El Ojo del Lago - December 2015 by El Ojo del Lago

Saw you in the Ojo

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

Saw you in the Ojo

PUBLISHER

Richard Tingen

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Alejandro Grattan-Domínguez Tel: (01376) 765 3676, 765 2877 Fax: (01376) 765 3528 Associate Publisher David Tingen Graphic Design Roberto C. Rojas Sandra Hernandez Special Events Editor Sandy Olson Associate Editor Jim Tipton Contributing Editor Mark Sconce Theater Critic Michael Warren Art Critic Rob Mohr Roving Correspondent Dr. Lorin Swinehart Sales Manager Bruce Fraser 2I¿FH 6HFUHWDU\ Rocio Madrigal ADVERTISING OFFICE Av. Hidalgo # 223, Chapala Mon. thru Fri. 9am - 5pm Sat. 9am - 1pm Tel. 01 (376) 765 2877, 765 3676 Fax 01 (376) 765 3528 Send all correspondence, subscriptions or advertising to: El Ojo del Lago http://www.chapala.com ojodellago@prodigy.net.mx Ave. Hidalgo 223 (or Apartado 279), 45900 Chapala, Jalisco Tels.: (376) 765 3676, Fax 765 3528 PRINTING: El Debate El Ojo del Lago aparece los primeros cinco días de cada mes. (Distributed over WKH ¿UVW ¿YH GD\V RI HDFK PRQWK) &HUWL¿FDGR GH /LFLWXG GH 7tWXOR &HUWL¿FDGR GH /LFLWXG GH &RQWHQLGR

Index...

FEATURE ARTICLES

COVER STORY

Dr. Lorin Swinehart examines some of the popular perceptions about the Christmas Story that have fascinated Biblical historians for centuries.

16 WAR OF THE SEXES

Kelly Hayes-Raitt takes that old phrase literally in citing another type of domestic violence. Margaret Van Every reviews John Thomas Dodd’s book of poetry, a VXUUHSWLWLRXV FDVH RI RQH ¿QH ORFDO SRHW UHYLHZLQJ WKH ZRUN RI DQRWKHU ¿QH local poet.

Imprints

Uncommon Sense

50 STAR-GAZING

Front Row Center

Bridge by Lake

Hearts at Work

Profiling Tepehua

Dear Portia

Lakeside Living

Welcome to Mexico

Child of Month

Anyone Train Dog

LCS Newsletter

58 PROFILE

Bill Dean introduces us to a disillusioned Catholic priest from Wisconsin who once came to Mexico almost through Divine Guidance to re-discover the reason why he had originally entered the priesthood.

70 TRADITION

June Nay Summers writes about the reasons behind Mexico’s traditional “Long Christmas” which goes from December 8 to January 6.

72 HISTORY

Kay Davis takes a fond look at the fascinating history of one of the most unique cities in the world: New Orleans!

Reserva al Título de Derechos de Autor 04-2011-103110024300-102 Control 14301. Permisos otorgados por la Secretaría de Gobernación (EXP. 1/432 “88”/5651 de 2 de junio de 1993) y SEP (Reserva 171.94 control 14301) del 15 de enero de 1994. Distribución: Hidalgo 223 Chapala, Jalisco, México. All contents are fully protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without the written consent of El Ojo del Lago. Opinions expressed E\ WKH DXWKRUV GR QRW QHFHVVDULO\ UHÀHFW WKH views of the Publisher or the Editor, nor are we responsible for the claims made by our advertisers. We welcome letters, which should include name, address and telephone number.

&2/8016 7+,6 0217+ Editor’s Page

Allen McGill remembers a glorious moment in time when he shared the stage (rather accidentally) at the Metropolitan Opera with the great opera singer, Leontyne Price, in an unforgettable performance of Aida.

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

8 &RYHU E\ 5DPLUR &KDYH] J /&6 &KLOGUHQ¶V $UW 3URJUDP

35 BOOK REVIEW

COVER STORY

z DIRE C TOR Y z

LAKESIDE LIVING

VOLUME 32 NUMBER 4

Saw you in the Ojo

Editor’s Page %\ $OHMDQGUR *UDWWDQ 'RPLQJXH] For more editorials, visit: http://thedarksideofthedream.com

A CHRISTMAS THOUGHT: The Later Years —Delight Or Depression?

our choice, but before you decide, consider this: there are certain parts of the brain that actually keep developing as we grow older—particularly if we give them plenty of exercise. Moreover, though we tend not to be as mentally acute as we age, experience can be an enormously rich resource. Don’t believe it? Consider the following: * Benjamin Franklin invented bifocal glasses at 78 to help correct his own poor vision. * Georgia O’Keefe continued painting well into her 90s, despite failing eyesight. * Martha Graham danced until age 76, and kept on choreographing for another 20 years. * Frank Lloyd Wright worked on the design for the Guggenheim Museum until his death at 91. * Michelangelo completed his final frescoes in the Vatican’s Pauline Chapel at 75. * Giuseppe Verdi finished Falstaff, his final opera, just eight months shy of his 80th birthday. If the above proves anything, it’s that rigidity and despair are not inevitable with the advent of old age. Moreover, a growing body of scientific research stresses that creative or challenging activity can actually help keep a person physically healthy. Those who do engage in such activity make fewer visits to a doctor, fall less often, use less medication and are less likely to be depressed. Studies at the University of California at Berkeley suggest that there are five ingredients for staying mentally vigorous: diet, exercise, challenge, novelty and love. Experiments show that lab rats’ brains grow larger and sharper when they get new mazes to solve and a variety of items to play with. And they live longer, as long as 900 days instead of the norm of 600 days. Whether the rodents’ romantic attachments figured in all this is best left to the imagination. A study of life here at Lakeside

