The other side of the lake and 5 tips for finding magic when traveling

I live in Ajijic, one of the villages stringing the northern shore of Lake Chapala, the largest lake in Mexico. This side of the lake is closer to Guadalajara, the airport, and all the commercial aspects of life. I have lived here for about a year and a half, looking at the other side of the lake but knowing almost nothing about it. Friends have mentioned driving around the lake but the common response was that there wasn’t much over there. 

 

Blue: Planned Neill James stops; Purple: actual stops

 Therefore, when Bette Brazel and I decided to follow Neill James’ footsteps in her trip on the southern side of the lake, my expectations were close to nil. We had mapped out a tour of 6 villages which she had visited, hired a driver for a day, and decided to play it by ear, somewhat expecting to be back on the second day. We just got back on day 4 and didn’t make it past the first village on the plan … Jiquilpan.

We actually did visit other villages on Day 1, ones not on the plan, because we kept finding charming places that deserved more than a drive through. When we stopped for lunch in Sahuayo, we liked it so much we decided to spend the night there and had a great time exploring and being given a wish by the boy saint, Joselito. (1) 

The next morning we decided to get back on plan and taxied to Jiquilpan, where both of us almost immediately fell in love ... and off our planned route ... again.

I’ll talk more about Jiquilpan in another post, but what struck me about this trip was how much we found on the other side of the lake when we expected so little. Because we had so few expectations, we agreed to stop whenever something caught our eye and our driver Miguel Lemus seemed to enjoy stopping as much as we did … and suggesting places he knew of that he thought we’d like. It made for a slow, but wonderful, day. 

As I ponder the magic of the past four days, I’m trying to clarify what happened and how to allow it to happen again. I’ve come up with 5 travel tips, which I’m sure aren’t new but I want them as reminders for my next trip. Here are five tips I have gleaned:

1. Let go of expectations. Much easier said than done. We had two expectations of our first stop, San Luis Soyatlán: to visit Bette's friend Carol Bradley who lives there and visit the former home of Glenn Yarbrough, a favorite singer of our youth. Carol lives in a stunning home on the lake and we enjoyed seeing “our side” of the lake from her side. Then we went to the Yarbrough house and found Rivera de Moras, an event center … closed.

          This is what we didn’t see: 

Next time!

However, poking around, peeking over fences, we came to a place next door with a beautiful gate … closed. While I was trying to get a picture, a man opened the gate and Miguel and Bette asked him if we could see their property … and this is a peek at what we saw of this amazing evento property.

Flooded lake view

Tree house which is more of a tree-mansion

2. Pick compatible, and flexible, travel partners. Bette and I have discovered a broad overlap in interests and an ability to help each other see things of interest which we might have missed on our own. Our pace, as well as our eating and sleeping habits, are compatible and we’re flexible about shared and individual time. This compatibility and flexibility is key to fun travel experiences.

We both like meeting new people such as the Valencia family and friends.

3. Keep your heart and your time open. Travel, just like life, is full of surprises. We were surprised by the mournful sound of mariachis when we stopped at the Tuxcueca church. A funeral. We watched for a few moments before heading down to the malecón, where the egrets were perfectly happy in spite of the flood conditions. Taking time to see and feel death and life interacting gave us a better sense of this small, photogenic village. 
    
   Later, in Jiquilpan, we had tried to find a museum, but couldn’t until we met someone in the plaza who told us that it was in a university building that we had seen but hadn't recognized as the museum. 
    
   When we went there the next day, it turned out that it was the anniversary of the death of Lázaro Cárdenas’ first President of modern Mexico (1934-40) who was born in Jiquilpan. A special tour for dignitaries was just starting and they invited us to join them. Fortunately, the exhibit is largely photographic so Bette, who is fluent in Spanish could listen to the guide giving a detailed description of the life and work of President Cárdenas, while I engaged with the photographs, such as this one of the mercado that still looks much the same today. 
    
   
    

4. Ask for what you want … or “closed" doesn’t necessarily mean closed. Bette is far from being “pushy,” however, she is willing to go the next step for what she wants. One of the first places we went to in Jiquilpan was Casita de Piedra, the summer home of President Cârdenas. It was closed. 
    
   That was a disappointment on two counts because we wanted to see it, and even more, wanted to see the silk-making workshop there. We started wandering around and, while I was taking photos, Bette managed to find someone who agreed to show us around. We spent a wonderful hour or so being shown every detail, including actually holding silk worms, by the director of the project. We both came home with silk rebozos, of course. 
    
