Friday, February 25, 2011

Finalimente, una Casa Nueva!



The good news: we have finally found a rental that we are happy with.  The bad news: we have to wait until April 1st to move in.  The new house is in a community called Villa Nova (veeya noba), not far from our original 2007 rental on Rio Zula, an the west end of Ajijic.  This home is in a small condo community of four houses sharing a common garden and pool/barbeque area.  The house is designed to look like a small Italian villa.  It is two stories with a living room, kitchen, dining area, computer nook, and full bath downstairs and two bedrooms and a bath upstairs.  This house is nicely furnished.  Although it is smaller than the house we owned in Ribaras, we can accommodate 4-6 dinner guests (more if we utilize the terrace), and the kitchen is a nice size with granite counter tops and a dishwasher.  There is a back terrace with storage and a washer dryer, and a small, private front terrace with an umbrella table.  The home comes with dishes, linens, etc.  The house has phone, high speed internet, and Canadian satellite TV.  We are especially happy, because the rent ($1000USD/month) includes electricity, phone, Internet, gas, gardener and maid.  All we have to pay is the TV, for $55 a month.  We pay the rental agent the rent and she takes care of all bills and we just call her if anything needs repair.  Stress-free living!  Alas, when we were looking at the property last week, I neglected to take photos.  But I’ll get them and post them as soon as I can.  Now, we just have to sort through all the stuff we’ve accumulated, now boxed up I our casita, and figure out what to bring and what to get rid of, because there is not a huge amount of storage space in this house.

Last week we had the opportunity to house sit for our friends Jeanne and Paul while they went to the beach.  Chuy got to spend the week with his buddy, Curly, and we got to live in their spacious, bright home surrounded by  a beautiful, mature garden.  The house and garden are so lovely, I’ve included some photos so you can see for yourself. 

























Sad news this week was the rather unexpected death of a friend and writing colleague, Jim Collums.  Jim was a retired helicopter pilot from Mississippi and Georgia who was also a talented writer, tennis teacher, actor, and dancer.  He was trim, fit, and did not look older than 65, although he was 75.  He had lived here for about eleven years and was well-known for his activities here and he was a friend to many.  He developed a serious kidney infection a couple of weeks ago and, unfortunately, when he finally sought medical help, he was dehydrated and quite sick.  He was transported to a hospital in Guadalajara, and was put in intensive care with blood sepsis.  He hung on for a few days, had a kidney removed, but died last Wednesday.  Hundreds of people, including many of my friends in the writing community, attended a celebration of Jim’s life at a local restaurant-music venue where Jim liked to dance.  We heard many stories about Jim, enjoyed dancing to a wonderful band, then, at sunset, we walked along the lake to the pier, carrying balloons and candles, and had a few short readings as Jim’s ashes were scattered in the lake and we let the balloons go into the sky.  Jim would have appreciated the service.  It was very special.  Here are some photos.








Otherwise, it’s been quiet here as the days are getting warmer with blue skies and lots of sun.  All our winter friends are here, so the traffic is bad, and we’re having full crowds at our fellowship and at our learning seminars at the Lake Chapala society.  I am leading the service at our UU Fellowship on Sunday, and I will be speaking on “Aging and Spirituality.”  Pixie has been recovering from a bad case of bronchitis which has kept her home and resting the past week.  I am getting ready to have some dental work done, and we’re looking forward to moving in another five weeks!  There has been no more of the drug violence in Guadalajara as I reported in the last couple of posts, which is good news.  Life goes on…

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