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

7KH /DWH )UDQN /OR\G :ULJKW would prove many of these same premises. Some time ago, this writer wrote an editorial about the mysterious allure of Mexico, which dismissed many of the usually-given reasons for living in Mexico, i.e., the lower cost of living, the weather, etc. Instead, the article focused on the more subtle attractions of a country which encourages us to become more adventurous, more creative, courageous and compassionate; in other words, to become the person we always wanted to be, but rarely had the time, inclination or opportunity to do so. One has only to check the list of Non-Profit and Charitable Organizations here at Lakeside to see the impressive array and variety of such groups—and behind almost every one of those organizations are senior citizens who have found great pleasure and satisfaction in excelling at something they probably would not have even tried back in “the old country.” Such activity reaps many personal benefits, not least of which it keeps us looking younger. There’s a lovely story about a 90-year-old actress who was elated when she lost the part of an “84-yearold character” because a local theater director thought she looked too young. Now, who among us can’t relate to that? Merry Christmas! Alejandro GrattanDominguez

Saw you in the Ojo

SHEPHERDS & WISE MEN—Ancient Truths and Puzzles Underlie Popular Perceptions of the Christmas Story

%\ 'U /RULQ 6ZLQHKDUW

or Christians, Christmas is about the birth of the Christ Child, the descent of the Divine into the field of time. Only two of the four Gospel authors, Luke, a physician and companion to Paul, and Matthew, an unknown editor who collected and published the writings attributed to the Apostle Matthew, have much to say about the birth of Jesus. The narrative is heavily laden with prophetic dreams and visitations by angels bearing both good news and ominous warnings. When an angel informed Mary that even though she was still a virgin, God had chosen her to bear a son, she responded with unconditional acceptance of her unique role and all the tragedy that it would bring. Mary would most likely have been in her early teens, engaged to the carpenter Joseph, probably an older man. According to Biblical scholar Kenneth Bailey, when Joseph learned of Mary’s condition, the Greek term “enthymeomai,” with its root “thymos.” would have described his reaction. The word can mean that he “considers” the situation or that he is enraged and fuming. We can assume the latter. Joseph can only conclude that his betrothed has been unfaithful to him. The penalty for her presumed infidelity is death by stoning, a penalty reserved, it seems for female offenders, rather than male ones and, by implication, approving of one form of abortion. We are told that Joseph was a just man. If he was a just man in accordance with the mores of his society at that time, he would have cast Mary aside and left her to her fate. His justness, however, was of a higher order, one of compassion and mercy. Then, we are told, he was informed by an angel in a dream that Mary’s condition is not a consequence of fornication but an act of God. When the order came down for all citizens to return to their place of birth for taxation purposes, Joseph was accompanied by Mary, by then in an advanced state of pregnancy, on the 70 to 100 mile journey by donkey to his hometown of Bethlehem. Perhaps he

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

took her along to prevent her stoning by a self righteous mob. Numerous theories have been advanced over the years to explain the phenomenon known as the Christmas Star, such as a supernova, a comet or even the planet Venus. Johannes Kepler suggested that a conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn, occurring in 7 BC and recurring in 6 BC, could have been the cause. Some ancient Middle Eastern astrologers believed that a new king would arrive during a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the constellation Pisces, the sign of the Messiah. Recently, Dr. Michael Molnar of Rutgers University has advanced the theory that the spectacle was caused by moon eclipsing Jupiter on March 20, 6 BC. All sorts of folk were streaming into Bethlehem, and vacancies in local inns were non-existent. Still, Joseph was well known in Bethlehem, and was also a descendent of King David. He had status. The young couple would have been invited in for the duration but not given a room because all were taken. Most depictions of the birth of Christ would have us believe that he was born in a drafty stable surrounded by bedazzled livestock and that Mary suffered the pangs of childbirth alone. This is highly unlikely. Mary would have had the assistance of midwives inside the main building. In the Middle East of that time, the stable was separated from the human living quarters by a wall, with openings through which mangers, actually bins or troughs, could be filled with grain for livestock. The family horse, cow, donkey, sheep or goats need only poke their heads through the openings in order to feed. Not an ideal situation from the standpoint of 21st century Western standards of hygiene and comfort but not as primitive as most illustrations would have us believe either. According to Luke, the first to visit the infant Jesus were shepherds who had been grazing sheep on nearby hillsides when a chorus of angels informed them of the birth of a new king. Shep-

