Final Days in Mexico

As we are winding down our final days as full-time residents of Mexico, we certainly have mixed feelings.  We are excited to be back in Maine for the better part of the year, but it is indeed sad to be leaving such a vibrant and interesting area and so many of our good friends here.  When I started this blog in 2007, we were anticipating a wonderful adventure and planned to live in Mexico permanently.  Our decision to be here only seasonally has little to do with Mexico itself, and much to do with us.  We miss Maine and our connections there, particularly Wendy and Cassie (and Eric and his family in Indiana). And it is difficult living in a foreign country permanently.  Trips back to Maine were too short and too expensive.  Medical care here is good, but, even though it's cheaper here than in the US, we could not afford to pay for a major medical event out-of-pocket.  So returning to the US for most of the year gives us stable medical care and the access to Medicare.  And there are smaller benefits, like seeing live baseball games and good Thai and Chinese food!


We have been enjoying many dinners, etc. with our friends who wanted to say adios in a personal way.  Marion and John, two other vegans in our UU Fellowship, invited us for lunch last week in their beautiful Ajijic home.  Here are some photos:

    A couple of days ago, we met our old neighbors from Riberas, Ron and Pat and Wayne and Claudette, at a local restaurant for dinner.  It was good to reconnect and we look forward to seeing them next year.

Since we are leaving on March 5, and our lease went until April 1, we have been trying to find a renter for the month of March to save us having to pay for the month we will not be there.  It didn't look promising, but on Feb. 27, our rental agent, Georgina, found a tenant.  That was good, but left us scrambling to get out on time.  We managed to pack our car and clean out the house by Feb. 29, but we had to have a place to stay until we leave on the 5th.  Our friends Ron and Jean rescued us; we are staying with them, our fully-packed car in their gated driveway, until we leave on Monday.  Now we're enjoying a relaxing weekend, anticipating our departure.  Last night we went out to eat with Ron and Jean and Gary and Kay, our new snowbird friends from Minneapolis.  From left, Pixie, Jean, Gary, Kay and Ron:

Jean had an art show at a local restaurant last weekend:

We already know where we will be staying when we return in January.  Our friend, Kay Walker, offered to let us stay in her casita for the three months we'll be here.  She has a large, beautiful home in one of the oldest areas of Ajijic, La Floresta.  She has three dogs, and we will be able to watch them if she wants to travel to Indonesia to visit her daughter, or go anywhere else.  Kay is a wonderful and generous person.  Since the casita has no kitchen, we'll have to share hers, and we will be able to watch TV in her library.  She has a lovely pool and garden area.  Here are some photos: 
Kay with Pixie: 

  The inside of the casita:

The library and kitchen area we will be using in Kay's house:

Many people who come here for the winter only have a hard time renting in advance for the following year since property owners would rather find a longer-term tenant, so people  often have to find properties to rent on line in the fall.  So we are doubly lucky that Kay has been so generous to offer us this opportunity!  Now we can know we have a beautiful living space, with Kay, when we return. 


So, the next blog post will be from the road, heading north.  Since this is the tail end of our current life in Mexico, I'll leave you with the funny image of the tail end of a garbage truck we were following the other day.  The garbage collectors, like garbage collectors everywhere, try to save the good stuff: