Sunshine in Chacala

This is a gorgeous Sunday in Chacala. It’s hot and humid, sunny, and breezy. The town is about half full of tourists who live in other parts of Mexico. Compostella, Tepic, Guadalajara, wherever. Even a sweet young, English-speaking couple who grew up in Brucerias. With they lovely little daughter. Ophelia's Shop on the Beach Road
Only a few tourist buses are here today, and no big noisy bands. Just the local troubadours, going from restaurant . The restaurants are full of big families and groups of friends. All ages, babies and kids thru great-grandma.Lots of people in the water. The waves are just big enough to have fun without being scary. The water is turquoise. I love it. The sand was too hot to walk on barefoot. That’s kind of unusual here, I think.There seems to be a black or brown water drainage problem coming from El Delphin, flowing toward the beach road (aw Ugh. A few local people have being asking me to take photos of these septic tank problems, and I am. The town is trying to arrange for funding of some kind of sewage system, at least on the beach. The last three (gringo) construction projects awhile the beach scare me. There’s only so much sewage you can pump into sand. Or septic tanks.There was a big birthday party being set up at Esparanza’s camping and picnic area. Yellow balloons tied everywhere, and the palm tree freshly whitewashed. And the sand raked and the tables and chairs set in the shade. Esparanza's picnic and camping area
Lots of visitors walking on the beach road, looking are touristy stuff to buy and snacks to eat. Like Tacos from Polo’s and fresh tortas (chicken, beef or pork sandwiches) at Mars Tres. The pizza guy, Victor, seems to be out of business for now. Rats!!! I loved having pizza on the weekend here.The computer guy, Gabriel arrived early on Friday and is planning to be open until late Sunday night. Very handy for me, but kind of expensive. 20 pesos an hour. But his connections are fast most of the time, and the machines work well. So far he doesn’t want to deal with Wi-Fi, but he has lots plug-ins if you bring your own computer.There are at least three gringo families staying in Chacala right now, maybe more. At Mirador, Majahua, and maybe at Nuevo Espana.Majahua's Beach Club area, right off the beach.
Majahua’s remodeling is moving quickly. The new bar, offering all kinds of beverages, will have two levels. I think it’s going to be a big hit. The view is incredible, especially the winter sunsets. Actually all the sunsets.I think there are now seven places in Chacala with swimming pools. I am not really a fan of swimming pools, because of the chemicals. But they look wonderful, and I knows they are fun for kids. And no sand. Paul’s Satow and Casa Monarca both have shallow wading areas with a low divider separating them from the deeper water. Maybe some of the others do too.I was dozing this afternoon, during siesta time, and I kept hearing this scraping sound. I finally got up to see what it was. One of the workers from the new hotel was cleaning the dirt away from the speed bump/tope. There was so much gravel and silt built up on the uphill side of the tope that the big Chacalilla development trucks were starting to speed over it again.So the worker cleared away the debris, and the topes are higher again. The downside is, he was using the extra dirt to fill in all the potholes caused by the water from the hotel’s spring. Their water runs down the paved road 24/7 , making a potholed mess. Which I like, because it slows the trucks down. Oh well. I am going back down to the beach to swim, and to have some smoked-grilled fish at Chico’s. I can’t wait.

New Chacala Rental Options

There’s a nice new rental option in Chacala. It’s called Casa Monarca, and it’s right behind the Kinder, on the way to the muelle. It’s a little more than a block to the ocean and the dingy beach, and about three blocks to the big Playa Chacala beach.The owners came to Chacala from California, and settled here about six months ago. The husband is orginally from Mexico, and the whole family speaks Spanish and English. This is one of the few rentals with Wi-Fi for guests.

The family home is the second floor of the building, and the ground floor has two rental units. The rentals open out onto a very nice swimming pool , with a patio and covered palapa area. The third floor is an open terrace with a spectacular view toward the ocean and hills south of town. Really lovely.The rental units each have a bedroom, with a double and single bed, and large bath. The kitchen – eating- sitting area opens onto the patio, and has two build-in benches with thick foam pads. Two more people could sleep there. Lots of nice decorative touches in the units, including very nice tiles.The owners, Kate and Luis, speak Spanish and English. You can call them directly from the U.S. at 011 52 327 219 4125 or email them at chacala4us@yahoo.com.

