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Saw you in the Ojo
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D IRE C TOR Y PUBLISHER Richard Tingen
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Alejandro Grattan-Domínguez Tel: (01376) 765 3676, 765 2877 Fax: (01376) 765 3528 Associate Publisher David Tingen Graphic Design Roberto C. Rojas Reyes Diana Parra Morales
Index...
FEATURE ARTICLES
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COVER STORY
Carol Bowman goes to almost the opposite ends of the Earth to see the world’s two largest statues of Jesus Christ.
10 FICTION Stuti Patel, born in India and a student at the American School in Guadalajara, spins a story that has an important moral.
Associate Editor Victoria Schmidt Art Critic / Contributing Editor Rob Mohr
12 TRAVEL Gabrielle Blair writes (in the first of two parts) about her visit to some of the most interesting parts of Russia—itself one of the most fascinating countries in the world.
Theater Critic Michael Warren Book Review Panel Margaret Van Every Margaret Porter Clare Gearhart
Sales Manager Bruce Fraser Carmene Berner Office Secretary Rocio Madrigal ADVERTISING OFFICE Av. Hidalgo # 223, Chapala Mon. thru Fri. 9 am - 5 pm Sat. 9 am - 1 pm Tel. 01 (376) 765 2877, 765 3676 Fax 01 (376) 765 3528
Pag. 32 LAKESIDE LIVING
18 GAINING PERSPECTIVE Katina Pontikes has reached that point in life when what was once important no longer is, and what was rarely dreamed of—has become reality.
38 FRAGILE EGOES Writers’ egos can be shattered, regardless of age, achievements or world-wide fame. Take James Michener, for example, and his star-crossed historical novel, My Lost Mexico . . . as related by Alan Robertson. 40 HUMOR (Sort of...) Bernie Suttle writes about an experience that probably from time immemorial has frightened the Hades out of young Catholic boys: making their First Confession.
Send all correspondence, subscriptions or advertising to: El Ojo del Lago http://www.chapala.com ojodellago@prodigy.net.mx Ave. Hidalgo 223 (or Apartado 279), 45900 Chapala, Jalisco Tels.: (376) 765 3676, Fax 765 3528 PRINTING: El Debate El Ojo del Lago aparece los primeros cinco días de cada mes. (Distributed over the first five days of each month) Certificado de Licitud de Título 3693 Certificado de Licitud de Contenido 3117. Reserva al Título de Derechos de Autor 04-2011-103110024300-102 Control 14301. Permisos otorgados por la Secretaría de Gobernación (EXP. 1/432 “88”/5651 de 2 de junio de 1993) y SEP (Reserva 171.94 control 14301) del 15 de enero de 1994. Distribución: Hidalgo 223 Chapala, Jalisco, México. All contents are fully protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without the written consent of El Ojo del Lago. Opinions expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the views of the Publisher or the Editor, nor are we responsible for the claims made by our advertisers. We welcome letters, which should include name, address and telephone number.
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8 Cover by Mario Negrete
Special Events Editor Sandy Olson
Roving Correspondent Dr. Lorin Swinehart
COVER STORY
VOLUME 35 NUMBER 12
El Ojo del Lago / August 2019
COLUMNS THIS MONTH 6
Editor’s Page
14 Bridge by Lake 22 Profiling Tepehua 26 Welcome to Mexico 32 Lakeside Living 54 Life Askew
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COLUMNIST
Editor’s Page By Alejandro Grattan-Dominguez Why Do They Come to America?
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he heartbreaking photo pictured to the right, which has now gone viral all over the world, speaks volumes about what the United States of America has meant to oppressed or disadvantaged people almost from its inception as a Republic. My own family’s history is part of that story: my father’s ancestors first came because of the potato famine in Ireland, which left millions in a state of slow starvation; my mother’s family initially came from Mexico after its Revolution in 1917 had made life hazardous for many middleclass families, especially those that
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owned property or businesses, no matter how small or humble. America’s promise to the world was literally burnt into steel on the Statue of Liberty, and the immigrants that came before and since have repaid their debt millions of times over. Every one of those who have come to North
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America were immigrants because the Indians were there before anybody, probably standing on the shore as the Mayflower first came into view. What follows is one of the news stories that accompanied the publication of the photograph: According to Le Duc’s reporting for La Jornada, Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez, frustrated because the family from El Salvador was unable to present themselves to U.S. authorities and request asylum, swam across the river on Sunday with his daughter, Valeria. He set her on the U.S. bank of the river and started back for his wife, Tania Vanessa Ávalos, but seeing him move away the girl threw herself into the waters. Martínez returned and was able to grab Valeria, but the current swept them both away. The account was based on remarks by Ávalos to police at the scene — “amid tears” and “screams” — Le Duc told The Associated Press. Details of the incident were confirmed Tuesday by a Tamaulipas government official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, and by Martínez’s mother back in El Salvador, Rosa Ramírez, who spoke with her daughter-in-law by phone afterward. “When the girl jumped in is when he tried to reach her, but when he tried to grab the girl, he went in further ... and he couldn’t get out,” Ramírez told AP. “He put her in his shirt, and I imagine he told himself, ‘I’ve come this far’ and decided to go with her.” From the scorching Sonoran Desert to the fast-moving Rio Grande, the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border has long been an at times deadly crossing between ports of entry. A total of 283 migrant deaths were recorded last year; the toll so far this year has not been released. In recent weeks alone, two babies, a toddler and a woman were found dead on Sunday, overcome by the sweltering heat; elsewhere three children and
an adult from Honduras died in April after their raft capsized on the Rio Grande; and a six-year-old from India was found dead earlier this month in Arizona, where temperatures routinely soar well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The search for Martínez and his daughter was suspended Sunday due to darkness, and their bodies were discovered the next morning near Matamoros, Mexico, across from Brownsville, Texas, several hundred yards (meters) from where they had tried to cross and just a half-mile (1 kilometer) from an international bridge. Tamaulipas immigration and civil defense officials have toured shelters beginning weeks ago to warn against attempting to cross the river, said to be swollen with water released from dams for irrigation. On the surface, the Rio Grande appears placid, but strong currents run beneath. “It is a very deep, very dangerous river,” Le Duc said. Ramírez said her son and his family left El Salvador on April 3 and spent about two months at a shelter in Tapachula, near Mexico’s border with Guatemala. “I begged them not to go, but he wanted to scrape together money to build a home,” Ramírez said. “They hoped to be there a few years and save up for the house.” El Salvador’s foreign ministry said it was working to assist the family including Ávalos, who was at a border migrant shelter following the drownings. The bodies were expected to be flown to El Salvador on Thursday. ——————— * What Ramirez wanted was a secondchance at Life— and who amongst all of us fortunate people here at Lakeside has not once wished for that same oppor- Alejandro Grattantunity? Dominguez
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BOOK-ENDS OF REDEMPTION —Brazil to Portugal Transatlantic Crossing By Carol L. Bowman
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wo statues transformed a skeptic into a believer, encouraged a lukewarm Lutheran into a wanna-be Catholic and turned a ho-hum transatlantic crossing into a pilgrimage. Seeing one of these monuments at the beginning of the journey and a replica at the end of the passage filled me with faith when I had almost given-up on the world. It gave the voyage bookends of redemption. Experiences of world travel like sunrise over Machu Picchu, the roar of cascades at Iguassu Falls, and the white blindness from trekking across glaciers in the Chilean Fiords, have left me searching for words of wonderment. But, spectacles that have caught me off guard, ones that sneak up like a rolling fog have shaken me with a deeper jolt. So it was on a recent 17-day Portuguese adventure on an ocean voyage originating in Rio de Janeiro and culminating in Lisbon. The only hope of excitement on the 10-hour overnight flight from Houston to Rio would be the plane descending into this South American city at dawn and a possible sighting of the rising sun over Christ the Redeemer statue
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atop Corcovado Mountain, nicknamed “The Hunchback.” Catching a glimpse of this icon registered as the only reason I agreed to take the prisoner’s seat, the window. I researched facts of the monument during the restless night flight. When the Captain announced our approach to Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport, I searched the skies between intermittent clouds. Then, I spotted it. Arms of Christ outstretched to a 92-foot-span, with hands that seemed to welcome, peeked through the white veil. Clouds lifted on our descent, and the entire 98-foot-figure atop a huge base appeared. Christ’s face revealed an expression of peace and his flowing robes gave a sense of flexible tolerance. I’m not a devout person, but I felt compelled to pray for my family, for every friend who is sick or in trouble, for the world to stop its craziness. I had seen this statue often on TV during the XXXI Olympiad, in magazines and on travel logs, but with my own eyes… no words, just thoughts of salvation. For our entire time in Rio, I felt the protection of this symbol of redemption, proclaimed in 2007 as one of the ‘new’ Seven Wonders of the World.
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Looking down on every living thing, this Guardian imparted a sense of forgiveness. In 1920, the city’s Catholic community felt the need for an image to counteract the increasing godlessness being witnessed. I pondered that almost 100 years later the feeling that nothing is sacred anymore prevails with even greater intensity. An appointed council selected Portuguese engineer Hector da Silva Costa as the designer of Cristo Redentor. The creator abandoned his original plan of Christ carrying a cross in one hand and a globe in the other in favor of the art deco depiction of Christ with outstretched arms. Da Silva Costa traveled to France and chose world class French-Polish sculptor, Paul Landowska, who formed the entire statue in clay pieces and shipped them to Rio. The process to remake each section of reinforced concrete took nine years. Wanting to soften the outer appearance of the statue, Da Silva ordered 6 million hand-crafted soapstone tiles to completely cover Christ the Redeemer. Workers reportedly wrote messages on the backs of the tiles, giving the monument personal connections to the Cariocas, the residents of Rio. We took the train up Corcovado Mountain and learned that a system of escalators and elevators installed in 2003 had replaced the previous arduous climb of 200 steps to the base. Ninety years of weather beatings and lightning strikes have taken their toll on these protective coverings, with a most violent direct strike in 2014 that singed the back of the statue’s head and zapped off the tip of one finger. A complete renovation is scheduled for 2020 to acknowledge one century since the initial concept of the monument. Although looming above me to its 125 foot height with base that now houses a chapel, this close proximity to the statue left me empty of the feelings of deliverance and sanctity that I had experienced seeing it from afar. After we boarded the Azamara Pursuit and sailed from Rio, I watched Christ the Redeemer diminish in size, but the unexpected impact of its hidden strength of faith and my unexplained impulse to pray will never fade from my memory. After making ports of call in Brazil, in Salvador de Bahia, Recife and Olinda, the journey of four reflective days at sea crossing the Atlantic left me transfixed on that ribbon horizon across endless waters. Stopping at the historic slave trader’s island, Cape Verde off the coast of Senegal and then onto Agadir and Casablanca, Morocco on Africa’s mainland, I realized that in the span of 17 days, we had set foot on three continents. Two more days at sea and we would land on the fourth, Europe, in
one expedition. We left the turbulent waters of the Atlantic and turned into the smooth, shimmering estuary, the Tagus River toward Lisbon, Portugal. I had traveled up this waterway several times before, but it was not until we reached the April 25th Bridge and I caught sight of the other ‘bookend’ of this voyage that its impact of the connection resonated. There on the high bluffs above the slow flowing waters of the Tagus, overlooking the capital of Portugal stood its most iconic monument, Christ the King. In 1941, the citizens of Lisbon decided to build the statue as a sign of gratefulness to God that Portugal had not been drawn into WWII. Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon traveled to Brazil to assess the Redeemer statue. Created by the same sculptor as Rio’s Christ, Paul Landowska patterned the 92-foot high replica, Cristo Rei with similar outstretched arms. After the land in Alamada, across the Tagus was procured, construction of the statue took from 1949 to 1959 to complete. I felt a similar inspirational tug as I stared at this copy from the Pursuit’s upper deck and then again once we docked in Lisbon. The impact of traveling from “Christ to Christ,” from South America to Europe, from godlessness to gratefulness, from Redeemer to King left me with a profound awareness of the span of this journey. The effect of monuments throughout the world on those privileged to experience them leave indelible marks. For me, seeing Christ the Redeemer and Christ the King back to back aroused a spiritual experience within my soul that exploring many Catholic cathedrals in the world hasn’t stirred. Two similar icons, continents apart connect two Portuguese countries, reflect the faith of their people and signify a link joining them across the vast Atlantic. These ‘Bookends of Redemption’ will remain with me forever as the unforeseen spectacle of this transatlantic crossing. Bio: During a 33-year tenure as therapist and Director of admissions at a PA State Mental Hospital, Carol traveled to maintain her own sanity. She and her husband retired to Chapala, Mexico in 2006, but continue to travel the world. She teaches English to Mexican adults, writes for international magazines including El Ojo del Lago and Go World Travel, and was featured in Tales from the Couch Anthology, published by Blue Cubicle Press. w w w. h a v e s u i t casewilltravel.ink Carol L. Bowman
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A Ride Home By Stuti Patel
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am standing at the bus stop headed home from the American School of Guadalajara several miles away. An SUV passes me and, through the tinted glass, I see a woman. She’s wearing sunglasses and her blonde hair is black at the roots. Her one hand holds the phone while the other rubs at her wrinkled forehead as she half-listens to the complaints of her children. For a moment, I imagine myself in the car, out of the oppressive heat. The smell of lavender oil. Someone honks. Back to the bus stop. I should have brought my hat. I see a line of cars melting in the hot, dancing air. I cannot breathe. Heat does that to me. The bus still isn’t here. A dozen other people are waiting for it. I won’t get a seat. The twelve-pound bag pulls on my shoulder and wets my back.
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A man next to me takes out a cigarette and starts smoking. Can people smoke in public places? Even if they cannot, can I do anything about it? I move away from him. Now, there’s nothing between me and the sun. Not even that thin, translucent sheet of plastic that roofed the bus stop. Honestly, it is embarrassing how my skin gets darker and darker every day. I see a bus at the end of the road with the digits 622 printed on its
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windshield. I count seven pesos and hold them in the palm of my hand. The traffic signal turns green. The line on my side of the road barely moves. The people in the cars look annoyed. I am annoyed at them. Don’t think that others don’t deserve to complain because your troubles are worse. My annoyance fades away and I am back in control. I extend my arm and wave it for the bus. A few others do the same. The bus moves to the lane away from us and drives out of sight. Unacceptable. The bus driver does not get to skip stops, does he? I look around, hoping to see a hint of my feelings on the faces of the others who were also ignored by the bus. An old woman mumbles something in Spanish but except for that, not a sign of frustration. Why am I so intolerant when these strangers are quietly bearing the consequences of the lifestyle choices made by others, including those from my school. Another bus and the same thing. Then, the third one finally stops. I say Buenas tardes as I place my coins in the chofer’s palm and Gracias! as he gives me a translucent slip of printed paper. There’s no place to stand. I have to squeeze myself in between the three rows of people standing in the aisle. I remove my backpack and press it between my legs to make space for other passengers. The bus jerks and squeaks and people start getting in, more than get out, and every now and then, the driver requests us to move to the back. There’s no place left for us to move to but we do, just a few inches, to accommodate the new passengers. The bus is jam-packed near the front door. People start getting in from the door at the back. Coins are passed towards the front and tickets back to their owners. Why am I told that busses are unsafe when Mexi-
cans are so honest they pay a sum of seven pesos without supervision? Next time the bus stops, a young man holds up his guitar at the driver who nods in return. The driver turns off the loud mariachi that was playing on the bus. The musician gets in. He plucks each chord on his guitar as he says that he’s a university student who needs some financial help. He then names a few songs and starts playing. I neither like his high-pitched voice nor his random strumming of chords. I don’t understand the lyrics, but I still pull out a few pesos for him, for it is only luck that has prevented me from being in his place. I’m not sure how he feels when receiving money from someone younger than him. It makes me feel somewhat guilty. After the man gets off the bus, there’s nothing to distract me from my struggle to breathe in the suffocating vehicle, nothing to keep my eyelids from meeting. So I close my eyes, breathe deeply, and I think about the woman I saw earlier in the SUV. . . about women like her and their immensely fortunate children, about how their empathy and compassion would grow if they would walk and carpool instead of complaining, or if they took one trip like this. How they might be less selfindulgent. And then, it strikes me: I don’t stop eating chocolate even though I know that there are children that sleep with growling bellies. Ed. Note: Stuti Patel was born in India and attended the American School of Guadalajara for the past two years. She will enter the University of Calgary in the fall to study engineering. Stuti Patel
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A TOURIST IN RUSSIA (Part One)
By Gabrielle Blair
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ask myself how I can sum up my impressions of a month in Russia without sounding like a travelogue. Better to focus on a few special events. One hears again and again that one shouldn’t judge the rest of this vast country by the prosperity of Moscow and Saint Petersburg, but I find the outlying areas are doing well too, and this is confirmed by the locals. It’s our first week in Moscow and it’s a heat-wave. We are staying in a perfectly equipped B&B in the heart of the city, close to Red Square and a block from the Moscow River; around the corner are East Asian cafes and res-
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taurants open until midnight. We look out on the gleaming, golden cupolas of The Church of Kadashy, an old word for weavers. Traditionally each guild would gift a church to their guild and to the citizens of Moscow. In our neighborhood is the Church of the Streltsy, the infamous armed guard of Ivan the Terrible. The recently restored one beside us is 14th century, and opposite, another even older, is still being renovated. People drop by at any time to light a candle and say a prayer before the icons. In this thriving, Europeanized city, with some dressed in the height of fashion, and some
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driving expensive cars on eight to ten lane highways, something else makes it unique—the churches. The frequent sound of bells chiming marks the revival of religion that has re-surfaced like a phoenix from the ashes of destruction of Soviet times. In Saint Petersburg, nicknamed Petr by the locals, a tour of the Hermitage Museum is an overwhelming experience. Every surface, from floor to towering ceiling, is richly decorated with in-lay, carving, trompe l’oeil and gold leaf. No two are alike of the hundreds of rooms and halls. Skeptics question the opulence of the Russian monarchs, but the millions who visit every year appreciate this past splendor, available for our enjoyment. Struggling to keep up with our guide, I glance at paintings and sculpture previously seen only in books, a mere fraction on display of the collection of more than a million pieces, the rest in storage. “You would need seven years to see everything, if you spent a minute in front of each art work,” says Olga, a seasoned Hermitage guide. She efficiently steers our little group of nine English speakers, squeezing us through huge parties of picture-taking Chinese tourists. She refers to us as “Dear Guests” and gives a non-stop, threehour commentary, in spite of having a cough and with no chance of a drink of water. Two incidents recently, a stolen painting and another de-faced, means that security has tightened and our water bottles were confiscated. We have a ring-side view of the 18th century Golden Peacock Clock commissioned by Catherine the Great from a British jeweler. We are to have a rare unscheduled ‘performance’ as Olga calls it. A group of dignitaries are passing through the hallowed halls, and the clock is to be started especially for them. Encased with the peacock, in a 12x12 glass box, are two golden birds, an owl and cockerel. The reluctant cockerel, needing encouragement from the technician, crows hoarsely, while the owl’s eyes glow as its cage
slowly revolves. Then the peacock, star of the show, fans and gently sways its feathers, turning its back on us, better to display their magnificence. The crowd’s hushed silence is broken with “Wows! Oohs! and Aahs!” and Olga beams as though she is personally responsible for this spectacle. Traveling to St. Petersburg from Moscow on the famous, midnight Red Arrow Express, we are treating ourselves to a first-class coach. Not to be rushed, as is our usual custom, we’re there at 11:30 p.m. with time to spare. Beside each of the sleek, red coaches, a female attendant in a gray uniform is standing stiff as a soldier, to greet the boarding passengers. She carefully looks over our passports and tickets and then informs us, to our horror, that we are a day early. Frazzled, we dash back to the office, hauling our luggage along the miles of platform we’ve just traversed, hoping to change our tickets. The helpful agent keeps reassuring us that we will make it on time: “Don’t worry, you’ll be okay!” she says, as she gives us a refund and punches in new dates and numbers on a mounting pile of papers. Russian administration believes in providing lots of information and if you fold or write on a form, it could be invalidated. In trying to keep our tickets in order, we’ve written something on one, but she takes kindly to Alec with his charm and perfect Russian, and we are let off the hook. Hearts pounding, we make it back to our coach with ten minutes to spare, where the severefaced attendant, still standing at attention, confirms that we can now board. The plump, jolly, ‘main conductor’, who has been parading the platform ready to wave the train out of the station, (trains run on time in Russia) hugs Alec, so delighted is he that we have made it on time. He laughs as Alec asks for a cigarette to calm his nerves. No smoking allowed! We survey the goodies waiting for us in our compartment: chocolates, bread buns, fruit and bottled water, then head for the restaurant car for a shot of vodka and a midnight snack, where we find out that there are a total of twenty-one passengers on board. Had we not made it, this multi-car, luxury train would have been even emptier. Ed. Note: Gabrielle Blair was born in South Africa, and made Canada her home during the Apartheid Era. She and her husband, Alec, summer in their Ontario cottage and a remote cabin in Quebec, and winter in Ajijic. Once a professional ballet dancer, she now expresses her creativity by writing poetry and reflecting on the world around her.