herds were among the lowest members of society, poor, often homeless, wild men who lived beyond the pale. Luke emphasizes that Jesus came for those who exist on society’s periphery, not just mainstream Jewish citizens. Even as we review Joseph’s genealogy, we find male and female, good people and bad people, Jew and gentile: Rahab the harlot; Tamar, who seduced her father-in-law; the widowed Ruth who fell in love with the kindly Boaz; Bathsheba who carried on a tempestuous affair with King David. The presence of shepherds grazing sheep debunks the commonly held view that Christmas occurred on December 25. Due to heavy frost during the winter months, sheep and other livestock would not have been put out to graze until spring. December 25 was not recognized as Christmas on the Roman calendar until 354 AD. December 25 was the end of the festival of Saturnalia, a time of frenzied celebration when Christians would have been relatively safe from persecution if they wished to honor the birth of Jesus. December 25 was also the celebration of the Roman Day of the Unconquered. Jesus was most likely born in the month of March. The assumption that Three Magi visited the infant Jesus originated with the three gifts they are said to have offered: Gold, frankincense and myrrh. Keen astrologers, they may have hailed from Babylon. More recent scholars posit that they may have arrived from Arabia. Gold was being mined in Arabia at the time. Frankincense, a resin extracted from the Boswellia sacra tree, and myrrh, derived from the Comminphora tree, are both products from the southern shores of Arabia. Both were valuable commodities used in perfumes, incense and medical treatments. It is said that the Magi stopped by to visit King Herod on the way and that the scheming monarch requested information as to the exact location of the “newborn king”. Instead, hoping to evade him, they found a different route for their homeward journey. In a rage, Herod, insanely jealous of any potential threat to his rule, ordered the murder of every male child in the neighborhood of Bethlehem. The historicity of such an outrage may never be verified, but the tempestuous Herod was not above ordering infanticide or much of anything else. Like many political leaders, past and present, with age he slipped into megalomania. He once ordered that two of his favorite sons be strangled to death. He had the favorite of his ten wives, Mariamne, killed because of suspected political disloyalty. Afterward, he would roam the palace by night, de-

manding that his servants bring her to him, and then order them beaten when they failed to do so. When a group of Pharisees expressed opposition to his argument that he was actually the long-awaited Messiah, he ordered the lot of them executed. As an old man, Herod recognized that he was hated and feared by the populace and that there would be rejoicing at the time of his death. He ordered the arrest of every prominent subject and demanded their execution upon news of his death, so that there would be mourning in the land. The executions were not carried out. There are estimates that 14,000 male infants were slaughtered by Herod’s order. Given the sparse population of the region at the time, 20 would be more accurate. Almost none of the warm, fuzzy Christmas stories make mention of the horrendous fate of the Holy Infant. Joseph, warned in a dream, spared his young family this horrendous fate by setting out for the Egyptian seaport city of Alexandria, where there lived a large expatriate Jewish community. Prior to their departure, Jesus was presented at the Temple in Jerusalem to the venerable Simeon, who prophesied that the infant was set for the fall and rising of many in Israel and warned Mary that a sword would someday pierce through her soul—dire portents. The shadow of the cross looms over the manger scene. Yet, the darkness of Good Friday is followed by the promise of Easter. The stories underlying the popular scenes of Christmas should remind us that Jesus entered a world of deprivation and violence, that he arrived in poverty and later departed in poverty, that he was to suffer hardship, rejection, condemnation, torture and execution; that even as an infant, Dr. Lorin he was a refugee in a Swinehart strange land.

Saw you in the Ojo

BEST LETTER ER FROM FRO OM CAMP CA AMP MP EVER! EV VER! R! Courtesy of Art Hess ess

ear Mom! Our Scoututtmaster told us tto o write to our parents in case asee you saw the flood on TV and nd d got worried. We are okay. Only l one nee of our tents and 2 sleeping bags got washed away. Luckily, none of us got drowned because we were all up on the mountain looking for Adam when it happened. Oh yes, please call Adam’s mother and tell her he is okay. He can’t write because of the cast. I got to ride in one of the Search and Rescue Jeeps. It was great. We never would have found Adam in the dark if it hadn’t been for the lightning. Scoutmaster Ted got mad at Adam for going on a hike alone without telling anyone. Adam said he did tell him, but it was during the fire so he probably didn’t hear him. Did you know that if you put gas on a fire, the gas will blow up? The wet wood didn’t burn, but one of the tents did and also some of our clothes.

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

Matthew is going to look weird until his hair grows back. We will be home on Saturday if Scoutmaster Ted gets the bus fixed. It wasn’t his fault about the crash. The brakes worked okay when we left. Scoutmaster Ted said that with a bus that old, you have to expect something to break down; that’s probably why he can’t get insurance. We think it’s a super bus. He doesn’t care if we get it dirty, and if it’s hot, sometimes he lets us ride on the bumpers. It gets pretty hot with 45 people in a bus made for 24. He let us take turns riding in the trailer until the policeman stopped and talked to us. Scoutmaster Ted is a neat guy. Don’t worry, he is a good driver. In fact, he is teaching Horace how to drive on the

mountain roads where there aren’t any cops. All we ever see up there are huge logging trucks. This morning all of the guys were diving off the rocks and swimming out to the rapids. Scoutmaster Ted wouldn’t let me because I can’t swim, and Adam was afraid he would sink because of his cast (it’s concrete because we didn’t have any plaster), so he let us take the canoe out. It was great. You can still see some of the trees under the water from the flood. Scoutmaster Ted isn’t crabby like some scoutmasters. He didn’t even get mad about the life jackets. He has to spend a lot of time working on the bus so we are trying not to cause him any trouble. Guess what? We have all passed our first aid merit badges. When Andrew dived into the lake and cut his arm, we all got to see how a tourniquet works. Steve and I threw up, but Scoutmaster Ted said it was probably just food poisoning from the left-over chicken. He said they got sick that way with food they ate in prison. I’m so glad he got out and became our scoutmaster. He said he sure figured out how to get things done better while he was doing his time. I have to go now. We are going to town to post our letters and buy some more beer and ammo. Don’t worry about anything.

