Sunday, August 19, 2012

Two and half months in Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico

Hola everyone. As most know our permanent home is in Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico. We love the ocean, the lively city and the awesome people. Unfortunately the months of July, August, September and a good part of October are very hot and humid. As a result we are trying out spending our summer months in Ajijic, [pronounced A hee heek,] Jalisco, Mexico.

Ajijic is located around 30 miles west of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Guadalajara is a major city. If it was in the US, it would be the largest city in the country. The population is estimated as low as eight million and a high of twelve million people. Luckily, Ajijic is a totally different community from Guadalajara. Ajijic has around fifteen thousand people and has a rural feel to it. The life is slow and the people move slowly and patiently. Ajijic, is a mile above sea level and is surrounded with high mountains and Lake Chapala. Lake Chapala is fifty miles long and it is a 180 mile drive to drive totally around it. The temperature is temperate with mild winters and moderate summers, most of the time the daytime high is between 70 and 80 degrees. May is the warmest month.

As the life is slower here, we both have different plans for the 2 1/2 months we have before we return to Mazatlan. Janice is going to view this as an artists retreat. She is going to design jewelry for the upcoming season when there are more locals and tourist that come through the 'art walk's' in Mazatlan each month. She also will continue her painting classes here in Ajijic. This is our first morning here and Janice has already signed up for 2 days lessons a week with a Mexican artist named Victor. Joel will continue perfecting his power loafing skills in case the Olympic committee takes him up on making power loafing an Olympic sport. He also will continue walking and running to build up the strength in his ankle in order to run the 10K portion of the Mazatlan Marathon in December. Also, Joel will seek to find some guys to have bull sessions over a few bottles of cervesa with. Of course several hours of reading daily is always on the schedule.

We are going to spend one week in Morelia the end of September. We will stay in an apartment in Morelia and tour the city several days and also will spend several days touring the lake county outside of Morelia, the villages around these lakes are known for various handicrafts with individual artists. Our friends Patrick and Sandi will come down from Mazatlan to tour Morelia with us.

Retirement always seem to take new twists and turns. As long as our health and resources last, different plans will come up. Stay tuned for the next ones. Who know what they will be.