Isabelle

Our big news is not from Mexico but from Indiana: Eric and Crystal's baby girl, Isabelle, will arrive in early April. I will officially be an abuelo and Pixie will be an abuela. I have to say, the prospect of having a granddaughter lends some legitimacy to our early retirement. Baby and the happy parents are all doing fine. In fact they are getting ready to head down here on December 14. We have bought our tickets for Pixie to travel to Muncie on April 8, followed by me on April 22. Grand news! We will be sure to post photos once Isabelle makes her appearance.

We have also bought tickets to fly to Philadelphia on April 29, then to Providence to visit the New England contingent on May 6, returning to Mexico on May 20, in time to renew our visas in June and move to a new rental house.

We are beginning to notice signs of an upcoming Mexican winter. The evenings and mornings are a bit chilly, although hardly by Maine standards. The temperatures are probably in the high 50's or low 60's overnight, but since we are right on the lake, the wind makes it seem colder. Because the houses here are so leaky, and because our house does not have a lot of light coming in, inside the house is often cooler than outside. Pixie and I often think it is cool and dress accordingly. Once we get into town, it is considerably warmer. The Mexicans, of course, think it's frigid. I might wear a flannel shirt in the evening, but I routinely see Mexicans wearing winter coats in the middle of the day. I guess it's all relative. Even in Maine, 40 degrees would seem frigid if it came in early September, but absolutely balmy in February. It seems to me like we should be bringing our beautiful potted plants inside. Old habits die hard.

We haven't made it into town for the big fiesta as of yet. Pixie has to keep her cast on for another week, and it's hard for her to walk long distances or stand for any length of time. Going to the fiesta at the plaza means parking a distance away and standing around unless we're lucky enough to find a bench. We'll try one of these nights before it's over. We are hearing LOTS of fireworks in the morning, in the evening, and in between. Mexicans appear to love noise.

We also went to the parade to celebrate Revolution Day, to commemorate the 1910 revolution which deposed the long-time dictator, Porfirio Diaz, and established the legends of leaders like Benito Juarez, Poncho Villa, and Emiliano Zapata. The parade was mostly schoolchildren marching with thier schools. Some of the smaller kids were dressed up as Mexican ladies in rebozos and bandidos. It would have been considered terribly politically incorrect in the US, but it was very cute, I have to say.


We have been checking out some different venues to hear some music. Mostly what we've been finding is gringo dance music..ugh. We've seen mariachis at public events, but not in night spots. I know there is some traditional Mexican guitar music, but you have to look for it. There is usually some fairly good jazz, but trying to find out who's playing on a particular night around town is not easy. We're working on that. Last night we went to the "Old" Posada. This is an historic hotel in Ajijic where Tennessee Williams and Somerset Maugham stayed years ago. I hear that both Elizabeth Taylor and Erroll Flynn also stayed there. It's a terrific old building, although the music, billed as "Ricardo," (I, of course imagined a guy on a stool playing acoustic Mexican traditional music) turned out to be a loud band playing old gringo tunes by the Everley Brothers and the Lettermen. We had fun with our friends Jean and Paul anyway. We will continue with our search for the perfect nightspot.

We celebrated Thanksgiving with about 30 other UU's at Lew and Trudy's beautiful house on their terrace overlooking the village and the lake. They cooked two turkeys, and the rest was more or less pot luck. We had lots of great food, although no squash or turnip...difficult to find here. Pixie's cranberry sauce was a big hit, though.

As I mentioned before, I have been doing some writing since I've been here and am having some poetry published in the local magazines. I submitted a column on at topic near and dear to my heart: how to become a better thinker, to the editor of one of the magazines, El Ojo del Lago, The Eye of the Lake. He has asked me to submit a monthly column entitled Uncommon Common Sense. That will be an interesting challenge: having to come up with a monthly column. I am looking forward to that.

Pixie and I had an interesting experience yesterday. We volunteered to lead a conversation group for a group of Mexicans studying English who want to improve their speaking skills in English. It meets every Saturday with different discussion leaders. Most of the participants are hoping to improve their careers with a better mastery of English. Yesterday, we had a homeopath, an architect, a clothing manufacturer and shop owner, a computer technician, a furniture salesperson, and a political activist. We had a great time discussing the difference between the Mexican and US culture in a number of ways: gender, family, drug use, and working life. They were very anxious to learn to speak English well and had a lot of interesting things to say. I must say, their English is more advanced than my Spanish. Although I continue to pick up new vocabulary and participate in my Spanish lessons, any real fluency is still a ways away. I am able to communicate well enough, but I can see it will be a long process, and I admire the progress these students have made.

Happy Thanksgiving

As we prepare to spend our first Thanksgiving in Mexico, we are indeed grateful to be here in this beautiful country among new friends, and also grateful that all of our children and their respective partners will be joining us over the next couple of months. It is hard to be away from our family for Thanksgiving. We have already decided that next year we will plan to come home for the holidays.

