Peter Gets Through Customs at the Guadalajara Airport

Our good friend Peter recently flew down to Guadalajara from LA on a night flight, arriving at 5:30 AM. He stayed with us for a while, then went into the city for a month or so to take a course that will enable him to become a certified teacher of English as a Second Language. We've known him since he was 9 and he lived with us several times in Colorado, where he was our "teenage slave" when we built our house there. He's now 24.

We had ordered books, dog toys, DVDs, clothing, and other miscellany for Peter to bring down for us. He got a small suitcase and checked all that through, taking Kelly's new camera with him in the cabin.

Mexico has a red light - green light system at Customs, at airports and when you drive in. Peter got a red light.

The official asked him to open our suitcase, which Peter had also stuffed with some of his clothing. The man pulled the clothes back to reveal a row of books.

"Estudiante?" he asked Peter. (Student?)

"No, me gusta leer," replied Peter. (No, I just like to read.)

That was all. I wondered if the dog toys had been revealed, just what Peter would have said.

Getting things down here does seem to be easier when people bring things in with them than if they come by mail (with unreliability) or even something like Fedex (reliable). It's one of the challenges of living here. Usually it works out fine if you are patient enough and know enough people coming and going! That suitcase of ours is going back to Colorado today with a friend and likely coming back in January when some other friends are coming for a visit. I'm already making the shopping list for January. All-cotton turtlenecks and some other warm all-cotton clothing, toothpaste, some books...

Two Houses, Weeks after the Waterspout

This was a very nice house before the waterspout came to San Juan Cosala on September 12. Recently Kelly went for a walk to see how things were coming along. You can see how high the mud had come on the walls. Since then obviously a lot of cleanup has taken place, as you can see the steps. Kelly remembered seeing a woman emptying mud out of that window a month ago.


Here is a humbler house, lower down the hillside and somewhat to the west. Again, you can see the mud line.
This is the back of that second house, with boulders still indoors. We don't know the owners and don't know if they will be able to do anything with the structure or not. They are living elsewhere.

Revitalize San Juan Cosala: Festive Weekend!

A lot of foreigners and Mexicans worked hard to put on a special weekend in San Juan Cosala this weekend. There was a full schedule of musical events, art exhibits, folkloric dancing, poetry, snacks and meals, and more. A few things were rained out on Saturday (and we got a good soaking dashing home!)but overall, it was quite successful. There was a raffle to raise money, and very nice pins were sold... I'll try to get a photo of them, as you can still buy them in a variety of stores around the Lake Chapala area.

Here some music is evoking smiles:



There was an extensive program of children's art. Much of it was on tables, but this photo came out well:



Speaking of photos, one of the most gratifying things for Kelly was the great interest that an exhibit of his photos evoked. Hundreds of Mexicans streamed into the Cultural Center on the Plaza to see the exhibit. You can see these pictures and more online at http://flickr.com/photos/kellyhart/sets/72157602013524791/
Here was the sign on the front of the building:


And here are people studying the pictures intently. Many of them had not had the opportunity to see the extent of the damage in the Raquet Club, but all the photos got a lot of attention.

Mexico Through the Ears of our 20-something Friend

Today's post comes from our friend Peter, age 24, who has been living with us for about a week. He sent this out to friends and gave me permission to use it here.

I'm being a bad tourist this week, hardly venturing out beyond the high walls of my friend's house to take in a new culture. Part of the problem is that I'm helping out with the building of a brick wall, which is fun in a gritty sort of way. Another problem is that my Spanish has decayed beyond all recognition. But having been in Mexico for just under a week, I can still report on it a little because one of the most fascinating parts of the country is how noisy it is, and noise doesn't recognize walls. So imagine sitting on a small patch of turf next to a banana tree - that would be my friend's front yard. Kick back for 24 hours and you'll hear all or at least most of this:

* A roving public address system repeating the words " Zeta GaaaAAAAAS." That's the propane truck. Personal vehicles are rare in this lakeside village of 6,000, about an hour south of Guadalajara, so the hydrocarbons come to you.
* Another P.A. system based in the church steeple, this one broadcasting announcements of general interest to the townsfolk. Forget TV and radio. Newspapers haven't even put the town crier out of business yet. The steeple also, naturally, has a bell.
* Random vendors, also using truck-mounted P.A.s, selling everything from cure-all remedies to bananas. Since you're sitting next to a banana tree, you can ignore them.
* Ad hoc fireworks displays that focus on noise over visual display. This happened at one in the morning a couple of days ago, and the next day at a more reasonable hour. Apparently, when you get the urge, nothing else will do.
* Bad American pop music. Mariachi music originated in this, the state of Jalisco, but why listen to that when you can give the neighborhood the feel of a dance party in Laguna Beach? When I last traveled here, nearly two years ago, I attempted to get a few Mexican twenty somethings to listen to Bob Dylan. So long as they're listening to American music, my reasoning went, they may as well listen to good American music. But I see now that my revolution has stalled. Obviously, this means I will have to try again, but this time with my ukulele. (Oddly enough, there is no Spanish word for ukulele, according to three waiters I asked today.)
* A horse, perhaps at three in the morning. It made the same ferocious neighing noise that horses make in cowboy movies when they've come upon a cliff and rear up on their hind legs with vigorous disapproval.
* Dogs barking. They will bark well into the night. At what? Who knows? Perhaps they are plotting to overthrow the government.
* Kids playing in the street. Streets are big here. See the part about no cars.
* Roosters.
* Mobile junk dealers. They buy raw materials for recycling. Their P.A. system offers money for such things as copper piping, which my friend Kelly finds hilarious since someone ripped off some of his copper piping once. The hot shower had to wait.
Needless to say sleeping was difficult for a while. But it helps to psychologically surrender to the place in all its grand weirdness. Come to think of it, that's a pretty good strategy for New Mexico too.

Next week I start that month-long certification course in English teaching. That's in Guadalajara proper. From there it's off to somewhere in the Spanish speaking world to put that training to use.

We're hoping he'll be back here to celebrate American Thanksgiving with us before he gets a job.

Walking with the Ajijic Hash House Harriers

Relaxing after the walk.

On Saturday, a friend and I joined some other friends for a fundraising walk put on by the Hash House Harriers of Ajijic. We went to lower Chula Vista, an older and quite nice residential neighborhood just above the lake highway, between Ajijic and Chapala. We arrived at the private home being used for the event, each paid 100 pesos (about $9 US), signed in, and decided which walk to talk: the fast one of 4 km (about 2.5 miles), the medium one of 2 km, and the slow one of 1 km. There was also the option to be a philosopher and sit around!

My friend and her dog went for the fast option, while I chose the medium. I could easily go 4 km, but I'm not particularly fast. I didn't know anyone else in the medium group, but people were friendly and so I chatted with a variety of other Americans. There may have been some Canadians among us too, but I didn't notice that accent.

The walk was past a variety of attractive homes, and was over all too soon for me. Not really a lot of exercise! Then there was a pancake breakfast with bacon, fruit, coffee, fruit juice and the option of booze. Not my thing at mid-morning. We ate, chatted, applauded as prizes were awarded to the fastest in each category. Fun. I believe that the HHH walk every Saturday morning.

Chatting with Our Maid about the San Juan Cosala Cleanup

We have a maid who comes for a few hours every Saturday, and she's become a great friend. Rosa is a little younger than we are and has worked for quite a few foreigners over the years. She doesn't speak English but her Spanish is very clear and she doesn't hesitate to tell me when my tongue tangles over past or conditional verbs. We talk a lot every week. I've told her that teaching me about her culture is as important a part of her job as the housework!

Her daughter, son-in-law, and three young grandchildren are temporarily living with her because their house on the carretera filled with mud from the tromba. Her son-in-law works in construction in another town some ways from here (Ocotlan), taking the bus to and from work. His employer gave him two weeks off with pay so he could work on the house. He, his wife, Rosa, and others got the mud essentially out but it's still too damp and smelly to move back in, not to mention that they still lack a refrigerator, beds, sofa, and other things.

Rosa said that someone from government, she thought maybe from the DIF, had been around asking what people needed as a result of the storm, and they had written down what her daughter told them. She added that a private group had come by, she thought maybe from some church, and had made arrangements to give her daughter a blender (an essential item in Mexican cooking!) and an iron. Her daughter would have to go to nearby Jocotepec to get these things, because when things have been brought here it's been kind of a mob scene at times.

