Mexico Dreamin'- Eric

Attention: Blog followers
It was only a dream.
Like in the old "Dallas" TV series.

I have memories of leaving Burien with Marge and Otto in January 2017. Our little Hyundai was

overloaded as we headed for Mexico.

A very vivid dream

I remember living for four months, high on a hill, in a classy condo overlooking Puerto Vallarta's hotel zone. There were nightly fireworks displays, strolls on tropical beaches and bay-side feasts of shrimp fajitas and frozen strawberry margaritas.
I recall moving into a colorful Mexican house in the central highlands village of Ajijic. We went to bars with live music where we danced with wild abandon--like we hadn't done in decades. We ate with the Brunch Bunch at delightful restaurants on Sunday mornings. I joined Democrats Abroad, Film Aficionados and classes at the Lake Chapala Society.
I even remember a short stay in a tiny casita with a nearby sparkling pool and quiet tree-lined streets.

Colorful memories

But all those memories must have been just a very vivid dream.
Because here we are: Marge is working at the same Washington State Department of Transportation office in Tumwater. I'm still tending the home fires at our same condo in Burien.The same cars are in the same parking spots and their owners are, presumably, in the same jobs. Otto and I are taking the same Seahurst beach and Lincoln Park walks with the neighbor's same dog.
It must have been only a dream.
I've gotta admit I've noticed some unfamiliar folks and pets hanging around the complex. And some previously planned construction projects seem to be have been magically completed.
But facts are facts. I can't dispute them. We are where we are.
It must have all been a dream--a thrillingly adventurous and memorable dream, but still a dream.

The End of our Wonderful Adventure in Mexico

Eric Enjoying Himself in Ajijic

Yesterday, Eric’s and my (and our dog Otto’s), adventure living in Ajijic came to an end. We loaded our five suitcases and a few plastic tubs and our pillows and Otto, into our little Hyundai hatchback, along with our windshield glass breaking tool (in case of being submerged), and our box of flares and reflective triangular orange flashers (in case of some road emergency); and we drove to Puerto Vallarta, an 11 hour trip due to brake problems as we came down the steep and curvy road
from Compostela to sea level.

We arrived at last, at 8:30. Very, very happy to be here (and to be alive!)! We will spend 8 more nights in Puerto Vallarta, enjoying the ocean and the malecon (right outside our wonderful room!), and the city, and all the places we know and love.

Eric and Otto on Colon, 
Ajijic's Main Street

On May 18, after 14 months living in Mexico; we’ll pack up the car again and head north, 1000 miles through the beautiful Mexican countryside to the border at Nogales. We’ll arrive there on the afternoon of the third day of driving (if all goes well). From the border we’ll drive across Arizona to California and all the way up California to Oregon and all the way through Oregon to Washington, and half way through Washington to our condo in Burien, near Seattle – another 1600 miles. Fortunately, we love driving trips!

We are happy that we’ll see our friends and family in Washington again, who we’ve missed; and happy that Amazon will deliver to our door, and that we’ll get to experience the beauty of Puget Sound again and hear the sound of the seagulls and see them dipping and circling; and that we’ll get to see the magnificence of the Cascade Mountains to the east and the sharp peaks of the Olympics to the west against the skyline, and the Oregon Coast and the rhododendrons, if any are still in bloom.

The High Hills Behind Lake Chapala

But we are also feeling a sense of loss. We made a life for ourselves in Ajijic; of walks on the malecon and shopping at little vegetable markets and enjoying the perpetual sunshine and cheap meals out and making pictures and volunteering and walking Otto all around the town - letting him off his leash by the lake, where he loved to run, scaring the great egrets and snowy egrets and blue herons and black winged night herons and coots and the other birds whose names I don’t know or have forgotten -- they would fly up, one by one, from the shallows where they swam or bobbed or stood, as he ran past them.

Pelicans on Lake Chapala

And we will miss Lake Chapala, a beautiful backdrop to everything, with its little lapping waves and marshy shore, in places -and so large – the largest lake in Mexico; and we’ll miss the brightly painted stone and brick and stucco houses – teal, lavender, mango and turquoise, and the bright orange and purple and yellow flowers, blooming all year, even now, at the end of the dry season. 

Lake Chapala and the Malecon at Sunset

We will, especially, miss the friends we’ve made, with whom we’ve shared a lot of fun times, interesting stories, good food and laughter - who we hope to see again. We will be back in Ajijic, certainly, though we are not sure when.