Saw you in the Ojo 11

,035,176 % $ W L 5 EOp %\ $QWRQLR 5DPEOpV p DQWRQLR UDPEOHV#\DKRR FRP Reims and champagne

A celebrated cathedral dating from the High Middle Agesâ&#x20AC;Ś caves in which acres of champagne bottles ripenâ&#x20AC;Ś Â and miles of French countryside laced with vineyards make a day trip to Reims a great change of pace and a feast for the senses. Ninety miles northeast of Paris, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s readily accessible by train, and the scenery along the route is so bucolic that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hard to believe that by the end of World War I it had become a pockmarked no manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s land of trenches and shell craters. The cathedral of NotreDame de Reims dominates the city skyline. The bells in its twin, 250foot bell towers weigh up to eleven tons, and its weathered walls are covered in medieval

,QWHULRU &DWKHGUDO RI 1RWUH 'DPH GH 5HLPV

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

sculptures and bas-reliefs. While Gothic cathedrals like the one at Reims still deliver stunning impact more than eight centuries after they were built, they represented at the time of their construction the greatest advance in architecture since the Roman arch. Through the early Middle Ages, tall buildings required the support of thick and windowless walls, and their interiors were predictably dark and dank. Just after the end of the first millennium, French architects innovated the pointed arch, the flying buttress, and the ribbed vault to create cathedrals which captured vast, soaring spaces flooded with light streaming through towering stained glass windows. Competition among Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cities to outdo each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cathedrals followed, and most of the Gothic Cathedrals were built in the first 200 years of Front facade, Cathedral of Notrethe second millennium. 'DPH GH 5HLPV The work often demanded a century or more of effort by hundreds of workers and artisans. These structures remained feats of engineering largely unsurpassed until the arrival of structural cast iron and steel beam buildings nearly a millennium later. Few if any ofÂ these cathedrals, though, have borne witness to so much history as the one at Reims, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Clovis, first king of the Franks, was baptized in a church on this site in AD 496, and kings of France were crowned here for nearly 1500 years. When the English army occupied the city during the Hundred Yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; War, the coronation of King Charles VII was delayed until the city could be retaken in 1429 by an army under Joan of Arc. During World War I, German shellfire damaged or destroyed important parts of the

cathedral, and restoration work was not fully completed until 1938. In 1974, Marc Chagall completed a six-year collaboration on three stained glass windows for one of the cathedralâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s chapels that replace windows dating from the nineteenth century. No photographs can capture the sensation of standing in this ancient and awe-inspiring space. Â Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hard not to pause for a moment of quiet reflection before going on to more secular pursuitsâ&#x20AC;Ś Reims sits in the heart of the champagne district, and the Chateau Pommery is arguably the most interesting of the many producers nearby. Its buildings are an eclectic mix of fairytale architecture that reflects the highly original mind of Madame Louise Pommery, the widow of founder Alexandre Pommery. It was Madame Pommeryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vision to purchase chalk and limestone pits that dated back to the Romans, and created from them cellars expansive enough to store and age over twenty million temperature-controlled bottles. It was also Madame Pommery who com-

&KDWHDX 3RPPHU\ 5HLPV

&KDJDOO ZLQGRZV &DWKHGUDO RI 1RWUH 'DPH GH 5HLPV missioned artful bas-reliefs for the cave walls that are now a signature feature of this subterranean fantasy. While there have been vineyards in this part of France since the time of the Romans, sparkling wines did not come of age until centuries later. Winemakers in Champagne had long considered the bubbles in their wine to be a fault, but when sparkling wines became popular

in British high society, the fashion jumped the channel to become the drink of choice for French royalty. It was not until the 1800â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s that winemakers finally learned to control the fermentation process, and technology that allowed the production of bottles which could withstand the pressure of carbonation. In the early part of the twentieth century, the

&KDWHDX 3RPPHU\ 5HLPV

&KDWHDX 3RPPHU\ WDVWLQJ URRP 5HLPV

champagne industry was threatened by setbacks including vineyard blight, rioting growers, and the loss of the Russian market to the revolution and the American market to Prohibition.Â Production was also stifled by two World Wars. Througt it all French champagne managed to survive, and the proof is, of course, in the tasting! The cathedral is about six miles from the train station, and Chateau Pommery is less than two miles from the cathedral.

Antonio RamblĂŠs

Saw you in the Ojo 13

UUNCOMMON NCOM MM MON CCOMMON OM MM MON SSENSE ENSE %\ %LOO )UD\HU ELOOIUD\HU#JPDLO FRP The Individuation of Poverty

here is considerable talk these days about the growing income inequality in the world, particularly in the United States. The problem with this issue, for many people, especially those who are living in a comfortable retirement or who have decent jobs, is that it is somewhat abstract. We can all look at charts which demonstrate that the top 1% of people control a vast amount of the capital and wealth in the country. We can shake our heads and consider this very unfortunate. We often focus on the effect this has on our political system. The New York Times recently reported that less than 160 wealthy families contributed half the money to fund presidential candidates. This economic inequality is rapidly transforming the United States into an oligarchy. However, there is another effect of the transfer of wealth to fewer and fewer families. The social contract which used to work to help mitigate economic hardship is fraying. This is occurring in the United States, I think, more than in Western Europe and Canada. This is because of the extreme focus on individual freedom and choice in the US. The flip side of this libertarian culture is the individuation of poverty. The collective support systems to work for income fairness and to provide a safety net for those less fortunate is fraying. Consider the precipitous decline in labor unions. Across all sectors, union membership is declining. Without the protection of collective bargaining agreements, the power is shifting back to those who control