We are actually also planning a trip back to the US in April and May. Since our first grandchild is scheduled to arrive in early April, Pixie is panning to fly to Muncie to help Eric and Crystal with the new baby the second well in April. After two weeks, I will join her in Muncie and we will spend another week with the new family. We will then fly to Phildelphia to visit some of my extended family there, including my dad and stepmom. Then, we'll probably fly into Providence to visit Cassie and Alana, then drive north to spend some time in Maine, returning to Mexico around May 20. That's how it looks now. We are looking forward to seeing everyone!

Life here has been fairly uneventful. Pixie's leg is healing well, and she is hoping to have the cast removed this week, just in time for the San Andreas fiesta scheduled in Ajijic for November 22-29. This is a 10-day event, of mixed religious and secular celebrations to celebrate the patron saint of Ajijic, St. Andrew. From what I hear, fireworks go off every morning at 5AM to awaken people for mass, religious processions weave throughout the village, and every night, music, foood, and fireworks fill the plaza. I have canceled my English classes during this period because because I am told no one tends to show up. This is apparently a BIG event in Ajijic.

Another event we are looking forward to is our first Quinceneria. This ia an event which is celebrated with a mass and a fiesta when a girl turns 15. It's kind of a cross between a coming out party and a Bas-Mitzfah, as far as I can tell. Daniel and Dora's oldest son's girlfriend is having her Quinceniera on December 8, and Dora and Daniel have asked us to accompany them as guests. I guess the party is similar to a big wedding: mariachi or banda music, dancing, food, tequila, etc. We may be the only gringos there, and we are looking forward to another authentic Mexican experience!

Pixie led our harvest communion service at our UU fellowship this morning with a sermon about Thanksgiving. She discussed how the pilgrims learned how to survive by the Native Americans who were already in the New World. To our congregation of expats living in Mexico she discussed how each of us are, in some ways pilgrims ourselves, and we find ourselves in a foreign land learning important lessons from the wonderful Mexican people we found here. She also talked about what our definition of "home" is. Is it where we came from, where we are now, or where our spirit is? Ultimately she concluded that home is where we are: not a particular place. We each need to bring a sense of "home" with us. The service was warmly received by everyone, as we broke bread together (Pixie's pumpkin bread and grape juice) in our typical UU fashion.

This year, we are going to share a big Thanksgiving dinner with our UU friends at Lew and Trudy's house. We're bringing fresh cranberry sauce. Fresh cranberries are NOT easy to find in Mexico, but Pixie, an intrepid New Englander, found them, albeit for a price. We will definitely enjoy our cranberry sauce this year!

We are thinking of everyone who we cannot be with this year, but please remember you are in our thoughts.

The photograph at the top was taken on the lake right behind our house. This fisherman who fishes every evening and morning uses the traditional method of casting a net for fish in Lake Chapala. This photograph is a bit grainy, but you can see his net if you look closely. (You can click on the image to enlarge it.) I love the photo because it captures, for me, the spirit of abundance we have found here and reflects the simple culture in which we are blessed to live.

Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead)

The Day of the Dead celebration was much as I wrote about in the last blog. Pixie was unable to go into the graveyard because of her bad foot, but Daniel and I went and he walked around the graveyard with me. This was good, because I would have felt a bit awkward walking around by myself. Being with him gave me some credibility, so to speak. As it turns out, it would hardly have been a problem. The Day of the Dead is not a solemn event. As we walked around the graveyard, we saw families gathered around the garishly decorated graves laughing and presumably sharing memories of their dead relatives. Some had brought in Mariachi bands to play, which everyone enjoyed. In one part of the graveyard, they had set up a stage with a huge skeleton in the back, where they had a Ballet Folklorico performance, a particular type of Mexican folk dancing popular at all types of fiestas and celebrations. Outside the graveyard, vendors sold all types of candles, balloons for the kids, and many types of food, including the special sweet Dia de los Muertos Pan, or bread. I brought home a loaf for Pixie.

The next two photos were taken by Steve and Susan Barr on their recent trip to Morelia. The marigolds are the flowers used in the grave decorations and altars because they are believed to attract the spirits of the dead.

Overall my impressions are that Mexicans look at death differently than we do. The reason they decorate the graves and set up altars in the streets and in their homes to honor their dead is that they believe the spirits of the dead will remain alive and with them as long as they are remembered. So this annual rite is, to them, keeping the spirit of their dead relatives alive.

Death is not hidden away here. When a Mexican dies, they display the body in the living room of the home, while they set up chairs in the street in front and eat and drink and honor the person who died, not unlike an Irish wake. Then they put the body in a wooden coffin and carry it on their shoulders to the cemetery, while everybody walks behind. Sometimes Mariachis play music. It's kind of like a New Orleans funeral. We have been caught behind these funerals when driving in Ajijic.

