Appreciate Your Tap Water

Why? Because when you can’t really use it it then becomes of utmost importance to you! You want to brush your teeth? You have a glass from the purified water bottle sitting there on the bathroom sink. Tap water does not enter your body. You can wash yourself with it and wash dishes (although you want it really hot) – but they have to be totally dry before you use them. Everything else comes from the big bottle on the counter🤐

Now that I have that off my chest – on to other, more fun things! After our 6 AM (ugh) departure from LAX we passed an uneventful 3 hour flight (which I slept through most of) landing in Guadalajara a few minutes early. The airport has this massive customs hall (really well staffed so no one has a long wait), baggage is efficient, and the only moment of concern is whether you will get a green light or a red light. After you get your bags, you join a line (randomly selected which line you go to) and one member of your group has to press a button. If the light is green you get to leave. If the light is red your bags go through additional screening. So far we are 2 for 2 with green lights! YAY!

Once out of the customs area, that airport has another really logical set up. You walk up to a taxi counter, tell them where you want to go, the fee is set based on what your destination. No surprise costs. And the cost of the half hour taxi ride? $435. That’s pesos, not dollars. Because that same symbol is used down here too. It’s not so bad that Canada and Australia (I think New Zealand too) use because the value of the money isn’t too dissimilar. But pesos man! We spent $200 at the fruit and veg stand yesterday…that’s about US$10. Two full bags of produce for that amount too. It really messes with your head.

Now for Ajijic. Our flat is….okay. We were lucky to find anything at all here, so we are fortunate that this one turned up. We aren’t too far away from necessities, far enough from Dona’s Donuts that it isn’t a constant temptation, and enough hills to make every walk burn a few extra calories. Then there are the streets themselves. These cobblestones are in a class of their own. No mortar of any kind. And the sidewalks. Oh man. If you build something, you put a sidewalk in front of it. Different height than what was there? No problem. Maybe add a step. Or a concrete ramp. Or…nothing. Surprise! Same with street corners. The kicker is that the cars still drive just as fast on these streets. No one has a suspension to speak of. It’s not neat and tidy here, but it has a charm of its own. Don’t get me wrong…it is not dirty. Every morning people are out sweeping their sidewalks – and the street! Dog poop is another matter, but even Rome has issues with that!

Here in Ajijic, there is a wonderful organization called the Lake Chapala Society. The Society has been in existence since 1955, when a group of ex-pats living down here formed a group to help other ex-pats. There has been an ex-pat presence here since the late 1920’s, mainly Canadian and American. Now there are many Europeans here too (and a French bakery/restaurant!). The Society is the place to go for everything from tax help and doctor referrals to book/DVD lending and computer classes! They have a beautiful garden with a small cafe too.

We are settling in nicely now. Only needing a Pepto-Bismol here and there. We enjoy our morning walks, plus we are often out for a walk in the evening too. The fabulous fresh produce here is amazing! We did not get to the street market this week, but are planning to go next Wednesday. There should be loads of fabulous photos from it! There are so many things to photograph here.😁Since we won’t be doing much extra traveling, I may devote blog entries to the various photography subjects! I’ll have to think on that…