground as you can see in the photos. It is now dwarfed by the other 2 in the front lawn. Finally, when we began to remonstrate with him, he managed to convey the idea that this way, new branches would sprout out, not up, in a kind of mushroom fashion. Barbara says that she has seen this done at other places and it seems to work. Rosendo, the gardener, gave his opinion that it was the end of the tree. Thus, it is a grand experiment; Jose said it would take 2 years to really branch out. I wouldn’t be surprised. The eucalyptus trees get about 35 metres high (over 100 feet). It must take a lot of energy to get water and nutrients that high. As a tree gets older and weaker, it may be easier to feed lower branches than very high ones. However, it does show the need to get better at Spanish so that we know what people are saying to us. Barbara is now studying Spanish everyday using the lessons on CDs that we brought with us when we came down. She practices Spanish with Rosendo and he seems happy to help her. At the same time, I am teaching Edwardo to speak English. We all seem happy with the process.

It seems that our rainy season is coming to a close. There has been a decided change in the last few days. There have been absolutely no clouds and the humidity has been plunging. The rain has been very heavy this year. The average rainfall by this time is usually just above 770 mm (just over 30 inches) with another 75 mm. (3 inches)--mostly in October--by the end of the year. This year, we have already had 1070 mm (42.2 inches). Lake Chapala is still rising and is now just 10 mm. (4 inches) below the peak in 2008. The heavy rain has meant that the reservoirs upstream are much higher than a year ago and that means that farmers are likely to get bigger water quotas for irrigation during the coming dry season.

Globos

Tonight is the big night. At about 11 p.m in every city, town and village in Mexico, there will be a reenactment of Fr. Hildago’s call for rebellion against Spain for independence; it is called “El grito” or ‘the shout’. No one knows for sure what Hildago actually said and it almost certainly was not a declaration of independence. At that point, 1810, Napoleon had invaded Spain, deposed the king and installed his own replacement. Thus, they were not really rebelling against the real king. However, the Mexican born Spanish, referred to as ‘Creoles’, were very resentful of the fact that the Spanish born in Spain were dominant. Actually, those who responded to Hildago were mestizos (mixed parentage) and ‘Indios’, who were even more repressed than the Creoles. In Mexico during the Spanish imperial period, there was a rigid, racial hierarchy. In the ensuing 11 years during the war until independence was recognized, both sides were guilty of great brutality. At the time of Hildago's grito, there was no 'Mexico'; it was part of New Spain. However, by long established tradition, at the end of the ‘grito’ reenactment everyone, including the entire crowd, shouts, “Viva Mexico!” three times. Then there are fireworks, followed by dancing etc. late into the night. Tomorrow there are big parades in most towns. Most restaurants feature a special dinner, chilies en nogada. This features the colors of the Mexican flag--red, white and green--stuffed poblana pepper, white rice and red pomegranate seeds. In 2008, we went out, but this year we are home tonight; tomorrow we are taking Sonia to Chac-Lan, the restaurant up the mountain in San Juan Cosalá as she has not been there. It has a wonderful view of the lake and sunsets are gorgeous.

Last Saturday the Regata de Los Globes was held; globo is the Spanish word for balloon. This is the annual event featuring the tissue paper, hot air balloons. They are powered by burning wads of cotton soaked in kerosene fastened near the bottom of the balloons. Here are a few photos of this year. As you can see, some are really large and spectacular. The one with the long cylinder like the Mexican flag and with 'Centenario' actually did very well and flew very high and far. The big fancy ones often don't make it because they have to be balanced well or they start to swing; then, they catch on fire. Teams come from various places in Mexico with balloons that they have taken months to make. It starts about 3 p.m. and goes until dark with dozens and dozens of balloons. Many fail to make it and burn. However, others do make it and remain air borne for half an hour and travel to great heights and distances until they are mere dots in the sky. We brought the twins; Fatima had been misbehaving and was not allowed to go with us. Of course, it is pure Mexico as authorities north of the border would never allow such an event as too dangerous.

We had a small tragedy this past week. Each year, swallows build nests and raise young. This year (as last) a pair built a nest in our entrance. Their droppings create a bit of a mess, but it’s not something we worry about. Also, it is against the law to knock down nests, although lots of people do it. A couple of days ago, we went out and noticed 4 little heads peering over the edge and down. We thought it very cute, but it was more serious than that. Apparently, the chicks were looking for their parents, but none showed up all day. By bedtime, we noticed one chick had fallen out and was dying. In fact by noon next day, all 4 were dead or had disappeared. The next day we did see adult birds inspecting the nest, apparently the parents, but it was too late. It was too bad as the chicks had lots of feathers and I expect would have fledged in a week or so. This was the second brood as 3 had fledged in July before we went to Canada. We don’t know what happened or why. This is about the time of year that the swallows all disappear; they return just at the start of the rainy season.

Celebrations

As I mentioned earlier in my post of Aug. 16th, we have to get a new wallet sized FM3. On Wednesday, we went to Chapala to be taken to Guadalajara for the last step of getting a fingerprint and signature to receive the new visa. Mago’s office had 2 vehicles to take 10 of us in. One was Stan who has stayed here with the dogs while we go away. Another was a woman I know from Spanish conversation class. Because of the new card system, all foreigners need to do the entire system, not just the annual renewals. Thus, the office in Guad is packed all the time. The week before, our friend Sonia went in, but was unable to get processed before the 1:30 closing time and had to return a week later on Wednesday as well. When we arrived, the office was crowded and out into the hall. We then learned that the government computers in Mexico City, which are required to process everything in this new system, were down! We waited for over 2 hours and then decided to leave as there was no indication that the computers would be operating again soon. Our friend Sonia was arriving as we were leaving. The group she was with stayed on and just before closing, the computers came up briefly; only a couple of people got processed but Sonia was one of them!Anyway, we were scheduled to go in again today. Everything went as planned. We found out their system. An agent who is a lawyer goes in very early; apparently, today he went in at 7 a.m. before it opened at 8 to get in line and get a number!We were back in Chapala shortly after 11 and they called this afternoon to say that our cards were in; I picked them up.