We also shared a Day of the Dead service at our UU fellowship last week. Here one of our UU friends, Susan, remembers her husband who died shortly after they arrived in Mexico a number of years ago.


The other big event this week has been Pixie's birthday! And, the good news is, she was able to exchange her regular cast for a walking cast, so she's chucked the wheelchair for a simple cane. This was what she wanted most for her birthday. Her leg is healing well, and she will probably only need the cast on for another two weeks. In the meantime, she's able to get around much more easily. Here she is upright and dressed to kill!

My birthday shopping was made much more easy because the spectacular Feria Maestros del Arte just happened to be on Pixie's birthday. This annual exhibition has artisans from all over Mexico displaying their wares and, of course, selling them. It's rare to see so many of these fine Mexican craftspeople all in one place, this year at the yacht club in Chapala. The artisans are given the space free, so all the money they get goes directly to them, no middle man. Walking around there, you wish you had lots more money; the prices are reasonable but not really cheap, because there are some of the finest artists in Mexico. We saw everything from pre-Columbian sculpture replicas, to fine embroidery, to hand-crafted knives made by the same family for thirteen generations, to Mayan weavings, to incredible Huichol bead work, and more. It will definitely be an event we return to for Pixie's next birthday.

Here are a couple of photos of the craft work displayed at the event:






We went out for dinner at the Blue Agave Restaurant in Chapala with our friends Steve and Sue and toasted Pixie for her first birthday in our new home.

The weather has returned to a more seasonable temperature, with cool mornings and evenings, and warm and sunny afternoons. The huge white pelicans have returned to their winter home at Lake Chapala from Western Canada. We had never seen these birds which weigh 16-20 pounds each and have 100 inch wingspans. Pixie noticed that the fishermen on the lake take their cues from the pelicans and go to where they are congregating.


Here is a poem I wrote last week after visiting the graveyard on the Day of the Dead celebration:

Remember Me With Good Dark Beer

In Mexico, when people die

Their stay on earth does not expire,

Extending on in memory

As concrete offerings require.

Flowers, photos, food, tequila

All that they loved their families share

And gather o’er their loved ones’ bones

To eat, to weep, to laugh, to bear

The tragedy of human loss

A celebration of our fate

To breathe and love while briefly here

Aware it soon will be too late.

And as I watch this ritual

With skulls and food and special bread

I think of mother’s bare, cold grave

Unvisited, of course she’s dead;

She couldn’t know, nor could she care

If we brought her garlic bread,

Or beer, or shrimp, or needlepoint

Or tell her, “Mom, we’re all well fed!”

And as I wander through these graves

My eyes now sting with unshed tears

For soon my bones will lie here too.

Although I know, I still have fears

That no one will remember me

That I liked chips and good dark beer

And think of me when they indulge

And worse, not know what I held dear.

The Webbers' Visit and Pixie's Ankle

Wildflowers on the road from Lake Chapala to Mazamitla last week

We have had a couple of busy weeks since my last post. In a nutshell, Pixie fell and broke her ankle, and Curt and Judy Webber visited us from Auburn.

The accident occurred Tuesday October 16. Pixie and I were returning from picking up some groceries and she needed to stop and order a birthday cake for our friends' (Donna and Trudy) birthday party. We were on the wrong side of the main drag, and Pixie suggested that I pull into a parking spot and she'd run across the street to the bakery. I had my Spanish book in the car and decided to work on my homework while I waited. The next thing I knew, a Mexican woman was knocking on my window saying something about "su esposa." I looked and saw a Mexican man helping Pixie hobble along towards the car. She had slipped on some sand on a pavement incline and landed on her ankle. In typical Mexican fashion, the woman insisted on massaging Pixie's ankle for several minutes, presumably to reduce the swelling: very kind. On the way home we picked up a cane, which was pretty much useless, and I had to carry Pixie into the house when we got home.

Now, I married a very stubborn woman, because she refused to go to the doctor for two days, claiming that it was "just a sprain," and that "he'll just tell me to do what I'm already doing." Finally, when she had an X-Ray on Friday, she learned she had fractured the leg bone just above the ankle. She'll be in a cast for at least three weeks, until November 9, at the earliest, the day before her birthday. She's now in a wheelchair and getting around okay by herself, but she'll be very glad to get back on her own two feet. She claims she's sick and tired of being "pushed around" by everyone else.

Here is a photo of both of us on our recent trip to the not-very-handicapped-accessible town of Mazamitla last week.
We have learned how difficult it can be to get around in a wheelchair in Mexico, where most buildings are without ramps. As Peggy Seegar said, we are each only "temporarily abled" anyway, so we should be mindful of those who struggle with mobility.


