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Hola everybody:
The holidays are over for some of you and for some there never really was much of a holiday and that's just wrong but such is life and your turn will come. As for us the Christmas holidays were fairly uneventful in that it didn't feel like Christmas or New Year at all but merely an extension of what we were doing already which is basically relaxing and doing what we feel like doing. I know....it's really painful sometimes to not have much of a plan but one gets used to it fairly quickly.
We have moved to a really nice hotel in La Paz from la Ventana. Garth was a gracious host but it was time to move on. If you don't kite board or wind surf there really isn't that much to do in La Ventana. It's a very small community. There is another community next door but it's only slightly bigger and caters mostly to the same clientele.
Our hotel is very close to the centro. It is new and our room has a cupola ceiling which is pretty cool. I also have internet access which means I don't have to carry my laptop to a cafe in order to check on my emails. Stan gets pretty impatient when I do that and I don't really blame him. This is so much better.
La Paz would be a hard city to negotiate without a car. There is very little public transport as most people seem to drive. It is reputed to be the richest city in Mexico and it shows. There is a general level of affluence here which isn't found in the other Mexican cities we know. A surprising thing about the driving is that drivers are generally less aggressive here than on the mainland. Surprisingly they mostly obey the posted signs and aren't as crazy about speeding as the drivers on the mainland. Another interesting fact is that many cars on the roads don't have any license plates, neither in the front nor on the back. This is something new and it's very puzzling to us. Having a license plate appears to be completely optional. Weird!
On Christmas Day we were invited to a party that a neighbour of Garth's was throwing so we went back to La Ventana. It was wonderful to have turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing. The deserts were really good as well. It's difficult finding food that we can truly enjoy unless you want to pay a bundle. We can't do that because we're traveling for a long time so we have to make some choices when it comes to the food we eat. Cooking was sometimes a drag but now we're eating every meal out and that can be a pain too. Oh the joys of traveling.
The party was cool with mostly Americans and Canadians. There was a couple there, in their fifties, who had already biked from Washington State. They were going to bike all the way to Tierra Del Fuego, wow that's quite the distance on a tandem bike. Some people really know how to live their dreams. Interestingly we also met a Polish couple from Cleveland, Ohio. Stan was able to speak Polish and that was a treat for him.
We had a great time with them.
The rest of the week went by fairly fast. We've been visiting some nearby beaches although I have to say that none of them compare to the ones that can be found on the mainland. The Sea of Cortez does resemble the Caribbean in its color but at this time of the year it's rather cold or at least colder than the Pacific on the mainland which is what we were used to. The beaches are also rather small. Tecolote is the biggest beach close to La Paz and although it's very pretty it's not a long beach and there are hardly any waves. Strangely enough the Sea of Cortez appears to have no tides at least none that are readily discernible to the naked eye. The shoreline always appears the same. When the wind blows there are waves but although there are whitecaps they are never very big. However because it's not quite as hot as on the mainland it's easier to enjoy leisurely walks on the beach without getting burned and the sand is a pretty white colour.
On Monday our friend Kaiulani picked us up at 8:00 and we were off to Cabo San Lucas. Stan was able to enjoy the scenery for a change without having to worry about his driving.
We drove through the town of Todo Santos which is very posh and quaint with lots of pricey boutiques and restaurants. Quite cute actually but small and the beaches nearby are all too dangerous for swimming. There have been quite a few drownings in that area. The beaches are mostly for surfers but right now the waves are not as gigantic. It's the riptide you have to worry about. It's incredibly strong. We didn't want to risk it.
Cabo San Lucas is apparently one of the hottest tourist destination in the world. Only 15 years ago or so it was a quiet, sleepy fishing village and now it's home to mega resorts. It's got beautiful hotels, a malecon, a big, relatively empty, mall, a marina filled with imposing yachts and it's got the ARCH. You've probably seen it in a few pictures of Cabo, it's the iconic signature of the town. We didn't take the boat to the arch because I had an appointment to swim with dolphins. Yes I finally got to realize one of my dreams.
It started at twelve. I was one of two without a wetsuit although the water was cold initially you forgot all about it fairly quickly. I thought our time interacting with the dolphins would be limited but it was almost for the whole hour. There were 5 groups of 10 and each group had its own dolphin. the pool is very big.
My dolphin's name was Richo and he was 28 years old. Dolphins can live up to 40 years in the wild and probably longer in captivity. He was very smart, eager and playful.
We were in the water almost right away and he was swimming right beside us. We were allowed to touch him everywhere except near where his blow hole was. The skin of the dolphin feels like silk. There are absolutely no asperities, he is completely smooth. We could touch him as much as we wanted and he didn't seem to mind one bit. He gave me a kiss on the face and the mouth (not yucky, same texture), he took me for a ride while I held on to his dorsal fin, we did a dance and then a hug. There was a girl taking pictures but they went for $25 U.S. a pop so I'll just have to keep the pictures in my head. I had already paid in american dollars to do the activity. Our dolphin also performed some acrobatic stunts, riding the pool on his back tail while balancing a ball and jumping to incredible heights. It was a truly magical experience.
I know they are exploiting them but they do seem happy although it's hard to tell since they always have that smile on their face. I want to believe ours was happy. He was incredibly willing and giving.
New Year's eve was not that exciting. We went to a restaurant, walked on the malecon and then watched it on T.V. while drinking some beer, no champagne to be had. Today was the first real cloudy day but tomorrow is going to be beautiful so we will probably go exploring another beach.
We want to stay here as long as we can because the weather is too miserable back home and the thought of driving north is not that inspiring. Bundle up wherever you are and try and keep warm. I've posted some pictures of our trip on Facebook if you have a facebook account.
Hasta luego, Feliz Ano Nuevo,
Josiane
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Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Hola everybody:
Hope you're all well and if you're a teacher you're either gone somewhere warm or shoveling snow. It seems there is a lot of snow this year even in the Okanagan.
We left Melaque on Sunday of last week without any incident of note. The weather was beautiful and hot, nothing unusual about that. We took a "libre" to the town of Guyabitos which is another seaside resort on the Pacific coast. The beach was very long, you could see for kilometres and there were very little waves because it's quite shallow in that part of the coast. Guayabitos is frequented mostly by Mexican vacationers and the beach was quite busy something which we were not used to in Melaque where much of the beach was relatively empty. We found a nice hotel and I bargained the guy down for over 10 dollars which isn't much but hey every little bit helps. What was eerie about Guayabitos was the almost total absence of gringos. We had heard that it was quite popular with Canadians and Americans alike but many of the hotels appeared empty and competition was quite fierce to land the few gringo dollars floating around. Mexico has been hit hard by the economic downturn and many Canadians and Americans are staying home or flying in for shorter stays. Melaque was the same although there were more Canadians there than in Barra de Navidad where Americans usually stay. All the " restauranteurs" were complaining and businesses were going to have to close or lay off personnel.
The next day we left for Mazatlan hopeful that we could secure a spot on the ferry leaving for La Paz on Wednesday. The road from Guyabitos to Tepic was absolutely harrowing. Think of a slalom run and imagine that road. It was twists and turns, no shoulder, cars crossing over the middle line, cars wanting to pass etc... all in all quite a white knuckle ride which I didn't enjoy very much. This went on for almost 80 kilometres and felt more like two hundred. I forgot to add that we were climbing as well. Mexico is quite mountainous and the roads follows the sinuous contours of the land. In Canada we would just blast the shit out of the mountainside to make straighter roads but they have a different way of doing things here. In any case thanks to Stan's expert driving we made it safely to our destination. We rented a room at the Siesta again in the old section and it felt a bit like deja vu since we had been there almost 2 months earlier. Our room was right beside the old corner room we had had that first time, not quite as big, but the view was just as spectacular.
On a slightly different note and something I forgot to mention can you guess which fruit is grown the most in Mexico? No it's not bananas, not pineapples, not oranges, not papayas....the answer is mangoes. I have never seen so many mango orchards, they stretch as far as the eye can see and the trees can grow to some pretty prodigious heights. We're still trying to figure out how they pick them and nobody is able to provide a satisfactory answer. I wish I could post my photos so you could see how big they are. I forgot my cable at home so I may have to go somewhere and download them onto a disk in order to post them.
We were able to book the ferry for Wednesday. It was a night crossing so we took a cabin. The ferry was scheduled to leave at 5:00 but was two hours late departing. All the big trucks had to go in backwards. Unlike our ferries you exit the same way you loaded. We didn't suffer from motion sickness. We barely felt anything, that road trip was much worse. We arrived at the port of Pichilinga and were greeting my a lot of military and extra security. Stan had to go with the car and I went another way where I had to give my index finger for verification and answer a whole bunch of questions from an overzealous official. I didn't have my passport with me so I had to give him my driver's license instead.
