The Times are a-changing

March 15 We slept in because we stayed up watching Tom Hanks in the Mr. Rogers movie until 12:30 last night. Today the governor of Guanajuato state announced there were no reported cases of the virus in San Miguel. He also announced that all government-sponsored events in the state were being canceled effective today until further notice. Brilliant… starting to limit gatherings BEFORE the virus is diagnosed here. Ron tried a long time online and on the phone to get tickets home before our scheduled departure on April 7 th . The systems are so overloaded that every phone call resulted in a recording in Spanish and then the call was disconnected. Online, it took forever to get to the site and after inputting all our information, the screen would revert to the first screen being blank. We remain calm and will persist but we know we may have to weather this storm here. We walked to the large modern grocery store and it was crowded but manageable. We got a few items being hop...

March 13 We slept in until 7:30 and snuggled...what bliss to have the time to go slow. Last night was warm so we opened two bedroom windows that are small and high up so it isn’t a safety issu e. We removed the duvet which is too hot for this climate and just used a throw and the top sheet to cover ourselves and had a great night of sleep. We left the house around 11:00 and headed up to Biblioteca Publica, an organization that has a large library of English language books, multiple programs such as lectures, films (mostly documentaries), and tours, local and outside of the city,   all of which raise funds for local needs such as medical and dental for the poor, education scholarships for the poor, etc. They publish a bilingual   weekly paper that has articles on local issues and a calendar of events. Let me say there is NO shortage of activities a person can participate in.   We bought tickets for a house and garden tour on Sunday and checked on tickets for a lec...

March 11 We slept well, which is always a gift. I woke up around 6:00 and got up about 6:30. Ron was up shortly after. We read emails and I made coffee in our little kitchen. Being a coffee nut job, I brought my own grinder and beans. Yes, I know I’m weird but age has its privileges. We showered and headed up the street to one of our favorite cafes, less than a block away. Fresh fruit, mushroom and cheese omelet for me and eggs with chorizo for Ron. We also had Americanos to drink. Yum! We came back to our home and got organized. The first stop was a hardware store for some plugs with multiple outlets, then on to our favorite market where we got groceries; cheese, artisan bread, granola, rice salad for lunch with our cheese sandwich, butter, and disinfectant for veggies when we buy some. Most probably we will eat in for breakfast and out for most dinners and do both for lunches. Our kitchen has a little coffee, and sugar and powdered creamer that we don’t use. That’s it. S...

March 9 We slept in which is always a treat. We had a banana, fresh raspberries, and strawberries on our granola. It was so good. I have been so happy to eat almost every meal outdoors here. The weather has been perfect. It is cool in the mornings and evenings and probably in the mid to high 70’s during the day. Hard to beat the weather here. We are considering coming back in the summer when it is hotter, when it is the rainy season and when there will be fewer gringos as summer is the low season here. After breakfast, we got organized to pack for our morning departure tomorrow when we will be taken to Guadalajara to catch a bus for San Miguel de Allende. It will be about a five-hour bus trip. We will be in SMA until April 7 th . Today I looked at real estate in SMA online and there is a real difference in housing prices there. We are not ready to commit but it is good to know there is a difference. We went to Chile Verde for a quick lunch but no seats were available. ...

March 7 We continue to explore neighborhoods in Ajijic. After a great breakfast at Chile Verde, we wandered west to look at neighborhoods on the west side of Ajijic. As we were walking, I smelled an aroma of baking bread and then we discovered a bakery on Ocampo that had fresh trays of cinnamon rolls. I had to have one of those. The baker invited us back for croissants at 1:00 but we didn’t get back there. There was an open house on Flores Magon. It was a two bdrm/two bath house that was turn-key. Turn-key here means the house comes fully furnished down to dishes and linens. The owners are Spanish and have a new grandchild in Spain so want to sell the house and spend more time in Spain and only a couple of months a year in Ajijic. It is in a gated community of about six homes and all the residents but one is Mexican. It is very attractive and we liked the smaller scale community. There was a lot available right behind the house which made it attractive. The house had been upgr...

March 6 We woke up early around 6:00 and drifted briefly; then decided to get up and go to Guadalajara for the day. We showered, dressed and ate a quick breakfast and a half cup of coffee before heading out the door. We ran down the hill (a real trick so early in the morning and over cobblestones and narrow sidewalks) to the bus station. We got there ten minutes before the bus was due to arrive at 8:30. We were lucky to get a seat as many locals were headed to work. Some latecomers stood up for the 90-minute ride. The Guadalajara bus station was crowded and seedy in a poor part of town. We grabbed a cab and went to the historic center of town. We spent a period of time trying to get oriented with where we were on our map and how to find our next stop. There is a beautiful cathedral on Plaza de Armas that was started in 1558 and consecrated in 1618. It has a mix of styles; Gothic vaults and Tuscan style gold leaf pillows, with Baroque and Neoclassical influences. My tou...