We were very anxious to have Curt And Judy Webber, our very dear friends from Maine and from our Auburn UU congregation, come and visit. They were the first visitors we have had from Maine since we made the decision to move down here, and we were looking forward to demonstrating that we were healthy and happy, and that we indeed we were not insane to move down here. As an additional benefit, we had the pleasure of watching the Red Sox win it all again with some fellow New Englanders to cheer them on (although "cheer" may be an exaggeration in Curt's case who, although raised in Maine, is, inexplicably a Baltimore Orioles fan.)
We were planning a trip to Guanajuato over last weekend, but, because Pixie cannot walk around, it didn't seem feasible. Guanajuato is basically a pedestrian city. But, as it turned out, we didn't mind not going because it gave us more time to have a leisurely visit, and Curt and Judy got to meet so many of our new friends. We visited Janice and Teo's house and studio, and they bought a beautiful weaving by Teo and got to see their very unique home. They saw the original wall art and mural at Steve and Sue's house and Bebe's beautiful village home. They had margaritas at Jeanne and Paul's home and saw the magnificent view from their mirador at sunset. They saw the beautiful Lake Chapala Society Gardens. We heard some great music at La Tasca with Bebe and our friends from church, and they came to Bob and Kathy's service on Sunday. I took them to Guadalajara yesterday before they left, and we had a chance to see the colonial architecture and many of Orosco's dramatic murals. We kept them very busy, but they got to see how we live and why this place is so special to us.

In the photo below, Pixie enjoys lunch with Curt and Judy, soaking up some sunshine.

The weather was colder than we had anticipated, but to these hardy Mainers, it didn't seem to be much of a problem. The temperatures have been dropping into the high 50's at night, but with the end of the rainy season, the sun is strong in blue skies every day.

Everyone in Mexico is getting ready for El Dia de Muertes (Day of the Dead) celebration this week. In Mexico, people celebrate the lives of their dead family members on November 1 and 2. November 1 is for children who have died, and November 2 is for adults. They decorate their graves with flowers and bring food and drink that their dead relatives liked when they were here with us. Many families stay in the graveyard all night with candles celebrating this annual rite. Here is a photograph from such a grave decoration in Oaxaca (Geri Anderson):



In addition to the celebrations in the graveyard, people make many crafts to commemorate this holiday. Here are a couple of photographs published in Judy King's magazine of such artistic expressions. On the left is a Catarina, a skeleton wearing Victorian clothing. Our friend Bebe has a collection of these Catarinas in her house. The other photograph is of a sugar skull which are made and sold at this time of year. Our friends Sue and Steve brought Pixie a sugar skull to cheer her up!



















Now that we are almost in November, we are looking forward to our children, Eric and his wife Crystal and Cassie and her partner Alana visiting over Christmas. In January, our daughter Wendy and her boyfriend Troy will be spending two weeks with us and spending two additional weeks traveling around Mexico on their own. We can't wait to see them all!

Guadalajara Zoo and Other Matters

Last Thursday, we had a chance to visit the zoo in Guadalajara. We joined our Mexican friends, Dora and Daniel, their children Jesus and Yoselin, and Obert, their nephew. The zoo is excellent with many typical zoo animals and many not found in northern zoos because of the tropical climate here. Pictured here are giraffes, which we were able to feed carrots to on the African safari ride.


To the left, the kids are fascinated by the polar bear who was somewhat uncooperative and slept the entire time we looked at him. Below is a marvelous Toucan, native to the coastal areas of Mexico.




At the end of a long day, the kids were ready for more, while all the adults were exhausted!



We are enjoying the warm October weather, which ranges from the high 60's at night to the 80's during the day. It doesn't really feel like fall to us, except that I have been able to watch the Red Sox in the ACLS on our Canadian satellite TV. (They are losing to the Indians in game 3 tonight!) We are told it's been a beautiful fall in Maine, and we do miss the colors and the apple picking. We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Curt and Judy Webber who will arrive next week: our first visitors form Maine. We are looking forward to showing them around our new hometown and introducing them to some of our friends here. It will be a fun week!

Pixie has been involved in the Sunday Service Committee at church, and is planning to lead our Thanksgiving Service. She is planning another service in January as well. I finally read some of my poetry at the writer's group, which was a good experience. I will have some poetry published in a local magazine in November.

We have been looking at some real estate; last week we looked at seven houses, all in the Ajijic area, all in our price range. We are in no hurry to buy a house because we're not sure the market is as good as it will be later, and we will be able to find many rentals in the spring. It was interesting looking at the houses, though. Since all the homes here are behind walls, you can't really tell what they're like. Every house seems to be very different with different layouts, colorful tiles, gardens, and terraces. Here is a house we liked the best, but it had a few problems which made us decide it wasn't THE ONE.
We are finding the prices of houses in Ajijic to be quite high, and we're wondering whether we might get more house for the money if we rent. We might eventually decide to buy a house in another town, like Chapala or Riberas, but, for now, we like it in Ajijic. We'll see what turns up in the spring, when there are more houses available to rent after the snowbirds leave. We're also wondering if prices may decline as a result of the mortgage problems in the US. If people can't sell their houses there, they can't buy them here.