Stan, on the other hand, was asked for no identification at all but the car and the luggage were thoroughly searched for drugs. The big drug cartel from Tijuana controls this area and many parts of Mexico are being ripped apart because of the ongoing battle for turf between the cartels. There is also heavy military and police corruption. Twelve heads were just discovered 2 days ago in the state of Guerrero. The fighting is spreading to many different states. We are not going to linger in Tijuana on our way back that's for sure.
The Baja is beautiful and very dry with huge forests of cactus. The Sea of Cortez almost looks like the Caribbean. It is a beautiful green color in some areas alternating with blue. Garth has a very nice place in La Ventana which is a paradise for windsurfers and kite boarders because the wind roars in starting around 11:00 to 4:00. The beach below his property has very coarse sand so it's not the greatest swimming beach but the water is incredibly clear and there is a small coral reef not far away. We will be staying here till the beginning of January and then we will be looking for our own place to rent.
This computer is outside and I have a beautiful view of the ocean as I'm typing with palm trees swaying in the still gentle breeze. The best time to swim is at 8:00 in the morning when the water is calm. It's quite a sight though seeing all the kite boarders out there, they seem to go incredibly fast. I'm not much for extreme sports and neither is Stan so we will have to content ourselves with looking. Christmas will be spent at the neighbour's geodesic dome. I will be cooking a turkey in a gas over for the first time. On the 26th, I think we will go exploring Todo Santos and figuring out where we will be staying in the New Year. We want to wish you all a Feliz Navidad and a Prospero Ano. A few individual messages can be found at the bottom.
Josiane and Stan Feliz Navidad a todo
Hope you're all well and if you're a teacher you're either gone somewhere warm or shoveling snow. It seems there is a lot of snow this year even in the Okanagan.
We left Melaque on Sunday of last week without any incident of note. The weather was beautiful and hot, nothing unusual about that. We took a "libre" to the town of Guyabitos which is another seaside resort on the Pacific coast. The beach was very long, you could see for kilometres and there were very little waves because it's quite shallow in that part of the coast. Guayabitos is frequented mostly by Mexican vacationers and the beach was quite busy something which we were not used to in Melaque where much of the beach was relatively empty. We found a nice hotel and I bargained the guy down for over 10 dollars which isn't much but hey every little bit helps. What was eerie about Guayabitos was the almost total absence of gringos. We had heard that it was quite popular with Canadians and Americans alike but many of the hotels appeared empty and competition was quite fierce to land the few gringo dollars floating around. Mexico has been hit hard by the economic downturn and many Canadians and Americans are staying home or flying in for shorter stays. Melaque was the same although there were more Canadians there than in Barra de Navidad where Americans usually stay. All the " restauranteurs" were complaining and businesses were going to have to close or lay off personnel.
The next day we left for Mazatlan hopeful that we could secure a spot on the ferry leaving for La Paz on Wednesday. The road from Guyabitos to Tepic was absolutely harrowing. Think of a slalom run and imagine that road. It was twists and turns, no shoulder, cars crossing over the middle line, cars wanting to pass etc... all in all quite a white knuckle ride which I didn't enjoy very much. This went on for almost 80 kilometres and felt more like two hundred. I forgot to add that we were climbing as well. Mexico is quite mountainous and the roads follows the sinuous contours of the land. In Canada we would just blast the shit out of the mountainside to make straighter roads but they have a different way of doing things here. In any case thanks to Stan's expert driving we made it safely to our destination. We rented a room at the Siesta again in the old section and it felt a bit like deja vu since we had been there almost 2 months earlier. Our room was right beside the old corner room we had had that first time, not quite as big, but the view was just as spectacular.
On a slightly different note and something I forgot to mention can you guess which fruit is grown the most in Mexico? No it's not bananas, not pineapples, not oranges, not papayas....the answer is mangoes. I have never seen so many mango orchards, they stretch as far as the eye can see and the trees can grow to some pretty prodigious heights. We're still trying to figure out how they pick them and nobody is able to provide a satisfactory answer. I wish I could post my photos so you could see how big they are. I forgot my cable at home so I may have to go somewhere and download them onto a disk in order to post them.
We were able to book the ferry for Wednesday. It was a night crossing so we took a cabin. The ferry was scheduled to leave at 5:00 but was two hours late departing. All the big trucks had to go in backwards. Unlike our ferries you exit the same way you loaded. We didn't suffer from motion sickness. We barely felt anything, that road trip was much worse. We arrived at the port of Pichilinga and were greeting my a lot of military and extra security. Stan had to go with the car and I went another way where I had to give my index finger for verification and answer a whole bunch of questions from an overzealous official. I didn't have my passport with me so I had to give him my driver's license instead.
Stan, on the other hand, was asked for no identification at all but the car and the luggage were thoroughly searched for drugs. The big drug cartel from Tijuana controls this area and many parts of Mexico are being ripped apart because of the ongoing battle for turf between the cartels. There is also heavy military and police corruption. Twelve heads were just discovered 2 days ago in the state of Guerrero. The fighting is spreading to many different states. We are not going to linger in Tijuana on our way back that's for sure.
The Baja is beautiful and very dry with huge forests of cactus. The Sea of Cortez almost looks like the Caribbean. It is a beautiful green color in some areas alternating with blue. Garth has a very nice place in La Ventana which is a paradise for windsurfers and kite boarders because the wind roars in starting around 11:00 to 4:00. The beach below his property has very coarse sand so it's not the greatest swimming beach but the water is incredibly clear and there is a small coral reef not far away. We will be staying here till the beginning of January and then we will be looking for our own place to rent.
This computer is outside and I have a beautiful view of the ocean as I'm typing with palm trees swaying in the still gentle breeze. The best time to swim is at 8:00 in the morning when the water is calm. It's quite a sight though seeing all the kite boarders out there, they seem to go incredibly fast. I'm not much for extreme sports and neither is Stan so we will have to content ourselves with looking. Christmas will be spent at the neighbour's geodesic dome. I will be cooking a turkey in a gas over for the first time. On the 26th, I think we will go exploring Todo Santos and figuring out where we will be staying in the New Year. We want to wish you all a Feliz Navidad and a Prospero Ano. A few individual messages can be found at the bottom.
Josiane and Stan Feliz Navidad a todo
Hola everybody:
Once again hope you're all well. Everybody who is in teaching must be looking forward to the Christmas break so the countdown is on. If you're in retail that's another story altogether so I hope the season is good.
Yes we will be leaving Melaque very soon but unlike Leaving Las Vegas we will leave with our livers intact although there has been a bit of beer drinking going on. Beer is still really cheap in Mexico. You can still get a beer for 10 to 12 pesos which is about 1 dollar. At the store we bought 8 beers of a new label for $6.00 so that was quite a bargain. Not to be outdone I did have the odd Pina Colada and Margarita as well. Although alcoholic beverages are generally cheap the price of food has risen considerably in Mexico. We did cook in our unit for a while but it's almost as expensive as going out and I couldn't find all the right ingredients so it was testing my culinary skills and becoming a pain. We have stuck to having breakfast instead which means we don't have to rush out and look for coffee. Most of the people in our unit have coffee outside on the stoop and shoot the breeze. We have been really lucky. The people there are really nice and fun, very laid back. Most will be staying in Melaque for months. One couple, from Quesnel, will be in Mexico for 6 months, it's their first time trying this out. It's unbelievable how many people from B.C. are here. Many come with R.V´s, huge ones, Quebec and Ontario also come with gigantic R.V's. It's hard to understand how they negotiate all those Mexican topes but they seem to do just fine. We've never seen a license plate from the Maritimes. Maritimes don't seem to have any bucks to travel. It's an assumption that I'm prepared to make.
Our time here has been mostly spent doing beach things. We drove to a couple of other beaches. One is called Tenacatita and the conditions there are quite lovely with crystal clear water, white sand and relatively small waves with hardly a person in sight. The expected tourists are just not showing up and it's really hurting a lot of the businesses here who rely so heavily on all those tourist dollars. Another beach we visited is called Playa de Cocodrillos. There is a lagoon as you approach the beach filled with, apparently, hundreds of crocodiles. We saw quite a few munching on big pieces of fish. There was a huge crocodile sunning herself by the shore. A person there told us that she was the mother of all the crocodiles in the lagoon. She did seem ancient and tired from all her labours. She had growths on her head which looked like hard calcium deposits and she could no longer see. Her age was estimated at around 100 but it's not a verifiable fact so to be taken with a grain of salt. The beach itself was lovely and, once again, mostly empty. It was many kilometres long. We wallked for about 6 kilometres and could have walked much further. There were many beautiful houses, on the beach and in the hills. They all belonged to gringos. Many Canadians have second homes in this area.
