The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Well, we found our first black widow spider this morning. Actually Maria Elena, our maid, found it when she was dusting around the fireplace. It was bigger than I thought, and very much alive with a web with a baby in it. I was, however, able to overcome my Buddhist instincts and killed them both! We have been spraying the house once a month which has just about eliminated cockroaches and we've seen no more scorpions, but spiders seem to be less affected by the spraying. Anyway, I think this is a cool picture.

Last time I wrote about our maid, Maria Elena and our gardener, Horacio. I finally took photos of them. Horacio has been helping us do more in our garden. Plants are very inexpensive with lots of viveros (nurseries) in the area. So it's a good deal: We buy the plants and he does the heavy work!
Here are two of the garden projects we've been working on. On the left are the "cupo de oros" we have planted next to our terrace to eventually provide shade in the late afternoon. Now the sun streams in. On the right is Pixie's new rose garden.



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Maria Elena comes every Thursday to clean, but she does a little bit of everything. When we were putting on a dinner party with Mexican food one night, she jumped right in to show us how to prepare the chilis. We needed some sheets fitted to our bed, and she altered them for us. She's now started cutting my hair too. I, of course, pay her more for this, but she does a beautiful job, and it beats waiting in line at a Pelequeria (barber shop).
We have been experiencing a few water/sewer-related problems lately. The water comes from municipal wells here in Riberas, but the water has a lot of sediment and is very hard water. We have been having some problems with the water having a sulfur smell. It's not dangerous; we haven't become sick, but it is an unpleasant smell. It comes and goes, but we can't seem to get rid of it. I've been changing the filters on the water purification system and putting chlorine into the underground water tank (ajibe), but we have switched to bottled water for drinking, although we use the tap water for cooking and washing.

The other unpleasant problem is with our septic system. Our leech field is under our back yard. When the septic system, which is on an automatic pump, pumps the effluent into the leech field, we can smell it. It is unpleasant, but it only lasts a short time. But when we moved in, we did not have the problem. After talking to a septic professional, he told me it's because of the soil here. During the rainy season, the ground is saturated, so it takes longer for the effluent to percolate out. Once the rainy season is over next month, the problem should resolve itself. I hope so. Whew. Ultimately, we are supposed to get a sewer system here, so that will solve it.

The other big news for me is that I published a volume of my poetry. My friend Vicente did the cover illustration, and his partner Donna translated my title poem, "Sacred Lake" into Spanish. Here's the cover:
And here is the title poem:

Sacred Lake

I have come to a place where rivers

Flow from all directions

Into an ancient sacred lake

Which draws those

Searching and yearning, craving

Its cool waters and blood-red sunsets

To calm their souls and please their gods.

I was not looking for a lake

For I had traveled to many lakes

And I did not feel thirsty.

Yet, as I came upon this lake

So resplendent with spirits

Of many lives lived, I found my muse

And it quenched a thirst

I never felt till I fell at its bank

And drank deeply of its richness.

And I sense the presence of stunning

Aztec youth sacrificed to Quetzalcoatl,

Their fluids draining, with their lives,

From the mountains into the limpid waters

Far below. As now I see the old men

Casting their nets, content in their solitude,

Hoping to catch their dreams here.

And now as I drink from this lake

I taste the blood and desperate tears

Of those who cry and bleed for moments lost

Yet their fluids still seep

Into my heart; I embrace my muse

Finding my deep trembling voice

To create every moment anew.

And I bask in the heat of everyone

Who has learned to love again

By this ancient sacred lake.

A Day In the Life (continued)

Continuing the theme from the last post, I'll discuss more about "what we do all day." I hesitate to write much about this, because I don't want this to turn into a ridiculous diary of our life here, self-indulgent and not so interesting (as SO MANY blogs turn out to be), but I figure if you're not at least somewhat interested in this, you won't be reading it.

One of the benefits of living here, and one that took me a long time to get used to, is the opportunity to hire people to help with the cleaning and maintenance around the house. When we bought our house, the previous owners employed Maria Elena as a maid. She came once a week for five hours, and had a specific routine for keeping the house clean. They also employed a young man as a gardener, Horacio, who worked 2-3 hours a week. The yard looked superb. We decided to keep them on, so now they work for us.