Other Chacala rentals with Wi-Fi for guests include Majahua, Mar de Jade, Las Brisas, and Casa Chacala. I hope I have that right)

Also Berta’s (famous housekeeper at Casa Pacifica) new rentals (below) can now be booked through rentals@casapacificachacala.com. Less than a block to the beach, nice kitchens, great views. She seems to have decided on the name Estrellas de el Mar (Starfish), but I’m not sure about that.If you are happy with a smaller unit, with double and single bed, with a basic kitchen on the patio, consider Angeles new units (below). I think she is planning to rent for $31.50US a night. These are brand new units, and very clean and nice. But small. They're nice affordable units, particularly nice for people who spend most of their time at the beach or out-and-about. Contact me at alatawah@gmail.com for more info.

For more photos and info on all three rentals, go to Chacala Budget Rentals

Welcoming Homes in Chacala

I walked around Chacala early this morning. The sun comes up at my place at 7am right now. What time the sun comes up in Chacala depends mostly on what your house is, in relation to the small hills to the east of town.

Anyway. It's light around 6:30am, and that’s a nice time to walk. Much later and it’s too hot and humid to do much walking. About 5:30pm is starts to be walking weather again. And time to swim too.There’s a remodeling job going at what used to be the orange house where Pati and her kids lived. On the road between the paved road and the beach road, and between Socorro’s and Avalos Realty closed office. And across from Concha’s.A few days ago some big changes started at that house. I spoke with the man in charge, who told me he is from Guadalajara and is leasing the place. He said he was planning to plant a “natural” Mexican garden in the big front yard. He mentioned Hibiscus, Bougainvillea, etc. He didn’t seem to know about the eradication project for the disease that’s infesting the Hibiscus plants around here.But the house looks cool. What used to be an open covered area is now screened in, there is a patio with planters on what seems to be a new wooden roof deck. With an ocean view. And the large front area is now enclosed by a wall of boulders, and a high wood-framed reed fence. I don’t know how tall the stone wall will be, but it looks like it will be tall.I like how the remodel looks so far, but something about it bothers me. And I think it's that the house is now closed off from the neighborhood. That house used to be very open to the road. You could talk between the houses above, behind, and across the street. Kids ran around, in and out. There was a strong neighborhood feeling to that little section of the road.I think that will be gone now. My guess the remodel is based on values about personal privacy and protecting your possessions. And I think that unfortunately sometimes it’s those values that helps to destroy the neighborliness that many poorer neighborhoods seem to have here.

Now that I am thinking about it, there are a number of houses around Chacala that seem to have no social presence toward the street. People who live in house that aren't open toward the street probably won’t be sitting out near the road, talking to the neighbors as they walk by. Most of the houses built in this style are vacation homes built by people from Guadalajara, and gringos. At least that's my impression at the moment. No easy interaction with the neighbors and the passer-byes certainly changes the quality of interactions among neighbors.

I don’t think the intent of any of these places is to be separate and private. It’s just the style middle class people are used to. In Mexico, the houses of people who can afford it show almost nothing to the street. The patio is private and in the middle of the house. In U.S. suburbs people can drive into their garages and walk into their houses without ever seeing a neighbor. And there are no sidewalks for the kids to play together on. Each house is a island, alone.I like poorer neighbors, where the kids can play in the street, between the houses, and everyone can see what’s going on. There’s much more social interaction. People talk to each other, and have to work out their differences.

In Las Varas most of the houses in the middle of town present a blank wall to the street. Maybe a window, and a gated parking space. And the door. But I have noticed the older folks who live in some of those houses get around limitations of their homes by moving chairs and benches outside onto the sidewalk, and visiting, and even cooking there. Or hanging out in the parking area, which usually has a big grilled gate to protect it from the street.

A friend of mine told me about meeint some folks who have a home in the “development” north of Chacalae. I guess they are some of the few gringos who have bought vacations homes there. Anyway, the people explained their home was in a gated development (a small complex of homes) within the larger gated development.It sounded so sad to me. To build a home behind two sets of walls and gates seems pathetic. It seems as though there is not much chance of meeting your neighbors or making friends in that kind of setting. Of course, your stuff is safe, maybe, and you won’t have to spend anytime getting to know people in the area. I guess that’s nice for some people. It doesn’t appeal very much to me.

I live upstairs, on the paved road in Chacala. My kitchen and eating and hanging out space is on the covered patio and I spend most of my time out there. I can look over the edge and see everything that’s going on. Even down on the beach road, and the beach. People can call up to me, or me down to them. We all watch out for each other and help each other out and borrow things and share things.Obviously, how open your house is to the neighborhood and your neighbors is a personal choice. But so far I like being where I can hear and see what’ s going on around me. I'm kind of noisy, obviously.