   Throughout our trip, we kept finding places that were closed ... until we looked hopeful and wound up getting tours anyway.
    

   

   Silk worm in my hand

    

    

    

    

    

    

   Director Juan Rodrígues Martínez with antique rebozo

    

   
   

   
   

5.  Expect magic. This sounds like it contradicts #1, but is actually quite different. While expecting certain things to happen can create disappointment and frustration when it doesn’t happen, expecting an undefined magic that you will know when you see it, creates an openness and anticipation that seems to draw things to us. 
    
   One morning in Jiquilpan after my morning walkabout, expecting nothing other than a quiet moment on the plaza with a cup of coffee, I started talking with the two guys in line behind me. One of them asked if he could interview me. That’s not all that unusual, sometimes people who are trying to learn English like to “interview” visiting English speakers. 
    

   

   Carlos Flores: Amazing photographer/interviewer

    

   

   One of Carlos's model shots in Jiquilpan

About the time we settled in at a table, Bette showed up so he interviewed both of us. During the interview, I mentioned that I would like to find a place to rent for a week or month for a return visit. Carlos Flores, our interviewer, called a friend and by the time the interview was done, Sergio Valencia was there to show us an apartment that is available for rent and to give us a tour of the new hotel he’s building. 

Later that night, we met up with Sergio and his family to hang out and talk while classical guitars played at the music festival at the other end of the plaza. (See group shot above.)

Meeting people, hearing their stories about their lives and their communities, is one form of magic that lifts travel out of simple observation into true connection. Just because someone else didn't find magic somewhere, doesn't mean you won't.

More Information:

1. Saint José Luis Sánchez del Río (March 28, 1913 – February 10, 1928) was a Mexican Cristero who was put to death by government officials because he refused to renounce his Catholic faith. His death was seen as a largely political venture on the part of government officials in their attempt to stamp out dissent and crush religious freedom in the area. He was dubbed "Joselito”. Wikipedia

Following in the Footsteps of Neill James

Sign on the Neill James tree at Lake Chapala Society

Was she rich? 

Was she a spy? 

Was she friends with the glitterati of the world?

Just who was Neill James?

Those are just a few of the questions surrounding Neill James, a woman of some mystery whose spirit hovers over the small, Lake Chapala village of Ajijic, Mexico. She left her home and gardens to the Lake Chapala Society which is the first stop most foreigners make when they come to Ajijic, as well as a continuing source of support to them as they move here. 

That’s where I first heard about her and when I went looking for more information, I found a book … Kokio: A Novel Based on the Life of Neill James … which left me more puzzled than enlightened. The book claims to be fiction but uses real names, dates, and events. The author’s main question, and reason for calling it fiction apparently, was about whether or not she was a spy (probably was). The book left me with many questions. One of the main ones is why this adventurer/travel writer settled here in this small village.

LCS Garden, begun by Neill

When she came here in the mid-1940s to recuperate after two life-threatening encounters with volcanoes, it was a backwater place … pretty, but here’s how she described it ...

"We have no means of refrigeration, and indifferent, jittery electric light for three hours at night only. Nobody can call me by telephone, because our village has none. The one telephone in the post office closes at 7 o’clock at night, and it is impossible to call a doctor or send a telegram after that hour."

Almost nothing an American world traveler needed could be found here … plus, there were bandits in the mountains! Why did she stay?

As her body mended from a multitude of broken bones, she wrote a book about her travels in Mexico: Dust on My Heart. At the end of the book she says:

My projected six months’ Mexican jaunt, by force of circumstances, stretched into nearly four years. Now that my fractures are practically healed, I can walk well once again, and my book is finished, there is no real excuse for remaining in this private little paradise. I must be on the move.

By that time, Neill James was almost 50 and had been a world traveler all her life. She called herself a gadabout, an explorer, and a “Petticoat Vagabond” in her travel books. She was always conjuring up new trips. 

What changed her mind? What made her stay in this small village where she would wind up making such a lasting impact?

 Teomichicihualli by Jesús Lopez Vega

Inquiring minds want to know

Bette Brazel and I have launched a project to discover Mexico through the eyes of this adventurous writer/traveler, and hope to answer a few of the questions about this woman who started libraries, a children’s art program, a women’s embroidery business, and seems to still touch everyone who comes here with her generosity.

This wall mural "Goddess of the Lake"

was done by one of the highly respected

artists here in Ajijic ... Jesús Lopez Vega,

an artist mentored by Neill James. 