There are some interesting issues, though, with hiring domestic help. First of all, you are considered their patron, which means you are assuming some responsibility for them. Accordingly, when we go away, like we did in the spring, we still pay them to come and work, at the same wage, so they don't lose any money. We are expected to help them, as we can, if they get sick, etc, by paying them even if they have to miss work. Mexican law requires that we pay a Christmas bonus, according to a specific formula. We also need to pay generous severance pay if we terminate their employment or sell the house. This, too, is determined by their length of service. In the case of several years of employment, the severance pay could amount to several thousand dollars! On the other hand, the pay is very reasonable. Maria Elena was earning $150 pesos ($15 USD) per five hour week. We immediately gave her a raise to $200 pesos, very cheap. Horacio earns between $80-120 pesos per week, depending on how much work there is to do. So, for us, the bottom line is that for about $120USD a month, we have the house thoroughly cleaned every week and the yard and gardens tended to.

Now Maria Elena and Horacio will do whatever we ask, but my experience is that they have been taking care of this house and yard for a number of years before we arrived, so I try not to get in their way. We do ask Horacio to plant plants which we buy, move or remove other plants, and he freely gives us advice on what/where to plant things. But generally, we let him do his thing. Maria Elena, who is in her early 50's is a whirlwind. She starts every day by slapping the furniture and window areas with a towel. This is how she dusts. I'm not sure she's getting rid of the dust or just moving it around, but it does look good when she's done. I try to stay out of the way to avoid getting slapped with the towel! She sweeps, mops, cleans, shakes rugs, scours, all with energy. If I put music on, she dances while she works. The other thing she loves to do is talk, enthusiastically, in Spanish, as though we understand every word she is saying. (As a result, we are learning more, and can 'hear' Spanish better. Pixie often understands better what she's saying form the context than I do.) If she sees us unloading groceries, she helps, and gives us advice about how to cook the items she is unloading. She brings us crafts she makes, and sometimes food. If we have any type of pain or illness, she goes outside and finds herbs to make us a medicinal tea. She gives us decorating advice to help us make our house "muy bonita." ....Sometimes we need to leave while she's here because she's exhausting. But she's a wonderful woman and we love being her patron. We gave her some plants the other day, so we drove her home (she usually takes the bus) and got to see her little house and garden in Chapala and met her family; we were, of course, introduced as her patrons.

So, we DO have housework to do, and some maintenance outside. But the heavy work is taken care of. This is an amazing advantage for us. And we get lots of care and loving advice along the way.

We both have activities we do, which I have written about before. Pixie takes her water aerobics in the mornings, has several women's groups she meets with, is taking Spanish with a group of women in the area, and will be working at an orphanage in the fall. I teach English two afternoons a week, participate in a men's film group, and participate in the Ajijic Writers' Group. We both participate in a political discussion group over dinner at a local restaurant, a Great Books discussion group, and are active participants in our Unitarian Universalist fellowship each Sunday. So, we're busy, but can always skip something if we are tired or feel like doing something else.

The afternoons are usually the warmest parts of the day, especially in the spring, and we like to take siesta time when we can. Pixie often just reads and relaxes, and I read then nap. For dinner, when we eat in, we usually either cook on the grill or prepare vegetables and fish or something inside. We tend to eat light in the evening. We have several options for eating food prepared elsewhere. There is a Taiwanese buffet here in Riberas with enough food for both of us for $38 pesos. Or for $35 pesos we can buy half a roasted chicken with potatoes, salad, salsa, and tortillas. As I've written about before, this area has many restaurants and the cost is affordable. We can easily eat out at a nice place for about $200 pesos. But, because it still adds up, and because it's harder to eat healthy food (or more tempting not to) we eat in a lot.

In the evenings, if we're not out with friends socializing, we tend to watch movies (which we usually buy at the market for $35 pesos, borrow from friends, or rent from the Lake Chapala Society library). We recently picked up a Rummikub game at a yard sale, and enjoy playing that or gin. We bought a scrabble game too, my particular favorite, but, of course, it's a Mexican version, so the letter distributions, and even some letters are different ("ll", "ch" "rr" and the "enyay," --the "n" with the squiggle over it-- are separate letters), but we manage.

We're usually up until after 11, mas o menos, reading. I usually conk out before Pixie.

Addendum: last night we went to celebrate Jesus' and Dora's birthdays. As usual, we were the only gringos at their family party. It was a fun night with Dora's tamales, two pinatas, and cake. Here are some photos:

A Day in the Life...

