Morning Thoughts

I picked up the Guadalajara Reporter and was sad to read the headlines: Violent four days leaves 40 dead in metro area.

Most of the homicides occurred in the metropolitan area. Nine on Dec 6th, nine on the 11th, Some were multiple homicides. Five men were massacred at one house. A couple were shot dead in their car while their two daughters sat in the back seat. Four men were killed on Sunday. There are few leads in these cases. 

Also, in the Lakeside area, there were a series of home invasions by armed thieves and break ins of at least three gated compounds. (I have always thought that living in a poor Mexican community is far safer than living in one of those gated compounds.) 

Two women were mugged on the streets in Ajiic while walking home in the dark after having dinner. The mugger grabbed one woman's purse and pushed her down. Ran off with the purse. This woman was an acquaintance of mine. She had her purse slung over her shoulder and in front of her. I always thought that was safe. But the mugger got it from her. She is okay but it was a bad experience. This happened in the area near El Torito, which is down the street from my area. 

I hated to read these things. Also some local businesses have been held up at gun point. Time to walk with caution here. I took everything out of my purse that I would hate to lose and now only have the few pesos in it that I need for the day. I never go out at night, so that isn't a problem for me. But people are desperate. Christmas season is always a time of more crime. Few of these crimes are ever solved.

Pay is very low in Mexico. Policemen in this area make a little less than five hundred dollars a month. That is what it would be in American dollars. Rents are high. Even my little hovel has gone up a thousand pesos  a month. I don't know how poorly paid Mexicans can afford to live here. I guess that purse snatching seems like a logical solution for some of them. Murder is another story. That is most likely related to the drug cartels. 

I keep thinking about that family in the car. And the two children witnessing their parents getting shot and killed in the front seat. Tragic. 

I won't be writing for a few days. I am moving. I found a little house in San Antonio, near the plaza. I have lived in this hovel for over three years. The noise is never ending. The sewer stinks. There is a pile of garbage a few yards away. I feel like I am living with my landlord and his wife. They have no door separating their apartment from mine. They come in late and ignore the fact that I am trying to sleep below them. I guess I have my landlord to thank for finally tipping the scale to the bad side and forcing me to move out.