by Karen McConnaughey
As Bill and I look back over our more than seven years of
living in the Lake Chapala area, we know one thing without a doubt…moving here
was one of the best decisions we have ever made.
We made the decision based on the reason many of you do: We
were tired of working, and wanted to enjoy whatever years were available to us.
Bill was 62 when we retired to Lake
Chapala, and I was almost
58. We didn’t know what to expect…neither of us had ever been to Mexico on a
trip, let alone lived here! During our research we found that Lake Chapala
had the best weather and the cost of living was way below what we were used to
in the United States.
We were both so tired of snow in the winter and hot and humid days in the
summer that we knew we needed something different, weather-wise. As for a lower
cost of living, we were able to retire on Bill’s social security alone. Of
course, we had bought a house in Mexico, so we were not paying rent.
The one thing we didn’t anticipate, but experience every
single day of our lives is the warmth, kindness and generosity of the Mexican
people. I’m sure you all realize you can have perfect weather and reasonable
expenses and still be miserable because you’re not enjoying life. Don’t you
usually find that’s because
of the people who surround you? We find that too! I would like to share some of
our experiences with the Mexican people we call our friends.
When we moved into our Mexican village…and don’t be
confused, thinking I’m being cute and quaint; it IS truly a Mexican village
with only about 25 gringos living in a community of about 25,000…I knew only
the basic Spanish that everyone picks up, Gracias, Buenos Dias, De nada, and so
on. Very, very basic. Bill was fluent in three languages, none of which was
Spanish! Our neighbors were wonderful. Once they knew I was trying to learn
Spanish, they spoke to me in one-syllable words. For instance, if the
electricity went out, and I wasn’t sure whether it was just us, our barrio
(neighborhood) or the village, I would usually walk up to the front gate to see
if someone knew. Fernando (or one of his multi-generational family living in
the house across the street) usually was sitting on the stoop. I would ask, “Luz?” (Lights?), and they would wave
their hands back and forth in the universal sign of an X, and say, “No, no luz!” We got along just fine.
We hired a maid who just happened to knock at the gate and
ask for a job…could we get any more stupid? Her name was Consuelo. She was very
nice, very honest and didn’t last long. We loaned her $100 pesos, and she never
came back to clean. However, one day she showed up at our door to repay the
$100 pesos. No real explanation as to why she quit, but I would be willing to
guess she thought we were some kind of lazy gringos! And, maybe we didn’t pay
holiday pay for a day we overlooked. We were definitely "green-gos!” We knew
next to nothing! And, of course, in 2004 there was no Focus on Mexico to fall
back on. We were stuck with asking major questions at our real estate
office…not always the best information, believe it or not!
Every time we needed help, we could find some from our next-door
neighbor Enrique. Once when the water conduit (a rubber hose!) broke in our
yard, Bill (in a deluge of water) yelled for me to get Enrique. I ran to his
house and yelled, “Señor, por favor, ayudame, ayudame!” (Help me! Help me!) He came rushing out with
such a look of alarm I’m sure he thought I was being mugged. I pointed at our
yard and he took one look, rushed back to his house and came out almost
immediately loaded with tools! He and Bill worked for some time to get it under
control. He wouldn’t accept any money, stating simply, “somos vecinos.” (We are
neighbors.)
The owner of our favorite restaurant, which
is located in our village, has been a good friend. Once 
when my stepmother and
aunt were here, they walked down to the restaurant (a thousand steps from our
house). Even though Pancho speaks excellent English (having had a restaurant in
California
for 14 years), they inadvertently led everyone to think they were lost. Oh my,
two old gringo ladies lost in Ixtlahuacan. Well, Pancho immediately got on his
motor scooter and went up to Delayne & Lee’s, our neighbors who had used
him to cater a party once, so he knew where they lived. Lee walked down to Los Cinco Potrillos and discovered the
errant dowagers! He had met them, so was able to explain to them and everyone else
that, no, they were not lost, just confused about what they thought they were
saying to people!
