HUH?

I have been going deaf since I was around 12 years old when my brothers decided to both fire shotguns at the same time near my head and ruptured my eardrums. My hearing loss has been moderate/severe for years now. I have learned to adapt - watching people as they speak - asking them to repeat themselves over and over again - turning up the TV volume to max - and acting like I understood something - when really I didn't hear a word.

My daughter finally nagged me into trying hearing aids...which I got fitted for today. Okay...so maybe I didn't know my shoes squeaked when I walked, or my knees made a popping sound when I squat down; but other than that - good hear is highly overrated. I'm exhausted after wearing them all day; my brain is actually tired. All these noises that I can't normally hear are bombarding my brain and ears; I can hear money jingling in peoples pockets, my turn signal, the dog farting, my keyboard clicking, my gardener clipping the hedges, my gardener farting - STOP THE INSANITY!!

I took them out - I'll try again tomorrow.

Beautiful Sunday Drive

On the other side of the lake is a mountain range with a few scattered villages, about an hours drive from my house. One is quite large and famous for its 'Alpine' influence. A couple of friends and I decided to drive up and spend the afternoon.

The village, Mazamitla (which means "place to shoot deer with arrows") is absolutely beautiful. If you ever come to Central Mexico during the rainy season, add it to your itinerary. It is about 7,000 feet above sea level, in a beautiful green valley surrounded by towering mountains. It looks like they could have filmed The Sound of Music there.

We arrived around noon and spent the first hour shopping and wandering around the Plaza. The buildings are all made of wood - which is very unusual in Mexico, since they rely almost solely on stone for their construction, and the houses had bow windows - remarkable. The residents were very tall and very fair skinned; this place was not settled by Indians, it was most definitely European.

We decided to try and find the most famous attraction - a spectacular waterfall on the outskirts of the village. We drove around for about an hour until we finally found the the road. We kept noticing strings of horses going up and down the road - we figured they were for the tourists to rent. We came to a stop at the bottom of a ravine with a gate that said 'No Moto' - horses only. We decided we would try and walk down to the falls which we figured was at the bottom of the hill. A Mexican guide stopped us and said it was a '2 hour walk' - holy crap - I'm not that interested in seeing a waterfall. And no one was prepared to ride a horse down a steep ravine.

Since it was late in the afternoon and we definitely needed to get down the mountain before nightfall, we decided to find a place to eat lunch and head back down. There is a very popular restaurant a few miles outside the village. We sat down to order and suddenly these men came flying down on zip lines right next to our table. Scared the crap out of me. Looked like a lot of fun. I took a few pictures - but the day was overcast so they didn't turn out that good.

https://picasaweb.google.com/113488190525490792576/Mexico

On Being Sick

First, typhoid sucks - literally. You feel drained, no appetite, no energy, you just sit and wait for it to go away.

Second, if you develop vertigo at the same time, even sitting is a hassle.

Third, if you do get typhoid and vertigo - whatever you do - don't get a new dog. Bending over to pick up dog poop is not pleasant when you have vertigo.

But today was a new day. The vertigo has subsided, the typhoid symptoms are gone, I found the new dog a great new home, and I ate Chinese food for lunch. Life is good.

Dog Days

My little boston terrier (CK) has been acting very bored and lonely in the new house - the only other dog he has to play with is a great dane named Winston - not much of a playmate. Mexicans have a lot of dogs but rarely take care of them; not by US standards anyway. So many dogs wander the streets and die of starvation, poisoning, hit by cars, or just general neglect. They rarely neuter them so they just breed indiscriminately.

Sometimes people with dogs die or move back to the States and just abandon their pets. A friend rescued a dog from his neighbors back yard who had been tied to a tree for days without food or water and moved back to Canada. Who does that??

Lot's of Gringo's try to rescue these dogs but a lot of them have to be put down because they are too aggressive or too sick to save. There are several shelters that try to find them good homes and for a nominal fee you can adopt one.

Today I made the mistake of going into one of the shelters and found this sweet little 2 year old female - her kennel name was Buffy - I call her Chica. She was quite, housebroken, obviously someone's pet - she knows how to walk on a leash, sit on command and is sleeping beside by chair on the floor right now. I hope she works out - I have 2 weeks to return her if she doesn't

I know you can't save them all - but I hope this was Chica's lucky day.

The Good and the Awful

Got up early this morning (Sunday) and drove into Guadalajara to see the "Thieves Market", no idea why they call it that. It is a typical Mexican market except everything is a bit off.

