Wow, how time flies. I will attempt to update you on the last few weeks, but things may be a bit out of order. If you wish to view more photos, then have a look at this link:
http://www.oneboulderchiro.com/Site_2/Photo_Series_1.html
There are now 3 Photo Series listed at the top.
Let’s begin with our second trip to Guadalajara. Now being less intimidated, we decided to head into the heart of the city and have a look around before my second visit to the Endodontist.
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| On the trail to the falls |
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| El Centro |
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| Guadalajara El Centro |
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| Guadalajara Cathedrl |
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| Endodontist Office Waiting area |
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| First Day of Summer Camp |
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| Exercise location |
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| Talaquepaque |
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| Guadalajara |
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| Guadalajara Street Racing |
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| In front of the Cabanas Museum |
We wander round the historic centre and go to San Juan de Dios. Guadalajara has a stunning downtown area. There’s a series of 7 plazas that make up the centre situated around the iconic Cathedral with a range of museums (from the sublime, Orozco’s murals in the Instituto Cultural Las Cabañas, the Government Palace, or the Regional Museum to the ridiculous, the Wax Museum, Ripley’s Believe It Or Not), and tons of statues, monuments and sculptures so there’s plenty to photograph. Go on a weekday and there’s lots of people, but Saturday and Sunday is when it comes into its own with everyone and their grandparents strolling and hanging out feeding pigeons, buying balloons and snacks and, strangely, having their shoes polished.
For me the highlight has to be the Mercado Libertad or San Juan de Dios, a gigantic 3 level market that caters to if not all needs, then a good few. You could spend hours there and not see everything. There’s sections for local handicrafts, fruit, meat, veg, DVDs, computer programs, bags, sugar cane drinks, shoes, cowboy boots, guitars, sombreros, stereos, car alarms, watches, battery replacement… and the list goes on but half the fun is stumbling into a new section and seeing something you didn’t know you needed and haggling for it. Going in without a clear idea of what you’re after is probably your best bet.
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| The Mercado |
One word of warning; If you are of a nervous disposition or vegetarian or both, and find yourself in the butchers section on the ground floor, immediately do a 180 degree turn and walk away fast. Or alternatively grab your camera and start snapping pictures of meters of tripe, pigs heads and cows’ feet…
We chose to find a nice quiet restaurant out on the main plaza for lunch, took a horse drawn carriage ride and just soaked in the sites. Then a little before 4:00pm, we headed to the Endodontist to complete the final phase of my root canal. Forty minutes after arriving, I was back in the waiting room with Tracy and the boys heading back to the car. It was amazing, I was now completely pain free and feeling like I had never had the pain. The whole thing cost me a total of $260 pesos, plus gas and parking. I am pretty certain that back in the states it would have been about $1,500 dollars.
The weekend was spent just hanging around the village; we met a super nice couple from Australia with two kids that are on the last leg of their 6 months of traveling through Mexico. We had dinner later the next week with them and went hiking to the Falls. Then came Monday and life started to get really busy. Andrew started his Spanish tutoring with his soon to be teacher. He has three weeks on intensive Spanish class from 8am-10am Monday through Thursday. Then we take him to Summer Camp from 10:10 to 2:30, where he joins up with Zach and some of the kids that we have met along with mostly Mexican kids from his soon to be school and others. The boys absolutely love the camp. They do yoga, swimming, art, futbol (soccer), tennis and art. Tracy and I actually get to spend some time together. Last week on the first few days we ran around gathering the kids school supplies, shopping for groceries, trying a few of the local restaurants for lunch and getting caught up on the things that are just no fun with kids in tow. Oh, my favorite restaurant here in the village is Tango. The food is fantastic, the prices are perfect and the atmosphere is everything I have been looking for. There are huge palapas, great art on the walls, the décor and decorations are exactly what I would put in a place if it were mine. During the week, we walked the Malecon, the village and back to Chapala for more exploration. During the week of camp, Andrew has become very close to another young boy from Guadalajara. His name is Raul and is here visiting his aunt. Well as things progressed, the two boys (nether speaks the others language) became fast friends and our entire family was invited over to their house for lunch this past Friday. It just so happens that we were technically the guests of honor. The house is situated right on the lake and is possibly the most spectacular location you could ask for. It feels like you’re at a resort on the ocean. We were fed and had a really nice visit with the family and a handful of others that had been invited over to meet us. Every one of them spoke some English and with our Spanish, we were able to carry on a very nice conversation. We have now been invited back a second time and for exercise classes on Monday and Wednesday evenings on the back porch facing the lake. I actually attended the class last night and it was super cool. I was a bit out of place, being the only male, but it was still really great. It was a cross between yoga, Thai Chi and stretching. I will be going back tomorrow evening with Tracy and the boys if all goes well the next 24 hours. Thursday we had a wonderful home cooked meal with our new friends from Australia. The house that they have rented is right in the heart of the village and is juts the best. It is a large horseshoe shaped house with a good size outdoor garden and hot tub
