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!