The Festival in San Juan Cosala - June 2007

Last weekend marked the finale of the Festival in the village of San Juan Cosala celebrating their patron saint, St John. Betty and I caught part of the traditional procession, which begins at the Church in the Plaza, winds through town, then returns to the Church for mass, with much music, fireworks and bell-ringing. Click here to see more pictures.

Moving to the Village

Last week we made the move from a community just west of the village of Ajijic into the village proper. We were going to have to move by the end of July anyway, and we had the opportunity to rent this house that we had seen when it was for sale back in November. The house was just bought a few months ago by a couple from NY who are coming down here this coming November. I'm not sure if they plan to live here as year round or as snowbirds. Although the house was sold (as many are down here) furnished, it's fairly sparse and needs some sprucing up. But it has huge rooms with such an open, spacious feeling. The ceilings are about 12 ft high, and there are lots of wide windows. It's not an original, old Mexican house; it was built only in 1989, but it stays true to many of the architectural features. The owners will be repainting, refurnishing, and possibly remodeling when they get down here.

The house is just a block from Lake Chapala, Mexico's largest lake. We walk the dogs along the cobble-stoned streets down to the edge of the lake where we can let them off the leash. Alongside the lake it is not a beach. It's more like a wide space between the edge of the village streets and where the lake begins. There's a wide dusty lane that runs along it, with the edge of the lake itself covered with lirio, a type of water hyacinth. So far, Howdy hasn't seemed to realize that there's water out there beyond the green lirio. So far, so good.

If you've looked at the pictures Bob linked to his last post, you see the ouside of the house on the corner and the wide doorway, entrance into the courtyard. This was pretty overgrown, so a couple of gardeners came last week to do a drastic cutting back. I'm not sure what, if anything, we'll do with it. In the courtyard, there's a fountain with a little fishpond and an outside staircase up to the terrazza on the second floor. You step up a couple of steps into what Bob calls the sunroom, which has floor-to-ceiling windows along the courtyard wall. This room is where we spend our time. We positioned the small kitchen table and a couple of chairs by one of the windows for a little breakfast spot. Off of this room is a laundry room with washer/dryer and cabinets. It's also a full bath with shower and two sinks. From the sunroom, you can go into either the kitchen or the dining room. The kitchen is all tiled, large, with a walk-in pantry. There's an island with the sinks and dishwasher and a couple of chairs. The kitchen is inside the house so has no outside windows. But it does have a window onto an atrium that is at the center of the house. The front room on the street side has a large glass-topped dining room table and chairs, windows onto the street, a huge cabinet, fireplace. One corner has been used as a sitting room because the TV and connections are all in there. There was a very ugly loveseat there as well, but we moved it into an empty room--which is a bedroom that opens onto the atrium, along with another small, full bath. This room was empty so we designated it the Howdy/Daisy suite with a view (of the atrium). Bob set up their wire kennels so they connect together, and that's where they stay when we're out of the house. The very narrow one-car garage is next to these first floor rooms, and, amazingly enough, our minivan just fits.

Upstairs are three more bedrooms. One is set up as a guest room, one as a study with desk, TV, and sleeper sofa. The guest bath is off the hall. The third is the huge master bedroom that opens onto the terrazza. Full wall of floor-to-ceiling windows open onto it. The bedroom also has a fireplace. The master bath is something to be experienced. It's enormous and just keeps going. There are two separate sink and toilet areas (his and hers?), a large step-in shower and a separate, long, narrow tub. All of this, including the tub, is made of blue and white Mexican tile. The guest bathrooms as well are similarly tiled. Through the master bath is an enormous walk-in closet.

On the terrazza there are a table and chairs (equipale) and another fountain. This overlooks the courtyard below. And from there, there's another set of outside stairs that lead to the mirador, the roof garden with a 360 view. Up there are chairs and a table, a palapa for shade, and lots and lots of pots of plants, including many of roses.

Now if all this sounds very grand....it could be, but right now, until the new owners come down and get to work, it's definitely on the shabby side. Most of the furniture should be replaced, rooms painted, kitchen counters could use an overhaul. But it's most certainly a fun house to live in for a few months and the location is perfect. Restaurants, shops, a grocery store, farmacies, the tianguis, the plaza, are all within just a few blocks.

So we obviously have telephones, DSL, and internet, but haven't had the satellite connected yet. Maybe manana.