The other day we were in town eating ice cream opposite the local school. I'm always fascinated with what they do in schools wherever I travel. In French it's called ¨deformation professionelle¨. For those of you who don't speak French I will let you puzzle that one out. In any case it was the almost switch over time from morning classes to afternoon ones and the whole school was busy cleaning. They were sweeping, mopping, emptying out the garbage and generally doing all that our CUPE workers do. Public schools are perenially short of funds so parents routinely paint and repair what needs repairing to keep the schools going. We are very lucky indeed in Canada as much as like to bitch about the school system it still functions relatively well. Traveling does give you those kinds of perspectives which doesn't mean that I wouldn't keep fighting for our system to get even better. There is always room for improvement. Sunday we will be driving towards Puerto Vallarta and staying one night in the town of Guyabitos another Canadian hangout where we have never been. Then we will be driving back to Mazatlan where we hope to take the ferry, possibly Wednesday if there is room, to La Paz in Baja. The weather has been beautiful, generally sunny and hot every day so no complaints there. I went to the CBC website and found out that the governor general has allowed for Parliament to be suspended till January. Feel free to give me your perspective on that one, I have ideas of my own of course. That´s it for now. Hasta luego,
Josiane
Once again hope you're all well. Everybody who is in teaching must be looking forward to the Christmas break so the countdown is on. If you're in retail that's another story altogether so I hope the season is good.
Yes we will be leaving Melaque very soon but unlike Leaving Las Vegas we will leave with our livers intact although there has been a bit of beer drinking going on. Beer is still really cheap in Mexico. You can still get a beer for 10 to 12 pesos which is about 1 dollar. At the store we bought 8 beers of a new label for $6.00 so that was quite a bargain. Not to be outdone I did have the odd Pina Colada and Margarita as well. Although alcoholic beverages are generally cheap the price of food has risen considerably in Mexico. We did cook in our unit for a while but it's almost as expensive as going out and I couldn't find all the right ingredients so it was testing my culinary skills and becoming a pain. We have stuck to having breakfast instead which means we don't have to rush out and look for coffee. Most of the people in our unit have coffee outside on the stoop and shoot the breeze. We have been really lucky. The people there are really nice and fun, very laid back. Most will be staying in Melaque for months. One couple, from Quesnel, will be in Mexico for 6 months, it's their first time trying this out. It's unbelievable how many people from B.C. are here. Many come with R.V´s, huge ones, Quebec and Ontario also come with gigantic R.V's. It's hard to understand how they negotiate all those Mexican topes but they seem to do just fine. We've never seen a license plate from the Maritimes. Maritimes don't seem to have any bucks to travel. It's an assumption that I'm prepared to make.
Our time here has been mostly spent doing beach things. We drove to a couple of other beaches. One is called Tenacatita and the conditions there are quite lovely with crystal clear water, white sand and relatively small waves with hardly a person in sight. The expected tourists are just not showing up and it's really hurting a lot of the businesses here who rely so heavily on all those tourist dollars. Another beach we visited is called Playa de Cocodrillos. There is a lagoon as you approach the beach filled with, apparently, hundreds of crocodiles. We saw quite a few munching on big pieces of fish. There was a huge crocodile sunning herself by the shore. A person there told us that she was the mother of all the crocodiles in the lagoon. She did seem ancient and tired from all her labours. She had growths on her head which looked like hard calcium deposits and she could no longer see. Her age was estimated at around 100 but it's not a verifiable fact so to be taken with a grain of salt. The beach itself was lovely and, once again, mostly empty. It was many kilometres long. We wallked for about 6 kilometres and could have walked much further. There were many beautiful houses, on the beach and in the hills. They all belonged to gringos. Many Canadians have second homes in this area.
The other day we were in town eating ice cream opposite the local school. I'm always fascinated with what they do in schools wherever I travel. In French it's called ¨deformation professionelle¨. For those of you who don't speak French I will let you puzzle that one out. In any case it was the almost switch over time from morning classes to afternoon ones and the whole school was busy cleaning. They were sweeping, mopping, emptying out the garbage and generally doing all that our CUPE workers do. Public schools are perenially short of funds so parents routinely paint and repair what needs repairing to keep the schools going. We are very lucky indeed in Canada as much as like to bitch about the school system it still functions relatively well. Traveling does give you those kinds of perspectives which doesn't mean that I wouldn't keep fighting for our system to get even better. There is always room for improvement. Sunday we will be driving towards Puerto Vallarta and staying one night in the town of Guyabitos another Canadian hangout where we have never been. Then we will be driving back to Mazatlan where we hope to take the ferry, possibly Wednesday if there is room, to La Paz in Baja. The weather has been beautiful, generally sunny and hot every day so no complaints there. I went to the CBC website and found out that the governor general has allowed for Parliament to be suspended till January. Feel free to give me your perspective on that one, I have ideas of my own of course. That´s it for now. Hasta luego,
Josiane
Hola Everybody:
Once again hope you're all well. I'm combining these two trips together because I'm on a rented computer and it's always trickier to spend a lot of time composing messages and checking for messages.
Our trip to Patzcuaro worked out really well. We left on a Wednesday and came back to Chapala on a Friday. The weather was glorious as usual. We decided not to take the quota highway but try our luck instead on the "libre" road. Suffice it to say that it took us 7 and a half hours to cover a distance slightly under 300 kms. So yes it was a bit of a mistake and I lost count of how many topes we had to go through. Our car is holding up really well though so that's a definite plus. Patzcuaro is another one of those "pueblos magicos" and it's also in the state of Michoacan. Michoacan is a lot greener and prettier than the state of Jalisco. It's very pastoral with a lot of agriculture and the mountains look beautifully green not brown and arid like in Jalisco. The outskirts of Patzcuaro are nothing to write home about but the colonial centre is beautiful. It consists of one large plaza surrounded by trees and porticos with a huge fountain in the middle. The arches of the porticos lend a European flair and are very pleasing to the eyes. There are a lot of cafes where one can sit and people watch. We stayed in a really old (17th. century) building which retained all of it's ancient architectural flavour. Our room was huge, there was even a loft as well as a small balcony looking out onto the plaza. There is another smaller plaza not quite adjacent to the bigger plaza and that plaza is more animated because there is a huge permanent "mercado" labyrinthine in size. We didn't even get through all of it. We visited two very old churches as well as an old convent which now houses artisans and is called "the place of 11 courtyards". It did indeed have 11 courtyards. Artisans in Patzcuaro work in leather, wood, straw and enamel. We didn't buy anything except 4 little jumping straw frogs. Stan is always loathe to buy anything because we're running out of space where to put all the stuff in our basically tiny house. I don't disagree with him because if I did I would probably buy it anyways. We're not being very consumer oriented on this trip, not that we were ever frenetic but this time around there are only so many "cosas" one can buy.
Patzcuaro can get quite cold at night and in the early morning, a lot of people wore parkas. On Thursday we took a bus, a harrowing ride through very winding, narrow streets and headed to the lake. The lake itself is more polluted than the one in Chapala and much smaller. It too is filled with water hyacinths. We took a boat ride to the very famous island where day of the dead celebrations take place. Patzcuaro is famous for its day of the dead activities. The island is tiny and unbelievably crowded with the ugliest statue of this heroic general at the very top. The statue is huge and I mean huge. You can climb all the way to the top of his hand which is held up and there are murals all around and on the ceiling. Nothing exceptional in terms of the art work, style "naif" not much perspective but vivid nevertheless. It's hard to imagine so many people living in such a tight space. A great many of them have shops or restaurants where they are all selling the same basically mass produced things.
Coming back to Chapala we took the quota which was heavenly although we did have to cross Morelia and that was a bit stressful. Morelia is also a very famous colonial city but we weren't up to braving the traffic in a city of over half a million. We did see the huge cathedral from a safe distance so we will have to be content with that. The worse thing we saw driving was a huge semi-trailer truck passing another semi on a blind curve. It's strange how Mexicans can be so patient for some things but are incapable of showing any restraint on the road. They tail, they honck, they pass when there is absolutely no visibility, it's pretty freaky. Coming to Melaque on the "libre" all hairpin turns and blind spots a passenger bus passed us and two other cars in front of us on a blind curve. Honestly it's almost like they have a death wish. Of course there are some cautious drivers but they are few and far between.
O.K. so we're in Melaque now. Melaque is a relatively small, sleepy, funky beach town. We have a really cute two bedroom apt. All the apts. except for one, are rented to Canadians. Yes it's Canuck ville there but the people are all really nice and friendly, not stuffy in the least. Melaque is a little on the grubby side, roads aren't paved, there is garbage around, most hotels haven't been renovated in years, there are lots of shack dwellings, all in all it's a bit of a mess so you have to be a little "special" to really like it here. The town of Barra de Navidad which is at the other end of the bay is slightly more posh with cobblestone streets and more upscale restaurants, boutiques and hotels.
Life in Melaque consists of three things which all start with the letter S and not one of those words is SHIT! Haha...