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COLUMNIST
BRIDGE BY THE LAKE By Ken Masson
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he bidding on this hand was short and sweet as North-South found their way to 3 no trump but declarer took his eye off the ball so to speak and failed to make a contract that was there for the taking. The deal was played at the Lake Chapala Duplicate Bridge Club in Riberas. North opened a standard 1 club as most players holding 3-3 in the minors do these days and South with a balanced 13 points and no 4 card or longer major jumped all the way to game. West held a fairly good spade suit and, with at least one entry in clubs available, led his fourth best spade, the 4. Declarer examined the dummy and saw that the spade holdings in dummy and his hand were tenuous at best so he decided to duck the first two tricks in the hope that that would somehow sever communications between the two defenders. With this plan in mind, declarer won the third round of spades with the ace, crossed to a high heart in dummy and led the Diamond queen
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hoping for a finesse. With the Diamond king nicely positioned on side, South quickly ran 8 tricks consisting of one spade, 4 hearts and 3 diamonds but when he played a club to his king West won with the ace and cashed 2 more spades to put the contract down one. Do you see where declarer went astray? It all has to do with East playing the queen of spades at trick one. Since it is most likely that West is leading from an honor (and in this case that would have to be the king) South can safely take the spade ace at trick one as the spade jack in the dummy would now be a second stopper and declarer could cash nine tricks before the defense could get 5! Situations similar to these happen quite frequently at the bridge table. Recognising and implementing them in time can improve your scores. Questions or comments: email: masson.ken@gmail. com Ken Masson
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THE WORLD OF WINE By Ceci Rodriguez
Pairing Food With Wine
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annins in wine come primarily from grape skins, seeds and stems. Tannins are found, to a much greater degree, in the skins of red grapes than in the skins of white grapes. They are extracted from these solids during the fermentation process. Tannins are also found in any oak, or other wood, used to ferment or age the wine. These “wood tannins” may contribute to a wine’s flavors and ability to age. Tannins are entirely flavorless and cause mouth tissues to pucker, resulting in mouth-drying, astringent sensations. Tannins bind with proteins so tannic wines usually pair well with foods high in protein such as beef or duck. Tannins tend to reduce sweetness in food, so a sweet dish will suffer with tannic wine. Saltiness tends to accentuate tannins, so very salty dishes may taste more astringent with tannic wines unless the food contains enough fat or protein to soften the tannins. Next, one should understand that many foods are sweeter than one might at first believe. It is a mistake to assume that dry wines go better with sweet dishes, they do not; dry wines tend to get lost with sweet dishes. Moreover, sweeter wines don’t necessarily increase the perception of sweetness in the food. Instead, the sweetness in both the wine and the food simply integrate with one another, creating a desirable, harmoni-
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ous gustatory experience. Certain foods do increase apparent sweetness in a wine, so in these cases, a drier wine will ensure final balance among the wine and foods being served. There is a temptation to focus mainly on matching flavors when pairing wine with food. Unfortunately, this often occurs to the detriment of considering the role of texture in wine and food pairing. Just as a meal’s ingredients and method of preparation produce different textures, so too does wine have texture. One should never overlook how the texture of a specific wine will interact with the textures of food. A wine may match a dish in terms of sweetness, but it may overwhelm a delicate preparation and obscure its nuances. As a result, a sweet wine of lighter body may be preferable. Hours of hard work in the kitchen may be ruined in the five seconds it takes to pull a cork on the wrong bottle of wine. The level of alcohol is the final major factor to consider in wine and food pairing. Combining wine and food create chemical interactions that intensify the flavors and textures of each. This is true as well of the alcohol present in wine. Just about every wine will taste more alcoholic with food. As a result, wines which possess a higher than normal percentage of alcohol by volume may reach the point where alcoholic “burn” becomes unpleasant. Of course, individual tolerance varies from person to person, and there is no specific level which will be universally agreed upon. That said, generally speaking, wines of 14% alcohol by volume or higher increase the chances of a person perceiving “heat” or “burn” in both the wine and, by association, the food. High alcohol wines are thus poor choices for spicier dishes where the heat is already present before the first glass is poured. In passing, it should be noted that older wines may be more fragile and require more thoughtful food pairings. Strong spices and textures may overwhelm the subtle nuances in these wines, the very aspects for which the wine was carefully matured over many years.
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Chop Chop By Katina Pontikes katcpon@yahoo.com
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rue wisdom comes to people not at some stage of life, but in tiny little lightning bolts throughout life. Sometimes a teenager will say something that a much older person hadn’t thought of. Or a toddler will blurt out the most marvelously brilliant observation, missed by all adults present. Then there are the “came from experience” types of wisdom that older people often impart, and one best listen, unless they want to learn from a hard knock lesson some very important truth. I have recently hit an age milestone. I suddenly realized I have limited time left to do anything I need to get done or want to do. This has been underscored by illnesses and deaths of friends. Not only is my clock ticking, but my body may dras-
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Bernard Berenson
tically limit my choices of how I am going to spend these remaining moments. I can no longer jog (knees), so walking has become a huge joy. I need multiple pairs of glasses to read or drive. I’ve decided nocturnal driving is a hassle and I gave up my car. My husband and I share one car and Uber a lot. We both go to doc-
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tors a lot more frequently than in the past. Life has changed in ways I never predicted. Each day I wake to be sure the main parts are all working, and I contemplate what I can accomplish. At night, I want to celebrate that I’m still here, still breathing and taking in the simple pleasures life has to offer. So I carefully select who will join me in something as routine as having a glass of wine or eating dinner. Accompanying these life assessments, I am guided by two terms created by the art historian Bernard Berenson. People are either “lifeenhancing” or “life-diminishing.” I have taken this knowledge to a new level. People may be life enhancing at one point in life, and then, for whatever reasons, they become lifediminishing, or give more trouble than the pleasure they have offered in the past. Or, perhaps, they have changed. I have learned that some people think that having a history gives them some sort of seniority advantage, as if they are in a “life union.” They think that having a shared history makes them immune from criticism, that they can get away with unacceptable behaviors. “But I’ve known you for twenty years! How
can this one issue cause us to no longer socialize?!” Friends divorce, too. Many times, distance turns out to be a good thing. In retrospect, one sees small slights or bad behaviors that were tolerated way too long, in respect for good deeds done in the past. But then the scale tips, or the act is so egregious that the season of friendship ends, and one moves on, happily and without regret. The clock ticks louder. My circle of friends has diminished, and I’m fine with this. There are no more nights when my husband and I say “Boy, I wish we hadn’t committed to this dinner out with so-and-so, but we will get through it.” We don’t make those plans any more. Our sense of social obligation has faded and been replaced by the desire to see faces of people who make us laugh, withhold judgment, tolerate our quirks. We find that for anyone we no longer have in our circle, someone new and stimulating has joined. And it seems that those new, open-minded, kind people attract people like themselves, so that a feeling of wonderful camaraderie thrives. We also have learned that quiet nights to just share each other’s companionship are treasured. How exciting! In bed at 9:30, reading good magazines and enjoying a serene environment void of stimulation. How distant this is from my youth, where plans to be at the newest hot disco were deemed important. Saturday nights had to be chock full of meet-ups. I had to force myself to stay awake in case I missed whatever something might happen. Now, all I need to do is take on the role of a television chef, chopping off the parts of life that no longer serve the ever-diminishing moments Katina Pontikes remaining.
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CREATIVE PUNS FOR “EDUCATED MINDS”
1. The roundest knight at King Arthur’s round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi. 2. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian. 3. She was only a whiskey maker, but he loved her still. 4. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class because it was weapon of math disruption. 5. The butcher backed into the meat grinder and got a little behind in his work. 6. No matter how much you push the envelope, it’ll still be stationery. 7. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering. 8. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart. 9. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie. 10. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana. 11. A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it. 12. Atheism is a non-prophet or-
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ganization. 13. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other, ‘You stay here; I’ll go on a head.’ 14. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me. 15. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said: ‘Keep off the Grass.’ 16. A small boy swallowed some coins and was taken to a hospital. When his grandmother telephoned to ask how he was, a nurse said, ‘No change yet.’ 17. A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion. 19. The short fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large. 20. The man who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran. 21. A backward poet writes inverse. 22. In democracy it’s your vote that counts. In feudalism it’s your count that votes. 23. When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion. 24. Don’t join dangerous cults: Practice safe sects
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COLUMNIST
PROFILING TEPEHUA By Moonyeen King
President of the Board for Tepehua
moonie1935@yahoo.com
T
epehua Centro Comunitario is gearing up to expand a water program for people at risk for kidney disease in Tepehua, and if possible other barrios where kidney problems are prevalent among residents. Pundits have pondered about cause and cure, even scientific facts have differed depending which report you read. Every day we are naturally exposed to arsenic. Low toxic forms are in animals, soils, plants and fruit. If you follow the food chain, the plant grows in soil, the cow eats plant, and the person eats cow. The same with sea food, espe-
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cially bottom feeders, they contain low levels of toxic arsenic. Ingestion is the main source of arsenic in the body naturally. Arsenic does not necessarily build up in the body and can leave the body in one or two days ONCE INGESTION HAS STOPPED. Inorganic arsenic, known as human carcinogen, is found in wells contaminated by volcanic rock, and other contaminants such as run off pesticides or human and animal waste. If consumed every day, it will build up in the brain, bones and other organs of the body, such as the liver and kidneys. So if low toxic arsenic is con-
El Ojo del Lago / August 2019
sumed every day, there will be health problems due to a gradual build up. Regardless of the level of arsenic, pregnant and lactating women are at high risk, especially the baby who might be born with damaged kidneys and prone to kidney disease. Urine tests cannot detect advanced kidney problems, but can detect if there is a problem that calls for further sophisticated testing. Between Mexico and North of the border, the safety level of arsenic varies between 10 ppb and 24 ppb. The ideal level is suggested at 3 ppb. There is no cure for this until the drinking wells are replaced. They should be moved from the bottom of the hills to the top. City wells need to be treated/cleaned every few months; a ceiling put on the price of milk and bottled water to stop the giants taking the public to the cleaners. Otherwise all the work organizations do to stop the poor from early deaths and unexplained illnesses is a non-sustainable band-aid. Educating families of the dangers of sodas and colas of any kind has started, but again it takes time that the poor do not have.
But we do it. A pick-up truck has just been donated to the Center, courtesy of San Luis Obisbo Rotary Club in California. With this little gem the Center can distribute clean water to those at high risk in the village. More help has arrived in the form of a donation of potable water from the Rotary Club in Seguin, Texas which will be distributed, buying time to find a solution to the known cause of the problem. Finding that, in itself, is the cure.
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Dove Of Peace
To abstract the truth of things from the snarl of separate acts— to sort the approximate into what are proven facts is often impossible. How can we bear the truthfulness of acts which all too often are heartbreaking in their truthfulness? How can we search for truth in what we cannot bear to ponder? See the blood upon the hands they’ve taken care to launder? Oh world, I do not want to hold thee close enough. To do so is too painful, too exceptionally rough. I cannot take your violence, your heedlessness and gall. I do not see your fairness or your mercy, over all. If only of our warring thoughts, we could select the fonder and find a happier world out there–waiting over yonder. Many seek this place but we do not know how to find it. The kernel of the truth’s in all, but how are we to grind it? In determining the answer, we all must share a part, and the place where we might find it best is deep within the heart.
—Judy Dykstra-Brown—
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COLUMNIST
By Victoria Schmidt
Getting the Most out of Mexico
W
e each have our individual reasons for coming to Mexico. Some come to visit, while others come to stay. It is not an easy thing to pull up roots and move to another country, especially when we are older; yet so many of us have. I think it takes a certain type of personality to even consider a move to another nation. I also believe that is one reason why so many people form such deep friendships here. We already have one thing in common. I’m not sure if we are adventurous, courageous, foolhearty, whimsical, or just plain daring, but whatever it is, here we are. But not everyone stays here. Some try living here for a time, then return to their country of origin. Others stay for a while, and try another location in Mexico, while others may try another country. I try to remember what my expectations were when I first moved here. In my own heart, I was moving away from a place that just wasn’t meeting my needs anymore, and I moved to a place that was new, warm, beautiful, colorful, interesting, and somewhere that I felt completely at home. Yet, I was the foreigner. I began learning things right away. As a “WASP” White Anglo-Saxon-Protestant, I became a member of a minority for the first time in my life. I suddenly began to understand more about what it is to be a minority. I had always wondered why all the Chinese people lived in Chi-
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natown, for example. Now I knew, they want a piece of their own culture. As I began to understand Spanish, I also began to understand how many words in the “English” language came from the Spanish language. I saw many commonalities and many differences. And, I found that if I kept my mind open, I would experience and come to admire many of the differences. I see many couples come here, and leave each other. I don’t know if it is because of our age that so many relationships fall apart at retirement? Or was it because one person loved it here and the other person didn’t? One thing I found when I started to ask people why they were leaving, and the most common answer was “My spouse just doesn’t like it here.” When I asked more questions, I began to develop my own theory. I was usually talking to one-half of the couple, so I didn’t get the whole picture, but what I was seeing was that the unhappy one was the one that stayed at home, didn’t venture out much, didn’t join any groups, do any volunteer work, and basically never became a part of the community here. They never really left their country of origin, and they wouldn’t feel whole again until they returned there. Family is the second largest reason I see people leave. They want to be closer to their families. Everyone can understand that. I’d like it if my family would visit here so they can experience the love I have for this country and its people. But travel to Mexico isn’t something people want to do, save that of the resort industry. (Which I say has little resemblance to the real Mexico.) If you have friends or loved ones who are considering a move to Mexico, I would hope that you talk with them about why they want to be here—because the best way to get the most out of living in Mexico is to live here, in the moment. Get involved. Discover all that Mexico has to offer. Victoria Schmidt
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A BALLOON IN CACTUS By Marge Van Ostrand (From the Ojo Archives)
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T
he Times We Had” Or (What Comes Down Doesn’t Necessarily Go Up) In James Hilton’s Lost Horizon, people age rapidly if they leave the idyllic Tibetan civilization in Shangri-La, where people live to be very old. Ajijic could easily be confused with Shangrila, since I have aged at the speed of light since my departure. If you are planning a move, shop around. Failing to get several estimates, I learned too late that prices can vary from $1800 to $6000 for the same amount of stuff. Get everything in writing. Ask what customs charges will be. Get insurance. Get a delivery date deadline. If you have a small load, sharing a move with someone else will cut costs. Don’t let the mover tell you that you have to find someone at your destination to help him unload. This can be trying if you don’t yet know anyone. Don’t ask the mover to pack for you unless you’re there. Surprisingly, my mover was not personally present for the packing. I don’t think his right-hand man was there either, judging by the poor quality of the work. I packed some books myself before flying north, leaving the boxes open
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for the contents to be seen and noted. Big mistake. The packers shoved additional books into those boxes, causing bindings to be ripped and book spines to be broken. Many items were smashed to bits due to poor wrapping. Some stuff is still missing. Left standing amidst the rubble of my collapsed house after the Northridge (Ca.) Quake was a pre-Columbian statue of a dog. That statue did not survive this move. For no known reason, these packers disassembled a table, resulting in the loss of a crucial component. The heavy wheels of this table were thrown loose into an inverted lamp shade, and rolled around during the move until they tore the shade to bits. In fact, only one of the five shades made it, and I couldn’t get the table back together for weeks. A friend once crossed the border into Mexico with only what she could carry, and now, many years later, she says there’s nothing she couldn’t leave behind. Way to go, Louise!
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Ask William By William Franklin billstjamespl@gmail.com
D
ear William: My neighbor cut my cable line and now I can’t watch TV. What should I do? Dear Cable less: Do you have a library card? Just kidding, really. Cutting off cable is unconscionable and deserves some aggressive act of revenge. Does your neighbor have security cameras? If not I can think of dozens of things to get even. Does he have a pool you can throw rocks into? Pool owners hate that. Does he have a wife you can whistle at when she walks by? Husbands hate it when their neighbor whistles at the wife. Or try exposing yourself outside his picture window but wear a first-rate mask. But really, you should start using your public library at any rate. Dear William: My boss makes me sit on his lap while I’m taking dictation. Sometimes I don’t like it. What should I do? Dear Sec: Tell your boss he’s really “old school.” No one does that anymore unless you’re living in the Dominican Republic. Is your boss from the Dominican? Tell him you’d like to meet for happy hour and talk about your next raise or you’ll go Me Too on him. Dear William: My girlfriend left me for Dennis Bach. What should I do?
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Dear Un-friended: Tell her Dennis isn’t what he used to be. He’s cheap and bald and weighs about as much as his old truck. If that doesn’t do it, send her to me. Dear William: I graduated from high school fifty years ago and I miss it. What should I do? Dear Grad: You don’t miss high school, you miss being high school age. Do you miss algebra and writing term papers? Try missing something else. Dear William: My husband makes funny noises while he sleeps. I can’t stand it. Should I wake him? Dear Deep Listener: Let sleeping dogs lie. He’s probably even more obnoxious when he’s awake. Think of it as your special time just for yourself. Dear William: My husband watches True Crime Stories on TV and I think he’s learning of ways to do me in. I don’t want to wake up dead. Dear Worried: It’s impossible to wake up dead. But really, that show is good and I see why you might be a bit shy about all these couples offing each other. Make sure there’s no life insurance out on you but plenty on him.
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Sandy Olson
Phone: 331-283-8529 Email: sandyzihua@hotmail.com OPEN CIRCLE Sunday morning finds Lakeside residents at the Lake Chapala Society and Open Circle, a forum on a variety of stimulating topics. A social hour with coffee and snacks at 10 am is followed by an interesting lecture and discussion at 10:30. August 11 Homelands Presented by Alfredo Corchado The border is not just a geographical place, but a mindset. It’s not a no-man’s land overrun by criminals necessitating a wall to separate us from them. For millions it’s a dynamic, vibrant place surrounded by some of the safest communities anywhere. It’s also a piñata for politicians, whether with regard to demographics or economic integration. Join us for a conversation with Alfredo Corchado, a renowned author and correspondent, about the epicenter of our homelands, the border. Moderated by journalist Angela Kocherga Corchado is the Mexico-Border correspondent for “The Dallas Morning News.” He is a Nieman, Woodrow Wilson, Rockefeller, Lannan, USMEX and IOP fellow, and the winner of the Maria Moors Cabot Prize and Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award for Courage in Journalism. He is the author of Midnight in Mexico and Homelands. All are welcome to a book signing with Mr. Corchado in the patio of La Nueva Posada following the presentation August 18 Breaking Children out of the Cycle of Poverty Presented by Rich Clucas Located in Compton, an impoverished, crime-infested area of Southern California, Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum (TAM) uses airplanes to help children avoid gangs and escape poverty. Children as young as seven are taken for a flight and given the controls of an airplane. The shock of having flown an airplane–something so far from their concept of what is possible – they begin to understand that they can be or do anything. Using consistent messaging and targeted mentoring, the program guides, motivates and inspires the students. TAM participants excel in school, become doctors, gourmet chefs and airline pilots. The lessons from TAM can be applied to students anywhere to help them achieve their dreams. Clucas spent 40 years in marketing communications, advertising and public relations. He holds a Masters degree in Communications and a Masters and PhD in Education. August 25 Nine Romantic Songs in Two Romance Languages Plus Russian & English Presented by Olga Kaplounenko Our favorite Russian chanteuse will enchant us with nine romantic songs from different countries sung in Russian, Italian, English and Spanish. Olga is a Muscovite who earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering as well as a degree in music and jazz vocals from the Moscow Jazz College. She was a guest researcher in Denmark, Sweden, and later in Silicon Valley, where she worked for 16 years. While in the US, she sang solo and in different choirs. When her husband (recently deOlga Kaplounenko ceased) was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2011, they moved to Lakeside, where she’s been involved with Los Cantantes and has participated in the LLT productions “Drowsy Chaperone” and “Tickle Your Fancy.” She also plays piano and guitar, but singing is her passion. September 1 BOOM! The Next 10 Years! Presented by Ken Corbin Ken Corbin will discuss the exciting trends on the horizon including how: Artificial intelligence will drive our personal experience Live interaction will embrace social media Ken Corbin
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Generation Z will outnumber millennials and become the generation Ajijic resident Ken Corbin averages 30 weeks a year traveling throughout North America and Europe. A three-time recipient of the Professional Speaker of the Year Award, he’s addressed over 2,000 organizations. Ken has an MBA from the University of Michigan and is a former advisory consultant to The American Graduate School of International Management. He’s on the board of trustees of Habitat for Humanity and is a Certified Management Consultant. Author of eight books on sales growth and personal and business management, his newest audio book is Selling the American Dream of Home Ownership. HERE’S A WAY TO HELP We hear from Bob Foster, a good friend of Caro Lopez, a beautiful lady with a heartrending life story, starting with a bicycle accident at age 12. Caro needs financial help to cover medical and surgical expenses, an estimate of $8000 US. From Best of Lake Chapala: “After 25 years crippled and in pain, modern surgical techniques offer hope to a local woman….. Every so often a person of truly extraordinary character crosses our path, someone who has faced life’s most daunting obstacles with rare grace, courage and optimism.” A fundraiser will be held at Adelita’s restaurant in San Antonio, a dinner with live auction, music and dancing and more, on Thursday, August 29, from 5 to 8 pm. THE WHEELS ROTATE New 2019-20 Rotary President Carole Wolff was installed recently by outgoing President Santiago Hernandez, MD. The Rotary Club of Ajijic is a English-speaking club in Mexico, and has been serving the Lake Chapala area since 2002. The club meets on Tuesdays at 12:30 at Hotel Real de Chapala on Paseo del Prado #20 in Lower La Floresta. All are welcome. DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO, MOM Old Wives’ Tales is the August Bare Stage production. It runs August 30, 31 and SepCarole Wolffe and Santiago Hernandez, MD tember 1, The play is a no-holds barred comic examination of a mother-daughter relationship, complete with squabbles, sarcasm and unsolicited motherly advice. Three funny vignettes each highlight a different stage in their lives, from the night before the daughter’s wedding, to the mother’s birthday luncheon years later and finally to the rewriting of the mother’s will after the death of her husband. The theatre is at Hidalgo #261 on the mountain side of the carretera in Riberas del Pilar, across from the Catholic Church. Parking is available in the parking lot of the Baptist Church, behind the theater. Donation is $100. The Box Office and bar open at 3 pm. Show time is 4 pm. Seats are held until 3:50 Left to right: James Viers. Director Arpm. Reservations are by email at: leen Pace and Tina Dawn Leon. Missing barestagetheatre2018@gmail.com. from photo: Kathleen Morris
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For those who use Facebook, look for Bare Stage Theatre 2018 for breaking news and updates. LLT NEW SEASON We hear from Lakeside Little Theatre about Season 55. It starts a bit later, on November 8, on account of construction and revision activities. Here is the lineup, plot descriptions and starting dates: Lunenburg, comedy/drama by Norm Foster. November 8-17 American widow Iris Oulette has inherited a home in Nova Scotia from her recently deceased husband. Surprisingly, it is a home Iris knew nothing about. So she and her best friend Natalie travel to Lunenburg to see the home and to find out as much as she can about her husband’s mysterious dealings in the lovely coastal village. What follows is a series of twists and turns and a meeting with a winsome neighbor named Charlie. The Real Inspector Hound and After Magritte, two comedies by Tom Stoppard. December 6-15 1) The Real Inspector Hound weaves together parody, pastiche and punning to create an entertaining and ingenious one act comedy. The play is about two theatre critics, Moon and Birdboot, who are watching a ludicrous setup of a country house murder mystery. 2) After Magritte centers around Harris, his mother and his wife. Enters the forceful inspector from Scotland Yard with his constable. The offers place the three under arrest. It is not clear why: something about a parked car, a bunch of .22 calibre shells in the wastebasket and a robbery of the box office of a minstrel show. 20th Century Blues, comedy/drama by Susan Miller. January 17-26 Four young women, Danny, Sil, Mac and Gabby met in lockup. Danny, a photographer, took a behind bars snapshot and for the next four decades she reconvened the women for annual portraits. Along the way the women had children and shed lovers, earned degrees and fought for stature. Their faces changed, their minds and hearts altered less. Now the Museum of Modern Art has offered Danny a retrospective, and she wants to show the photos. My Fair Lady, musical by Lerner & Loewe. February 21-March 3 Professor and confirmed bachelor Henry Higgins makes a bet with his linguistic colleague Colonel Pickering that in six months he can pass off “guttersnipe” Eliza Doolittle as a duchess at an embassy ball. (Note: LLT is still waiting for rights approval to stage the play). The Actress, romantic comedy by Peter Quilter. March 27-April 5 The famous Lydia Martin sweeps in for the final performance of her long and glittering career. Around her in her dressing room are her dresser, her agent, her daughter, her ex-husband, her new fiancé and the company manager, bringing it them a flurry of goodbyes, tears, insults, laughs, recriminations, kisses and regrets. Ticket prices are $300 for regular shows, and $350 for My Fair Lady. The price of this year’s season ticket will be $1300 for five shows, including a $300 theatre membership. Starting this year, you can now pay for show or season tickets (at the Box Office only) by credit or debit card. For season tickets, check tickets@ lakesidelittletheatre.com and www. lakesidelittletheatre.com for information. A date, time and place for Season 55 Season Ticket sales will be announced closer to LLT’s reopening, possibly in September. TESLAMAN FIGHTS DIRTY! Jorge A. Santana has created a superhero whose mission in life is to save Planet Earth from a wide cast of villains who foment pollution, greenhouse emissions and the illegal use of toxics. Teslaman, along with his partners (Pachi, Windmill Giant and Nerdy Boy), is ready to take on the villains that are destroying Planet Earth (Paul Looter, Stynky, Poysun and Smogman). Interested comic book readers (we know you’re out there) can get a copy by reaching Jorge at his email: santana@csus.edu or calling him at home: 387-761-0656 or on his USA cell phone: 916-589-0215.
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NEWS FOR BALLET LOVERS We hear from Suzanne Salimbene, who tells us that if we want to be informed about ticket sales or the Ballet de Jalisco schedule, or Lakeside sponsorship of a dancer, to send her your email and specify your interest: salimbene.s@gmail.com. Here is the Jalisco Ballet schedule until the end of the year (all performances are at the Degollado): Carmen September 6 (8:30), 7 (7:30), 8 (12:30) CANCELED Nutcracker December 12, 13, 18, 19, 20 (8:30) December 14, 21 (7:30) December 15, 22 (12:30) Swan Lake will be scheduled for sometime in the fall before the Nutcracker. It will be performed at the Parque Metropolitan. LADIES ONLY (SORRY, GUYS) Ladies of Lakeside enjoyed a “Legally Blond” luncheon and a “What a Girl Wants” silent auction last month at La Nueva Posada. The event was a benefit for the shoe project of Operation Feed in San Juan Cosala. The special guest speaker was Judy King, author of Echoes from the Wall. Moringa Madres sold cosmetics, also handmade articles from the women of San Juan Cosala were available for sale. FERIA MAESTRO DEL ARTE Judy King It’s not too soon to think about the 18th Annual Feria Maestro del Arte, held on November 8-10 at the Chapala Yacht Club. Returning and new artists from all over Mexico will demonstrate and sell their works. Buyers also travel from all over Mexico; we are lucky to have such an important event here at Lakeside. Cuarto Suspiro is a workshop for the design and production of contemporary ceramics. The workshop is located in the town of San Andres Huayapam, Oaxaca, a magical place 25 minutes from the center of the city of Oaxaca. TALK ABOUT PLANNING AHEAD….. Ninos Incapacitados is gearing up for high season. Here are the dates for their exciting events coming up: Trivia Night. January 14 Burns Supper January 24 Masquerade Masked Gala March 19 So mark the dates on your 2020 calendar if you can find one. A FAMOUS ARTIST LIVES HERE Robert Burns Wilson, sculptor, has had gallery showings and sales all over the US and Mexico in his long career—starting at age 10 with playing with clay—and culminating in his final (this time he means it) show in Sol Mexicano on Calle Colon next February. Even though he’s preparing for that show now, with works in bronze and clay, he found time to organize his own 90th birthday celebration last month, for some 24 family members and friends. Bob says that if he lives until February the show will be a retrospective; and if he doesn’t, it’ll be a memorial. We’re looking ahead to the event, whichever one it is!
Robert Burns Wilson
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My Lost Mexico A Novel by James Michener Commentary by Alan Robertson
S
uppose you have worked for three years on a novel and have finished two-thirds of it. Suppose you have a six- minute talk with your publisher whose judgment you respect. Then suppose this short conversation makes you feel that you have lost control of your narrative and causes you to abandon the project. That’s the story of Michener’s My Lost Mexico. He put the novel’s manuscript aside in 1961. It was accidentally shelved in a store room and lost for thirty years. In 1991 it was found. Michener was satisfied that the work he had started all those years ago was still vital, and he rekindled the imagination and desire to finish the book.
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The author tells us how Mexico came to be constructed: the ending, set in a bullring in Guanajuato, developed first; the middle portion, the operation of a 19th century silver mine, came next; and, finally, a glimpse of pre-Columbian Indian life formed the introduction to the novel. But this is far more than a respected author’s notes on the making of a novel, as useful as that is to anyone who aspires to be a professional novelist. It also tells how it is possible for an author to emerge from such a disastrous experience with a new philosophy that affirms his own personal values, his own perception of his craft, and of his ability to write. As an additional bonus, My Lost Mexico contains a hitherto unpublished novella, The Texas Girls, which alone is worth the price of the book.
