Tlaquepaque!

I started to realize how comfortable I am living in Mexico when I can pronounce a word like "tlaquepaque" without a second thought.  Actually, Tlaquepaque is a pueblo on the outskirts of Guadalahara.  And if you're wondering "how the hell do you pronounce that?", it's something like "tuh-lah-k-pah-k".

The first hour of each of my Spanish class is spent in conversation (in Spanish of course) and I mentioned that I felt there weren't a lot of good day trips from this area.  The other two gringos in my class as well as the instructor started giving me a long list of potential day trips.  The most popular seemed to be Tlaquepaque.  So that's where Matt and I went on Friday.....we like to get out of the house on Friday so we can stay out of our housekeeper's hair.....and besides I feel very lazy sitting around watching this little pregnant lady mop my floors.

Tlaquepaque isn't only about a 45 minute drive and required driving into Guadalajara.  Matt has gotten much better about big city driving over the last few months, in fact sometimes he drives just a little too Mexican!  Matt tried to enter our destination into the GPS but couldn't find it, so we were using driving direction we found on the internet, which was making both of us very nervous.  The internet directions gave street names to exit the highway on but seldom are the actually street names posted.  When we neared Guad we saw our first sign for Tlaquepaque and that's when Matt realized he had been misspelling the name when entering it into the GPS.  So we entered it correctly, and no problema.  NOTE:  When driving in Mexico a GPS with current Mexico maps is worth it's weight in gold.

The GPS took us to the general area, but not to the centro artisan market area that we wanted to go.  We circled around a bit, and when we had no luck finding it, we broke down and asked direction from a young man standing on a street corner (thank you Gabriel for all your help improving my Spanish!).  One of the gringo rules in Mexico is to avoid asking Mexicans for directions.  Mexicans hate to disappoint so even if they don't know the answer, they'll tell you something.  But in this case he understood my question "donde esta el marcado de artisans?" and gave me directions that I could actually understand and that took us right to where we wanted to go.

Tlaquepaque is beautiful!  The marcado area is about six blocks and closed to auto traffic.  Every little pueblo in Mexico has a plaza, always next to the church, and usually with a gazebo.  Thought this one was especially pretty.  Quite a few tourists types were there, but almost all were Mexican - very few gringos.

 

 Lots of whimsical artwork in the area, including this little guy and the only mariachi band in Mexico that doesn't hound you for tips.

The mercado area in Tlaquepaque is one incredible colonial building after another. 

We found this potter giving a demonstration to some kids.  He was turning out angry bird sculptures and that seemed to hold their interest.

This is where Matt and I had lunch, not sure of the name of the restaurant but a pretty location.  I had my first torta ahogadas!  I believe torta can mean either cake or sandwich, and in this case it's definitely sandwich.  Ahogadas means drowned.  There are roadside stands on every block that offer tortas ahogadas along with tacos but we had never tried them before.  What we have been missing!  Not sure if they are all alike, but the sandwich I had was served fairly plain,  just stewed, nicely seasoned pork on a hoagie bun with red onions on the side.  Then they give you a big bowl of red chili sauce along with a little cup to ladle this over your sandwich.  This makes for a pretty awesome meal....messy, but declicious and just a little spicy.  So I've got a new favorite Mexican food, just what I needed!  My only complaint about Tlaquepaque ws the price of the cerveza - $340 pesos!  That's about $3 USD!  Standard prices around Chapala for a beer range from $180-$220 pesos, so this was about US prices!

Last weekend Matt and I tried a new restaurant, Tabarkas.  Matt's golfing buddy Vern and his wife Kathleen went with us.  I've always been a huge fan of La Bodegas in Kansas City and this was the Lake Chapala version!  They have a promotion for unlimited tapas and wine for $240 pesos, or $20 USD.  They brought round after round of tapas to our table, all very nice!  And the wine flowed - well at least for Kathleen and me!  Vern and Matt abstained and they had the non-drinkers version of the tapas meals for only $160.  Good to have a DD!