Yes I'm talking sun, sea and sand, not too onerous a proposition when you consider the other S alternative: snow, slush, sleet. We're having a really good time here. The water is warm at about 70 degrees. There are lots of places to eat on the beach and you can just relax under one of the palapas with a beer in your hand. It's like one of those Corona commercials. In the mornings the beach is almost empy and it doesn't get very crowded in the afternoon either so it's perfect. We had a really cool experience the other day. It was around 11:00 and this flock of pelicans came swooping down following a whole bunch of small fish. These small fish were pursued by bigger fish. Stan was in the water trying to catch one with his bare hands, of course that didn't work. There were so many fish jumping that I was being hit on the legs by them, big and small. Wow, it was something to behold. Stan was in seventh heaven. He has tried his hand at fishing here but is finding it hard to throw the line out into the water. Apparently it takes some practice. Yesterday we went with some of the people in our building to a transvetite show in a seedy outdoor club where beer was plentiful. You bought the beer by the bucket, a dozen in a bucket and they served you little appetizers. The show was no Las Vegas but it was fun if incredibly loud. I´will post some pictures when we get to Baja California. It´s too hard right now to drag everything here. Hope there aren't too many mistakes. I was letting the Spanish confuse my English spelling, the last time. Love to hear from everybody. Please write once in a while.
Lots of love, Hasta luego,
Josiane
Once again hope you're all well. I'm combining these two trips together because I'm on a rented computer and it's always trickier to spend a lot of time composing messages and checking for messages.
Our trip to Patzcuaro worked out really well. We left on a Wednesday and came back to Chapala on a Friday. The weather was glorious as usual. We decided not to take the quota highway but try our luck instead on the "libre" road. Suffice it to say that it took us 7 and a half hours to cover a distance slightly under 300 kms. So yes it was a bit of a mistake and I lost count of how many topes we had to go through. Our car is holding up really well though so that's a definite plus. Patzcuaro is another one of those "pueblos magicos" and it's also in the state of Michoacan. Michoacan is a lot greener and prettier than the state of Jalisco. It's very pastoral with a lot of agriculture and the mountains look beautifully green not brown and arid like in Jalisco. The outskirts of Patzcuaro are nothing to write home about but the colonial centre is beautiful. It consists of one large plaza surrounded by trees and porticos with a huge fountain in the middle. The arches of the porticos lend a European flair and are very pleasing to the eyes. There are a lot of cafes where one can sit and people watch. We stayed in a really old (17th. century) building which retained all of it's ancient architectural flavour. Our room was huge, there was even a loft as well as a small balcony looking out onto the plaza. There is another smaller plaza not quite adjacent to the bigger plaza and that plaza is more animated because there is a huge permanent "mercado" labyrinthine in size. We didn't even get through all of it. We visited two very old churches as well as an old convent which now houses artisans and is called "the place of 11 courtyards". It did indeed have 11 courtyards. Artisans in Patzcuaro work in leather, wood, straw and enamel. We didn't buy anything except 4 little jumping straw frogs. Stan is always loathe to buy anything because we're running out of space where to put all the stuff in our basically tiny house. I don't disagree with him because if I did I would probably buy it anyways. We're not being very consumer oriented on this trip, not that we were ever frenetic but this time around there are only so many "cosas" one can buy.
Patzcuaro can get quite cold at night and in the early morning, a lot of people wore parkas. On Thursday we took a bus, a harrowing ride through very winding, narrow streets and headed to the lake. The lake itself is more polluted than the one in Chapala and much smaller. It too is filled with water hyacinths. We took a boat ride to the very famous island where day of the dead celebrations take place. Patzcuaro is famous for its day of the dead activities. The island is tiny and unbelievably crowded with the ugliest statue of this heroic general at the very top. The statue is huge and I mean huge. You can climb all the way to the top of his hand which is held up and there are murals all around and on the ceiling. Nothing exceptional in terms of the art work, style "naif" not much perspective but vivid nevertheless. It's hard to imagine so many people living in such a tight space. A great many of them have shops or restaurants where they are all selling the same basically mass produced things.
Coming back to Chapala we took the quota which was heavenly although we did have to cross Morelia and that was a bit stressful. Morelia is also a very famous colonial city but we weren't up to braving the traffic in a city of over half a million. We did see the huge cathedral from a safe distance so we will have to be content with that. The worse thing we saw driving was a huge semi-trailer truck passing another semi on a blind curve. It's strange how Mexicans can be so patient for some things but are incapable of showing any restraint on the road. They tail, they honck, they pass when there is absolutely no visibility, it's pretty freaky. Coming to Melaque on the "libre" all hairpin turns and blind spots a passenger bus passed us and two other cars in front of us on a blind curve. Honestly it's almost like they have a death wish. Of course there are some cautious drivers but they are few and far between.
O.K. so we're in Melaque now. Melaque is a relatively small, sleepy, funky beach town. We have a really cute two bedroom apt. All the apts. except for one, are rented to Canadians. Yes it's Canuck ville there but the people are all really nice and friendly, not stuffy in the least. Melaque is a little on the grubby side, roads aren't paved, there is garbage around, most hotels haven't been renovated in years, there are lots of shack dwellings, all in all it's a bit of a mess so you have to be a little "special" to really like it here. The town of Barra de Navidad which is at the other end of the bay is slightly more posh with cobblestone streets and more upscale restaurants, boutiques and hotels.
Life in Melaque consists of three things which all start with the letter S and not one of those words is SHIT! Haha...
Yes I'm talking sun, sea and sand, not too onerous a proposition when you consider the other S alternative: snow, slush, sleet. We're having a really good time here. The water is warm at about 70 degrees. There are lots of places to eat on the beach and you can just relax under one of the palapas with a beer in your hand. It's like one of those Corona commercials. In the mornings the beach is almost empy and it doesn't get very crowded in the afternoon either so it's perfect. We had a really cool experience the other day. It was around 11:00 and this flock of pelicans came swooping down following a whole bunch of small fish. These small fish were pursued by bigger fish. Stan was in the water trying to catch one with his bare hands, of course that didn't work. There were so many fish jumping that I was being hit on the legs by them, big and small. Wow, it was something to behold. Stan was in seventh heaven. He has tried his hand at fishing here but is finding it hard to throw the line out into the water. Apparently it takes some practice. Yesterday we went with some of the people in our building to a transvetite show in a seedy outdoor club where beer was plentiful. You bought the beer by the bucket, a dozen in a bucket and they served you little appetizers. The show was no Las Vegas but it was fun if incredibly loud. I´will post some pictures when we get to Baja California. It´s too hard right now to drag everything here. Hope there aren't too many mistakes. I was letting the Spanish confuse my English spelling, the last time. Love to hear from everybody. Please write once in a while.
