Wednesday market in Ajijic

Morning Thoughts

This morning the Coates (Mexican fireworks) woke me up at five. They sound like gun shots, only louder. Fortunately, my dog and cat have gotten used to them and sleep on through it all. I don't know if I will ever get used to them. This is the time of the year when they can be heard going off at all hours of the day and night. I can expect that until after Christmas. 

I looked at the monthly weather online. It is often wrong but it looks like about three more weeks of rain. We have a lot of humidity. Sometimes it is over eighty percent. I am really looking forward to the dry season. My hip hurts in this humidity. Getting old can be trying. I always loved to walk and now walking is painful for me. Time goes by so quickly. I have no idea of how long I have lived in Mexico. It feels like a lifetime but I know it hasn't been much longer than ten years. Maybe eleven. Twelve? Does it matter? Not to me. I love living here. I don't mind the humidity, the rain, the Coates, the noise, or anything else. 

I have a friend who is in the States for a short visit. She lives in San Blas. She wrote to me about how bored she is up there. I felt the same way when I was visiting my family a couple of months ago. Part of the problem for me is that I no longer drive. I depend on buses here, or walking. But cars are a necessity in the United States. Because people have to drive instead of walk, they are more isolated from each other than here. 

All I need to do is walk out my door here and I will see people. I can walk to the plaza and sit at an outdoor restaurant or coffee shop or a park bench. I will be in the midst of constant activity. There could be music and even dancing. I never know when I will run into a celebration of some sort. I love Mexico. 

Ajijic Plaza

We are coming into the high season but these days it feels like the high season all year long. Rentals are difficult to find. Traffic is bumper to bumper. Restaurants are starting to get crowded. But I still love Mexico!

Guadalajara Reporter article

News about the kidnapping. It was a man and a woman, not two women. They were kidnapped and were being held in Jocotopec. The kidnappers were holed up at Hotel Perico where they were waiting to receive the ransom. They realized that they were trapped by the authorities and started shooting. They wounded one of the officers. Then dozens of state police patrols, a motorcycle squad  and a helicopter joined the scene. federal police, Mexican Army units and municipal officers from Chapala, Jocotopec, Ixtlahucan, Tlaquepaque and Tonala rushed to the area. 

Witnesses counted around a hundred vehicles. Traffic was detoured away from the scene. Three schools were closed near the area. It was a four hour search. Three women and two men were captured. The gang leader was running for the hills and shooting at officers. He was shot dead. 

The captives were found safe it a property in Jocotopec. The gang had been involved in at least eight kidnapping reported in Ajijic and Jocotopec. 

End of article. Scary!

Morning Thoughts

These Morning Glories are in my neighborhood. A touch of color in an overcast morning. It may rain. It may get sunny and hot. Hard to tell. The weather forecasts can't be relied upon to always be accurate. 

Some bad news. Recently there was an attempted kidnapping of two women at a local hotel just off the liberamento. The news said that two women were saved and one kidnapper was killed by the police. More news may be made available soon. It is hard for me to learn about the violence being so close to home. 

Saturday morning yard sale

This morning I went to a yard sale in my neighborhood. Didn't find any clothes but I did find this little animal. The owner called it an anteater pig. They found it in the mountains about five hours from here. I was told that it would grow to be a normal sized pig. The young Mexican woman who also owned it was surprised and shocked at hearing that news. 

The cat in the background isn't mine. But it looks like mine.








You can tell from the photos that the pig was really attached to the young woman and was trying to squirm away from me.