Tabarcas - the Chapala version of La Bodesga

 Such nice people here!  Vern and Kathleen are great and always so helpful.  Vern has been giving Matt a ride home from golf on Tuesdays and Wednesdays so I can make my yoga class.  They've been taking golf lessons on Tuesday morning and Vern hauls Matt to those as well so I can go to the organic market.  I'm sure he's thinking "I wish they'd buy a second car!".  The first time we were invited to their beautiful house for dinner, Vern specifically included Hermann in the invite.  They have a labradoodle, Gracie, who's about Herm's age so we thought they'd get along great.  Oh, well, not the case.  Sweet Gracie went blind from a retinal disease and she's still adjusting.   Didn't seem to appreciate this invader on her turf at all.  And Herm, for his part, behaved no better.  Herm is very house broken and NEVER has accidents; or at least not until we visited Vern and Kathleen.  Within 15 minutes he had left a nice little surprise in their living room.  Later we walked into San Juan Casalo, the village where Vern and Kathleen live.  When we came home there was a pee trail from the living room, into the kitchen, to the door.  Needless to say, Herm has no more social engagements on his calendar.  I guess he know's not to mess his own house, but everyone else's is fair game.

And want to be sure and mention our other group of new friends.  We met Joe and Sharon one night when we went out to dinner.  We had Herm with us and dogs always seem to be a good ice breaker.  Really enjoyed visiting with them and they invited us to join their friends for dinner at Molcajete's in Chapala.  They usually have dinner every other Saturday night and there's usually 10-12 people there.  Always a very fun group.

Dinner at Molcajetes

Hiking, Yoga, :Little Luxuries and New Friends

Since we arrived, we've been wanting to do some hiking in the surrounding mountains.  But we've been waiting for the rainy season for the temps to cool down a bit.  Well, the rains are here so no more excuses!

Matt's friend Vern had told him about a trail that leads to a waterfall.  I thought Matt had said "Vern says it's an easy trail", so that sounded what I was looking for on our first hike.  So one day last week we set off.

At the trail head, the trail was so beautiful and with just a slight incline - perfect!

Trail Head

One of the first sites we saw was this huge tree growing above the trail with it's roots wrapped around a boulder.

But before long, the trail was getting steeper and steeper, and we eventually found ourselves climbing over huge boulders.  Matt did really well; his two day a week golf game walking a very hilly course has done wonders for his cardio.  Me....not so much.  I was panting like crazy and needed to take frequent breaks.  I said to Matt, "I though Vern said this was an easy trail?"  Matt, said no...he never said it was easy, just that it was a good trail.  I should listen to Mast more carefully!

The trail gets more difficult!

I like this picture, pensive Matt

We eventually came to yet one more jagged hill of boulders we needed to climb.  There was a group with a couple of 12 or 13 years old boys that had passed us on the trail.  We could hear them ahead of us  laughing and having so much fun scaling these boulders.  But Matt and I looked at each other, and both knew this was far enough for two people in their mid-fifties!  And then it started to rain; not heavy but a bit more than a sprinkle.  So that was our sign from the heavens that we should turn back, plus we could always use the rain as an excuse for not going further.

This is it for us!  High enough

We've got another hike in mind, that we'll try this week.  Matt thinks it will be a bit easier.  I want to borrow one of my ranch dogs to take with us...to help pull me up the mountain.  

And I found a great yoga class!  There seems to be very little publicity about yoga classes here.  The one class I had found, I wasn't happy with.  But one of our new friends recommended this instructor in San Antonio, the neighboring village, and gave me her email address.  I started this week, and it's perfect!  She's an incredible instructor and teaches at a perfect level for me.  And what a bargain, $60 pesos a class, which at the current exchange rate is less than $5 usd.  

I love how affordable most things are here so it's easy to treat ourselves to little luxuries.  For one thing, I rarely cook.  At the Tuesday organic market, there are plenty of vendors selling incredible produce, yogurt and fresh cheeses.  But there are also quite a few vendors selling pre-made foods.   We stock up so we have a couple of meals.  Matt is addicted to the chicken pot pies there, not the healthiest thing to eat, but it makes him happy.  The pot pie guy also sells some really good quiches.  Then there is another vendor who sells mini gourmet pizzas, one who sells Asian food like pot stickers and great salads, artisan breads, and my fave - the tamale lady.  Her tamales are incredible and made without lard, so must be healthy, right?  I also always pick up a bag of beautiful salad greens (pre-washed and disinfected) for $20 pesos (or $1.75 USD) and sometmes a bag of kale.  So plenty of stuff in my fridge to make some very tasty and health salads.  BTW, my new favorite salad dressing.  I've learned to make fresh salsa verde and found that if you mix about two parts fresh salsa verde with one part ranch dressing, you have a very yummy dressing, and with a lot less fat that is normally in ranch dressing.

