A Surprise Kindness

The above photo is the next street over from where I live. There are horses all around me. They are rented out for tourist rides.

The two above photos are views from my friend's house. Anita has to go back to the States in a few days. She is experiencing the same sense of dread that I felt before I went back. The trip is always exhausting and there are always many problems at the end of it. I will miss her a lot. She will be gone six weeks.

Yesterday I took the bus into Chapala. I ran into one of the Mariachi band members and his son on the bus. I was happy to see them again. They had recently cut a CD and Chito was proudly showing it to me. I bought a copy. When we got into Chapala, Chito and I took a long walk down by the water. It was a holiday so there were many Mexicans up from Guadalajara. Everyone was having a good time. Chito had his guitar. He always has an instrument with him. He played and sang for me as we watched the boats go out to the island. He surprised me by arranging a boat ride for us out to the island and he played love songs all the way. It was great to be on the water. It was a hot afternoon and the cold water was cool on my face. Romantic music, boat ride, cool water. Many prayers of thanks for the gift of the afternoon in Mexico.

We walked around the island after we arrived and sat on some rocks in the shade close to the water and he sang more love songs. Then we took the boat ride back to Chapala and he took me to a traditional Mexican restaurant for a late afternoon meal. I was the only North American in it. The food was delicious. Chito doesn't speak English and I don't speak Spanish but somehow we managed to communicate. He refused to let me pay for any of the expensive afternoon's activities. I know how much he is suffering financially now because there is no music in the restaurants until after the fifth because of the flu scare. This was a big expense for him. I was grateful for his generousity. I realized it was an expression of his affection for me and I greatly appreciated that. I had been under some emotional stress and that kindness did wonders for me.

After lunch we walked up to the plaza and I took the bus back to Ajijic. It was a memorable afternoon. A kind of surprise that wouldn't have been possible in Red BLuff.

The people who work in restaurants are really hurting here because of this flu scare. At La Nueva Posada no one from the States has come in to stay since the scare started. Most restaurant workers live from day to day and they are not making ends meet right now. THERE HAVE BEEN NO REPORTED CASES OF THE SWINE FLU IN THIS AREA......

Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me because I hadn't been able to download photos. But I do have photos of the island on another blog post and also photos of the lake in Chapala. You will have to use your imagination this time.