Where do I start? Imagine yourself in a 350 year old Mexican village. On one corner, you might see a cute little burro standing and waiting for his owner (by the way, he had a hand-carved wood saddle) and on the other corner, an organic coffee shop selling some of the best coffee you’ve ever tasted (and yes, they get it from local farmers and roast it themselves) and maybe on the opposite corner, a shop with local women weaving beautiful shawls, rugs, place mats, blouses, etc. using local hand-dyed wool. You walk by and see a cafe called La Vie en Rose (a great movie) and walk in. The owner, Gabby, introduces herself and shows us her menu of the day….fresh baked goods, wood-fired pizza, fresh smoked salmon with poached eggs, salad nicoise with tuna from the coast, crepes, waffles and an amazing list of red and white wines from around the globe. Gabby tells us that her husband is from Paris and he was a chef there. His mother is also there at the restaurant and she also was a chef. Really? In a small rural village in Mexico? Can this be for real? Yep…it is. And the amazing thing is that there are literally dozens and dozens of restaurants and cafes like this all through the town, tucked into little (and some not so little) buildings. The other night we had without a doubt the best Thai food we’ve ever had…Claudia had yellow curry and I had Pad See Ew. It would take a month of Sunday’s to find all these places, much less try them all. But…we’ll try.
This morning we headed to the local organic market, which was recommended to us by our new friend Robin. We got in line at 10:00 with perhaps a hundred other hungry-looking people all carrying shopping bags. We had one bag and we needed about three. It would take too long to list all the amazing food there, but here’s a start: a sweet little Mexican girl, maybe 10, walking around with a platter of fresh custard (flan), two bakeries selling artisan bread, a booth selling salmon from the coast (smoked or raw), a couple selling five different types of lasagna (home-made noodles of course), two booths selling hand-made butter, another selling a coconut milk drink served in a fresh coconut with the top just chopped off, local honey, blackberries and raspberries from local farmers, hand-woven dresses and scarves, beautiful fresh eggs from local farmers, imported cheeses (parmesan, gouda, manchego for example), pizzas to go that were baked in wood-fired ovens….and more. It was, quite simply, a market I would have expected to see in San Francisco…and I doubt the food there would have been as fresh. To say Ajijic is a foodie town is a huge understatement.
We left the market and headed to the local WalMart for some basic essentials. The first thing you notice when you pull in is that there is a crew of Walmart workers who will wash your car while you shop. Cool…why don’t all WalMarts do that? A lot of the stuff in the store was very typical of a WalMart in the states, but then you get to the aisles of the Mexican foods. Whoa. One entire aisle of yogurts. Another aisle of moles, sauces & spices. The bakery…..fresh breads, corn and flour tortillas. Ice cream anyone….flavors never seen in the states. Yikes…..we could get really fat here!
And so, after three hours of shopping, we headed home to rest. And here is one of the downsides to Ajijic…there is only one main road running through town and there is a lot of traffic. As in bumper to bumper at times. It seems when you find paradise, everyone else has found it as well. With social media being what it is these days, it’s impossible to keep anything quiet for long. We’ve run into people from the states who have lived here for 15 years and others who just moved. And they’re from every state, Canada and Europe. And the white house would have you believe only rapists and murderers live here. Uh….guess what Donald, you couldn’t be more wrong. And everyone here hopes none of your supporters venture South of the border.
That’s it for now. Time to go watch the election returns and hope something positive happens for a change.
Hasta luego amigos,
Wayne, Claudia & Tucka