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

%LOO )UD\HU the means of production. Workers are left to get by on lower pay and lousy benefits. I often think, perhaps mistakenly, that it may be somewhat easier to be poor in Mexico than in the US. Mexican families have a stronger tradition of looking out for family members who are suffering from economic hardship. The social structure in the US is all about individual responsibility. If you are poor in the United States, you are basically on your own. The ongoing debate in the US, far from settled, is about the minimum wage. It’s about raising the pay of the poorest workers so they can presumably take care of themselves. It is rarely about providing a safety net for everyone. Meanwhile, many workers in the lowest quintile in the US, 67 million people, survive by shopping at Wal Mart, using hospital emergency rooms as their primary medical caregivers, and buying a disproportionate share of the lottery tickets, hoping to win their way out of poverty. We have essentially cut these people loose to fend for themselves. Without affordable higher education, universal health care, reasonable daycare opportunities, and jobs that pay a living wage, many working poor are trapped in and blamed for their poverty. In the words of sociologist Nicolai Genov, “Placing an excessive stress on the expansion of rights and freedoms of individuals by disregarding or underrating the concomitant rise of individual responsibilities brings about social pathologies. They undermine solidarity as the glue of social life.” For all the talk of gun rights, property rights, privacy rights, and other individualistic concerns, what’s happened to the commitment of all society to the common good? It is popular to blame the people who use the meager welfare benefits available. “Get a job! It’s your responsibility to take care of yourself! I shouldn’t have to pay for your food and lodging!” It’s a popular notion among many, oversimplistic but easy. It’s every man for himself. Sounds good, perhaps, but it ain’t working!

Saw you in the Ojo 15

/,9,1* //$5*( ,,1 //,0%2 %\ .HOO\ 5DLWW +D\HV

When Girl Beats Boy

he first time I was hit by a man, I'd hit first. We were standing in his kitchen, in a heated argument and he said something rude. Tongue-tied, I responded the way I'd seen women from Scarlett O'Hara to Cher in Moonstruck ("snap out of it") respond: I slapped him across the face. He slapped back. Hard. Perhaps in my anger, I, too, had slapped harder than I'd intended. We each took a step back. From the beginning, our relationship had been out of balance. I was 23 and this was my first "real" relationship. He was much older and, as an accomplished trial law-

yer, much more articulate than I was. For a nanosecond, slapping him made me feel powerful. Although I've never hit anyone since, I immediately understood the seduction of how physical violence could make a woman feel in control. Unfortunately, I’m not alone. According to a study published in the American Journal of Public Health, “Men and women initiate violence against an intimate partner at approximately the same rate.” In instances where one partner initiated violence and the other withdrew, the instigator was the woman 71% of the time. But my partner had hit back. We were both victims…and

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

we were both abusers. Statistically, more men than women get hurt by their partners, but more women get hurt more seriously. Since female victims are three times more likely to get hospitalized – or worse, killed – by their partners, the impact of domestic violence on male victims is masked. According to the National Violence Against Women Survey, more than 830,000 men fall victim to domestic violence every year. (This doesn’t include child abuse or elder abuse. “Domestic violence” is now referred to as “intimate partner violence” to make the distinction.) That means one in three intimate partner violence victims is male. However, the vast majority of resources allocated to assisting domestic violence victims is allocated toward women, says family law attorney David Pisarra. He knows of only one domestic violence shelter in Los Angeles County, for example, that accepts men. He’s lobbying the County Domestic Violence Counsel, a taxpayer funded board of shelters and counseling providers, to conduct a study to determine the number of male domestic violence victims, the barriers they encounter when attempting to receive services and how those barriers differ from what battered women and children face. “One of the problems we have with domestic violence is talking about it,” Pisarra notes, “because it’s so slippery. People flip from victim to abuser and abuser to victim. [Furthermore,] are we talking about emotional, psychological, financial, or physical [abuse]? [Without a clear picture,] we’re trying to nail Jell-O to the wall.” Pisarra is so disturbed by the lack of support for male domestic violence victims, he’s creating a documentary called What About the Men? Exploring the Hidden Side of Domestic Violence.

“She stalked my social media,” Tommy says in the documentary, referring to his ex-partner. “She [found where I was staying,] showed up at 4:00 in the morning and punched the sh*t out of me. It feels powerless when you are wrapped up in the tornado. You don’t really understand what’s going on or why. I got out of the relationship, but I wasn’t allowed to leave,” the burly man confesses. It’s hard to imagine anyone – much less a woman – beating up this man. Yet, if we argue that women are capable of serving in combat, then we should accept that women can be, and are, capable of intimate partner violence – and should be treated equally. “If the [gender] roles were reversed, she’d be incarcerated,” observes Tommy. “If she was the man, and I was the woman, [with] the things she’s done to me, I would be locked up. Women, they get a pass.” Men have to learn to speak up, and society has to learn to listen to them. “I’m 240 pounds and covered in tattoos and I’m going to walk into a courtroom and tell the judge this 140-pound girl beat me up?” Tommy rhetorically asks. During the last two generations, we’ve seen powerful campaigns to teach men, police officers and the public that it’s unacceptable for a man to hit his partner. But those efforts are undercut by a gender double-standard that applauds women slapping men in movies, allows disgruntled girlfriends to stalk and threaten their partners, and cheers vengeful ex-wives who dismember their spouses. If we don’t accept “she deserved it” as justification for assaulting a woman, then how can we smugly shrug “well, he had it coming to him?” If violence is wrong, then it’s wrong no matter which partner or parent is perpetrating it. Every 15 seconds somewhere in America a woman is the victim of domestic violence, while every 38 seconds a man is. Isn’t it time we stop the clock? (Ed. Note: This column first appeared in The Argonaut newspaper in Los Angeles, CA. To learn more about What About the Men?, visit indiegogo.com/campaigns/whatabout-the-menthe-hidden-side-ofdv Kelly Hayes-Raitt writes a regular column in The Argonaut and blogs at www.LivingLar- Kelly RaittgeInLimbo.com. Hayes

