Originally a religious holiday to honor St. Patrick, who introduced Christianity to Ireland in the fifth century, it has evolved into a celebration of all things Irish.

I have a special affinity for St. Patrick’s day as I am part Irish (Scottish and English make up the other parts) and also my mother’s father, my mother and my sister and my aunt were all born on March17th.

New York City hosted the first St. Patrick’s Day parade on March 17th, l762 featuring Irish soldiers serving in the English military. The parade has become an annual event with President Harry S. Truman attending his very own self in 1948.

Congress has proclaimed March as Irish-American Heritage Month in 1995 and the sitting president issues a proclamation each year.

Now for a little history lesson. Naomh Padraig (c 387-17 March 493) was a Romanized Celt and Christian Missionary who is the most generally recognized patron saint of Ireland.

When he was about 16 he was captured from Britain by Irish raiders and taken as a slave to Ireland, where he lived for six years before escaping and returning (more…)

Last night was the highly anticipated “Oscars”.

When we first arrived in Ajijic, Lake Chapala over 15 years ago having an opportunity to view the nominated films was a bit of a challenge as we did not have a movie theatre in those days nor would the latest films get to us if we did.

Things have changed and we now have a lovely theatre complex and we do get all the current releases.

This year there were 10 nominated films and that has not been the case since 1943 when Casa Blanca won for Best Picture.

To my huge disappointment Avatar did not win best picture but it did win several other awards including best Cinematography and Visual Effects.

There were no surprises in the best actor, actress and best supporting actor and actress categories.

Jeff Bridges won Best Actor for A Crazy Heart and they also won Best Original Song for “The Weary Kind” with kudos to music legend, T. Bone Burnett.

Sandra Bullock won Best Actress for The Blind Side.

Christoph Walz won Best Supporting Actor for Inglourious (more…)

Many newcomers or potential newcomers ask me “What is there to do in Ajijic, Lake Chapala?

I can honestly tell them that in over 15 years I have never been bored and there is indeed plenty to do.

You can be as busy or as idle as you would like,

In Ajijic, Lake Chapala there are two garden clubs, The Garden Guild and The Garden Club. There are cooking competitions and lessons available. There are bridge clubs and cribbage clubs.

There are all types of cultural events such as symphonies, plays both local and imported and I can honestly say my children have been more exposed to culture than they ever were in Toronto.

We have the Auditorium in La Floresta which stages many events and also the Little Theatre in San Antonio Tlayacapan and they are always looking for people who wish to get involved in theatre.

There are local golf clubs and tennis clubs in Ajijic, Lake Chapala as well as many more in Guadalajara. Lessons in both sports are available and tournaments to participate in.

There are many very worthwhile charities to get involved in and churches for all (more…)

Federal agents went in to the Crown Casino Ajijic in Plaza Ajijic on Friday, January 22nd to carry out a court-ordered raid which lasted more than six hours

A press release from the Attorney General’s Office (PGR) said the investigators confiscated equipment and materials from the betting parlor and also took 16 employees and 9 clients to the PGR headquarters in Guadalajara for questioning in regards to probable violations of the General Law on Games and Raffles.

Allegedly the business was opened without proper permits from the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Gobernacion).

The detainees were held in custody for about 17 hours before being released on bonds posted by the casino’s operators.

Evidently, agents allowed a number of foreign clients to freely leave the casino to avoid the possibility of violating their individual rights.

Included in the evidence collected by authorities were 65 electronic betting machines, 23 packages containing 3,298 magnetic cards used for playing the machines and 57,533 pesos in cash found in the till, as well as an (more…)

Remember when you were young how much fun it was to go to the movies, usually with your friends on Saturday afternoon or later perhaps on a date in the evening.

It was always a special treat and the prices in those days did not require a bank loan.

When we first moved to Ajijic, Lake Chapala we did not have a movie theater and if you wanted to go to the movies you had to brave the traffic into Guadalajara where there are now two or more movie complexes.

The main ones are Cinepolis (www.cinepolis.com.mx) and Multicinemas and they both have many locations. So a visit to their websites would tell you what location would suit you. Also they have listings available weekly in the Guadalajara Reporter.

The listings for our own theaters are also available in the Guadalajara Reporter. Our theater complex is in Plaza Bugumbilias, Carr. Chapala –Ajijic # 54-C. Tel (376) 766-3729 Ext. l04, 106. www.cinemasdellago.com Matinees Saturdays and Sundays only.