First - it is located in a very bad part of Guad...dirt streets, run down houses, pathetic dogs roaming around, but the people were very nice and we never felt the least threatened. Here are some pictures https://picasaweb.google.com/113488190525490792576/Mexico.

We didn't buy much - but had a great time just wandering around through the crowds looking at all the crazy stuff there. On the drive back to the Lake (about 45 minutes), traffic came to a complete stop - we figured it was just another Federalie's roadblock.

Traffic crawled along until we passed a new pickup truck along side of the road - the drivers door had been completely torn off, but other than that - no damage at all. Then about 50 feet further down the road was a blue tarp with a body underneath. It was obviously a woman - she was lying on her back - her feet and hands were sticking out from under the tarp. She was wearing nice shoes, and you could see she had long, red polished nails.

All the rest of the way - we tried to figure out how in the world this accident could have happened. Did she pull off to the side of the highway and step out of the car and someone just slammed into her? Was she having car trouble? Did she run out of gas?

Life is so fragile. One minute you are driving down the road, going to church or going to meet a friend for lunch; the next you are lying spread eagle, under a blue tarp, dead...and you didn't even break a nail.

Melting Pot - Almost

I've met lots of Anglos down here - many from the Mid-West, Canada, Nova Scotia, even France. There are all kinds of Latinos - from Spain, South and Central America - native Indians, and lots of Asians and middle eastern looking people; but there is not one black person in this entire area. What's up with that? This is a skinhead's paradise (except for the Mexicans - that could be a problem.) I've never lived in an all white/beige/brown place before.

Typhoid - Running Amok

Who knew people still get typhoid - it is running rampant among the Gringo community down here. Probably due to all the heavy rain and contamination of the water supply. I switched to only drinking bottled water (even brushing my teeth with it) a few weeks ago but it didn't help - I have Typhoid.

I can see why it was such a feared disease in the past - you get very, very sick - you can't keep anything down, you run a fever and generally just feel awful.

I was suppose to house sit last night for a friend who went into the hospital...but the best I could manage was just checking in on her dogs and feeding them. Otherwise, I just came home and crawled into bed. What miserable night. Today, I'm feeling somewhat better, I stocked up on all the recommended medication - there is a one-dose pill you can take which I picked up too.

The only thing you need a prescription for down here are antibiotics and class 3 narcotics, so there is a lot of self-medicating. If the one-dose doesn't work, I'll have to go into the clinic for blood work. Whine................

Pros and Cons of Living in Mexico

Con - you cannot dial 911
Pro - you seldom need to dial 911 - even with all the noise about the Cartel - violent crime is very rare here. Unless you are involved with drug trafficking - hardly anyone owns a gun

Con - you can't drink water directly from the tap
Pro - most of us drink bottled water anyway because of all the pollution in US tap water

Con - you can't get direct US television
Pro - you can't get direct US television

Con - if you want to purchase a house you have to pay cash - there are not mortgage banks
Pro - most of us here are too old to qualify for a mortgage anyway

Con - the major highways are toll roads - the cost in tolls back to the states is about $120 USD
Pro - they are very well maintained and patrolled by the "Green Angels" who help stranded motorists - and it's free

Con - you can't shop for the lowest gas price - I have no idea how much a gallon of gas costs because it is not posted.
Pro - every gas station in the country charges the same - what ever the price is

Con - there are very few DIY home repair stores here
Pro - labor is so cheap - it is much easier to just hire someone to do home repairs for you

Con - it is impossible to find good Chinese food in Mexico...if you are Chinese and are reading this - please move here and open a cafe - you can live at my house.
Pro - there are none for this

Rain Rain Go Away

I know the states are baking in the heat and begging for rain - wish I could send some your way. This morning it started pouring - sheets and sheets of rain; I thought it was never going to stop. The roof started dripping, then leaking, then pouring water into the sunroom. I was scrambling to move the furniture into the living room, remove all my electronics, find trashcans and buckets to try and stem the tide - but it was all hopeless. Finally, I just found a dry spot, sat down and waited for it to stop.

I had about 2 inches of water in the sun room, the towels I threw down were floating. Then the sun came out, my housekeeper showed up to help get rid of all the water, my handyman is on his way to see if he can fix the leak....life is good.

Tonight's forecast....MORE RAIN.

The Mexican Way

One of the first things you learn about living in Mexico is Mexican are the most unpredictable people. In the States, we view them as lazy, uncouth, even stupid. But I have found them to be the hardest working people I have ever known. Everything is done by hand - there are very few heavy machines down here.