And then there are the restaurants,  So many incredible restaurants and most within walking distance. We founds a great Thai place about six blocks from us.  Luckily they also serve Japanese food, so Matt (who is not a fan of Thai food) can get some tempura and a California roll and be perfectly happy while I indulge in my passion for Thai.  And many of the restaurants are running specials this summer, just to keep the doors open while the snow birds are away.  Last night we tried Roberto's, which is one of the best restaurants around here.  On Thursday and Friday nights they have a BOGO special on their entrees.  This was too good to be true!  They had many very tempting options on their menu, which changes daily.  But Matt decided on brisket and I had the mahi mahi.  Both of us were very happy!  My maji maji was topped with spinach and a parmesan sauce and then broiled - it was perfect.  I had wine, Matt had ice tea and our bill was less than $250 peso, under $20 USD.  

My pedis are running about $10 USD with tip and a nice massage is about $20 USD.   And the spa is a nice walk from our home, so I get a little exercise as well.

Sometimes I feel that when I go on and on about how affordable it is to live here, it might give the impression that is the only reason to be here, but that is so wrong.  This area is full of charm and beauty.  The people in our village (both Mexicans and ex-pats) are for the most part very friendly.  The convenience of this area is amazing!  If I need something I can normally pick it up when Herm and I are out for our walks.  Fresh fruit, bread, milk, coffee, laundry, alterations.  There are two movie theaters in our area, one we need to drive to but there is also one three blocks from our home.  How fun to walk to the movies!  And the weather is so comfortable.   Safety doesn't seem to be a big problems.  I've yet to met anyone who has been harmed here or experienced a burglary.  One couple had a bad experience while driving from the border - they felt that another car was attempting to pull them over but they kept their heads, turned in the other direction and all was well.  We are beginning to realize why so many Americans and Canadians have flocked to this area.  It's a great place to live with all the comforts of home, plus the luxuries (house keeper, golf, movies, dinners out, spa treatments) that many couldn't afford on a retirement income.

We've started to build a little network of friends.  It's funny, but we really only know a handful of people (maybe 30), but we seem to run into someone we know where ever we go.  We've met most of our new friends while out for dinner - another reason not to cook!   We'll starting talking to someone at another table, exchange contact info, and then make arrangements to meet for another dinner out.  Then they'll invite some more friends, and the chain grows.  It's a very social area, all of us retirees have plenty of time on our hands so nice to make new friends.  

And finally, a picture of one of my favorite Ranch dogs.  I love Nellie (I call her Miss Nellie Rose).  She is such a beauty, so mellow and loves attention.  She also a great hand shaker.  If she feels you are paying too much attention to another dog in her pen, she'll give you one of her paws, and who could resist?  I so wish she'd find a good home.

Green Mountains, Lights Out and Hermann Goes for a Wild Walk

Since we've moved here, we've been told repeatedly "oh, wait til the rains start!".  Everyone who lives here year round continually gripes about the oppressive heat in May.  O.K., I realize that many people are suffering right now with temps near 100 or much worse and that most of us wouldn't classify 90 degree days with low humidity like we have here in May as "oppressive" but something happens to people when they live in a mild climate year round.  They seem to expect perfect temps as the norm.

Well, as promised by mid=June the rains have started.  They have started to cool off the "high" daytime temps and evenings are wonderful, muy refresco.  We took the picture below during one of our walks around town soon after we arrived.

Yesterday we took this picture from our mirador.  You can see how the mountains are starting to really green up.  Some people describe it the mountains in mid-summer as looking like giant heads of broccoli.  

