Trekking off to Guad

Michael and I decided to make a foray into Guadalajara this week to do some shopping for the hacienda.  People here refer to it as Guad.  It appears that it takes too much energy to pronounce more than four syllable words so Guadalajara is Guad, Puerto Vallerta is PV etc.  Just thought you'd like to know.  Anyway we had amassed a sizable list of things we had been unable to obtain in our back water village and set off with light hearts to a more familiar world -- one populated with Costcos, Home Depot and a REALLY BIG Walmart.  It was an awakening.  First, unlike Ajijic no sales clerk in all of Guad speaks English.  You would not believe the number of words for perfectly ordinary things you do not learn in Spanish class (bedspread, liquid measure etc.)  We stumbled through it and emerged intact if chastened and committed to learning the vocabulary of every conceivable household good.  (Guys just skip the next few sentences as I do a shopping rant.)  I saw no sheets with a thread count over 180 and they wanted $95 for them.  While the random combination of colors on houses is charming in Mexico, it is not charming on comforters.  We will have to do some shopping in the states in June.  For the difference in price, I can buy the sheets a seat on the plane and still come out ahead.

So... that done, let me describe the photos of Guad.  It is a very pretty city with a plaza that stretches for seven blocks.  There is always something going on in the plaza -- this time it was a festival to encourage Mexican youth to "get out and get active" or some other insipid slogan.  The area was cool though with rock climbing, bungee jumping on trampolines etc.  Sorry, no photo of that.  The photo of the Gazebo shows a typical little park.  It is next to the Cathedral which has marvelous tiling on the steeples and roofs.  The interior isn't as filled with gilt as one would imagine probably because the Spanish shipped it home as soon as they got their hands on it.  The third photo is where we had lunch on Wednesday.  It is called the Fonda of San Miguel and it is a former convent (and military garrison, and bandit hideout and revolutionary outpost).  Nothing is a simple, single thing here.  Very atmospheric and the food was good if not outstanding.  Okay.  Couldn't resist the next photo.  Please feel free to vote which frock would do the most for me -- or me for it.  I am rather partial to the red, black and white but I have always gone for the classic look.

We stayed at our friend Robert's little hotelito in Guad.  He took an old motorcycle repair shop and turned it into this terrific little hotel.  It does not hurt that he is an internationally known landscape architect.  The rooms are nice but not lavish but the gardens... really lavish.  Robert is one of the first people we met when we got here and he is great company.  I had my first actual long conversation in Spanish with Robert's partner Luis who doesn't speak much English.  I was actually surprised that I could keep going -- I think those two classes of wine definitely helped my fluency.  Robert would jump in for both Luis and me when communication crumbled but it was fun.  Robert is going to come down to survey the grounds of the house here in Ajijic and render judgment on the caliber of our flora.

I need to go so we can upload these photos and get this on its way.  Had a long conversation with Alex today.  After spraining his ankle, he took 4 days to heal staying at this outdoor kayak training place in some unpronounceable town, North Carolina.  While there he met two more hikers and they hiked together for a couple of days.  They were about to do a really steep climb, Alex's ankle was acting up and they suggested they hitch to Ashville instead and go back on the trail on Monday.  Alex has said that Lavender (trail name)is "quite the girl.. . smart, funny and plays one hell of a guitar"  Hmmmm. Alex says Ashville is terrific but couldn't get over the 3 hours he spent in a flea market in some remote town while hitching -- the ultimate cross cultural experience.  Apparently Lavender is an anthropology major (just graduated) and found the whole thing right up her alley.

Well, enough about him.  Let's get back to us.  Nothing more to report.  Will try to post next week.  Take care and I love to get your comments/calls/emails.  See you.

This last picture is of our outdoor kitchen. It has two burners, a grill and a griddle. You can also see the sink. What you do not see is the outdoor refrigerator. Michael is still mastering the gas and managed to singe the hair on his arms getting the grill lit. We had a great meal of roasted vegetables on the griddle and steaks on the grill last night. The food here is really fresh and inexpensive. By the time you visit us Michael will have mastered the lighting of the grill and will have developed and extensive repertoire of gourmet meals on the grill and griddle.