Lots of love, Hasta luego,
Josiane
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Hola Everybody:
Hope I'm not overwhelming you with this avalanche of emails. We will be leaving Chapala tomorrow and my access to a computer will drop dramatically so I'm trying to take advantage of the easy access while we're still here. I haven't told you much about our life in Chapala so that's what I will attempt to do with the present writing. I will also send another separate email about our trip to the city of Patzcuaro.Life in Chapala, in general, has been pretty ho hum. Although there are lots of people who come here on the weekends, the rest of the week is relatively sedate. While here we went to the hot springs twice. There are thermal pools in the town of San Juan Cosala approximately 20 kms. or so from Chapala. The site itself is very well developed with three huge pools, a water slide, a steam room, mud baths, herbal whirlpool and a massage area. We didn't try the mud or the massage. The entry fee is pretty steep at around 260 pesos which is about 25 dollars for the two of us. Still it was really worth it because we usually ended up spending the whole day. There weren't too many swimming opportunities otherwise. We never did try the lake. It just looked too murky.We went to Christiana Park instead. They have a huge pool there also. The water is questionnable as well, you have to make sure you really keep your mouth closed. We only saw two dead cockroaches floating at the far end of the pool and it was a little fuzzy on the bottom but other than that, no rash after coming out, so that was pretty good and the water was pleasantly cool. I think we were the first gringos to ever set foot in that pool. In fact every time we went we were the only customers so we had it all to ourselves.While here we decided to go house hunting because after all that was our primary purpose for being in Chapala. Coldwell Banker Realty does a Tuesday thing where they take potential customers around. That Tuesday we were the only two clients. Our guide was an expat. Canadian from Ontario with the unlikely name of Bev. Bev. had been in Ajijic for 6 years and both he and his wife have reinvented themselves as real estate agents. Our first showing was of a recently deceased older woman's condominium. Said woman very partial to religious art in the form of icones, some not too shabby but a little overwhelming nevertheless. The condo was in a gated community with beautiful, immaculate grounds. Just too sterile for us. Another house we saw was on top of a hill. It was brand new and gigantic but really poor construction. There were already cracks in the cement and in many of the walls.All in all none of the places we saw impressed us. I'm sure there are beautiful houses hidden behind many of the walls but we never saw any that appealed to us.We did a lot of walking although it's difficult to walk up into the mountains. The mountains are covered with deciduous scrub and there are no easy paths. The market in Chapala was a big disappointment, really small by Mexican standards with a poor selection of fruits and vegetables although the fresh orange juice is always a treat and the liquados are also quite scrumptious. In general Mexicans do not eat a lot of vegetables except for tomatoes and peppers. It's hard to find really nice fresh salad. As far as driving goes we did drive to a pueblo called Mazamitla. The Mexican government has a program designed to highlight what it calls "pueblos magicos" - magical towns. Mazamitla is one of those towns. It's about two hours away from Chapala on a comme-ci, comme-ca road but the country side is quite beautiful with rolling hills and pine forests, very unusual for Mexico. The village centre has a very pretty zocalo (square) and the houses are adobe, painted white, with wooden overhanging roofs just like in villages which might be found in Switzerland. The streets of course were very narrow with high sidewalks not atypical of those types of cities.Mazamitla is famous for its cheese which resembles feta and its cream. We bought some cream and it was very good but there was lots of it and I had to find creative ways to use it in my cooking.The Chapala American Legion is the direct competition of the Lake Chapala Society and although less stuffy than its counterpart it's not a place where we would choose to hang out. We went for lunch there once and for a drink in the afternoon when the place was empty. I also went there on my own for a wine and cheese and chocolate "event". Stan didn't want to go and I can't say I blame him for his lack of enthusiasm. There were exactly 3 cheeses on offer. One was a Danish camembert, a pitiful cheddar and a smoked Gouda. I hate smoked gouda. The wine was mostly from Chile and Argentina, not a bad selection but each bottle cost about 13 or 14 bucks. The chocolate was all of the homemade variety in the form of fudge and such, not a particular stellar offering. I hung around for a bit and made small talk. I bumped into a real estate agent who we had met at Coldwell Banker. I had asked him then who he was going to vote for and he had said McCain. When he saw me again he said: "Obama won". I said "I know you must have been really pissed off". He said "yeah" and we left it at that. Quite restrained on my part really.There is a Republican Chapala organization and he probably belongs to it. Two little things happened. There is a dog who hangs out at the zocalo. We had bought some really awful frozen burgers and we didn't want to eat them so we brought them to the zocalo thinking the dog would pounce on them. He didn't even bat an eyelash when we put them in front of him. Obviously he was not suffering from hunger.A little boy, about 7 or 8 came up to me and wanted some money because he was hungry. I asked him where he was from and he said Mescal, a town quite a distance away. I asked him where his mom was and he said at home. I asked if he went to school and he said yes at 2:00. They have two different school schedules in Mexico. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. I told him I would buy him something to eat and asked him what he wanted. He surprised me by saying "jugo de naranja" - orange juice. I suppose that at 10 pesos a pop it's quite expensive but then again there are so many oranges growing wild. Anyways I bought him one and also one for his little buddy who suddenly appeared out of nowwhere. Today I saw him again. He was trying to sell me bags of beans but I told him I had no use for them. He recognized me and I, of course, recognized him. I asked him what he wanted and he said: "tamale". We went to the tamale vendor but she didn't have any so we went inside the market. He picked red jello in a glass and I said no that's not nutricious enough so he picked a creamy concoction with fruits. I happily paid for that. He said "gracias" and went on his way.There are a lot of people just trying to make a living selling stuff. Lots of mariachis too. It's unbearable how much rejection, all those trying to sell, have to endure. An endless parade of "no - ahorita no". I don't know how they can handle it day after day but somehow they do.I'm tired. I don't think I will be able to write about Patzcuaro. I will do it from Melaque.Hope you're all well. Write back if and when you can. It's nice to hear from everybody. Hasta Luego
Josiane
Hope I'm not overwhelming you with this avalanche of emails. We will be leaving Chapala tomorrow and my access to a computer will drop dramatically so I'm trying to take advantage of the easy access while we're still here. I haven't told you much about our life in Chapala so that's what I will attempt to do with the present writing. I will also send another separate email about our trip to the city of Patzcuaro.Life in Chapala, in general, has been pretty ho hum. Although there are lots of people who come here on the weekends, the rest of the week is relatively sedate. While here we went to the hot springs twice. There are thermal pools in the town of San Juan Cosala approximately 20 kms. or so from Chapala. The site itself is very well developed with three huge pools, a water slide, a steam room, mud baths, herbal whirlpool and a massage area. We didn't try the mud or the massage. The entry fee is pretty steep at around 260 pesos which is about 25 dollars for the two of us. Still it was really worth it because we usually ended up spending the whole day. There weren't too many swimming opportunities otherwise. We never did try the lake. It just looked too murky.We went to Christiana Park instead. They have a huge pool there also. The water is questionnable as well, you have to make sure you really keep your mouth closed. We only saw two dead cockroaches floating at the far end of the pool and it was a little fuzzy on the bottom but other than that, no rash after coming out, so that was pretty good and the water was pleasantly cool. I think we were the first gringos to ever set foot in that pool. In fact every time we went we were the only customers so we had it all to ourselves.While here we decided to go house hunting because after all that was our primary purpose for being in Chapala. Coldwell Banker Realty does a Tuesday thing where they take potential customers around. That Tuesday we were the only two clients. Our guide was an expat. Canadian from Ontario with the unlikely name of Bev. Bev. had been in Ajijic for 6 years and both he and his wife have reinvented themselves as real estate agents. Our first showing was of a recently deceased older woman's condominium. Said woman very partial to religious art in the form of icones, some not too shabby but a little overwhelming nevertheless. The condo was in a gated community with beautiful, immaculate grounds. Just too sterile for us. Another house we saw was on top of a hill. It was brand new and gigantic but really poor construction. There were already cracks in the cement and in many of the walls.All in all none of the places we saw impressed us. I'm sure there are beautiful houses hidden behind many of the walls but we never saw any that appealed to us.We did a lot of walking although it's difficult to walk up into the mountains. The mountains are covered with deciduous scrub and there are no easy paths. The market in Chapala was a big disappointment, really small by Mexican standards with a poor selection of fruits and vegetables although the fresh orange juice is always a treat and the liquados are also quite scrumptious. In general Mexicans do not eat a lot of vegetables except for tomatoes and peppers. It's hard to find really nice fresh salad. As far as driving goes we did drive to a pueblo called Mazamitla. The Mexican government has a program designed to highlight what it calls "pueblos magicos" - magical towns. Mazamitla is one of those towns. It's about two hours away from Chapala on a comme-ci, comme-ca road but the country side is quite beautiful with rolling hills and pine forests, very unusual for Mexico. The village centre has a very pretty zocalo (square) and the houses are adobe, painted white, with wooden overhanging roofs just like in villages which might be found in Switzerland. The streets of course were very narrow with high sidewalks not atypical of those types of cities.Mazamitla is famous for its cheese which resembles feta and its cream. We bought some cream and it was very good but there was lots of it and I had to find creative ways to use it in my cooking.The Chapala American Legion is the direct competition of the Lake Chapala Society and although less stuffy than its counterpart it's not a place where we would choose to hang out. We went for lunch there once and for a drink in the afternoon when the place was empty. I also went there on my own for a wine and cheese and chocolate "event". Stan didn't want to go and I can't say I blame him for his lack of enthusiasm. There were exactly 3 cheeses on offer. One was a Danish camembert, a pitiful cheddar and a smoked Gouda. I hate smoked gouda. The wine was mostly from Chile and Argentina, not a bad selection but each bottle cost about 13 or 14 bucks. The chocolate was all of the homemade variety in the form of fudge and such, not a particular stellar offering. I hung around for a bit and made small talk. I bumped into a real estate agent who we had met at Coldwell Banker. I had asked him then who he was going to vote for and he had said McCain. When he saw me again he said: "Obama won". I said "I know you must have been really pissed off". He said "yeah" and we left it at that. Quite restrained on my part really.There is a Republican Chapala organization and he probably belongs to it. Two little things happened. There is a dog who hangs out at the zocalo. We had bought some really awful frozen burgers and we didn't want to eat them so we brought them to the zocalo thinking the dog would pounce on them. He didn't even bat an eyelash when we put them in front of him. Obviously he was not suffering from hunger.A little boy, about 7 or 8 came up to me and wanted some money because he was hungry. I asked him where he was from and he said Mescal, a town quite a distance away. I asked him where his mom was and he said at home. I asked if he went to school and he said yes at 2:00. They have two different school schedules in Mexico. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. I told him I would buy him something to eat and asked him what he wanted. He surprised me by saying "jugo de naranja" - orange juice. I suppose that at 10 pesos a pop it's quite expensive but then again there are so many oranges growing wild. Anyways I bought him one and also one for his little buddy who suddenly appeared out of nowwhere. Today I saw him again. He was trying to sell me bags of beans but I told him I had no use for them. He recognized me and I, of course, recognized him. I asked him what he wanted and he said: "tamale". We went to the tamale vendor but she didn't have any so we went inside the market. He picked red jello in a glass and I said no that's not nutricious enough so he picked a creamy concoction with fruits. I happily paid for that. He said "gracias" and went on his way.There are a lot of people just trying to make a living selling stuff. Lots of mariachis too. It's unbearable how much rejection, all those trying to sell, have to endure. An endless parade of "no - ahorita no". I don't know how they can handle it day after day but somehow they do.I'm tired. I don't think I will be able to write about Patzcuaro. I will do it from Melaque.Hope you're all well. Write back if and when you can. It's nice to hear from everybody. Hasta Luego