Stan and Chris, who have been house/dog sitting, are really up to their necks. They bought a property in Chula Vista 2 years ago for the view even though it needed a thorough rebuilding. Stan has been an engineer and builder in the US so thought that he could manage this massive makeover. They also got a grandiose plan for the remodeled place, really a mansion. They got in the midst of it and ran out of money; they fixed up 3 rooms so that they can live there, but the rest is still very much in a preliminary stage--foundations and walls have all been shored up. Stan was with us again today in to Guad; we gave him a ride home after and we had the tour. Chris was not with him because on Wednesday, she is leaving for LA to get her shots before going to Saudi Arabia for 11 months to teach English as a second Language. She will wait until she comes back to get her FM3. Stan freely admits that had he known then what he knows now, he would never have taken it on. However, they are in so far now that they seem to feel that they have to see it through. In spite of the ordeal, they seem to accept their fate and are buoyed by the dream of what it will be like when they finally finish it. It will be a very grand house with a lovely view, but we don’t envy them at all.
The twins’ birthday was yesterday (Sunday), but we arranged to do the birthday party thing on Saturday (see photos). After the usual chicken dinner that we take in every week, we took them and Fatima to Tobolandia, which is the water park just 5 blocks from us. They had been asking to go there again, so we made it part of the birthday celebrations. It is a wonderful place for kids (and us). There are 3 separate areas, one just for little kids. There are 6 or 7 water slides and the water is only about 20 inches at the deepest. The kids are running around on all the slides and we mostly sit in the shade and watch. The 3 girls on the blowup lobster are ours; they borrowed it briefly from someone else. After that, we returned to LIA with birthday cake and ice cream for all the kids. It was very successful and we were less tired than usual. Also, an American woman who works in LIA gave us acard that let us in at half price.

Shortly, there are huge celebrations planned leading up to and around September 16th. That is Independence Day in Mexico celebrating Father Hildalgo’s call for rebellion against Spain and for independence in 1810. As you can see, this is the bicentennial of that event. However, the Mexican Revolution and civil war started in the fall of 1910; that resulted in the overthrow of the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz. Thus, this is the centennial. Both are being celebrated together. Every state, city and town in Mexico is having celebrations over several days with cultural events, concerts, parades and massive fireworks. I forget how many millions of dollars the federal government is spending, plus all the other levels of government.

New pool and new computer

The rain has slowed down greatly. There has been only small amounts in the last 10 days and nothing for 5 days. As of yesterday, the lake level was only 25 mm (10 inches) from the high mark in 2008. Even without much more rain, the level will keep rising until near the end of September.

The new computer arrived on Wednesday. I needed to ‘migrate’ all the stuff from my old computer. I wasn’t able to get any of the direct wire connections to work and thus had to use the wireless network, which is slower. It took about 14 hours until about 6 a.m. to finish! The next morning I thought that it hadn’t worked because I couldn’t see many of the files. I spent about 4 frustrating hours. Then, I did a reboot and ‘Voila!’, everything was there. On Thursday night (as in the photos), we set the computer in the living room and watched a movie--the rationale for buying the new computer! It worked very well. We have only a few DVD movies that we brought down from Nova Scotia, but the Lake Chapala Society has a video library and lends movies. We’ll see what they have. Also, there are several sellers of videos in the tianguis and at the plaza in Ajijic. They are almost certainly bootleg copies and are pretty inexpensive, about 50 pesos or so each. They are illegal of course; I have heard that in Guadalajara from time to time (to appease the Americans I think), the police swoop down on sellers in street markets there and confiscate their videos. I haven’t heard of that happening here.


A couple of weeks ago, we bought a new little wading pool and this was the first time we used it with the girls. Fatima is helping me to pump it up. It is very nice and a big improvement on the old one. However, a week from tomorrow, the twins have a birthday coming. We were told that their good shoes had not returned with them. We went to a shoe store; it was a bit of a nightmare with 3 little girls running around, looking at and handling the shoes. Barbara wanted good, solid sandals, but they were too boring and besides only the boys’ sandals were really solid. The girls sandals were all flimsy. Finally, we saw some sneakers (Princess no less and with flashing lights) that were fairly solid. We finally got ones that fit for each of the 3 girls (Fatima too). When we got back to LIA late this afternoon and gave them to the girls to take in, we discovered that the box for Dariana had only one shoe. In the confusion of multiple shoe boxes, one shoe had been left out. We had to go back to the shoe store and get the missing shoe! This afternoon, we transferred recent photos and videos of the girls to the new computer with its big screen. They loved seeing themselves so clearly.

A big Imac

The rain seems to be coming less frequently and less quantity in the last week or so. Nevertheless, we are only about 12 mm (.5 inch) from equally the average annual rainfall and only about 62 mm (2.5 inches) of equaling the 2008 rainfall. The lake level is now only 30 cm. (12 inches) from the peak in 2008. At least one projection (based on the fact that the peak usually comes only near the end of September) is that this year’s peak could be about 1 meter higher than 2008. That will probably mean the park will be flooded again and even start up some of the streets into the town. More people who have intruded into the lake will be flooded.

I ordered my new computer (27 inch Imac) on Aug. 9. I ordered the big screen desktop so that we can watch movies on DVD. I went to the Apple Online Store to see if I could get the educational discount here. I could and that saved 2000 pesos (Can $170) making not much more than if I bought the same model in Halifax. I ordered through the Mexican online store, getting the basic model except I asked for the English language keyboard. I don’t know if that is why it took 11 days to ship it from the warehouse. I expected that the warehouse would be in Mexico, but it turns out that it is in Ontario, Calif. That is 60 or 70 miles east of Los Angeles. Thus, I don’t know why an English language keyboard should be a problem in the US; of course the other explanation is that they had sold out of that model and had to wait for more to arrive from the east where they are assembled. Apple doesn’t hold much inventory. The computer is being shipped with UPS and although picked up on Friday, did not go to Louisville, Kentucky until Sunday. It arrived in Mexico City early this morning, but so far no word of leaving Mexico City. It will probably be delivered either Thursday or Friday; that is longer than I expected. I have of course been checking the tracking several times a day.

Here is a small item about differences in Spanish. The previous Monday, I asked Letitia (Lety as she is called here apparently) when her children started school. It was yesterday on Monday. We would usually say “a week from today”. Also, we would say “2 weeks from today.” In Spanish, they say “8 days” or “15 days” thus counting the current day as well as the week or 2. I had seen this in the Spanish books, but had never encountered it before. When I looked blank, Lety went to the calendar and pointed out the date.

