Lakeside 2006: January 2007

The Walls Are Going Up!

Here are the latest pics on our house (more to be found in the links section on flickr).

Anyone Left in Canada?

Today Penny and I were walking along the sidewalk in Ajijic coming back from the dentist (again!) and she mentioned that she thought she saw Elvis Stojko. Thinking that there aren’t a lot of ice rinks in the area, she must be mistaken. Determined she went up to him and asked him outright if he was Elvis Stojko, and his reply was in the affirmative. He was helping his father moving some very large candles into their truck. It turns out that he has lived here for over 5 years. Despite the fact that he was responsible for putting Canada on the world stage for figure skating, he was not snotty or conceited in any way, just a really nice guy.

This afternoon I went to the Canadian Club to hear Shelia Copps speak to the group of expat Canadians. In the crowd was Allan Gregg one of Canada’s most recognized and respected senior research professionals and social commentators. It seems that everyone from Canada is down in Ajijic!

Flight of the Humming Bird

Here is a view of the bird feeder in our backyard with one of its many visitors.

Carl & Tony’s Excellent Adventure (Not)

Today Carl and I, our visitor and past neighbour from Toronto went to Tonala via Guadalajara. We left Ajijic at around 11 in the morning to get the bus to Chapala, and walk around town and get some lunch before we departed to Guad. Little did we know what was in store for us! We arrived at the bus station in Guad and left the station to get another bus to Tonala, bus route 55. We walked around Tonala and were amazed by all the items we saw; furniture, lighting fixtures, pottery, paintings, pewter and too many things to mention. Carl went on a shopping spree and purchased a few items from various stores. When we noticed that it was 5:30 we decided to turn back to get home before it got too dark. We got the route 55 bus, only to travel on it for over an hour and find ourselves to be the only passengers left, at which point the driver told us to get out! We asked how to get back to the bus station and were told to take route 51. Carl and I waited and waited and finally got on a 51 bus. This was not to take us to the bus station. We travelled for an hour or so, and were taken on a tour of Guad at night, which would not have been a problem if we weren’t concerned that it was dark and we didn’t have a clue were we where. We were finally told to get off the bus and to get on a route 644 bus, which we were assured would take us to the fabled bus station, so that we could finally get the bus to Ajijic. At about 8:15 we were let off this bus to buy our tickets to get to Ajijic. The bus finally left the station at 8:30. I got off on the liberamento and Carl continued to his stop some way down the carretera. As I got off the bus, I faced the challenge to walk up the side of the highway without any lights, other than the speeding lights of the odd passing car. It should be noted that there are no sidewalks to the development we call home, CVN. Fortunately I had my trusty “Photon” l.e.d. flashlight which helped me negotiate the bush and pot holes on the way up the highway. As I proceeded with care not to get hit by oncoming traffic and not to fall into a hole along the way, I could hear the barking of dogs coming towards me. I debated to use my whistle to scare away the oncoming canines, but wondered if this would only help them to find me faster. I decided it would be prudent to wait till they were in biting distance to use the whistle and determine the result of the whistle at that time! During my travels up the way I keep flashing my light at the on coming traffic so that we would see me and not decide to veer into me as I tried to get home. As I got into CVN and greeted the guards at the gatehouse, I could hear the growling of the watchdog coming for me. This wasn’t a good trip. I quickly called out Terry’s name and saw him, much to my relief, coming towards me with his tail waging behind him. When I got to the house I could see Pedro and Cora’s van. I couldn’t figure out why they would be at the house at 10 pm. Once I got in the door I saw Penny frantic and Pedro and Cora looking at me as if I arouse from the dead. It seems that Penny had called them, as she was sure I was dead. I assured everyone that Carl and I were fine, and very glad to be finally at home. This was one trip that Carl and I will never forget!