Thursday, August 23, 2007

Hurricane Update

Several people have emailed expressing concern about Hurricane Dean. We were safe from the storm as we are near Guadalajara, in the mountains on the western side of the country, but still about 4 hours from the coast. Since it's made its second landfall, we are getting some rain today, but that's it. We're not vulnerable here, even to Pacific storms.

On another note, I was stopped by the police yesterday, this time unjustifiably. The officer claimed that I was driving the wrong way on a one way street (which I have been known to do, but not yesterday). He tried to tell me that I was in the wrong, which I knew I wasn't, but in Mexico, saving face is very important, so I was very agreeable, explained what I had done, and asked him to explain why I was wrong. He spoke good English, but gave me a vague answer. He asked to see my license and car importation papers. He was very nice but said he had to give me a ticket.

Smelling a shakedown, I was prepared this time. "Senor, I know I have to follow the laws, so if I have made a mistake, then give me a ticket."

"Do you know where to pay the ticket?"

"Yes, in Chapala."

"Oh, have you had a ticket before?"

"No, but I know my way around."

"Sir, let me discuss this with my partner"

His partner, who spoke very little English emerged from the car, after some discussion. I explained to him what I had done in the best Spanish I could muster. He looked at the original officer and said, I think, "Ello correcto," and smiled, waving his partner back into the car.

After a moment, the original officer approached me again. "Senor, I am going to be very nice to you today and let you go."

We all shook hands and smiled as though this had been some silly misunderstanding. I thanked both officers and went to return to the car. I noticed a young Mexican woman who had been standing in her doorway watching the entire episode. I rolled my eyes and shrugged. She shook her head and gave me a big smile.

2 comments:

Julia said...

Glad to hear that the storm didn't cause you any problems there at Lakeside.
I found your blog most interesting as I plan to visit there this October to see if living there is for me. I plan to visit Guadalajara, Lake Chapala, and then San Miguel Allende all in two weeks!
I don't think I have allowed enough time for more than a rough image of the area. I will have to return again to spend more time, so I can carefully consider a move to Mexico.
Your blog answered several questions I had on my mind about living at Lakeside. One was the badly behaving Gringos, I get upset when I see such behavior, so is there a lot of that going on, or just on the rare occasion?
Any how nice blog I will be keeping a look out for your next entry.

Julia

Bill said...

Julia,

There are some badly-behaving gringos here ,but I find they're easy to avoid. I try to counteract their negative behavior by behaving thoughtfully myself. There are many more here who respect the culture here and behave appropriately.

I hear SMA is very nice, but even more gringos there!