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Priest Murdered. Alter-Boy Held By Bernie Suttle
M
om said, “We are going to a mission at the church.” A mission was a session designed to scare everyone into repentance with hell-fire and brimstone. “I said, “Do I halfta’ go?” Mom said, “It’s good for us all to go.” We went. A tag-team of two pale, gaunt, under-fed, unhappy-looking monks preached the mission. While these guys were yelling, then whispering their scary message, confessions were being heard to aid any repentant parishioner before he changed his mind and missed out on salvation. Mom told me to sit still. I was doing my best but these guys and their dramatics were a pain. I needed something to do so I said, “I’m going to con-
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fession.” Mom smiled and said, “Fine, Son.” I climbed out of the pew past my grumbling sister, Meg, and then I saw it. The sign over the confessional said, “Father O’Keefe”. I froze. It was the dreaded pastor. My buddies had told me tales about him, which would have led them to leave the faith if their mothers didn’t stop them. As an altar boy I sat next to him during mass one Sunday at the side of the altar while the choir sang. I liked being a server and wanted to see and be seen by my family in the congregation. “Where are they? They usually are down the left side near the door by Saint Joseph?” Father O’Keefe jabbed his elbow
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into my ribs. Accompanied by significant spittle, he whispered, “If you look out dere again I’ll t’row you off ‘da altar.” Whenever I went to confession I was concerned about how I appeared to others. Were they wondering, “What has he done?” “For all the time he’s taking he must be a world class sinner.” “Obviously he can’t be repentant. He’s here every week”. As I approached the confessional I wondered, “Will Father O’Keefe recognize my voice?” The typical confessional is three small, attached chambers. The one in the middle is for the priest. It has a chair and a light for reading, which he turns off when a confessor shows up. The priest’s section is between two smaller enclosures with kneelers for penitents. Communication is through a gauzed, ten-inch square window with a sliding door operated only by the priest. When he is hearing one confession the sliding door is open and the other is closed. When waiting on the closed side I found humming keeps the other side’s words obscured if not confidential. “There’s no way out. I’m committed. Mom’s watching. Here goes. I’ll lower my nine-year-old voice and use a Rus-
sian accent.” I open the door and step into the pitch-black, silent, penitent cubicle. I kneel in front of the pastor’s closed window and practice, “Bless me Father for I have sinned” and I start making up benign transgressions that I think won’t upset the pastor too much. Everyone knows he’s under doctor’s care for cough and high blood pressure. Several minutes go by and I don’t see or hear anything. Maybe he opened the window when I entered and is waiting for me to start. So I begin with my new accent and altered voice. “Bless me father, for I have sinned.” No response. “Father, are you there?”… I repeat with increasing volume. “Father are you there?” Still only silence. No light on the other side. Maybe the old priest dozed off. “Hi, are you there? I’m over here and ready.” Still nothing. “People in the church, including Mom, will be wondering what terrible sins I’m confessing to take so long.” I know he’s been sick. Maybe he died over there in his cubicle? Will people think the enormity of my sins caused his demise? I can see it now, a headline in The LA Times, “ALTAR BOY CONFESSES. PRIEST DIES.” “I’m getting out of here.” I step out of the cubicle into the blinding light of the church. I see Mom note my reappearance as though just remembering that I had accompanied her to church. My sister Meg leans over and says, “I wondered how long it would take you to realize that there was no priest. He went out when you went in. It took you a long time to figure out what was going on. Bernie Suttle You dummy!”
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What A Dog Really Is! By George Leonard Herter
T
he Most Unselfish Living Creature Is Your Dog. If you are in danger, your dog needs only to hear your cry for help, and he will come to your aid without fear of losing his own life. The Most Patient Creature In The World Is Your Dog. Whatever you give him, whatever you do for him, he is always sincerely grateful to you. To your dog you are the most wonderful person in the world. In his eyes and heart, you can do no wrong. The Most Sincerely Friendly Creature In The World Is Your Dog. Of all of God’s animals, he alone works for man without a whip. He is al-
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ways happy to be with his master, wherever he may be, whatever he may do. He is sadder than any living creature when his master is away, and is the only creature that can actually die in a short time from lonesomeness for his master. The Most Forgiving Creature In The World Is Your Dog. Among humans, true adherence to genuine forgiveness is found only with saints. Your dog carries no grudge and no spite. Punish him even when he does not deserve it and he comes to you and nudges his wet cold nose into your hand, looks up at you with honest, pleading eyes and wags his tail hesitantly as
though to say, “I forgive you, you can kill me if you wanted to, and I still forgive you.” The Most Loyal Creature In The World Is Your Dog. Whether you are dressed in rags, or the height of fashion; whether you are a beggar or a wealthy man; whether you are thought of as a hero or a coward, a wise man or a fool, your dog is waiting for you with a loving, friendly bark of happiness, a friendly wagging tail, and a heart that is full of nothing but love for you.
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Sex Theraphy By Jay Koppelman
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wasn’t crazy, I knew that. I also knew that going to a psychiatrist for couple’s therapy is common in modern society, so I agreed to accompany my girlfriend of over one year with the mutual goal of strengthening our healthy though sometimes fragile relationship. Jealousy had always been our biggest obstacle and as we walked hand-in-hand into the waiting room, we each gave a little squeeze of assurance and settled into a love seat to wait our turn. We must have waited for some time because when I looked up my girlfriend was poking her head in the office and after a brief conversation she came back to where I was sitting. “She’s like twenty,” she said, frown-
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ing. Suddenly the doctor’s visit might not be so bad, I thought. “Wow. A twenty-year old female shrink. I hope she’s hot.” No, on second thought, my girlfriend will know if I think she’s hot. That would suck at our first session. “I hope she’s not hot,” I thought. “Please make her old and nasty so I don’t fantasize about her in the office or they’ll know. My girlfriend will know ‘cause she’s got that intuition thing and the psychiatrist will know because they just know. They’ll know like when I go into the ice cream parlor where that sexy Goth chick works to buy more miniature spoons and then my cell phone rings. It always rings. Within like seven seconds it always rings. The office door opened and a nice-
looking couple stepped out. “They look healthy,” I thought. “Come on,” my girlfriend said and as we walked in I could see that the psychiatrist was hot. “Just think of her like she’s your sister, man,” I told myself. She knocked around a few questions like what do we do? Why were we there? Then she looks over the top of her librarian glasses at me and says, “How many sexual partners have you been with?” The shock I felt was the kind where you no longer know what’s going on or where you are or how this could be happening. “Including her?” I asked pointing at my girlfriend who was now sitting straight up and not blinking. I could feel the breath coming out her nostrils and wondered if the guy who invented dragons had gone through a similar experience. They both stared at me with the strength of united sisterhood. Weren’t there at least some foreplay questions we could touch on before we got to intercourse? Oh, what had I gotten myself into? They knew. I knew they knew. They knew I knew they knew. They had become omniscient. They were like those people you see on the Discovery Channel who know if you are telling the truth by looking at your pupils. Or were those the guys on the Poker Network? It was all blending together now. “I’ve gotta be honest,” I told them, trying to look at my girlfriend. “Not including you,” I said. “Not including you....” The room was spinning now and she started to shake me. “Get up,” she was saying. “Get up. It’s us. Our turn, sleepy” and she gave me a nice smile. I pulled myself off the couch and stretched my arms back almost laughing out loud. We walked into the office and I smiled at the middle-aged doctor who sat before us. “Ha!” I thought. “She wasn’t hot at all.” Things were going to be alright. Nothing could be worse than that. Nothing. She turned to my girlfriend, looking over her thick glasses. “How many sexual partners have you had,” she asked?
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She Got It Right By Christina Bennett
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ill I ever get it right?” Trish thought for the thousandth time. The young receptionist frowned in concentration, her brows creasing. “Cómo?” she asked. She was trying hard to understand. Trish berated herself silently, “I am so stupid. What is wrong with me?” All this self-blame flustered her and made it even harder for her to find her words. “Tiene,” she started and then, frustrated with herself, said “Tengo. Tengo que mirar doctora Elena pronto. Es muy importante.” Trish thought about her pain and knew she had to see the doctor soon. The lady understood her now, but of course Trish struggled to understand the response. Was she telling her that the doctor was coming in at ten or that the doctor was leaving at ten? And there was something about 3 o’clock. Could she see the doctor at ten or three or not at all today? The receptionist seemed to be dismissing her, but Trish was uncertain about the outcome. “Disculpe,” she said. She said ‘disculpe’ often. She had that one down. Excuse me, excuse my inability to speak your language, excuse my stupidity, excuse my awkwardness, excuse all my failings. “Por favor, digame otra vez,” she pleaded. The lady was patient. Though Trish was grateful for that, it made her feel even less competent. She’d been studying Spanish for so long and she still couldn’t conduct a simple conversation at the doctor’s office. Luckily, Doctor Elena herself spoke English. The receptionist spoke slowly and Trish understood that the doctor would come in at ten but she had appointments all day. Trish could come back about three and “ojalá” the doctor might be able to see her. To be sure, Trish asked, “Regreso a las tres, sí?” With her pain, that seemed like a long time. “Sí, sí.” The receptionist looked past Trish to the patient waiting behind her, signaling that the conversation was
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over. Trish turned to leave and a large woman in a bright floral dress stepped up to the desk to take her turn. She carried a neon blue purse the size of a carry-on suitcase. She clunked it onto the desk and said loudly, “I am here to see Doctor Mario!” “Su nombre?” the receptionist asked. “Doctor Mario!” The lady shouted back. “I said Doctor Mario!” The receptionist took a deep breath, “Sí,” she said slowly. “Y SU nombre?” The floral dress lady’s face started to turn red. She spoke very slowly and loudly. “I told you. Doctor Mario.” Trish tapped the lady’s arm. “She’s asking for YOUR name,” she said to Floral Dress. Floral Dress looked taken aback, as if Trish had offended her. She seemed even more agitated. “Well, why didn’t she say so?” She shook her head and looked at the receptionist. “Lorraine,” she said. “Lorraine Carter.” “Gracias, Señora Carter. Un momento,” the receptionist said, and motioned for her to take a seat. Floral Dress dragged her giant bag off the desk and lumbered toward the chairs. The receptionist caught Trish’s eye and gave her a smile. Trish smiled and turned to leave. Her mind was still berating her for not speaking Spanish well but now it was also running a commentary about how awful Floral Dress had been. What is wrong with people, she thought? “Señora?” she heard the receptionist say quietly. Trish turned back and moved closer to the desk. “Si Usted puede esperar, pienso que Doctora Elena puede verle.” “Disculpe,” Trish said, as usual, and asked the receptionist to repeat. The receptionist smiled, motioned to the chairs and repeated her sentence. Trish wouldn’t have to wait until three after all. (Christina Bennett is happy to be living Lakeside and her writing can be found at www.cookgardentravel.wordpress.com.)
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Yesterday’s Enemies/Today’s Friends By Dr. Lorin Swinehart
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or a number of years, my Dad worked alongside a man who had served in the Pacific during World War II. He had many stories to share, one involving a Japanese soldier who was spotted walking through their camp in the jungle wearing an American army uniform. Apparently, he was identified because of his walk, something unique to Japanese soldiers. Someone yelled, “That’s a Jap!” The GI’s surrounded the man and proceeded to dowse him with gasoline, set him afire, and watched as he was incinerated. This story was not told with any sense of horror or regret but boastfully. The message seemed to be that American soldiers could behave as cruelly as any enemy. There were atrocities aplenty during the second of the twentieth century’s global cataclysms, and yet, a peculiar contradiction seemed to exist with regard to our two most powerful former enemies. Many homecoming GI’s, several of my uncles included, seemed to regard their German adversaries, however formidable they may have been, as fellow soldiers who somehow got stuck in the whole thing and were just doing as they were ordered. In contrast, they regarded their Japanese battlefield opponents with pure, unforgiving hatred. Perhaps such passion stemmed from Japan’s
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deadly sneak attack on our facilities at Pearl Harbor at the very same time when their emissary Admiral Kichisaburo Nomura was in Washington talking peace. Then again, attitudes could have been partially fueled by racism, some leftover fears involving the Yellow Peril myth. Domestically, there was no dearth of anti-Japanese racism, resulting in the arrest and incarceration of thousands of loyal JapaneseAmericans in western concentration camps, yet another example of America’s lengthy history of xenophobia and racism. It was not until years after the war, with the publication of Iris Chang’s The Rape of Nanking, that the brutal realities of Japan’s rape, torture and massacre of over 300,000 defenseless Chinese civilians in the city of Nanking was exposed. This episode, so brutal that the German ambassador to Japan complained to Adolf Hitler about it and later established a lifeline to prevent thousands of others from becoming victims. Perhaps rumors of atrocities committed against U.S. prisoners during the infamous Bataan Death March had reached the ears of American troops, but few at the time were aware of the sufferings of thousands of so-called “comfort women,” female captives used as sex slaves by Japanese troops.
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Discipline was harsh and physical in the Japanese military, with those higher in the pecking order doling out brutal treatment to those beneath them. Prisoners of war, those who opted to surrender rather than die needlessly, existed at the very lowest level of the Japanese social and military hierarchy, worthless pawns that had forsaken their very humanity. The international laws of warfare, the Geneva Accords, were never even recognized by Japan. Many were aware of the mistreatment and torture of captives. My good friend and fellow contributor to El Ojo del Lago, Fred Mittag, tells of a scene that greeted the eyes of Justus Smith, his father’s brother-in-law, as his unit landed along the coast of a Japaneseheld Pacific island. The beach was lined with the impaled bodies of US servicemen. According to Fred, the posts upon which the men had been impaled were set so deeply that they stood upright, a ghoulish warning to the next wave of invaders. Possibly, the hatred for the Japanese was a consequence of their misdeeds being more up close and personal than those of the Germans. Fred says that Justus Smith was never able to forgive the Japanese. Mr. Smith had no shortage of company. Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander of the Southeast Asia Theater, ordered that upon his passing no Japanese delegation ever be permitted to attend his funeral, so incensed was he by the barbaric treatment of those of his men who had fallen into enemy hands during the war. Conversely, during the post war era, a plethora of books and movies have appeared exposing the horrors perpetrated by Germany’s Nazi regime, while, with some notable exceptions such as the popular film Bridge Over the River Kwai, Japan’s record of atrocities committed against vast populations of civilians and POW’s has been largely understated. While the Nazi flag of World War II is most deservedly an object of revulsion, the Rising Sun banner of Imperial Japan inspires no such reaction. Most of us are aware of the horrors perpetrated by Dr. Josef Mengele, the Nazi “Angel of Death,” but few know of the atrocities committed by Japanese scientists at the notorious Unit 731, where heinous chemical and biological experiments were conducted upon helpless POW’s and captive Chinese civilians. After the war, we found ourselves in the unique situation of rebuilding and reforming the governments and economies of our former foes in the face of a growing rivalry with the Union and Mainland China. Our for-
mer enemies are now among our most reliable allies. And yet, memories do not vanish so readily. Alistair Uquhart, a former prisoner of the Japanese, relates in his memoir The Forgotten Highlander of being starved, beaten and tortured by his captors as he struggled as a slave laborer on the infamous bridge across Burma’s River Kwai and later aboard a horrendous slave ship. After the ship sank, Urquhart was rescued and put to work again as a slave, this time in a Japanese coal mine. Many of the survivors of Bataan and Singapore had similar nightmarish tales to share. To the end of his days, Urquhart suffered nightmares and flashbacks, as have veterans of most wars. While Germany has attempted to come to terms with its Nazi past and American historians have uncloaked the savagery of slavery, racism and the genocide meted out to native populations, Japan continues to dismiss its offenses with such innocuous phrases as, “Mistakes were made.” To date, there has been little or no admission of culpability with regard to the fate of the sexually exploited and often mutilated “comfort women,” and the slaughter at Nanking has been covered up. Denial has never solved anything. Contemporary Japanese are no more responsible for the sins of their forebears than modern Americans are for the horrors of the Central Passage or the Sand Creek Massacre. Why, then, disinter the atrocities of the past at this late date. The historian functions much as the investigative journalist does, lifting up the rock, picking at the scab, exposing to the light of day whatever dark entities lurk beneath. Societies, like individuals, are alike in that only by first acknowledging their demons can they confront and defeat them and truly begin the healing process. Ed. Note: Lorin Swinehart is a retired teacher, professor and National Park Service Ranger. He has served in five national parks in five states. His wilderness adventures have taken him throughout the Mountain West and the North Country, as well as into the swamplands of southern Florida. Since 2012, he has served El Ojo del Lago as Roving Correspondent. He and his wife LaVon currently reside west of the Mississippi and spend most of the year exploring national parks and wilderness areas where they make the acquaintance many species of wildlife. Lorin Swinehart
The Philosophy Of Ambiguity 1. Don’t sweat the petty things and don’t pet the sweaty things. 2. One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor. 4. If Man evolved from monkeys and apes, why do we still have monkeys and apes? 5. The main reason that Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live. 6. I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, “Where’s the Self-help Section?” She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose. 7. What if there were no hypothetical questions? 8. If a deaf child signs swear words, does his mother wash his hands with soap? 9. If someone with multiple personalities threatens to kill himself, is it considered a hostage situation? 10. Is there another word for synonym? 11. Where do forest rangers go to “get away from it all?”
12. What do you do when you see an endangered animal eating an endangered plant? 13. If a parsley farmer is sued, can they garnish his wages? 14. Would a fly without wings be called a “walk?” 15. Why do they lock gas station bathrooms? Are they afraid someone will clean them? 16. If a turtle doesn’t have a shell, is it homeless or naked? 17. Can vegetarians eat animal crackers? 18. If the police arrest a mime, do they tell him he has the right to remain silent? 19. Why do they put Braille on the drive-through bank machines? 20. How do they get deer to cross the road only at those yellow road signs? 21. What was the best thing before sliced bread? 22. One nice thing about egotists: they don’t talk about other people.
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The Starving Donkey By Seamus O’Hagan
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ack in the days when I was gainfully employed at a high-tech company in Canada, I sat in my office late one evening, working on a problem that I apparently felt I could resolve by staring at the ceiling and hoping for some form of Divine Inspiration. The problem that had provoked this unlikely bout of diligence was that the technical team on which I was a lowly member had hit a road block. We had arrived at a fork in the road forward where we were looking at two prospective technologies, each of which was very attractive but were, unfortunately, completely incompatible with each other.