So that's the new house!

5A Donato Guerra

We realize that it's been 10 days since we posted to the blog-- our apologies. But we have been kind of busy. We've MOVED! We now have a house in the lower village of Ajijic, pictured above. I've posted a series of pictures of the house - to view click here. (Note: you may have to establish a username and password for Snapfish in order to view the slideshow-- not to worry, Snapfish is user friendly and free!) Betty is going to follow this up with a description. Suffice it to say that, at least initially, we love it down here. Great house, walk to everywhere!

El Tianguis

Betty and I went to the Market today (El Tianguis.) Every Wednesday here in Ajijic and nearly every day in one of the villages up and down the lake. I've tried to capture what's available and posted pictures here (Warning to the feint of heart- there's 56 pics in this file.) To give you some idea of prices, a half kilo of strawberries was 10 pesos (a little less than a dollar!) The large, tiled mirrors were quoted at 300 pesos as a starting point. DVD's (pirated, of course) around 60 pesos. Quantity discounts available all around. Better get down here! I sure hope this link works.

Nuestro Aniversario

Yesterday was our 34th (gasp) anniversary. Corey and Candy were in Louisville at Churchill Downs for the wedding of his friend from high school and college, Allen Harris (aka Smart Boy from Who Wants to Be a Millionaire). He married a really nice girl named Alexis Rich who teaches physics at Manual. Anyway, we talked to him after the ceremony and he said he mentioned us in their wedding toast as sharing the day. Wish we could have been there. It sounded like a cool wedding.

But we spent a leisurely day hanging around the old hacienda, reading and catching up on line. We went into the village for an early dinner at a restaurant Bob had read about just off the plaza called Le Midi (Mediterranean, you think?). The restaurant is through the reception room and courtyard of a small hotel on the plaza. So we strolled through the front room, exchanged Buenas Tardes with the receptionist, and into the courtyard where we found a sign that said Closed until September 20th. Hmm. Wonder why she didn't say so. Nobody else was around.

So back on the street we debated our next choice--a restaurant a couple of blocks down that we hadn't tried, one nearby that we had been to once and loved (Ajijic Tango) but it was very crowded on a Sunday evening with people from Guadalajara and meant a long wait. Or back to a new restaurant we'd been to twice already, Saint Peter's, just around the corner. We like the owner of SP's and had enjoyed both meals so we headed there. It was pretty early--about 6ish--because we'd skipped lunch, and we were the only diners there. The restaurant has a narrow little entrance on the street with a blackboard listing the daily tapas and dinner specials. Then you follow a slightly inclined narrow passageway into the restaurant. Alejandro, the owner, greeted us and remembered us, so we told him it was our anniversary. Que bueno that we had decided to celebrate it at his place, he said. The restaurant is very cozy, maybe 8 or 9 tables in all, with a small bar in the back and an atrium with plants. Rustic low beams, cloth tablecloths and napkins (the first time we had paper napkins), candles on the table--nice ambience. Chris the waiter, who speaks un poco English, brought over the inside blackboard and we ordered. A little while later another couple came in, and then came the guitarist--young, handsome, with a gorgeous smile and a sweet voice. He perched on a stool by the bar nearby and played romantic songs the rest of the time. Bob is convinced that Alejandro went out and brought him in for our anniversary! At any rate, it was lovely and romantic, sitting in that little restaurant, drinking some wine, and enjoying the whole atmosphere. And the food was delicious as usual. Wonderful evening.

Party, Saturday, June 9

We were invited to a party by a couple we had met when we were here in November. Kelly and Helaine, at that time, were living in their one-bedroom casita while their big house on the mountainside was being built. Once we got here a few weeks ago, we'd heard that they had moved into their new house and two weeks later decided to sell it, buy a big boat and cruise the intracoastal waterway for two years. And they sold their house within a month, having flipped it for a profit (not sure how much). Anyway, we had been up to their house for a little while last week and Helaine invited us to dinner last night (Saturday). The house is just up the hill from the carretera by only a couple of blocks--very walkable to the village. But the vista is unbelievable. There's a 180 degree view of the lake and mountains beyond and the house is fantastic. But you just can't stop looking at the view. Really amazing. Anyway, there were several couples there, some we knew and some we hadn't met before. Everybody has the most interesting story about how they came to live (part time or permanently) in Mexico. Some are ordinary middle-class former professionals; others have much more bizarre stories. Most are our age, give or take a decade or two. (Wow--decades!) The house has an open living plan with pocket doors onto the terraza that disappear into the walls. You walk from the living room onto the terrace with the outdoor kitchen and pool and garden--no barriers. There's a constant breeze, so no mosquitos. Gorgeous. We had a good time. Kelly kept refilling my wine glass so that it never got empty, so I think I only had one glass of wine. (Bob says that's not so.)