Rosa also mentioned that psychological help here in the village was available for people who needed it, and she thought that was a good thing. We had had extremely heavy rain here around 8 AM one day recently, and I asked if any of her famiy had been frightened. Yes, she said: her grandson who is almost four was the only one of the three children to have seen the mud coming into his house and he was a bit worried with the rain. It sounded like he had been reassured pretty easily, though.

I asked if her daughter and her family had gotten mattresses from the distribution. They hadn't at first because her daughter hadn't known where or when it was, but then another day they had received one with the promise of more. Rosa mentioned the dispensas I referred to in my last post: besides the things I mentioned, they have included toilet paper (but muy poco, just one roll, she laughed), cans of tuna and sardines, dried soya, and more.

When I asked her if she knew how many families had lost their homes, she wasn't sure. A hundred, I asked? Not that many, she guessed. I mentioned an older couple west of us. Yes, and the people behind them, and a woman on the other side, and maybe about 10 families around there. On the eastern side, there were more. She easily thought of about 20 families she knew of in that area (where she lives but her home was fine), and ended up guesstimating something like 40 families. I've heard about twice that. We'll see in time.

He's in the US, She's Here: Such a Mexican Story

Since the waterspout hit San Juan Cosala, I've been emailing with a Mexican man who lives in California and works in the store you see here. He was last home three years ago, and he is planning to come this holiday season.


He told me that his wife sold plants in the tianguis here, and this week she graciously allowed me to photograph her by some of her plants:

She and I chatted about life. Her son is in 5th grade. I asked if there were a lot of women here whose husbands were away. She said yes, and that it's very hard. They miss their husbands a lot.

This is the story all over Mexico. In some small towns we've been in, Mexicans have told us that the towns survive on the money sent home. I don't pretend to know what the answers are to the complexities of emigration/immigration, but I do find this heartrending. The men are there in search of income for a better life, and yet their absence creates such a gap.

The Tianguis in San Juan Cosala

The weekly Tuesday tianguis, or outdoor market, was back in full swing today, it seemed, though I didn't see them killing live chickens on the corner -- and didn't miss it either!

The tianguis used to be on the plaza but some months ago it was moved to the block going east of the plaza, below the church. Much of what is sold is clothing:



There are also housewares, flowers, plants, small items like watch batteries, DVDs and CDs (probably all bootlegged), and more. We get almost all our produce from Carlos and Blanca, the only regular produce vendors. They get up around 3 AM and drive in to Guadalajara from their home in Chapala, to the huge wholesale market in the big city, and their produce is way fresher than what we usually see in any store around here. The vendors who I have spoken with come from the local towns.

This man was hand-cranking two buckets of ice cream. The dirt behind him is part of the reconstruction going on nearby, after the waterspout.



These people from nearby Jocotepec had a most attractive display. I don't eat such things because my digestive tract is on the fussy side.

What's Going On Around San Juan Cosala in the Storm's Aftermath

A few days ago, I got an email which originated from the Committee to Help San Juan Cosala. It was also being distributed to message boards in the area, with the comment to please pass it on. I'll summarize parts and use others straight. Comments in parentheses with R at the end are from me. This group, which is planning to have a website up pretty soon. It's not there yet but it will be at: http://helpsanjuancosala.googlepages.com/

(Please note that there is NOT a www in that address. -- R.)

Okay, here's some of what is going on.....

Mattress distribution from authorities to local people who need them had taken place a few weeks ago, and it was due to happen again this past week.

The Municipal Clinic is fielding three psychologists to provide counseling to victims in SJC. The are available every Saturday for three hours in SJC.

Dispensas are being distributed every Monday, to all needy people, not just those directly affected. A family of four is now receiving 2 dispensas to last them the week. (Note: I don't know exactly what goes into a typical dispensa, but it's things like rice, oil, beans, sugar, and other staples. -- R)

The Distribution Center, and DROP OFF POINT is at 121-A La Paz in SJC. This is the last road before the lake. Take the entrance to the Balnearios and go right at Ruben's for about 6 or 7 blocks; 121-A will be on your right side. You can also take the street that runs past the plaza and the church to La Paz (That would be Calle Cardenal -- R) , take a left at the school, and go down two blocks; 121-A will be on your left.(No comment about times, unfortunately. If you are local and want to make donations, better ask around before coming -- R)

PRIORITY NEEDS as of October 2
1. Milk in Tetrapaks ("Long Life Milk")
2. Adult Diapers for the elderly
3. Canned Food - mostly vegetables
4. Sugar
5. Potable Water (small, medium, large and garafones)
(This could have changed, ask. I leave it in because it's helpful. -- R.)