When we returned to the US for a visit this spring, several friends asked us what it was like for us living in this area of Mexico on a day to day basis. "What do you do all day?" they wanted to know. We don't spend our days eating tacos and listening to mariachi music, so what is a typical day like for retirees living in the Lake Chapala area? I was stuck for what to write about for my next blog entry, and Pixie suggested this. The truth is, our lives now are not very exotic.

Being retired has its advantages and disadvantages. Obviously, not having to worry about going to work is huge. Living here offers many opportunities for getting involved in various activities, so, you can be as busy or idle as you wish. The downside is the fact that we have to live on a limited income. We are living on a state pension, and we try to put money aside every month for our trips north, and we basically live on what's left. Generally this is not a problem. Now that we own an house and are in the process of furnishing it, it is tempting to spend more than we can afford. Mostly, though, we have no problem living on our income because of the generally low cost of living here.

So...a typical day. I am an early riser and enjoy getting up early to have a cup of tea, check my email and read the newspapers online. I always enjoyed reading the paper newspaper in Maine, but here, The Guadalajara Reporter, the English language newspaper comes out only once a week, so I read the newspapers online. I regularly check the NY Times, The Washington Post and sometimes The Boston Globe and the Lewiston, Maine, Sun-Journal. Since we now have a Mexican mailing address, I cancelled all my magazine subscriptions and now read them online. My two favorites were The Atlantic and The New Yorker. But now that I can access other magazines online as well, I often read the Nation, The National Review, and the Economist. I still miss the paper versions of periodicals, but the cost for international subscriptions is high.

Sometimes I do some writing in the mornings while it is quiet. I have written enough poetry to publish a collection. I am collaborating with an artist friend, Vicente, to do a painting for the cover, and Donna, his partner, is translating my title poem, The Sacred Lake, into Spanish. I have been working on that project in the mornings recently.

It stays dark here late because we are very far west in the central time zone, so it doesn't get light until about 7:30, so I am usually up in the dark. Pixie usually is up by about 8:30, but is not good for much conversation for another hour or so. She makes tea and turns on the news. (We have DISH network here. It thinks we're in New York, so we get local NY stations, but the usual list of cable channels.) Maggie often sleeps even longer! She does not like to get up.

Generally, I have to water the gardens every couple of days. This time of year, we often get rain at night, so it isn't as necessary. I usually do this in the morning. Our ajibe (our underground water tank) fills only through the day, so if we use a lot of water at night, we may run out till it fills the next morning. It usually takes me about half an hour or so to do the watering, but I love the tropical plants, and it's very relaxing to just walk around with the hose and generously water. We have a young man, Horacio, who comes once a week for about 2 1/2 hours to mow, trim, prune, and weed. He has been taking care of this garden for years and keeps it looking beautiful.
On a typical day, we usually have things we need to do. Today, for example, is market day. Since we generally buy our fruits and vegetables, yogurt, cereal, flowers, honey and spices at this market, it is a regular Wednesday morning chore. Pixie is doing water aerobics now, and she has this on Wednesdays, so she generally catches a ride with a friend while I go the the market alone. If she's around, she always comes with me. This usually takes a couple of hours, because we have to check over all the produce and we invariably run into friends, so we get talking. We have our regular vendors we like. We always buy our produce from Aaron and his wife, Carmen. They help us pick out the best pieces and usually throw in some cilantro and chiles for free. Several times I've inadvertently left something (produce I've bought, or another package) at Aaron's stand, and he always saves it for me for the following week. He takes good care of us, and we are loyal to him. We buy our cereal from an Indian woman. The granola is excellent. She recently broke her hip, so her husband is running the stand. We usually check to see what new movies are available from the movie guy. He knows me now, so when I walk up to the stand, he hands me a stack of the new movies he has. The movies are 35 pesos, or three for 100 pesos ($10). They are all pirated, but in English and generally good quality. We buy flowers almost every week, and fresh yogurt. The hardest part is hauling everything back to the car.