So many people we meet here have had interesting careers and lives. Jill, someone Sonia had met, falls into that category. She too is English but married a Canadian. After he completed a Ph.D. in agriculture, he was hired to work on an American company’s operation in Guatemala. After a year there, the company asked him (and the family of course) to go to Costa Rica to start and manage a new operation there; they lived for an additional 9 years, a total of 10 years in Central America. When that was closed, they were moved back to the company’s base in California where they lived for many years. She had a really bad patch when she lost her mother and learned in the same week that her ex-husband had also died. Then, 10 months later her daughter died in childbirth. A little over 2 years ago when she retired, she decided that her resources and income would go much farther in Mexico than in California and she is comfortable in a Spanish speaking environment. She has lost partial sight and has diabetes; nevertheless, she has come down here on her own. Although we thought that we were pretty daring to do what we did, others here leave us in the shade.

Settling back in

It has taken over a week, but things do seem to be getting back to normal. The twins etc. did arrive shortly after Barb talked to Alvia on Friday or Saturday. We went to LIA on Monday to deliver money we had received from sponsors. As soon as Dareli saw Barb, she ran full tilt and jumped into her arms. Other kids went to find Fatima and she too came running and jumped into my arms; there was no question that they were happy to see us. Saturday, August 14th, we resumed our usual schedule, taking 3 BBQd chickens etc. to the toddlers’ house. At the moment, there are only 11 little ones, plus Fatima and Yuliana’s older sister, Claudia, who apparently does not get on well with the new housemother who looks after the 6-11 year old girls where she used to stay. She is a good worker and helps out with the younger kids really well. The twins seem none the worse for wear, their mother, Silvia, is smiling and younger brother, Christopher, who often before seemed to be crying and very needy, was playing and in a very happy mood on Saturday.


We then went to Soriana, the supermarket, and bought a new little pool. The old one (we originally got it for Aiden when he was here 2 years ago) is getting a bit worse for wear. The new pool is probably not quite as wide in diameter, but has inflatable sides. We also bought an air pump, but when we got home, we found that the hose and nozzle was missing from the box (I returned it later and got a new complete one for next week). Thus, they had to use the old pool one more time. They seemed to enjoy it nonetheless as in the photo. Also, Barb had found a sun dress for each girl at Value Village in Toronto. After the swim, Barb put them in the new dresses. She wanted to take photos and told them to go to Wally. I was squatting down and the twins hit me so hard simultaneously, that I fell back into the coffee table and you can see me sprawled very awkwardly.

This is a very busy time for people at LIA. School starts here on August 23rd and all the kids have to be equipped with school uniforms, shoes, backpacks and a long, very specific list of school supplies. Last year was a nightmare because of the move from up on the mountain. As a result, with only 3 or 4 exceptions, all the kids were going to new schools, thus requiring new uniforms (each school has its own uniform). This year, some of the kids can get by with hand-me-downs from last year. Still, it is a big job sorting out what they have already and what must be purchased. In addition, for all kids beyond grade 4, there are school fees (rising for the higher grades). The godparents provide all the money for these expenses. Of course, this is also the case for all Mexican families with children. I asked Letitia about the start of school and she too lamented ruefully, “Mucho dinero.” She has 2 children about 10 and 7 years old.

In Mexico we live with an FM3 visa; this is a non-immigrant long term visa. It means that one is not supposed to work here, but live on income from elsewhere. It has previously been in a passport like little booklet and good for 5 years, although it had to be renewed each year. We always had to present it to be stamped every time we left or entered Mexico. We are just finishing the second year. However, the powers that be decided to change things. Everything is to be more computerized. The passport booklet is being replaced by a wallet card, like a driver’s license. This too will be presented on every entry or departure, but no stamping of the booklet. For us, it means doing everything again as we did for getting the FM3 originally. That means getting our passports photocopied (every page), 3 monthly bank statements to show that we have at least US $1500 monthly income, a telephone or electric statement showing an owned residence (renters have to get special statements from landlords), and new, different sized photos. The new system is supposed to be simpler for foreigners as you go online to fill out and print a form. Authorities have promised to open an office in Chapala, but that has been delayed (no one knows how long). As a result, one still has to go to Guadalajara (at least twice and maybe 3 times if you lack some document or other) if you do it on your own. Fortunately, we have Mago’s office in Chapala. She did our FM3 the first time and the renewal last year. On Friday, we went to her again as authorities like you to start the process at least 30 days before expiry (there are significant consequences if you go beyond the expiry date--Sept. 12th for us). Mago’s office does almost all the paper work. Then, they take us in to Guadalajara to get fingerprinted and sign the forms. Somehow, they are able to arrange that when we get there, we go directly to the window even in front of other people waiting. Anyway, when we hear about other people making multiple trips to Guadalajara, waiting in long lines etc., we know that the modest fees Mago charges are well worth it.

It is still raining (10 of 15 days in August). We have received 4.4 inches (average 7.1) so far. For 2010, we have 31.5 inches (average 33.5) with still 1.5 months in the rainy season. We should also exceed the 2008 total of 35.4 inches. Lake Chapala is rising rapidly and seems certain to exceed the maximum level reached in 2008. Even more people who had occupied land when the lake levels were low will be flooded out. It is hard to feel too much pity for people who have appropriated land that they were not entitled to. However, that has been happening ever since the Spaniards arrived in the early 16th C.

Our trip to Nova Scotia

Chronologically, this post should have been done earlier, but we are just getting settled in and getting rested from the trip to Canada. We had 2 weeks in White Point Beach cottages and had a good variety of visitors. We enjoyed good visits with the grandsons, Aiden and Blake. Tarra and Jeff came with the boys for 2 days/nights and then left the boys with us for 2 more nights. We had to go back to Halifax for various appointments for Barb for 1 day. We stayed that night with Matthew and Ange in Halifax while Jeff and Tarra returned to White Point to stay with the boys and we returned for 2 more days with all the family. Thus, virtually all the first week the boys were at White Point. They loved the swimming pool and playing on the beach; of course, they liked the bunnies although most of the latter were not too interested in the rabbit food; I expect it is because in the summer with so many other kids, they are too well fed. Aiden is trying to attract one with only limited success in the photo. However, later he was a bit more successful with another bunny.

In the photos, you can see Aiden with the train sweater that Barb had knitted. That one is actually for Blake as Barb had also knitted one with a backhoe for Aiden. The photo with Blake has him with one of the laughing monkeys that Barb found in Mexico City while we were waiting for 5 hours for our flight to Toronto. Until the batteries run down, I expect that Jeff and Tarra have been driven crazy.

On Saturday after one week, we had to move to a second cottage. That went well as we only had to move a short distance down the street.