The feeding of "workers" - those operating heavy machinery, working on the arroyos, and cleaning up parts of SJC still - is continuing. At present, they estimate there are still some 70
workers being fed. It is being handled by the Delegado's family, with food provided by the municipality. (The Delegado is Noe Moya, and his family owns one of the restaurants by Lake Chapala as you come into San Juan Cosala. -- R.)

7. We are beginning to receive donations of building materials, such as cement, from people. All materials for building, as well as "Menaje" (household items, workman's tools, etc.) will be stored
temporarily at a "bodega" in SJC. The Committee to Help San Juan Cosala will administer these donations, to ensure they are used appropriately.

8. Although a fairly complete list of those affected by the events of Sept. 12, has been compiled, there will be another sweep carried out in the next several days. Teams will go house-to-house on all streets affected by the slides, to ensure that no one has been left off and that all needs and damage assessments have been completed.

Sewage and potable water still remain problematic, with drains and pipes having been clogged by mud and debris. (We have had city water off and on. We have a large storage tank so we haven't run short, but we've been grateful for the occasional rains that have watered outside. -- R.) In addition, some people have received some assistance from kind benefactors and friends, including stoves or refrigerators, household goods, etc. and it will be necessary to update the lists already drawn up.

FUNDRAISING EVENT FOR SAN JUAN COSALA – Oct 20 & 21

REVITALIZE SAN JUAN COSALA
Saturday and Sunday
October 20 & 21
2 pm - 11 pm

Dignitaries, Festivities, Music, Dance, Performances, Poetry Readings, Food, Drink, Art Exhibition and Sale, Raffles, Children's' Activities and Games, Bake Sale, and MUCH MORE.
Venues: AMSIF, SJC PLAZA, HOSPITALITO, RUBEN'S RESTAURANT, TIA LUPITA
RESTAURANT, CAFÉ SAGA

(This is the same weekend that ACA, the ecological center in Jaltepec just west of San Juan a few kilometers is having their delightful annual Harvest Festival. See their website at http://www.greatgreens.org/ for details. It should be easy to combine events and make a day of it! -- R.)

Donations for San Juan Cosala can be made using PayPal.com. Please send through PayPal to helpsanjuancosala @ gmail.com (Take the spaces out of that email address, they are there to make it less likely that the email address will be harvested by spammers. This is also the email you can use to contact the group if you wish. I know several of them and highly recommend sending a donation there as compared with less knwn entities. Haven't heard if they have a way for it to be tax deductible in the US. --R.)

Or in Ajijic you can take checks to Multivalores, next to Ricki Fernandez' Showroom on the north side of the carretera and across the side street from Clinica Ajijic. If you wish to earmark your donation for something specific, please make a note.

San Juan Cosala Street Scenes

Here are a couple of shots from around San Juan Cosala. Kelly took this one of a mural. The dog had been following us for a couple of blocks after I spoke kindly to him! This was as we went looking for follow-up shots of the mudslides, and about all that I can say here is that the street looks like dirt instead of cobblestones... I for one am finding this a bit easier walking in places!

I took this one recently. I was starting to frame a shot of the street and church, just to give you more of an idea of the town, when these boys ran in front of the camera to have their pictures taken. I obliged and they ran off.

Heavy Rain in the Night

The rainy season is winding down but it's not over. Around 2:30 this morning it started raining. We woke up and muttered to each other that it would be good for the garden. Kelly was soon asleep again, but I lay awake listening.

The sound of the rain got harder and harder. Before the waterspout hit San Juan Cosala almost 3 weeks ago, I always enjoyed this sound but now it does put me on edge.

It got louder. There was some thunder and lightening, a ways away, then closer, then further again, and ever so gradually the rain diminished. I fell asleep after it got down to a soft drizzle.

While I was awake, I felt myself connected with other people who were also listening to the rain in our town, some of them far more nervous than I was.

Rich or poor, right in town or in the Raquet Club, whatever age and nationality, listening together in the night.