MORDIDA

Well, it's happened. I've run afoul of the Law. Happened sometime last week while we were out of communications and we were headed down to the village to "hook up" on the internet. Heading in on the carreterra, you hit the edges of the village, then several stoplights. The problem is that many (actually, most) of the village streets are one-way. There are arrows posted on the side of buildings on most corners, in some cases not as visible as one might like. Yeah, so I turned right to go toward the lake (and into the village proper) and both of us immediately recognized that we were on a one-way street, headed the wrong way! No reverse possible-- all streets are very narrow and usually have vehicles parked. It's so narrow in places that we open the windows and fold the mirrors in-- but I digress. So, there we are, headed south on a northbound one-way street, going "oh-oh." At the first intersection, I turned (the correct way) to escape-- but not soon enough. A short "whoooop" on the siren and there's the Policia, pulling me over.

"Senor, did you realize that you were going the wrong way on a one-way street?" (I'm cleaning up the English a bit here, but, in fact, his English was quite good.)

"Si, we realized as soon as we turned, but could not reverse."

"Senor, you know it is very dangerous to go the wrong way on a one-way street?"

"Si, that's why we turned off at first opportunity."

"Senor, your papers, please?"

One of the things all the forums tell you is to be sure to have a copy of all vehicle-related papers in the car at all times. Fortunately, Betty reads all the forums. So, we turned over the envelope with a copy of the title, registration (US and Mexican), insurance, etc., as well as my license. Officer takes all this and walks all the way around the car, checking the license plate, windshield sticker, etc. While he's doing this, Betty and I are discussing the subject of "mordida," "the bite," which is the informal way of handling these things down here.

"Senor, it seems that all of your papers are in order, but I must issue you a ticket for driving the wrong way on a one-way street."

"Si, I understand."

"Senor, you will have to go into Chapala within 10 days to pay this ticket."

"Si, I understand. How much will the ticket cost?" I think Betty was doing some of this in Spanish.

"480 pesos, Senor." (Nearly $50!)

"So much!"

"Si, it is very dangerous to drive the wrong way on a one-way street, Senor."

"Can we pay the ticket now and not have to go into Chapala?" (Getting the picture?)

"Si, Senor, if you wish."

The atmosphere shifts. So I hand the Officer a 500 Peso bill.

"Senor, I have no change." Big surprise, as if 20 pesos is going to make a difference at this point.

"No problema."

Result-- "Senor, I will make sure that no record of your offense appears in Chapala, so as not to place your driving privileges in jeopardy in the future. Please be more careful in driving within the village."

"Si, muchas gracias."

And my lack of criminal record is retained!

Footnote: In relaying all of this to some of our friends, it appears that 480P is not out of line for this type of offense. But, by appearing personally in Chapala, it seems that one can usually get fines cut in half. Lesson learned: we probably could have offered him 200P and gotten away with it. Oh, well..... next time.

Weather

Saturday, June 9

I'm taking advantage of having the internet connection back to catch up on stuff. It looks like the rainy season has truly started. We had the storm a few nights ago about the time we went to bed. Then, about 4 am this morning, we woke up to a tremendous storm with a huge downpour, lots of thunder and lightning. The storm clouds build up behind the mountains south across the lake, then move north. The amazing thing is that everyone says it rarely rains during the day, most always at night. This morning we went into the village and there were puddles and mud among the cobblestones instead of dusty streets. It was very cool when we got up this morning and we slept under a blanket last night. I put on a light jacket when we got up and checked the thermometer which was just under 70. Now it's still only about 75, very pleasant. There's a light cloud cover with glimpses of blue straight above. It's the first cloudy day we've seen.

More catch up

Another more recent note from Word. Until yesterday evening we had been without internet and Vonage for 6 days. We had the local phone, fortunately, so we didn't feel completely cut off, but we had begun to think we'd never have access again. We'll see how long it lasts.