Saw you in the Ojo 17

THE MIRASOL REDEMPTION $ 1RYHO E\ $QWRQLR 5DPEOpV 5HYLHZHG E\ 0DUJDUHW 9DQ (YHU\

f you hear the word Weatherman and think first of the turbulent 60s and 70s, then you will value this novel, which is not so much about the storm when it raged, but the aftermath and how it drastically shaped the lives of several Movement activists for decades to come. Antonio Rambles’ book thoughtfully considers what happened to four individuals who paid a huge price for their passion for bringing about socio-political change. The narrative relates the consequences of their commitment and their choice to remain fugitives for the rest of their lives rather than pay what they considered an unfair debt to society serving prison time. Hiding in a small Huichol village near the coastal town of San Sebastián, Mexico, they stumble into a life happily in accordance with their values and that allows them to apply their training as a doctor and nurse, running a clinic serving the largely forgotten indigenous inhabitants. We see the nuts and bolts of fugitive life, its incessant fear of discovery, its unrelenting tedium. Some 35 years roll by in this existence sequestered from the world. Most of us would rather have chosen the prison term. They have no social life, television, films, computer, recent books or magazines. They have meticulously cut themselves off from the world to the point of having their own twins raised in the States by family. Ramblés is a masterful story teller. He successfully applies to this novel the technique he managed so skillfully in his collection of short stories Laguna Tales: The Lure of Lake Chapala. His approach is to weave alternating threads of each of the main characters’ past and present so that the final tapestry emerges piecemeal, chapter by chapter, at times a bit disorienting to the reader (think Faulkner) but an ambiguity that goads the reader to seek resolution. Historical markers and music of the times anchor us chronologically, help us recall what we were doing as the characters live their own lives. What the characters have in common is their involvement in the Movement, their presence in Chicago at the time of the Democratic Convention in Chicago in 1968, and the shared life as fugitives in Mexico. What could possibly have brought about the redemption referenced in

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

the book’s title? Short of spoiling the plot, I will say that the teenage boy Ricardo, raised by the protagonists, inherits their passion for social justice and becomes an activist in the fishing community of Mirasol. He brings about desired change through peaceful protest in contrast to the kind of activism that brought his parents to Mexico. This novel flows seamlessly and keeps us involved, even across decades when very little happens. That requires a deft narrative knack. Nonetheless, sometimes I craved less detachment and more emotion in the telling. The character imbued with the most winsome persona, to my mind, is the teenage boy discovering the emotion of finding first love, experiencing sex and the joy of asserting newfound power as he becomes a man and forges his future. The book avoids direct philosophizing but by implication prompts us to ask ourselves probing moral, political, and social questions—namely what might we have done under similar circumstances, what means are most effective in bringing about social change, how much would we be willing to risk for our beliefs, and what is most important in life and how we choose to live it. The Mirasol Redemption is available on Amazon in paperback ($9.99) and on Kindle ($2.99), Free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers. Margaret Van Every

Saw you in the Ojo 19

A CHRISTMAS TREE IN N THE DESERT %\ .DWK\ .RFKHV

t was cold; freezing rain, snow, black ice. A typical Pacific Northwest winter, and I wanted to escape. Back then we were D.I.N.K.S. (double income-no kids) and were able to take off on a moment’s notice. “Let’s go find some sun,” my husband said when he returned home after a long night’s work. We knew the rest of the family had its own plans for Christmas, and decided it was our chance to get away. We made our reservations, packed our shorts and swimsuits, and soon were boarding the plane for Palm Springs, the desert playground of the Hollywood set. We were staying at The Autry Hotel, owned by the “singing cowboy” Gene Autry, who had first recorded “Rudolph the RedNosed Reindeer.” What a Christmas this would be! Our first clue that this vacation might not go exactly as planned was when we exited the Palm Springs airport. Expecting sunshine and warm temperatures, we were a bit taken aback to see everyone bundled up in winter clothing. “Must be what Californian’s wear when it dips below 75 degrees,” we thought. We still had on our jackets from Portland, so did not pay much attention to the temperature. We checked into our hotel, changed into our swimsuits, and went

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

in search of the pool. As the doors slid open to the pool area, we were met with a blast of frigid air, and immediately saw the steam rising from the hot tub. “What in the world was going on?” we wondered. The pool had tiny chucks of ice floating on the water, and we quickly immersed ourselves up to our noses in the steamy water of the hot tub. We did not stay long, however, and ran back to our room to warm up and get dry. We turned the TV to a local news channel and found that Palm Springs was experiencing the coldest winter on record—there even were icicles on the orange trees! This was Christmas Eve—carols were playing throughout the hotel, and we had a lovely dinner in the dining room, even having a chance to meet Mrs. Autry. I thought I was going to be fine with all of this, but after dinner, when we returned to our plain, drab, room, the “Christmas Blues” struck me with a vengeance. I had never been away from my children at Christmas since the day they were born, and even though they were both grown now, I missed them terribly. I began to cry and wailed “We don’t even have a Christmas tree!” Now I am a “Holiday Person,” through and through, and while he is not quite Mr. Scrooge, my husband’s attitude towards holidays was he could take them or leave them. (He