An update on the mudslides: the situation is much better. The people of San Juan Cosala have received much support, and most are back in their homes. They are having a big fund raiser fiesta this weekend with food, mariachi music, crafts, and other events. Many people will be going, including us.

I will probably do the next blog entry after our trip to Guanajuato with Curt and Judy. It is supposed to be gorgeous, so I should have some great photos.

Here's a short poem about Mexican houses:

CASAS MEXICANAS

Far from the hollow wood-frame walls

Whose siding I painted and caulked all those years,

These houses were built brick by brick

With cement mixed by boys with shovels,

Stand against the sun, thick with color.

Some grow back from walls and gates

Unseen garden spaces, stone, and water

Spilling over fountains. Iron, glass, and

Leather tables, chairs, sit inside, outside, inside

On covered terraces, quiet among succulent leaves

And rainbow blossoms.

Giddy tiles: mustard, indigo, crimson

Join in patterns like ceramic quilts

Cool and permanent.

Fall is Here!

Fall is here, and the rains have just about stopped, leaving sunny days and pleasant evenings. Yesterday, we took a trip to Zapopan, just northwest of Guadalajara with our friends Steve and Sue, and Paul and Jeanne. We all drove into Guad. in our car, then took the subway and a city bus to the center of Zapopan. Pictured above is the Basilica built by the Franciscans in 1690. You can see the ornate interior of the basilica, with the virgin of the immaculate conception of Zapopan on the altar, gold leaf adornment, and beautiful fabric hanging throughout. We saw a number of Mexicans approaching the altar on their knees.

Zapopan is a fun place, with one of the largest public plazas in Mexico, lots of street vendors, and plenty of places to eat. They have an interesting museum about the Huichol Indians, and a famous mural in the municipal building which features portraits of socialist heroes, Ho Chi Min, Karl Marx, Fidel Castro, and Vladimir Lenin, along with a couple of obligatory naked people:
We finished off the day with dinner in a Greek Restaurant, then walked through the well-lit plaza and figured out our way back on public transportation.

Not too much of great excitement is occurring at the moment; we are in somewhat of a routine with our Spanish lessons and my ESL teaching twice a week. My students are working very hard, and are progressing rapidly. Most Mexicans know at least some English anyway, because they are exposed to English words frequently. But I am finding that their knowledge of English is random, and that they have a lot of trouble with pronunciation, as we do with Spanish. For example, there is no sound for our "V" in Spanish, which is undifferentiated from "B." They also have no sound for our "TH." In Spanish, the letters always are pronounced the same, so English drives them crazy. Many of the students are working in jobs which bring them in contact with English-speaking people, so they are motivated to improve their English to improve their careers.

I love getting to know them and learning about their lives. It's a very low-pressure environment, with no grades or graded homework. I give them homework, and some do it. I give them a quiz, but call it "practica," so they won't feel nervous. We play lots of dumb games I make up and we make quite a bit of noise. They laugh at my feeble Spanish pronunciation, but appreciate my efforts. I told them that my goal is to have them talking like gringos, which they find hilarious!

We are participating in a Great Books discussion group, which meets every two weeks and is very interesting. The people who are in this group are amazing, and the discussions are quite challenging. Their expertise is in many different fields, and they are able to teach us lots that we didn't know. Last week we read "The Great Inquisitor," by Dostoevsky, and had a wonderful discussion about faith vs. doubt. One of the group participants was a Catholic monk for ten years, and he brings a unique perspective. He and a Jewish friend have been recreating hypothetical dialogs between real Christian and Jewish thinkers to debate theology and the issues of the day. So far they've done dialogs in the first century AD, the fourth century, and, the one I saw, in the eleventh century, right after the first crusade. These guys are amazing, and are planning another dialog to take place around the time of the Protestant Reformation, then publish their dialogs.

As I mentioned before, I have been attending a local writers group, and will be reading my poetry for the first time on Friday. Many of the other writers in the group have published extensively and know a lot about the craft of writing. We sign up to read, and have as much at ten minutes. The moderator then calls for comments, and we react to the piece which was read. Most people read fiction, although there are other poets and essayists as well. The comments are usually constructive, but very honest. I am planning to thicken my skin before Friday. I have never really worked on my poetry in this fashion, and I have never read any publicly. But, I hope to improve. Here is one of my poems I plan to read Friday:

Foreigner, Walking

Stepping out into the surprising heat

Whitening my skin, it seems

As I navigate the uneven stones

Of our Rio Zula

Past a dark-skinned boy

Drinking Coke and mixing sand

Into cement. “Hóla,” I offer,

And he responds more lyrically.