Josiane
Hola Everybody:
This email might be a little longer because I just wanted to bring you up to date. Our time in Chapala is drawing to an end and it's been a mixed bag, certainly not the paradise we had, obviously erroneously, anticipated but more on that later.We came into possession of our rented apt. on November 1st. It's very comfortable and quite spacious with a kitchen, living room, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and two outdoor areas one with plants. No problem with the apt. We also had access to unlimited phone calls to Canada, cable T.V. and internet. Things may not be as comfortable once we move away but comfort is highly overrated. A little hardship never hurts. Comfort makes us too soft.November 1st. is the Day of the Dead and the celebration in Chapala did not disappoint. A whole bunch of chairs were set up in front of the Cathedral and they were all filled including the sides and back with standing room only. The spectacle consisted of music, narrations, a troop of performers young and old in beautiful costumes with dances, very well rehearsed and put together. The highlight was an apparently famous singer, from the state of Oaxaca, accompanied by an expert trio of musicians. Death, dressed as a very attractive, shapely temptress, attempted to seduce him without much success. Meanwhile another woman dressed in sepulchral white, her face painted white and black and hidden under a veil, roamed amongst the audience periodically calling out in a loud, anguished voice: "Oh, mis hijos" "Oh my children".It generated some laughter but of a yellowish kind, nobody likes to be reminded of the hold which death has on the living.The spectacle went on for a good hour and a half and was to be a highlight of our stay in Chapala. The next day we discovered this street where they were setting up altars for the dearly departed. One half of the street was decorated with altars designed and set up by students of the preparatoria school which would be the equivalent of either a grade 12 or a grade 13. These altars are extremely ornate and almost impossible to describe. I took lots of pictures. Some of the altars were devoted to well known personalities like Frieda Kahlo and Pope Jean-Paul as well as some local celebrities. On the other half of the street altars were set up by relatives to commemorate the passing of their loved ones. It's a very festive occasion with lots of little bits of food being given out as well as drinks. We were quite privileged to experience this.A lot of our time here was spent exploring the area. The second most important village and the one where most gringos reside is called Ajijic. Ajijic is quaint with very narrow cobblestone streets and a small plaza. They don't have a malecon like in Chapala and not much of a lake access. Two things come to mind when looking at Ajijic, gated and high walls. It's virtually impossible to see any of the houses since they are mostly all hidden. In the village the gringo houses are pretty easy to spot. They are generally huge, with plenty of Mexican touches and can often be found next to a dumpy place. It's a hodge podge mix. There are a lot of chichishops designed with the gringos in mind.Lake Chapala Society used to be a bit of a hub for the expats. but it's lost a lot of its lustre and is having a tough time holding on to its members.The grounds of Lake Chapala Society are beautiful but most of the people there are old. We were given the tour by a guy in his late seventies who had lived in Ajijic for about 26 years. He couldn't wait to finish because he needed to go home and have his nap.The Society is a regular hotbed of activities. On Monday you can have your blood pressure checked, on Tuesday there's a hearing clinic, on Wednesday it's time for that eye check and to round it off there's also a cancer screening clinic. O.K. I'm exaggerating a little but really not that much. It was pretty, f....ing depressing.Gringos here all hang out together and barely any speak a word of Spanish. They play bridge, golf, scrabble, pinochle etc...and some do a little volunteering on the side. When they get really bored they become real estate agents and try to rope other unsuspecting gringos into moving here. You need absolutely no certification, anybody can be a real estate agent. They just have fun socializing and passing out business cards.Lots of people on the Chapala web board said that there were tons of things to do here, see the aforementioned. However the little snafu is that neither Stan nor I are "joiners". I am almost convinced that I am pathologically incapable of joining anything except a union and maybe the odd film or reading club.The plastic situation here is out of control, much worse than in South America. Mexicans love their plastic. Stan bought a burrito (horrible) which cost 5 pesos. It came on a styrofoam plate, with plastic over it, went into another plastic bag and was accompagnied by another plastic bag filled with salsa. The cost of producing that plastic was more than the burrito. Plastic is everywhere and they do not recycle hardly anything at all, at least not in this state of Jalisco.Our bus trip to Guadlajara was fine but once you get away from the Colonial centre there was garbage everywhere. You want to close your eyes but sometimes you just have to keep them open. Garbage is an endemic problem in these overworked third or second world economies.Some beautiful things to report on as well. A man gets on the bus to Guadalajara with his young 8 or 9 year old daughter. She's carrying a little plastic bag. He has a 5 gallon pail covered with a towel. Somebody on the bus wants what he is selling. It's a type of tuber, very gelatinous in substance, which Mexicans seem to love. I've tried it and it's vile. In any case he cuts up a portion with his knife, puts it in a plastic bag (what else) gives it to his daughter who then takes out a lime, salt, salsa and puts it on top. The girl buying wants to pay with a 20 peso bill but he has no cambio. It costs maybe 8 pesos and he has no change. They hunt around for change and change is found. There was something heartbreaking about the whole scene. Imagine getting on a bus with no change to go sell something not terribly valuable accompanied by your young daughter. They got off at a stop just before Guad. I have no idea where they were going to sell the rest, perhaps on the side of the road. Nobody can excuse Mexicans of being lazy. The poor especially work so hard for the few pesos they get. They are so resilient in the face of adversity. We, on the other hand and I know I've said this before, are not so resilient.I'm almost done, don't give up just yet.We watched the historic Obama victory on November 4th. The verdict is still out on "change we can believe in". So far many of his "new" appointees are rethreads from the Clinton administration back for another kick at the can. I remember vividly that in one of his speeches he stated that you can't have change with the same old players. We'll just have to see how well he can keep those old players in line. I'm happy to have the internet so I can still get my political fixes. For those of you who love CNN we simply abhor it. CNN in Spanish is marginally better but the english one is just painful. Navel gazing at its very worst with hardly ever a mention of what is going on outside the U.S. and the same endless stories looped and analyzed with a minutiae that in the end amounts to nothing or so very little. O.K. that's it for my rant on CNN. We miss The National and the CBC.Tomorrow we're off to Patzcuaro, one of the most beautiful colonial cities in the interior, so there will be more to report of that trip. Hope this wasn't too long. I could say more but I will end it here. Fill free to comment on any part of this dispatch....haha. Lots of love and hasta luego,
Josiane
This email might be a little longer because I just wanted to bring you up to date. Our time in Chapala is drawing to an end and it's been a mixed bag, certainly not the paradise we had, obviously erroneously, anticipated but more on that later.We came into possession of our rented apt. on November 1st. It's very comfortable and quite spacious with a kitchen, living room, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and two outdoor areas one with plants. No problem with the apt. We also had access to unlimited phone calls to Canada, cable T.V. and internet. Things may not be as comfortable once we move away but comfort is highly overrated. A little hardship never hurts. Comfort makes us too soft.November 1st. is the Day of the Dead and the celebration in Chapala did not disappoint. A whole bunch of chairs were set up in front of the Cathedral and they were all filled including the sides and back with standing room only. The spectacle consisted of music, narrations, a troop of performers young and old in beautiful costumes with dances, very well rehearsed and put together. The highlight was an apparently famous singer, from the state of Oaxaca, accompanied by an expert trio of musicians. Death, dressed as a very attractive, shapely temptress, attempted to seduce him without much success. Meanwhile another woman dressed in sepulchral white, her face painted white and black and hidden under a veil, roamed amongst the audience periodically calling out in a loud, anguished voice: "Oh, mis hijos" "Oh my children".It generated some laughter but of a yellowish kind, nobody likes to be reminded of the hold which death has on the living.The spectacle went on for a good hour and a half and was to be a highlight of our stay in Chapala. The next day we discovered this street where they were setting up altars for the dearly departed. One half of the street was decorated with altars designed and set up by students of the preparatoria school which would be the equivalent of either a grade 12 or a grade 13. These altars are extremely ornate and almost impossible to describe. I took lots of pictures. Some of the altars were devoted to well known personalities like Frieda Kahlo and Pope Jean-Paul as well as some local celebrities. On the other half of the street altars were set up by relatives to commemorate the passing of their loved ones. It's a very festive occasion with lots of little bits of food being given out as well as drinks. We were quite privileged to experience this.A lot of our time here was spent exploring the area. The second most important village and the one where most gringos reside is called Ajijic. Ajijic is quaint with very narrow cobblestone streets and a small plaza. They don't have a malecon like in Chapala and not much of a lake access. Two things come to mind when looking at Ajijic, gated and high walls. It's virtually impossible to see any of the houses since they are mostly all hidden. In the village the gringo houses are pretty easy to spot. They are generally huge, with plenty of Mexican touches and can often be found next to a dumpy place. It's a hodge podge mix. There are a lot of chichishops designed with the gringos in mind.Lake Chapala Society used to be a bit of a hub for the expats. but it's lost a lot of its lustre and is having a tough time holding on to its members.The grounds of Lake Chapala