Even at Gordon’s house, where I lived for three 6-months summers, there was a lot of interaction with neighbors. The house was kind of isolated, but it was built to be very open to visitors. The front patio was very welcoming, with furniture and plants. And the big shady terrace was open to the neighborhood. It’s was easy to see what was happening and to talk to people going to and fro.

It’s interesting to see how choices about door placement, patios, walkways and landscaping can turn people away or invite them in. And how having outdoor living space that opens to the street can impact neighborhood interactions. It’s not something I consciously thought about before, but I am starting to pay attention.

For example, the beach entrance to one of the mini-resorts at the south end of the beach has a “Keep Out, Guests Only” sign at it’s beach entrance. And the other resort welcomes people with flowers in a vase and a shady place to sit. Pretty big difference.

3 Lists About Chacala

When my son and his Dad brought me this computer, Erik also showed me how to blog, using Blogger. At that time, no one was providing a venue for showing travellers most of the affordable rental options in Chacala. So I stepped in with this rental blog. Especially since I have a camera now, and can take photos of the rentals. It lists all but a couple rentals, with descriptions, contact info, photos, and location.

Right now, in Chacala, there are 41 rental businesses, with about 180 rental units.

In addition to Chacala Budget Rentals, there are a couple of other rental websites in Chacala.
Rentals@casapacificachacala.com rents a variety of mostly high-end rentals in Chacala.

Since last summer, another Chacala rental website has come into play. Chacala Escape, which is operated by Trini (trinimoya2@hotmail.com). She takes reservations for a number of places in Chacala. Trini is doing a great job, finding some creative rental solutions to some difficult rental requests (example: 8 adults, 7 kids, coming and going over several weeks, or a large wedding party). It helps that she knows everyone in town and almost all the owners, local or out-of-town.

This best arrangement for most rental owners is for you to contact the owner directly. If possible. The two websites I just mentioned charge the owner from 10-15% for their services.

The original website for the Techos de Mexico rentals has been revitalized by Jose Enrique de Valle, the creator of the Techos program. The Techos de Mexico site has a new address and looks great.

And some of the rentals here have their own websites operated by individual rental owners, such as Majahua, and Casa Chacala and Villa Celeste.

The following is a list of current remodeling and buillding projects here in Chacala.
______________________________
Current remodeling projects in Chacala: (updated 9/2007)
Majahua: kitchen, two level bar area, public restrooms, new rental unit
Orange house across from Concha’s: house and garden remodel (done)
White house across from Lalo’s fish market:? (done)
Ana’s, uphill-bedrooms upstairs
Add-on to house behind Lalo’s house (done)
Mar de Jade: landscaping and other projects

Current new construction projects-23 (updated 9/20/07)
B&B’s house on paved road (done)
House below Ana’s on the hill
Houses on rocky slope above the paved road
G’s rentals on paved road
Clinic on paved road
House behind the corral off the paved road
House across from Gordon’s on the paved road
House next to Chacalilla wall (done)
K’s house
House behind T’s, on Calle islas Marias
House/rental northest east of playhouse
House/rental behind Kinder (done) (Casa Monarca)
Red duplex on bluff
Laura’s rental below Bibliotecha (done)
House-rental across from Hardware store (done)
Former Alicia's Techos de Mexico house
Restaurant/rental across from Marcella’s on the beach road
Realty office-apartment across the beach road from Juan’s Tienda
Laura Sura’s Techos de Mexico (1 unit) (done)

List of Rentals in Chacala, by Location and Ownership

I guess it’s not really the rainy season in Chacala yet. It’s only rained three times so far, with one lightning storm. It is hot and humid, but it’s okay in the shade.

People ask if one can eat the congrejos. I am pretty sure people eat them, because I see folks walking along the paved road collecting live ones in white plastic buckets. It’s hard to picture what part is edible. Maybe it depends on how hungry you are.

There are lots of squished congrejos on the road these days. Ugh. I have to watch where I put my hands when I am gardening. They seems to like to hide out under the bigger leaves.

This past year someone bulldozed in a new dirt road between the paved road and the beach road. It’s now the first “road” after the turn-off from the paved road to the beach road. (Under the green overhead “Playa Chacala” sign). It runs from in front of Augustine’s and comes out at Kokobongo’s on the beach road. It’s not cobbled so it’s easier to walk on than the cobblestone road that goes in front of Concha’s and end’s at big new building that blocks the beach access and view.

