We have been here almost a week. Every sunrise is different. Today is Saturday - the Sabbath. After unpacking and rearranging our new living
quarters all week, we badly need a day of rest. But looking out at the beautiful sunrise, I
realize that God never rests. He is
faithful in painting a new work of art every morning, unique from the
perspective of each of his creations.
"June and July are the rainy seasons in Chapala. It rains mostly at night, and that keeps the
temperatures cool." That is what we
were told, and it is true. At the same
time, it is a major understatement. All
but one night so far has been punctuated by what we would consider in Arkansas
to be "Severe Thunderstorms".
At about 10:00 the wind starts blowing as the front moves in. This is followed by a spectacular light show
of lightning accompanied by the sonic booms of thunder. Because this is not a tornado zone, and
houses are constructed of concrete, (and we are high enough on the hill to avoid
flash flooding) this is not a frightening event. But is is awesome to behold. Because we depend on open windows for
ventilation, we now have a ritual of shutting down the ones that may be brining
in water. However with tile floors,
concrete walls, and metal window frames, a little water is not a real
issue. After the initial onslaught, the
downpour settles into a hard rain, which is a lovely sound to sleep by. The morning brings a fresh smell, clear
skies, and birds singing. There might
be short sprinkles of rain during the day, but, as promised, the daytimes are
mostly sunny. The high temperature has
been about 85 degrees, and we have enjoyed refreshing cool-offs in our pool.
Every room has at least one wall of windows, and each has a
different view of the lake or gardens.
One of the lovely little surprises is the glimpses of the hummingbird
that lives outside our bedroom window. The
scene is a living postcard view. In the
foreground are flowering plants of many types and colors, interspersed with
palm trees. Behind them is the inviting
pool, with a waterfall-fed pool beside it.
Beyond that and down the mountain is the lake, framed by mountains
behind it. Since the glass (down mountain)
side of the house faces south, we see the splendid sunrises over the mountains
to our left and the sunsets to our right.
Lest you think the first week has been spent sitting staring
at the landscape and soaking in the pool, I need to correct that
impression. We crammed an amazing
amount of goods into two vehicles, and we are still unpacking boxes. The house came furnished--not only with
furniture, but also with household items such as kitchen goods, linens,
etc. When we looked the house over, we
loved the home, but realized that the small items were in pretty bad
shape. So we brought much of our own. So, the first step of unpacking was to go
through the cabinets and drawers, determining what we wanted to keep for our
use, and what to pack away. Then
rearrange to suit us, cleaning as we went.
Only then could we unpack the kitchen and bathrooms. This has been a time and labor intensive
process, but with a wall of windows over the sink in the kitchen, it has been
pleasant work.
In addition, we have gone into town every day except
yesterday to arrange for cell phones, internet service, TV satellite service,
Spanish classes, or grocery shop. We
are still waiting for the internet to be turned on, after arranging for it on
Tuesday and being told it would be Thursday or Friday. The satellite service is more complicated
and we need to get some guidance from our landlord before we go further, which
is difficult without internet. We do
have a land line and cell phones, although we can't figure out how to configure
Dan's phone for internet through the provider here. Everything is a bit of a challenge, because
nothing functions the way we have been accustomed to. And of course communications are a bit
difficult. On this front we have been
blessed with people who speak at least a functional amount of English at about
every point of need.
Shopping deserves some special comment. We have a Walmart Superstore here, as well
as a competitor called Soriana's. Both
carry a reasonable selection and are competitive in price, however the
selection is not the same as in the US, and of course, labels are in
Spanish. If you think back to how
tiring it is to shop in a store that you have never been in, you can guess at a
small piece of how tiring shopping is for us right now.
And because of the need to get home with cold things cold, we have usually
done this at the end of a day when we are already tired. And since we started with a bare pantry and
freezer, we need everything, along with some household items such as trash
bags, trash cans, and curtain rods. A
typical shopping trip, at this point takes about an hour and a half, and we
find about 2/3 of the items on our list.
So the next day we revise the list and shop at the other store. Little by little, the list is growing
shorter. I know we will need to go to
Sam's in Guadalajara eventually to find some of the things we need, and the once
per week open market should have some of the things as well, but these
adventures have been postponed until next week.
Before we moved here, we made internet contact with a
couple, Mike and Kay Headley. We met
them on our "scouting trip" in February, and they have been a great
source of information and help. They took us out
for dinner the second night we were here, and it was such a nice feeling, when
moving to a foreign country, to have friends waiting to greet us. What a blessing! They in no way replace the treasured
friendships we left behind, but they will be a valued part of our life here.
Lest you think that all is perfection, I must share one
experience on the negative side. I must
say that my least favorite thing about the place is the plethora of spiders and
family of scorpions that share our living space. I am determined to make them former tenants,
and have declared war on them and all their friends. Here is one ex-tennant who has moved on to the after-life.
(Written Saturday, July 7, 2012)