has since come around to my way of thinking after 30 years together–or at least he pretends to like them.) But he wanted me to be happy. So at 10:00 pm on Christmas Eve, he packed me into the car and we drove around Palm Springs, looking for anything that might still be open. We spotted a Safeway and pulled into the lot. I jumped out and ran into the store, heading straight to the garden section hoping to find a tree. Yep, they had them; three to be exact. Tiny, pathetic little trees in flower pots, maybe eight inches tall. “I’ll take it!” I told the tired-looking clerk, and went in search of a string of tiny lights and some tiny decorations. We packed up our treasures and once back in our room set up our little tree. NOW it looked like Christmas. We each placed our gift to the other under (well actually beside) that tiny tree. I was crying again, but this time with tears of joy that someone loved me enough to make sure I had a Christmas tree and wanted to put a smile on my face that long ago Christmas Eve. Kathy Koches

Saw you in the Ojo 21

FRONT ROW CENTER %\ 0LFKDHO :DUUHQ Stepping Out %\ 5LFKDUG +DUULV 'LUHFWHG E\ $QQ 6ZLVWRQ

tepping Out was produced in 1984 in the West End, London, where it received the Evening Standard Comedy of the Year Award. Actually I find that strange, because the play is entertaining but it’s not really a comedy. The play concerns eight individuals from disparate backgrounds and with differing motivations who attend the same weekly tap dancing class in a dingy church hall. Despite the students at first treating the classes as social occasions, and showing little co-ordination, they later develop an impressive level of skill. I enjoyed the evening and the cast did a very good job learning to tap dance as well as acting their parts. For almost everyone, this was their first acting role and they all performed well. Val Jones was excellent and in character as “Mavis” the instructor, as she does teach tap dance classes in Ajijic. And Judy Hendrick, who plays piano for many LLT productions, was good in her role as the grouchy class pianist “Mrs Fraser.” Congratulations to the students – you came across as real people learning to tap dance and at the same time escaping from a difficult or humdrum existence. Thank you – Allyson de Jong, Maritza Freyslinger, D’Le Beatty Tobias, Joanne Stuart, Flemming Halby, Alexis Hoff, Tina Leonard, and Curly Lieberman. I should also mention Dave McIntosh who made the most of a cameo role as the caretaker. I did wish that we could have known the characters better. Each had a story

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

to tell, but the author avoided telling it and as a result there was little depth or tension to the play. At one point “Geoffrey,” who is painfully shy and is the only male in the class, is pressed to talk about himself and he shouts “You don’t know anything about me!” Unfortunately, we don’t and we never do. I guess it would have been a different sort of play, but it certainly could have been more interesting. At the end of the play, the class gives a performance at a charity event and we get to see the final glitzy show. It’s rewarding and emotional and, after all the hard work, it makes a great ending. Alexis Hoff was responsible for the Choreography for the entire play. The costumes were suitably glamorous for the show, and Wardrobe did a good job throughout. Thanks to Sherolyn Gregory and Paulette Coburn – you came up with some sharp outfits. This play was something different from the usual fare at LLT, and Ann Swiston and her team did a professional job. Win McIntosh was Stage Manager and Candace Luciano was Assistant Director. Next up is Rumors – an elegant farce by Neil Simon, directed by Paul Kloegman. It opens on December 4 and runs through December 13. Michael Warren

Saw you in the Ojo 23

CHAPULTEPEC %\ 1RUPDQ =ROOLQJHU %RRN 5HYLHZ E\ $OLFH +DWKDZD\

y vague e knowledge of Mexican history in the time of Maximilian has been greatly improved by reading Chapultepec, a recently published histori-cal novel that puts fictional al al characters in the right placee at the right time to interact with th real people during critical events. What a painless way to get the facts! Captain Jason Jeremiah James, an American volunteer in the fabled French Foreign Legion, came to Mexico in 1862 with the Intervention Force sent by Napoleon III to establish a Catholic Latin Empire in Mexico. Fifteen years earlier James had fought with the 4th Kansas Rifles at Chapultepec when General Scott’s US invasion forces defeated a weakened Mexico barely recovering from its War of lndependence from Spain. Another American citizen, Paris-

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

educated Sarah Kent Anderson, has arrived in Mexico to look after her dead brother’s silver mines at Zacatecas. She was a school chum of the Empress Carlota, and is persuaded to join the royal court in Mexico City as a Lady- inWaiting. Thus the author puts his fictional characters into the thick of things as Maximilian von Hapsburg, Archduke of Austria, Emperor I of Mexico, manages to botch the royal regime imposed on Mexico by the French, alienating not only the Indian electors of President Benito Juarez, but also the Catholic

