Two Weeks In.....

Well, the last boxes are unpacked and the paintings are hung by the chimney with care.... Somehow, it does feel more like home when you look around and see the familiar drawings and photos.  This morning we went out for a walk and thought we could take you through the streets that we're walking and try to let you glimpse what our new reality is like.  It takes FOREVER for these photos to load so I limited the number.  We'll try to include some more with each post.  The large gates are the entrance to our house.   For those of you concerned with our safety (that is approximate 98.2% of you) you will be reassured by the fact that they are: 1) at least 12 feet high; 2) totally constructed of steel; 3)on the inside there is a 1 and 1/2 inch thick monkey bar you slide across the gates, a three bolt lock and a separate two pronged lock as well as two rods that sink into the driveway pavement about 4 inches.  They are not getting in that way unless we are stupid enough to open it up for them.

After the five minutes it takes us to unlock the gates, we emerge and are facing our favorite Tapas Bar which is a mere twenty five steps from the gate.  We went over there Thursday night to hear a recently made acquaintance (well aren't they all really?) play his uke and sing.  He actually is Hawaiian and clearly doesn't mind indulging in stereotypes.  He was pretty good.  I stupidly mentioned how I had liked The Descendants and he huffed that it was pretty representational but that the missionaries hadn't left them enough land to worry about.  Ah... the same politically insensitive Deirdre.

The next photo (I think) is walking down our street in the direction of the Plaza and The Lake Chapala Society.  No, no I had to chop that one -- you would have liked it.  Very pretty.  The next one IS the Lake Chapala Society main entrance.  I can't remember who knows what, so here is the short form.  For $35 a year you are a member of this ex pat society.  You get free health screenings -- Michael just had four pre cancerous skin things frozen off and now looks sort of leperous but they assure us he will be beautiful again soon --, blood pressure checks, eye checks etc.  They also offer Spanish lessons, and a billion other things like an English language library (quite good), video library, cafe etc.  Excellent place to meet people casually.  The second photo of the society shows the gardens which are about one and a half acres with places to sit, classrooms etc.  They were holding an Open Circle Meeting (cracked me up -- all you Schofield Mom's remember Open Circle to teach our little ones not to bully) which appears to be significantly to the left of the UUs if that is possible.

From the LCS we walked down the street until we hit the Lake.  At the lake is a pier and elevated (and we hope secured) upon the pilings is our favorite place to go on Sunday afternoons before dinner.  It is a bar (no, we are not ALWAYS in bars) but the clientele is very diverse which is unusual here.  The tendency is gringo place or mexican place but not so mixed.  Part of this is economic and part of it is just difference in taste.  But this place gets lots of Mexicans from Guadalajara who come down on the weekend.  They tend to be well heeled and are at ease with the gringos.  So, it is fun to go down and mingle for an hour or two.  We were also pleased to discover that it is 2 for 1 margaritas on Sunday afternoons.

This restaurant sits right where the Malecon begins.  The Malecon is new and runs for about a mile an a half along the lake (I'm guessing).  Michael and I walk there because it is one of the very few places that is not paved with cobblestones.  Cobblestones are unspeakable rustic and evocative but are killers when you are walking fast.  So, that's pretty much it for the little photo journey.

It seems like we have been here a lot longer than two weeks.  This is the quietest time of the year and we never seem to lack for stuff to do.  In the last post, I mentioned that we were invited to go to dinner on Monday night and it is kind of representative of how you meet people here.  There were about 8 other people at the table-- only one of whom we knew.  The one we knew taught in the Middle East for 20 years.  Met a gay couple who had both been married and each had several kids.  The one guy was a building contractor and the other an ex Marine drill instructor at Paris Island.  Another couple, I forget what the guy did but she had learned sensory integration therapy and instituted a program for native people in far north Alberta or Manitoba.  The others were also very interesting and diverse.  During dinner, Wes and Ron (gay guys) said they played a casual game of bridge at LCS and did we want to come.  After not playing for 30 years we went and it was fun.  Met more people at the Tapas Bar and Michael ended up joining one of them at the hiking club.  He was gone for over 3 hours and said it was "quite demanding" straight up the mountains in back of the lake.  The hike was led by a woman our age or older who had just returned from hiking Kilimanjaro.  Not everybody is wildly interesting but there seem to be a lot of people with interesting back stories here.