Last year there was a huge mudslide that nearly wiped out a nearby village. Everything was buried in 6 feet of mud. Cows, dogs, sheep and even people were washed into the lake by torrents of mud and rocks. But within a month, you could drive through that little village and everything looked perfectly normal. They know the government is not going to come rescue them, so they just get on with it.

They also recycle everything - nothing goes to waste. Our garbage men open up every bag and look for anything usable before they toss the bag into the truck. When they repaired my roof, they took all the old broken roof tiles as part of payment - they use them to repair their own roofs.

And no matter how hot and sweaty they get - they don't smell. I'm sure it is because they don't use deodorant, body lotions, or perfumes like we do in the states - it is really amazing. After 10 minutes to working in the yard, I smell like a wet dog - but my gardener is dripping with sweat - and smells like fresh cut grass.

Living in a Language Cocoon

"Good Afternoon K-Mart Shoppers, please look for the flashing blue light to stock up on Pampers...blah....blah....blah". We get so used to hearing these droning announcements in all the big box stores that we literally tune them out. Well here is a much more effective way of tuning out all those announcements, messages, cell phone conversations....refuse to learn the language!

If a gunman shoved a pistol into my face and said "¡La bolsa o la vida"; according to the International Stupid Tourist Law, I can just turn around and walk away. Instant security!!

The Help

One of the many things I love about living in Mexico is having a maid twice a week....I really shouldn't call her a maid, she is more accurately a housekeeper. She is very young, around 24, pretty, works hard, is always on time, and cleans the house exactly as I told her I wanted it - all for around $30 USD a week.

One of the things I like least about living in Mexico is having a maid twice a week....I mean someone in your house for 8 hours, working up a sweat to clean up your crap, while you try and find somewhere to sit quietly and not get in the way - it's all very tiresome. Don't get me wrong - I like having someone clean my house and all the "Gringos" have housekeepers, usually 5 days a week, it's what we do down here. I mean really....what can they possible find to do 5 days a week. The owner of my house had 2 women 3 times a week!! When I cleaned my own house - it was only on Saturday for around 4 hours and when I hired someone regularly it was once a MONTH.

The other thing that drives me crazy is that you are not suppose to get too involved with your housekeeper and their families...there is, of course, the language barrier and that makes it difficult to talk about anything complicated.

One of my friends' maid came to her the other day wailing about her young daughters 'heart' condition and fearing the child would be dead before she got home that evening. My friend volunteered to take the little girl to a cardiologist and the mother wept with gratitude. My friend made the appointment and went to pick up the little girl and her mother - she saw the girl running merrily up and down the street with all her little friends and the mother sitting outside shelling peas. "Oh she much better today Senora"..end of my friends misplaced charity.

A very wise woman who has lived her for 10 years told me once "Mexican don't need any more friends, they have all they want with their families."

It has been too long

I started this post last year when I retired to track my move/visit to Mexico, but have not posted in a long time because of pure laziness. So here is what has been going on over the past 6 months.

I was staying in my little casita (https://picasaweb.google.com/lkarelee/Casita) on Joan's estate, working at the local little theater in props and enjoying it when my house in Austin got robbed. I stayed on the phone for days, dealing with the police, insurance companies, neighbors, locksmiths, you name it. Then I broke out with SHINGLES - are you freaking kidding me - SHINGLES - ON MY FACE. (A very good dermatologist started appropriate treatment and I was fine after a few days.)

Next, the thieves started withdrawing money from my checking account and using my credit cards to run up huge bills at the mall. Apparently they were buying jewelry then taking it to the pawn shops. Of course, I wasn't responsible for the charges but it took many more hours on the phone to get it all straightened out. BTW - I highly recommend banking with a small, local bank (University Federal Credit Union in my case); because when the shit hits the fan, it is nice to be able to speak to a human being who can open new accounts, transfer money, etc.

Next, I returned to Austin at the end of November to find almost everything of value had been taken - including my jewelry, clothing, personal documents, blank checks, birth certificates, old passports - but they did leave my Fiesta Ware (idiots - probably the most valuable thing in the house)

So, long story short, I spent the next couple of months clearing out what was left of my house, found a renter, stored everything I couldn't pawn off on my family, traded my Prius for a Honda CRV, and returned to Mexico. I now live here

https://picasaweb.google.com/lkarelee/NewHouse