Even if it's not market day, we usually just shop for our evening meal the day we are eating it. It's easier to do this because we may have a sudden change of plans if friends invite us to join them for dinner. Also, the fish and meat is much fresher if we buy it and consume it immediately. Usually we eat fish, shrimp, chicken, or beef, either grilled or stir fried when we cook in. Pixie has lost about 17 pounds, and is keeping me eating much more healthily than when we first got here. Mexican food is delicious, but uses lots of fat (like lard!) and the tortillas are delicious but very fattening. We eat Mexican food sometimes when we go out, but, except for fresh tortillas to make quesadillas and tacos, which I love, we don't cook Mexican much at home. I recently ordered a book from Amazon The Gringos' Guide to Mexican Cooking, though and I want to try some healthier Mexican alternatives.

Also on a typical day, we may have other errands to do. We may need to pick up a prescription from a 'farmacia, ' which can take a long time. Drugs are generally available over-the-counter, but the prices can vary widely. We might find one drug at a good price at one store, but another at a different one. So comparison shopping works. We need to check our mail in Ajijic a couple of times a week. We sometimes need to pick up printer paper, fill and ink cartridge, or pick up cleaning supplies or any number of other things. These are usually sold in different stores, so shopping can take a considerable part of the day.

I will continue this post next week...

Unexpected Leaks

Well, we thought our renovations were complete, but the heavy rains brought some unexpected leaks into the house. We thought we were in the clear. We had experienced some heavy rains early in the season, and we'd had no leaks. BUT...after we finished our renovation and painting, of course, several leaks appeared, dripping water onto the floor and leaving mildew stains on the ceiling and walls. Here's what water does to concrete walls and ceilings. Doesn't look too bad but it needs to be fixed to prevent more damage:



I thought they could be easily fixed, so we called our good friend and construction guy, Antonio, and asked what we should do. Ahhh...not so simple. The clay tiles on the roof needed to be removed, and the flat tile roof underneath needed to be sealed with a plastic paint they use here for waterproofing. Apparently this needs to be done every few years, and the previous owners did not do it. Antonio suggested that while we have the tiles off we should do all the areas of the roof where leaks have appeared. So, we now have a sealed roof, but we have to wait for the leaky areas to dry before sealing and repainting.

I was feeling a bit sorry for myself since we hadn't planned to spend this extra money. So when our Mexican buddies who did the renovation cheerfully showed up and told us "Don't worry Mr. Guillermo...we feex your casa. No more agua!" and went to work, I was glad at least to be getting it fixed. However, as I began to chat with the workers, I was able to put our problem in perspective. They all started telling me, very cheerfully, often laughing, about the terrible leaks in their homes. Here they were fixing our leaks while they were having worse problems which they could not afford to fix themselves. When we ran out of tiles (some inevitably break when being removed), Jesus went home and retrieved some tiles form his OWN house to put on our house. I was, of course aghast when I discovered this. "No problema, Mr. Beell, that part of my house need fixing anyway." What do I say to these guys???!!!

This very unequal situation prompted the following poem I wrote and read at the writers' group yesterday morning:

Mexican Rain

They accept the rain
Without grudge
As the clouds empty
Over the green mountains
Bringing waves of mud
Cruelly into the cobbled streets
And into their homes
Darkening their lives.

We, however, insist
On stopping all leaks
Which, to us,
Represent failure
And calamity.

And so they work
Conscientiously
To patch our roofs
While the rain
Pours into their homes,
For they know
That water is not
A tragedy.
It comes and it dries
And keeps us connected
To the earth
And that patching a roof
Only provides
The illusion
Of permanence.

One last note: I did a funny "dumb gringo" thing when they were fixing the roof. I borrowed their ladder to climb up on the roof of the terrace over the BBQ area at the back of our yard to see if I could see the lake from there. I did NOT realize that the tiles are not strong enough to support my weight. So....I realized almost immediately that this was NOT a good idea, and turned to go back, but it was too late, my legs had fallen through and I was hanging onto a support bar. Jesus saw me and ran with a ladder to provide me with an escape route. "Senor," he sympathized," It is NOT so good an idea to climb on the roof." Obviously. They were all sympathetic, and returned the next day to fix the roof, but I bet they had some good laughs that evening. Here is a photo of the damage I did:













I did get a peek before I fell. Unfortunately, I could NOT see the lake.

