Mexican barbeque on our patio

Can you pick out the gringo in the picture? Last weekend the folks that keep this beautiful place that we live in while in Mexico maintained, in all ways, threw us a welcome back party. As is customary, whole extended families were there, many that we knew and many we did not. We were introduced to most and struggled with how to describe the relationships, beyond hija (daughter) and hijo (son) and grandaughter/grandson (nieta/nieto).The terms for stepchildren or "in-laws" seemed especially difficult to transfer. Cooking began at about 3:30 and continued for hours, as did the Cervesa and Tequila drinking. They filled a whole table with side dishes, including Nopales in a wonderful salad. Nopales are the flat cactus "paddles" that are hard to find outside of Mexico but commonly found on Mexican tables. I was surprised to find they tasted much like lightly steamed green beans, slivered in the salad with sweet red peppers and white onions and probably some limon (lime) juice. There was also a salad with jicama, cucumber, pina (pineapple) and ? Also very fresh and healthy. The grilling started with small, sweet onions, then Chorizo, Carne Asada, and a stack of thin steaks. In addition were the usual sides: mountains of rice steamed in stock, warm tortillas, soft Mexican cheese, homemade salsa and frijoles. We had several bilingual attendees which allowed the conversation to flow between us all with few snags. After hours of eating, a couple of the guys insisted that they go pick some corn to grill for those that were still there. Some of us groaned - no room! - but No was not an option. All in all, a great evening due to our gracious hosts who also cleaned up nearly everything so that I had little to follow up on the next day!

Saturday, Oct 26 unofficially begins the extended celebration of Dias de los Muertos. I will post details on some of the events later as it will run through the first couple of days of Nov. What has become one of my favorite parts of this holiday is the local participation in the "Thrill the World" event that will happen at the plaza on Oct 26 in Ajijic (and in locations all of the world.) For a look at last year's performance go to You Tube at http://youtube/QvJ4mbyEIHc. If this copied address doesn't work, look for "Ajijic Zombies 2013 - Thrill the World" there. 

Below are pictures of my two favorite "catrinas" on display at the Ajijic plaza

  

Seen on the streets of Ajijic

Art is alive and well here!

We arrived here this visit to some crazy weather;  just before our return,  Ajijic had more rain in one day than in over 100 years of records. Last Saturday, after a beautiful day, we had SERIOUS thunder and lightning and lost our phone and internet. TV reception was still OK, though intermittent. So… I started this post as a Word document, to become a blog post – well - whenever the internet returned.

I need to respond to a question I often get when I’m back in our other home in Oregon. It’s some variation of “What do you do all day?” or “What’s a typical day there?.” The implication is that it must be hard to find things to do, so the assumption is that day after day is spent sitting in the sun doing nothing. Of course, that’s always available… But if you did that you would miss out on so many things.

It took awhile to summarize all the options and not end up with a post of epic proportions. No, really! So here goes –

The day begins when the sun rises, or when our Mexican dog comes to get us up, whichever comes first. I have coffee and something to eat, and read the weekly English language newspaper, the Guadalajara Reporter. The paper does a great job of publishing info about all the events in the area. I’ve got a day planner and I use it to keep track. Old school, I know, but it works.

For me/us on a day-to-day basis we spend our time going to the various open-air markets which tend to have a special focus. For example, the Tuesday Organic Market, is new within the last few years and is hugely popular. The original Ajijic market is on Wednesday and has a little bit of everything. You will often have to go to different locations for fish, for chicken and for bread! Yes, there is a transplant who lives here now who makes fabulous artisan bread like we are accustomed to in Oregon with a crusty outside unlike Mexican "pan". We also go to the many Estate Sales, or "bazars" looking for items that we can't easily get down here. The downtown area or "Centro" is clustered around the plaza as in all Mexican towns, and is rich with shopping options. I am usually looking rather than shopping, but there are so many galleries, and many weekends shows of various kinds in the plaza, such as the Michoacan Art Show (see my Jan 17, 2014 post) where you can look and purchase as you wish. I am fortunate enough to know a lot of very talented people here who exhibit in the Efren Gonzales Cultural Center or in the plaza occasionaly. Which brings me to the many Open House and Grand Openings and Re-Openings that are going on all the time. There are parades and fiestas related to the many holidays. If you google Mexican National Holidays you will be amazed at how many there are. You can begin to see why my day planner is so essential...

