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03/15/05 - Ajijic, MX (Photos - Same as other Ajijic photos) Our plans for the coming weeks - Puerto Vallarta and San Francisco |
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It's been difficult to plan our next destination, due to our timing... Our plan originally called for a vacation in the Puerto Vallarta area for a month after leaving Ajijic. But since it's apparently every Mexican's duty to go to the beach for the two week Easter celebration, we're playing everything by ear at the moment. We've definitely got a place in Puerto Vallarta for this Wednesday through Saturday, but the following 10 days or so until April should prove tricky. While we're in PV later this week, our intention is to find a condo or house to rent for the month of April. Those looking for a beach vacation - start thinking of traveling next month! That being said, we've hardly firmed anything up yet. We hope to know much more in a few days.
We're also looking to crash in San Francisco for a week, starting April 14th or so, as we'll be heading back to the States for a wedding. So we may have an empty condo in Puerto Vallarta if anyone needs it. Again - we have nothing yet - just throwing out some food for thought. Looking forward to seeing many of you soon! |
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| Living "On Mexican Time" | |
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03/13/05 - Ajijic, MX (Photos - Same as other Ajijic photos) Adjusting to local life in Lake Chapala |
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After some initial adjustments, we've fallen into a pleasant routine here that largely revolves around eating, drinking, hanging out and sleeping - the basics, and that seems to be what life in a Mexican town is all about.
In addition to coffee in the morning, we eat one or two leisurely meals a day, typically at an outdoor courtyard restaurant. Because the weather is almost perfect year round, most restaurants have only a small indoor seating area. For this reason, we've been having our main 'comida' sometime between noon and two (it can get a little cool in the evenings). Most tables are outdoors under umbrellas or big canopies (sun/heat protection). For better or worse, we've been eating at the finest, most expensive restaurants in town - several of them being quite good! Even at the most expensive places, it's easy to eat for US$25 or less, including cocktails. A $10 to $15 check is not unusual. It has become amazingly easy to spend the day enjoying a meal or two that can easily last a couple hours. And, as many of you know, the norm outside the US is to expect patrons to sit at the table and relax until they ask for the check. There is no rushing people out the door here. Once you get used to it, it's a wonderful feeling. It'll be hard to go back someday...
We walk a lot. And walking here is more appropriately described as hiking, since the streets are so cobbled and sidewalks inconsistent and narrow. These cobblestones are like nothing we've ever seen before! They are really just large, irregular-shaped rocks pounded into the dirt. And watch out for the dog and horse poop (yes, people ride horses for transportation here - we even have a couple of horses for neighbors at our casa)! We "walk" from our "casa de crap" into el centro (downtown) everyday to eat and wander the quaint streets, peeking into gringo galleries and Mexican households/gardens now and then. Frequently we'll stop at the servicio de internet, which is simply an open-air room full of computers on the main plaza where we can log on using their computers or our laptop (wireless too!) for 10 pesos and hour (about 90 cents). When they're closed, we've found we can sit in the plaza and still use the internet - we'll give them a little extra something before we leave town, they've been quite good to us. The young Spanish (only) speaking girl working there hooked us up with some free time internet time yesterday. Unfortunately, we draw quite the unwanted attention to ourselves when we sit in the plaza using our fancy laptop (almost a year's wages for a Mexican?), making phone calls over the internet using iPod earbuds and talking into our webcam microphone. The kids are not shy about climbing up next to us to see what's happening on the screen.
Over the past few days, it has become very understandable to us why people siesta here. Due to the altitude, heat and walking conditions (cobblestones and hills), we feel tired everyday after lunch (but not because we ate too much!). So in the afternoons, we come back to the casa and lounge in a pleasant combination of sun and shade on our private patio, enjoying the garden and listening to the fountain burble while we read or doze.
The vibe here is social and festive, but generally low-key and we love it! The truck that delivers the gas cylinders to homes and businesses travels the narrow streets in town, all the while playing a festive song about gas (in Spanish so we don't know what the words are) from the loudspeakers that are mounted on top of the truck, to announce its presence. We HAVE to try to get a video of this on our digital camera, it so captures the essence of the town (the Mexican part, at least). Even something as dull seeming as propane delivery turns into a musical fiesta.
And yesterday evening, we went out to make an internet phone call to an inn in Puerto Vallarta where we would like to move to on Wednesday. The person we needed to speak to wasn't there but was expected back in an hour. Rather than trudge back up the hill and wait, we decided to stop in a local bar where gringos tend to hang out, for a couple of 10 peso (yes, 90 cents!) beers while we waited to call back. We sat at the bar and while we were chatting with a woman at a nearby table who had just arrived from Chicago, a street musician wandered in with his guitar, playing tunes and singing, just 20 pesos per song if you had a request. Pedro behind the bar was a jovial fellow, in his white cowboy had and long wavy black hair and we enjoyed (well, mostly Scott since Caroline's Spanish isn't quite up to par yet) chatting with him when he wasn't dancing and singing along with the guitarist with mucho gusto. It was quite a scene and so delightful in its randomness. After all, we were just looking a for a beer and stumbled into a party...
All that being said, we don't really care for Ajijic or the Lake Chapala area in general, but it is a good place to learn the ropes and accomplish some necessary tasks, since there is a good amount of English spoken here. That is really the only reason we are still here; although the place is growing on us, it's just not really the place for us here, as charming as it can be. The gringos in this area are largely older retired folks and there is not much intermingling of Mexicans and gringos. Also, you get the feeling they don't even want you to try to speak Spanish; the Mexicans would rather speak to you in English if they know it and many do. However, Scott believes it's got considerable potential for real estate investment - especially on the new construction side.
Lest you are feeling so jealous of our new relaxed, slow-paced lifestyle that you are about to explode, we have had to take care of some business here as well, such as researching and opening a bank account, doing a little grocery shopping, laundry (although Carmen the housekeeper did offer to do it when she was here the other day), what to do about renewing our visas when they expire in 6 months and finding a place to stay in Puerto Vallarta during the high season (which is now - Easter - or Semana Santa - is next week!). Feeling any better? |
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