Society are beautiful but most of the people there are old. We were given the tour by a guy in his late seventies who had lived in Ajijic for about 26 years. He couldn't wait to finish because he needed to go home and have his nap.The Society is a regular hotbed of activities. On Monday you can have your blood pressure checked, on Tuesday there's a hearing clinic, on Wednesday it's time for that eye check and to round it off there's also a cancer screening clinic. O.K. I'm exaggerating a little but really not that much. It was pretty, f....ing depressing.Gringos here all hang out together and barely any speak a word of Spanish. They play bridge, golf, scrabble, pinochle etc...and some do a little volunteering on the side. When they get really bored they become real estate agents and try to rope other unsuspecting gringos into moving here. You need absolutely no certification, anybody can be a real estate agent. They just have fun socializing and passing out business cards.Lots of people on the Chapala web board said that there were tons of things to do here, see the aforementioned. However the little snafu is that neither Stan nor I are "joiners". I am almost convinced that I am pathologically incapable of joining anything except a union and maybe the odd film or reading club.The plastic situation here is out of control, much worse than in South America. Mexicans love their plastic. Stan bought a burrito (horrible) which cost 5 pesos. It came on a styrofoam plate, with plastic over it, went into another plastic bag and was accompagnied by another plastic bag filled with salsa. The cost of producing that plastic was more than the burrito. Plastic is everywhere and they do not recycle hardly anything at all, at least not in this state of Jalisco.Our bus trip to Guadlajara was fine but once you get away from the Colonial centre there was garbage everywhere. You want to close your eyes but sometimes you just have to keep them open. Garbage is an endemic problem in these overworked third or second world economies.Some beautiful things to report on as well. A man gets on the bus to Guadalajara with his young 8 or 9 year old daughter. She's carrying a little plastic bag. He has a 5 gallon pail covered with a towel. Somebody on the bus wants what he is selling. It's a type of tuber, very gelatinous in substance, which Mexicans seem to love. I've tried it and it's vile. In any case he cuts up a portion with his knife, puts it in a plastic bag (what else) gives it to his daughter who then takes out a lime, salt, salsa and puts it on top. The girl buying wants to pay with a 20 peso bill but he has no cambio. It costs maybe 8 pesos and he has no change. They hunt around for change and change is found. There was something heartbreaking about the whole scene. Imagine getting on a bus with no change to go sell something not terribly valuable accompanied by your young daughter. They got off at a stop just before Guad. I have no idea where they were going to sell the rest, perhaps on the side of the road. Nobody can excuse Mexicans of being lazy. The poor especially work so hard for the few pesos they get. They are so resilient in the face of adversity. We, on the other hand and I know I've said this before, are not so resilient.I'm almost done, don't give up just yet.We watched the historic Obama victory on November 4th. The verdict is still out on "change we can believe in". So far many of his "new" appointees are rethreads from the Clinton administration back for another kick at the can. I remember vividly that in one of his speeches he stated that you can't have change with the same old players. We'll just have to see how well he can keep those old players in line. I'm happy to have the internet so I can still get my political fixes. For those of you who love CNN we simply abhor it. CNN in Spanish is marginally better but the english one is just painful. Navel gazing at its very worst with hardly ever a mention of what is going on outside the U.S. and the same endless stories looped and analyzed with a minutiae that in the end amounts to nothing or so very little. O.K. that's it for my rant on CNN. We miss The National and the CBC.Tomorrow we're off to Patzcuaro, one of the most beautiful colonial cities in the interior, so there will be more to report of that trip. Hope this wasn't too long. I could say more but I will end it here. Fill free to comment on any part of this dispatch....haha. Lots of love and hasta luego,
Josiane
Hola everybody:
Once again hope you're all well and still enjoying my "dispatches". Last time I wrote we were in Mazatlan so I will pick it up from there. The trip from Mazatlan to Chapala was pretty uneventful except for the "quotas" which kept getting steeper and steeper while the distances kept getting shorter and shorter. We took a little detour via Tequila on a non paying highway and continued from there to Guadalajara. Not too much to say about Tequila an altogether unimpressive town except for the acres and acres of the distinctively blue green agave from which Tequila is made. There are many roadside stands where one can sample and buy Tequila but since Stan was driving we opted not to partake. Neither of us are great fans of Tequila straight so it wasn't that big a deal.The drive into Guadalajara itself was pretty harrowing. You almost have to have eyes in back of your head. Between the topes, the vibradors, the erratic driving, the buses, the pedestrians, the bikes, the stray dogs and whatever else you can think of let's just say it's no leisurely Sunday drive in the park. Thankfully I wasn't driving and I have to say Stan is doing a fantastic job. I would probably just park the car, if parking were available, and cry. I know it makes me a sissy but I'm strong in other ways. Those of you who really know me know that driving is not one of my forte.In any case we made it to Chapala in one piece. The apt. which I had booked was not available for the night although it was empty but there was nobody there to let us in. We strolled around and took in the sights. There were a lot of people about because we arrived the day before Dia de Los Muertos which is the Day of the Dead and is heavily celebrated. Chapala is a fair size town with a population of about 20,000 plus and it is the biggest town on the lake. There is a malecon which is a promenade along the lake. It's not big but it's very wide and pretty with houses, one hotel and a few restaurants on one side and then the lake. Further on there is a small plaza with a good size Cathedral and then a park filled with vendors. There is also a long pier and all the boats are tied further out on the lake. The boats are no longer used for fishing. They mostly ferry groups of people to a nearby island. The price is pretty expensive unless there are many of you. The lake is the best that it's ever been. For many years it was infested with lirios which are African water hyacinths. They had just taken over the lake and furthermore the lake level was really low. Over the last few years there has been more rain and the authorities have finally sprayed a compound which is toxic to lirios but not to fish. Apparently the lake is now safe to swim in but we haven't really tried it. I want to before we leave. Regarding the lirios it's still a bit of a losing battle. Like the proverbial you know who THEY WILL BE BACK. In fact they are already plotting and gaining ground as I'm typing these words.We found a hotel not far from our apt. with the auspicious name of Monte-Carlo. Actually the rooms were nothing special but the grounds were spectacular with some of the biggest trees I have ever seen, one was over two hundred years old and didn't feel organic when you touched it, that's how incredibly dense it was.In any case we were brutally awaken sometime around midnight by a band of merrymakers intent on pursuing their merrymaking which happened to be right below our room. We're talking LOUD with stereo blasting, loud voices and sporadic bursts of singing. We did put up with it for a while but then I stormed to the office and did my best pissed off gringa impersonation which seemed to work because it was suddenly quiet.....for half an hour. That's how long they were able to hold it in but hey you got to have some fun on Day of the DEAD, the DEAD can't hear if you're not loud enough. Believe me I think they heard. I will write more about the Day of the Dead celebration in my next installment. For now I will have to say Buenas Noches. Please feel free to reply or drop me an email. My inbox is looking pretty sad now that I'm no longer getting all those annoying Facebook messages. Lots of love,Josiane, mamita, hermana, amiga, tia (all my titles in Spanish)
Messenger wants to send you on a trip. Enter today. Hola everybody:Once again hope you're all well and still enjoying my "dispatches". Last time I wrote we were in Mazatlan so I will pick it up from there. The trip from Mazatlan to Chapala was pretty uneventful except for the "quotas" which kept getting steeper and steeper while the distances kept getting shorter and shorter. We took a little detour via Tequila on a non paying highway and continued from there to Guadalajara. Not too much to say about Tequila an altogether unimpressive town except for the acres and acres of the distinctively blue green agave from which Tequila is made. There are many roadside stands where one can sample and buy Tequila but since Stan was driving we opted not to partake. Neither of us are great fans of Tequila straight so it wasn't that big a deal.The drive into Guadalajara itself was pretty harrowing. You almost have to have eyes in back of your head. Between the topes, the vibradors, the erratic driving, the buses, the pedestrians, the bikes, the stray dogs and whatever else you can think of let's just say it's no leisurely Sunday drive in the park. Thankfully I wasn't driving and I have to say Stan is doing a fantastic job. I would probably just park the car, if parking were available, and cry. I know it makes me a sissy but I'm strong in other ways. Those of you who really know me know that driving is not one of my forte.In any case we made it to Chapala in one piece. The apt. which I had booked was not available for the night although it was empty but there was nobody there to let us in. We strolled around and took in the sights. There were a lot of people about because we arrived the day before Dia de Los Muertos which is the Day of the Dead and is heavily celebrated. Chapala is a fair size town with a population of about 20,000 plus and it is the biggest town on the lake. There is a malecon which is a promenade along the lake. It's not big but it's very wide and pretty with houses, one hotel and a few restaurants on one side and then the lake. Further on there is a small plaza with a good size Cathedral and then a park filled with vendors. There is also a long pier and all the boats are tied further out on the lake. The boats are no longer used for fishing. They mostly ferry groups of people to a nearby island. The price is pretty expensive unless there are many of you. The lake is the best that it's ever been. For many years it was infested with lirios which are African water hyacinths. They had just taken over the lake and furthermore the lake level was really low. Over the last few years there has been more rain and the authorities have finally sprayed a compound which is toxic to lirios but not to fish. Apparently the lake is now safe to swim in but we haven't really tried it. I want to before we leave. Regarding the lirios it's still a bit of a losing battle. Like the proverbial you know who THEY WILL BE BACK. In fact they are already plotting and gaining ground as I'm typing these words.We found a hotel not far from our apt. with the auspicious name of Monte-Carlo. Actually the rooms were nothing special but the grounds were spectacular with some of the biggest trees I have ever seen, one was over two hundred years old and didn't feel organic when you touched it, that's how incredibly dense it was.In any case we were brutally awaken sometime around midnight by a band of merrymakers intent on pursuing their merrymaking which happened to be right below our room. We're talking LOUD with stereo blasting, loud voices and sporadic bursts of singing. We did put up with it for a while but then I stormed to the office and did my best pissed off gringa impersonation which seemed to work because it was suddenly quiet.....for half an hour. That's how long they were able to hold it in but hey you got to have some fun on Day of the DEAD, the DEAD can't hear if you're not loud enough. Believe me I think they heard. I will write more about the Day of the Dead celebration in my next installment. For now I will have to say Buenas Noches. Please feel free to reply or drop me an email. My inbox is looking pretty sad now that I'm no longer getting all those annoying Facebook messages.