We have learned so much, living in Mexico - discovered that we are resilient and capable and able to overcome obstacles; and how different life is in a different country, with a different language and a different culture. Also, we’ve discovered the magnificent art and music of Mexico and the history of Mexico - centuries of brutal oppression, and of struggling to overcome oppression; and the beauty of Mexico – a huge country

Marge in Puerto Vallarta This Morning;
a Beautiful Day

Eric in Puerto Vallarta This Morning -
Enjoying the Sunshine

with so much awe inspiring scenery – a country that was just a blank to us, previously; and we have discovered the pleasure of speaking Spanish (and the difficulty of mastering it), and experienced some irritants (topes, mosquitos, cojetes). We’ve been through some hard times and many good times; and, though we yearn to see the Pacific Northwest again, and are looking forward to being there, I know that we will miss Mexico, and the life we have here, once we are gone.

What a wonderful adventure it's been! We are happy to be going back - and very happy we came!

¡Feliz año nuevo!/Happy New Year! from Ajijic!

My latest picture:
Birds on a Branch Over Water

 As I write these words, on the morning of New Year's Day, 2018, here in Ajijic, the cohetes (firecrackers) are still going off! New Year's is a big event in Mexico, and this year it's a big event in my life too! Eleven months ago, on Feb. 1, 2017, Eric and I crossed the border into Mexico on the way to our new life - first in Puerto Vallarta, and now, since June, in Ajijic! One more month until our one year anniversary as residents of Mexico!!

So many amazing things happened in 2017! The fact that we planned this move and actually carried it out is the most amazing of all! Even Janice, my wonderful sister, didn't believe we would! All those phone conversations when I enthusiastically described to her the latest interesting things I had discovered about moving to Mexico - how to acquire temporary residency, what kind of car to buy to bring with us, which shots Otto needed, how to avoid scorpion bites, how many varieties of poisonous snakes lived in Mexico and how to avoid being bitten by them (any of you who know me well know that I would research this), and all the rest --- and she only told me recently that she never thought we would actually move here! Very happy she didn't mention it at the time :)!

Probably the second-most amazing thing that happened in 2017 was that I retired, at 62 (almost 63)!! That was the culmination of a dream, actually, many years of wishing, hoping, fantasizing and dreaming! And the thing is, not having to go to work or prepare for work or schedule my life around work, and being able to do so many things that I love is HUGE - much more wonderful than I even imagined! I feel a sudden thrill of joy even thinking about the wonderfulness of retirement! In Spanish the word for retired is jubilado! Yes, Jubilado! :)!

We have also acquired wonderful friends here! Such a pleasure to share our lives with so many wonderful people who are fun and interesting and who, mostly, live only a few minutes from here! We often miss our friends faraway (come visit!) and are very happy to be building new friendships and a sense of community that adds so much pleasure and satisfaction to our lives.

We have learned SO MUCH as we live this adventure - have had our minds expanded by living in another culture with people whose ways of living, and beliefs, and accepted truths and whole world-view is different; and have discovered strengths and resilience and capabilities in ourselves that we would never have known we even possessed if we hadn't lived here; and experienced a lot of happiness and some pain and and overall have really, really loved being here.

Our Christmas tree
and the bamboo trees decorated with Christmas lights

We have also experienced homesickness and worry, and illness - I have been to the emergency room twice (influenza - many months ago), as well as (every now and then) uncertainty about our future here, and concern about health issues. And, besides that, we have been lost many times and once were trapped in a parking lot, and have spent way more money than I planned to spend in all those Excel spreadsheets I created before we moved here estimating how much we'd save every month and how much would go to dining out and rent and travel and all the rest. Laughable to look at them now!

And what about 2018? We are planning to move again - this time to a quieter neighborhood (MUCH quieter) as where we live now is only one house away from an events space that occupies the whole center of the block, and from which enormously loud music emanates, reverberating all around our house, on weekends and holidays and many other times - all evening and, often, all night long; and, in addition to that - music is played next door every afternoon at top volume; and also the trucks rattling by over the cobblestones and the vehicles going by slowly with loudspeakers blaring - advertising gas and ice cream; and the motorcycles, and, of course, the fireworks going off - as loud as a war - they are going off right now!

We are also moving to save money. Our current rent is too high to allow us to accomplish our financial goals, which are extremely simple - spend less than we bring in. We are looking now and may have found a wonderful place to move, where we would spend far less than we're spending to live here and would still live comfortably (and the condo complex where it's located has two pools!) :)!

We hope to take trips in 2018, but no plans have been made yet. Many guests are scheduled to visit, including two dear friends arriving in 3 days! Also, Eric is doing more volunteering. I am enjoying making pictures more than I have in years, (maybe ever!) and will be in a four person show in March, as well as participating in an open studio event (my pictures will be shown in a lovely garden) in February. I have just started photographing dogs and creating digital pictures from the photos. Enjoying that every much!! And we have brunch with friends every week and dinners out and so many fun, interesting, meaningful and entertaining activities and events; and besides all that, the sunshine every day really is, I have to say, very nice!!!!