There are two gyms in town - nothing fancy, but they serve the purpose. I go three times a week. The cost is similar to what I pay up Norte. On Thurs afternoons, the maid comes so we leave for that couple of hours and take the dog for a "run around and chase the ball at the lake" adventure. Lots of people go hiking, or kayaking on the lake. I'm not that ambitious, I'm afraid. In the evening there are a couple of clubs that have really good music - sometimes local bands and sometimes gringos that are doing what they did (or wanted to do) in a previous life - blues, rock n roll, jazz and wonderful Mexican music is everywhere. I've talked about the restaurants here before. Some are nearly world class, as the chefs have often trained in the US or France in some of the best culinary schools. The only problem is that they open and sometimes close within months if they can't survive the first 6 mo.

I have 3 groups that I belong to here that are of special interest to me: the Writer's Group that meets twice a month and helps keep me inspired, Amigas Jewels is a group of talented women that make and sell jewelry (and often teach techniques and procedures to those of us that are still learning) and I belong to Lake Chapala Readers which is a group of mostly like-minded women who read books on e-readers like Kindle and get together once/mo for lively discussion . In addition to these, I volunteer at the Feria Maestro del Arte event in Nov. every year which is an intense 4 days of exposure to over 70 artists from all over Mexico in a sale and show in Chapala (just a few km east of Ajijic on the lake). Please see the poster above for this year's event and look at their website mexicoartshow.com.

So despite my best efforts, I have been unsuccesful in keeping this short. For specific info on some recurring annual events that are not to be missed see my previous posts from Feb 26, 2014 regarding the Mexican National Chilifest and Feb 23, 2012 and Mar 17, 2014 for the Carnaval Parade. For what goes on here on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day see the post from Jan 22, 2012.

Among other things, I will post soon about a Mexican parilla (barbecue) on our patio - amazing experience!

Thundershower ended

The weather changes rapidly here

This is what the weather looks like in May and June in Ajijic - very volatile at times. There is rain, or the threat of rain, nearly every day. And in between it is lovely and warm.

I promised myself (and at least one other person) that I would post one more time before hanging it up until next Fall's visit. I've been busy and suffering from a bit of "writers' block", which brings me to the theme of this post.

One of the groups I belong to when in Mexico is called simply "The Writers' Group". Nearly everyone who writes (Gringos), in the Lakeside area attends the meetings. I feel fortunate to be in the company of these talented people and would not have had the opportunity were it not for my friend and mentor, Karen Blue. I met Blue, as she prefers to be called, by chance as often happens in a small town. She is down to earth, straight-up, no BS (I like that in a person) and she has just published her second book. She is a world traveler, was married briefly very young, had a successful working career and has been single for quite awhile. Her just published book is called "Baby Boomers: Reinvent Your Retirement in Mexico". It isn't a How-To book; it's a group of interviews of actual residents of the Lake Chapala area and what their own experiences were in choosing to retire in Mexico - fabulous, frustrating, rewarding - all of it! From my own experience, I have learned more from conversations with resident Gringos and long-time visitors than I could have ever learned from any of the "How-To" books. Her book is available at Amazon. I urge you to read it if you are considering Mexico for retirement.