The Ajijic Writers' Group

The Lake Chapala area has been a haven for expatriates from North America and Europe since the early part of the twentieth century. In the early days, it drew mostly artists and writers. The old Posada on the Ajijic waterfront, and the old hotels in Chapala, provided lodging and watering holes for such writers as D. H. Lawrence, Somerset Maugham, and Tennessee Williams. D. H. Lawrence's novel The Plumed Serpent takes place in Chapala and the surrounding area. For thirty years, the Ajijic Writers' group has been meeting to listen to and critique writers who are here from around the world.

When we relocated here, I must admit I was a bit intimidated about attending a group with such a history. I had written a bit of poetry for many years, but had never subjected it to any serious criticism. So it was with some trepidation that I first ventured to la Nueva Posada (the New Posada) where the writers gather the first and third Friday of every month to share their writing. We meet from 10-12 then gather for lunch under the big rubber tree.

Each writer is given up to ten minutes to read what he or she has been working on. If a writer goes too long, they are politely told to wrap it up, as we usually have more writers on the list to read than we have time for. I'd estimate that we regularly get between 30 and 50 writers, depending on the time of year.

Most of the people read fiction, either short stories or portions of novels. Some read non-fiction pieces, often travel pieces or other essays of interest to a larger community. There are some poets who read regularly as well. When I first attended the group last summer, I was surprised by two things: (1) the overall high quality of the writing, and (2) the accepting attitude and helpful criticism offered by the group. I immediately felt comfortable and decided to read at the next session.

I was even more surprised to find that most people in the group genuinely liked my poetry and gave me positive comments about it. But the best thing for me about the group is how much I am learning about writing fiction. I have not yet tried to write fiction, but I am thinking about it.

There are some very interesting people who attend this group. It is moderated by Alejandro Grattan, the publisher of the local English-language magazine El Ojo del Lago(The Eye of the Lake), who was, for many years, a screenwriter in Hollywood. He also happens to be an excellent critic and I have learned a lot just listing to his pointed criticism of other writers. He has published a number of my poems in the Ojo, and when I sent him a non-fiction piece about using critical thinking as an expat living here, he asked if I'd make it into a monthly column which he wanted to call 'Uncommon Common Sense." I have been writing this column since January. (I have a link to this column, and to the Ojo on the left column at the beginning of this blog.)

Jim Tipton is also an excellent writer who has written many articles for local magazines, fiction and poetry. I have been inspired by him to try my hand at Haiku. Jim, and many others, have published in many publications, and many have published fiction and poetry books.

In the photo below, on the far left is Karen Blue who has written a very popular book called Midlife Mavericks, which is a collection of stories about single women who decided to move to Mexico. Next to here is Canadian Neil McKinnon, author of Tuckhoe Slidebottle, a collection of humorous short stories. He is a very funny writer. At the end of the table, wearing the white baseball cap is Alejandro Grattan.
Reading below is Stan (I don't remember his last name) who writes mostly poetry. A few years ago, he moved to Guatemala and word was received here at Lakeside that he had died. Some friends organized and held a memorial service for him. Everyone was surprised when he showed up again few months later, and it has been the source of much hilarity in the Writers' Group.

Below my friend Jim Rambo reads a piece written by another friend of mine (whose back you can see in the foreground) Sheldon James. Sheldon has a tremor and can't read himself easily. Sheldon was a professional musician who wrote a memoir of his life on the road as a musician. Jim Rambo was a prosecutor in Wilmington, Delaware who writes poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. Some of his most gripping pieces are his true-life memoirs about some cases he prosecuted in his previous life. Sheldon attends our UU fellowship, and Jim took over my English class for me when I went back to visit the US last spring.

As you can imagine, I look forward to the writer's group every two weeks and have met some interesting and vibrant people there.

Below is a copy of the recent review I wrote of Sheldon's book:

Jazzman

SAXOPHONE PLAYER: Notes from a Transient Musician
by Sheldon James

Reviewed by Bill Frayer
For El Ojo del Lago
June 2008

One of the great things about retiring to Lakeside is our opportunity to meet fascinating people. Sheldon James is one of these people. My only regret in knowing Sheldon is that I did not have the opportunity to know him earlier. Fortunately, Sheldon has published a collection of recollections and stories which have helped me understand how he turned out to be such an opinionated and lovable man today.

Sheldon is a retired musician. His professional life was as a saxophonist in many bands over more than fifty years. This collection includes seventeen stories from his years on the road and his relationships with many colorful characters. Some of the memories are poignant and sad, others uproariously funny, but all are focus on Sheldon’s imperfect humanity and benefit from his unerring eye for detail. The book includes photos from Sheldon’s career, and ends with six additional stories from other aspects of Sheldon’s life, including his life in Mexico.

