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Published: February 11th 2010
My location says Ajiijic, but it's the closest town to Jocotopec which I can find as Jocotopec isn't listed....so Ajiijic = Jocotopec (Joco for short from now on to save me keystrokes 😊
I wanted to keep all of my blogs in consecutive order so you will get an idea of the progression of my trip, but I give up...I'll just blog from the point I'm at to capture what I'd like to share at the moment and catch up later...for a computer geek like me this is very hard to do....but what the heck...I'm on vacation and not everything needs to be in THE EXACT ORDER !!!
It's 2 pm here and i'm in Jocotopec at Marie and Wendee's house which I'll call 'home' from now on. I'm having some time alone which is cool with me! As many of you may know, I'm kind of a loner and do like my own company a lot...not to say I'm anti-social...not at all, just that I'm not used to being around a bunch of people for an extended period of time. It really tires me out!
So....staying in the house is:
Bill (a retired fellow visiting for a couple of months from Calgary)
Jim - my travel friend from Gibbons
Marie - my old friend that I knew from way back in our early 20's and finally reconnected with after many years
Wendee - Marie's partner
Wendee and Marie founded ACA and you can read all about what they've accomplished and are still doing down here on their website - greatgreens.org
We're staying in Jocotopec with them. Their organic farm is about a 10 min drive from here near San Juan Cosala (spelling?)
The house we're staying in is rented and it's got a kitchen, living room, dining room, 3 bathrooms, and 5 to 7 bedrooms (not sure of the count as some of the rooms have been made into offices, etc... The house is extremely cool as the windows are smoked glass and it does a great job of keeping the heat out. The floors are 1 by 1 foot ceramic tile - the walls and ceilings are like a brushed concrete - the laundry area is out back and there's a washing machine - with a clothesline to hang our clothes up. There is another little 'guest house' out back that Bill is staying in. It's all pretty rustic and interesting - because the 'girls' (Marie and Wendee) depend a lot on donations to keep the farm going - paying wages, maintaining equipment, buying animal feed, etc, there is not a lot of money left over to maintain daily life like we are used to living like in Canada. No leather couches, no doors on the bedrooms or bathrooms - curtains put up on some doorways - an observation i've made so far is that they do not really have what we'd call 'disposible income' so they need to be frugal where they spend their money.
I rolled out of bed this morning and had coffee with everyone (Bill was still sleeping) while they got ready and discussed the plan for the day. I spoke up right away and indicated that I'd like to stay home today...need some alone time 😊 Jim, Wendee and Marie headed off - they're dropping Wendy off where she has a board meeting somewhere (they need to coordinate their itineraries for the day as they only have one vehicle). There was much discussion between Jim and Marie about an old rototiller that someone had left out in the rain and hence, doesn't work any more. (you can read on their website how they got the new one). Marie has a buyer for the old one but needs someone to fix it and the mechanics in town are not interested in the puny amount of money they'd get for fixing something so small, so it's been sitting there. Oila ! Jim has his mission cut out for him today...he'll look at the rototiller and see if he can get it going.
Wendee and I had a chance to sit down this morning and have a look at what she's got set up on the computer and what her challenges are. I'm just snooping around in her computer stuff this morning and started making a list of what needs to be done - also prioritizing, etc. Interesting stuff going on here....
Bill wandered in and showed me how to warm up a coffee in the microwave - the coffee pot is not working, so coffee is boiled in a big soup pot on the stove and when you want a cup you use a soup ladle to get your cup of coffee, and warm it up. I'm very happy to have coffee so it's all good 😊
Bill is an extremely interesting fellow - a retired engineer who ran construction projects and was based out of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. We found that we have a lot to talk about and there was no lull in the long conversation we had this morning. I love his philosophy on life...he told me that he has not had a bad day in 20 years - a few bad moments maybe, but no bad days. I also loved his quote (had to write it down so i wouldn't forget it):
"The quality of my life is in proportion to the quality of the friends I associate with"
I think I'm going to learn a lot from Bill 😊
Here are some of the random things I've learned or made observations about in Mexico so far:
1) I need to tread carefully on the cobblestones and uneven sidewalks as i'm known to take a tumble on the nice even concrete at home!
2) The roosters across the street make a LOT of noise. I can't see them as they are behind a big wall...they're being bred for the cock fights they have down here...that ladies are not invited to unless a man brings them in - and even then, it's frowned upon. my goodness...the noise they make...unbelievable !!!
3) Most of the houses down here have concrete walls around them - with a bit of a driveway or courtyard between the wall and the house. Some of the houses just have metal or wooden gates in front - ours is metal. It's a good idea to park your vehicle inside the gates between the street and the house at night and is a must if you have a newer vehicle.
4) You cannot flush toilet paper down the toilet - there is a special garbage can in the bathroom to put it in .... the sewers would be backed up in a minute and it's considered to be very embarrasing to have the plumber dudes out front cleaning out the pipes because then all your neighbors will know what you've done !
5) There are lots of taco stands everywhere but they aren't operational until mid evening - 8 or 9 pm. We ate at one in PV and the tacos were quite good...Marie taught me that you look for taco stands that wrap the plate in a plastic bag that comes off a roll - otherwise it's not sanitary to eat there. We sent Jim across the street to grab us each a couple of beer to bring over to the taco stand so we had something to wash them down with. He had a bit of hard time making the guy understand that he wanted beer in 'cans' and not bottles.
6) If you're in an area where the liquor stores are surrounded by walls made of metal bars and the beer and money is slid through a little hole in the metal, you probably need to keep an eye on who is around and what is happening! (Saw this in PV at the store where Jim got the beer).
7) Mexico is noisy ! Not so much around 'home', but everywhere else it sure is...Every once in a while a truck will go by with a loudspeaker on it with some Spanish blaring out of it....I run out and look, and it's usually apparent what they're doing when you see what's on the truck...ie: if there are propane bottles, they'll sell you a full one. If there's a cougar in the back, they're advertizing that the circus is in town...(this happened in PV) - Jim couldn't believe his eyes - I think it made his day !
8) Do NOT let any tap water touch your lips. It's ok to wash dishses in it, and use the dishes once they are dry, but every kitchen has a stand with a jug of bottled water in it. To get a glass, you hold the glass out and tip the bottle of water so you can pour it into the glass. I also use this for brushing my teeth, and rinsing my fingers off before i put my contacts in. Showering is ok, but Marie warned us not to sing in the shower !
until later.....
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Rebecca Plach
non-member comment
Wow!
You made it there! I can picture everything. I do remember all the noise and how everything comes alive at night. My dad was so brave drinking the water! I never did. I love reading your blog! I am so excited for you!