And another friend from the group, Kelly Hayes-Raitt, has a book in the final stages before publishing also. Her book is written from her own perspective rather than from interviews, and is about her time spent with Iragui and Palestinian refugees in 2008. She made working with those displaced people her own "assignment" after working for years in the California legislature, winning many awards and commendations, and then losing a close and highly contentious race that left her wondering ... What now? Her website for the book is: livinglargeinlimbo.com. If you Google her by name you will be able to read her own backstory.

Just a couple of examples of the great people I have come into contact with in Ajijic; It really is a haven for creative people. I even have a neighbor working on a book that will possibly be a memoir, and is fascinating, with a lot of history worked into the narrative. I'll keep you posted on that as it becomes available. In the meantime, I will take a sabatical. Hope you will look me up in October when we return to the Lake Chapala area with their wonderful late Fall and early Winter weather.          

Once again, the pictures can tell the story. This is a collection of photos taken on Thursdays when we go in to Chapala with the dog to play on the "beach". For Thursdays, this is usually the "One Thing" (see my previous post), although I do go to jewelry classes in the afternoons sometimes if it fits into the schedule without adding stress. Chapala is just a few km east of Ajijic and I thought it served as the capital of the state of Jalisco, but I couldn't verify that on Wikipedia.

Fishing boats in Chapala

Old fishing boats and White Pelicans

Tour boats off dock in Chapala

Beautiful gate to Chapala main dock

As we wind down our time here in   Mexico, I am already missing these walks on the edge of the lake. The weather is wonderful and our time with our adopted dog may be short. Although she appeared to be pregnant (and justifiably so) a month ago, it now looks like she crafted a "false pregnancy". She is a young dog and they do this sometimes. Suffice to say she would have given birth by now if she actually was pregnant. Now we think it might be worth a try asking the owner if he will let her go home with us. Gregg will do that, and the answer we get will determine what direction we take in a lot of ways, not the least of which is that we will have to continue to drive to and from on our visits to Ajijic in the future.

 Pictures this time are from the Ajijic Carnaval parade annually held on Fat Tuesday. To many this may look like Halloween costumes but these guys are "Sayacas" and this is part of a long-time tradition in the Lake Chapala area. It amounts to some pretty wild fun for the local boys. Please see my post from Feb 23, 2012 for a full explanation of this bit of folklore.

I want to share something I have learned since retiring in December 2011 - it's the "Do One Thing" philosophy. A new friend (one of our neighbors) used this phrase in conversation a couple of months ago and now I use it all the time. It's a mantra for me! As there are SO MANY things to do when we are here, and it is Mexico so things frequently don't go on a set schedule,  many of us believe that it is not realistic to plan to do more than one thing every day. For example, if the Carnaval Parade is today - that's it. You can fill in grocery shopping, laundry or cooking in addition - but not ALL of those things. Don't commit to multiple other things as you will just be frustrated and stressed, and let's face it, we did that for too many years before we retired. Another example of what can throw a day into the dumps - you have your one thing planned and your car has some unexpected minor issue that you must take it to a garage/mechanic to fix. Now not only can you not get to your one scheduled event, you are without transportation for an unknown period of time because that is common when minor repairs are needed in this area. Places may be closed when you had every reason to believe they would be open. This can throw a monkey wrench into your whole week as well. Maybe you can't get a part for your computer - ANYWHERE nearby. You need to copy and scan a document that you promised to hve ready for someone today. Who knew, until you are in that predicament. So, rather than it being the choice of a (lazy?) retiree to just plan One Thing, perhaps you are getting a feel for why it is the sensible thing to do. I will return to this theme as it is so relevant to our daily lives here...

