Ron and Bronita
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Third Year in Mexico

The Highlights of our Third Winter in Chapala, Jalisco, MX

If you would like to know more about this area, click here.

This year we lived in a different area of Chapala. It was on the edge of town.....much quieter. We rented a small apartment. One bedroom, one bathroom, big kitchen including free cable, gas, electric, washing machine, bottled water and secured parking. Most of the time we either walked (up town about 20 minutes) or road our bikes (moutain bikes because of the cobblestones)where ever we wanted to go. The only time we took our vehicle was when we were going to another town.

New for us this year was playing cards every other Thrusday night with 5 other couples. The people that were there were all eastern Canandians except Ron and I. The game was uchre. 

New Year's Eve. We spent the evening with our Canadian and American friends at Bar Tomas. This is like a Cheer's bar. We had free snacks, noise makers, streamers, champagne and 12 green grapes. What you do with the grapes is this.......when the clock strickes 12 you eat a grape and make a wish for each month of the year (Mexican tradition). Then a few of us were invited by Dale and Marilyn's for breakfast at 2:00am for a Texas tradition........blackeyed peas, for good luck. We got to the house but mistook the party that was going on next door at the Mexican neighbors house for Marilyn's. That was allright, they offered us a drink and a woman grabbed Ron and a man grabbed me to join in the dancing. Then we found out that the party that we were invited to was next door. Just a short detour. Beside the blackeyed peas there was scrambled eggs, bacon, sauage, gravy, biscuits, sticky buns, fresh squezzed orange juice and coffee. A couple of our friends wanted to go home after this so they walked from the north side of town to the south side where they live.....about 20 minutes. On the way they saw many streets that were block off, people sitting around bondfires celebrating. When we left to go home at 5:00am the neighbors across the street were still sitting around a bondfire. They really know how to party.

THE EARTHQUAKE This was about 8:00pm CT and I was sranding in the kitchen and I started swaying back and forth. I thought I was losing my balance.......I had never experienced a quake before. Ron knew what it was. Our landlord told everybody to get outside. The lights in the courtyard were going off and on. The hanging plants on the overhang were swinging. The only damage in Chapala was some broken water mains that didn't affect our part of town.

In February we took a bus trip to Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo and Colima. Colima is where the eathquake was centered January 21, 2003. We saw a lot of damage but it was the old and the poorly buildt structures that showed the results of the quake. While we were staying in Colima we took a couple of side trips. One was to a lagoon with a valcano above it. This is the most active valcano in Mexico......it smokes all the time. .

This is one of the biggest.....if not the biggest celebration in Mexico. People save for years to have this celebration. We had the privilege of being invited to one of these parties because we know several members of this Mexican family. It is a girl's fifteenth birthday.....Quice Anos. It is like a wedding. This young lady was in a blue gown and the first thing that took place was the ceremony at the church. After that her God father took her in his car all over town just like they wouldd do with a bride and groom. They had the reception at a restaurant. Her grandfather is a Mariachi and his group played part of the music. There was a table set up like a brides table would be with gifts.First to enter the restaurant was young girls dressed in white gowns escorted by young guys dressed in black suits. They came into the restaurant in kind of a stroll to music followed by the birthday girl and her escort. The couples formed a circle around the girl and her date swaying back and forth while the couple danced. Above them was a ball that balloons were dropped from. There was a meal that was served and all the tequila you could drink. Very interesting.

There are two islands in Chapala de Lago.  You can rent a boat to take you from Chapala to Scorpion Island.  The cost in 2003 was $35.USD and the boat will hold 8 people.  Ron and I with 5 other people went to the island which took about 35-40 minutes.  On the island there are two restaurants.  We had lunch and walked around.  The other island is east of Chapala......we haven't been there yet.....maybe next year.

On the way home we stopped in New Orleans and went to the Jazz Festival.  This festival is held Thursday thru Sunday on the last weekend of April and the first weekend of May.  We stayed in Kenner and took the bus to the end of the line ($1.10).  This street is Clayborn.  We took this bus to the fairgrounds.  The addmission is $25. each day.  You can take small soft coolers, chairs, blankets.  You cannot take any beverages in, beer and pop are $3.00 a can.
 
We also went to The French Quarter.