Thursday, June 07, 2007

I’m going to try not to make this a screed about Telmex. I’m typing off-line and will copy to the blog when we get re-connected. Bob has gone to Telmex once again. We’ve now been without DSL for about a week—with one day’s access in the middle. Unfortunately, we’ve spent every day this week at home waiting for a technician. Each day they’ve called us and promised us someone will be here very soon. Doesn’t happen.. And this is not exactly the way we planned to spend our time. But we’re really at their mercy.

Well, Bob just got back. Must not have been a long line for waiting at Telmex. They agree: it’s shocking that we’re without service for so long! Someone will come soon. The phone just rang: “Problemas con la linea?” “Si, no hay DSL.” “Ok, Vamos a checkar (I think that’s the word he used.)” “Cuando?” “Ahora.” Ok. We’ll see.

Interruptions. I’m sitting on the covered ground floor terrace which is where we spend 99.9% of our time when we’re not sleeping. The house is on a corner so the small courtyard is hidden from the street by a lower stone wall, then an iron fence covered with blooming bougainvillea vines. But along the side of the house, there are pots of plants and the iron fence is open to the street. So every time a neighbor walks by, the dogs go rushing to bark at them, we go to hush them, and then we have a conversation. The last was our neighbor Ellie with her little poodly mutt Chico. We borrowed the dvds for Lost from her but we couldn’t finish them because either the dvds were bad or the player or something.

Weather: It’s very cool and pleasant this morning. In fact, the last couple of mornings, I’ve sat out here with a light jacket until after noon. The sky is a brilliant blue and there’s a very light breeze. Birds are singing and there are butterflies and moths in the garden. We’ve never seen hummingbirds swarming so thick or so big. They even perch on the telephone or electric wires like real normal-sized birds. There are swallows that fly under the tile roof on the terrace. We think they’re looking to build a nest. Lots of colorful birds that we don’t recognize, too. We finally had rain. One afternoon there was a shower that lasted for about 20 minutes—not a downpour, just a steady rain. Then, the next evening just as we were getting ready for bed, there was an honest-to-goodness thunderstorm with lots of thunder and flashes of lightning. This time there was a downpour. So, I think that means the rainy season has officially begun. I keep checking but the hills haven’t turned green yet. Meanwhile, the streets are still dusty and almost every morning we wake up to the smell of burning underbrush. It’s still hazy, too, without a clear unimpeded view across the lake.

Our house and neighborhood: Our house is very comfortable by any standards. The first floor has a U-shaped kitchen with tile countertops and backsplash, window over the stainless steel double sink, gas range and oven, full-sized refrigerator. No ice-maker or dishwasher. The whole neighborhood allegedly has pure water that you can drink from the taps. There’s also a UV purification system under the kitchen sink. In addition to that, we have several garafones (humongous water bottles on stands). Some people just drink from the tap and don’t worry about it; others—even oldtimers—still say they’ll stick with bottled drinking water just the same. So we brush our teeth and bathe in the tap water, use bottled water for drinking and for ice and the dogs’ bowls. We use the kitchen tap for coffee, cooking, and so on. We soak the raw fruits and veggies in a solution of water and purification drops. I’m taking some of these drops back to the US. I wish I’d had them last year when we had the spinach and romaine e.coli outbreaks. There’s no flavor from the drops. Anything you cook hot enough you don’t have to soak anyway. The kitchen is well-equipped with most everything except—would you believe—no measuring cups and spoons. And I haven’t been able to find them. It’s a mystery. But a friend had an extra set and gave them to me as a house-warming gift!

The first floor has a breakfast area overlooking the terrace with a glass-topped table and four chairs. Except for a pantry area in the middle, the whole living area is open to the kitchen. Good-sized living room with sofa, love seat, and chair; nice rustic cabinet with the TV and related stuff. That also is adjacent to the terrace. Behind the sofa are a huge round marble table and several chairs kind of squeezed in there and a corner fireplace. We’re not really sure why a house this size needs two tables inside as well as one on each terrace. The guest bedroom is off the entrance—queen bed, skylight, separate bath just redone with new tile, sink, and bathtub, and more skylights. (Note about skylights: Because so many houses have common walls with other houses, some of the interior rooms can be quite dark, so if there are no rooms built above, the skylights provide lots of light in rooms that would otherwise have none.) There’s also a new half-bath off the entrance but we never use it.