With the rainy season, comes a not so pleasant surprise.  All the rains tend to send scorpions into the houses.  We've been vigilant after all the stories we've heard (including one man who had the unpleasant surprise of having a scorpion crawl up into the roll of toilet paper....and he didn't find it until he had already used the paper, with the scorpion in it, for it's intended purpose).  But after nearly two months we hadn't seen a single one so were starting to get comfortable, until Friday.  Matt  found this little guy hanging out by our washer/dryer.  Evidently our housekeeper sprays something to kills bugs during her weekly visit, because every bug that makes it's way in our house is dead or dying by the time we see it.  And the stuff must work on scorpions as well, because this little guy was on pretty much done for.  He is small, but w'ere told the little ones have the most toxic venom.

My favorite neighbor is little Camila,  She's four years old and lives in a series of little shacks right next door to us.  This is normal in Ajijic....and pretty much anywhere in Mexico.  You'll have some beautiful homes, and then right next door the most humble of homes.  That doesn't mean they aren't good neighbors.....at least most of the time.  Little Camila loves to go for walks with Herm and me.  When we're shopping,  I will usually pick up little gifts like coloring books, bubbles and little toys, for her and her 6 year old brother Ubaldo.  Camila loves to come over and visit....usually she'll have something for me as an excuse to come over - like flowers she picked or some cookies.  It's fun for her to play out on our terrace and put her feet in the fountain and she absolutely loves our mirador with the hammock chairs.

Well, last week we received our electric bill.  No post office here, instead the utilities have someone that walks up and down the streets of the village and drops off the bills at every house.  We received two bills:  one was for mid-February thru mid-April and the second from mid-April thru mid-June.  We arrived on May 3rd so the only bill we had any responsibility for was the April/June one.  It was a bit higher than I expected (about $200 USD for the two month period) but not too outrageous.  But the earlier bill, was very high, about $500 USD for two months, and for much of that time no one had been living in our house.  This immediately got the attention of Coco,  our property manager and she sent over our two handymen to check it out.  Didn't take long.  Sweet little Camila's family was swiping our electricity.  They had a wire strung from our power pole over to their homes.  My theory why the February/April bill was so high was that it was probably cold here and they needed space heaters.  The handymen called  Coco and she said "call CFE".  The handymen said that would result in a $40,000 peso fine for Camila's family (about $3,600 USD) and someone might be arrested.  Matt asked them not to do this, so the second option was to talk to them and then disconnect the wire.  No one was home so our handymen just disconnected and left it at that.  Later that evening the wire was reconnected.  At this point Coco was definitely calling CFE.  We talked to one of our other neighbors who speaks excellent English about the problem and he said he'd talk to them.  Well the result was that they did disconnect before CFE came out to check on the problem, but the result is that all of Camila's family is in the dark.  We both feel terrible about this when we look down from our mirador and see our neighb ors navigating around their series of shacks just using flashlights.  Hopefully they'll figure out how to get their own electricity soon.

Saturday we went to lunch with a couple we met who live in San Juan Cosala, a little town about 20 minutes from us.  Had a great time and Vern and Kathleen did a wonderful job showing us around that area.  We had lunch at a great Mexican place in their village and then we ended up having dessert at a restaurant in the hills that looks out over the lake.  Very elegant!

And then there was Hermann's wild walk!  On day last week we started out for our normal morning walk.  Sometimes we head east and stay in a very residential area; other times we go to the west and walk down to the plaza.  This day was a plaza walk.  On the way to the plaza we pass a carnaceria (meat shop).  There are always several very large dogs hanging around outside the carnaceria as the butcher always throws scraps to the dogs each morning.  One dog we've seen there often is a huge great dane.  No problem, as he's always very friendly to both me and Herm.  As we neared the carnaceria that morning I saw the great dane and he immediately headed right to us....tail wagging.  He greeted Herm and they did their sniffing thing and the great dane walked on by....and that's when it got interesting.  He came up behind us and grabbed the leash out of my hand.  He started dragging poor Herm around the plaza like he was a toy.  No way Herm could keep up with those long legs so he just kind of got drug along.  The kids started yelling "Paco! Paco!" so I assume that was the dog's name and then the butcher came running out yelling at the dog as well.  But he was having too much fun to stop.  I managed to catch up with them and grabbed the leash but couldn't get it out of Paco's mouth...and he thought I wanted to play tug or war.  We were getting no where.  I finally decided to just unhook Herm's collar; once I'd done that Paco started to run off with his new treasure with the butcher chasing him.  Paco soon decided the leash was no fun without Herm or me at the other end so he soon dropped it and the butcher brought it back to me.  From now on....no more walks past the carnaceria!