Mangos fallen to the street

In the overnight rain

A flat-faced, indigenous madre

Picks them up, bruised and unripe alike

Into a faded nylon mesh bag

Another beautiful “Buenos Días”

Enunciated slowly, carefully

With a slight smile.

Passing an arborreta, glancing into

The dark space

Lined with small packages of snacks,

A cooler with soda, juice

Milk and cerveza.

A small boy, ebon hair,

Busy red fingers dancing

Counts berries into small bags,

His grandmother cutting melon

At a white, plastic table,

Teen boys with greasy hair,

Gold chains, swagger by, ignoring.

A man with a leather lined face

Pushes an incongruously white

Straw hat up his forehead

As he leans intently, under

The open hood of a twenty year-old

Plymouth, proud but helpless.

He waves and smiles,

As I trudge past,

Exercising,

No place to be,

Plenty to eat,

Here by choice,

And grateful,

But foreign.

Mexican Independence Day: "Viva Mexico!"

This has been a big week for celebrating. Mexican Independence Day is celebrated on September 16, to commemorate the day Mexico became a nation independent from Spain in 1821. There are many events during the week leading up to the actual date, including concerts, parades, and, of course, all sorts of fiestas. As I pointed out earlier, Mexicans are very patriotic and proud of Mexico.

The main celebration occurs on the evening of September 15. Each town in Mexico has a tradition, starting at 11PM, of reading Mexico's Declaration of Independence from Spain, and then having the mayor hold the flag and read what they call "the Grito," a word which in Spanish means "shout." He shouts out the names of Hidalgo and his fellow patriots who gave their lives for Mexico, and the crowd replies with a loud "VIVA!" after each name. At the end he shouts "VIVA MEXICO!" and the crowd replies likewise. This final exchange is repeated a total of three times. Fireworks explode and the party continues...all night. The picture below shows the mayor performing his Grito duties, while the two photos above capture the spirit of the evening. It was very emotional to be there. We wimped out and left about 11:30.

We also were invited to a family fiesta to celebrate the "cumpleanos" or birthday, of Daniel, the caretaker of our housing complex here. Again, we were the only gringos invited to this very nice party. Dora, Daniel's wife made Pozole, a traditional Mexican stew made with corn, pork and chiles. It was delicious. We also had a traditional Mexican birthday cake, Tres Leches: made with three different types of milk. We witnessed the Mexican tradition of having the birthday person, Daniel in this case, put his face down to take a first bite from the cake, while his usually male amigos try to mash his face into the cake, to great hilarity all around. We are getting to know more and more Mexicans every day, and we really enjoyed being included in their family fiesta. One of the gifts we gave to Daniel was a new flag. You can see from the photo below, in which Obert, Daniel's nephew is holding their old flag, that he needed a new one. Jesus, Daniel's son, is holding the new flag. Yoselin is also posing coyly with the new flag.





The work to clean up form the mudslides in San Juan Cosala continues. There is progress being made, but it will be awhile before things return to normal there. The Guadalajara Reporter said that 1200 homes were evacuated, and 50 were totally destroyed, with 20% of the homes in SJC suffering "serious" damage. There have apparently been no deaths and few serious injuries. One woman was up to her chest in mud and rescued after about 48 hours. Our UU fellowship has donated supplies and money and has pledged to continue to help.

We are apparently nearing the end of the rainy season; we have not had rain in about five days. The weather is warm a beautiful during the day, and the evenings are pleasantly cool. Pixie has recovered from a bad cold. We are looking forward to Curt and Judy Webber's visit in late October. And the big news: Maggie just got another wonderful haircut from Jael, her new barber:

Update on Mudslides

The good news is that the early reports of deaths may have been wrong. It appears that the early reports were of people missing who have since turned up. It appears as though there are no confirmed deaths, but one child may be missing.

There is terrible damage, as the photos show, but the community effort to help the victims is huge, and coming from everyone.

Many people have been displaced from their homes, but slowly trucks are moving the huge boulders and rivers of mud which have poured into San Juan Cosala. Electricity and phone service are being fixed, although water seems to be a problem.

I had my class last night, and four students from the affected areas were not there, but other students were there and reported that they had been contacted and were ok. One sustained heavy damage to her house, and another lost a car.

The Mexicans are very good at pulling together to solve problems for themselves. People don't wait for help from outside, although that too is coming. As I write this early Friday morning, it is pouring outside, just what the area does NOT need now.

I'll post again soon. Here are some of the latest photos from other blogs and webboards:

Tragic Mudslides at Lake Chapala

There has been a tragic turn of events here. The next town to the west of Ajijic, San Juan Cosala, has suffered devastating mudslides. Apparently, early yesterday morning, there was a waterspout, which resembles a tornado, which sucked water out of the lake and dumped much of it high in the mountain above San Juan Cosala (SJC) This area is quite vulnerable to mudslides, for some reason, and the problem has been exacerbated by the fact that people have been building homes high up in the mountains, even though scientists have warned against this. There is a very upscale development called the Racquet Club above SJC.