Upstairs is a huge master bedroom with a king-sized bed and built-in closets with mirrored doors. There’s also a desk tucked away in a corner. Sliding doors all along the south side of the bedroom open to the upstairs terrace which has a view of the lake. We’ve only sat out there a few times—couple of mornings and evenings. It’s not covered so it’s too hot during the day. Another full bath upstairs (shower, no tub), huge linen closet.

The floors throughout the house are terracotta Mexican tiles—inside and out. There are screens on all the windows, but during the day we leave the screens open. Every room and the first floor terrace have ceiling fans. All the doors and windows are framed and criss-crossed with decorative iron designs. This, obviously, is for security and many people object to how they look, but this is Mexico and the ironwork is a reality. Doesn’t bother me.

Outside we have the terraces. The lower one wraps around the side of the house where it’s open to the street. In the corner, there’s a step down to a curved stone patio with flowers planted along the edges. There’s no grass, and it’s quite small—just a little courtyard really. There’s a gas grill which we haven’t used yet and lots of plants in pots—big and small.

Gardener and maid: Javier the gardener comes very early in the morning several times a week to water all the plants and do whatever tweaking he does to anything else. We rarely see him. We call him Javier the Invisible. The only way we know he’s been here is by the puddles of water underneath all the pots. He comes with the house and is paid by the owner. Ramona is a very pleasant young 20-something who comes once a week to clean the house. She was recommended by the owner but we pay her. She works for about 5-6 hours on Thursday at the rate of 30 pesos/hour. That’s a little less than $3/hour and is over the Mexican minimum wage. There are very strict labor laws in Mexico. Even part-time employees are entitled to so many paid holidays a year, and if you let someone go, you have to pay severance pay. Ramona is studying English with a private tutor but I think she’s still a beginner. We speak in Spanish except for the Good-morning-how-are-you-Fine-thank-you greeting. And every now and then she asks me how to say something. (Just now, she asked how to say “arriba” in English, pointing to the upstairs. She wanted to tell me that the upstairs is done.) She’s so thorough. She even mops the outdoor terraces. I do the laundry though. On the other side of the garage there’s a laundry area with a washer and a dryer. The dryer is gas-powered and takes sooooo long. Things dry so fast here I wouldn’t mind hanging things out to dry, but there’s really no place to do it.

Neighborhood: We live in the fraccionamiento (that word has so many syllables!) called Villa Nova which is about 1 mile from the heart of the village of Ajijic, on the north side of the carretera. Everything here is either referred to as lakeside (south of the carr.) or mountain side (north of carr.). You turn into a boulevard with an arch above the entrance. There is a little gatehouse and an arm that could sort of block the entrance, but the arm is always up and there’s never anybody in the gatehouse. Besides that, there are various ways into the frac., so it could never be a true gated community. It’s just a neighborhood. The streets, like all the streets except the carretera, are cobblestone—and we’re talking BIG cobbles. Although there are a few who will always challenge the limits, it’s next to impossible to go any more than 15-20 mph without shaking yourself and vehicle into pieces. Our house is about three blocks north of the carr. So we hear some noise from the highway, especially when a big semi goes by, picking up speed with his big blaaatt exhaust, but we can’t see the carr. from here. The houses are mostly what we would consider middle class, nicely-built and attended to. But some go well beyond that—estates that cover a block. The inhabitants are a mix of gringo and Mexican. Many people are gone now—snowbirds who go back to Canada or wherever. Many of the Mexicans use their homes here around the lake as weekend getaways from Guadalajara or other places. This past weekend, a house across the street from us appeared to have weekend guests for the first time. We could hear the children playing in the pool and people were coming and going. Because all the houses are surrounded by high walls in almost all of the neighborhoods, especially the village itself, you can’t see what the houses or gardens look like unless you catch a glimpse when the door in the wall is open. We met some new neighbors who are moving in soon. The couple are both lawyers from Guadalajara who have worked in the lakeside area for ten years with the cooperatives. Marcos speaks impeccable English, Ana Rosa none, but she speaks several other languages. They have two small children. The streets climb up the mountain becoming quite steep the higher you go. Of course, the higher up you are, the better the view. We’ve met several of our gringo neighbors when we’re walking the dogs. Everyone is very friendly—instant friendships, in fact. We walk the dogs mostly off-leash as the streets are very quiet and nobody can speed. When a car comes, we just pull the dogs over to the sidewalk. There’s a vacant lot a few houses down the street that both dogs have taken great interest in. And everybody has dogs.