What's it Like to Live in Mexico?

Since we started planning our retirement and announced our plan to spend an extended amount of time in Mexico, the first thing most people said was "isn't that dangerous?"  Others worried about our health.  Others just thought we were crazy to leave the comforts of home.

Well, after six weeks in the Lake Chapala area here's what I think.

Nice Surprise during a Walk through our Village

Life here seems very normal.  Very rarely do we absolutely need to speak Spanish, most people who work in the restaurants and larger stores speak very good English.  If we want to cook dinner at home, we can find everything we need at this grocery store two blocks away......or the Walmart super center which is about 1 1/2 miles from our home.  But we prefer buying from the markets.  We can walk through and get an amazing amount of beautiful fruit and vegetables at a very reasonable price.  There are two butcher shops that I can easily walk to.  If we want to eat out, no problem.  Tons of very nice and affordable restaurants.  Most we can walk to, but we never drive more than 15 minutes to eat out, no need to.


We have a filtration system at the house, so we drink the water out of the tap. Our cable t.v. has gone out several times....but never for more than an hour or so.  Our wireless internet was driving both of us nuts!  The connection was very erratic and seemed to be out about 30% of the time.  After weeks of suffering, we talked to our property manager about this.  Matt knew the router needed to be replaced but we weren't sure how to do this.  She made one call to TelMex, our provider.  They agreed to replace the modem, but we needed to pick it up.  We were prepared for the worst!  Long lines, confusion over our account, language barriers.  Matt insisted I go with him to serve as his translator.....not that my Spanish is great, just much better than his.  We walked in, asked the man at the kiosk at the front of the store if he spoke English, he said no but asked for our names.  We gave him our names and showed him our old router.  And he gave us a new router....simple as that.  We were in that store about 2 minutes.

There are two golf courses within a reasonable distance from our house, both are only nine holes.  Matt has been playing two times a week.  I don't think they are nearly as nice as courses he was used to in Kansas City, and probably a bit more expensive.  But on the other hand, here you can play seven days a week, 12 months a year.

There seems to be plenty of entertainment.  It's easy to find a restaurant with live entertainment, especially on Friday and Saturday nights.  We splurged last Friday and had a nice dinner out, and the restaurant had a guitarist who knew  all the old music we liked to listen to:  Beetles, Clapton, James
Taylor, Cat Stevens.  Was a good night.  For dinner we had a stuffed portabella mushroom appetizer, shrimp dish for Matt, salad for me, two glasses of wine (for me), Coke for Matt, two desserts and coffee.  La cuenta was about $500 pesos (or about $45 USD).  Not bad for date night.  There is live theater here that we've heard good things about but haven't been.  There's a Mexican festival in our pueblo Saturday night with Mexican dancers, food and Margaritas.  On Sundays there are free dance lessons at the Plaza.  They're teaching Danza, which is a sexy Cuban dance.  We watched.....didn't participate....but it was quite a show. There are two movie theaters near us, one we can easily walk to.  The admissions is $40 pesos (or about $3.50).  Wednesday is BOGO at the theater, so $3.50 for both of us to watch a recently released movie.  Last week we saw Identity Theft.  We bought two large drinks and shared a large popcorn for another $50 pesos.  Night at the movie, with snacks, for less than $10.  This week we want to see the Halley Berry movie "The Call".

