#mexico

May 25, 2009
2 min

Guanajuato Sightseeing

Guanajuato Street Photo Living in the Ajijic, Lake Chapala area there are many little side trips to some of the colonial cities near by, that you have to visit! I celebrated my birthday this Saturday and thought I would love to see more of my surroundings. I have lived in Mexico for a number of years now, and have yet to travel outside of my Ajijic box to see some of the charming little towns nearby. Friday morning we packed our bags and we were off to Guanajuato! I had he

Mango Season in Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico

Conner Wallis-Collins

May 24, 2009
2 min

Mango Season in Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico

Mangoes in Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico If you look out your window you may be lucky enough to see the heavy green mangoes on the trees with some already turning red with the sun. June is the traditional onset of the mango season in Ajijic, Lake Chapala and is hugely anticipated by all. The mango originated in Southeast Asia over 4,000 years ago and is the fruit most eaten raw. The mango is full of antioxidants known to stabilize free-radicals in the body which we now know c

Conner Wallis-Collins

May 20, 2009
2 min

Lake Chapala Society in Ajijic, Mexico

Lake Chapala Society in Ajijic Neill James is an icon of Ajijic history who worked with the Mexican community for over 50 years. When she died she bequeathed her vast property at Calle 16 de Septiembre in Ajijic to house the Lake Chapala Society. LCS is a non-profit organization which has legally operated in Ajijic for over 50 years. For many the Lake Chapala Society Directory published every year alone is worth the price of admission. All expats are listed in this director

The Key to Banking in Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico

Conner Wallis-Collins

May 18, 2009
2 min

The Key to Banking in Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico

The trick to banking in Ajijic I have written before about the challenges of banking in Ajijic, LakeChapala. Things, however, have come a long way in the 15 years we have lived here. One no longer has to sign over their first born to make a deposit. Normally, I am now capable of doing all of our corporate and personal banking without incident and with a minimum of bloodshed. Most of the banks here now have English speaking staff to help the expats complete their transactions

A Few Facts About Mexico President Felipe Calderon

Conner Wallis-Collins

May 15, 2009
2 min

A Few Facts About Mexico President Felipe Calderon

Mexican President Felipe Calderon President Filipe Calderon Hinojosa was born August 18th, 1962 in Morelia, Michoacan and is married to Margarita and has 3 children. President Calderon has a Bachelor;s Degree in Law and 2 Master”s Degrees in Economics and Public Administration. Because of his legislative leadership and performance President Calderon was awarded the “NAFTA Congressional Leadership Award” from the Mexico-U S Chamber of Commerce of the “World Leaders of the Futu

Conner Wallis-Collins

May 14, 2009
2 min

Facts about H1N1 in Jalisco, Mexico

Swine Flu Hearing in Jalisco, Mexico Although 36 cases of H1N1 (swine flu) have now been reported in Jalisco the symptoms are still reported as no worse that the seasonal flu and those with suspected cases or who have come in contact with a person having H1N1 flu are given Tamiflu immediately. If there is a positive to this outbreak it is the cost of flying to Mexico on many airlines has been reduced by up to 50%. For those of you considering buying property in Ajijic, Lake C

The Rainy Season is Here in Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico

Conner Wallis-Collins

May 12, 2009
2 min

The Rainy Season is Here in Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico

Rainy Season in Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico One of our best kept secrets from the snowbirds (people coming here from November to April) is the magnificence of our rainy season. The word is out the first of the rainbirds have been heard by locals. These rainbirds, which are actually large insects, trumpet the onset of the rainy season in about 6 weeks. Having said that we did have a lovely thunder storm last week. April was a wonderful month this year without the heat that

Monte Coxala Spa in Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico

Conner Wallis-Collins

May 7, 2009
2 min

Monte Coxala Spa in Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico

Monte Coxala in Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico This amazing retreat is located about half way up the Raquet Club in San Juan Cosala. Even many of the locals and Ajijic Real Estate agents are unfamiliar with this hidden gem. Approximately 20 years ago, a local doctor had a vision. His dream was to recreate what our prehispanic ancestors had created many years ago, including pyramids, Mayan symbols, snakes, spirals, thermal waters, and by using quartz and obsidian throughout t

H1N1 Virus Abates in Mexico – Ajijic, Lake Chapala

Conner Wallis-Collins

May 5, 2009
2 min

H1N1 Virus Abates in Mexico – Ajijic, Lake Chapala

H1N1 Virus Abates in Mexico This morning I went about my usual chores of paying the phone bill, paying health plan fees, buying dog food and ,as usual, groceries. When I came home I turned on CNN and was delighted to hear that, according to authorities, the H1N1 Virus (Swine Flu) was lessening in Mexico City. It is their belief that the worst is over and the number of confirmed cases has leveled off and is, in fact, on the decline. They went on to say that all businesses ar

Jon Stewart and Cliff May from Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico

Conner Wallis-Collins

Apr 29, 2009
2 min

Jon Stewart and Cliff May from Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico

Jon Stewart and Cliff May Many of you know that I am a fan of The Daly Show with Jon Stewart. I have enjoyed watching Jon as a comedian on the Comedy Networkl for years but lately I have developed an even greater respect for him as an extremely intelligent and decent human being. Last night his guest was Cliff May, the President of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, and the subject was torture. Cliff opened the discussion by saying “how are you going to make this fun

