Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Well, 2018 Isn't Looking a Lot Better.....

Time to Regroup

It's time to reiterate that our lives are not all fun and games.  All through the fall and winter we'd been galavanting and carrying on and we really knew that we should just settle down and deal with the realities of life.  As you've probably noticed, the realities of life are annoying, boring and often expensive.  But to every season, turn, turn, turn.  So, we sat down and made a list of everything that needed attending to.  It was substantial.  It ran the gamut from having Michael's knee rejuvenation to a litany of household woes, to immigration issues with the younger son, to Chico the dog having potential cancer of the private parts.  You see what I mean.   You can stop reading now unless you groove on knowing that you are not the only one who has to deal with a seemingly endless supply of problems of varying degrees of severity.  We also had some fun but that will have to wait until the latter part of the blog (you can skip to it).

Let's just start with the house.  The metaphor I use for our house is that it is like the girl you dated in High School.  Beautiful on the outside and a wretch on the inside.  While the prior owner was dazzled by interior design magazines, she apparently could not spell infrastructure.  But, in fairness, we have contributed unknowingly to our woes as well.  First the roof leaked forming a substantial hole in our living room ceiling.  Enter Francisco.  He assaulted the roof with a pick ax for a solid week-- it was VERY loud.  This was followed by a relaying of tiles, followed by sealant, followed by interior repair.  He was our constant, yet charming, companion for two weeks.  The good news is labor is cheap so the whole thing cost less than $700 plus the cost of earplugs.

Then the plumbing.  We have had our kitchen pipes snaked multiple times.  To no avail.  Having employed virtually every plumber in town, we happened upon a man who strangely knew what he was doing.  However, this involved ripping out every pipe and reinstalling them all.  This, in turn, involved ripping up the entire patio, disabling the dishwasher and sink etc.  It was supposed to take three days.  It took a week.  Manuel I (the jefe-boss) would show up periodically to yell at Manuel II (laborer) for sloth and general uselessness. Then he'd leave.  Eventually the sink flowed again.
We also discovered that the solar hot water system we installed two years ago was not working.  In fact, it had never worked.  More anger, retribution and workmen.

Far easier than dealing with the house was dealing with Michael's knee.  Having learned he didn't need a knee replacement, he went in for arthroscopic surgery one day and emerged the next a man in full. A little PT and back to kayaking and walking upright.  But, poor Chico.  Alex discovered a "lesion" on Chico's unmentionable and took him to the vet.  "Probably cancer," the Vet said as Alex nearly keeled over.  "Oh, don't worry, we'll take care of it."  Surgery, biopsy, no chemo.  Seems fine.

But, despite our bureaucratic somersaults, it was determined that there is no way that Alex can maintain his student visa consistently throughout the year (it's complicated).  Not wanting to be deported he had to make a run to the border and reenter on a tourist visa and make the car legal again.  So, with Chico Rico sporting a giant radar collar (see surgery) and with his college pal Dylan they took a road trip to Laredo where they determined (of course) that they lacked a certain document needed to make the car legal.  So now, Alex is legal but the car...well, not so much. Just another hurdle in the race to become fully Mexican.

Dylan, Chico (with his radar collar) and a small part of Alex returning from the border. (notice the faint rainbow in the background). Photo courtesy of Dylan Murphy.


Alex's friend Dylan showed up to visit for a few days.  He is a software guy so can work from wherever he is.  After a few days here (as so often happens) he decided that Ajijic was paradise and he and Alex have now taken a two bedroom apartment in the Village.  We are noticing more and more younger people in town -- and just a whole lot more people in general.  We are no longer proselytizing for people to move here.  In fact, we are thinking of building a wall around Lake Chapala to keep gringos out.

But despite all this whining and moaning, January and February tend to be fun here.  By mid-January the Sayacas were reigning terror in the Village as folks were pelted with flour and confetti stuffed eggs on a regular basis as the Sayacas conducted their cross dressing mayhem parades around town.  The kick off to Chapala's Carnaval began with a parade and the customary burning of the coffin of bad humor (Trump was in the coffin for the second year running) and yesterday was the big Ajjic Carnaval parade.  Today is the beginning of Lent AND Valentine's Days so the denizens are conflicted about which way to go.  I will just say that the music last night lasted until 2:30AM.  Next weekend is the three day Chili Cook Off and Margarita contest which is always a hoot.  Between the festivities and catching up with our local friends since our trips it has been an overall good time.


This father, daughter & son were headed to the start of the parade.

This year even the young boys dressed as Sayacas. Although some like the boy at the far left of the photo were just victims who ended up covered in flour.

The costumes of the Sayacas were particularly creative this year...

with this one combining Carnaval with Dia de Muertos.



The Sayaca on the far left wins for the biggest balloons.

They always smile as they reach into their bag to grab a handful of flour.





No parade is complete without some "floats". Here they use pickup trucks or tow trucks.

Every Carnaval needs a queen.


People with old man masks is also part of the Carnaval tradition in Ajijic.

Not even the musicians in the band can escape the flour.

The charro tradition is very strong in Jalisco and in Ajijic, so they are part of almost every parade.

The colorful dresses of the women is also part of the tradition.

This horse has the ghost brand.

This was the first year we saw Sayacas "riding" on horses.




Some floats were so tall that they were accompanied by "minders" to raise the wires as they passed. Seems dangerous but well.....


Notice the beer bottle in one hand with the Mexican flag in the other.


Dylan, Deirdre & I had ring side seats this year, but it was not without its consequences! Photo courtesy of Bryon Cranston.


Update:  We went to the Chili Festival today having failed to get this blog out in a timely fashion. And, hurrah!, we have a new borracho!  Those who have been following the blog for years will remember that we had a very agile (cartwheels on high walls) town drunk who provided a certain ambiance to civic events.  Unfortunately, he perished several years ago through a combination of massive amounts of alcohol, a poor sense of direction and a fall which resulted in his drowning in a puddle.  He has been missed.  Well, a NEW borracho has arrived in Ajijic.  We have seen him wandering the streets singing ditties and careening off curbs.  And today, he made an appearance at the Chili Cook Off.  Michael managed to capture some of his dance moves I believe.  Strangely, he looks just like the LAST borracho.  In Mexico it is required to have one town drunk and one town dunce.  But not two.  That's overkill.

The borracho was rocking out to the band playing at the Chili Cookoff,...

throwing his hat into the air...

and then catching it.

Vendors set up at the Chili Cookoff to sell their colorful wares.


The Chili Cookoff is set at Tobolandia (the local water park). On the way out I couldn't resist taking this photo.


So, that's it for now.  We're in Ajijic for another two months (may be a record!) with some visitors on the way.  We had our first pal cancel due to the State Department warnings (they really ARE alarmists) but we understand and can't wait for her to make it for next years Mardi Gras if not before.Take care.