Friday: So, we have been told many times now that rainy season is here and on Friday we found out exactly what that really means. We started the day by taking a really nice walk through the neighborhood and admired all of the beautiful homes. The roads are cobblestones here except for the main road (Carretera) that goes through town and everything looks so tropical. After our little walk, we got in the car and headed out to visit the last of the three schools we are interested in. The staff was so nice and the school itself was terrific. We really, really like it and now we are in the tough position of having to decide between two schools we really like a lot.
After our school tour we stopped by the local market and filled up on eggs, milk and a few other staples. There are three markets in the local area that we shop at now. There is Wal-Mart as mentioned before, El Torito and Super Lake. To compare tot anything back home, I would have to say that Wal-Mart is a bit more like a cross between itself and target back home. El Torito is a lot like King Supers and Super Lake is the local Whole Foods, minus the organic stuff. It's very expensive and where you can find anything you could ever miss or want from the US or Canada. We returned home for siesta and just hung around, read books, played catch in the backyard did our Spanish class on the computer and chilled.
For dinner we headed to Fritos Pizzeria on the Carterra and met up with the Colorado Meet Up group. We met a bunch of super nice people and actually a couple from the Denver Metro area that have 2 kids (ages 4 and 6), but the husband was away on business. She and Tracy really hit it off and even invited Tracy to a Yoga class. Tracy is in heaven and we hope there is space for her to go a few times per week, starting next week. Well, the pizza was great, the kids and I played pool for a few hours and while eating, the rains came and "WOW" did they come!
The rain was preceded by winds of 50-70mph, and then a sheet of rain for about an hour followed by hail the size of marbles. We waited out the storm and headed out to the car, to our dismay, the parking lot was full of water almost up to the bottom of the car (we have a small SUV) and it actually has good clearance, whew! Now, in defense of the restaurant, it was all my fault for parking where I did. I should have know better, because, the parking lot is a very steep hill and they dug a huge hole in the dirt and built the restaurant on the side of the hill facing the Highway (Caraterra). It’s like a giant swimming pool now with about a foot of water. I have learned my lesson and will always try an park up top, amazing the things you learn by just doing them. I waded out to the car in knee high water, started the car and pulled up the hill to the Hwy. so Tracy and the boys could get in. On the drive home, the streets going up the mountains had rivers running down them and cobbles from the roads were washed down all over the side of the highway. There were downed trees, and a car submerged in about 3-4 feet of water. It was absolutely incredible. I have never seen so much rain in such a short period of time, well maybe in Texas when I was living there as a kid. It even took 100 year old trees down.
Home safely now and we walk into the front door and there is a river running through our house. The drain in the back porch has backed up and the water is flowing from the kitchen, into the living room and out the back door. Fortunately, the house has a natural slope towards the back yard and water obeys the laws of gravity. The rugs were soaked, the furniture was wet on the bottom, but everything could be easily moved outside and it all dried by 3pm today (Saturday). The back laundry room was flooded though and it still as of tonight (Saturday) has a bit of standing water in it. Oh, and all of this with no power in most of the house until Saturday afternoon. The kids were a bit freaked out and kept calling it a natural disaster and poor Zach kept saying, “This is why we should have staid in Boulder, we never should have moved”. The most amazing thing of it all is that I kept my cool through the entire evening from parking lot to river in home. We finally got everyone off to bed and it was an incredible night of sleeping due to the drop in temperature, from 78 down to 65 and a light breeze.
Saturday: Everyone got up early so we could get down to the Lake Chapala Society (LCS) for Children’s Art Class. It is amazing there, a few dozen Mexican kids from town were there and they were all paining, drawing and getting instruction form three professional artists. A few of the kids were very talented and being tutored by the artist instructors. There is one young man tha tis so talented that he is applying for University in Guadalajara for architecture. School in Mexico is absolutely free for Mexican kids, but the entrance exam is incredibly hard and it is very difficult to get in because of all the competition. The town here is incredibly poor and most of these kids have nothing in the way of art supplies. The Lake Chapala Society specifically raises funds that provide the instruction and supplies for the children and it was so touching to see. We stayed awhile while the boys painted, drew and visited with the Mexcian children. The hit of the morning was that one of the kids brought a pet duckling to use as a model for drawing class. After the art class, we headed up to the Jardin (Plaza) to explore and for a coffee drink at the locals favorite coffee shop. Tracy and I actually had a “Carmel Frapo” (Starbuck style, but actually better); the boys split a water and Carmel roll. We then walked into a few of the local realtor offices looking at rentals for August.
Once we got home, the power was back on and we all settled in and read books, did our Spanish class and played catch waiting for our dinner date with Fred, Rita, Ben and Lindey. Ben drove us and we headed into the town of San Juan Cosala, to Fred and Rita’s home and wow is it fantastic. It is exactly the like the house that Tracy and I are dreaming of living in here in Mexico. It is a true Mexican Casa in every way, with the bright colors, beautiful tile and amazing furnishings, it is stunning! We sat outside and visited, then just a short walk to the restaurant, Viva a Mexico. The food was wonderful, 6 adults and 2 kids all ate and drank for under 700Pesos, about $65 dollars. We had such a nice time visiting and eating. After dinner, we headed back to home and I just finished tucking the kids in for the night and now I am off to snuggle withe senora Johnson.
Buenos Noches!
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