These last two weeks were a very exciting time to be Canadian. The Olympic Games in Vancouver were very enjoyable to watch and winning the most number of gold medals ever for a host country was extremely gratifying. The icing on the cake was the gold medal hockey game yesterday Canada 3 – US 2. It was a very exciting game to watch and a real nail biter as it were. But Canada won nonetheless which was swell bringing our total of gold medals to 14.

Our Canadian athletes did a wonderful job and we are very proud of all of them.

Yesterday also was the last day of the Mexican Chili Cook Off in Ajijic, Lake Chapala.

I have not attended this event for a couple of years but went this year as my sister was visiting here from Canada and I thought she might enjoy a little local color and my daughter’s restaurants were competing in the Chili Cook Off itself and, of course, we wanted to be there to support our girls.

I was so happy we went. It was terrific this year with lots of things to see and do.

This year the arts and crafts and jewelry booths were much improved with more high end goods available (more…)

When we first arrived in Ajijic, Lake Chapala paying bills could sometimes be a challenge as I have mentioned before. First you had t find the bill in question and then began the process of finding out where to pay said bill.

Our property tax bill in Canada for our house in Toronto was going up to $6,000.00 Cdn. when we left in 1994.

You can imagine our very pleasant surprise to find that here in Ajijic, Lake Chapala property taxes were substantially lower.

For the first few years of owning a home here our property tax bill was paid by someone else who paid several tax bills at the same time saving us the possible frustration of finding out how to pay it ourselves.

Last year we paid it ourselves for the first time and we delighted at how easy it really was.

The place where you pay it is relatively new as opposed to the hole in the (more…)

Every town and village in Mexico has a patron saint and the patron saint of Ajijic is San Andres (St.Andrew), which as is the custom, is also the name of the church in the plaza.

A town’s saint’s fiesta is usually the biggest, longest and liveliest of the year and the Fiestas de San Andres are no exception.

They are held the last 9 days of November and every night is sponsored by a local business or association and every night is different. There is the common denominator of the Castillo (tower of fireworks) which graces every night.

I will first describe the night that Le Nueva Posada sponsors as it is the one I have participated in every year for the last 15 years but the other nights have a similar format.

We all meet at Seis Equinas (Six Corners at the far west of Ajijic) and everyone mills (more…)

My sister is arriving today to visit for a month or two and I am worried about the fact that we still are not recycling trash here in Ajijic, Lake Chapala despite threats that we would begin to do so in September.

We still have not received our visit from the people who are going to go door-to-door with instructions and color keyed trash bags.

My sister is a rabid recycler as are most people in Canada and I am sure I will hear about the fact that we still do not recycle in no uncertain terms.

Visiting her house in Toronto is a very confusing proposition trash-wise. There are several different containers supplied by the city in different colors that are picked up on various days of the week.

There is a bin for bottles, one for plastics (which have to be washed before they are suitable for recycling and in some cases the lids for these containers go into a different place), one for papers (more…)

There has been a lot of chatter about crime in Ajijic, Lake Chapala. I would like to try and give you some perspective on this subject.

We have lived in Ajijic, Lake Chapala for over 15 years. We hail from Toronto, Canada and when we were there I would not let my children go the Mac’s Milk store across the street on their own.

From the time we arrived in Ajijic, Lake Chapala our children have run free and I have never worried about their safety.

This is a community where church and family are the most important values and no one is going to hurt your children.

Obviously, there is going to be some crime as the ex-pats, for the most part, are wealthier than the Mexican locals. Having said that, the crime is largely one of theft of people wanting to feed their families and is usually non-violent.

Coming from a major metropolitan city we find the crime here very inconsequential and if (more…)

Fiaga is a wonderful store in Ajijic, Lake Chapala that I would like to tell you a bit about.

It is located on Moreles # 7 beside Ajijic Tango Restaurant and their phone # is 766-1816. They also have a web site www.fiaga.net

The owner, Sophia Marquez, is a very talented designer who, along with her efficient staff, makes all the store’s own clothes largely for women but also some shirts for men.

The other wonderful thing about Fiaga is that they do all types of alterations for men and women. I was there just this morning and I thought they just did women’s alterations but as it turned out there was a men there having several pairs of pants altered.

Her clothes are what she calls minimalist and are natural cotton usually in white, black or ecru. She has pants, tops, dresses, shirts for men and women, separates, jewelry, colorful rebosos, (more…)

Today I learned something new. I had to go to Chapala from Ajijic to do some company banking and parked on the median dividing the main street of Chapala which I had done hundreds of times before.

This time, however, after successfully completing my business (which in itself was a miracle) there was a policewoman giving me a ticket when I came out of the bank.

I scurried (as fast as I could in high heels on cobblestones) across the street in hopes of finding “another way” to solve the situation.

She was very nice and explained that on holidays and Sundays there was no parking around the median which was news to me. She further explained that it was well sign posted. I politely (more…)

The other day my daughter and I were leaving the house. We were facing the mountains and she said “Look, Mama, you can see the yellow flowers in the mountains.” I remember 15 years ago when my friend and then neighbor said the same thing to me.

She went on to tell me that once you could see the yellow flowers in the mountains it meant that the rainy season was almost over and invierno (winter) was coming. She said it always made her a little sad because soon the mountains would lose their lush green color and would become a little brown.

This year I am not at all upset to see the yellow flowers. We have had a very hot September this year because of El Nino and the smog in Guadalajara and I, for one, will not be unhappy to feel cooler temperatures.

The days will still be warm and sunny but it might be a little cooler at night which is always pleasant for sleeping. We will continue to enjoy outdoor living without any bugs and we can still swim (more…)

Sometimes we forget that we are lucky enough to live in paradise. After returning from 2 weeks in my native Canada it struck me once again how much I love living in Ajijic, Lake Chapala. Our flight from Toronto to Dallas was without incident but our flight from Dallas to Guadalajara was delayed for three hours and I thought we would not be able to get home at all that night. I quickly made friends with our pilot who was worried about thunder storms in Dallas and Guadalajara but eventually he felt it was safe to take off and we arrived at 1:00 am but arrived nonetheless.

The wonderful smells were what hit me first as we exited the Guadalajara Airport (with all of out luggage which was a miracle). It was pitch black on the ride to Ajijic, Lake Chapala but I could envision when we first would see Lake Chapala and the wonderful feeling it always gives me knowing that I am home.

The house was brightly lit up and our dogs were thrilled to see us very nearly knocking me over in their excitement.

We had had a lovely time with friends and relatives in Canada and the weather was (more…)

The British Open Golf Tournament (as it is more familiarly called) is underway in Turnberry, Ayrshire, Scotland.

There are 2 interesting stories this year. First is Tom Watson, who is 59 years old, is at the top of the leaderboard. Tom has won this event 5 times in the past and is very much an adopted son in the old sod.

Secondly, and perhaps even more surprising is that Tiger Woods missed the cut on Friday by one shot finishing 5 over par. Tiger who has also won the British Open in the past has only missed one other major cut in his career and that was the 2006 U.S. Open.

Phil Michelson did not attend this year’s Open Championship as both his wife and mother are battling breast cancer.

Retief Goosen is the only other usual suspect in the mix.

The first day the conditions were marvelous with very good weather but today the conditions are cold and windy not at all unusual for Scotland. The course at Turnberry is very beautiful and the (more…)