Sightseeing, Sipping and Stardom

Six Years as ExPats

Hard to believe but this month marks six years of our living in Mexico.  Some things have changed, others remain. The zeal to attend EVERY fiesta, parade and bizarre celebration has diminished somewhat but our fondness for the country and its people has only increased.  We've lost some friends we've loved but continued to make new and interesting pals as well.  The little village we first encountered is beginning to feel the assault of  large numbers of boomers seeking sunshine, a more relaxed way of life and, in some cases, escape from the numbing telenovela that has become American politics. But enough of reflection  -- on to recent events.

Enjoying Mexican Life Through Newbie Eyes

We greeted our first guest of the New Year in March when Michael's cousin Mary Washburn hit town. A woman of ceaseless energy and enthusiasm, she managed to pack quite a bit into a too short visit. We hopped a panga to Scorpion Island (nicer than it sounds) to sip Margaritas, wandered the Village and engaged in a challenging quest to find a VERY specific brand and "terroir" of Tequila.  All forays were successful.  Alex's college friend Dylan has become our latest ExPat and has slipped right into la vida Mexicana seamlessly.  It is incredible fun to watch newcomer's reactions to Ajijic.  It makes you see the culture through new, less jaundiced, eyes.

Wandering through The Lake Chapala Society gardens, we spied these two boys admiring the gold fish in the pond.

We stopped by another shop where you could watch people working on the looms crafting these items.

One of the ever changing murals on the streets of Ajijic...

with a rendering of Pedro Loco & Vino Blanco at the far right.

It is great to have guests so we can explore the village and see all of these new murals.

Mary got to see the Danza de los Voladores (Dance of the Flyers), who had set up their Palo Volador (flying pole) by the Chapala malecon.

The jacaranda were in full bloom.

As we took the panga out to Los Alacranes (Scorpion Island), looking back were the steeples of the church and the Braniff mansion.

Dylan, Mary Pat & Deirdre enjoying our drinks and botanas.

Coming back the lighthouse at the end of the pier in Chapala.

Tequila - Mana of the Gods

The Lake Chapala Society sponsored a course on Tequila.  Ever interested in intellectual pursuits we signed up immediately.  The "professor" was a gringo named Clayton who had immigrated to pursue his dream of elevating tequila to the status one associates with wine.  The class was amazingly informative and lots of fun.  And it turned out that Cousin Mary's quest for a specific tequila produced by a company named Ocho was a brilliant exercise into understanding fine tequila.  When I asked Clayton what was so special about this particular tequila he got very excited and waxed poetic about the Ocho distillery.  The people who own Ocho are developing the concept of "terroir" for tequila.  They have ten ranches -- all at differing altitudes, varying rainfall (never much), different soil.  Now all the other tequila distillers just grab up their agave from all their ranches and throw them all together and distill away.  I can envision Frenchmen just keeling over in horror at such a concept.  But the Ocho people do not mix agave from different ranches.  Thus, each of their tequilas has a different "personality" based on which ranch it comes from and what the conditions were like during its growth.  Which takes 6-8 years.  Patience is a virtue with tequila. At the end of the class, Clayton mentioned that the next weekend was the 1 year anniversary of his Tequila Sipping Bar -- La Cata-- in Tequila.  We were all invited.   The four of us looked at each other and said, "We're in".

Trekking to Tequila

While Tequila is only an hour and a half away, we made the judicious decision that driving home after a night at a Tequila bar was tempting fate so I got us an Air BNB.  Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose....  Who ARE those people who write rave reviews about places that should be condemned and burnt to the ground?  We've had wonderful experiences with Air BNB but this wasn't one of them.  Now, in fairness, the writeup said that it was right across from two distilleries that worked 24/7 (the world obviously needs a LOT of tequila) and that they make noise.  And it did say you had to walk up three sets of stairs -- which was OK.  But what it DIDN'T say was: 1) air conditioners but no way to turn them on; 2) no WIFI; 3) no TV; and  4) you had to paw through closets to find towels etc.  Not a quality experience.  But, thank God, it was only one night.  Unable to sleep in the heat, Alex retreated to a lower floor while Dylan slept on the roof.  We lucked out by getting the cool room.

Needless to say the party was fun and Clayton was glad we'd made the trek.  But never ones to waste a trip we decided to pack some more stuff in.  We went to the Sauza distillery and did the tour.  Let me tell you, tequila is flammable!  Everywhere we went there were extinguishers, firefighting suits, search and rescue suits.  You couldn't use flash photos (still not sure how that incinerates things). Endless signs forbidding actions that cause combustion.  I was so consumed by the impending fire danger (phobia #7) that I perhaps did not process much of the process.  Of course, there was more tequila tasting.

The agave fields which provide the main ingredient for tequila.

The Sauza distillery had an interesting collection of decorated skulls.

The Sauza store had this Adelita Catrina.

Barrels showing all of the brands that Sauza sells (the rooster is the symbol of Sauza).

The fountain in front of the chapel.

Inside the chapel, Our Lady of Guadalupe, ...

and on the chapel walls these colorful tiles.

The mural at the Sauza distillery showing the process of making tequila...

and the results of imbibing...

or over-imbibing.

The first phase of drinking a little tequila --- happiness,

the second phase of having a little too much --- sadness,

and finally the result of having too much tequila --- pregnancy.

One myth depicted in the left is that lightning from the gods gave the agave plant its potency.

The rooster (symbol of Sauza) on the agave piña.

This section of the mural shows the old fashioned method of crushing the agave...

and then adding it to the tanks for fermentation.

The year the Sauza distillery was founded.

In case of fire!

Sauza is a much more modern distillery than Cuervo (which we had toured ten years ago on our first visit to Tequila).