Alex and Justin are fine.  Alex has posted some new photos on Facebook and entries in his journal at White Blaze.  He is doing well and feeling great.  Just booked some tickets for Justin to come see us for a long weekend in mid-May.  Looking forward to that since we haven't seen him since Christmas.  Hope all is well with all of you.  Please try to post a comment or let me know if you have problems.  We reset it so hopefully you can comment easily now.

Working out the Kinks

Hopefully we will have worked out the kinks with the blog to make it better.  I have (I believe) reset the settings to allow people to comment on the posts -- I know how you people hate to be stifled!  Also, with any luck at all we will upload the photos successfully, with captions this time.  However, in case the captions don't work I'll give you a brief rundown.  Several pictures are of building in the village.  It's typically mexican to paint the bottom of a building (or even a room) one color and the top another.  While the colors are jarring to a gringo's eye at first, they actually all work together rather well in the aggregate.  The murals here are also amazing.  It didn't end with Diego Rivera.  The mural in the photo is typical -- there are three or four that we've seen in the village and there is a new Children's Mural that was just finished at the Lake Chapala Society.  It is a bit like the whole village is a work of folk art.  They are redoing the plaza and the government paid for all the infrastructure.  They were going to pay for kind of standard pavers but the community artists decided that wouldn't do.  They held a competition and this one guy won but there was no money to do it.  He just said he'd do it (this is not a rich artist) and began work with three assistants.  The community has rallied and they are raising money to offset the costs.  It will take several months and we will shoot photos as it nears completion so you can see the intricacy of the work.  The other photo is, as I'm sure you've figured out, Lake Chapala at sunset.  Not photo shopped.

We've begun venturing out to various locales and meetings.  Yesterday morning we joined the Hash House Harriers which meets every Saturday.  They have a long history around the world with the rationale of the group being a run where the pack of runners follows a trail left by the Hare.  This is followed by heavy drinking early in the day.  I had read that here, due to the advanced ages of those involved, it was walking vs. running and felt it might be a good fit for Michael and his high speed 10K walking. Well.... this group takes it a bit more  slowly than Michael (more my speed) but contained some really interesting people.  After the walk, they all have breakfast at a lakeside restaurant.  Over food, we met two women who were particularly fun.  One was originally from England and had taught all over the world -- most recently in Indonesia and Qatar (spelling?).  The other was one of those really stolid, old midwesterners who had done everything from killing chickens for pocket change as a teenager, to working on a Navajo reservation 160 miles from a town to teaching middle school.  I'm not sure which option I would consider worst but she seemed to think it was all fun.  At the end of the meal, they kind of looked at each other with a "you think they're OK?" look and suggested we drop by Michael's Restaurant for dinner on Monday because they've got a group of "interesting" friends who get together there each week.  So, we'll see what that crew is like. 

We've joined the Lake Chapala Society which is an expat organization that not only provides a meeting place for all the Canadians and Americans but also works to benefit the Mexican community.  It has a lot of useful stuff like a large English library, video rentals, health screenings etc.  Michael and I will start Spanish lessons there when we get back in July.  Volunteers from LCS teach English as a second language to the village community as well as sponsor kids so that they can continue their education.  There are so many volunteer opportunities and charitable causes that we need to step back for a little while and figure out where we best want to spend our not unlimited energy and cash.

One of the things we like best about our rental house is that we walk almost everywhere.  There are probably 20 restaurants within six blocks of us, the lake is 2 blocks, the Lake Chapala Society is  3 and 1/2 blocks.  Every Wednesday there is a tianguis (street market) about 4 blocks from us that has everything from clothes to vegetables to meat/chicken/fish to flowers.  On our first venture I bought two big bags of stuff for about $20.  The flowers are especially tempting... A giant bouquet was the equivalent of $6 US and my 8 giant Callas were about $4.  I cut Birds of Paradise out of the yard and there are roses everywhere.  Next week I have my eye on the shrimp which are really big and local (well Puerto Villarta).  I was a little leery of seafood at an open air market but everyone assures me it is OK.  Let's hope so.

Stuff happens here and we have no idea why (well in addition to the cartel stuff).  Last night we were sitting watching a movie and there was a huge bang.  We both started to duck and cover when we saw the sky light up with fireworks.  The fireworks continued for about fifteen minutes and then stopped as quick as they started.  While our street is usually pretty quiet and we are set back inside walls, last night there was a lot of motor vehicle (read rumbling low rider sounding) circling of the block.  As far as we could tell, it was not a holiday or Saints Day or anything.  I guess you just go with the flow.