Josiane
Once again hope you're all well and still enjoying my "dispatches". Last time I wrote we were in Mazatlan so I will pick it up from there. The trip from Mazatlan to Chapala was pretty uneventful except for the "quotas" which kept getting steeper and steeper while the distances kept getting shorter and shorter. We took a little detour via Tequila on a non paying highway and continued from there to Guadalajara. Not too much to say about Tequila an altogether unimpressive town except for the acres and acres of the distinctively blue green agave from which Tequila is made. There are many roadside stands where one can sample and buy Tequila but since Stan was driving we opted not to partake. Neither of us are great fans of Tequila straight so it wasn't that big a deal.The drive into Guadalajara itself was pretty harrowing. You almost have to have eyes in back of your head. Between the topes, the vibradors, the erratic driving, the buses, the pedestrians, the bikes, the stray dogs and whatever else you can think of let's just say it's no leisurely Sunday drive in the park. Thankfully I wasn't driving and I have to say Stan is doing a fantastic job. I would probably just park the car, if parking were available, and cry. I know it makes me a sissy but I'm strong in other ways. Those of you who really know me know that driving is not one of my forte.In any case we made it to Chapala in one piece. The apt. which I had booked was not available for the night although it was empty but there was nobody there to let us in. We strolled around and took in the sights. There were a lot of people about because we arrived the day before Dia de Los Muertos which is the Day of the Dead and is heavily celebrated. Chapala is a fair size town with a population of about 20,000 plus and it is the biggest town on the lake. There is a malecon which is a promenade along the lake. It's not big but it's very wide and pretty with houses, one hotel and a few restaurants on one side and then the lake. Further on there is a small plaza with a good size Cathedral and then a park filled with vendors. There is also a long pier and all the boats are tied further out on the lake. The boats are no longer used for fishing. They mostly ferry groups of people to a nearby island. The price is pretty expensive unless there are many of you. The lake is the best that it's ever been. For many years it was infested with lirios which are African water hyacinths. They had just taken over the lake and furthermore the lake level was really low. Over the last few years there has been more rain and the authorities have finally sprayed a compound which is toxic to lirios but not to fish. Apparently the lake is now safe to swim in but we haven't really tried it. I want to before we leave. Regarding the lirios it's still a bit of a losing battle. Like the proverbial you know who THEY WILL BE BACK. In fact they are already plotting and gaining ground as I'm typing these words.We found a hotel not far from our apt. with the auspicious name of Monte-Carlo. Actually the rooms were nothing special but the grounds were spectacular with some of the biggest trees I have ever seen, one was over two hundred years old and didn't feel organic when you touched it, that's how incredibly dense it was.In any case we were brutally awaken sometime around midnight by a band of merrymakers intent on pursuing their merrymaking which happened to be right below our room. We're talking LOUD with stereo blasting, loud voices and sporadic bursts of singing. We did put up with it for a while but then I stormed to the office and did my best pissed off gringa impersonation which seemed to work because it was suddenly quiet.....for half an hour. That's how long they were able to hold it in but hey you got to have some fun on Day of the DEAD, the DEAD can't hear if you're not loud enough. Believe me I think they heard. I will write more about the Day of the Dead celebration in my next installment. For now I will have to say Buenas Noches. Please feel free to reply or drop me an email. My inbox is looking pretty sad now that I'm no longer getting all those annoying Facebook messages. Lots of love,Josiane, mamita, hermana, amiga, tia (all my titles in Spanish)
Messenger wants to send you on a trip. Enter today. Hola everybody:Once again hope you're all well and still enjoying my "dispatches". Last time I wrote we were in Mazatlan so I will pick it up from there. The trip from Mazatlan to Chapala was pretty uneventful except for the "quotas" which kept getting steeper and steeper while the distances kept getting shorter and shorter. We took a little detour via Tequila on a non paying highway and continued from there to Guadalajara. Not too much to say about Tequila an altogether unimpressive town except for the acres and acres of the distinctively blue green agave from which Tequila is made. There are many roadside stands where one can sample and buy Tequila but since Stan was driving we opted not to partake. Neither of us are great fans of Tequila straight so it wasn't that big a deal.The drive into Guadalajara itself was pretty harrowing. You almost have to have eyes in back of your head. Between the topes, the vibradors, the erratic driving, the buses, the pedestrians, the bikes, the stray dogs and whatever else you can think of let's just say it's no leisurely Sunday drive in the park. Thankfully I wasn't driving and I have to say Stan is doing a fantastic job. I would probably just park the car, if parking were available, and cry. I know it makes me a sissy but I'm strong in other ways. Those of you who really know me know that driving is not one of my forte.In any case we made it to Chapala in one piece. The apt. which I had booked was not available for the night although it was empty but there was nobody there to let us in. We strolled around and took in the sights. There were a lot of people about because we arrived the day before Dia de Los Muertos which is the Day of the Dead and is heavily celebrated. Chapala is a fair size town with a population of about 20,000 plus and it is the biggest town on the lake. There is a malecon which is a promenade along the lake. It's not big but it's very wide and pretty with houses, one hotel and a few restaurants on one side and then the lake. Further on there is a small plaza with a good size Cathedral and then a park filled with vendors. There is also a long pier and all the boats are tied further out on the lake. The boats are no longer used for fishing. They mostly ferry groups of people to a nearby island. The price is pretty expensive unless there are many of you. The lake is the best that it's ever been. For many years it was infested with lirios which are African water hyacinths. They had just taken over the lake and furthermore the lake level was really low. Over the last few years there has been more rain and the authorities have finally sprayed a compound which is toxic to lirios but not to fish. Apparently the lake is now safe to swim in but we haven't really tried it. I want to before we leave. Regarding the lirios it's still a bit of a losing battle. Like the proverbial you know who THEY WILL BE BACK. In fact they are already plotting and gaining ground as I'm typing these words.We found a hotel not far from our apt. with the auspicious name of Monte-Carlo. Actually the rooms were nothing special but the grounds were spectacular with some of the biggest trees I have ever seen, one was over two hundred years old and didn't feel organic when you touched it, that's how incredibly dense it was.In any case we were brutally awaken sometime around midnight by a band of merrymakers intent on pursuing their merrymaking which happened to be right below our room. We're talking LOUD with stereo blasting, loud voices and sporadic bursts of singing. We did put up with it for a while but then I stormed to the office and did my best pissed off gringa impersonation which seemed to work because it was suddenly quiet.....for half an hour. That's how long they were able to hold it in but hey you got to have some fun on Day of the DEAD, the DEAD can't hear if you're not loud enough. Believe me I think they heard. I will write more about the Day of the Dead celebration in my next installment. For now I will have to say Buenas Noches. Please feel free to reply or drop me an email. My inbox is looking pretty sad now that I'm no longer getting all those annoying Facebook messages.
Josiane
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