On October 20th our friend Irene Senuik arrived for her fourth visit. Her last visit was just before The Great Disruption, the pandemic. She is our first post pandemic guest. She stayed for almost four weeks and we had a great time together. Here is how Pat described the visit in an email to her sister Linda, with bonus coverage of an experience we had the day after Irene left:
Our visit with Irene went very well. We rented a car and visited Tlaquepaque, various markets and restaurants. It was a good balance of doing things and just chilling on the terrace. Irene really needed the break since she has been stressed out with her daughter's custody fight situation. It was nice to see Ajijic through the eyes of a person who really loves it and it reminded me of my first love of the area. We witnessed something interesting when we were having lunch at Monte Coxala, an upscale spa centre. We saw a helicopter circling above the restaurant we were in. It made about 3 circles and then landed on the lawn beside the restaurant. A well-dressed Mexican couple came in and were seated. A few minutes later, a big bouquet of roses was delivered to the lady. It appeared that the guy was wooing her. A wealthy businessman? A cartel boss? Who knows?
Irene was here for 3 1/2 weeks and said that she really needed it. It was great for me also as it got me out and about really for the first time since the pandemic. The weather was pretty good most of the time. Unfortunately, Irene got a bad shock when she arrived home to find that her furnace had quit, some pipes had burst and her toilet cracked. Luckily, she had turned off the water before she left. What a way for all the decompression to vanish in an instant! I really miss having her around to do things with.
John rented the car for a month and there was one day left after Irene went so we decided to go to Guadalajara to stock up at Costco and Fresko. Unfortunately, we got trapped in the worst traffic jam we have ever been in just as we reached the outskirts of Guadalajara. After this point, we moved along by inches for 3 hours and 45 minutes and we couldn't get off anywhere. It was complete gridlock. During this time, several ambulances, bomberos (firefighters) and clean-up crew squeezed their way through the gridlock (it was like a miracle the way the cars parted like the Red Sea for them). We finally got to the blockage, which was just before the tunnel by Costco, which was blocked off. We were so close. Just under the tunnel and to the right a little way and we would have been at Costco. But they were routing everyone over the tunnel. We saw a retorno at this point and decided to bail. On the way back we stopped at the Santa Anita Galerias Mall. We were exhausted and headachey (I hadn't eaten yet because of intermittent fasting - we had left home at 8:00 and it was now about 12:45). By now, we needed to go to the bathroom REAL BAD! I was wondering during the traffic jam what we would do if we just couldn't hold it any longer. There was a deep ditch between the 4 lanes in some spots and a concrete boulevard with shrubs in other spots. John could have gone on the boulevard and peed standing up by the bushes but he would have been visible to everyone. What would I do? I was wondering - is there no one else amongst the hundreds of people who were idling in their cars who has to go to the bathroom after sitting for hours? But I tried not to focus on it because it just increases the urge. We read later in the news that a big semi-trailer had gotten hung up on a concrete barrier - at 5:30 that morning! And yet hours later, it still hadn't been cleared away. When we got to the mall, we made a mad dash to the baños; then we stopped for a coffee at Starbucks and had a very unimpressive meal at one of the Liverpool restaurants. Then I told John I wanted to go into H&M since we were already here before we headed home. And, lo and behold, I found a pair of black casual pants, which I had been looking for since before the pandemic.
Photo Album 2023 - Irene Seniuk's Visit
Pat also captured another experience in her email:
We had to go to Colima the next day to get an RFC#, something that the Mexican government instituted this year which will be required for all major financial transactions. We were going with a driver supplied by our law firm. It was a 2 hour drive. Our appointment was for 11:50. We sat around and waited until they finally called us after 1:00 (so the 11:50 appointment didn't mean much). After all that sitting, the process took about 15 minutes. And then a 2 hour drive back. It boggles my mind how the Mexicans are so patient. They just sit there and wait. And wait. There was no antsiness exhibited. I guess they are conditioned from a young age to spend time standing in line or waiting in chairs for everything. Meanwhile, I am screaming inside.
In November we had more house repairs. For the 4th time in seven years, we had workers here fixing our roof - a 3-day job. And before the next rainy season we will need to fix water damage in our guest bedroom.
I attended the Ajijic Book Club meeting at the end of November as I had agreed to be the discussion leader. The book for the month was The Premonition: A Pandemic Story by Michael Lewis. As usual, I wrote a book report which is posted on the ABC website.
I wrote one essay that was well recieved, About Gregg Henriques, posted December 14, 2022.
And I posted an 2022-12-31 EC Update.