We have garbage pickup at least three times a week, sometimes more often. We just put the bags on the curb and the truck comes along and picks them up. Nobody seems to have big trashcans, just bags. Every few days, a truck goes by selling propane gas to refill the tanks. They roll by with a speaker that plays a two-tone signal, then a voice that calls, “Gaazzzz,” several times. They refill the big tank that everyone has for cooking, hot water, and dryer. Not so often, the water truck comes by to trade out the big garafones. You put the empties out by the street and they pick them up and bring in the new ones. They’re about $2 for refills, I think. Every afternoon there’s a little pickup with a cover that comes along playing tinkling little melodies that sound like an ice cream vendor. But he has no signs of what he’s selling. One of these days, we’ll stop him and find out.

Catching up on May

Because we were off line for so long, I wrote some notes in Word and saved them for later. So I'll post them here.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Short entry. We met Jan and Jack at their place (about 2-3 miles toward Chapala) at 10 so we could drive to Guadalajara to what Jack calls the Big 4: Sam’s, Walmart, Costco, and Home Depot. We didn’t really need anything but wanted to go along for the directions and experience. In fact, Bob drove and I took navigational notes. Very interesting in how much was the same as in the US and how different some things were. It’s a huge complex with an attached mall that we didn’t go into, and the customers were most definitely Mexican primarily. We bought just a few things, like a laundry basket and batteries, a set of Spanish language cds for Bob, etc. We had lunch at a restaurant in the complex (which also has Subway, Carl’s Jr, and others). Got home about 4 by the time we helped unload J & J at their house. We were pretty tired, so had leftover spaghetti and didn’t go out again.

Bob wanted to watch a Jesse Stone/Tom Selleck movie on one of the networks. It’s kind of confusing trying to figure out what time things come on. Of course, we’re on central daylight time, but the Canadian satellite system, Star Choice, is out of Edmonton, Alberta (mountain time) where Don and Shirley’s home is. So Bob was figuring out the guide based on all this information and decided the movie would start at 8 pm our time. So we settled down to watch the movie, but it wasn’t on. So Bob got on the phone with the technical service people (who have been very nice and accommodating). It turns out that the only network channels we get are out of Spokane—on Pacific time! Wha’??? And the movie won’t start until 11 pm. Well, we can change the location to a city in whatever time zone we want, but we did stay up and watch the whole thing. Got to bed after 1 am.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

We’ve been waking up about 7:30 or 8 on our own, but this morning we slept in until 8:30. We had stayed up late the night before to watch a Jesse Stone/Tom Selleck movie he wanted to see. We had big plans for the day. I had an 11:00 pedicure appointment. Bob had breakfast while I cruised the internet news and found C-Span 3 covering the House Judiciary hearing with Monica Goodling testifying. Although she didn’t really have anything earth-shattering to reveal, I was still fascinated by it. I know—what a geek. Bob dragged me away to go get my toes done. I met Jan at the salon which is right beside the street where the weekly market is held on Wednesdays, so Bob checked out the market and a few shops in the area. Street markets here are called tianguis which I think is from a local Indian dialect, but I’m not sure.

So, the salon is both hair and nails, like American salons used to be. For a pedicure, we were brought portable round tubs, lined with plastic wrap and filled with warm soapy water. Except for the lack of the vibrating chair and bubbling bath, everything else was much the same. Very nice pumice work and foot and leg massage. Cost: a little less than $8. A mani-pedi is about $15. This shop is a little high but trusted for sanitary conditions more than others.

After my pedicure, we walked through the tianguis but didn’t buy anything. Saw a bootleg copy of Shrek 3 already. Then we walked through the village a bit and came back home and didn’t do much of anything. About 4 here, I tried to call Min and discovered that our phone line was out. About the same time, Bob was trying to download something and lost the connection. Oh, joy. No home phone means no modem connection for both Vonage and the internet. Don’t know what the problem is. Don (the owner) told us he’d paid the bill through June, so we’ll have to go see what’s going on tomorrow. Who knows how long we could be out of service. Damn, damn, damn.