Initial reports are incomplete and not confirmed, but it appears as though many homes in the Racquet Club area have been completely destroyed or heavily damaged by mud and huge boulders which came down from the mountain. Homes in the lower village have been damaged by the mud and rocks from the mountain. About 25 cars have been swept away by the water. There have been some deaths, and other people are missing. The road into SJC has been completely blocked and is unpassable, so many people are stranded in their homes. They have set up shelters for people; the military and Cruz Roja (the Red Cross) is using helcopters to evacuate people.

We are fine in Ajijic. Some streets have had minor flooding, but this is common in the rainy season. SJC is especially vulnerable to this type of damage; a similar problem occurred about eight years ago. The community is pulling together to collect money, food, and other needs for our neighbors in SJC. I have at least three students in my class who live in SJC, and I am concerned about them.

I did not take these photos. They were provided from news reports and another local blog. Photos of the worst areas won't be available until people can get into the area.


This is all I know now. I don't know if any of this is being reported by the US press, but if you see anything, don't worry about us; we're fine. I'll post more information as it becomes available.

September, and Life is Busy

September brings the end of summer and the beginning of fall activities. Although, we won't be gearing up for a new year of teaching, feeling that snap in the air I used to love about fall Maine evenings, and picking Macintosh apples up on Perkins Ridge Road, we are getting busier here on a number of fronts.

First, I'd like to add a bit to the post I last did about the Huichol family which we are trying give a hand to. A group of us went to meet HTeo in Chapala last week to take a look at the house that he has been offered rent-free for five years. It is basically a rough building with a partial cement floor, two metal windows. It is about five times the size of their present home, but it is very rough by any standards.
Of course, heat is not needed in homes here, so that's not a problem. There is a toilet hooked up to the city sewer system, but no other piping.











Roberto (left), who is a friend of ours who knows about local construction methods, talks here with HTeo about what renovations he would need to make the house livable. HTeo can do the labor, and he has a friend who can help him hook up piping to the toilet and a sink. So his primary need would be for materials to fix the floor, do something about the roof to deflect the heat (it's a metal roof now), and get a metal door for security. We are hoping to put together a fund to help this family get established. We also found out that one of HTeo's brothers was attending a local school, but could not afford a uniform. The other students were making fun of him because of the uniform, and because he speaks very poor Spanish (he grew up speaking the Huichol language.) We had a special collection at church last week to raise some extra money to help with the uniform money immediately. SO, we're making progress.

September in Mexico, besides being the beginning of the end of the rainy season, is devoted to two weeks of celebrations leading up to Mexican independence Day on 16 Septiembre. The Mexican people are very proud of their country and enjoy patriotic displays, which are often accompanied by the declaration, "Viva Mexico!" Overt patriotism here seems different than it does in the United States, for some reason. I think it's partly because Mexico is not a powerful country. Many Mexicans are not happy with their politicians and the corruption in their country, but they absolutely love Mexico. I think it used to be more like this in the US, but lately, such overt flag waving is usually used by right wing conservatives to justify their xenophobic, "we are the best because God is on our side" politics. (It's my blog, so I'll add my opinions!) But here, it's a simple expression of pride, especially in the face of the racism and humiliation coming from north of the border. Many of the Mexicans we meet are very happy to meet Americans who also value their country.

One of the events we went to was a free concert by the waterfront in Chapala to lead up to the Independence Day celebration. There is a Mariachi Festival in Guadalajara this week, and this event was part of the festival. Mexican folkloric dancers from several towns appeared, along with an excellent Mariachi band. I was surprised at the Mariachis. This band, which was actually from Tuscon, Arizona, had a large complement of women who played fiddles and sang solos. the music, although clearly Mexican, was very emotional, sometimes even reminding me of opera.












We are also busier now because our Spanish classes have started. Pixie is taking an intro course in addition to a level one class, and I am taking a level two class on a different day. I also started teaching my ESL class, which is wonderful. The students are highly motivated, and it's all about learning. I can tell I will behaving fun with this group. So far I have sixteen students aging in age form 13 to 48. It still makes me the old man in the room. I am glad that Mexico has a strong culture of respecting their elders! It shows in class.

We have been having some extremely heavy rainstorms recently, always at night. We, and many others, had some rain get in the house; thank God for tile floors! A bit messy, but no harm done. It's my own fault. We have an outside patio within our house, with a drain in the floor and surrounded by four walls. The drain was plugged with leaves and the water had nowhere to go but into the guest room. Anyway, they tell us the rainy season will start winding down this month.

