A house for sale in Ajijic
 

After a month here, to quote Anthony Boudain:  "This does not suck".

There is a learning experience nearly every day here. What we think should be a bargain is not, and then we are surprised by unexpected ones.

This house is new construction in a nice neighborhood on the edge of town.  It's large and open, furnished well, and set up very well.  It has a self-contained casita that has a wet bar and small kitchenette, bath, etc.  It's gated, and has an avocado tree in the front yard!  All for $340,000US.  Make your own judgement.

From our experience, we can't afford to use our cell phones down here because Telcel rules.  I mean that explicitly.  Even with our family and friends who have the same local area code.  Food and drink are a mixed bag.  For the most part, grocery expenses are about 20% less here.  Even at the farmer's market.  You can get a 24 pack of Pacifico from the commercial outlet here for $192 pesos or about $15US. We filled up our gas tank for the house for $45US which they say should last 2-3 mo.  We don't use the dryer much to save on electricity as we have been told that is the real expense here. No bill yet there.  And everyone here seems to be obsessed with DEALS.  There are coupons and ads for lunch deals in all the publications.  There is also a big resale presence.  I got a pair of big ticket hiking sandals (worth $70 new) for $12US last week.  They were almost new.  The cobblestones are brutal on shoes and I've already had one pair's sole split in a month here

Just wanted to share a photo of our uninvited guest in the casita...

New Years Eve (our 34th anniversary) we had a great dinner with fabulous wine we brought from Oregon.  And corkage was only $5 at a very nice restaurant - yet another bargain here.  From the balcony we watched the lighted boats circling around to set up for the fireworks.  Then we went home and sat up on the mirador and drank some good Spanish Cava and watched, while the neighbors partied in the streets below - again. The power went out for the 2nd time that night.  The first  had been a couple of days before.  No notice - they just shut it down for 5 hours to do what looked like routine maintenance.  On New Years, it came back up at about 9am. I know because everything beeped then and woke us up!

New Years day brought the annual parade which was really fun, and unfortunately we only got phone pics which we can't download.  The theme was "Peace in 2012", but mostly it was a bunch of folks dressed up in silly costumes.  There were Avatar characters, Smurfs, Mario and friends, and a nod to the Hippie peace movement with a Mexican, a Canadian and an American dressed in 60's wear with their country flags and - you guessed it - acting silly.  The redeeming (artistic) factor to all this nonsense was the very excellent use of HUGE paper-mache figures, oversize masks, etc.

Regarding the lizard - he's about 6 inches long, nose to end of tail and every time we try to catch him he runs (very quickly) away from us.  Since, we've seen another little one on the patio.  He is not scary because he's so small - in fact he's in danger of becoming a pet.  I imagine he has been separated from his mother who might be the one inside the casita, and one night he hid under a garden trowel right outside the kitchen window and didn't come out for almost 24 hours.  Don't worry, I am not losing it. I still hate the oversized spiders here, and the occasional cockroach I have seen (they were both dead, thank goodness).    

Sunset over Lake Chapala on Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day 2011 --

OK, so I will probably never get caught up on this blog.  

Christmas Eve is the culmination of three official weeks of celebration here. Dec.16-24 is when the posadas happen.  We missed them, unfortunately.  It's a gathering of folks, dressed in costume, led by a young girl on a burro and a boy walking with her and followed by any who want to.  They sing songs and visit place after place "looking for lodging".  They are turned away day after day until finally welcomed on Christmas Eve, and then the party begins. And party they do...

They stay up all night (literally) with bonfires in the streets, music and dancing.  We got a couple of hours sleep before it really cranked up at midnight.  At sunrise it finally fell quiet. Christmas day is for recuperation.  There were lots of families at the park by the malecon (walkway) at the lake.  One family strung a large pinata over branches in one of the big trees.  Reminded me of our grandson's birthday a couple of years ago.  In this case they were teasing the little girl swinging at it by hiking it up and down.  I think it was her older brother manning the rope... 

Our patio in back, looking at the Casita

Wow - first time inserting a photo and it turned out huge!  I am not sure how well this will show up when posted to the blog.  Again, this is a work in progress...

This place is very nice - not as large as we expected but that's because they count all covered outside area as living space in the sq. footage.  There is a deck off the 2nd fl. that's covered and the mirador on top is covered as well.  In general the house is very comfortable.  Our biggest challenges were all related to cooking equipment.  There were no bowls in the house!  We looked in all local stores and no one sells stainless steel bowls here.  I suggested the re-sale place in town - Gregg said "Nah".  We finally went to look and guess who won that bet?  Found 2 sm., 2 med. and 1 lrg all together for less than $10US.  Then there was the copper-bottom fry pan.  Gregg says it is at least 50 years old.  That was $35US by itself.