We were sitting out here on the terrace when someone went by below on the street and dogs ran barking to the iron fence. Bob went to calm them down and it turned out to be a neighbor named Roger. Roger thought Don and Shirley might be back since he’d seen signs of habitation. So Bob invited him in for a drink. Turns out Roger is the fraccionamiento (neighborhood) association president and even before he sat down, he told us he had lots of dirt to dish! Oh, my. And he did. We opened a bottle of wine (Concha y Toro sauvignon blanc—good), and he settled back to regale (?) us with his stories. There are so many characters down here. He’s supposedly a retired dot.com CEO from Silicon Valley before the crash. He bought a house down the street from us and moved down about a year and a half ago, but his wife decided to keep her job in Palo Alto for Genentech. They visit each other back and forth. He says they’ve been married almost 40 years. I’m thinking she’s discovered the perfect way to stay married to him……far away. After a couple of hours and the whole bottle of wine, we had to chase him away because we had a dinner appointment at 7. So, to soften the blow, I invited him to dinner here tomorrow night. I know. Stupid. But he’s lonely! And likes to talk!

We pushed Roger out the door and got to the restaurant a few minutes late. It’s less than a mile and on the main highway called the carretera. The ambience is lacking because it’s basically in a strip mall on the carretera, but it’s a new place and has been getting good reviews from the expats here. Manuel is the owner/chef who has lived and trained in the US and northern Italy. His wife is the hostess. Everybody speaks English. He makes up a new menu every day, depending on what he finds in season and in the markets. Last night he had two risotto dishes on the menu—one with salmon and one with beef strips. We all had one of those two except for Jan who had spinach ravioli. Very good dinner and it was our treat because Max and Janel, Jan and Jack were the two couples who had found our house for us. Manuel came out to the table to talk to us after dinner, and as we left the whole staff came out and shook our hands. This place is unusually pricey because Manuel is trying to create high quality food and service. Even so, total bill for six people with salads, dinners, Bananas Foster (just for one), drinks and wine, tip: about $160. Very nice evening.


Thursday, May 24, 2007
4:30 CDT

The Telmex (local) phone connection is still out, so we’re pretty much completely cut off from immediate communication. The satellite TV and radio work fine, but they’re only from outside in, of course. Feels very strange not to be able to pick up a phone or hook up to the internet.

It’s still pretty hot—88 according to the thermometer on the terrace, but it was well into the 90s when we were in town earlier this afternoon. The rainbirds (cicadas) are still singing their promise and off to the south over the lake there’s a dark cloud building. We’ll see. Everybody’s waiting for the first rain. There are reports of light rain in Guadalajara this week, and we felt two drops the other day—exactly two. But in the house and under the covered patio, it’s very pleasant. There are ceiling fans in every room and two outside where we’re sitting. And the air is so incredibly dry.

Today was the first day for Ramona, our housekeeper, to come. She’s in her early twenties, very nice and cheerful. She’s studying English through a profesora who also teaches Spanish. We might check her out. I’d like someone with whom I can spend at least half an hour or so who will correct my mistakes and help me fill in all the lapses of memory. I definitely need to tune up my ear.

After Ramona arrived this morning, we put the dogs in their kennel and went off to town to find the Telmex office. Actually, we knew where it was; we just needed to go there to report our outage. Very simple. There was a machine where you could enter your phone number and then it would print out your current status—bills paid, owed, etc. With that, we went to a window and explained “No hay teléfono en la casa.” Ok. In Spanish the clerk told me to go over to the right where I’d find a machine with phone to call someone who speaks English. Sure enough, there was a little desk and chair with phone mounted on the wall and a sign that said “English Spoken.” I pushed the little button and eventually got an English speaker who took information, checked the record, and said we would have a technician at the house today or tomorrow between the hours of 8am and 4pm. Uh-huh. Ask me if I’m skeptical that we’ll have communications back before sometime next week—if we’re lucky. Based on US standards…and BellSouth experience, I’m not looking for this to happen anytime soon. I do hope I’m wrong.

Meanwhile, I’m denied the internet and calling people back in the US…or anywhere for that matter. I don’t like it. This roughing it could get to me.