Now back to this past weekend. We once again got the exploration bug and headed to the city of Tlaquepaque on Saturday. It is an artisan community with tons of galleries and outdoor markets full of anything you could ever wish for your home or office. We had such a blast walking into all the shops and galleries and the kids loved all the stalls with toys and knick-knacks for sale. We had lunch at a great Mexican restaurant with Mariachi music, but we were all tired and headed out just as it started. Then off to El Centro in Guadalajara again to try and catch the double-decked bus ride through the city. We found our way back into town, found parking and even found the place to buy tickets for the bus ride. Well, the kids needed a bathroom and water and best laid plans, we missed the bus when Tracy and Andrew ran to get water and the bus filled up. Zach and I tried to save seats on the top, but were told that that was not okay to do, so we exited the bus just as it hit capacity. Tracy and Andrew got there just as we got off. Feeling a bit pissed and bummed that we missed it, we got our money back (they sold to many tickets for the bus) and headed back to the car. On the way back there was a place on the main Plaza renting battery operated mini cars for kids to drive, so we indulged the kids and got them a 15-minute ride for $30 pesos each. They had such a last, but the coolest thing is that you would never ever see this kind of set up back in the USA. No waivers to sign, no helmets, no roped off course, just a free for all on the plaza. There were a few close calls, but not one of the 20 cars struck anyone at least in the 20 minutes we were watching. Its almost like things just are expected to flow and no one anticipates that it will cause a problem. We have heard that Mexicans just typically don’t sue each other. Everyone is expected to take responsibility for their actions and watching out for what is happening around them. Well then, back to the car and head for home.
Sunday, we went to the Falls with Charla, Andy, and their kids along with David and his tow girls. The trip up was a bit rough and especially when we got to the top where there was a race going on. It started in the village center; they ran up the mountain and then back down. Watching the runners come down was like watching a controlled fall with a lot of stumbling and a few wipeouts. The way we found out it was a race was when Andy had just put his little boy down when out o the trees cam a runner decked out in USA red white and blue. He was coming so fast and none of us knew what was going on, that the runner almost took out Andy, his son and himself. Once we figured out what was going on, we sat back kin the pools and watched the racers come down the mountain one by one. There is no way I would ever choose to run this course, it was 10K with crazy trails and up hills filled with jagged rock and cliff drop offs, if you should miss judge your downward path. He trip down was much easier as we were pointed in the direction of an alternate trail down. The views were just as intense, but the path was much easier to traverse for all. We saw all kinds of beetles, caterpillars, plants and flowers. It was so beautiful and such a blast. We all went to the local Chinese Restaurant and had a wonderful late lunch. It was a great way to cap off the hike.
Well another week has begun. Andrew has tutoring, no camp today, so we explored the Jocotepec malecone on the west side of the lake today. It is a new Malecon or at at least updated with giant fish fountains, a soon to be kids water park and a beautiful walk way. Zach’s favorite area was this strip of grass on the south side of the park that had all of this cool outdoor exercise equipment. There were spin bikes, elliptical machines, weight lifting equipment and more. He played on it like it was built for him. We had a really nice time just hanging with “Z” while Andrew was at the tutor. Later that day, I went to my exercise class, while the boys came along too and played with their new friends (Raul and Kurt, brothers), life is really awesome. Tuesday today has been an interesting day. It is the first time that Tracy and I had nothing to really do while the boys were at camp. I got up with Andrew, very early for his tutoring, which is about 20 minutes away on the other side of San Juan Cosala, came back and got Zach at the tennis courts where Tracy was subbing for one of our new amigos that has pulled a quad. Muscle. Then I drove got the boys to camp. Went back and watched Tracy finish playing. Then we went home, she showered and then headed into town. Visited with a few folks, went to the bank to see about opening an account and had lunch again at 60’s in Paradise (The best burger in the village). Then off to get the boys from camp, then home and watched Harry Potter (The 4th installment, as we are trying to see all of the old ones before heading to the theatre to see the newest and final) and off to bed to start another day tomorrow. More to come…
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