It’s clear to me that life as a musician during the big band era, and beyond, was not for everyone. It was not always profitable. The travel schedule was grueling. The food was often bad, and Sheldon does not hold back when describing some of the unique characters with whom he worked. But what comes through, in all the stories, is his enthusiasm for life and his dedication to music.

Some of the most notable stories are about Sheldon’s experiences with some of the music industry’s giants. He describes his private meeting, as an aspiring jazz musician, with Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong. He describes seeing the great Charlie Parker, the Bird, diminished by drugs and alcohol, in a pathetic performance during the last year of his life. And, perhaps in his most memorable story, Sheldon shares the heartrending story of his young daughter Claudia’s battle with cancer, and the very special relationship she formed with Sonny Bono, before she died.

Of course, most of the “cats” in Sheldon’s book are less well-known, but perhaps even more interesting. The life of a musician is that of a hustler: hustling for work, for a drink, for a room, even for a pretty girl’s attention. The road musician is always looking for his next gig, learning music on the fly, and having to act confident even when he’s feeling exhausted and vulnerable. Sheldon’s characters help him recreate his world, and he’s not afraid to reveal his feelings. He’s lost many good friends, and he still remembers most of them with a tear and a smile.

Sheldon is a good writer, and a long-time member of the Ajijic Writers’ Group. His stories are concise, full of dialogue, and interesting. They are true, as far as Sheldon remembers, and when they’re not literally true, they have been enhanced only by Sheldon’s wish to make his art more perfect.

Copies of Sheldon’s book are still available, and can be purchased from the author.

July Rains

The mountains have suddenly turned green and the weather has turned cooler, although the threat of rain hangs in the air every afternoon and evening. Last night we had a steady, drenching rain and rumbling thunder all night. This morning, the clouds had dispersed to reveal a sunny, cooler day, typical of this season. We are glad to have the dust gone!

This week we had a visit from Sara Wright who used to work with us at the community college in Maine. She was only here for four days but she was able to check out the area for herself. She was a most enthusiastic visitor. Sara has spent a good deal of time at a women's cooperative in Peru and is used to the Latin American culture. She found many similarities between Peru and Mexico while she was here. She enjoyed driving with us along the north shore of Lake Chapala and visitng the markets. One disturbing thing we see at markets here is wild birds in cages for sale as pets. Sara purchased a captive cardinal at the Chapala market and released it near the lake:


Here are photos of Pixie and Sara and of me as we drove into the mountains east of Chapala towards Mezcala later that day:















One interesting development about the lake, which we saw with Sara on our travels, is the remarkable absence of Lirio, the invasive water hyacinth which used to cover large parts of the lake, damaging the ecosystem. The government of Chapala decided, last summer, to treat the lirio with some type of herbicide. (Previous attempts to simply haul it out by the truckload did not work.) The environmental group, Amigas del Lago, protested, claiming it would kill many fish in the lake. Well, the massive fish kill apparently did not happen, and the lirio is mostly gone. There have been various claims by the government of the safety of swimming in the water, but some contradictory claims as well. I'm certainly not going to swim in it. The government also built a beautiful walkway along the lake in Chapala, called a malecon. Living in Riberas now, we are halfway between Ajijic and Chapala. We spend more time in Chapala now, shopping. It's more Mexican and a good deal less expensive than Ajijic. Here are some photos of Chapala:
















































One more interesting event: we ran into a woman who showed up at our UU fellowship last week who was walking from San Diego to Santiago to raise awareness about the environment. Her name is Rolene Walker (get it?) and she's haired drivers to drive her camper while she walks so she has a place to sleep at night. She was hoping to hire one of us at church to drive for her, but no takers. The trip will take her two years, she anticipates.
If you are interested, her website is www.walkwithearth.org.

On a personal note, Pixie is almost fully recovered from her surgery and feeling much better. After a long stay in the US, having all the renovation done, and Pixie's surgery, we are looking forward to getting back to our "normal" life here. I am writing a sermon on why I am an atheist to be delivered next Sunday. We enjoyed a 4th of July picnic yesterday at a gathering for Democrats Abroad. We picked up our applications for absentee ballots so we can vote for Barack Obama!