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We lacked the manpower to address both and had to choose one. We had been chewing on this problem for a while, to no good end. In fact, one, of our non-technical colleagues had taken to calling us the “Princes of Procrastination” which, regrettably, had the ring of truth to it. We had reduced paralysis by analysis to a near art form. Hence, we were no closer to reaching a decision than we had been several weeks ago. So I concluded that my own best course of action was to head for home, sink my teeth into a large glass of a decent Scotch, and go to bed. My route to the employee entrance/exit ran along a corridor off
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which most of the technical staff had their offices. As I made my way along it, I noticed that a light was still on in an office and that one of the scientists was still “beavering” away at this late hour. This office belonged to a researcher who was on a six-month assignment to our company from a famous laboratory in a small, middle-eastern country. He was a world-renowned expert in his field, a brilliant scientist, softly spoken and usually very reluctant to express an opinion on any topic outside his specific area of technical expertise. He was not a part of our team but was peripherally aware of the problems we were having in choosing between our two options. “Good night, Joseph,” I said as I walked past his door. “Seamus,” he called out, “do you have a moment? I have a story I would like to tell you.” Now I was, and still am, a sucker for a good story and so I pulled up a chair and sat down beside his desk. “In my country,” he began, “there was a small donkey who worked on a farm near my home. The donkey’s work, as a beast of burden, was to haul heavy loads of stones, wood and water to wherever they were needed on the farm that day. At night, the donkey was permitted to sleep on a small bed of straw next to the farm’s main barn.” At this point I must have started to fidget, probably influenced by the receding prospect of my glass of Scotch. “Seamus,” he reproached me, “please be patient. This is not a very long story.” Suitably chastened, I sat back in my chair and Joseph continued. “At the close of one day, a careless farm worker failed to latch the door to the barn and the donkey got up from his bed and wandered inside. There he saw two magnificent piles of hay, one on either side of the barn’s central aisle. Wow, thought the donkey, this is more food than I usually get in a week. He trotted up to stand between the two gorgeous piles. His head moved from left to right, right to left and back again as he pondered which of the two piles
was best, and which he would eat first.” “The next morning the lazy worker realized his mistake and locked the barn door properly, with the donkey inside, still pondering as to which of the hay piles he should start with. No choice seemed obvious. After three days the donkey felt faint. After four, he lay down on one side and one week later the donkey died of hunger.” “So that is my story for you, Seamus,” Joseph concluded. “I hope you enjoyed it.” “Thank you Joseph,” I said slowly. “Thank you very much.” The next morning we had scheduled a routine technical meeting and I told the team the story of the starving donkey. After a mercifully brief recap of our two alternative projects, we agreed that we would make our selection via a show of hands and one narrowly triumphed. Now, united, we moved forward with all hands on deck, sails fully rigged, and all guns blazing – to spoil some otherwise perfectly good nautical metaphors. Time passed. One year later our new product was launched with much hype and a lot of high fives between the technical team and the sales force. We congratulated ourselves on all being such fine fellows, clever enough to foresee the impact of this cutting-edge technology and with the skill and dedication needed to bring it to market in this wonderful new product. To this day I have no real idea if the product was as good as we imagined it to be or even if we had made the better of the two technical choices. But that didn’t matter. It was our baby and we loved it. Our alternative project was long forgotten. In the almost twenty years of retirement that have followed, I have often struggled to find ways to incorporate into my daily life the philosophy that any decision is better than none, but I do have one idea that I plan to try it out first chance I get. On every long distance flight, there comes the moment where the flight attendant begins to push the food cart down the aisle, while chanting the universal mantra of every international airline: “Chicken or steak; chicken or steak.” I will have made up my mind long before the cart arrives at me. This will be of benefit to both of us. The flight attendant will be able get on with dispensing the food more quickly and I, at the very least, will have avoided the fate of my mentor, the starving donkey. Ed. Note: Seamus O’Hagan is retired from the high-tech industry and a longtime resident of Ajijic.
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“Time A La Mexicana” By Shep Lenchek From the Ojo Archives
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urry up, you´ll be late for school.” “Can´t you ever be on time.” “Getdressed, the party starts at eight.” Those of us from northern climes know too well the tyranny of time. It has been drilled into us from early childhood and has governed both our business and social lives. Bound by inflexible links to hours, minutes and seconds, we have made punctuality into a demigod, even in sports. In football, the quarterback struggles against the play clock. The tempo of basketball is set by the shot clock. Neither were part of the original game. Baseball, the only major sport with no time restrictions, seeks to speed up the game by timing intervals between pitches and conferences at the
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mound. Now, we are in a country where the chains to time are replaced by more elastic restraints. In this land of manana, the social code ignores lateness. A relaxed, slower paced, less competitive society should bring less
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stress. An ideal retirement area. Yet for some, the adjustment to a more flexible concept of time is difficult. They still impose upon themselves standards of promptness that lead to anger, frustration and stress. Driving down a village street, they find themselves behind a truck stopped for a delivery. All hell breaks loose. Expletives race through their minds and sometimes spew from their mouths. Then there´s the guy standing in line at the bank watching the teller have a long conversation with the customer. The smiling and laughing can´t have anything to do with business, and the gringo starts to grumble to his fellow standees. Maybe he´s afraid he´ll be late for his appointment with his psychiatrist. Better to admire the senoras and senoritas standing in line with you, or try to say a few words to the one or two kids who are dodging about. Single women might cast an eye on the men in their vicinity; maybe even smile at the one who looks like he has the largest amount of cash to deposit. You never know. We live amongst one of the most polite, sociable and helpful people in the world. Here the extended family still survives. A run-down of how relatives are doing can take fifteen minutes. And that only covers close kinfolk. Also, if I tell you about my family, it is only courteous to inquire after yours. Perhaps another fifteen minutes goes by. Yet it is only time and this exchange of information or gossip is the cement that holds Mexican society together. Talking with one another is a pleasure that costs nothing. There is always time to listen to problems and offer advice. Most conversations end up with laughter and smiles. With only 142 people for every 1000 subscribing to newspapers, oral rather than written communication is the rule of the day. There is another plus to this flexible approach to time. People are never too busy to help someone in trouble. A broken-down car attracts a swarm of amateur mechanics. Often they solve the problem. If they can´t, someone will go out of their way to find a professional who can fix things. The same thing is true of a flat tire. Promptness surrenders to helpfulness and sociability. A word of warning, however. When asking directions, beware. The same desire to be helpful can lead to disaster. Once, heading for Puebla, I asked someone if there was a short-cut around Mexico City. “Si, Senor.” I gave him a piece of paper and he drew a map. It looked as good as anything I could have gotten from the Auto Club in the States. For-
ty minutes later, I was in Cuernavaca. I had wondered about the directions when I saw myself going west rather than east but figured the road would start to curve. Anyhow, Cuernavaca is a beautiful city that I always wanted to see. Besides, perhaps I had pronounced Puebla wrong. I once wrote a poem entitled “Rules for Living in Mexico.” The first verse went like this: Never put off ´till tomorrow what you can put off ´till next week. Just learn to tell them “Manana” No matter with whom you may speak. A little poetic license, but also good advice for those trying to cope with the Mexican time system. Remember “manana” doesn´t really mean tomorrow, just “not now” and “momentito” can stretch into an hour. Carry a book with you at all times. I read War and Peace while waiting for my doctor. But that was in Michigan. Here I´m working on The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire. How did the Mexican attitude toward time first develop? It probably has two roots. One is the extended family that will always forgive lateness on the part of one of its members. Since promptness does not matter within the most important unit of Mexican society, why expect it in dealings with strangers? The second root is perhaps because the Industrial Revolution came to Mexico only recently. Even in Europe, it was not until after 1760 when manufacturing moved from cottage industries to factories that a fixed hour workday was born. Enslavement to the clock had begun. In Mexico, a largely agricultural economy was controlled by the sun, as well as the rainy and dry seasons. Mining, the only other significant enterprise in those days, used Indian workers whose work hours were enforced by overseers, not a clock. Artisans and artists worked at their crafts without fixed hourly limits. With increased industrialization, Mexicans may yet fall victim to the clock. Hopefully, it will not be a complete capitulation that destroys their ability to take time to enjoy life. But for those of us who have retired here, we can break those chains to time that have controlled us most of our lives. The freedom is ours for the taking. Unless we do, our patience will be tried and the real charm of Mexico will escape us. An old Mexican toast says it all. “Health, Love, Money and the Time to enjoy them.” Shep Lenchek
Domain Of The Scorpion By Robert Bruce Drynan Reviewed by Kay Davis
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ob Drynan’s pulse-pounding thriller is set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War at its peak, in the midst of narcotics trafficking and Marxist guerrilla activities in Columbia and Venezuela. Ex-marine Ryan Haggarty, working in Venezuela as a petroleum geologist, meets Anne Ferguson, a school teacher at the International School in Caracas. Assaulted in a dark corner of the marketplace, she fights her opponents and he jumps in to rescue her, but once the crisis has been dealt with, she shows signs of shock and he takes her to his place to keep an eye on her while she rests. They begin the slow dance of courtship and on a tour of the cathedral, Ann bumps into two men, one of whom she recognizes, at a Marine function. Later, on a trip to Angel Falls, Ryan and Anne are propelled into a deadly fight for their lives. They are unaware that they possess knowledge that could expose a corrupt U.S. Army officer involved in a merger between a Columbian drug cartel and Marxist insurgents. The Scorpion, a shadowy figure who runs the cartel, wants Ryan and Anne eliminated. Thus, a deadly cat and mouse game ensues with police, military, guerrillas, the Scorpion and the CIA hot on their trail. The Scorpion takes Anne hostage, forcing Ryan to focus his efforts on finding her and getting her out safely while the Scorpion’s men continue to pursue him. The chase leads to a showdown in a crumbling old Spanish fortress within the torrid coastal rainforest of Panama. Domain of the Scorpion is both a moving love story and a thinking person’s psychological thriller. For a first novel, it does a lot of things right. The story moves along from one exciting challenge to another, broken occasionally with gentle, human scenarios. For instance, during the pursuit Ryan and Anne have to rely on each other. Raised in Montana, she is good with guns. He, a war hero, can affect strategies to keep them alive and to strike back. Then, while hiking out of Venezuela and into Columbia in an attempt to outrun the killers, Ryan and Anne stop at a pool at the base of a waterfall. There they bathe and speak of
their hopes for a future together. Such touching scenes are few amidst all the action but heartfelt, and they make the characters come to life. The only drawback might be the rapidly changing scenes from Ryan and Anne to “the bad guys.” We learn about meetings between the drug king and rebel insurgents in their hopes that, working together, each can aid the other, a frightening aspect that actually began happening twenty-five years later. We learn that the CIA agenda includes saving Ryan and Anne only as a side issue and that they might become expendable. And the US embassy has a man working for someone on “the other side.” Scenes flashing between all these characters can become confusing unless you “keep your eye on the ball,” as the expression goes. Despite the high-speed pace, I found the storyline exhilarating, at times thought-provoking or tender. And the tour of Venezula, Columbia and Panama added to my understanding of Central America and the Latino history in the Americas. Robert Bruce Drynan writes from first-hand knowledge, having lived in Venezuela and Colombia between 1966 and 1982. Today he resides in Mexico. He may be reached at domainofthescorpion@gmail.com. (Ed. Note: Domain of the Scorpion may be ordered from your local bookstore or purchased from: w w w. a m a z o n . co m or www.booksurge. com.) Kay Davis
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COLUMNIST
Life Askew
A Surprising Tenderness By Sydney Gay
By Julia Galosy
It’s All Relative
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hen you are courting a nice girl, an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a redhot cinder, a second seems like an hour. That’s relativity.” Fat lot of good that does me now. A head full of quotes doled out to the unwashed and uninterested seems like a pretty wasted life. Doesn’t matter, does it? Everyone’s life is wasted in the end, isn’t it? We all come to this. Time has slowed down now. The preparations are taking place. Ah, so that’s why that quote just popped into my head. Freud wasn’t so far wrong, the old unconscious works overtime. The bitch had it coming anyway. Sitting there crossing her legs all basic-instinct style with those tight short skirts and that smirk. She knew just what she was doing. Those little
gropes in the hallway and then the big number on that old couch in my office; dust leaping from it as we rutted away. The blackmail. My reputation. My marriage. My tenure. Bitch. She had it coming. I could’ve done a better job of it if I’d planned it. How could the jury think it was first degree, couldn’t they see a man like me would’ve planned it a lot better? My peers, yeah that’s rich. How frigging long does it take to put on three straps for god’s sakes? Seems like forever. I guess it is, isn’t it? Hah! A joker till the end. Put the damn needle in will ya? Julia Galosy
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here were two interesting men in my neighborhood: Will was addicted to alcohol, he sneered when spoken to, argued over small things, his children were unhappy and his wife look worried. The other neighbor, Sam, remains more deeply in my mind. A goodhumored man with seven children, Sam’s legs had been crushed in WWII. Both his feet were missing, he lived in his wheelchair, but was the happiest, most friendly person. His wife adored him. One day I asked, “Sam, how do you do it? Your kids love you, and your wife loves you. How come you are doing so well?” And he replied “I’ve seen the worst of wars.” “What kind of wars?” “Terrible ones, there’s always a war somewhere.” “What happened? What did you see?” “I don’t want to offend you.” “Please Sam, I need to know.” “Soldiers told two hundred of us to dig a grave. When we finished they told us to stand at the edge, they laughed, sliced off a few heads with machetes, shot us down with guns, a fiery death for all, then God, and this is not easy to understand, God lifted us up, we felt no pain,
all of us were raised up out of that grave, we were embraced by love so full of love, all I know is we were hugging, kissing, dancing in Heaven and God was there. No one was left behind.” “How can that be?” Sam went silent, he closed his eyes for a minute of silence when he spoke again his eyes were filled with a diamond-like brilliance. “God separated us from the enemy in a way the enemy could not see. I witnessed this, but I don’t have words to explain it, a moment came when I returned to Earth, only me, the others remained. I was sent back to bring the message.” “You came back like Jesus Christ?” “It felt more like Spiderman. Remember Spiderman? Peter Parker and Connor? Connor was the enemy, but who won the battle? A little ole’ spider. Remember David and Goliath? Who won?” I tell you God is not what you might think, there is more to this than meets the eye.” “But your fe e. . . t h e y ’re gone.” “I walk in a different way now.” Sydney Gay
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT We are delighted to announce that our yearly AWARDS LUNCHEON will be held this coming September 10 at the Ajijic Tango Restaurant in Ajijic. Anyone who contributed to our pages over the course of this past year is cordially invited to attend a n d encouraged to bring along a guest. The luncheon is the Tingen Family’s way of thanking the many wonderful writers who are so much responsible for our success. Doors open at 12 noon. See you there!
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The Ojo Crossword
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El Ojo del Lago / August 2019
ACROSS
DOWN
1 Coffee 6 Mallow 10 Lounge 14 Special case only (2 Wds.) 15 Elliptical 16 Location 17 Hop on 18 Note 19 Harvest 20 Extremity 21 Drug doer 23 Descendants 25 Guys´dates 26 Hotel 27 Smoothly 30 Berate (2 wds.) 34 Keyed 35 Short for aluminum 36 Chinese cooking pan 38 __gritty 39 Cut 40 Add wood to a fire 42 Genius 43 School subject 44 Similar to oak 45 Pencil ends 48 Luminous 49 Headed 50 Government (abbr.) 51 Put on butter 54 Suggest 55 Rookie 58 One who inherits 59 Dalai__ 61 Lasso 63 Orient 64 Tides 65 Passageway 66 Beers 67 Let fall 68 Learns
1 Mommy 2 Smell 3 Pal 4 Term of affection 5 Really 6 Abodes 7 Always 8 Ewe´s mate 9 Bloom 10 A cowboy´s sope 11 Brand of sandwich cookie 12 Tilt 13 What dogs sit on 22 Crafty 24 Computer part 25 Tiny insect 27 Volcano 28 Utter 29 Make a record of 30 Thin flat strips 31 Mr. Downs of 60 minutes 32 Woke up 33 Arcade coin 35 Open 37 Clark__(Superman) 40 Curio 41 Sensitivity 43 Interfered 46 Notifies 47 Ocean 48 Record 50 Intuit 51 Popular stadium 52 Ring, like bells 53 Heave 54 Convex shape 55 Soda 56 Old 57 Antes 60 Abridged (abbr.) 62 Only
CHURCH DIRECTORY ALL SAINTS LUTHERAN Church Worship Service and Sunday School at 11:00 am 4600 Avenida Tepeyac, Guad. Tel. (01 333) 121-6741. ABUNDANT LIFE ASSEMBLY OF GOD Carr. 140 next to Mail Boxes etc, Tel: 766-5615. CENTER FOR SPIRITUAL LIVING CELEBRATION SERVICE 1st Sunday of each month, Nicolas Bravo #17 Ajijic. Tel: (376) 766-0920 or tim@revdoctim.com CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS Services in English and Spanish, 10 am, Riberas del Pilar Tel. (376) 7657067, President: Pedro Aguilera. Recidence (376) 762-0299. CHURCH OF THE HOLY SPIRIT Services Sun. 10 am, Alvaro Obregon 119, Chapala. Tel. (376) 765-4210. CHRIST CHURCH LAKESIDE Eucharist for each Sunday 11:00 am. La Huerta Eventos Center in West Ajijic. Rev. Danny Borkowski at (376) 766-2495 or Jim Powers (387) 761-0017. HOME CHURCH INT’L Locations by calling (332) 242-8648, or email yeshuapfa@gmail.com JEWISH CONGREGATION Santa Margarita 113, Riberas del Pilar, Tel: 766-2668. lcjcac@gmail.com for information and service times. Web site: www. lakechapalajewishcongregation.com. LAKE CHAPALA BAPTIST CHURCH Sunday Bible study at 9:45 a.m.; Sunday worship at 11 a.m. at Santa Margarita 147, Riberas del Pilar. Eddie Garnett, deacon. Tel. (331) 608-0856 LAKE CHAPALA UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST FELLOWSHIP
The Unitarians meet Sundays at 10:30 am. Hidalgo #261 Riberas del Pilar. Lew Crippen, 766-1119. LAKESIDE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Worship-Sunday 10 am; Bible Study-Friday at 9:45 am; San Jorge 250; Riberas del Pilar Church Office at 376-106-0853. Website at www.lpcchapala.org LITTLE CHAPEL BY THE LAKE Sun. services 11:15 am, Chula Vista,. Jal, Tel. (376) 106-1199, 766-4409 SAN ANDRES CATHOLIC CHURCH Services 9 am on Sunday, Ajijic, Tel: 766-0922. SAINT ANDREW´S ANGLICAN CHURCH Calle San. Lucas 19, Riberas del Pilar, Worship begins at 10 a.m., and the bilingual children’s Sunday School starts at 9:45 a.m. “Coffee Hour,” a time of fellowship and welcome. Tel: 765-3926. www.standrewsriberas.com. ST. MARK’S ANGLICAN GUADALAJARA St. Mark’s is at Chichimecas 836 in Colonia Monraz.