A few days ago, right after it rained heavily the area in front of Kokobongo’s, at the new road, was slightly flooded. And the mud was so slick many people slipped and fell in the mud. Lucky the ocean is right there, for a quick rinse-off. It’s pretty much dried up this morning.

Majahua (small hotel, excellent restaurant, and spa) is undergoing some remodeling. They are re-doing the kitchen area, adding a ocean view bar area with two levels, and convenient restrooms. There will be office space on the second level, and new walkways to get around. Plus, there is some remodeling in the hotel building. There will be an additional rental unit, and some changes. It looks good. The whole project looks great. It’s nice to see the work being done by hand, without destroying the hillside.

A few nights ago I couldn’t sleep, and I was out of books in English, so I made some lists. Counting buildings instead of sheep.

If you want to see photos and contact information go
to Chacala Budget Rentals

1.This is a list of all the Chacala rentals, by owner’s residential status

Owner lives in Chacala year-round (most units under $40US a night)
Casa de Angeles - 2
Casa de Antonia - 2
Casa de Augustine (2)
Casa de Aurora - Techos de Mexico (4) Casa de Beatriz - Techos de Mexico (3) Casa de Concha -Techos de Mexico/ Juan Luis (5) Casa de Dona Lupe - Techos de Mexico (2) Casa de Gracias – Techos de Mexico (2)
Casa de Iguana (6)
Casa de Laura -Techos de Mexico (1)
Casa de Socorro (4)
Edsel’s (1)
Guille’s/Pelicano (2)
Mars Tres (3)
Mirador (Isreal and Chata) (6)
Posada Sarahi (9)

Owner lives in Chacala year-around (most units over $40US a night)
Majahua (6) www.majahua.com
Casa de Berta/Estrella de la Mar (2)
Casa Chacala (6) www.casachacala.com
Mar de Jade (30?) www.mardejade.com
Casa Maria Jose-2
Paul’s Satow (2)*
Casa Monarca -2*
Casa Pacifica – 2* wwww.casapacificachacala.com

Owner lives in Las Varas, Tepic, Guadalajara
Juan’s Casita -1
Buena Vista - 6
Nueva Espana – 6
Posada Gloria’s (6)
Alonzo’s casita (1)
Alonzo’s duplex(2)
Seashell Motel (6)
Guadalajara Hotel (9)

Owner lives in the U.S.
Hotel Paraiso Escondido (15)
Terry’s Los Faros (casitas) (2)*
Casa Tortuga (4)
White Casitas (managed by Koko Bongo)(2-?)
Villa Celeste (8)*
Beach house (3)*
Casa Sirena (Patti’s) (2)*
Casa Blanca (Eleazar) (3)


2.This is a list of all Chacala rentals by location in Chacala
Total Vacation Rental Businesses: 41
Total Vacation Units: 187?
Total under construction: 5
Unknown status: 2

Paved Road (on or near) (9 rentals / 43 units)
Casa de Augustine (2)
Casa de Aurora (4) www.techosdemexico.com
Casa Chacala (6) www.casachacala.com
Concha -Techos de Mexico/ Juan Luis (5) www.techosdemexico.com
Alonzo’s casita (1)
Alonzo’s duplex(2)
Casa Iguana (6)
Dona Lupe - Techos de Mexico (2)
Hotel Escondido Paraiso (15) *www.paraisoescondidochacala.com
Under construction Guichol (2)

North End of Town (8 rentals / 20 units)
Laura -Techos de Mexico (1) www.techos de mexico.com
Paul’s Satow ( 2) *
Terry’s Los Faros (casitas) (2)*
Beatriz Techos de Mexico (3) www.techosdemexico.com
Socorro’s (4)
Casa Pacifica (3)* www.casapacificachacala.com
Casa Sirena (Patti’s) (2)*
Casa Blanca (Eleazar) (3)
Ex-Alicia’s (1) unknown status
Under construction: Laura’s Techo de Mexico (1)

Schoolyard to ocean to Muelle
(8 rentals / 21 units)
Buena Vista - 6
Casa de Gracia -Techos de Mexico (1) www.techosdemexico.com
Casa de Antonia - 2
Casa de Angeles 2
Casa Maria Jose-2
Juan’s Casita -1
Nueva Espana – 6
Edsel’s-1
Casa Monarca – 2*
Under construction (Tio de Aurora, Juan)(1)
Under construction (Laura Sura’s )(2)
Maria: Techos de Mexico-unknown status(?)