Can't remember when I updated on Alex but we got a call a few days ago and he is posting on Facebook and white blaze (the blog for Appalachian Trail folk).  He is doing great, meeting exceptional people -- in all senses of the word-- and having a lot of fun.  He is getting close to (or may be at by now) Gatlinburg, Tenn. Kudos to our pal Fred for sending him a "care" package of high protein snacks to get him through to his next stage of the hike.  Justin is fine in LA and we need to get on finding flights so he can check out the new hacienda.

That's about it for now.  Take care and I hope that the comment option works!

Photos as Promised

Settling Down

This will be a quick one because I emailed virtually all of my possible readers yesterday to fill in all the events between Dallas and our arrival in Ajijic.  The next couple of days are kind of "taking care of business" days with our 40 boxes arriving tomorrow and a meeting with the property manager today.  Mexican leases are very interesting.  Rentals are generally "as is" and you only have 5 days to list anything that's wrong with the property.  After that, you are on the hook.  We're a little unclear as to the extent of that policy.  For instance, if a tornado rips off the roof?, a toilet breaks?  the swimming pool heater croaks?  Well, that's part of the meeting with the property manager.  We spent yesterday wildly flushing toilets, turning on and off lights, testing the outdoor kitchen grills and vent etc. etc. etc.  Not too bad actually-- only about 5 or 6 items need to be addressed.

We SWEAR we are going to figure out this photo thing -- soon, very soon.  For those of you kind of following Alex's hike he called yesterday and will make it out of Georgia and into North Carolina in the next day or two.  He got a heavier sleeping bag (it was 17 degrees one night with the wind chill) and he and I are both happy that he will not be a victim of hypothermia.  With that off the plate I only have about 27 remaining items to worry about with his hike (snake bite, bear attacks, giardia, random crazies -- stop Deirdre!)  He says he feels healthier and happier than he has in several years which is good to hear.  Justin is doing fine in LA and I need to take a look at flights for him so he can come for a long weekend in May.  Well, rather boring today but we'll go out and try to stir up some excitement to make the next entry more riveting.  Take care.

Well, it's later today and we finally figured out how to get photos on the blog. Now we have to figure out how to get captions on them -- baby steps, baby steps.  Just very briefly, the two horse photos were taken at Three Chimney Farms outside of Lexington Ky, the car shot features our Clampett like vehicle ready for the journey and looking neater than after it was ransacked at the border and the last shows Siam in repose on towels on the hall tree of our new house.  She really doesn't look that worse for wear considering what she has been through.  We promise to upload some photos of Ajijic and our neighborhood soon.

 Today has proven to be our first immersion in "savoring" the cultural differences that will now shape our lives. For those of you familiar with my penchant for lists, organization and execution, you will realize that all this is VERY HARD for me.  Our property manager let us in when we arrived on Friday evening (she was a little late because she couldn't believe our estimate of arrival would be accurate -- the first clue).  She said she would come by Saturday morning to show us around the house and answer any questions we might have.  She came by at noon while we were eating lunch and said that she didn't want to bother us.  She would run a quick errand and be right back.  It is Monday night and we haven't seen her -- and we still have questions.  A minion called Sunday morning to tell us there had been a "family emergency" -- this happens with startling frequency in what must be a very accident prone country -- but she would be here Monday morning.  We patiently waited (well Michael did) and when she hadn't arrived by 2PM we called.  She was out but would call as soon as she returned.  Not really.

Our 40 boxes moved over the border last week.  Michael had talked to the moving company and arranged that they would be delivered on Tuesday (tomorrow).  He called to set a time and the woman informed him the boxes had arrived and would he like to schedule the delivery?  Like they had never talked.  That's scheduled for tomorrow at 10 AM -- maybe.   I realize I need to chill out seriously and adopt the mañana philosophy.  Watch as I struggle toward enlightenment my friends.

Well, time to go see if we can grill the steak on our outside kitchen gas grill that is the size of a semi-trailer and has the capability to blow Michael to Argentina.  A demo of this monster would have been helpful (see section on property manager) but what fun is life without a little risk.  Vaya con Dios. 

