Exploring Our New Home Town!

Saturday we were so ready to take a look around, but neither of us wanted to get anywhere near a car!  So we walked, and walked, and walked.  All of the streets in Ajijic, except for the caraterra (highway) are cobblestone, so this doesn't make for a power walking experience.  You need to constantly keep an eye on the ground in front of you.

Lake Chapala, not what we had imagined

We first walked down to Lake Chapala and we were both disappointed.  The water level is very low and the water seemed very grey, not the sky blue I had anticipated.  The rainy season will begin within the next couple of months, and hopefully this will replenish the lake.  But that was really our only disappointment.  The area around our house is very much what you'd expect to see in an old Mexican pueblo.....nothing like the shabby border towns or the resort areas.  The houses are built very close together but many have beautiful roof top gardens or courtyards tucked behind their house.  About 20% of the houses have been restored...probably by ex-pats.....and they were easy to pick out with their fresh coat of paint and beautiful wooden entry doors and flowers and ferns spilling out over the terrace.  But the homes owned by Mexicans were beautiful as well....a little shabby maybe but still very sweet.


Along the caraterra there were several vendors set up.  Some selling tacos and tamales, others selling woven baskets, rugs, and pottery. And lucky us...this must be berry season.  Several stands were selling fresh blueberries, strawberries, black berries and raspberries.  It was a hard decision, but I settled on the raspberries.  Two quarts for $25 pesos...that's about $2 USD!  I froze most of these for smoothies, but had a big bowl of them with greek yogurt for lunch!  Yummm!

It does not look like we'll go hungry in this town.  Tons of restaurants and we stopped and checked out menus at several.  We like to always peek inside as some of the restaurants with a very uninspired facade will open up into a courtyard that will take your breath away.  We found several of these that we plan to go back to while we're here.

This is a holiday weekend (Cinco de Mayo) and the Ajijic malecon was crowded with Mexican families.  There seems to be a lot less ex-pats here than we expected.  Although most ex-pats are snowbirds and leave in April, it was my understanding that a good number of them stay year round, but we're not seeing many.

My first impression of the Mexicans we've met is that they're friendly, but not as warm and outgoing as Dominicans.  In the DR, seldom did you pass by a Dominican on the street that they didn't greet you with an "hola, hola".  But here, most Mexicans walk on by without a word.  Matt and I will usually throw out a "buenas dias" or "buenas tardes" and then they'll respond with a smile.

Hermann went with us, of course, and this change in locale may be toughest for him.  These dogs are not very friendly.  Everywhere we go he is being yapped at by little chihuahuas.  I bet he misses his Dominican dog friends!

There was a lake side restaurant that we stopped at and talked with the owner.  He said they had live music that night so Matt and I decided we'd come back for dinner.  The restaurant was about five blocks from our house and walked down there about 7:00 just as the sun was  beginning to set.  We were almost at the restaurant when I think we both had the same thought:  "is this a good idea?"  Here we were in an unfamiliar town and we'd be walking back to her house, just the two of us, after dark.  Doesn't matter if we were in Mexico or the US, this could be a problem.   All through dinner we both stewed about this.  I asked Matt how much money he had on him....as it turned out quite a bit.  So now we were really nervous.  The meal was good but the live music didn't start until about 9:00.  The guitarist had just started playing when we decided we should start our walk home before it got any later.  Well, walk was very uneventful.  Streets were well lighted, there was a smattering of restaurants that we passed.  On every corner there was a tienda (small little store selling just the essentials) that was open, and usually the owner and a couple of friends were sitting outside waiting for business, and kids still playing in the street.

Our neighbors across the street that helped us when we first arrived were having a party.  The husband is Victor and he speaks great English as do his two sons.  The mom is very sweet, but doesn't speak any English.  The house next door to them is very narrow, but very tall with four stories.  It's being renovated and the only story completed is the top floor.  Victor told us that this was his brothers house.  Well most of the party seemed to be on this top floor of the brothers house. The party had started mid day and everyone carried load after load of food and cooking supplies up those stairs.  When we got back to our house after dinner, the party was still going on.  Lots of talking and laughter and loud music.  But this party was very tame compared to the party on the street behind us.  I always get up way too early....and when I got up at 5:00 a.m. that party was still going on!

Sunday afternoon we decided to actually get back in the car and drive to Chapala, which is probably only a 5 or 10 minute drive.  There is also a Walmart between Ajijic and Chapala and we badly needed to stock up on groceries.  While I avoid Walmarts whenever possible in the US, in Mexico they are always a much better experience.  The best selection of groceries, freshest produce, and best selection of meat and fish.  And of course Matt wanted to check out the golf course.

This status should be surrounded by water!

We started out by going to the malecon in Chapala..  Once again, lots of Mexican families and very few ex-pats.  There was a long row of vendors set up along the malecon.  They were selling trinkets, clothing, CDs, toys, drinks and food.  There was roasted corn and lots of ice cream.  Lots of stuff we didn't recognize.  One of the most popular items were fried minnows.  At first I thought they were french fries, glad I double checked.

Lake Chapala Malecon

Lake Chapala Malecon

Park at Lake Chapala

Then I saw familiar faces!  Several months ago I had stumbled upon a blog written by Renee, a Canadian who, along with her husband, ten year old daughter, and family dog had given up their comfortable home and started traveling.  Their first trip had been through Europe (mainly Italy and Turkey) in a camper van.  Last September they had landed in Ajijic.  I loved reading her blog entries on this area....gave me a little insight on what we would encounter.  One of her most recent blog entries was about their border run.  Vehicles can only stay in Mexico for six months....this is a very strict requirement and you don't want to mess with this.  Their permit was almost up so they drove to Laredo so they could cancel the permit, enter the US and then get another permit.  Since we were about to make this same trip, I felt very comforted by reading her details about what to expect.  I even emailed her asking about recommendations for pet friendly hotels and she quickly responded.  So here we were wandering around in Chapala, and I spot this couple with their daughter....and felt like I ran into an old friend.  We introduced ourselves and had a great visit.  I'm amazed at how brave they are to live their life like this, what a gift they are giving their daughter, Emma.  Emma was amazing, she was friendly, articulate and full of advice.  She gave me her own personal recommendations on some of the best internet sites for learning Spanish and also where to buy the best gelatto (better than the gelatto she'd had in Italy!).  She said to her mom...."can we have them over for dinner?"  Poor Renee...not sure if she really wanted us, but we did get a dinner invite.

Beautiful!

After leaving Chapala, we stopped at the golf course so Matt could check that out and then onto Walmart for a very major shopping trip ($175!!!) - the past seven days have been very expensive for us!

Just outside the entrance to Walmart was a roadside chicken stand.  They had three huge grills going.....all filled with roasting chickens.  There was a long line of Mexicans waiting for their chicken so I thought this must be a good spot.  Matt and I joined the line.  We bought one roasted chicken (which came with roasted onions and jalapenos, rice and a green tomatillo sauce), roasted potatoes, a cup of ensalada (cabbage and carrot salad with a few raisins) and a cup of fresh salsa.  The price was $120 pesos, or about $10 USD.  Talk about a meal!  Best chicken I'd ever had.  Plus we have enough left over for another dinner.  This was a great deal!  Even Matt really enjoyed.....he usually only likes his chicken fried.