Conner Wallis-Collins

Apr 28, 2009
2 min

Mexico = Paradise

Mexico = Paradise Having been living in Ajijic, Lake Chapala now for almost 15 years I still ask myself the question “Where in the world would I rather be?” Would I rather be in Iraq even with the “surge” being successful? No, I would not. Would I rather be in Afghanistan where the Taliban are making a comeback? No, I would not. Would I rather be in Pakistan where the Taliban are 60 miles outside the capital of Islamabad? Here the Taliban are pushing themselves forward as R

Conner Wallis-Collins

Apr 24, 2009
3 min

YouTube in Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico

YouTube in Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico I am a relatively new user of the site www.youtube.com Years ago when we first moved to Ajijic I felt a little disconnected from family and friends and, in short, the world. Thanks to my very computer literate son I have learned the joy of riding the super information highway which is the internet and am now reconnected to everyone and everything. I first used youtube to find old songs I wanted to hear and then I found the video of Chr

Gardening in Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico

Conner Wallis-Collins

Apr 24, 2009
2 min

Gardening in Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico

Gardening in Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico My gardening skills, coming from the frozen north, were limited by our extremely short growing season. Every spring I would contact my contract gardener who would come to the house and we would discuss planting the various geraniums on our back deck and pick the color for the impatiens for our half barrel in front of the house. My indoor plants barely survived and my Benjamin Fichus was very sad and temperamental to say the least. If

Conner Wallis-Collins

Apr 15, 2009
2 min

Lake Chapala Hotels in Ajijic, Mexico

Ajijic Hotels in Lake Chapala Mexico There are many good hotels and B & B’s in Ajijic and Chapala but today we would like to highlight three. La Nueva Posada La Nueva Posada is located on Lake Chapala in Ajijic. The address is Donato Guerra #9. The Eager Family has been running this hotel for over 30 years. Ask Michael Eager or his mother, Judy Eager, about some of the stories they can tell about the early days in Ajijic. It is a beautiful property overlooking the lake with

Lake Chapala Information from Ajijic, Mexico

Conner Wallis-Collins

Apr 14, 2009
2 min

Lake Chapala Information from Ajijic, Mexico

Lake Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico Lake Chapala is the largest lake in Mexico and is the gem of Ajijic. Ajijic is nestled between the Sierra Madre Mountains and Lake Chapala making our climate the best and most moderate in the world. Over the years the lake has gone up and down but the wonderful rainy seasons of the last few years has brought the level up substantially. For some reason real estate activity seems to depend on the level of the lake even though no one really uses i

Conner Wallis-Collins

Apr 3, 2009
2 min

Ajijic Village on Lake Chapala, Mexico

Ajijic Village on Lake Chapala, Mexico Although Ajijic has many very nice “suburbs” a lot of people enjoy living right in the village. There are many reasons for this preference and I will outline some of them for you. You are totally integrated with the Mexican people and certainly learn the customs and language more quickly. There is always fiestas going on as the Mexicans love family, music and food and everyone is always welcome. You can walk to almost anywhere you wish

Retiring to Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico

Conner Wallis-Collins

Mar 31, 2009
2 min

Retiring to Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico

Retiring to Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico People look for different things when they are thinking about a suitable location for retirement. I think many of these requirements we might have in common. Here are a few of ours in no particular order: International Airport Access to a large city Excellent Medical Care Good Schools All denominations of Churches Good Shopping Good Restaurants A wide variety of activities and cultural events Climate Warmth of the people Good

Retirement in Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico

Conner Wallis-Collins

Mar 27, 2009
2 min

Retirement in Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico

Retirement in Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico Many people in the US are having to think about delaying retirement due to the global economic crisis. One of many pluses about retiring in Mexico is that your dollar goes further and never more so than at the moment. For example you would receive 14.38 pesos for l US dollar today. You can buy a bigger house for your money here and your expenses are lower. You have no heating or air conditioning charges for instance as our climate i

What's Cooking in Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico

Conner Wallis-Collins

Mar 25, 2009
1 min

What's Cooking in Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico

What's Cooking in Ajijic, Lake Chapala, Mexico Britain’s celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver, is going to be cooking for the G-20 Economic Summit in the UK next week. I thought, therefore, it might be fitting to share one my favorite recipes of his with you. My family has always loved Pasta Puttanesca which is loosely translated to “street walker’s pasta” as it is a mish mash of on hand ingredients. Pasta Puttanesca 1 package spaghetti 2 cloves garlic 1 handful of drained capers

Toxic Assets an Opinion from Ajijiic, Lake Chapala, Mexico

Conner Wallis-Collins

Mar 25, 2009
2 min

Toxic Assets an Opinion from Ajijiic, Lake Chapala, Mexico

Toxic Assets These “toxic” assets are causing the banks being unable to lend money to Americans in need of funds for small business owners, college tuitions, car loans and anything else one might need to borrow money for. “Toxic” assets are largely sub prime mortgage loans that are not going to be repaid as the homeowners cannot meet the payments or the value of the homes has dropped below the value of the mortgage and credit card debt that is also going unpaid because of hi