Later that day, Emma and Sonya arrived from Middleton in the Annapolis Valley for lunch and a short afternoon visit; Matthew and Ange arrived the same afternoon to spend 2 nights over the weekend. Matt and Ange had both had busy times getting ready for the beginning of their vacations and we were all happy to spend a relaxing time talking, especially about their baby due in January. That, of course, is very exciting for us all. On Monday, we had to go to Halifax again for more appointments. That turned into an adventure. After 2 morning appointments, we had a break until another appointment at 3 p.m. in Dartmouth. To pass the time, we decided to go to Starbucks in the new outlet shopping centre at Dartmouth Crossing to get coffee and to go online. After doing her email, Barb handed the computer to me and said she wanted to drive to the other end of the area (it is very spread out) to one of the stores. Navigating to and in Dartmouth Crossing is not easy as it is very confusing. I was dubious, but she assured me that she would be back by 2:45. To make a long story short, in driving back, Barb took a wrong turn and got on an exit which took her out onto the freeway. She had a very difficult time getting back in and returning to Starbucks. In fact the little over half a kilometer distance took her almost 45 minutes. It ended up making us 30 minutes late for our 3 p.m. Fortunately, Jeff Schlew, an old friend of Barb’s, still fitted us in. However, we were both thoroughly frazzled. Fortunately, we had a quiet night when we returned to White Point.

The next day, Tuesday, our friends Kate and Jack arrived to spend a day and night with us. We enjoyed sharing our experiences since they left Mexico in April, but realized that it would only be 3 months until they returned to Ajijic. They are looking forward to that, although recently the weather in Halifax has been much better than when they first arrived back. On Thursday, Dawn and Gorden arrived to spend a night. In addition to the time and visit at White Point, we were invited to dinner at their newly finished, enlarged house on our way back from White Point at the end of our timeshare on Saturday. Back in Halifax we spent the next 4 nights at Wendy’s house. It worked well. On Sunday with us in the house to look after the dog and cat, Wendy and Greg were able to spend an entire day and night (their 40th wedding aniversary) on their boat in Chester; we saw many of our friends in the Brunch Club for Sunday brunch. In the afternoon, Jess and Dave came down from Shubenacadie for a visit. Dave has been invited to perform at a large folk music festival in Toronto in September. On Monday, we went to Chester to spend several hours with Wendy and Greg sailing around some islands near Chester. It was a perfect day with enough wind to allow us to sail--my first experience of sailing. The next day, we went a short distance farther to Mahone Bay to where Matthew and Ange were in their boat. We had another several hours sailing in perfect weather and Matt let me steer for a while. It was only as we were returning to shore to where our car was that it clouded over and later began to rain. That evening, our last in Nova Scotia, Greg and Wendy had most of their kids and grandkids to their place for hot dogs and hamburgs (the latter were among the best I've ever had and I had 2!).

As you can see, it was a very busy time, but we did get to see all the family and many of our friends in this relatively short 3 weeks.

Our beloved twins are returning!

Well, we got back home from Canada yesterday about 5 p.m. safe and sound. We flew from Halifax to Toronto on Wednesday and stayed with Barb's sister, Faye, for a night. Thus, we spread the trip each way over 2 different days. Faye and Keith picked us up and delivered us to the airport both times even though we were staying only a few hours. Faye and Keith were extraordinarily generous. We had planned to stay 2 nights on the trip to Nova Scotia, but the delay had shortened that. Apparently, we were very lucky on our return trip. We left Toronto at 7:40 a.m. Later that day, creditors in the US and Canada pushed Mexicana Airlines (with whom we were flying) into backruptcy and froze all assets there. If we had not gotten away, the plane may have been seized and we might have been stranded, at least temporarily. Flights were still operating in Mexico and our flight from Mexico City to Guadalajara left 30 minutes late but got there only a little behind time. We are sorry to learn of Mexicana's trouble as we were impressed (actually complimentary hot food) and cheaper than Air Canada. We were able to avoid going through the US and the insane security etc. Actually, it was different in another way. On the return, we were processed for immigration, but not for customs in Mexico City. Our checked luggage was marked as international and forwarded all the way from Toronto to Guadalajara. We then did the customs check in Guadalajara and Barb got the green light. Although we are very tired and will probably be a couple of days recovering, we are very glad to be home.

It is continuing to rain here. This morning between midnight and 7 a.m., there was another 0.3 inches but not lightning etc. (Stan, the house/dog sitter, said that there have been grand thunder storms); however, we did get sun from the late morning to mid afternoon and Barb was able to wash clothes and get them dried. It is very cloudy now in the evening and we shall probably get more rain tonight. It rained for 26 out of 31 days in July and so far has rained 4 out of 6 days in August. The yearly total is already well above the total rainfall for 2009 and the level of Lake Chapala is above the highest point last year. Although it is not a torrent, there has been a steady flow of water from Upper La Floresta down Paseo de la Pesca (our cross street) all day. There are warnings that some areas in the mountains are water logged and there could be mud slides etc. As we were coming in for a landing at Guadalajara airport, we did notice how green the mountains are; also, the plants and shrubs in Barb’s garden are growing like crazy.

This evening Barb called Alvia in Love in Action to say that we won’t be going to LIA tomorrow as we are too tired. However, she did ask about the Dareli and Dariana; it is very good news as Alvia says that they are expecting the family back next week on Monday or Tuesday. Barb has been so worried and upset that this is a great relief. We have become so attached to the girls and they to us that our imaginations tended to work overtime when we know how delicate their mother’s mental state is; we could not imagine how they would be safe. We can hardly wait to see them.

Curses! Foiled again

Surprise! We are still in Mexico! Things did not go as planned. We got to Guadalajara in good time and all checked in, cleared security and had coffee. Then, just as we were supposed to board at 10:30, they announced a 1.75 hour delay. Apparently, one runway in Mexico City is closed and that makes delays. Not all flights are delayed as an AeroMexico flight to Mexico left on time just a little while after ours. I don’t know if they draw lots to decide. As we had only 2 hours to change to our Toronto flight in Mexico City, I went to see what could be done. We asked about the AeroMexico flight, but the bright young woman said that we would then have to change terminals in Mexico and as that takes over an hour, we would still not make our Toronto flight. After working her terminal, she said that our only alternative to get to Toronto today would be to go to American Airlines to go from Guad to Dallas and on to Toronto. We went down and back to Go (of course we did not collect $200) at the Mexicana check-in counter. After a very long wait, we were finally told that the Guad to Dallas flight was fully booked, so that was out. We have to try it again tomorrow. This time we have to go on the 7:45 a.m. flight leaving the house at 6 a.m.; we do have our boarding passes so checkin should be quicker. Even if that flight is delayed, we have about 5 hours in Mexico City after scheduled arrival to get the flight to Toronto.