Neill was a magnet for foreigners and helped turn this area into a tri-cultural experiment (Mexican-Canadian-American). Some people are a bit doubtful about whether or not it's working. However, local people often remind us to look at what she created and the generosity she brought to this village. 

We asked one local artist about his memories and what he thought about the increasing numbers of foreigners coming to his village. He talked about the new jobs and prosperity that came with the immigrants, stating, “If it weren’t for them, we would probably still be eating roots and chayotes.” 

Mural at the lake - by Efren Gonzalez and students

Of course, progress comes with things like stop lights, traffic, increasing rents, and Walmart, so many residents have mixed feelings about where things are going, and many have no idea who Neill James was or what she brought to this community.

Popular Mexican artist, Efrén González, was another young artist mentored by Neill James

We expect this project to go on for some time, however, we’ve already concluded that Neill James was not a saint and that she often added dramatic touches to her stories. Still, she is called the “godmother of Ajijic,” and was awarded the “Woman of the Century” designation in the February 19th, 2012 edition of the USA Today’s weekend feature La Voz de Mexico. 

Rebozos - Endangered Folk Art?

Note: Special discussion of the history and endangerment of this symbol of Mexican identity at Feria Maestros del Arte, November 9-11, 2018.

 

By definition, a rebozo is a handmade shawl woven either on a footloom or backstrap loom. Which means that any shawl or length of material, no matter how beautiful, should not be called a rebozo unless it is handmade.

 

The history is long for this particular textile item, and continues to grow more complicated with time.

It takes a village: the difficult journey of learning a new language

Phil Rylett arresting hardened criminal

 On a quiet Saturday morning in the small Mexican village of Ajijic (ah hee heek), Mexico, a young woman was arrested for wearing orange shoes, another for her inappropriate earrings. Justice was swift, they were led off to a lawyer who advised them of their rights before they had to appear before a judge to be fined.

Criminal justice system 
gone awry? 

No. Actually a 
graduation exercise 

for students learning English.

Phil Rylett was the policeman arresting those young women and also the organizer of “The Difficult Journey” exercise which gave the graduating students an opportunity to explore, in English only, please, the many aspects of traveling. 

Going to Court

Their destination was New York City and involved talking to a travel agent, rounding up their passports, making their way through customs, ordering food in a restaurant, going to a bank for money … and paying some of that money to the judge if they got caught on the wrong side of the law. Those orange shoes again. 

Phil's and all the other roles required in the exercise, were played by volunteers who coached the students on their activities and their English. (For another look at the Difficult Journey, see Carol Kaufman's article in The Guadalajara Reporter.)

Talking to the Bankers

 The Wilkes Education Center, the scene of "The Difficult Journey,” is also where, each August, over 300 students (adults and anyone 15 and up) register for places in 31 free English classes, all taught by native-English-speaking volunteers. 

During an interview with Inez Dayer and Maria Huerta, the long-term leadership team for Wilkes, they talked about how the program has impacted the lives of so many people in the community. It is widely recognized that being able to speak English opens doors to better jobs. Inez tells the story of one former English student who was a maid at a local hotel. After completing the program, she was promoted to taking phone reservations. Inez laughs and says, “By now I am sure she is managing the enterprise. There are so many of those stories. This is just part of our commitment to serving the local community.”

Graduation Ceremony for English students and proud families

Flowers for the teachers; Joy for the students

The Spirt of Lakeside

Inez Dayer, Director of ESL program

The Wilkes Education Center is just one example of the spirit that hovers along the shore of Lake Chapala, Mexico, emanating from the small village of Ajijic (ah hee heek) and touching all the villages and pueblos around the lake. Some call it the spirit of Neill James, a travel writer from Mississippi who came to Ajijic in the mid 1940s to recover from an accident while climbing the volcano Popocateptl.

During her recuperation time, a love affair was born that changed Neill, the residents of the lakeside area, and everyone who comes here even today. Tracing Neill’s actions is like trying to capture a whirlwind. She was into everything: art, business, music, libraries, horticulture, and uncounted acts of philanthropy. Upon her death in 1994, she donated her house and gardens to the Lake Chapala Society (LCS), with the dual intention of serving the growing international community and providing educational opportunities to the Mexican locals.

The local combination of culture, beauty and an almost perfect climate creates an appealing environment for retirees (known as jubilados here in Mexico) ready for a change of pace, with time to spend in new ways, and in a stage of life that often prompts a yearning to give back to others some of what was given to them. It’s at this point they hear the whispering spirit of Neill James and begin to create amazing things.