Anyway, after we got back from the Telmex office, we came back home to see if Ramona and the dogs were ok. They were fine in their kennel, but she seemed slightly hysterical that we were back well before she was done. (We were only gone about an hour!) So we took the dogs in the car back into town (about a mile or less) and parked near the plaza. We had had lunch as a restaurant called 60s in Paradise back in November and had noticed that pets were welcome. So we decided to give the dogs an adventure. The restaurant is a retro 50s/60s kind of burger place. From the street, you walk inside and down a passageway to the open-air tables and chairs. Old-time R & R is playing, and I DO mean old-time. On the walls all around are old vinyl records and album covers. The waitresses wear poodle (Ha) skirts and the owner is an American, former musician, who loves dogs. So we walked in with Howdy and Daisy on their leashes and found a table in the shade on the patio. Immediately, the dogs were surrounded by Rick and three waitresses. (We WERE the only people there.) Rick went back to the kitchen and brought back a yellow plastic dog bowl of water and two pieces of bacon—real bacon—for the dogs. Bob had a hamburger, fries, and root beer float; I had a chili dog and a Coca Light. Speaking of which: to me the Coca Light—not Diet Coke—takes almost as good as regular coke, not like diet. We had brought a case of A & W diet cream soda from Texas, but it won’t last forever.

After lunch we walked over a block to Janel Campbell’s realty office. She and I were supposed to meet up today to buy a present for Jan’s birthday, but she couldn’t call me, of course. She was walking out just as we walked in, so we went down the street to a little shop. Then, I called Mindy to ask her to report our communications problem. Hers is the only number I have memorized. That Russian-sounding guy is back on the Vonage line when you try to call out, saying: “The Vonage device cannot connect with the Vonage network.”

It was pretty hot by that time, so we brought the dogs home for water and a rest. Ramona was about an hour from being finished. She was so thorough. She even rolled up the Oriental carpet in the living room and dragged it outside so she could mop the whole tile floor. Anyway, nice girl and she’ll be coming every Thursday.

So now I’m very restless without phones and internets. Bob has music on the stereo, and it’s very pleasant out here, but I can’t settle down. He’s reading, but I don’t feel like it. Don’t feel like watching TV. Bob doesn’t want to go out again. Wah! I want my internet back!

Never mind

....what I said about Telmex. We had one day--last Saturday--then got up Sunday morning to find that we were no longer connected. Reported it to the Telmex office (in person, every time) on Monday morning. We were promised a technician that day or Tuesday morning. Then a phone call Tuesday to say they'd be here in the afternoon. Then another phone call that they we would there this morning (Wed) between 9 and 12. At 9, another phone call that they would be there in tres horas. So've spent the last three days waiting for nobody, dangling at the end of their dsl hook. Tomorrow, another trip to Telmex. We're thinking of moving into the village. Stay tuned.

June 2: Trials and Tribulations of Telmex

Saturday--noonish

Lazy day. I'm out on the ground floor terrace where I've been catching up on internet news and stuff. I just took off my sweatshirt jacket. It was in the low 70s when we first got up, but with a breeze, it feels cooler. Still sunny and dry, no rain yet. There's the constant high-pitched drones of the "rainbirds," actually cicadas. When they first hatch, they allegedly foretell the rainy season to come in about 6 weeks. We've heard that date is forecast to be somewhere between June 5 and 12. We'll see how accurate they are.

Recap on communication problems: Since Wednesday, May 23, we've had intermittent service from Telmex, the national telephone company. With each disruption, we've gone into Ajijic to the Telmex office and reported the outage via a special telephone station marked "English Spoken." After each visit, the service would return with 12-48 hours, only to go out again soon after. This last time, yesterday morning, we had the tone on the local telephone but no dsl connection to the internet or Vonage. So, making the trek again to Telmex (only about a mile and a half--big trek), this time we took a number and spoke to a representative at a desk. (The English-speaking telephone wasn't speaking anything at all yesterday, by the way. It rang and rang but nobody answered.) Anyway, after a reasonable amount of time, we met with the very nice guy who called things up on his computer and promised that we'd have a technician at the house between 9 and 11 this morning. Sabado? I asked. Si, he responded. So, that was promising.

We got home a little while later and the phone rang. Telmex calling to see if we were home and could a technician come over right now? You bet! (Actually, I said, si--don't how to say "you bet.") Within minutes the little green and white Telmex truck pulled up and a nice young guy came in and right upstairs to the connections. He was here three hours, during which time, he switched out the old modem for a wireless modem and eventually we were back on line. We're hoping now that whatever problem existed has now been resolved. But we couldn't have asked for more prompt responses or nicer service. We're keeping our fingers crossed we're back on line for good.