I may have mentioned before, we are renting a two bedroom two bath condominium on the western edge of Ajijic. We like this location as it is only a 20 minute walk to the center of town and, as a consequence, is not close to the loud celebrations that accompany all of the fiestas and parades that are an important part of life in Mexico. Our neighborhood is also a nice mix of local stores and businesses, as well as a number of restaurants catering mostly to visitors and us migrants.
From the beginning of November through Carnaval (Mardi Gras), there are many fiestas and celebrations. I may not have all of these in order, but following Day of the Dead is Mexican Revolution day.
We were attracted to many items, but blew our budget on this carpet, handwoven in Oaxaca. It took the weaver 3 months to make.
On Mexican Revolution Day, many children dress up and participate in the parade, boys as revolutionary soldiers, and girls as adelitas (or soladeras).
They dance together as the parade stops at a cross street.
As always, there are lots of horses and their riders.
It is serious business being a revolutionary. What a good way to learn the history of your country.
Probably my favorite photo. These young guys were riding in the back of a pickup truck when something obviously caught their attention. I just love how serious and curious they look.
During November we were invited to join our friends Janie and Norman in a house on the outskirts of Tapalpa. This town has been designated a "Pueblo Magico" by the State. These towns are selected and provided funds to upgrade their streets and other facilities with the idea of attracting tourists to inland towns away from the coasts and beaches. It seems an excellent idea, in that the intent is to bring tourist money into the hinterland and spread it a bit more equally. This is the first such town that we have visited, but I must say we were a little disappointed. Yes, the cobbled streets were somewhat smoother, but one of the requirements imposed when you are chosen to get this "improvement" money, is that all businesses have to adopt a common signage and common facade colors. In my mind, this takes away some of the vibrancy that is common to Mexican towns.
It is easy to get lost on some roads in Mexico, this sign was on the way to the house where we stayed!!
We passed this little tortillaria on a back street in Tapalpa. They are making tortilla's and the large mounds of masa were being brought in from a pickup truck to feed the tortilla production machine.
The center of Tapalpa is dominated by the always-present Catholic church. The day we visited, there was a wedding underway.
One of the key attractions to the area around Tapalpa is the Valle de Las Piedrotas, or "The Big Stones". There are many ideas of how these stones got there, including extra terrestrials!! We only know that they have been there a long time as evidenced by ancient petroglyphs.
There are zip lines that can get you to the top of the largest rocks, but on the day we visited, they did not appear to be in operation.
It is an interesting landscape, if a bit strange.
Approaching the end of the year, there were more fiestas and processions almost every weekend, and always into the evenings with lots of fireworks.
The fireworks tower, or castillio, before everything started.
It is pretty difficult to get good photos of the fireworks display, I guess you just have to be there!!
What is a lot of fun watching the men send off the rockets. They hold them in their hand and light the touchpaper, usually with a cigarette end, and then holding on untill they shoot into the sky. The explosions are very loud at the end of the rocket's flight, imagine a stick of dynamite!
I joined a small group of photographers who ventured out to the eastern end of Lake Chapala to visit an old hacienda. It is known as La Della Cristina, or Hacienda Maltarana, and was built around 1907 as a result of some political dealing between President Diaz and some local land owners. The hacienda was built in a French style, it had 365 doors and windows, one for each day of the year. The President apparently gave the finished hacienda to his goddaughter, Cristina Cuesta, so hence the name, La Bella Cristina.
It must have been a spectacular building, however, it was ransacked during the Mexican Revolution by revolutionaries led by Pancho Villa.
It is still an amazing building, held together by many wooden props. We talked to the man who now owns the land there and he told us that it was last occupied sometime in the 1940's.
There is much more to tell about the history at this end of the lake, but suffice it to say, it has many dikes and rivers that make it fertile farmland. Boatman taking a load of reeds.
As we drove back to the town of Jamay, we came across this wonderful scene. Many thousands of birds were flying in swirling formations known as a "Murmuration". We stood and watched and photographed for a long time, a fascinating sight that I had read about but never witnessed.
Back in the small town of Jamay, we came across the most unlikely sight. This 60 foot high tower was built by the local people in 1876 to commemorate the visit of Pope Pius IX to Mexico. It is quite a sight and almost impossible to photograph!
The Christmas and New Year is full of parades and festivals and we found ourselves a tree and were able to decorate it with ornaments we could not part with when we made our move!
We attended\one of many wonderful musical and theatrical performances available here in Ajijic. "Go Tango" was organized by one of our local entrepreneurs. It was a great show with local musicians and tango dancers. It was also good to see that the large auditorium (Auditorio de Riberas),was full.
Each year the local artist group, Ajijic Society of the Arts, organizes an "open studio" weekend and this year Diane and I were invited to share a local artist's studio. Diane made her fabric covered boxes and they were a great hit. This photo was taken after many boxes had found new homes.
I think this was how her display looked before the tour began!
This is Judy Miller, an amazing pastel artist, who invited us to share her studio for the weekend show.
I shared space with David Winston and Joan Franklin, both of whom moved here from Ashland.
There are many parades that culminate in Carnaval (Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday). This involves the masked Zayacas dancers who chase children and pelt them with handfuls of flour. Bystanders are not exempt and I was the recipient of quite a few handfuls. The air is literally full of flour........
It is lovely to see all of the children participating in the parades and, in this instance, finding a good place to see everything.
As I have mentioned before, there are a lot of horses and their riders participating in these parades. This photo says a lot about family participation in these events. What great memories this little girl will have of riding with her father in the Carnaval parade of 2019.
In February of each year, Ajijic hosts a Chili Cook-off, and this year was it's 41st anniversary. It is a three-day affair with many individuals and restaurants presenting their idea of an award-winning chili, as well as salsa and margaritas.
There are ongoing performances of musicians and dancers, and a large array of booths where many local artist's have there work for sale.
American White Pelicans over-winter on Lake Chapala and as I write this, they are preparing to make the long migration back to Canada. Here they are feeding on some fish scraps that had been brought to the shore. It is quite a sight and we will miss them until they return in the fall.
As I finish this, we are headed into Easter and many more celebrations. As you can see there is much to discover here, so with any luck there will not be such a long break before I write again.
Stay tuned.