To the hinterland

We left Louisville on Easter with the intent of making it to Little Rock and spending the night before heading into Dallas on Monday. ah what a strange and scary America lurks in Tennessee and Arkansas. The dominant topographical features are billboards of which there are thousands. First billboard: Adultery is a sin and hell awaits! Second billboard: The Lion's Den -- Adult films, fetishes,fun. Third billboard: It's a child not a choice with a graphic so graphic it's a wonder there aren't stacks of car wrecks surrounding the billboard. Fourth billboard: Missy Velvet' Gentleman's Club-- Meeting all the needs of all our men -- and more! Clearly this is a very conflicted population. As we frantically scoured the FM dial searching for NPR to restore our sanity we instead discovered like ten evangelical radio stations between 87.9 and 90.9. We decided to just go with the flow and with Christian Rock blaring and visions of tortured fetuses dancing before my eyes we pulled into Loretta Lynn's Country Kitchen for lunch. Easter Lunch. Who but homeless migrants such as we would go to Loretta Lynn's Country Kitchen for Easter? Apparently half the population of Tennessee. After a massively fried lunch I was strolling the gift shop while Mical paid the check when I stumbled upon an entire aisle of Aunt Jemima figures (David and Wendy call Betsy and she'll tell you what they are). I was gaping at them when a woman walked up and said "I thought it was illegAl to make these anymore". I said,"Yes, it's appalling". She said:"they keep churning these out and my collection won't be worth a thing!" And they say Mexico is scary. Well we decided we needed to exit this area pronto and drove straight thru to Dallas. It has been great seeing the Langs and we've been running around trying to get set up to use Texas as our legal residence. New driver 's licenses. Title,registration-- the whole annoying nine yards. Skirmishes with the Mexican consulate on vehicle importation, getting Global Entry so we can get thru customs faster-- it has been a virtual bureaucratic field day. That's it for now. Off to Laredo tomorrow and then on to Mexico! We'll keep on posting but it may be a few days.

Moving on to Dallas

We're off tomorrow to Dallas with an overnight in scenic Little Rock. We still haven't figured out how to upload photos from the iPad to blog but are working on it.We've had a great time in Kentucky. Yesterday we went to Woodford Reserve-- a small distillery making fine Bourbon. A beautiful Setting with olD limestone buildings set beside a meandering river. Everything is blooming in Louisville--trees out,azaleas,tulips,wisteria-- very strange but really beautiful. The dogwoods usually bloom at Derby (beginning of May) but this year have been out for about two weeks already.So, by 11 AM we were happily swigging Woodford Reserve and planning yet another lavish lunch. We would post photos of ourselves but we have eaten so much at farewell lunches and dinners and on the road that our images no longer fit on the computer screen. After lunch we drove to the Blue Grass horse farm country near Lexington( insert more musings on the glories of spring in the Heartland). Our brother-in-law Michael knows the owner of Three Chimney Farms--a stud farm and they raise the ensuing foals to yearlings and then sell them at the big auctions. A complicated,risky,capital intensive and really interesting business.Did I mention it is Spring? Well that is breeding season in horse land and we were at a stud farm. The images wiLl not depart me soon. They steered me gently to the car and drove us to the brood mare section for restorative therapy. We got to see,pet and carry on over foals as young as two days old-- all legs and head and full of beans. As we drove out of the gate we watched 15 or 20 yearlings as they galloped as a herd across an impossibly green paddock. A great afternoon. Well,that's it for now. More from Dallas and then on to the border!

Made it to Kentucky. Well we loaded up the Suburu,stuck the cat in her kitty camo carrier and set off for the Southlands. The Clampetts had nothing on us...well they did have granny on the roof but we were close. Despite meticulous planning, at some point Tuesday morning we lost patience and focus and just started chucking stuff in the car. Packing is SO tedious and we've done almost nothing else for three months..a feeble excuse we know. We've got to get a Gadget to upload photos from the iPad but will shortly regale you with photos of our packing sloth,and our exploits in lovely Louisville. For those of you concerned about the toll the trip is taking on the lovely Miss Siam, fear not. She appeared somewhat worried when we sheltered at the squalid Days Inn(all her fault since we needed pet friendly)but has regained her insouciant,regal bearing since reaching Patricia's luxurious digs. Very Few cats ride happily in a car for 10 hours so we won't complain. Alex headed out on the Appalachian Trail today. Posted photos of beautiful scenery and a happy guy. That's it for today. Hopefully w'll be gageted soon and we also have to figure out how to let you guys reply to the blog. Hang I while we work it out OK?