Our bags had been brought back and we finally picked them up. As it was after 12 and we were very tired, we went to the restaurant for something to eat. I had barely enough money to pay for lunch and pay for the taxi home. I had calculated how much we needed to go to the airport and then another taxi when we come back; I didn’t want to be carrying much Mexican money around during 3 weeks in Canada. However, I see that that was not such a good idea. One should always have a bit more for the unforeseen. Because we were going to bypass the US, I didn’t bring my American money so the Dallas-Toronto route would have required getting some US money in Dallas from a machine. One of the big reasons for going via Mexicana etc. was to avoid the US. I was beginning to think that God is American (as so many Americans think) and that (s)he was sending a message. Stay tuned for the next episode of Bluenosers in Mexico.

Going to Nova Scotia

This will probably be my last post for a while. On Wednesday, July 14th, we leave for 3 weeks in Nova Scotia. Actually, we will be 3 nights in Toronto. We are trying flights that break in Toronto. This way we can avoid going through the US and the over-the-top security there. We’ll see if it is worth the extra money and time. When we get to Halifax (Friday the 16th), Barb has to go immediately to get blood taken for her doctors. On Saturday, we go to begin our 2 weeks at White Point until the 31st. We leave Halifax on Aug. 4th, one night in Toronto with Faye and back to La Floresta on Aug. 5th. It will be nice to see family and friends in Nova Scotia, but I expect that it will be tiring.

About 2 weeks ago, the twins with their mother and younger brother left to visit Silvia’s family. That is 16 hours away by bus. The family lives quite far south, about 6 hours beyond Mexico City. Today we heard that Silvia called crying and wants to come back. We heard more about her history. Her father was very abusive and she ran away from home very young about 16 years ago. Anabel said she ‘lived very rough’. We have never heard anything about the father of the twins or Christofer so can only guess what Anabel was suggesting; the family connection was broken for so long and Silvia is very unhappy being back with them. Anyway, Anabel said that they had helped to pay for their passage home, but didn’t have the money to pay their way back. This afternoon, we told Anabel that if it is just a question of the money, we would pay for their return. We are worried about the twins. If Silvia is unhappy, her depression (or whatever her problem was) will almost certainly come back. Also, if she can’t reconnect with her family (we don’t know if the abusive father is still around), her family are not likely to be much support for the children. The kids are well looked after at LIA. It seems a shame because Silvia seemed to be doing well with her mental problems; she was more careful about her appearance and smiled more than she had earlier. She had resumed living and working as a housemother at LIA. We’ll see what happens.

On Monday, we are going to Guadalajara. Barbara has been losing keys. Her Mexican slacks have very shallow pockets and the keys seem to fall out when she sits down. She lost the electronic key for the car last fall. Then, more recently she lost the valet key as well. In May I had ordered a replacement for the electonic key from the Subaru dealer; they said that it would take 5 days from Monterey. However, we were soon leaving for Windsor so I told them it would be 3 weeks. When I got back, I called and no key. I have called at least 3 other times. This time I said to cancel as I would get a key in Canada. However, he asked for one more chance. On Friday, he called to say the key had arrived. Barbara is training herself to put the keys in her purse rather than her pockets. I would have preferred not to make the trip to Guad so close to leaving for Canada. C’est la vie! I’m not sure what the Spanish equivalent is-- perhaps ‘Esta la vida!’

We seem to be on the way to an above average year in rainfall. Normally, at this time, there would be about 12 inches of the annual average of 33.5 inches. As of today, we have had 20.5 inches. I has been raining almost every day, usually not really heavy. Thus, so far it has not caused severe problems of flooding as it did 2 years ago in our first year. (However, in Guadalajara, there has been flooding and a couple of deaths; some of the roads have underpasses and tunnels that flood. Motorists get caught and sometimes drown.) Today, starting just about midnight, there was light drizzle and then about 9 a.m. for the next 2 hours there was heavier rain. Altogether today, we got .75 inch. This afternoon it cleared up and there was sun and eventually blue sky. It was good because we had 3 girls from LIA--Fatima and 2 others with the twins being away. The good rain will be good for the lake level. Last year was less than average rain and the lake level did not get as high, almost a meter less than the previous year.

Anyway, hasta luego and hasta el agosto.

Our power epic

Well, we have just had a powerful reminder that Mexico can be different. We have been getting a good deal of rain; it has been raining almost every day, but not really extended downpours. We are certainly above average for June (average is 6.6 inches while we are probably going to be near 8 inches). At any rate there was a rain during the night early Monday morning. However, we did not lose power. About 10 a.m. I went out to pick up an external hard drive for backups that I had ordered on Friday and had arrived quickly. Everything was fine. A few minutes later, Barb was taking the dogs for their walk. As she went out, she heard snapping and popping overhead and the power line from across the street to our house and the one next door, suddenly fell down into the middle of the street! It had shorted and melted both the power lines and the cable holding up the wires. A few minutes later she saw some CFE (the government run power company) employees and told them about what happened. However, they shrugged and indicated that it wasn’t their problem. As we found out later, the wires were hot and energized the entire time over the next 2 plus days. When I came home not very long after, I called the La Floresta office to report as I was not sure that I could make myself understood to the CFE’s emergency line. They said that they would report it to CFE.

Over the next couple of hours, 3 times La Floresta employees came to examine. One of them even pulled the wires up out of the street and wrapped them around the tree out front. Because of the frequent rains, there have been many power outages. As we were to find out, CFE sets its own priorities in making repairs. Because we were the only ones out (the house next door on the other side from Steve and Heather’s doesn’t have anyone living there at the moment), we apparently have very low priority! At any rate, one of the La Floresta employees gave me an hint of what was likely to happen. He gave me a card with the name and number of a private electrician and urged me to call him. I tried, but the cell number on the card was not complete; it was missing one number (10 required). I then went to the La Floresta office to get a correct number. The manager said that I didn’t need to do that. The practice in Mexico is that CFE provides the lines to the nearest pole; then the property owner is responsible for the connection from there to the house. That is different from Canada. There, the power company does the connection to the meter and it is illegal for anyone to touch the lines up to the meter. However, the line was down before it got to the pole; thus, in theory it was CFE’s responsibility. I then went home and waited for CFE. Nobody came. Finally, when it got dark, we put on candles for some light, but went to bed a bit early with no lights or power. Of course, we did not have water either as the pump could not work. Fortunately, we can use a bucket to get water from the aljibe (cistern) so that we can flush the toilet manually.