We love our house.....but we've come to realize we seriously pay more for rent than is necessary.  For $1,000 a month we have a two bedroom house with a rooftop mirador, beautiful garden and separate casita, including housekeeper and gardener once a week.  Compared with the apartment we rented in Kansas for $925 a month, this seemed like a steal.  Plus we have no heating and cooling costs here.  Just electricity to run lights, t.v. and the washing machine.  Gas for the stove and to heat water.  We have a gas clothes dryer, but don't use it.  We have a clothes lines and use it instead.  But then we started talking to other extranjeros (ex-pats) who rent.  Seems like you can easily rent an amazing house here for $500 to $700 a month.  An apartment similar to what we rented in Kansas for $925 a month would be about $250 a month here.  Oh, well.....we knew that if we hit town and looked for a place after we arrived, we'd probably get a better deal.  But we both liked the idea of having a nice place reserved for us and ready for us when we arrived.  No surprises!

All that being said, here's what our last few days were like.

Drive to Mazemitla

Friday is housekeeper day and neither one of us like to sit around on our butts watching our little pregnant housekeeper clean our house.  Makes us feel very decadent and lazy.  We decided to take a day trip up into the mountains to a little pueblo called Mazemitla which is about a two hour drive from Ajijic.  Was a very nice drive, the road seemed very safe and in good condition, although a bit narrow.   Mazemitla was fun, very pretty little pueblo.  We shopped a bit, seems they are very proud of their fresh cheeses, caramel and a liqueur they make from local nutsl.  We bought some of each.  Had an ok lunch at little taqueria and then headed home.

Streets of Mazemitla

The Center of every Mexican Pueblo....a church

Reflective Matt at the Fiesta

On Saturday night there was a fiesta in the Ajijic plaza to raise money for a sculpture for the plaza.  They served real Mexican food (tamales, tostados and posole) which I enjoyed, but Matt not so much.  We discovered that the only Mexican food he really likes is Tex-Mex....all covered in gooey cheese.  There was a strange little dancer there, a man in drag with an awful mask, but sure it was part of Mexican folklore.  The mariachi band followed and we were surprised to see that one of our neighbors was the star performer.  From our mirador, we can hear him practicing several nights a week.  To be honest, he sounded much better with the band.

Our Neighbor on the Left

Sunday was Fathers Day and there were festivites planned on the square to honor Mexican dads.  This event was definitely geared more to the Mexicans than to the ex-pats.  As usual, nothing starts early.  It was scheduled to start at 8:00 after the dance lessons, but the dance lessons never start on time so they didn't end until almost 9:00.  Then the Fathers Day festivities started.  The band was very loud and out of tune......kids were running everywhere.  We only lasted until about 9:30 but the party was in full swing when we left. Here's a video of just a bit of that night....just to give you an idea how loud an crazy it really was.

There is one Thai restaurant in town and it has been closed since we arrived as the owners went back to Thailand for vacation.  They were scheduled to reopen on June 1st but then a sign appeared on the door saying the reopening was scheduled for June 17th.  Well, that was yesterday and I was determined to go.  We walked down about 6:00 and the were still closed!  Someone working inside told us they'd reopen Miercoles (Wednesday)...so I guess I wait a few more days.  We ended up eating at Ajijic Tango....and not sure why it took us so long to go there!  It's probably the most popular restaurant in town, and I now know why.  We both decided on filet mignon.  It was actually less expensive to get the filet mignon for two rather than individual steaks, and it was a whopping 26 ounces.  It looked like a roast!  And this was the best steak I've ever eaten.  We made it through half of it and brought the rest home for dinner another night.  Total tab for our steak dinner, including wine for me and a nice tip for the server was $300 pesos - or about $25 USD.  Unbelievable.

After dinner we walked down to the malecon and it was so beautiful.  Just a few families in the park, and some kids strumming their guitars.  I took another short video, just to compare this mellow scene was the madness from the night before.

And then nearly every night we watch the sun set from our mirador.  This is Matt's chance for his cigar of the day and my opportunity for a glass of wine.  Not a bad way to wrap up our day!

puppies

More boring for non-dog lovers, but remember those crazy puppies I mentioned during the last post?  Here's what happened when Carol (who is the most dedicated ranch volunteer ever!) and I decided "what would it hurt to let the puppies out of their pen for a bit?

Well, here's what happend.