Along the Malecon – a walkway along the oceanfront
(5 rentals, 22 units)
Casa Tortuga (4)* www.casatortugachacala.com
Mirador (Isreal and Chata) (6)
Villa Celeste (8)* www.villacelestechacala.com
Casa de Berta-Estrella’s de Mar (2)
White Casitas (managed by Koko Bongo)(2)
Under construction - Red duplex (2)

On the Beach(10)
(10 rentals, 81 units )
Mars Tres (3)
Posada Gloria’s (6)
Posada Sarahi (9)
Guille’s/Pelicano (2)
Las Brisas (9) www.lasbrisaschacala.com
Beach house (3)*
Seashell Motel (6)
Guadalajara Hotel (9)
Mar de Jade (30) www.mardejade.com
Majahua (6) www.majahua.com

*= Gringo owned

Rainy Nights in Chacala

Overview of Chacala. Chacala Beach is to the right, town to the center,

and Chacalilla (a "development" to the right)

The driver of one of the two Chacala collectivos was fired a couple of days ago. He was the one who was driving when the windshield was smashed by a skinny I-beam that was blocking the paved road at windshield height. Someone wrote me a “Comment” yesterday predicting that would happen, and she/he was correct. I was surprised. But, who knows?This is La Caleta, the surfing area accesssible by boat from Chacala. About 15 minutes north.

I didn’t realize how much I trusted these collectivo drivers to drive safely until we started having new drivers on a regular basis. We had the same drivers most of the time I have been here, Prieto and a few others. But now, with Prieto driving regular taxi, Samuel is the long-term driver. I think he has been doing the Chacala run for maybe five months or so. And he’s wasn’t fired, for which I am glad. It was the other one who lost his job. Samuel is an attentive and careful driver. He pays attention to other vehicles and to his passengers. And various cows and whatever along the road. I feel safe and comfortable riding with him. He’s very thoughtful and helps people when they need help. The second driver, for the other van, keeps changing and it’s hard for me to get comfortable with a new driver. Not a lot of choice though, seeings as there’s only two Chacala collecdtivos, and the occasional regular taxi.

There was a very heavy rainstorm early this morning, about 5am. Lots of thunder and lightning, and a heavy downpour. The power went out about 5:20am. Suddenly the town was totally dark. I am not sure when it when back on, but it was sometime after 8am. I always unplug by fridge, computer power strip, fan and light bulb when the lightning starts. This place has as it’s power source a wire running from another house’s porch light bulb socket. The line is made up of a half-dozen pieces of wire spliced together.. And it’s definitely not a grounded-electrical system.When there’s a lightning storm around here, part of it is almost directly overhead, During the rainy season the power usually goes of off two or three times a week. Usually for a few hours

My landlady’s son and family arrived about 5:10am to sleep in the empty downstairs room. Three kids. They live in one of the cuesto-tourist shops on the be beach road, and the rain was just too heavy for the jerry-rigged roof.When I came home this afternoon I visited with my landlady at her restaurant cuesto. “Cuesto” seems to mean a jerry-rigged shack with crappy roofs and dirt floors. There are about 20 strung out along the beach road. Most have power and water. Some of the roofs are more waterproof than others. Particularly over the areas where there are items for sale.Dona Lupe said they stayed dry all night at the restaurant. But I noticed that one of the bigger cuestos was getting a new roof: a huge sheet of black plastic was being spread over a rusty old corrugated metal roof. I don’t know how long that will last.

I rode out to the Crucero de Chacala this morning. That’s where the fruit stands are out on the Tepic-P.V. highway. The hour or so of heavy rain did a lot of damage on the Chacala-to-the-highway road. Boulders more than 2 feet across had rolled down the embankments on the road in a bunch of places. Especially at the curves. And in a few places the mud was deep, maybe 6-8 inches deep. It’s heavy clay mud and very slippery. All the worker-filled trucks coming from Las Varas were driving pretty carefully. I know some of the crews turned around and left Chacala when the foremen realized there was no power.

I think early this morning (the 15th) was the official start of the rainy season, even though we had the first rains on the 9th and 10th. It’s also my 3.5 year anniversary of starting to live in Chacala. Pretty fast 3.5 years. This is my fourth summer here. And it’s the hottest one by far, so far.

