Sliver 35: Hodgepodge.

Some of you wrote and asked what happen to my slivers. Well, they got sidetracked with the news. News? Why yes, we have decided to stay another year or two. We had to find a long term rental and work on getting an FM-3 visa as well as return to the states to get our car and contend with some brow beating from the NOBs sold on being NOBs.

The rental we found is a 2 BR, 2 bath, LR, DR, plenty of storage, partially furnished, 2 patios, large fenced-in yard, well landscaped with views of the mountains and a narrow view of the lake. It is five years old, on the service road to the carrenteria, on the west end of Ajijic and only three blocks from the lake. The rent is $500 per month with them paying electricity and water. This is a very nice Mexican style house. Mexican? Sure it is two stories, painted bright yellow, surrounded by a high fence covered in flowers, and with gardens, and fountains. The inside walls are bright orange, rose, burnt umber, and pastels. The large bathroom upstairs has a Jacuzzi tub with glass enclosures to the outside. Yes, you sit in the tub watching the clouds and stars. I hope no helicopters fly over. The hallway upstairs that connects the bedrooms is open to nature with scalloped arches and wrought iron decorative work. Weather and insects are no problem here. We are looking forward to decorating it and moving in. The lease can be expanded for a second year at the same price. The fountain is a little problem, for the water squirts straight up into the air and makes a mess. Our Mexican landlord says, “No hay probelmo” as he places a large rock on the top and the water now flows cascading down the fountain. He smiles and says, “You like?”

Upstairs, is a small balcony with a good view of the mountains. From the hallway we can see portions of the lake. I will miss my drop-dead vista of the whole lake I have in this present rental. Behind the house is a small size subdivision for NOBs (price range $200 to 400,000) and next to it are several large stone wall that are 10 to 12 feet high with iron gates. Maids and gardeners come and go. You can’t see the houses, just glimpses of giant satellite antennas resting on mansion roofs. These would be for the wealthy people from Guadalajara (price range in the millions). Some of the houses on the lake front are very nice, yet here and there are Mexicans that live in shacks by the waterfront. These people fish the lake and have more rights to the land then the newcomers. I hope Becky and I don’t bring the neighborhood down.

Second news – I finished the sequel to a novel I am writing, and this will demand much of my time. Queries, synapses, and promotions in the US market are very demanding, so the slivers will drop off a little. Some of the slivers are being published in two local papers here.

Back to the slivers. Becky and I have been going around with Nancy. Here are three places we have been in the last couple of weeks.

Mazamitla. This is a little town buried in the high mountains. I told you that Mexico doesn’t have wood. Wrong. This town is nested above 9,000 feet and surrounded with pines and firs. Even the buildings are made out of wood. It is a tourist town and looks like an Alpine village thrown smack dab into the middle of Mexico. One would think this is a Swiss village, but the plaza and church are definitely Mexican. Great restaurants, shopping, and cottage rentals make this a weekend resort. It reminded me of the mountains in California. There wasn’t a lot of activity, for this was on a weekday. On the weekends this village is covered with people from NOBs and people from Guadalajara. The gift shops were quite unique. Yes, Nancy took us to another great restaurant.

Becky purchased some souvenirs. But I only purchased one—a two foot long wooden club in the shape of a baseball bat. The security in your casa is up to you and anything that happens in your casa usually goes unnoticed by the police. No, wait a minute. A gringo should never use a gun in his house. This will get you that old Monopoly card, “Go straight to jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200 dollars.” Guns are not tolerated, and even having an unregistered gun can get you a long vacation stay with your new roommate, Miguel, who smiles a lot when he is not cooking tortillas in the jail kitchen.

Today we toured Tlaquepaque and Tonala (metro Guadalajara). These are the artistic and specialty shops for the city. Nancy picked us up for a fast tour, for she had a neighbor looking for a special light fixture. Her neighbor is from New Orleans and has lived in Mexico for the last 45 years. She was very interesting, but these two cities can not be toured in one day.

Tlaquepaque. This city specializes in furniture, art works, leather, paintings, wicker, pottery, toys, and art work that will challenger the imagination. Tonala picks up on this but adds to it pewter pieces, blown glass, tile, ceramics, statues, porcelain, fine art, silver, and jewelry. Both cities have art areas where you will find well over a hundred shops, stands, or people out on the street selling their wares. You even find foreign imports of ivory, jade, and porcelain.

If you like common art, this is the place to be. If you like the fine art, it’s there, too. Which ever you choose, it will have the same common flair – it’s Mexican. This means it is bright, colorful, and shows it artful style from the simplicity of the basket weavers to intricate hand carved furniture. I found everything, except what I was looking for the grand kids – Mexican jumping beans. Did they jump away from Mexico?

I don’t like shopping, but I was fascinated to just walk in and out of the shops. Everyone likes the Mexican art, but I especially liked the modern Mexican art (paintings and statues), talavera tile and murals, and the pewter. I used to look down on pewter, but the pewter here is one step below silver and shows itself in kitchen ware, dinner ware, wall art, etc. Fine restaurants heat highly polished pewter plates to serve their food on. Becky bought a nice butter dish, and I pushed a large salsa/chip pewter serving plate towards her. This piece is shaped in the likeness of a sombrero with the rim of the hat to hold the chips and the indented top to hold the salsa. It looks good, even without a party. Yep, I’m looking at it right now. Price $16. I’ve seen nice silver all my life, but never have I seen pewter polished in such a manner. OK, so I’m a red-neck, but pass the pewter. I will get a talavera laboratory. This might require reworking a whole bathroom to accommodate one little sink. Oh well, it’s a Mexican thing.

We didn’t get time to do the museums, glass factories, fine art shops, or plazas, but we will be back. When we return, I’ll grit my teeth, shove a hundred bucks into Becky’s hand, bow my head and walk off to the museums, glass blowing shops, street Indian weavers, or just everyday Mexicans doing everyday things. I told you, I’m not a shopper. Watching people is what I like best, and this area is loaded with culture – from the Indians, to the Mexicans, to the street dogs. The neighborhoods are fascinating.

Nancy took us to another excellent Mexican restaurant. But she taunted me. I think she has a gargoyle living inside her. She drove past all the American fast food places (Burger King, McDonalds, Applebees, Pizza Hut, etc.) and parked in the back lot of the Kentucky Fried Chicken place. She even brought a bucket of chicken home. I had to ride in the back seat smelling it the whole trip. If I had not been so full from the Mexican restaurant, I would have stolen a piece. She knows I still have a soft spot in my NOB stomach for fast food. The little rascal.…

Nancy’s driving hasn’t improved. In this metro area, she weaves in and out of traffic, disobeys the traffic cops on foot, watches the traffic cops with cars, and dern near runs over anything that crawls, walks or runs. I once thought she was taking aim at a little old grandmother pushing a baby carriage, but she turned out to be a street vender pushing tacos. She laughs a lot, but I tend to close my eyes and shake. The rules for driving in Mexico are to do anything you want, but never … never make eye contact. She keeps threatening to take us to the inner city of Guadalajara. The traffic in downtown Guad is worse than a toy sail boat caught in a typhoon. You hear rumors about the driving in this city, and it is always in past tense. Old Joe turned right and this bus … Harry is still riding on some traffic circle on the north side … Hey Laura went downtown and never returned … They found her purse in the middle of the calle. I just can’t wait for Nancy to get me there. You can tell she wants it bad, for she has been facing down some city buses and trucks just for the practice. She is like a matador in a bull ring with a dozen bulls. It will happen. Pray for me. Bye!