While my stepmother was still here, she
walked down to the open-air market by herself one Sunday, saying ‘hello’ to
everyone along the way. Mind you, my stepmother was around 83 at the time,
spoke no Spanish and had no fear of walking around our Mexican village. What more
can I 
say? She ran into our handsome friend Victor who was selling home-made
ice cream. He immediately got a chair for her, made her sit and eat some ice
cream while he finished up for the day. Then he took her home with him. They
have no phone, so I can’t remember how the heck they reached us, but he called
to say Margie was with them. How funny was that? She was not lost, but he was
worried about her. When we arrived at their house, she was eating dinner with
them and laughing her head off! Love that memory.
Then, of course, we met Vicki…the most
wonderful maid in the world. She’s not great at cleaning, but, then, neither are
we. She’s good enough for us, and she and our gardener, her husband Jose, have
become family for us. We have celebrated weddings, baptisms, birthdays and more
with them. We are godparents to their youngest daughter Fatima. Their daughter
Karen is not named for me, of course, but I kind of pretend she is!
I’m not sure Vicki wanted to stay with us as
a maid at first. I don’t think she really understood these
lazy gringos who
couldn’t bother to clean their own house. I think for awhile she wanted us to
fire her; she didn’t want to quit. She would change her days, then her hours,
then explain she got a job with her uncle’s zapateria
(shoe store) and needed to adjust her days. We just kept saying, ‘no problema.’ We were happy to adjust
to her schedule. Little by little, she realized we were just older, kind,
unassuming, ‘no problem-type’ norte americanos, who just wanted to live in Mexico
and were willing to work things out to the benefit of people who worked for us and with us. I’m not sure they had ever met a laid-back American
before! The day she told me that ‘when you get old, I will take care of you,’
we both cried.
No matter what goes wrong with our house,
Vicki has told us to let her know and if Jose couldn’t fix it, they would find
someone who can. They felt we were being ‘taken’ by some workers. We didn’t
think so, but it is true, you do get charged more sometimes if you’re a gringo
than if you’re Mexican. It’s just the natural way of things. When we wanted to
get a metal trash holder for the front of our house, we understood we shouldn’t
pay more than $850 pesos to have one made. Jose said he would get it made for
us. He paid $300 pesos! Hmmmmmm
This past Christmas eve we spent at Jose’s
parents’ house in Buena Vista. We know many
economically challenged Mexican families, but I have to say this was the
poorest house we had ever been in. The house wasn’t even totally enclosed, and
it was quite chilly. I’m glad I wore my winter coat, because the party didn’t
start until 9 pm. Jose and Vicki came to our house to lead the way. There was
no real kitchen in the house, and their toilet didn’t have a trip lever. You
had to take one of the pails of water sitting in the water closet and pour it
into the toilet to flush it. The W.C. door was a shower curtain. We had the
BEST time. It was the most loving family, who was enjoying each other, the
kids, the occasion…exchanging presents (from drawn names)…first the children
exchanged with one another, then the adults. It was wonderful! I even ate
roasted goat…a first for me, and it was yummy! Had seconds! After the gift exchange,
the Baby Jesus was added to the nativity scene, and the family stood around
singing Christmas Carols. I am getting goosebumps just thinking about it. It
was perhaps the most lovely Christmas I have been blessed to attend.
And, of course, don't even get me started on Ana Kabande, our former Program Director, and her wonderful family of six brothers and sisters, her mother and her sons. I'm not sure who adopted who, but we're definitely one family! That's a whole 'nother blog!
I could go on and on about the kindness and
generosity we have been shown by the Mexican people we are happy to call
friends and even just the acquaintances we have made. We have never experienced
anything that could be called disrespect, and we have certainly never felt any
fear. We are grateful for the opportunity we have been given to live in this wonderful
country.
So…if you really want to know Mexico, it’s not the weather in Lake Chapala
and it’s not even the cost of living. Get to know the people…the loving,
wonderful, kind, generous people. Come and experience them with us. We’d love
to see you.
Karen McConnaughey: Operations Manager for FocusOnMexico.
Focus On Mexico offers 8-Day
Educational Programs to Ajijic and Lake
Chapala, Mexico
(2nd Best Climate in the World). Join us on a Focus program and
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Mexican Economy and much more...
You’ll get
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Chapala, Mexico is the place for you, plus have a lot of fun doing it.
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