One person who was touched by this spirit of generosity was Ed Wilkes, retired from the U.S. Navy and committed to education, who donated his house to the Lake Chapala Society. After the death of his wife, he had spent much of his time cataloging books in the LCS library so it was decided to turn his central Ajijic home into an educational center focused around a Spanish library for the local community.

Neill James touched Ed Wilkes, whose center touched Inez Dare, volunteer director of the Wilkes Center for the past ten years, who touched hundreds of volunteer teachers, who touched thousands of students of English, including the son of Maria Huerta who recently received his doctorate in psychology. 

And, who knows how many people all those students have touched? 

As they say: you can count all the apples on a tree ... but you can never count all the trees in an apple.

And, who knows how many ideas there are in a cup of coffee? Sign compliments of LA133 restaurant in San Antonio Tlayacapan.

Why people come to Lakeside, Mexico … and why they stay.

Lake Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico

Ask a hundred newcomers to Lakeside why they moved here and you’ll get a cluster of answers around weather, affordability, and friendliness, with a smattering of responses about health care, pace of life, culture and food. However, if you ask people why they stay here, you’ll get a slightly different range of answers.

Recently, I asked Dr. Todd Stong that question and his response sparked this article and series. He told me he came here seventeen years ago because his wife Vivian wanted a safer place for him to work. He is a professional engineer who has devoted the past twenty-three years to developing water projects for poor people in often remote villages. Prior to Lake Chapala, he was working in Africa under hazardous conditions.

Stong now works with 43 villages around the lake, serving about 300,000 people. His popular “State of the Lake” annual Open Circle address offers facts and figures about pollution in the lake (at it’s current level, it’s safe) and whether it’s okay to eat fish from the lake (yes). He works with local governments to build water treatment and water storage facilities so he is also a fountain of information on how government works (or doesn’t work) in Mexico.

Todd Stong at the La Zapatero community center in progress

A few days ago, I accompanied Stong to La Zapotera, a chayote-farming village perched high on the lake with stunning views, but almost impossible roads. He is supervising the construction of a community center in conjunction with villagers and the Lakeside Presbyterian Church which will be offering a feeding program for three hundred children. 

 

As we drove into the village, children swarmed around the van, shaking hands with everyone as if they were duly elected diplomats. We oohed and ahhed over the progress and freshly painted walls, and while Stong discussed plans and details with the village elders, I took endless pictures of the kids so they could see themselves in the LCD panel. Later as we shared peanut butter and jam sandwiches, Stong thrilled the kids and the adults as he passed out large photos from a previous trip.

Todd Stong passing out photos to the children

The next day, Stong and I talked more about all his projects, proposals, and ideas for bringing clean water to the villages. He is in his mid-70s and has great energy, but he could be taking life easier and working fewer hours. I asked him why he was working so hard and he explained that the work made him happy and he felt like he was helping people. “At this stage of life,” he said, “people often don’t feel needed and they start to slow down and feel like they don’t matter. I have become an advocate for the villages. I feel needed.”

La Zapotera Community Center in progress

Since I’ve been in Ajijic, i’ve been repeatedly astounded by what people have created here … orphanages and dog rescue programs, children’s art programs, student scholarship programs, community development centers, and one of the most recognized folk art festivals in all of Mexico. Wherever people see a need, and there are many to see, they go to work and do something about it. If someone wants to contribute something here, they just start doing it. The community benefits and they have the satisfaction of giving back and feeling needed while doing work they love.

Book about Neill James

Maybe it all started with Neill James. The adventurer/travel writer came to Ajijic in 1943 to recuperate from an accident and wound up moving here. She founded the first public library in Chapala, and then in Ajijic. She developed a water purifying system, dug the first deep water wells, helped install both electricity and telephone services, started a local weaving industry, and set up schools for local children’s education. With several other expats, she formed what would become The Lake Chapala Society (LCS) and willed her house and property to it. El Ojo del Lago named Neill James Ajijic's Woman of the Century.

People who move here seem to become infected with the spirit of Neill James. They may come for the weather, the affordable life style, and the culture, but they stay because they’ve made friends and found a way to enhance their own lives by exploring many interests they may not have had time for north of the border (NOB). Helping Lakeside be a better place to live, both for newcomers and locals, gives people a way to feel needed, satisfied ... happy.

This is the first of a series of stories about expats living lives that matter. If you have a story or know of one that needs to be shared, please email me at jwycoff at me dot com.

 

Joyce Wycoff, writer/photographer/artist lives in Ajijic, Mexico. More about her and this series at Mexico Stories ... expats living lives that matter.