There is also a coupon in the Guadalajara Reporter with which you pay only (more…)

Kim Everest, the owner of Number FOUR Restaurant on Donato Guerra, has done it again!

We were lucky enough to be invited to the opening of her new bar “Chili Bang Bar” on Hidalgo #15 in downtown Ajijic a few doors west of the Plaza. Tel. (376) 766-1919.

Chili Bang Bar is an upscale bar with great prices and music. They have a great wine list and fabulous martinis plus many other mixed drinks and all makes of tequilas and beer.

The Fusion Food Menu is brought to Chili Bang Bar by Chefs at Number FOUR Greg Couillard and Ismat Jivani. They are currently working on perfecting the menu but such delights as Tequila Shrimp (more…)

There are many wonderful events to mark this holiday season in Ajijic, Lake Chapala and one of our favorites is the production of The Nutcracker (Cascanueces) at the auditorium on the carretera in La Floresta.

This year it is being held on Thursday, December 17th with performances at 5:00 pm and 6:30 pm for a cost of $50.00 pesos per person.

We have been attending The Nutcracker since we arrived in 1994 as, our then, school aged children acted in it in a variety of roles from snowflakes to besotted grandfathers.

The Nutcracker is produced and directed by long time Director of a bi-lingual school in (more…)

Star Choice now Shaw Direct is available here.  It is Canadian programming in English with the 3 major networks and Fox.  Various programming packages are available now including HBO Canada.

Sky is a Mexican company with channels in English and movies in English with Spanish subtitles.

MVS Communications has joined with the EchoStar Corporation to offer new low cost satellite TV in Mexico.

This service to be know as Dish Mexico will deliver a wide variety of audio and video channels in al all digital format via an EchoStar provided high powered direct broadcast satellite.

The basic package includes children’s programming from Disney, Jetix, Nick, Discovery Kids and cartoon network; general entertainment from Universal, Sony, Warner, 52MX, E! Entertainment TV and Scifi;  educational channel from Discovery, Animal  Planet, The History Channel and Infinite; sports from ESPN and ESPN2 and Fox Sports; music channels from MTV and Exa TV and movie channels from TNT, The Film Zone,. MC, Multipremier and Cine Latino.  In addition Dish offers movie packages with no commercial breaks.

The basic service includes 25 Spanish an English language channels for $139.00 pesos per month.

There is also our local cable provider which is Telecable. Telecable also offers internet and phone services.  A complete list of their channels, services and prices are available at their outlet just before Maskaras Clinic on the carretera.  Their phone # is 765-4550.

You will also see Direct TV sign up kiosks along the carretera.

A very knowledgeable person to talk to in Ajijic is Michael Merriman at Satellite Services of Ajijic at 766-1117. He would be a good source as to what would be the best choice for you in your particular area.

There are many benefits to living in Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico. One of my favorites is becoming more familiar with the internet and all it has to offer.

It was not too long ago that all I could do was send and receive emails and do a letter. I very much wanted to learn more and I am happy to say I accomplished that goal.

Facebook.com is one of my favorite sites and I have reconnected with many friends and get in touch with them and family through shared pictures and updates. Everyday I log in to find out who is doing what to whom. It was a particularly useful site when my daughter was in London, England in 2007 and again earlier this year. She could send me pictures and videos which I loved.

Skype.com is another wonderful site which offers messaging much like aol.com or Windows Live Messenger but it also offers an extremely inexpensive long distance application which has saved me thousands of pesos every month. If you have a video cam on your computer you are (more…)

Okay, so the title of this blog is misleading.
In a format like this you would expect it to be about the decision to move here or not.
Sorry but that’s really up to you.
What I want to talk about was my son’s decision to go into Guadalajara and catch some
professional wrestling action.

I have a friend who’s mother thinks pro wrestling is legit but is convinced they faked the moon landings. I think it needs to be said here that my son has not believed that pro wrestling was “real” since he was 5 years old so it was more of a lark than anything.
He really wasn’t expecting an athletic display of any kind.

He asked me to tag along and what I’m wrestling with is my emphatic decline of his offer. My general rule here is to go to anything and everything. It’s usually either fun or so (more…)