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NON PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
(NOTE: If there is any change, please advise us so that corrections may be made. Call Rosy: 765-3676) AJIJIC SOCIETY OF THE ARTS (ASA): www.ajijicart.weebly.com Provides local artists an opportunity to meet, demonstrate techniques and organize art shows; and provides assistance to young Mexican artists to learn and show their work. Deena Hafker 376-766-2249 or oliodee@hotmail.com AA LAKESIDE: Alcoholic Anonymous group. Meets Monday & Thursday from 4:30-5:30 PM at the Lake Chapala Society. Ian Frasier 376-766-4990 iandavid81@gmail. AL-ANON: No website or face book. Monday 10AM at Club12- Men’s meeting. Monday 10:30AM at Little Chapel-Open meeting. Saturday 10 AM at Club 12-Open meeting. Information: Call 376-766-4409, Cell 333-480-7675 AL-ANON (IN SPANISH): Mondays 6-7:30 & Wednesdays 5:30-7:30. Meets at the Lake Chapala Society. Ericka Murillo 376-766-1788 erickamurillo2000@yahoo.com.mx AJIJIC QUILT GUILD - Meets second Tuesday monthly at 10 am. Guests & New Members Welcome. ajijicguild@gmail.com AJIJIC WRITERS’ GROUP- Meets 1st and 3rd Fridays at 10 am. Nueva Posada. Coffee. Meeting followed by lunch at the Nueva Posada. AMERICAN LEGION OF CHAPALA POST- #7: General Membership meets 11 am 2nd Wenesday. Tel: 765-2259. AMERICAN LEGION, FRANK M. VALENTINE POST 9: Meets at The Iron Horse Inn (across from the old Maskaras clinic) on the first Wednesday of every month at 1 pm. Call Perry King at 763-5126 or Al King at 737-1493 for more info. ANCIANITAS DE SANTA CLARA DE ASIS: Web site : https://rudiselj.wixsite.com/ancianitaslagochapal . Lisa Le :387 761 0002 - lisale888@gmail.com AXIXIC MASONIC LODGE #31- Meets 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month at Hotel Perrico at 3:00 pm. The address is Libramiento Chapala-Ajijic #2500. Contact Sheldon Stone at (376)765-3306 or stoneshel@gmail.com. BARE STAGE THEATRE: Hidalgo #261 in Riberas del Pilar, barestagetheatre2018@gmail. com. BRAVO! THEATRE: www.facebook.com/Bravotheatre (unofficial) Semi-professionsal theatre with live theatre and ongoing adult arts education in dance and theatre. Jayme Littlejohn 331-045-9627 mymytickets@gmail.com BRITISH SOCIETY: Assist the British Community facilitates the transmission of information with The British Embassy in Mexico. Meetings are the 1st Saturday of the month at Manix restaurant for lunch and speaker. Sue Morris 376-766-0847 /331-156-0346 ibbocat@gmail.com CARD & DOMINO CLUB- Wednesday, Friday & Saturday. Call for times. We will teach; make friends! Tel. 766-4253, Cell: (045) 33-1402-4223. CANADIAN CLUB OF LAKE CHAPALA: www.canadianclubmx.com Club Objectives are: 1. To promote fellowship among Canadians and friends within the Lake Chapala area. 2. To encourage a cultural exchange and foster friendly relations with all residents. 3. To be a centre for providing current Mexican and Canadian Information. 4. The Club shall be non-profit, non-political and non-sectarian CASAS CARIÑOSAS, A.C.: www.abbeyfield-ajijic.org As part of the world wide non-profit organization of Abbeyfield, help an increasing number of older people enjoy a high quality of independent living provided through a range of services, including housing, support or care, with local community involvement. 376-766-2045 info@abbeyfield-ajijic.org CASA DEL LAGO (CASA DE ANCIANOS) CHAPALA: Provides support for local area elderly citizens through a residential home in Chapala. Ana Luisa Maldonado 376-765-2497 adultosdellago@gmail.com CENTRO DE DESAROLLO JOCOTEPEC, A.C.: www.cedejo.org Improve the quality of life for Lake Chapala families with limited resources through promoting the health and well being of the family. Calle Ocampo # 45-A. 376-766-1679 CHAPALA SUNRISE ROTARY CLUB: www.chapalarotary.org Participate in activities that will support lakeside residents. Provide assistance to international projects and meet with other like -minded Rotarians to build friendships. Meetings: Thursdays 10AM Monte Carlo Hotel CREM: AJIJIC MUSIC SCHOOL: www.cremajijic.com For 24 years this school has provided music education to children at lakeside. Students are taught to play an instrument and participate in the orchestra or the choir. There are 43 students and 8 faculty, all university graduates. Scholarships are offered to students from low-income families. 333-496-8976 cremajijic@gmail.com CRUZ ROJA MEXICANA DELEGATION CHAPALA: www.cruzrojachapala.com Offers clinical, ambulance and other emergency medical services to all Lakeside residents and visitors. Yolanda [Yoly] Martinez Llamas Consejo President 766-2260 consejochapala@ gmail.com CULINARY ARTS SOCIETY OF AJIJIC: www.ajijiccasa.org Provides CASA members, Associates and guests a monthly forum to share foods, learn new preparation techniques, stimulate culinary ideas, meet new people and enjoy the world of food: in a competitive atmosphere that encourages creativity and rewards excellence. CASAlakeside@yhoo.com DAR: (At Lakeside) - THOMAS PAINE CHAPTER meets every 3 Wednesday at 12:30 noon at the Janelle´s Restaurant in Ajijic. September thru June. Tel: 766-2981. DAYS FOR GIRLS: www.daysforgirlslakechapala.org A group of women working together giving days back to girls through access to lasting feminine hygiene solutions. This results in a more dignified and educated world, for the girls of the Lake Chapala area. We create hand made menstrual kits and distribute them along with education to empower, enlighten and strengthen the young women receiving them. All this because of access to these products and taking responsibility of ones menstrual situation, sexuality, pregnancy planning and hygiene. Darlene Macleod 387-761-0175 darma-
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cleod@gmail.com DEMOCRATS ABROAD MEXICO/ LAKE CHAPALA CHAPTER: www.democratsabroad. org, www.facebook.com/DemocratsAbroadMexico Official arm of the Democratic Party of the United States, working as a state party for US citizens living abroad. The mission is to represent and serve American citizens living outside the United States who support the principles of the Democratic Party. Larry Pihl, Executive Chair 376-766-3274 larry.pihl@gmail.com, da_mexico@democratsabroad.org ESCUELA PARA NINOS ESPECIALES (SCHOOL FOR SPECIAL CHILDREN) : www.schoolforspecialchildren.org The mission is to improve the educational opportunities for children with a wide variety of disabilities and in doing so, increase the probability that they might enjoy a brighter future. Mission is accomplished through provision of a clean, safe physical environment and improved nutrition during the school day. Working closely with the Mexican school board and teachers, we help support the educational programs for the children, young, adults and families. 387-763-0843 FERIA MAESTROS DEL ARTE: www.feriamaestros.com & www.mexicoartshow.com To preserve and promote Mexican indigenous and folk art. We help preserve these art forms and the culture that produces them by providing the artists a venue to sell their work to galleries, collectors, and museums. In collaboration with Mexican government agencies, we promote regional and international awareness to the plight of these endangered arts. Marianne Carlson, mariannecarlson@gmail.com or Rachel McMillen rjmcmillen@shaw.ca. FRENCH CLUB (LES AMITIES FRANCOPHONES). A social gathering for people who speak French fluently (and their spouses & guests). The group meets once a month (either a pot luck or at a restaurant) on the 3rd Saturday for a late lunch, good conversation, some drinks and more than a few laughs. For more information contact Jill Flyer, fotoflyer2003@yahoo. com. FOUNDATION FOR LAKE CHAPALA CHARITIES: www.lakechapalacharities.org The prime purpose is to attract money for the charities around Lake Chapala, Mexico and to allow those who donate to claim U.S. tax deductions for their gifts to those charities. The Foundation will also accept “endowments” and “memorial support” for any of the charities and will provide free Mexican legal assistance in setting up those endowments and memorials. 376-766-2606 or cell 331-260-7123 Admin@LakeChapalaCharities.org GARDEN CLUB- Meets the 3rd. Wednesday 12:00 noon at La Nueva Posada. GERMAN CLUB: Provides social opportunities for German-speaking residents. The group meets 2nd Thursday for lunch at 1PM. One does not have to be German but must speak German. Ing. Javier Aguilera 387-761-0777 javier.aguilera@mudanai.com HASH HOUSE HARRIERS: International running group with local chapter walks on Saturday morning, 8:30 AM, La Nueva Posada Hotel with goals of getting exercise, having fun, and enjoying breakfast. Denny Strole 376-766-0485 dstrole@gmail.com HOPE HOUSE: www.hopehousemx.org The Hope House is a safe shelter for boys ages 8 to 18. Our vision is to develop character, provide love and impart tools to be a successful part of society. Rodney Drutos 376-762-0032 oficina@casahogarmexico.org HAVE HAMMERS WILL TRAVEL: www.havehammer.com The mission is to provide learning and social experiences within a safe, supportive environment so that our students acquire: basic woodworking skills for exploration of career pathways (Level 1: ages 10-14) intermediate woodworking skills for entry-level employment (Level 2: ages 15+) advanced woodworking skills for professional employment, incl. coops (Level 3: ages 21+) skills to maintain a well equipped woodworking shop Tuition $400 pesos/month limited scholarships available Information: hhwtchapala@gmail.com. Office 376-766-4830 Richard Thompson 331-895-6866 rctinmx@yahoo.com, rcteaz@yahoo.com JALTEPEC CENTRO EDUCATIVO (FORMERLY CENTRO DE FORMACION JALTEPEC): www. jaltepec.edu.mx. A Tecnico Universitario en Hoteleria, providing education in hotel & hospitality management and an entrepreneurial program. 387-763-1781 info@jaltepec.edu.mx. LAKE ASSISTANCE: www.facebook.com/ LAG Importing equipment for firefighters and police and to distribute around the lakeside fire departments. John Kelly 331-758-0676 jkelly203@gmail.com LAKE CHAPALA BIRDERS: www.chapalabirders.org Encourages bird watching; organizes bird walks, bird trips and the Audubon Christmas Bird Count. John & Rosemary Keeling 376766-1801 chapalabirders@yahoo.com LAKE CHAPALA GARDEN CLUB: www.lakechapalagardenclub.org Promotes an interest, appreciation and better understanding of botanical subjects including but not limited to all plant materials, their care and use in the home and garden. Meetings explore the many garden species and practices unique to this area of Mexico. Open to all interested in gardens and their care. Supports lakeside organizations with beautification and educational projects. LAKE CHAPALA GENEALOGY FORUM: A group of family historians meeting once a month to share ideas, methodologies and topics of interest for genealogy enthusiasts. Meetings are the last Monday of the month at the LDS Church and Family Center in Riberas del Pilar. Marci Bowman marci452@yahoo.com LAKE CHAPALA SHRINE CLUB: www.shrinershospitalsforchildren.org & www.shrinersinternational.org www.facebook.com /pages/Lake-Chapala-Shrine-Club/757185090966972 Physical examination of lakeside children to determine if they qualify for treatment locally or by Family trips to the Mexico City Shrine Hospital the cost of which is financed by frequent Fundraisers such as Dine With the Shrine, Rib fest and tax deductible donations. David Eccles, President 331-017-1724 davideccles@hotmail.com Perry M. King 376-763-5126 pking1931@ gmail.com LAKE CHAPALA SOCIETY A.C.: www.lakechapalasociety.com The mission is to promote the active participation of Lakesides’ inhabitants to improve their quality of life. By making this commitment we signal to the community that our focus is based not just on ex-patriots,
but everyone living at lakeside. For the Mexican community, provides English as a second language, remedial tutoring, student financial aid, Wilkes Education Center and Biblioteca at Galeana #18 and free medical checks. Ben White president@lakechapalasociety.com Terry Vidal 376-766-1140 executivedirector@lakechaplasociety.com LAKE CHAPALA SOCIETY CHILDREN’S ART PROGRAM: www.lakechapalasociety.com “A visual arts program free for all lakeside community children aged 3 to 18 that provides them an opportunity to explore their creativity. A Neill James legacy program that began in 1954.” Danielle Page childrensart@lakechapalasociety.com LAKE CHAPALA SOCIETY STUDENT AID FUND: https://lakechapalasociety.com/public/ student-aid-program.php Provides financial support to qualified Lakeside area students to enroll in public university programs. directoreducacion@lakechapalasociety.com. Alfredo Perez 376-7661140 apoyoeco@lakechapalasociety.com LAKE CHAPALA SOCIETY WILKES EDUCATION CENTER (BIBLIOTECA PUBLICA): www. lakechapalasociety.com Provides classes of Spanish and English languages and other topics for both Anglo and Mexican community. Alfredo Perez 376-766-1140 directoreducacion@lakechapalasociety.com LAKESIDE FRIENDS OF THE ANIMALS, A.C.: www.lakesidefriendsoftheanimals.org Pro vide funding for spay/neuters, puppy vaccinese and emergency care and operations for pets of Mexican nationals of limited means. We also spay/neuter feral cats through our 4 Vets WE fund humane education programs in the local schools. Operate the pet store/shelter in Riberas del Pilar. Sue Hillis, President 376-765-5544 hilliss@yahoo.com LAKESIDE GARDEN GUILD: www.gardenguild.weebly.com Limited membership gardening group promoting the interest in the development of local gardens with an accent on the exotic species available in central Mexico. Presents annual Floral Design Show, supports local projects for community improvement and beautification such as Wipe Out Graffiti project in Ajijic. LAKESIDE LITTLE THEATRE A.C.: www.lakesidelittletheatre.com To provide theatrical en tertainment to the residents and visitors of the Lakeside community: to nurture and develop existing and new talent in every aspect of the performing arts and technical support areas: and to maintain and preserve the theatre facility and properties. Tickets: tickets@lakeside littletheatre.com 376-766-0954 lakesidelittletheatre@gmail.com Collette Clavadetscher, collette618@icloud.com LAKESIDE SPAY AND NEUTER RANCH & ADOPTIONS, A.C.: www.lakesidespayandneutercenter.com Provides shelter and helps curtail the over-population of animals. Syd Sullins 376-766-1411 or 331-270-4447 adoptaranchdog@outlook.com LAKESIDE WILDLIFE RESCUE & REHABILITATION: Promotes the rescue and rehabilitation of wild animals, trees and plants around Lake Chapala. 