Bright and early on Tuesday (after a poor night’s sleep), I went for my jog and then went to the La Floresta office as soon as it opened at 9 a.m. The manager said that he would contact CFE again, but if no one had showed up by 2 p.m. call him and he would contact someone to hook me up. Waiting for workmen to come in this situation is worse than watching paint dry. By 2 p.m., nada and I called. The manager said that he would contact someone. By 4:30 I was getting desperate and called Jose Luis, our trusted contractor. He said that he would try to get some help. He was not able to get through on the CFE’s 24 hour emergency number; however, he knew someone in CFE and called him. That guy told him that he would see if he could get a crew to come after their regular shift (of course paying them something to do so). Still nothing. About 8 p.m. an older man came saying that he had been called by La Floresta. He said that he could fix it, but not until the next day as he had to get wires and cables from a ‘friend’ in CFE! I said, “Wonderful", if he could do it.”

Late in the afternoon, I had finally wakened up. There is no one in Steve’s house next door (it had power all this time) and we have the keys. I took our long extension wire, plugged it in and threw it over the wall to our house. Using a total of 4 extension wires, we managed to connect up our refrigerator, although by that time, the frozen stuff had pretty well thawed out. Later, we connected our modem and internet to check our email and internet phone. Finally, we were again connected to the outside world. Again, we went to bed with only Steve’s wire for power. On Wednesday morning, I was still hoping that Jose’s friend would be able to get CFE to come. No such luck! However, about 10 a.m. the man from the night before arrived with his son and grandson. They had the wires and cable and set to work. To bring this long epic story to a close, just before noon, these men had again connected power to our house; we had no power for about 50 hours. The charge was 800 pesos (a little over $67) for wires and labour; at 600 pesos, the labour was probably a bit on the high side, but I was happy to pay, even twice as much! Later this afternoon, one of the employees from La Floresta came to check if we had power. He asked me if we had seen CFE. When I said, “Nada”, he shrugged and said, “Mexico”. I think that most Mexicans kind of expected that we were unlikely to get any action from CFE and that we would have to get someone privately to do the connection. Now, we know also. Everyone speaks disparagingly about CFE and I can begin to see why. In spite of many outages, the employees work until the end of their shift at 6 p.m. and then go home. There does not seem to be any working into the night to restore power. CFE’s union is one of the most powerful in Mexico, almost as powerful as the one at Pemex, the government controlled oil company. It was wonderful this afternoon when we were both able, finally, to take showers!

It was interesting with the people who reconnected us. It was the son who did all the work; however, the grandfather was kept very busy running after the grandson. The latter was a cute little guy, about a year and a half or so and just learning to talk. However, he was very mobile; he kept running out into the street. Thus, here we had 3 generations of males in the Mexican family. It is unusual that the men were taking care of the baby, not the mother or grandmother. However, I was very grateful for getting us reconnected. I must have said “Gracias” a dozen times.

Elvis Stojko

We seem to be well into the rainy season in the last week. We had a couple of rains during the first couple of weeks, but it didn’t change the pattern too much, i.e., pretty hot days. However, we have had a couple of heavy rains with cloudy and cool days this past week. We also rediscovered a couple of leaks, although not too bad. We have also had a couple of power outages. The first heavy rain last Monday brought down an enormous amount of debris from the eucalyptus trees. They shed bark like a snake. When we got up, we found large pieces of bark, especially inside and outside the front wall, but also in the back and in the courtyard. The next 2 rains brought less each time. The daytime temperatures have also been cooler--80º F (27º C) or less. Everyone is relieved, the mountains are turning green and the lake level has started to rise.

On Sunday at Open Circle, one of the speakers is Elvis Stojko along with his partner. They are talking about ‘alkaline water’. This is quite big in Japan. In the 1990s, Margaret and I heard about it from a couple of enthusiasts; we even bought the machine. It uses electrolysis to separate water into acidic and alkaline types. We didn’t notice any specific benefits, but we didn’t try it for very long; I can’t remember exactly why we didn’t continue. Anyway, it should be interesting to see and hear Elvis.

He lives down here close by in Lakeside but I don't know exactly where. He has been in the news a couple of times because he is coaching a young Mexican figure skater in Guadalajara. It is quite hard for the latter; as you can imagine, there is no program and few facilities. There is only a small rink, not a regular sized one for practicing and developing. It is an unlikely sport for a Mexican youngster, but kind of like the Jamaica bobsled team that came to the Calgary Olympics. The other former Canadian figure skater now living in Mexico is Toller Cranston, but he lives in San Miguel. He is more noted now for his painting here; some time in our first year here, there was a showing of some of his paintings. Our friend, Sonia, saw his mansion in San Miguel a couple of years ago. Cranston is not so popular with Canadians here; last fall, he was scheduled to speak to the Canadian Club, but literally at the last minute, he canceled. He was always unpredictable, and apparently still is.

Speaking of the Canadian Club, we have tickets for the July 1st picnic and affair. Last year, we waited until the last minute and the tickets were all sold. The Canadian Club has all its functions at the Neuva Posado Restaurant. The owner was a Canadian, but moved down here 25 or 30 years ago either before or after marrying a Mexican woman. The restaurant is part of a lovely, small hotel on the lake front; it is a favourite place for some of our Nova Scotia friends, especially the Sunday brunch. With all the snowbirds gone, we are not going out to eat as much as we do in the winter. We probably should go more as it is a tough time for the restaurants without the custom from the snowbirds.

Tobolandia

Today we took the 3 niñas to Toblandia which is a water park just up from us on the carreterra (highway). We have been looking at it for the past 2 years virtually every time we drove home, but had never gone before. It is especially for children. There is one area of shallow water and a number of water slides. In another area are huge slides for older kids and adults. Once they got over a little bit of initial hesitation, they absolutely loved the kiddie area. We did have a problem because the twins began to try to climb up one of the slides backwards. An employee had to come and order them to stop. The photos show a little bit, but it is huge with several different areas. Most families there seemed to bring their own food and refreshments, including coolers. This park is less expensive for working families than the spa and pools at Belanarios in San Juan.

We finally got a bit of rain this morning, but it was only a sprinkle; the weather guy in Riberas recorded only .03 in. (.8 mm). However, this evening, it has again clouded over and we may get more before morning. This is the last night of the festival in San Antonio and usually they have a big entertainment scheduled. Thus, it will be nice if rain holds off. We have had the firecrackers at 6 a.m. for the last 2 weeks. That should be finished. San Antonio is closer than Ajijic so this is the fiesta that we notice more than that of Ajijic in November.