Huichol Family

I was thinking a great topic for my blog entry this time might be the biggest thing for me this week: my colonoscopy. But Pixie suggested that readers of this blog might be less than enthusiastic about such details. Rather than continue with this idea and risk getting all pooped out by the effort, I had to find something else to write about.

We have some friends, an American artist, Janice, and her Mexican husband, Teo, who attend our UU fellowship (Teo is the one who weaved the beautiful tapestry for our pulpit). Teo is pictured here with one of his original tapestries. Teo worked for many years as a migrant worker in California, but Janice convinced him he could make his living with his weaving. They now share a studio in Ajijic.

For some time Janice has befriended a family of Huichol Indians who were living in a vacant lot behind their house. The Huichols are an ancient people, descended from the Aztecs, who still practice the pre-Columbian shamanic traditions of their ancestors. For more information about this interesting indigenous group, check out this link: http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/huichol/huicholindex.html

Anyway, Janice and Teo began helping this family and learning about them. Their story is interesting. The oldest son is named Teo, as is Janice's husband. (I will hereafter refer to him as HTeo, to differentiate him from Janice's Teo). HTeo is pictured at the left with his wife and two small children and three of his siblings, all wearing their traditional Huichol dress. HTeo came from a large Huichol family who lived in the mountainous area of Northern Jalisco. When he was young, his father separated from the tribe and his mother, and brought HTeo to live in Ajijic. Unfortunately, his father was an abusive alcoholic and HTeo grew up, essentially, homeless on the streets of Ajijic. He would go back and visit his mother when he could, but otherwise led a very difficult away from his people. About a year ago, or so, HTeo returned to visit his mother and the rest of his family in the mountains, with his father. While they were there, his father brutally murdered his mother in front of one of HTeo's young sisters. His father took off into the mountains and has not been heard from or caught. HTeo decided to return to his Huichol roots, and took responsibility for his large family. He is the oldest of eight children, and is married and has two children of his own. He returned with several of his siblings, leaving the others and his wife in the mountains, and found a small place to live in the Chapala area, where he is trying to make a living by selling his traditional Huichol bead work. Many of us became involved with this family when Janice was trying to help them survive here and asked if any of us could donate some money to help them pay their rent and buy food. Many of us did, and we has a chance to meet the family several times.

HTeo finally found a slightly larger place to stay, a one-room, 9 x 21 foot house with a bath and one bed, and has brought his other siblings and his wife and two children to live. There are now HTEo and his wife, their two children, and his seven siblings living in this house, eleven people in all. Two of his sisters and his wife (right) are pictured here. He is scraping together barely enough money to pay the 800 pesos monthly rent and buy food by selling his beadwork in the market in Ajijic.

Janice just informed us that HTeo has found a house in Chapala which he can have for five years, rent free. It is still a one room house, but much larger. The only problem is that it has no working bathroom and needs a floor. A group of us who care about this family are going to look at this house on Friday and try to figure out how we can help HTeo and his family fix this house up so it's livable. I will update their story as it unfolds.

On the left are three of HTeo's brothers, for whom he is the primary caretaker, plus his daughter. They were enjoying juice and donuts yesterday at Janice and Teo's studio. It was a chance for many of our friends to meet the family that we have decided to help. They were intrigued by their own images on my digital camera.

Below is a picture of a beaded mask we bought from HTeo. These masks are made of many tiny beads which are painstakingly and prayerfully embedded in beeswax. All the masks contain sacred images of the Huichol tradition. This mask has the sun on the forehead, a sacred deer head on the chin, and peyote mushroom "cookies, which they eat as part of all their rituals. Peyote is illegal in Mexico, but the government has made an exception for the Huichols. The candle on the nose is also part of their rituals.


(Note: you may notice that I have figured out how to incorporate some images into the text. You can click on these photos to see larger images.)


A few other notes: GOOD NEWS! The keys which we thought were in Pixie's purse when we were robbed have turned up in another bag. So the only loss from the robbery was about $40 in cash.. We have our keys, so nobody is running around with our car keys after all.

Cassie has found an apartment in Brookline for $450 a month and is moving in this week. She is looking forward to following her dream by studying professional illustration at the Art Institute of Boston starting on September 5th. Wendy and Troy are living happily on the lake in Oxford, Maine. Wendy has been doing well waitressing at Pat's and Troy is working on a farm and practicing his Spanish with his Mexican coworkers. They are saving money to travel in Mexico when they come down in January. Eric and Crystal report that her pregnancy is going well. Crystal has started teaching two sections of English Composition as part of her assistantship.

I have been writing quite a bit of poetry lately and am looking forward to getting some feedback in the Ajijic writer's group which meets twice a month at a local restaurant. I am not a very good poet, but I enjoy it and hope to get better. Pixie has been getting very creative with her card making. I think she should put some on consignment at a local boutique.