Church in Chacala

Yesterday I was over near Chacala’s church, visiting with some friends. The church bells were ringing, for a Quinceneira Mass for the daughter, I think, of an out-of-town family. The church here is pretty new. It might have been built a short time before the Hurricane in the Fall of 2002. I think I am correct in my belief that the funds for the construction and materials for the Church were raised entirely by locally families. But, of course, I could easily be wrong about this.Since I have been in Chacala, the Church has changed from a bare shell, with no doors, windows, pews, fans, lights, altar or storage area to a lovely sanctuary, with stained glass windows, a tiled floor, pews, an altar, art work, fans, and so on. The bell still hangs from the giant tree out in front of the church, and rings frequently. The kids who are 8 or older and haven’t made their 1st Communion are meeting two or three days a week for Catechism class with Chata and her helper, Juanito. The bell with rung for the classes, and for Mass, when the priests arrives, and for various other occasions held at the Church.Anyway, Juanito, a young man who seems to have devoted his life the ”Church” in a kind of independent model, was also sitting at the table visiting with my friends. He showed me some lovely drawings an engineer had made of some proposed additions to the Chacala church.

I have always been kind of prejudiced against cathedrals and large church complexes. I do love looking at, and also sitting in, the beautiful, sometimes very old, churches here in Mexico. And I hate to think of the slave labor and the endless resources that have gone into constructing these buildings.When I think of the lack of adequate schools and medical facilities here, it’s hard to appreciate the building of elaborate and expensive church buildings. The giant new Catholic cathedral in Los Angeles comes to mind.

I don’t know what the bible stays about building monuments, but it’s hard for me to believe that’s what Jesus had In mind. I can’t picture him talking to people from an high altar in a huge cathedral. Or in any building, actually. I would be curious to know if he ever talked to people from inside a building.This is a locally built structure, made with natural materials,
for the celebration of Indio rites.

In a climate like Chacala’s it seems as though all that is really needed is shelter from the sun and the rain. And something to sit on.

Anyway, I oohed and aahed about the sketches. They were very nice. But then I said when I wanted to be near to “God”, I liked being outside best. And that I thought Jesus did too. And we changed the subject. Oh well, I should keep my opinions to myself. It’s seems to be weird enough for people here that I am not Catholic, or at least Protestant (Evangelical, or Luz de el Mundo).

And, of course, I still to have a strong pull towards Guadalupe, who I had never heard of until I came to Chacala. I even have a little shelf in my living space for my Guadalupe art. Whatever. I have no idea what it means, but I like having it here.

Yesterday, one of the landladies in Chacala who I especially admire, showed me her Guadalupe things, in her bedroom. I thought she was showing me their “new” addition, but actually she was showing me her altar. Many women here seem to have them. Either inside or outside their homes.Then she showed me how her old, pre-Hurricane Kenna, home was arranged. All the cooking, eating, and laundry areas were under a big palapa attached to a very tall palm. When the Hurricane took it down, everything collapsed, including the two sleeping areas.

And then they rebuilt in concrete block and laminated roofing. With windows and doors. She was animated and happy when she was marking off the off areas on what is now the open patio in front of their new home. “Here was my table, and stove, and the place for washing, and……” She said she misses the old life and likes her new home.I love my space here, in Chacala. A 13 X 13 bedroom, with a brick arched ceiling and two big windows, a 5 by 8 bath. Tiled floors, and a 13X14 covered patio, with a great view. I love it. I feel to blessed to live here.


These are photos of churches I have visited in San Miguel de Allende and San Juan de Los Lagos. I think they are lovely,and I like being in them. But the human and societal price we pay for these structures is always in my mind.

Peculiar Day in Chacala

I was eating breakfast on the patio this morning, when I heard a strange, bad noise. Maybe glass and metal. I looked over the edge of the balcony wall. Down at the paved road.
It was glass and metal. The dark colored collectivo was stopped in the middle of the road. The windshield was shattered. And a steel beam was halfway across the road at shoulder height and running thru the windshield space.

A truck with a load of 4 very long steel roof beams had pulled into the lot across the street, where building is going on. The driver apparently left the 4 steel beams sticking straight out into the busiest road in town. No flag, or flagman. Just metal i-beams sticking out halfway across the road.

Luckily, the collectivo must have been going very slowly when it hit the beams, because only with windshield glass was broken. If it had been going any faster it could of decapitated the driver, and/or took the top right off the collectivo.

The perpetrator, a young man who was delivering the beams to the construction site, and the foreman and the other workers pretended like nothing had happened and ignored the damage. And the collectivo driver.