I didn’t cover everything into the last post. I mentioned in May that we had bought 2 ceiling fans. Well, Jose Luis did install the fans quickly before we left for Windsor. They are a great benefit at this hot time of year. Although it does get very warm (mid to high 80s F or 30 C or higher), the humidity is low. Thus, if you have some moving air, the body’s cooling system of perspiration is effective. In the afternoons, the relative humidity can often be between 20 and 30%. In fact, the weather guy in Riberas recorded a 6% reading on May 28th when the temperature reached 91. Some people here use what are called ‘swamp coolers’ in the US. These are just a box with water and a fan. The fan blows the hot dry air over the water; the evaporation uses a lot of heat. As a result, the air that comes out is a bit moister, but quite a few degrees cooler. It is very effective in desert areas; it uses a lot of water but not much electricity compared to compressor type air conditioners. If fact, this kind of system is widely used in places like California and Nevada for cooling large buildings. It probably is used in malls and supermarkets here as well. As I have mentioned before, electricity rates are very high if you use more than 250 kwhs per month. Thus, not too many people use condenser air conditioners.


While we were in Ontario, the house/dog sitters, Chris and Stan, again looked after the dogs and house. That worked out fine. Chris and Stan are an interesting couple. Originally from Oregon, they have been here about a year or so longer than we have. Chris is in charge of subscriptions for the Music Appreciation Society and is also involved in the Little Theatre. Mostly, she had been backstage, but landed her first acting role in the season finale in April. She did a good job in her part. Stan, who had been in the choir, Los Cantantos, is writing a screenplay. His first draft was almost 50% too long. He was revising and shortening it. He said that our house is a quiet, good environment to work. They will be looking after things again in July when we go to Nova Scotia.

Chris and Stan live in Chula Vista which is only about a mile from us on the east side of San Antonio. It is an upscale fraccionamiento with a 9 hole golf course and country club; there are many, large, expensive houses built up the mountain. Like our own La Floresta, its services are managed by a board elected by the property owners. It has been the centre of a 9 or 10 month war. One group, the old board, had been running things for several years. Last fall, other property owners followed the bylaws with a petition to hold a special general meeting. At the meeting, a new board was elected. However, the old board refused to recognize the new board or turn things over to them. The new board got a court order demanding that the old board comply. The old board then went to a different magistrate and got a counter court order against the new board. The countersuits have paralyzed everything. The new board even visited the prosecutor’s office and the latter agreed that there was sufficient cause to lay charges of breach of trust against some members of the old board. When plain clothes officers arrived to make an arrest, there was some resistance and a scuffle. Those subject to warrants were released, but the charges have yet to be tried. The Mexican court system grinds extremely slowly and the suits are unlikely to be resolved for a long time. Accounts for Chula Vista are frozen; some property owners are voluntarily paying staff, but services, such as water and garbage collection could easily dry up. To break the impasse, the new board published a proposal: everyone on both sides would drop their suits and charges; both boards would resign; a duly called special general meeting under the supervision of court officials to ensure that everything was done according to the bylaws would be held and a new board would be elected and accepted by everyone. There were a couple of other points, but these were the main ones. So far, the only response from the old board was a demand that all suits and charges against them be dropped, but they have not agreed to any elements of the proposal nor offered any counter proposals. It has been very difficult for outsiders to sort out as the charges have been so diametrically opposite. However, this last twist seems to indicate who are the most intransigent, most self-interested and least interested in the well being of Chula Vista. Although quite a few property owners are rich Mexicans from Guadalajara, they don’t live there full time nor seem to participate in the governing. The warring factions are all ex-pats. Mexico has had many civil wars and conflicts in the last 200 years; it must be bemusing to Mexicans to see ex-pats behaving this way.

Things are different in La Floresta, although it too has many big, expensive casas. Our house is kind of at the lower end in size and market value. Many of the property owners are Mexicans (maybe close to half) and most of them are well educated professionals--doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc. who live here full time They are part of the new rising class at the forefront of demands for change in Mexico--an end to corruption, more effective and efficient government and respect for the rule of law and human rights. Although there is a long way to go, the amount of change in the last 15 years is amazing. The executive and board who run La Floresta has only one ex-pat; the rest are all Mexicans. From all I have seen, La Floresta is extremely well run. In spite of many rising costs, the board was able to hold fees at the same level as the year before. With the discount for early payment, our annual fees were about 5600 pesos. At current exchange rates, that is just a little over Can. $500. That pays for water, garbage collection, street repairs, street lighting and security. For the last, La Floresta has guards in 3 pickups driving up and down the streets all night. The annual general meeting has simultaneous translations; this is good for us because Mexicans do most of the talking in Spanish. I have been greatly impressed with the seriousness with which they approach these matters of governing. The contrast with Chula Vista is striking.

Esperando la lluvia (waiting for the rain)

There has been a long lapse since the last post. Barb & I went to Windsor, Ontario to see RoseMary on May 24th; we returned on May 31st. RoseMary had not made as much progress in recovering from the stroke as we had hoped, especially in regard to mobility. Her right hand and arm are not as affected by the stoke, but she is not using it as much as we would wish. We observed her in occupational therapy and she seemed to have great difficulty in moving things to the left. She is conversing much more than when I was there in March and most of the time she seems to be completely aware of what is being said and what is going on. We went in to the hospital twice almost every day to help with feeding her. Three afternoons we also arranged to take her outside in a wheelchair; the weather was almost perfect, warm and sunny. At one end of the property, there is a pool with a fountain; also, there is a shady area with picnic tables, like a park. I think that she really enjoyed that. Also, one day we took her cat in so she could see her. They have placed RoseMary on a list of nursing homes, but we’ll have to see if any can take her with her degree of disability. We’ll probably go back to Windosr again sometime in the fall.

Here, in Ajijic, everyone is waiting for the rain to start; it is kind of like close to the due date of a pregnancy, anxiously awaiting the big event. Every day and evening, we look to see if there are rain clouds. There has been a bit of a tease with clouds and even lightning and thunder a few times, but no rain. It has rained in Guadalajara, in May (with hail even) and last night. It shouldn't be long now. As Rosendo, the gardener said today, it is coming closer, little by little. With the rain, the dust is settled, the temperatures are lowered and the mountains turn green again.