Here is one final photo. We didn't know it, but you have to groom palm trees. They grow fruit which feeds the fruit bats, which causes them to defecate on our terrace. The palms also drop seeds and other waste, which makes a mess. Here is Israel, our tree trimmer, at work this morning:

Getting Back to Normal...At Last!

Here's an image of one of the more eccentric gringos living in Ajijic, on his burro along the main highway. I don't know his story, but I imagine it's interesting.

On the home front here, things are getting back to normal. Pixie has been recovering nicely from her surgery and is already noticing the benefits of having had her gallbladder out. She is eating, exercising lightly, and with only minor pain. She's even been busy decorating our newly-completed renovations.

Here are some before and after photos of the renovation; as you can see it looks very different:































Here are some additional photos:


































We are definitely enjoying the peace and quiet of having the privacy and quiet of not having the house full of workers. Nevertheless, we enjoyed getting to know Guillermo, Antonio, Jaime, Jesus, Girardo, and Raoul, the "maestro" who did such a beautiful job making our fireplace. They were courteous, thorough, and willing to change what they were doing to suit our tastes. They wanted us to be happy with the work, and we really are. Now, the money's gone, but our house is just what we wanted, a simple, very Mexican casa.

I'll leave you with an image taken a few days before Pixie's surgery: Our friends Don and Val invited us to eat a local restaurant celebrating its second anniversary with a Mexican buffet and a Cuban band, among others. Here is a picture of Pixie with Don, our ex-monk, monster-movie fan, writer, IBM alum whom we met at our great books discussion group.

Pixie Has Surgery

Pixie had an overnight stay in a Guadalajara hospital this weekend for an operation to remove her gallbladder and fix and umbilical hernia. The surgery was done arthoscopically so she had only four small incisions. She is now home recovering and we are both relieved to have had the surgery go so well. Hopefully this will continue with the recovery.

I thought it might be interesting to share some of the experience of having to have surgery here. Pixie vetoed the idea of any photographs, but gave me permission to share some of her experience.

She had been having problems with her gallbladder since about January. Always proud of her "iron stomach," she was frustrated to have so much difficulty and discomfort after eating. So we knew that she may have to have this surgery at some point after an ultrasound revealed a problem with her gallbladder. During her routine physical last week, Dr. Leon discovered that an umbilical hernia, which she had also known about, had grown much larger and needed immediate attention. She suggested that if the hernia needed repair, it might also be a good time to remove the gallbladder. Dr. Leon agreed.

We scheduled the surgery for last Friday, requiring Pixie to reluctantly turn the Summer Solstice service at our UU fellowship over to others. She had worked hard on developing the service and hated to miss it, but she really didn't want to wait several weeks. We have our friend, Sarah, coming next Sunday for a visit, and she wanted to be better by then.

So we met Dr. Leon at his office at 5:30 AM on Friday. He drives any surgery patients, every Friday, in his car, and there was another woman who rode in with Pixie and Dr. Leon, while I followed in our car. We arrived at 6:30 and immediately checked into a very comfortable room, with a sofa, air conditioning, and cable TV. The hospital is a small one and looks more like a small hotel, with marble staircases with wrought iron railings, sky lights, plants, and quiet hallways with no nurses' stations. There is a central nurses' station on the first floor, and they always arrive quickly when you call. There was a small cafeteria downstairs, which was convenient for me.

A nurse inserted an IV and we were told that they would come get her for surgery when they were ready, but we had no idea when. Eventually, after about 6 hours, they came at 12:45 and wheeled her out to the OR. She was brought back to the room at 2:05, awake, although a bit loopy, and both Dr. Leon and the surgeon, Dr. Gustavo, came into to explain to us that the surgery had gone very well with no problems. They wanted her to spend the night just to keep an eye on her.

Nurses came in frequently to check on her and change her dressings, but it became obvious that they spoke little or no English. I was able to decipher the general conversation, although they spoke very fast and expected us to understand. Since my Spanish is a bit better, and Pixie was a bit out of it, I decided to spend the night, so I could help her get to the bathroom and translate what the nurses were saying (more or less!). She got very attentive care all night. The surgeon stopped by at 9 PM to check on her, and again at 9AM to release her. We paid the bill for hospital and medications, which came to about $850 USD, but we will have to still pay for the Doctor's fees at Dr. Leon's office.

