Time-out on The Opinions, In Chacala

It's been about 29 months since I started writing these posts about about living in Chacala. I started out writing emails in response to people who had visited Chacala, and then wrote me asking about what was happening here.When I got this computer, about a year-and-a-half after I arrived in Chacala, my son showed me about blogging. The readership has gradually changed over time. At first it was mostly my personal friends and people who had visited here.And then, when I started another blog. showing the low-end rentals and the Techos units in Chacala, I started hearing from people were interested in coming here, for the first time.

Then gringos who had been coming here for awhile, often camping on the beach in RV apparently starting noticing this blog. At least a few did. As far as I can tell, few or none of those people, including the RV people who transitioned to building homes here, actually read it. But apparently they talked about because occasionally someone who make an indirect remark about this blog in my presence. But once in a while people actually talked to me about it.

Then, in the last year or two a few gringos arrived in Chacala with an eye to making big bucks here. Some of those people definitely read this, because a couple of them have seriously threatened me over it. Luckily reading this isn't complusory. Meanwhile, I get lots and lots of emails and "Comments" from people wanting to know about moving to Mexico, and gardening here, and all kinds of things related coming to another country, another culture. And I get many requests everyday for information about rentals and making reservations. But the newest group of readers are the local kids, and occasionally local adults. That started around Christmas last year. At least that's when local teens toldme they were seeing my photos of Chacala on the internet. Mostly they would ask me to put picture of themselves on the internet. Or to email them their photos, so they could post in somewhere on the internet. Like the local version of "My Space" I think.

Last winter I spent a couple of evenings a week down at "Gaby's", the little (very well run) internet cafe down on the beach road. It's open weekends and holidays, and does a good business. Some of the Chacala young folks would stand behind me while I was loading photos onto this blog. And critique the photos and tease each other. And make jokes.I'm not sure if any of them can read English well enough to read my posts here. But quite a few of them look at the photos. And now, for the last six months maybe, the kids, especially the teens and young adults, are constantly posing for me, and calling out, "Andee, Andee, foto, foto!!!. It's very fun for me.

And then a few days ago, Polo and his wife Berta, who have the Taco Stand on the beach road, said they had seen the photos of their daughter and themselves standing in front of their Taco Wagon, at their little restaurant.I had asked Berta if she was okay with being on the internet when I took the pictures. And she was. But I wasn't sure if she understood what I was asking.

Well, if she didn't then, she does now. They came up to me with big smiles, thanking me for the photos. I didn't get it at first, but they were seeing it as advertising, and were very pleased. So I showed them the other photos I had of them, on Chacala Nayarit, and they seemed to be very pleased with those photos too. Like they are famous now. It was very sweet.

I always wonder if I know what's going on about this photo stuff. About taking photos of local people. But I guess it's okay. The day before the Dia de la Revolucion, at least a half dozen kids and adults told me what time the parade was starting, and where it would start. So I could take photos of everything.I am invited to a baby shower for Clemen and her third child today. And I imagine the invitation includes my camera.I just love taking photos. And I think it's changed the way I see things. I have an odd experience last night. I was at Mars Tres Restaurants, talking with someone who had just arrived in Chacala.

Once and awhile the picture on the stupid TV would catch my eye. And then I really started looking closely. I hever never really noticed films in terms on photography before. But this film, a Mexican cowboy epic, filmed in Mexico, had one stunning shot after another. One amazing shot after another. Landscape and people shots.It was wonderful. I couldn't sstop looking at the screen. I seriously dislike TV and rarely am around one. But if I knew the name of that film, I would watch again and again. I can still see some of the images in my mind's eye.The photos on this post are some of the folks who have asked me to take their picture during the last couple of days. The hairless boys just got their heads shaved. I thought they were so cute.