The jimador removes the agave leaves. Notice the protective shin guards and boots.

These much larger skulls in the Sauza garden advertised Dia de los Muertos in Tlaquepaque.

Dylan (Alex's friend) gives you an idea of the size of the skulls.

This skull also advertised a brand of "Cake that leaves you speechless".

Sauza has adopted the use of large colorful letters to spell out their name, which most of the Mexican cities now are using.

This cross in the garden shows Catholic and Mesoamerican symbols.

For those inquiring minds who want to know.

La Cata with its 180 different brands of tequila.

Tequila also had its interesting murals.

After dinner on the way back to our abode, we encountered this festival taking place around the plaza.

Before we left Tequila we had breakfast at this magnificent boutique hotel.

Obsidian and Opals

Well, since we were already in Tequila, we decided the next morning to head to Magdalena -- a tiny town not far away with big obsidian and opal deposits.  The indigenous were most interested in the obsidian since it made virtually unbreakable knives and arrowheads but along the way people got into the opals as well.  There aren't a lot of places where you find opals.  Australia mines about 90-95% of all opals with Mexico, Brazil and a few other countries filling the remaining percentage.    The opals in Mexico are predominantly white (vs. black) which is less desirable (read expensive) but still very pretty.  OK.  Enough on opals.  Our GPS was truly challenged in finding the mine so we wended our way through tiny villages, over dirt roads, shooing away various forms of wild life.  Eventually, after Dylan and Alex bushwhacked to the top of a hill and saw a paved road in the distance we found the mine -- which was, of course, closed.  However, we all had a good time roaming around the tailings of the mine looking for the overlooked and were rewarded with some very interesting specimens.

The tailings from the Opal mine.

The rock is very red and orange in which are found the fire opals.

The closed gate of the mine.

Alex searching the tailings for interesting rocks.

One More Time to Guachimontones

OK.  So this is what we mean about "after six years we don't feel compelled..."  We have been to Guachimontones  (an ancient town featuring round pyramids)  at least five times.   That is because it is very interesting and we want our friends and family to see it if we can give them the chance.  Since we were close we dropped by and, literally, dropped Dylan off.  "OK there boy, you just hike up to the top of the mountain and there it is.  We'll be sitting in the shade.  You'll find it quite wonderful. Bye".  We did sit in the shade.  He did find it wonderful.  And then we went to Snake Lake for lunch.  Of course, it is not officially called Snake Lake but some unpronounceable tribal name.  We call it Snake Lake because on our first visit we were seated about 3 feet from the water when it suddenly began to roil with water snakes copulating (I presume) and generally being very frenetic.  I demanded we leave but it would have been rude and by shutting my eyes for the entire meal we managed-- although my shirt was kind of a mess.  Dylan and Alex were quite disappointed that we only saw one snake having not timed the mating season appropriately I assume.  Our weekend of tequila, rocks and snakes completed we headed back to Ajijic.

The round layers of Guachimontones. (This photo was from our first trip.)

This neotropic cormorant, great egret and black crowned night heron were all hanging out by the lake where we ate lunch.

The restaurant rented fishing poles to the children.

On the way out we passed a fountain filled with turtles.

Ajijic in the Spotlight and the Spotlight on US

Michael got a phone call from a cheerful, vivacious woman named Grace who said she was filming her show for TBS in Ajijic.  Called Beyond The Wall (we think) she described it as sort of like John Oliver or The Daily Show.  She wanted to know if she could interview us and was doubly excited that Alex was here since people still able to run or climb ladders are a rarity here.  Well, of course, we did little due diligence but they had gotten our names from people we trust so we showed up at the appointed hour on the Malecon.  We have no idea if it will ever air.  We have no idea what their "take" is.  We have no idea if it is a one shot deal or a series.  Actually, we are woefully ignorant about the whole thing.  But it was really fun.  So, we'll see.  If we ever hear from them again about when it will run we will let you know on the blog.  We are very conflicted about the attention that Ajijic is getting.  While we think it's a great place and want people to like it here, there are just SO MANY of them. High season doesn't seem to end anymore. The traffic, while not Boston level or LA level, is notably up.  Luckily, being retired, we can just meditate, read or clip your nails (saw that the other day) while sitting on the careterra behind squads of Guadalajarans headed towards the Lake. Michael said that 10,000 Boomers are eligible to retire everyday. Our entire village is about 10,000. I guess there are worse problems to have.

The producer of Beyond the Wall.

Grace Parra, writer, actress and star of Beyond the Wall.

Deirdre getting mic'd up by the sound man.

Alex next to Grace with the camera person following as Alex is interviewed.

Chico, patiently waiting for Alex's return.

Grace, the producer and Alex walking back after his interview.

First the Manatees, Now the Crocs

You may remember the sad story of the manatees imported to the Lake to eat all the lirio (water hyacinths).  Well, they never got a chance because the fisherman (who were uninformed of their arrival) thought they were lake monsters and killed and ate them.  Today we got an alert from the Harbor Master (I know, that's weird too) that there are CROCODILES in the Lake (phobia #5- reptiles).  I have never heard of crocs living at 5,000+ feet above sea level but well, it's Mexico.  So the Harbor Master thinks we should all be a bit careful even though they've only seen two.  Generally, one will do the trick.  I'm sure the fisherman will get right on this and the peril shall be over as grilled crocs and Modelos are handed around at the next get together.  We'll keep you posted.

Off Once More

We've been home for over three months so it's time to hit the road.  We head to LA this Friday to visit Justin, see our friend Alex (and other West Coast pals) and do San Diego for a few days.  Back to Ajijic at the end of the month and then off to Europe for 5-6 weeks towards the end of May.  Hope you are having a great Spring (sorry, New England) and we'll try to be a bit more prompt with blogs.