The worst experience for Pixie was probably the ride home. She felt every bump, and, although I tried to avoid potholes and topes (speed bumps), it was, to say the least, an uncomfortable ride. But now she's home, and we're working our way through the second season of Grey's Anatomy we bought at the market last week, glad to be home with the workmen off for the weekend.

Speaking of workmen, they had hoped to be done by yesterday, but it was not to be. They have at least two more days to work, I'd say, so they'll be back Monday morning. I'll post pictures of the finished product later this week, but here's sopme ome in-process photos:

The Rain Has Arrived

Today is our 34th wedding anniversary, and the third time we've celebrated it in Mexico. Not much celebrating today as Pixie is a bit under the weather, and the house is torn apart, as you can see below. Nevertheless, a day worth noting!

The afternoons have been very hot and dry, with the temperature in the mid 90's F and the sun intense. There has been lots of dust, to the point where it seems to drift into the house and cover everything with a light film. Although the humidity has been low, the sheer intensity of the sun has made the air hot and uncomfortable late in the day. We even had a few overnights last week where it didn't cool to its normal 70 degrees, and getting to sleep was uncomfortable, even with a ceiling fan. Even our Mexican friends complain about the May heat: "Esta muchoa calor!"

Last Friday, Pixie and I were sitting in our living room watching a movie on TV, when we heard the first rumblings of thunder. "Ahh," we smiled. "Rain tonight?!" Pixie had predicted it, but I was still skeptical. "Probably just some thunder," I suggested. But I was wrong. As the wind picked up, the lightning and thunder increased, and the rain began. It rained hard for several hours, moistening the soil, eliminating the dust, and providing cooler, fresh air. As the Mexicans describe it: "fresco!"

We had been waiting for a torrential rain to test the new house and find any leaks. Everyone finds leaks during the first rain. The good news: only one small leak around a bedroom window which created a mysterious puddle on the floor. We didn't know where it was coming from; the ceiling was dry (very good news). We eventually found a leak around the bottom of the sliding window, about 5 inches off the floor. Otherwise, it looks as though we're dry. Whew.

While this is all going on, we are also finally starting the renovation projects we have been planning. We've hired Antonio, a local contractor, to redo the kitchen counter with traditional Mexican tile, including the installation of a new sink. We've also hired him to put in a fireplace in the living room. He has a crew of two young men, Girardo (the maestro) and Guillermo (the helper) working on the kitchen. Believe it or not, they are fabricating the new kitchen counters out of cement, and will cover them with tile. Pixie has been agonizing over the color choice. Color schemes in the New England style have little relevance here, where bright colors and unusual combinations are the norm. She's decided on a mustard yellow tile with brown grout, yellowish brown paint on the walls and brick red paint for the cupboards. I'll update the progress on the blog; here are some photos of the kitchen work so far:


This is the form the workers built for part of the new kitchen counter. They fabricated the rebar for strength and used pvc pipe on the edges to form the curved edge of the counter. Below are Guillermo (left) and Griardo (the "maestro") admiring the poured form for the counter. Notice the holes for the stove and sink. They did all this work on the sidewalk in front of our house.



Below is what the counters look like installed, before the tile is applied.










This morning, the tile is being applied. Here is Girardo posing with the first line of tile. We were uncertain how to arrange the tile, but we have learned to trust the Mexican workers who do this all the time. They suggested a beautiful pattern which I will be able to show in the next post.
In the meantime, Raoul (right), the fireplace maestro, and his helper, Jaime, chip away at the living room wall in preparation for the building of the fireplace. They will also install stone to the wall surrounding the fireplace. More photos of the fireplace progress in the next post.

while this has been going on, I've been having some dental work done on my sorry teeth. I am in the process of getting two crowns done at a dentist in Chapala. The dentist office is very basic: just a chair and equipment in one room, with no receptionist, no assistant, but modern equipment and a lab in Guadalajara which fabricates the porcelain crowns. The work is excellent and the cost even better: $175 per crown. White composite fillings are $35. We have a friend who makes trips here twice a year just for dental work. He's getting implants.

As I write this today, it is raining, DURING THE DAY! Very unusual, but nice and cool, so I'm not complaining. This is the fifth day in a row when we have received rain after virtually no rain since November. Soon the mountains will be green and lush!