Hello all. Janice and I have now been in Ajijic four weeks and have established living patterns here. Where we live has a great pool, friendly neighbors and bountiful fruit trees. It is less than two miles to downtown, so it is in walking distance. Joel plays bridge once a week, meets with some people over cerveza once a week and we have found a church we like a lot. Joel has also started running again as his surgery has healed. He runs about 4 days a week and now up to 4 miles and puts on a lot of miles just walking around. Janice has art class twice a week, has joined a jewelry group and also is using this time to create a lot of jewelry to sell after we return to Mazatlan again this coming year. We eat out four or five times a week as there is an awesome variety of restaurants, many international with trained chefs and with reasonable prices. Here in Ajijic, they seem to understand better what it means to cater to the 'gringos'.
Last Saturday we attended Regatta de Globos. It is a great family time. It was held in the soccer stadium. Entire families or groups make out of tissue paper, hot air balloons. This has been held since 1963 and people have become adept at making large and colorful balloons. There were balloons in the shapes of monsters, cartoon characters, animals and many other shapes and sizes. It was tricky putting the flames inside to provide the hot air. If the flame was not put in right the balloon would burn up a few feet off the ground. Our church launched several colorful balloons and also had several burn up. The best balloon makers made balloons 30-40 feet high that floated high in the sky until they were out of sight. There must have been a thousand or more people there, at least half of the children. There were vendors of cotton candy, other candy, beer, soft drinks, hot dogs and hamburgers. Balloons were launched at 3:00 and continued to be launched until after 6:00 PM. It was a great community fun gathering. [Pictures are on a previous post labeled 'Regatta de Globos']
Last Tuesday we got in our van and with our friend, Phyllisj. We went on an exploration drive. Our main goal was the town of Mazanitla which is about 50 miles away in the mountains, but took us two hours to get there. We first drove through Jocotepec, which is about ten miles west of Ajijic. We were at the west end of Lake Chapala. We turned south in Jocotepec and drove the west end of the Lake. We then entered San Luis Soyatlan on the south west of the lake. We drove a few miles out of there and then caught a road that took us 25 miles due south of the lake into the mountains. There we found the town of Mazamitla. It was like we had left Mexico. The town was at 7400 feet above sea level and had loads of different types of evergreens. The center of town looked like a Alpine village. Janice and Phyllis had to put on jackets due to a chill in the air. By noon the sun came out and jackets were shed. There was a beautiful church and square. There were many shops, many with wood products. This area is know for their beautiful wood work. The population of Mazamitla is about 11,000 with about 15,000 total in the area. Mazamitla was originally settled by the Aztecs in 1165 A.D. We drove through a beautiful park and then drove a hilly road that had a lot of cabana hotels. We could tell this is a vacation spot for people from all over Mexico. While we were walking around we observed many young people decorating the downtown in patriotic colors, red, white and green in preparation for Mexican Independence Day on September 16th, as well as putting stalks of flowers on the squares poles. It looked like Mazamitla will have a big party for the whole weekend. After several hours in Mazamitla we drove down the mountain and back to San Luis Soyatlan. There was a long Malecon that we walked. After our walk we went to a restaurant that Phyllis had eaten before. It was a little restuarant at a boutique hotel. The food was great, inexpensive and the service was world class. No exageration here. I'm sure we'll take a drive again before we leave just to go back and visit. It was a great end of our exploring. Except for some side streets, the roads were great and the direction signs were helpful. [Pictures are on a previous post a few days ago and call; Anywhere but Mexico]
Mexican Independence Day weekend is now upon us. Friday evening the Mexican members of our church are cooking a special dinner for everyone and has sent the invitation out and it's free. So we will pick up a friend of ours and head over there in a little bit. On Sunday we are spending the afternoon with people that used to live in Mazatlan. Among the guests will be two couples that we know from Mazatlan that are spending a few days in Ajijic. Sunday evening we are going to Roberto's Restaurant for their Independence Day festivities. There will be a Mexican buffet including Chiles en Nogada, several types of enchiladas, a fondue and Flan Napolitano for dessert. Margaritas will cost 25 pesos, less than $2. At 8:30 PM there will be fireworks. There will also be music and dancing. [Pictures will follow for sure next week]
We hope this has given each of you a glimpse at out summer in Ajijic. Although Mazatlan is our home, Ajijic is providing a good alternative to the heat and humidity of August, September and October. I suspect that next summer we will spend three to four months here once again. It is great to have alternatives.
Until next time, adios amigo's y amigas.