376-765-4916 LA OLA/CASA HOGAR, A.C.: www.laolacasahogar.org La Ola Casa Hogar is a children’s shelter. We are an interfaith children’s ministry. Our scope is more than that of an orphanage in that we care for abandoned and abused children as well as orphans. 376-688-1005 laola@ laolacasahogar.org Becky Plinke 332-312-7756 bgnickel@yahoo.com LCS EDUCATION CENTER- Provides classes in language and other topics for both Anglo and Mexican community. Calle 16 de Septiembre # 16-A Ajijic. 766-1140. LCS STUDENT AID FUND- Provides financial support to area students to enroll in university, vocational and high school program. Calle 16 de Septiembre # 16-A Ajijic. 766-1140. LOS CANTANTES DEL LAGO: www.loscantantesdellago.com A community choir striving that is for artistic excellence in choral singing. We encourage members to improve their vocal skills and to work continually toward greater skill through rhythmic and note training in order to become more literate musicians. Our principal objectives are the support of young musicians, the performance of works of Mexican composers, and sharing our music with the Mexican community. LOS NIÑOS DE CHAPALA & AJIJIC A.C. (NCA): www.lakesideninos.org Provides financial support for the educational, nutritional and social development of local area children. Office 376-765-7032, info@lakesideninos.org LOVE IN ACTION- Shelter for abused and abandoned children. For volunteers and donations. Anabel Frutos 765-7409, cell: 331-351 7826. LUCKY DOG: www.luckydoglakechapala.com www.facebook.com/LuckyDogLakeChapala/ To provide shelter to rescue dogs, socialize them and restore them to health, and adopt them out to good homes. To work with other animal organizations to promote spay and neuter. 331-300-7144 luckydogchapala@yahoo.com MARIPOSA PROJECT: BUTTERFLIES EN MEXICO: www.gomariposa.org Objectives: Provide options for how youth can make sustainable changes and provide opportunities for change. Mac Whyte 387-761-0360 macbwhyte@gmail.com MEXICAN ASSOCIATION TO EMPOWER WOMEN FOR FAMILY INTEGRATION, AMSIF: amsif.org.mx To work with the poor, mainly women, to transform the family values in the community. Educate women so they can have a critical mind and thus liberate themselves and become agents of change through a liberated and integral education. A method of education used where they can “see, judge, and act”. MEXICAN NATIONAL CHILI COOKOFF: www.mexicannationalchilicookoff.com The Mexican National Chili Cookoff is the largest fundraising organization Lakeside. For more than 41 years the event has raised funds to support local charities in their work. The 3 day event, always held in February, features hundreds of vendors of the finest Mexican handcrafts, on-going hourly entertainment, and a variety of food and beverages. The event is held at Tobolandia Water Park in Ajijic. The organization currently funds 9 IJAS approved charities and in the latest year made donations of 60,000 pesos to each participating charity. Jacques Bouchard 376-766-4350 jacqueandcarol@hotmail.com MUJERES APOYANDO A MUJERES: Mezcala jewelry collective with the focus to create a cottage industry jewelry making project that will give the women of Mezcala and la Cuesta a means of economic independence. The jewelry is being sold at Cugini’s and Diane Pearl in Ajijic. Doris Wakeman. MUSICA PARA CRECER A.C. / OFIRC (ORQUESTA FILARMÓNICA INFANTIL DE LA RIBERA DE CHAPALA) Training disadvantaged kids between the ages of 8 and 18 years who want to learn a musical instrument with the possibility of becoming a member of the “Orquesta Filarmónica In-
fantil de la Ribera de Chapala”. San Juan Cosala, Porfirio Diaz Oriente 144. Coco Wonchee, 33-3117-2927 soco.wonchee@gmail.com NIÑOS INCAPACITADOS DEL LAGO, A.C.: www.programaninos.com A non-profit, all-volunteer organization that helps low-income Mexican families pay medical expenses for their children with disabling or life-threatening illnesses. Email: ninosincapacitados@programaninos.com Dave Pike, President 376-765- 3137 dave.ppni@gmail.com Carol Antcliffe carol.ppni@gmail.com “NO GRAFFITI AJIJIC” GROUP: Group of residents, who remove and cover graffiti. Paint donations appreciated. Contact with details. Email Dan Houck with graffiti reports. Dan Houck 376-766-3225 houck1022@gmail.com NORTHERN LIGHTS MUSIC FESTIVAL: Provides young talented Canadian artists exposure and experience on the international concert stage and provides the community with a wide range of classical music venues including concerts and demonstrations to young Mexican students and musicians through an annual music festival. NSDAR CHAPALA THOMAS PAINE CHAPTER: www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mextpdar/ thomaspainedar/ Goal is to make education available to deserving students and to help the community. Contribute to scholarships for the Technical School and students in Ninos de Chapala. Contribute to Hammer Hammer Will Travel and to Needle Pushers and the Lake Chapala Society Wilkes Education Center. Lorene Fields 376-766-1658 ltfields@hotmail.com OPEN CIRCLE: www.opencircleajijic.org Provide a supportive environment for social interactions. Presentations span a wide range of intellectual, cultural, physical and spiritual topics. David Bryen 376-766-4755 opencircleideas@gmail.com, Margaret Van Every 376-766-2092 OPERACION AMOR: www.facebook.com/chapala.operacionamor Our mission is to provide free spay/neuter services for cats and dogs of persons of limited means in the greater Chapala area. 331-872-4440 cgcothran1@yahoo.com Amalia Garcia, Co-leader 376-763-5597 amgarciao10@gmail.com Cameron Peters Co-leader 376-766-4341 zo-onna@hotmail.com OPERATION FEED: www.operationfeed.weebly.com Our mission is to increase self-sufficiency by providing weekly despensas and supporting other educational and income opportunities for people of limited resources in San Juan Cosala. OVEREATERS ANONYMOUS: www.OA.org Monday 12PM and Thursday 10:15AM. Lakeside Little Chapel, Carretera Ajijic-Chapala (next to Chula Vista Country Club). Information: 376-766-4409, email Sugarfreeme@hotmail.com ROTARY CLUB OF AJIJIC: www.rotaryajijic.org Within the community and Rotary International, The Rotary Club of Ajijic serves as a model providing humanitarian serviced to others while maintaining high ethical standards. Rotarians develop community service projects that address many of today’s most critical issues, such as children at risk, poverty and hunger, the environment illiteracy, and violence. They also support programs for youth, and for educational opportunities. Meetings: Tuesday 1PM Hotel Real de Chapala ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION: https://www.rclchapala.com/ To provide assistance to veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces, including veterans of Commonwealth Forces and, in some instances, U.S. veterans and Mexican veterans living in the Lakeside area. Being a Legion member is not required for assistance to veterans who meet the criteria. This is done through our Poppy Fund Campaign. To support the local community by providing money and assistance to specific projects as designated by our members. John Kelly 331-758-0676 jkelly203@gmail.com SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, MEXICAN SOCIETY: Lineal descent from a Patriot of the American Revolution, not necessarily a soldier. Kenneth Loridans 376-766-2981 SoTouch@prodigy.net.mx ST. ANDREW’S OUTREACH PROGRAM: www.standrewsriberas.com St. Andrew’s Anglican Church provides financial grants to local non-profits and scholarships to public school students from funds donated by parishioners or generated at its Todo Bueno Resale Consignment Shop on the carreterra in Riberas, open M-Sat 10:00-3:00 pm. Outreach also hosts an annual “Spring Market Jamboree” the second Sunday in March in the church garden that includes live music, a car wash and unique products for sale by Outreach grant recipients. For more info: outreach@gmail.com TAILS OF MEXICO: www.spayneuterlakechapala.weebly.com Tails of Mexico’s mission is to provide free spay/neuter clinics in the municipality of Jocopetec, Jalisco Mexico to poor Mexican families, street dogs, and others of limited means in order to reduce animal suffering and help the communities in which we work. Another program is to relocate dogs to specific rescue organizations and shelters North of the Mexican border. Dee Mistrik 01-387-761-0041 deemistrik@gmail.com Linda Rudisell-Hines, Communication Lead 01-387-761-0688 rudiselj@yahoo.com TEPEHUA CENTRO COMUNITARIO, A.C.: www.facebook.com/tepehuacommunitycenter. org A center helping a village through education, counseling and social functions. President: Moonyeen King 376-763-5126 moonie1935@yahoo.com TOASTMASTERS: Weekly meeting of bilingual Lake Chapala Toastmasters. Open to all interested in learning public speaking. Tim Schubert 376-766-0920 revdoctimothy@gmail.com U.S.A. THINKING TEAM: www.usathinkingteam.com Office is in Ajijic for 12 years. Supported by Grandparents for a Better World. Support programs for charitable organizations in Ajijic and includes concerts with That’s Entertainment, speakers and radio shows. Contact: mexicosydneygay@yahoo.com UVA [UNIVERSITY & VOCATIONAL ASSISTANCE] SCHOLARSHIP FUND, A.C.: www.uvalakeside.org Founded in 1976, provide university/technical scholarship assistance to qualified Lakeside students. Monitor and verify the recipients’ qualifications for scholarship assistance (maintain a GPA of 8.5 or better each semester). Assure that 100% of donations for students are distributed to students. Operate as an independent charity and cease to exist if and when support of the charity no longer exists. Sue Torres 376-766-2932 mst0414@hotmail.com VILLA INFANTIL ORPHANAGE: www.villainfantil.com.mx Facebook: Villa Infantil Guadalupe y San Jose Provides care and financial support for 30 children under the care of the Catholic Sisters of the Congregation of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Joseph. info.villainfantil@gmail.com VEGGIE GROWERS CLUB: Meetings are held at Huerta Organic Café, Hidalgo #212 in Riberas del Pilar on the second Monday at 10 AM. Discussions on problems with growing vegetables at lakeside, local pests and how to treat them, composting and all matters related to growing vegetables. John McWilliams 376-766-0620
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Service
www.tel.chapala.com
DIRECTORY
Pag: 44
Tel: 766-6000, 33-3950-9990
* ADVERTISING / DIRECTORY
* BED & BREAKFAST
- EL OJO DEL LAGO
Pag: 26
Tel: 763-5126
* CONSTRUCTION
EMERGENCY NUMBERS EMERGENCY HOTLINE AMBULANCE - CRUZ ROJA FIRE DEPARTMENT POLICE Ajijic Chapala La Floresta
066 765-2308, 765-2553 766-3615 766-1760 765-4444 766-5555
Tel: 106-1618, 333-149-4536
Pag: 49
* GARAGE DOORS OPENERS
Tel. 765-3676
* ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
Pag: 14
Tel: 766-0050
Tel: 766-5961
Pag: 17
Tel: 766-5493
Pag: 60
Pag: 11
Cell: (045) 331-350-6764
- CLINICA VETERINARIA SAN ANTONIO - LAKESIDE FRIENDS OF THE ANIMALS AC Tel: 765-5544
Pag: 19
- MASKOTA’S LAKE Tel: 766-0287
- BETO’S WINE & LIQUOR Pag: 46
Cell: (045) 333-507-3024
* BOUTIQUE / CUSTOM SEWING
Pag: 42
Tel: 766-3062
Pag: 57
Pag: 03
Tel/Fax: 766-1790
Pag: 22 Pag: 56
Tel: 766-1306
Pag: 53
- GARDEN CENTER Tel: 765-5973 Tel: 766-4534, Cell: 331-241-9773
Pag: 06
Tel: 766-0133
* GOLF Pag: 55
- ROBERTO MILLAN - ARCHITECT
- ATLAS COUNTRY GOLF COURSE
Pag: 18
Tel: 76-653-60, Cell: 331-282-5020
Tel: 33-3689-2620
Pag: 52
Tel: 766-5959
Pag: 48
- WINDOWPLAST
* CANOPIES
* GRILLS - NAPOLEON Tel: 766-6153
Pag: 45
Pag: 53
DENTISTS
Pag: 21
Tel: 766-0045, Cell: 33-3956-4852
- FERRETERIA Y TLAPALERIA GALVEZ
Tel. 766-3682
Pag: 24
Pag: 15, 40
* CLEANING SERVICES
Tel. 765-5364, Cell: 33-1351-7797 Cell: (045) 331-218-6241
Pag: 24
- MULTISERVICIO AUTOMOTRIZ ESCALERA Pag: 57
* BANK INVESTMENT
SERVICES
Tels. 766-0599, 766-0630
Tel: 766-5360, Cell. 331-282-5020
Pag: 57
Pag: 07
- MULTIVA Pag: 23
Tel: 766-5447, 332-543-1090
Tel: 766-1444, 766-1344
Pag: 10
Tel: 108-1087
Pag: 44
* FUMIGATION - MOSQUITO CONTROL
Pag: 45
Pag: 38
Cell: 33-3676-2514
Pag: 10
Pag: 40
Tel: 765-5287, 765-4070
- CALLI
El Ojo del Lago / August 2019
Pag: 53
- NOMAD
Tel: 765-6602 - TEPEHUA TREASURES
Pag: 24 Pag: 49
- PROTEXPLAN Tel: 766-5922
* CONSIGNMENT SHOP
Cell: (045) 33-3106-6982 - PARKER INSURANCE SERVICES
- COMPUTER REPAIR Tel: 331-574-8896
Pag: 39
- LAKESIDE INSURANCE - EDGAR CEDEÑO
* FURNITURE
Tel: 106-0864 - HILDA WORLWIDE
* INSURANCE
Tel: 766-0395, 1-888-449-7799 Pag: 03
- CRISCO SALON - CHRISTINE’S
Pag: 03
- HEALTH INSURANCE
* COMPUTER SERVICES Pag: 54
Pag: 47
- LA NUEVA POSADA
- COSTALEGRE
* COMMUNICATIONS - ISHOPNMAIL
Pag: 33
- HOTEL PERICO Cell: 333-142-0012
* FISH MARKET
Cell: (045) 331-498-7699
* BEAUTY
Pag: 39
Pag: 42
- STEAM CLEAN Tel: 33-2385-0410
- NEW LOOK STUDIO
Pag: 25
- HOTEL & VILLAS MONTE LAGO - STEREN
Tel: 765-2953
- INTERCAM
Tel: 766-4073
Tel: 766-5126, 766-4435
Pag: 11
Pag: 55
- MOBILE PROFESSIONAL CLEANING
- SPRING CLEANING
Tel: 766-2499
- M.D. CARLOS ALONSO FLORES VALDOVINOS
* HOTELS / SUITES Tel: 766-5140- Cell: 33-1075-7768
Tel: 766-5978
Pag: 38
* ELECTRONICS/ TECHNOLOGY
- AXIXIC SPRING CLEANING
- FRATS
Tel: 765-4424
* HEARING AIDS
- C.D. SANDRA ANAYA MORA
Pag: 10
* AUTOMOTIVE
Pag: 21
- DRA. ANGELICA ALDANA LEMA DDS
- LOWELL BIRCH, DC Tel: 766-3000
- LA BELLA VIDA
Pag: 66
- AJIJIC DENTAL CLINIC
* CHIROPRACTIC
Pag: 41
- DIANE PEARL COLECCIONES
Tel: 331-139-8539
Pag: 22
* HARDWARE STORES
Tel: 766-0880, Fax: 766-2440
Tel: 766-5131
Pag: 28
Tel: (0133) 2303-3080
- ART21STUDIO
Tel: 766-5683
Pag: 38
- LONAS MEXICO
- ALFREDO’S GALERIA
Tel: 33-3170-6135, 33-3677-3482
Pag: 18
- RAINFOREST
- PISOS Y AZULEJOS DE LA RIBERA
Cell. (044) 33-1601-1779
62
* GARDENING
- SIKA
* ART GALLERIES/HANDCRAFTS
Tel: 766-2980
Pag: 57
- ROOFING & WATERPROOFING SPECIALISTS
- MI MEXICO
- PET FOOD AND GROOMING
Tel: 766-4973
Pag: 14
Cell: (045) 331-520-3054 - MARBLE & GRANITE
Tel: 766-3771, Cell: 331-340-3758 - CUGINIS BOUTIQUE
Cell: 333-1964-150
Tel: 33-2174-7525
Cell: 331-250-6486
Pag: 16
- PET PLACE
Tel: 33-1228-5377
- GENERAL HOME SERVICES - Amancio Ramos Jr.
* BEER & LIQUOR STORES Pag: 40
Pag: 34-35
- DARK ARCHITECTURE
- CASA TRES LEONES
* ANIMAL CLINICS/PET SHOP
Tel: 766-0808
Cell: 331-331-0249 - COMFORT SOLUTIONS
- CASA FLORES
- ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
- AUTOMATIC GARAGE DOOR OPENERS
- ARELLANO CORPORATION GROUP
- CASA DEL SOL
- UOU
Pag: 42
U.S. Toll Free 1-800-608-5743 Mexico Toll Free 01-800-681-6730
Pag: 20
- TIOCORP Tel: 766-4828
Pag: 28
Pag: 05
Tel: 33-2002-2400
* LEGAL SERVICES
- EAGER & ASOCIADOS
Tel: 331-520-5529, Cell: 333-676-6245
Pag: 11
Pag: 67
- FOR SALE BY OWNER
Pag: 46
Tel: 766-1064
Pag: 47 Pag: 28, 38, 54
- ARTURO FERNANDEZ
Pag: 13
Cell: (045) 333-954-3813
Pag: 38
Tel: 766-3565
* MEAT/POULTRY/CHEESE
Pag: 50
* SATELLITES/ T.V.
