Presenting - THE ONE - THE ONLY - Mexican Sled Dog Team - in the World! Mar 2012

I had the great and good fortune to

be invited to join this team on one of their

training excursions down here on Lake Chapala.

You can imagine what fun I had!

Meet Cris and Cintia. . .

Since 1993 Captain Cristobal de Obeso Aguilar, 47,

has been breeding, training, and racing a team of

16 Siberian Husky sled dogs —

out of Guadalajara, Mexico!

His team is the first Mexican team to be a member of the

prestigious International Sled Dog Racing Association

and they have raced in Colorado, Michigan, Wisconsin,

and even on an Indian reservation in Arizona.

How about those credits, pretty impressive, huh?

In his real life, Cris is a corporate private jet pilot

who looks forward to

doing much more sled dog racing in the near future.

After spending a few hours with Cris and Cintia and the team,

it is very apparent that for Cris it really is ALL about the dogs.

The dogs are trained 3 times a week in Guadalajara

pulling a cart on a track, and here at Lake Chapala

swimming behind a boat for 60 minutes.

Let's meet the dogs!

Today, there were 13.

One by one they were loaded into the boat

and attached to the gang-line that had

already been rigged.

Meet Francisco, the unofficial Chapala Harbor Master

and the man to know regarding all-things boat

and all-things Lake Chapala.

Francisco manned the boat and helped tend the dogs, 

keeping them safely away from the propeller at all times. 

No easy feat!

Ready?

Off we go.

One by one they were tossed overboard.

We slowly motored off - and they followed.

Well, all except for Canelo.

Just not much of a follower, this guy.

Canelo thought Scorpion Island looked

like a better place to swim for.

See that little dot?

There were a couple of 'arguments' in the water as one

perceived some grave injustice had been committed but Cris was 

able to break them up just by yelling at them.

Of the 13 dogs, only 2 were female.

And of the 13 dogs, 2 had to stay in the boat for most of

the time as they were inclined to only swim back to shore

rather than join the pack and follow the boat.

 They could only be released on the way back.

In the 6 years that Cris has been doing this,

they have only suffered one fatality, a drowning.

Cris, Cintia, and Francisco never took their eyes off the dogs

or off the clock.

After an hour, it was time to bring the dogs in.

One by one they were hauled back in the boat.

Thirteen wet dogs means lots of water in the boat.

Heading back.

One by one they're loaded back in the truck.

That's all folks!

Cris can be reached at:

cristobal_de_obeso@hotmail.com

Violence in Guadalajara March 2012

You may have noticed I don't write about this stuff.

It's here.  It happens.
I don't want to write about it.

But Friday it was a little too close to home.

Everyday Life in San Antonio Tlayacapan

A few snaps of day to day life in my pueblo -

San Antonio Tlayacapan.

My tortillaria.

The BEST tortillas ever!

My neighbor Maria is my gardening hero.

Not only can she grow luscious papayas,

she can grow them in a 5 gallon paint bucket on the street!

Road work on my street.

Refilling baches (potholes) consists of first

removing the cobblestones surrounding the

pothole, filling the space in with sand,

then busting up rocks until they fit

and filling them into the space.

By hand, rock by rock, and in the hot sun!

Home Invasion?

I awoke at 12:38 this morning to the sound of

someone trying to kick in my front door.

No. 

I must have been dreaming.

I fluffed the pillow and settled back down.

BAM!  CRASH!

My front door sounded like the steel and glass

were getting ready to cave.

MAGS!  GETUM!

I screamed at the dog.

She barked back — 

from the living room!

OMG, there IS someone out there, I whimpered to myself,

she's already in the living room.

A side note:  there HAVE been some very brutal

and deadly home invasions in this area of late

so this scenario is not completely unexpected.

I snuck out of bed, made sure no interior light was

available, crept out to the kitchen, and

peeked through the curtains out to the street.

Nada.

From there I made my way through the dark dining room, crouched

behind the couch, and peered over it into the living room.

Nothing.

Quiet.

Except for the dog that was now leaping and running circles around me

then racing to the front door barking and barking.

Clearly trying to warn me of something.

Still quiet and nothing to see in the street.

Damn.

What do I do now?

This is Mexico, calling the cops is not my first thought or line

of defense — more like my last.

I waited and listened.

Dog was getting more and more agitated but still

nothing showing. 

I waited some more.

Finally, with still no sign of anyone or anything amiss

I decided to let the dog out and see what happens.

Sacrificial dog.

I silently opened the front door and the dog flew out

into the garden!

Where she immediately deposited about a liter

of diarrhea.

GOOD DOGGIE!

Catch-Up Feb 2012

Oh, the guilt, I can't tell you. . .

I got an email the other day:

Write something!  Anything!  So we know you're ok.

Another one today:

I miss your blog.

I have no excuse, well, you want the truth?

The truth is I've been having too much fun to blog.

I love my new village of San Antonio Tlayácapan

and I love my new house.

I have reconnected with many friends from

when I first moved to Mexico - 8 years ago -

and made lots of new ones.

It's a good life.

I've been moving in, fixing up, and now it's time

to renovate the garden in front and create

a container garden on the back patio.

I live smack dab in the middle of

a Mexican village and have great neighbors.

Not many of us pale skins here,

but in a nearby village there are a lot

of us gabachos.

This morning when I got up there was a gift

tucked over the gate into the garage for Maggie.

Two WELL used stuffed dolls, here they are.

Isn't that the cutest present!

We've had some strange weather, days and days of very dark

skies and freezing cold rain.

Some people know how to make the best of everything!

What else. . .lemme see. . .

Oh yeah, speaking of new friends!

Hal and Margie just moved to the lake

and here's the best part - they're from Hawaii too!

And the even better part - they live right

around the corner from me!  

woohoo

Together with Sue and Louie, other friends from Hawaii,

we made a huge luau feast 

and spent hours eating, playing and singing Hawaiian music

at their house.

Louie Pavao (L) can be seen locally at
Two Spoons on Friday nights 7:30 on
and Hal Kaluhiokalani Matthews (R) can be seen
locally at Olé Ola Thurs nights 5:30 on.

Ok, pau for now!

When Was The Last Time This Happened To You? Dec 2011

OR REASON 1,654, 291 WHY I LIVE HERE

So, I strolled up my street to the little abarrote and fruteria 

(mom and pop market and fruit store) on the corner.

I got a half kilo of roasted peanuts, 2 sweet mandarins,

five Dominica bananas, and a large heavy

ripe cantaloupe.

Total cost - 38 pesos or $2.75 US.

But wait!  That's not the story!

The story is. . .when I put the cantaloupe on the scale

the girl said "Oh no, Señora, this one has a bad spot,

let me get a better one," and off she went to the display

to find one without a bad spot.

There wasn't one.

They were all over ripe and perfect for an

Agua Melón (melon water) which is what I wanted it for.

So back she comes to the scale, takes out her knife

and promptly cuts out the 'bad spot', THEN

weighs it, bags up my purchases and hands them over

with a smile and a gracias.

No charge for the bad spot.