Another cooking related note:  We found a guy who makes sausage here via an ad in the local paper.  "Smitty" came out of his kitchen and brought his recipe books out, then showed us his home-made smoker.  He will make sausage for us to order when Gregg brings him in a recipe for Andouille.

Will I ever get caught up on this blog?  Here are some more December observations --
Posted business hours are only a suggestion, as are traffic lights and signage for speed limit and no passing, for example.  We, however, have been stopped twice by one cop for ambiguous reasons here.  After great discussion in broken Spanish and English, the result was "OK, no pay".  The Guadalajara Reporter (English language newspaper here) reports that the minimum wage in Mexico goes up to $60.5 pesos per DAY.  The exchange rate has been hovering at 13.5 to 1 pesos to dollar.  For comparison, the minimum wage in San Francisco goes to $10/HOUR for 2012.  Amazing!  Also amazing, Chapala just elected their youngest mayor ever.  He is 25 yrs old, with a law degree and two years previous political experience!

Regarding the quest for the Weber BBQ, we found that the reason they are so expensive is that the ones we see here are assembled in China after being made in the US, and then they are shipped here.  So I'm assuming it's the duties and taxes for all the back and forth that makes the high price tag.

First weekend here -

12/18-19:  OK, so I promised photos with the next post.  They will be with the next, next post!

We are on a quest for a Weber BBQ.  The BBQ here is an old-fashioned Mexican clay deal which burns serious briquets, since it can't be shut down.  We are amazed to find out that you can't buy a new Weber for less than $1300 pesos ($100US).  And that's the small one.!  Next year we will bring a spare one down...  

The owners made arrangements for a young local artist to paint a "mural" on the folding garage doors here. He's a really neat kid. It is part of a program called Artisans por los Ninos, which benefits local kids. There are many programs to help kids here who don't have the means to treat their medical problems, or simply to live with a roof over their heads and food to eat. Speaking of kids: Our place is just a few blocks from the Auditorio Publico (outdoor theater) and there is an orchestra and kids singing.  We can hear it jusst like we were sitting in the audience. The applause is huge. It's all in Spanish, but it is really neat.

One last note:  Mosquitoes in Mexico are voracious hunters.  I was eaten alive. I haven't had an episode like this since I was a kid camping at Wallowa Lake! And Gregg had an allergic reaction to all the fresh berries we've had (too many raspberry margaritas).  Thank God for Benadryl and Aloe.

 More catching up --

12/16: We noticed a heavy police presence in town - many jurisdictions and an area blocked off along the carretera (main drag).  Not too comforting until our friends told us it was in response to a huge local demand for a plan of action after 2 serious home invasions locally, where one person was murdered.  This happened at the end of November.  A couple of weeks later we read that two people were positively id'ed by the family members that witnessed the shooting.  On a much brighter note, the weather continues to be amazing ...

We are still adjusting to this thing in our individual ways.  For the 2nd day in a row, Gregg said to me "It's 10:30.  Half the day is gone!"  I was in no hurry to get out and about as places don't open until 10 here anyway.  I asked him if we had a schedule that I didn't know about.  I'm a little worried at this point, but he did come around after a week or so.  Another surprise - I knew I needed to find a gym here ASAP, but never expected that Gregg would join also.  He found the best one in the area.  It must be, as it costs $35US/mo. (we have both been going 3 times a week ever since). Yet another example of making do with what you have:  The washing machine here is new, but very lightweight.  It has trouble with the spin cycle, so you have to watch it or at least expect that it's going to stall because it's out of balance.  I hang the laundry outside to dry, for the most part, as we have been told that electricity is the most expensive of our extras here.

My first post!  Most of you know I am pretty technically challenged, and this is a work in process, but I think I can do this thing!

For those who were looking for more after the last e-mail, I have some more from December after we arrived:

12/14 The afternoon we arrived in town (Ajijic, Jalisco) we met the property mgmt. rep (Coco) who let us in to what would be our new place for the next 4 months.  We explained that we couldn't pay the whole first month's rent because we had maxed out our withdrawal limit for one day.  No problem!  This is Mexico - she is fine with manana.  First thing was to set up the internet connection and do laundry after 6 days on the road. Instructions for everything in the house are in Spanish...  Thank goodness for my pocket translator.  We went to bed EARLY (9 pm, which is 7 in Oregon).  So far it seemed like a quiet neighborhood as it was represented.  We would see if that held up over the long Christmas holiday here.

12/15 We tried to pay rent as agreed upon - Coco was out with a client (a potential house sale) so we left a message.  She called in the late afternoon to apologize.  She'll see us manana first thing in the morning.  We went over for a quick visit to our friends David and Anne who have lived here for over 6 years and asked lots of questions.  Where is the best fresh "mariscos" (seafood), and where can we get fresh herbs?  We decided to buy plants and grow them at home.  So many reminders of what it is like here came rushing back - the rent thing, so many things that don't work quite right (specific, very funny examples, to follow).  You just have to settle, and that's just how it is...