moving – Ex-pats in Mexico

Leslie and I will be moving to our permanent home just a few days from now. You’ll get to see it soon!

But first, an update on the coronavirus here in our little corner of México. Officially, there are still no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Lakeside community (as of 19 May). Good news: Our favorite liquor stores are open again, as is the dry cleaners. But we’re still doing church via Zoom, and we still can’t get our hair done — or for Leslie, get nails done. Soon, we hope.

Grocery stores are mostly open, but going there is not a very good idea. And you definitely don’t want to go to Guadalajara (where Costco and Home Depot are). So some of the locals with entrepreneurial spirit are offering food delivery. They bring groceries right to our door and Leslie can disinfect them as needed. Our new friend and taxi driver Paulino shops for us at Costco in Guadalajara. No problem getting toilet paper. And when the liquor stores in Ajijic were closed, Paulino could get wine from Costco — our favorite Apothic Red. Gracias, Paulino!

Locally, one food delivery group is called “Bogo (buy one, get one) Box.” If you buy a box of vegetables from them, they donate a similar box to a local family. We like that. The virus has hit this area hard, economically at least. Operation Feed, a local charity that gets food to the needy, has seen its client base more than double recently.

*Have you ever seen a watermelon radish?*

Also, Leslie’s Mexican friend Hana has started a food delivery service. We’re getting things we never heard of before, all grown locally. Have you ever seen a “watermelon radish”? We’ve got ’em, and they’re terrific on salads. We have a big salad for lunch just about every day. No, they don’t taste like watermelon — they just look like watermelon. They taste like a radish. Very crunchy. They’re colorful and huge, just like regular radishes here. Local radishes at the tianguis (street market) can be as big as golf balls!

*I made this salad with watermelon radishes. I used one-quarter of a radish in each salad, so a radish lasted two days. The biggest ones lasted three days!*

I may have said before that one of the few downsides to our local paradise is the condition of the Lakeside streets. But over the past few months, the Jalisco (state) government has pumped lots of money into restructuring the carretera, which is the primary east-west Lakeside road. It’s been fully resurfaced and the bicicleta (or ciclopista) (bike lane) has been upgraded to the point that I’m thinking of buying a bike!

*This is the new bike path along the main road through the La Floresta neighborhood.*

Before, the road was full of potholes and the bike/pedestrian lane was not well marked and potentially dangerous. The road has been resurfaced with asphalt from Chapala west to Jocotepec, and the bike lane now has a concrete barrier to protect bike riders and pedestrians. There are also street lights, new plants and crosswalks that didn’t exist a few months ago. Gracias, Gobernador Alfaro (thank you, Governor Alfaro).

Of course, most streets in the village are still cobblestone. And that’s not going to change anytime soon.

Hasta luego!

bike path-1798 — *Here you can see the bike path, as well as the concrete barrier for safety, new street lights and new well-marked crosswalks.*

*This is a tabachin tree, another reason this area is so colorful, especially this time of year.*

I just realized it’s been a month since the last post, but there hasn’t been that much to write about lately. I also realized that we’ve been in our home at Independencia 22 for six months. That’s the longest Leslie and I have lived anywhere since we sold our Westmont home three years ago.

But now we are packed up and ready to move to our new rental in the Riviera Alta neighborhood on the mountain side of the carreterra (main road). The lease is for one year and is renewable. More on the house, including photos, once we move in.

Leslie flew to Chicago at the beginning of this month to supervise a moving crew that loaded our furniture and household goods for transport to Ajijic. It’s been in a storage locker in Lisle, Ill., since the end of September 2016. Last we heard, everything was in Laredo, Texas, waiting for U.S. customs to give the go-ahead. The original plan was for the shipment to arrive at the house May 1. Looks like it may be a day or two later but we were prepared for that.

I’m sure you remember that a warm climate was one of the key factors in our decision to relocate to Mexico. We’re heading now into the warmest part of the year: May and June. This afternoon it’s 86° F. with 22 percent humidity. We think it’s pretty comfortable, especially since it still gets cool at night. But many of our Canadian friends have already gone NOB (north of the border) because, “It’s so hot!” That’s okay, and we will miss you, but there are fewer gringos dining out now so we don’t need reservations at many of our favorite restaurants!

More to come — soon!

Hasta luego!

*I think this yellow-blossomed tree is called a primavera tree. Gorgeous flowers.*

Tag: moving

Quarantine update, and better roads

Moving day is almost here!