It was clearly negligence. You don’t leave a load of steel beams sticking out across a busy road with no flagman or even a flag on the beams. It was unbelievably stupid. And not apologizing or even acknowledging what had happened was even weirder.

So, I went about my business. It didn’t occur to me to take photos until later. But I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to get involved anyway. I did ask the driver if he was okay, and if he needed a phone. He said he had already called the police and his boss. A little later I headed down to Juan’s store, hoping the other collectivo, or a taxi would be there. No such luck.

My luck turned out to be pretty good though. The dark maroon van from Chico’s pulled up next to me. It was full of family and friends. They were headed to Las Varas, and then Sayulita, and then Brucerias. Doing this and that. I was tempted to go with them, but I had some things I needed to do. So I just went as far as Las Varas. We laughed and joked the whole way.

I went to the ATM at the bank. The second machine was down, and the first machine wasn’t working correctly. I went into the bank and reported the problem. But of course, nothing was done. The Bancomer people put customer service at the bottom of their list of responsibilities. The male managers seem to spend most of their mornings hanging around visiting. I don’t know what they do in the afternoon, because they are rarely there in the afternoon.

Anyway, it took 47 minutes for the four people ahead of me to do their transactions. Two of them couldn’t read, so another woman and I helped them thru their transactions. The bank guys never came out to fix either machine. When my turn came I ran my card thru 4 times until the machine finally asked for my PIN. It finally worked. Whatever.

I was walking over to the internet place when ran into Jose, owner of Terry, my favorite dog in Las Varas. I first met Terri, a sort of Sharpei-style dog, when I was helping kids at the after school program in Las Varas to do computer stuff. He was the cutest little guy and he loved being petted. He and his owner would sit in the shade early in the am, visiting with whoever came by.A few months ago I took a bunch of photos of Terry (pronounced with a kind of French accent) and Jose, and had them developed. This morning Jose was alone. No Terry. And he had the packet of Terry’s photos in his hand. And tears in this eyes.

Last week Terry had a series of seizures, and died. Quickly. Jose and I were both crying. I am so glad the photos were done in time. As I walked on, I heard someone ask Jose where Terry was. I turned back to look, and Jose was explaining what happened, and showing his friend the photos. I felt good and bad. Bad for Terry and Jose, and glad there were some photos.

I did my first fax from Las Varas today. I don’t think there’s one in Chacala. At least, not a public one. A property owner here wanted some more photos and also a map of Chacala, with it’s various attractions. Since the mail service here is really non-functional, I faxed the draft sketch of the map. I will find out later if it worked. It was 10 pesos, 90 cents.

Riding home, in the remaining collectivo, we came around the curvy section of the road near the Rancho Miralta, and almost ran into a group of stray cattle with big horns. Very dangerous corner, but Samuel is a good driver and we were fine. So were the cows.

Got home, and found two workers finishing the cement block wall between the paved road and the front garden. It’s going to look good. And my landlady has Buena Noche (poinsettia plants) ready to put there. She just came by, to visit and to get the rent, which is due tomorrow. She needed the money for the cement and the workers.

Today is the last Novena or Rosary or whatever we have been doing for Pilila this past nine days. I was going to go to the six o’clock service instead of the 4pm one. I just realized there were two different services everyday. The six pm was better. Much cooler walking over there, and cooker sitting in the shade.

Yesterday I got a ride for the last half of the walk over to Pilila’s. On a moto. I hate motos, but I took a ride anyway. I seem to have no principles at all when it comes to a cooler ride on a hot, humid day. It’s 3pm now, and I am keyboarding in the shade, in the breeze, and still dripping sweat on my arms, face, back and hands. Whatever.

Later:
I slept thru the start of the final service this evening. I ended up just going for a walk. And remembering some times when Pilila and I walked around town looking at plants.

She seemed to know lots about the uses of plants, but I never really was sure about her information. It’s hard to look things up because of the differences in names. Local names for plants, Spanish names, Latin names, English names. It gets a little confusing. Not that being confused in Chacala is unusual for me.

Cooling Off in Chacala

It really seems to be getting hotter and more humid by the day in Chacala. Everyone says it’s warmer than usuaI for June. And I believe it. I am dripping with sweat most of the day. We had another little rainfall last night, but not much.

I did some rearranging and made some minor improvements around the place today. Mostly I did thing to keep cooler.