Lost Keys, Dancing Horses, and Abandoned Dogs

Matt is feeling better! I'm so happy to have him with me as I continue to learn more about this charming little town. As part of his rehab to adjust to the climate, he's walking with Herm and I at least once a day. And playing golf. The first time he rented a cart, but for the last two rounds he's back to walking the course. I think he's nearly 100%.   Our walks throughout the village are lovely.  The weather is still a bit warm but very comfortable.  Traffic is slow along the cobblestones streets and our village is so pretty.  Here's a few shots of what we typically see.

Medical Care - Ajijic Style

O.K., we've been here three weeks and Matt really hasn't been up to snuff since we arrived.

I think the drive down here was emotionally draining for him.  Although it WAS a long drive, I was amazed at the quality of the roads and that, for the most part, the other drivers were cautious and respectful of the speed limits - very UNLIKE the Dominican Republic.  But for him, since we'd never made a trip like this before, he was just on edge.

Then when we arrived in Ajijic.  Since we've been here he's had little energy and been unable to sleep.  He says at some times he has trouble catching his breath.  We're at an altitude of 5,000 feet and although that isn't terribly high some folks do have a problem adjusting.

He tried playing golf the first week we arrived and that really kicked his butt.  The course was extremely hilly and he tried to walk with his pull cart and the course just isn't designed for a pull cart.  He was playing with three other men.....all much older than Matt....yet he was the one that barely limped off the course.

We have been talking for a week about making an appointment with a doctor and Friday we finally did it.  After some research, I decided the Integrity Clinic was the best choice.  They have a dental clinic in that space as well as several specialist that come in from Guadalajara one or two days a week.  Their General Practice doctor is there daily and has appointment hours from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.  We tried calling for an appointment but the call wouldn't go through.  So instead we made the short drive up to the clinic on Friday afternoon.  The clinic is very modern and extremely clean and the receptionist spoke excellent English.  She called the doctor to make sure she was coming in that afternoon and then booked us an appointment for 5:30.

At 5:30, no doctor.  The receptionist told us she would be there in five or ten minutes.  From previous experiences in the US with doctors running late, I thought I had time to take a little walk outside.  Well....when I returned from my five minute walk, both the doctor and Matt were waiting for me in the reception area.  The doctor, a young woman barely 30 years old, apologized repeatedly for keeping us waiting.

We had filled out no medical history while we were waiting....instead the doctor takes your history.  As she asked Matt questions about his medical history, any answer he gave here that she thought might be out of the ordinarly, she pursued with additional questions.   She put an oxygen monitor on his finger and then started to listen to his heart and chest.  The entire time she kept an eye on the oxygen monitor.  She probably spent two or three minutes just listening to his breathing.

After the exam she pointed out to Matt that his oxygen level was a bit low, but that when she asked him to breath deeply it went into normal range.  She talked to him about consciously controlling his breathing as he adapted to the altitude.   She also gave him a prescription for something that would relax him and help him sleep better.  She wants him to have a complete blood work done.  We told her we had an appointment to see our doctor in the US in September and he could have it done there.....then she told us that this lab did an excellent job, that she'd like the opportunity to review his results to make sure there were no other problems,  and that the lab  charged $550 pesos (about $45 USD).  We're sold, we'll get the blood work done here and take the results back to the US with us.

The total cost for this 40 minute exam by this professional and very caring young doctor was $300 pesos ($25 USD).  After that visit, it jogged my memory that I had seen an ENT in Ft. Lauderdale before we came down here.  I didn't make payment at the office as I was waiting to see what the adjusted charge would be.  We have high deductible health insurance and haven't met our deductible yet this year so I knew I would be footing the entire bill.  However, he was a preferred doctor with our insurance so it would be an adjusted rate.  I pulled up the statement of benefits and here's what I found:  total charge for my visit was $505 dollars.  The doctor initially charged $250 for the office visit.  He injected steroids directly into my nose to hopefully shrink the polyps.  The charge for him to do these two injections was $240.  The cost of the steroids was $15.  The entire claim was pending as Aetna was waiting further clarification from the doctor regarding this treatment.  I'm thinking that next time I need to visit an ENT, I'll find one in Mexico!
< I think a lot of it was just seeing the doctor and knowing he was OK and being more aware that he needed to breath deeply.  He actually played 18 holes of golf Saturday afternoon!  And he walked to the Plaza with Herm and me Friday night.