Pag: 33
- AJIJIC ELECTRONICS S.A. DE C.V. Tel/Fax: 766-1117, 766-3371
Pag: 19, 27
- LORI FIELSTED REALTY
- TONY’S Pag: 14
* MEDICAL SERVICES
Cell: 331-365-0558 Tel: 766-4525, Cell: 332-255-5972 Cell: 33-1437-0925
Ophthalmic Surgeon
- SANTANA RENTALS & REAL ESTATE
- DERMIKA - DR. BEN - CERTIFIED PLASTIC SURGEON Pag: 21
* MOVERS
Pag: 02 Pag: 03
Pag: 55
Tel: 33-2002-2400
Pag: 05
Tel: 734-730-3729 Tel: 766-0661, Tel/Fax: 766-1045
Pag: 30
* SEPTIC TANK PUMPING
- CHAPALA TREE SERVICE
- FOR RENT
US/CANADA: (915) 235-1951
Cell: 333-667-6554
Pag: 06
- STROM-WHITE MOVERS Pag: 22
Tel: 766-6153
- SANTANA RENTALS & REAL ESTATE
Pag: 55
Tel: 766 3163, 766 5171
Pag: 46
- ROMA
* RESTAURANTS/CAFES/BAR
- CONCERT TO BENEFIT THE RANCH
Pag: 16 Pag: 27
- D.J. HOWARD Pag: 56
- FUNDRAISING EVENT-Help Caro to Walk
Pag: 26
- THE SPOTLIGHT CLUB
Pag: 43
Pag: 66
Pag: 60
- SUN QUEST ENERGY Tel: 766-1761, Cell: 33-1603-9756
Pag: 43
* SPA / MASSAGE - LA BELLA VIDA Tel: 766-5131
Pag: 10
Tel: 766-3379
Pag: 17
- ALFREDO’S CALIFORNIA Tel: 33-1301-9862
Pag: 52
- ARMANDO’S HIDEAWAY Tel: 766-2229
Pag: 51
- EL JARDIN D’SHANTI Tel: 766-5792
* PAINT
Pag: 55
- TOTAL BODY CARE
- AJIJIC TANGO Tel: 766-2458
Tel: 766-3044
Tel: 766-3731, 688-1038 - LOS NIÑOS DE CHAPALA Y AJIJIC
* SOLAR ENERGY Pag: 50
* MUSIC / THEATRE / EVENTS - BARE STAGE THEATRE
- TECNO AQUA
Pag: 52
- FOR RENT
Tel: 315-351-5167
* WATER
Pag: 57
* SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONS
Tel: 765-7032
Tel: 333-496-4868
Tel: 766-5008
Pag: 54
Pag: 46
- JP HOME SERVICES Tel. 766-1569, Cell: 333-968-2938
* RENTALS/PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
- BEST MEXICO MOVERS
- LAKE CHAPALA MOVING
Pag: 45
* TREE SERVICE
Tel: 762-0602
Tel: 766-1152, Cell:(045) 331-386-7597
Pag: 28
Pag: 51
- TIA STEPHANIE TOURS
- COLDWELLBANKER CHAPALA REALTY
US Cell: (520) 940-0481
- LYDIA’S TOURS Cell: 33-1026-4877, Tel: 765-4742
* SELF STORAGE
- VISTA ALEGRE Pag: 11
Pag: 43
Cell: 333-101-8092 Pag: 56
Pag: 47
- KARUNA YES TOURS
- SELF STORAGE-BODEGAS CHAPALA
- ALTA RETINA - Dr. Rigoberto Rios León
Tel: 315-351-5167
Pag: 44
Pag: 23
- RAUL GONZALEZ
Pag: 27
Pag: 09, 13
- INTERNATIONAL CRUISE CLUB
- SHAW SATELLITE SERVICES Tel: 33-1402-4223
- RADISSON BLU - Ajijic Resort, Spa & Residences
Tel: 766-4871, Cell: 333-105-0402
* TOURS
Tel: 766-1777
- JUDIT RAJHATHY Cell: (045) 331 - 395 - 9849
Tel: 766-2500
Pag: 22
- CHARTER CLUB TOURS
- HOTEL & VILLAS MONTE LAGO Tel: 766-5447, 332-543-1090
Tel: 766-1521, 688-1122
Pag: 30
- TRIP’S BURGER - YVES
Tel: 331-916-7781, 001-956-532-6110 Pag: 37
Tel: 766-1614
Tel: 331-433-6112
Pag: 39
- FOR SALE BY OWNER
- CENTRO LAGUNA Tel: 766-5514
* TAXI / TRANSPORTATION
- TONY’S RESTAURANT CAMPESTRE
Tel: 766-1381
Tel: 766-5513 Cell: 331-410-0249
Pag: 20
Pag: 52
- FOR SALE BY OWNER
* MALL / OUTLET
Tel: 387-761-1101
- THE PEACOCK GARDEN
- FOR SALE BY OWNER
- L&D CENTER
Pag: 22
Pag: 46
- FOR SALE BY OWNER Tel: 762-1516, Cell: 333-452-9448
- 7000 WIFI TV
- TEPETATE THAI RESTAURANT Tel: 766-2020
Tel: 33-3614-8018, Cell: 333-115-9289
* LIGHTING
Pag: 46
Tel: 766-4767
Tel: (376) 766 1917, 1918
- SOLBES & SOLBES
* STREAMING TV
- SIMPLY THAI
The Ojo Crossword
Pag: 41
- GO BISTRO - QUIROZ-Impermeabilizantes Tel: 766-2311
Cell: (045) 33-3502-6555 Pag: 51
- QUIROZ-Pinturas Tel: 766-2311
Tel: 33-3615-4952 Pag: 20
Tel: 766-1946 - AJIJIC HOME INSPECTIONS Pag: 12 Pag: 31 Pag: 29 Pag: 05
Tel: 766-2848 Tel: 766-4296
Pag: 03 Pag: 08
Pag: 68
- MOM’S DELI & RESTAURANT
Pag: 17
- PIAN - Cocina Thai
Tel: 765-5719
- CONTINENTAL REALTY
Pag: 44
- MANIX Tel: 766-0061, Cell: 331-0650-725
Tel: 766-1152, 766-3369 Fax: 766-2124,
- CUMBRES
Tel: 766-1444, 766-1344
- LOS MOLLETES
- COLDWELL BANKER CHAPALA REALTY
Tel: 766-1994
Pag: 51
- “LA TAVERNA”DEI QUATTRO MORI
- CIELOVISTA
Tels: 765-2877 Fax: 765-3528
Tel: 766-4906 - LA NUEVA POSADA
- BETTINA BERING
Tel: 33-2002-2400
Pag: 11
- LA HACIENDA DE DON PEDRO
- AJIJIC REAL ESTATE
Tel: 766-1049, Cell. 33-1210-7723
Pag: 26
- LA CASA DEL WAFFLE
* REAL ESTATE
Tel: 766-2077
Pag: 25
- HUERTO CAFÉ Tel: 108-0843
Tel: 766-2836
Pag: 12
- GRUPO PASTA
Tel: 766-2881
Pag: 16 Pag: 07 Pag: 28
Saw you in the Ojo 63
CARS FOR SALE: 2007 Toyota Tundra. It has a 5.7 400hp v8. Off road and towing package.Leather interior. Video system, bed liner and hard tonneau cover. Running boards. A 50,000 dollar truck (new) for 16,000. Call me Jim at 331-600-2403. WANTED: Does anyone have a golf cart for sale. Of course second hand. Email: ercabell@hotmail.com. FOR SALE: 2014 Chevy Spark, “Sparky” The ultimate fun car is the ideal run around car for Lakeside. Manual transmission and uncluttered with useless accessories. Only 17,000 KM... Leaving Ajijic the end of July Asking $4500 USD. Email: rvanparys@hotmail.com. FOR SALE: 1999 Subaru Outback wagon. Automatic, AC, heated seats, AWD, roof rack, CD/Cassette/radio, Valid Washington state plates so must be sold to US citizen/resident on temporal or tourist visa and plates transferred in US. Cannot be imported or licensed in Mexico. Needs Temporary Import Permit which allows car to stay in Mexico (obtainable via mail, buyer pays refundable deposit) or Retorno Seguro with 5 days to remove car from Mexico (seller pays.)Call: (376) 765-7318. FOR SALE: Cadillac CTS. V6 / CTS / 2008 / 3.6 litros / 77,000 km. $150,000.00.
Email: teffrebora@gmail.com. FOR SALE: 2017 Nissan Versa White Manual Transmission. Gets excellent gas mileage if interested please send me a message on whatsapp to 444-519-4818 (mexican number) I’m asking for $174,999 pesos. The vehicle is a Mexican car. FOR SALE: Jeep Compass 2007. 4X2, $110,000.00 Pesos. Cell 331-0236310 Enrique. FOR SALE: Motorcycle 2017 Pulsar 200 AS, black - perfect condition, 18,700 Km, $38,000 pesos firm. Mexican title (factura) paid and clear. cglane2007@yahoo.com – 376-766-1218 “Chris”
COMPUTERS FOR SALE: Roku. Perfect to use Netflix or YouTube on any non smart TV. Price only $350 pesos. Free pick-up in San Juan Cosalá. I also can deliver at your home for only $50 pesos extra. Lakeside area 322239-1830. WANTED: Need a printer/scanner. 766-5322 or hombregringo@gmail.com. FOR SALE: I bought this 14” Laptop a few months ago new from Bodega (receipt below) with Windows 10. It has a Spanish keyboard, which is no problem. But, I mistakenly thought I could downgrade to Windows 7. It’s in “like new” condition with no blemishes or scratches. My reduced
price is $4600 pesos or best offer. Jeff cell: 353 563 5283 or email jabburnham@ yahoo.com. FOR SALE: HP Deskjet Ink Advantage 4625. It is gently used and works perfectly. Asking $500 pesos. Email: mcintyrelorna@hotmail.com. WANTED: Wanting to purchase a used computer monitor. Email: info@ proweb.biz. FOR SALE: I have a new Sonoff 2 channel smart switch. You can control one or two electrical devices with this switch, or hook it into any smart home system. Sonoff Dual Channel WiFi Wireless Smart Switch Compatible with Alexa, Control two home appliances with APP, remote control Appliance Controller for DIY Smart Home. Asking $365 pesos. Send me a message peteredwards052@gmail.com. FOR SALE: FOR PARTS. ASUS MODEL #X5400l. No H.D. or battery. Windows 10. Screen is 15” and clean. KB good, no worn letters. A few scratches on case. $500, you pick up in Chapala. 376765-6348. WANTED: Want decent PC (not laptop) with w/10. Must be in English. Email: 1988jeopardychampion@gmail.com. FOR SALE: Apple iPhone 5c 16GB Unlocked in very good condition. With Charger, Blue Color. Model A 1532, Price: $2000 pesos Ajijic. Email: findamber@yahoo.com. FOR SALE: I have a used LG Q10 cell phone (LG K410g) with Android 5.0.2 (June 2018). Goes for $3,500 new. Two years old. Android version 5.0.2 with February 2019 updates. Screen size 5.3”. Resolution: 1280x720. Cameras: 8 MP rear-facing; 5 MP front-facing. Memory: 1.5 Gig. Storage: 16 gigs. Expandable memory with SD card. Price: $2,000p. PM me, email me (mike-at-ajijiccomputing. com) or call at 765-4156.
PETS & SUPPLIES
WANTED: I am looking for a stainless steel or non-toxic finish birdcage for a medium-size parrot. Call Judy: (376) 7661944. WANTED: Just lost my Pembroke Welsh corgi after 13 years. I’m seeking a young miniature (not toy) poodle puppy to join our pack of two other dogs. Email: bradfel@gmail.com.
GENERAL MERCHANDISE FOR SALE: Two Check -N Sized Suitcases/One Black American Tourister 10X17.5X25 inches and one Skyway 9.5X16X27. Both in good shape. Asking $300 pesos each. Call: 766-4360. FOR SALE: Google Pixel 3 128 GB Black Color (model was announced September 2018) $350 USD or pesos equivalent 128 GB storage Unlocked for Verizon. Used on AT&T at Lakeside.Comes with charger Immaculate condition. No signs of wear. Purchased April 2019. Contact George at 376-766-3792 or 332-4942886. FOR SALE: Bodyfit Recumbent Bike. Bought for $8000p. Will sell for $6000.p. Call: 765-6455. WANTED: I need a set of men’s dumb-
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El Ojo del Lago / August 2019
bells. Email: jmm46@gmx.com. FOR SALE: 50-100-150 watt bulbs. I have 27 of these bulbs from a long-ago Amazon order. My lamps no longer function, so the bulbs are extra. Any interest anyone? Email: pablosemanas@gmail. com. FOR SALE: I have a Sea Eagle SL370 inflatable Kayak in excellent condition. I bought it new about a year ago, and it has only been in the water one time. It’s advertised to accommodate 3 people but, that would really be pushing it. Plenty of room for 2 adults and a dog though. Included are 2 life vests, 1 up to 110 KGS, 1 up to 120 KGS. I paid around $8000 pesos for all of this. My NEW low price is $4750 pesos or best offer. Jeff cell: 353-563-5283 email: jabburnham@yahoo.com. WANTED: Would like to purchase used treadmill. (not too big). Email: frankcampb@gmail.com. FOR SALE: Kenmore Washer - 22 Kilo - Used - Excellent Condition. $4,300 pesos. Can PM me or call at 332-4955564. FOR SALE: Generador Gas JP2500 Bull Power 5.5 H.P. I buy high and sell low. Take $1000.00 off the price I paid and not have to worry anymore. When you pick it up at Chapala Haciendas 2, I’ll show you how I wired it int everyroom. $5,999.00. Email me at Talosian70@hotmail.com or call 376-765-6348 (Spanish OK) The price is firm. WANTED: Shaw 600 receiver as well as share account with me. This receiver is available April 26. You can phone 7666170 for details. Approximately $37 US dollars a month. FOR SALE: Sony Audio Control Center (receiver/amplifier) & Sony 5 CD changer & 2 KLH speakers 8”x12”, $2500 pesos or best offer. Sharon 331-196-6423. FOR SALE: Paint Compressor, Call: 376-765-6348 Talosian70@hotmail.com. FOR SALE: New virtually unused Trademark Games 9 Piece Bocce Ball set with easy nylon carrying case. $750 pesos PM or 766-2722. FOR SALE: I have a Roadmaster Stomaster 5000 tow hitch. Comes with cables and mounts for Jeep Liberty This can be adapted to just about tow anything. $2,000.00 Pesos. 765-2698. WANTED: Want to buy wood working power tools, radial saw, drills. table saw. Email: info@proweb.biz. FOR SALE: Very old print of a picture, maybe 100 years old. 27 by 33 inches. $2000 pesos. felixbb@yahoo.com. FOR SALE: I have ten of these beauties, made from a Guamuchil tree I had to take down. Ideal to serve tapas, apetizers, cheese. They have been brushed and natural, ready to stain or keep natural. Average size 12 inches. felixbb@yahoo.com. FOR SALE: Westinghouse Freezer. Excellent shape outside, somewhat used inside, working fine. 62 height, 32 wide and 30 deep. $2000 pesos. felixbb@yahoo.com. FOR SALE: Shelves I am not using, can sell all or individually, long ones are 124 by 19 CM or 48 by 7.5 inches. I have
5 of theses. The short ones are 86.5 by 19 CM or 34 by 7.5 inches I have 3 of these. $100 pesos each, any size. felixbb@yahoo.com. FOR SALE: Very nice climber for just $700 pesos, it counts steps, calories, Call: 331-415-9195. FOR SALE: Electric Shower 240v. Mini size water heater, 3 power levels (5.5KW 4.5KW 3.5KW), 10 power settings per level. Super low water pressure startup, and microcomputer memory, anti-dry functionality, water leakage and earth leakage prevention. Digital LCD temperature display with touch control in 1-degree increments allows control of hot water. Request Breaker: 30A and Standard Pipe Section G1/2” water connection. Hydraulic pression: 0.6 Mpa. Temperature: 30-55 °C (ajustable) unused/new. $MX 999.00. Email: stephan.korbus@gmail.com. WANTED: Want to purchase fishing gear to use around Lake Chapala. Please contact me if you have tackle, rods, reals. Email: info@proweb.biz. WANTED: In search of tile saw. Please email me at other.br@gmail.com. FOR SALE: Used Pet Carrier. In good condition. 36” x 28” x 24” Used to carry our medium size dog 30 lbs with room to spare. $2000p or Best Offer. Contact Phil: 331-340-8115 or preitano@netzero.net.
FOR SALE: Fujifilm Finepix SL1000 camera. The camera si in Very Good Condition. It has the Japanese Lens! It comes with two batteries, charger, original owners manual, power cord and the CD disc. The camera has a 50x power zoom. Takes super pictures. Asking $3,600 Pesos. 765-2698. WANTED: I need a metal worker to give me an estimate on a permanent carport. Any information from anyone on a reasonably good contractor. We are in Chapala. Email: glws7777@gmail.com. FOR SALE: Jensen wall mountable home stereo system cd player am/fm receiver + remote. $800.00. Email: nunez. chavez.jorge@gmail.com. WANTED: I wish to buy an inversion table in good condition. If you have one or know of one anywhere, please PM me or call me at 332-726-5718. WANTED: I am looking to buy an electric pottery wheel. Email: jaliscoman@hotmail.com. FOR SALE: Mexican Furnish 100% Wood. La Floresta. Contact: sersolgdl@ gmail.com. Cell: 333-170-5909 Sergio. FOR SALE: Plumbing Supplies. Never Installed Helvex toilet paper holder or towel rack, satin, model 15104, $900 pesos (Mercadolibre $1435 pesos). Never Installed Helvex bath/shower mixer tap,
chrome, model E-702, $3000 pesos (Home Depot $3677 pesos). Email: bolancm@gmail.com. WANTED: I am interested in buying a tool shed for outside. If you have one I can disassemble it. Metal or plastic is fine. Email: info@proweb.biz. WANTED: I am interested in buying a used digital camera. Please respond if you have one for sale. Email: info@proweb. biz.
FOR SALE: Tiles, please PM me if interested. Email: luvsdawgs1@yahoo.com FOR SALE: Original Prada Shoes, size 24.5 Mexican, Only 1 time was used, price $3000 pesos. Call to Alma 331-0053109. FOR SALE: Individual Brass Headboard, Price $2,200.00 pesos. Call to Alma 331-005-3109.
Saw you in the Ojo 65
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El Ojo del Lago / August 2019