Here is the dog that adopted us when we first arrived - with an additional 10 lbs or more on her bones! Gregg walks her around Ajijic and throws tennis balls for fetching several times during the day, so she's in pretty good shape now. She may also be pregnant ... which really concerns us. Over a month ago she came into season and although the male shepherd here has apparently had a vasectomy, the staff weren't careful to keep her inside the gates of the compound. We took her in to see a vet a couple of weeks ago, who said it was "too soon" to know if she was pregnant (?) but that it was "likely". The property owner here owns this dog and the 3 shepherds on the premises

but shows no interest in any of them when he visits. They are possessions, in his mind. Apparently she (Leika) is purebred - possibly from a pedigreed line of Weimaraners that his father had. The owner has his own vet who makes personal visits several times a year for shots, etc. For the day-to-day, the gardener here throws food out on the ground for all of the dogs and they have to bully their way in to get it. They drink water from the pool and only the children pay any attention to them at all. The irony is that he doesn't want the dog spayed, so we are told, yet if she were to have "mutt" puppies, he would be VERY upset. Go figure. We thought briefly of kidnapping her and taking her home with us in April, but quickly abandoned the thought as we don't want to end up in a Mexican jail!

I like to keep these posts fairly short, but have fallen a bit behind, so I'm going to add another element to this one. A week ago was the 36th Annual Mexican National Chili Festival which incorporates Chili, Margarita (my favorite) and Salsa competitions as well as entertainment and sales of artisan crafts and other local vendors into 3 days. There is also a parade which runs through the town to officially open the event. The competitions had more participation in the past, and some years the entertainment is better than others. This year I was most excited to see one of the

participants that had been rained out a couple of years ago. They are the Voladores de Papantla or the Papantla Flyers. This is a very old, Mezoamerican, traditional performance which is a request of the god of fertility to bring back the rains, and thus the crops, to feed the people. It is astounding to watch. Just last December their "foreman" died after falling 22 meters from the center post. He had been performing for 30 yrs with the group. To best appreciate them, go to You Tube and watch the whole performance.

More about the day-to-day here. It has been a whole different adventure this visit. Big changes, which I will elaborate on later in this post! But also, our days are spent differently than in the past. Several of our neighbors have experience growing up on a farm, or as adults, before retirement. Gregg and I have none. We have been fascinated to watch the "free range" chickens here recently as they lay eggs. In several of the very large, old trees there are hanging baskets which we found out are not just for aesthetic purposes...

Further about the chickens - several of us stood off at a 20 ft distance to watch the process. They would alternate between squawking loudly and clucking, and then flapping their wings. Finally they would flap wings wildly and lift up just enough to awkwardly land in the nest, thereby being able to lay their eggs in relative peace without dogs having access. They did not count on the larger humans (my husband, for example) raiding the nest later... After researching how to make sure the eggs were OK to eat, he had a wonderful omelet the next day! At least one egg succumbed to a dog (don't know how he got it) , and one was successfully hatched, thus ensuring the linage continues here on the Ranch.

Regarding the folks who live here, either part-time or permanently, several were teachers by career. One was in the RCMP in Canada, and then was Warden at a prison there - he's the nicest guy you could ever meet, by the way. All of them have travelled the world. One woman has walked across Spain three times, and plans to do it again this year. And, in the end, all of them chose to spend their time here. Most have been here, or returned, for years. They have gone through numerous property management arrangements - some good and several not good. This property is Mexican family owned and is now in the hands of the eldest son who (in the past, at least) has been ill-equipped to oversee it. After a recent near death experience, and a 5 week stay in the hospital, he informed us that he was cleaning up his act  and was ready to take a more active involvement in the Ranch, which is MUCH smaller than the other property (resort) in the San Diego area owned by the family. To cut to the chase, we now have a new manager who speaks good English but has been working with us to negotiate a long term (12 mo.) contract for two weeks now! We are hoping that we will get something to sign next week. To be fair, everything does take much longer to process here but we are concerned (on many levels) about nothing proceeding without approval from the owner who seems to have some convoluted ideas about running a business that are complicated by the Mexican machismo, and other cultural differences that are a mystery to us!

I was going to follow up on our favorite dog here, whose owner is actually the son now in charge, but I will do that soon. It is a whole 'nuther story complicated by Mexican culture.