We had been told that there was to be a dinner/cruise sponsored by the Shriners tonight; we went down to the Ajijic pier, but nada. Instead, we went to Los Teleros restaurant; we hadn’t been there for a year at least, although we always like it. The food was delicious. It is a very slow time for restaurants this time of year. There was only one other couple there. As it turned out, it was Bill and Pixie Frayer. They are from Maine and arrived here just before we did; he also has a blog (http://mainetomexico.blogspot.com/) and it was amazing to read how similar our reactions and feelings about being in Mexico. Bill has been writing a monthly article for El Ojo del Lago magazine; he has also written and published 2 books of poetry. Barb plans to buy several copies to give to family in Canada because he expresses so well how she feels about being in Mexico. The Frayers were celebrating their 36th anniversary.

Mexico is in the midst of a census; an enumerator called here last Friday. Of course, they want to count ex-pats who stay longer than 6 months a year. According to the newspapers, some are refusing to participate. Paranoia sometimes runs deep. It only took a few minutes. Many of the questions were about the house (number of rooms, amenities, etc.) and of course, the number of persons and ages.

Fatima's 4th birthday

We are still waiting for the first rain. Last night there was some lightning and thunder, but only a few drops of rain. It will come. Last week when we were in Guadalajara, we stopped at a fan store and bought 2 ceiling fans (ventiladores). We have been using floor fans, but they bother Barb’s eyes. We hope that the ceiling fans will not be a problem. We are putting one in the living room and one in the master bedroom. There is already a ceiling fan in the dining room, but, except for breakfast and occasionally when it is too cool, we eat lunch and dinner in the courtyard in the gazebo. Thus, we almost never use it. There is a candelier in the kitchen. We are going to have them switched. The fan will be much more useful in the kitchen when Barb is cooking. José Luis came over and said that he would, with his youngest son, install the fans himself. And today they were here to string the wires. He figured that he could run the wires on the roof and won’t have to do them up the inside wall. I had never thought of doing it that way. I had been dreading drilling channels up the concrete walls with all the mess.They should be installed fairly quickly this way.

Last week, I finally bought and downloaded the Mexican map from TomTom on our GPS. However, I couldn’t get the gadget to find our location. I fiddled with it for at least 4 or 5 days. Finally, I contacted the company and they had me do a ‘hard’ reboot. Almost immediately, it worked! I’ll have to try it out on our next trip to Guad. I haven’t used it since we arrived 2 years ago (May 6, 2008 to be exact) and I have to learn everything again. Not all of Mexico is covered, although all the big cities are and the main highways.


Last Saturday, May 8th, was Fatima’s 4th birthday. We got pizza for the girls’ dinner; they loved it. We had a bit of celebration with the 3 girls here. The first 2 photos with some of her gifts, including a Mexican doll. Barb didn't want to give another Princess or Barbie doll, although, like little girls elsewhere with all the promotion on TV, they like them. Riding in the car, the girls surprised us by singing ‘Happy birthday’ in English. We went back to LIA a bit early and picked up a decorated cake and ice cream to take for everyone in the babies’ house. Fatima’s younger sister, Yuliana, had her birthday 4 days later (age 2) so we inscribed the cake for both as you can see ("Feliz cumpleaños Yuliana y Fatima". The 2 sisters seem to like the cake and ice cream!

May fiestas

Early May seems to be filled with fiestas, holidays and celebrations. As in much of Europe, May 1st is celebrated as Labour Day in Mexico. Actually, in Europe, May 1st was also celebrated by socialists and Marxists, the main reason that the US and Canada established a different date for labour day. At one time the Catholic Church tried to steal the thunder of socialists by celebrating May 1st in honour of the Virgin Mary. I remember when I was growing up that there would be a big parade down the main street in Windsor with loudspeakers blaring out “Hail Mary”. Of course, in England for centuries, it was May Day, a night for dancing and cavorting. It may have been derived from a pre-Christian fertility rite. Although we heard that there would be parades in Chapala and Guadalajara, there did not seem to be much on; as it was a Saturday, there did not seem to be any closing of businesses, etc. But with the other fiestas listed below, it was a long weekend for many Mexicans.

Monday, May 3rd, was Holy Cross Day and a day for construction workers to celebrate. Either the night before or very early on the day, they place a highly decorated cross on the highest point of the building they are working on. They put one on the house they are rebuilding across the street. All serious work stops for the day as the workers drink and eat into the small hours of the morning. Also, starting about noon, but really getting going in the evening, are the rocket firecrackers. It was interesting because the blasts were coming from all directions from different construction sites, some fairly close and some farther away. They weren’t celebrating across the street, but there were firecrackers on the street behind us. I’m not sure how long they went on; when I went to sleep about 10:30, there were still occasional blasts, although none too close. Lily is very frightened by the firecrackers and hid under the bed at times.

May 5th is a national holiday. It celebrates the Battle of Pueblo in 1862; a Mexican army defeated a French force sent to Mexico by Napoleon III to install Maximilian as emperor of Mexico. The battle was not decisive as the French later prevailed in capturing Mexico City and installed Maximilian with help from Mexican monarchists in 1864. Maximilian’s government was not recognized by most nations and his empire short-lived. Mexican resistance by liberal forces continued and when French troops were withdrawn, the regime collapsed in 1867. Maximilian, who refused to leave with French troops, was captured and executed. His wife, Carlotta, who had urged him to stay and fight for their empire, later went mad. Cinco de Mayo is not really that big a deal in most of Mexico (except maybe in the state of Pueblo) and there was not much in the way of official observances. It is more celebrated in the US where many mistakenly believe it is Mexico’s Independence Day. The latter is celebrated on Sept. 16th to celebrate the start of the war for independence from Spain in 1810. Nevertheless, this year the schools (at least in our area) were closed from Monday through Wednesday.

May 10th is also a big day--Mothers’ Day.. It is always on the 10th, this year on Monday. Many families hire singers or mariachi groups to come to the house to serenade their mothers, often in the wee hours of the morning. We didn’t notice anything like that last year in our neighbourhood; about half of the residents in La Floresta are Mexican, but the houses are spread out here. In Ajijic and other areas that are more Mexican, the custom is alive and well. In the older pueblos (towns) houses are much closer together. We have heard of ex-pats complaining about the noise and losing their sleep. Poor babies! Letitia asked if it would be ok to come later next Monday as there is a special do for mothers at school where her children go.

This is the hottest time of the year. We have noticed it the last few days. The highs are not hotter (29-30.5º C; 85-87º F). However, it is not cooling off as much at night. In the mornings, it had been about 15-16º C. This morning it was 19 C (66 F). We have been using the fan the last 3 nights or so.

Tonight, our friend, Sonia, is returning to her house in Ajijic for 2 weeks. We are gong to pick her up at the airport.