I moved my bed under one of the windows, so I will be directly in whatever breeze comes thru this room. In one window, out the other. It’s great that the two big bedroom windows are facing east and west, so they pick up whatever breeze comes off the ocean.

There’s only about an hour of morning sun coming in the east-facing window. I pull a sari across the window to keep the morning sun off my worktable. I have a shade rigged up from a blue tarp to keep the late afternoon sun off the west window, so it’s pretty cool inside.
I need the fan on low at night now. And I sleep with no top sheet until almost daylight.

I increased the cross-ventilation in the room by adding a screen to the operable glass window in the upper part of the door. I’ve never had a screen there before, and it makes a big difference to be able to open it.

If I deadbolt my door from the inside I can leave the glass window open. The screen is only a piece of mosquito netting duct-taped to the door, so someone could reach in and open the door if it wasn’t dead bolted, with the key. Not that I think anyone would do that, but still….
Anyway. It feels good to increase the breezes in here. It’s 4pm and I am guessing it’s about 90 degrees and pretty humid.My other project for this morning was to move the refrigerator to the other side, the west side, of the patio. It’s been on the east side since my first winter here and I couldn’t seem to keep the morning sun off it. And it’s barely strong enough to keep things frozen without the sun shining on it. Now I hung a curtain to keep the afternoon sun off the fridge and it seems to be working. I like how it looks. Things seem more open and you can see the ocean view before you come unto the patio.

And the big improvement is that the fridge and the curtain seem to be blocking the afternoon wind when I am trying to cook on the two burner gas stovetop. I used to have to pile stuff up around the stove to keep the wind from blowing the flame out. But now the wind seems to just go around the other way. I just cooked a bunch of hard-boiled eggs, and didn’t have to protect the flame with tinfoil, or whatever.

Then I added a new reed mat up at the roof line of the patio roof, to block more of the morning sun. It works great. Shade all morning.I have some downstairs neighbors who I think are going to stay for awhile. They are a couple who are working down at Las Brisas from about 10am to 10pm, so I don’t see much of them. But they are very clean and neat and nice. They are using the water tank out back to wash clothes, and today Luis came home in the Economico Muebles (Cheap Furniture) delivery truck, with a gas cook top. So it looks like they are getting set-up to stay for awhile.Plus the workers who are installing the retaining wall in front of the house, down at the road, and working really quickly. It looks good, and they are filling the planting space with dirt as they go. Things seem to be going okay around here. Of course, I hardly ever know what’s Really going on around here, so I guess I won’t hold my breath.

Rainy Season in Chacala

Chacala had it's first rain this year on Friday night. It was the first rain since mid-October last year. Except for a very brief , less than an hour, rainfall in January.

There are three or four gringo tourists in town, and six gringos who seem to be planning to spend the summer in Chacala. That's a high for summer gringos, as far as I know. Last summer was the previous high, with 3.I am not counting the volunteers at Mar de Jade, since you hardly ever see them in Chacala. But there are some volunters staying at Mar de Jade right now, working at the little walk-in clinic for low-income people in Las Varas that the owner of Mar de Jade supports.

I don't know what these little lizards are called, but they are very inquisitive and watchful. I think one was actually posing for the camera.

Construction is still going nuts. Gringolandia (7 gringo homes), my name for the area up near the gate to the development, has five building projects going on right now. But only one is for a gringo, I think.

The ocean water is lovely, perfect temperature.Congrejos (land crabs about five inches across) are absolutely everywhere, inside and out. Sneaky little creatures.I am hoping to take a bus trip to Mexico City, and maybe Oaxaca, at the end of the month. We'll see how my budget looks then. I have a lovely book with photos of gardens in D.F.. Many are open to the public. I can't wait.It's really hot and humid. It's like August already. I have sweat on my arms just sitting typing. In the shade. At 10am. Ugh. Everyone is complaining about the heat. The experts are predicting a return to a very rainy rainy season this year. That should be fun.

Last night, instead or counting sheep or congrejos, trying to go to sleep, I counted new construction and remodeling jprojects that began since I arrived here to stay, 3.5 years ago. I think I got to 38 new buildings and 33 major remodeling projects (adding rental homes mostly). I am going to make a written list this afternoon, just for the fun of it.

I think there are 40 rental businesses in town sright now, with 157 rental units not counting however maybe Mar de Jade has (maybe 45 or so). I think there are 17 construction projecsts going on right now, not counting the mysterious development. Yuck!!!!!

Flowers are starting to bloom and it's getting greener around Chacala. I love it.