hierarchy in Mexico, and the French Army that was sent to back him up. Carlota returns to France in a vain attempt to persuade Napoleon not to abandon her husband. Juarez’s Republican army of irregulars pushed north all the way to El Paso, make a rapid return to Mexico City when thousands of French troops are withdrawn, leaving a weak Conservative Army to fight its own battles against the more determined Republicans. Sarah Anderson’s growing attraction toward Jason James and her recognition of the injustice done to Mexican democracy by the Emperor and Empress she loves, leave her confused and unsure of where her loyalties should lie. Minor characters are well drawn and add color to the story. The author’s skill at placing them where the action is moves the plot at a fairly rapid pace. The fictional love story almost gets lost in the drama of its setting. Those were turbulent times. While the United States was fighting its Civil War to determine the right of states to maintain a policy of slave ownership, Mexico was fighting its own civil war over the human rights of peons and miners who were virtual slaves to hacendados and mine owners. European monarchs were competing among themselves to enlarge their widespread empires with territorial grabs wherever they saw weakness. Napoleon III wanted to restore and extend the Roman Empire and King Leopold of Belgium coveted the mineral wealth of under-developed regions. Chapultepec tells a fascinating story that sheds light on the tragedy of naive, well-meaning Maximilian’s threeyear reign, an ill-conceived appointment that was doomed from the start. Zollinger’s research is impressive and he has written a novel that illuminates the characters of the men and women who made that period of Mexican history so dramatic.

Saw you in the Ojo 25

BRIDGE BY THE LAKE %\ .HQ 0DVVRQ

Fishermen are noted for their tall tales about the enormous catch they didn’t quite land and which they blithely refer to as “The one that got away”. I had some sympathy for them when I almost, but not quite, landed the doubled contract in this month’s diagram. In a game played at the Lake Chapala Duplicate Bridge Club in Riberas I opened the South hand one spade in third seat. West, holding a

20 high card point hand, might have bid 2 spades, Michaels Cue Bid, to show hearts and an unspecified minor, or even made a takeout double but instead chose to simply overcall 2 hearts. Herself, sitting North, passed as a “free bid” of 2 spades would have overstated her holding. East similarly was happy to pass with his paltry collection and when the auction came back to me I felt my hand

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

was strong enough to venture a 2 spade bid. West was not done as she showed her second suit at the three level. Herself now judged, correctly, that her hand had improved to the point where she could show her spade support so she chimed in with 3 spades. In my usual over-optimistic fashion I saw this as a challenge to play in the major suit game and bid 4 spades. With her fine collection of high cards, West lowered the boom with a penalty double as I thought I detected a look of bewilderment from my long-suffering partner. West led the diamond ace and when she saw a singleton in the dummy switched to the club ace and then king which I ruffed. I paused to consider my options and saw that there were some possibilities of making this contract. If the opponents’ spades were divided 2-2 or 3-1 with a singleton queen and I could somehow ruff 3 diamonds in dummy and score the heart Ace that would amount to 10 tricks. I now played a low diamond towards the dummy and when West followed with the king I ruffed with a low spade. Back to my hand with the heart Ace to lead another low

diamond. This time West ruffed with the spade 8 and I over-ruffed with the 9 to play another club towards my hand which I trumped to play yet another diamond. West discarded a heart and I won with dummy’s last trump. Next came a heart back ruffed by a low spade in my hand for my seventh trick. My last four cards were the spade ace, king and jack and the diamond jack. I now exited with my last diamond and hoped that East would win and be forced into playing a card that would be useful to me. But when he played the spade 2 I rose with my ace as West showed out and I had to concede one more trick to East’s trump queen. Where did I go wrong? The bidding and early play showed West with at least five hearts and at least four clubs plus exactly 2 diamonds leaving her with a maximum of 2 trumps. If one of her trumps was the queen, wouldn’t she have ruffed with it earlier to ensure it scored a trick? Questions or comments: email: masson.ken@ gmail.com Ken Masson

Saw you in the Ojo 27

Hearts at Work $ &ROXPQ E\ -LP 7LSWRQ “…more than just a physical adventure.”

n high school, I read Henry David Thoreau’s classic essay, “Walking,” which was first published in Atlantic Monthly in 1862. Thoreau offers in this essay his thoughts on how to use walking to return to the soul, particularly the “wild” soul. Few people have “a genius, so to speak, for sauntering, a word whose genealogy he traces to the Sainte-Terrers, those in the Middle Ages who journeyed to the Holy Land. Thoreau insists that “the walking of which I speak has nothing in it akin to taking exercise, as it is called, as the sick take medicine at stated hours,--as the swinging of dumb-bells or chairs; but is itself the enterprise and adventure of the day. Of his fellow townsmen who sit in their shops not only all morning but all afternoon as well, Thoreau declares, “I think that they deserve some credit for not having all committed suicide long ago.” I have been enthralled by books and diaries about foot journeysarduous journeys or survival journeys, some taken voluntarily, others involuntarily, but always journeys that challenged one’s self at the very core. Into a Desert Place by Graham Mackintosh chronicles the author’s year-long, three-thousand-mile solo walk around Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, struggling with the sun beating harshly upon his fair Scottish complexion, fighting off scorpions, rattlesnakes, thirst. The Man Who Walked Through Time is Colin Fletcher’s account of his journey through the Grand Canyon, largely alone, enduring two months of struggle to become the first man to walk the entire length. Cindy Ross, who after walking the length of the Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia, walked the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada, documenting her Pacific Crest Trail travels in a diary-like book, Journey on the Crest: Walking 2600 Miles from Mexico to Canada, interesting in part because of her temporary but satisfying relationships with people she met both

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

on the trail and in the small towns along the trail. Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage, by Alfred Lansing, details months of arduous walking through severe Antarctic conditions that tested the endurance of Captain Ernest Shackleton and his twenty-seven men. In 1915, stranded in the Antarctic after their ship became impossibly lodged in ice 1200 miles south of the southernmost tip of South America, they were forced to mostly walk, dragging their little boats, that carried very limited provisions, to a tiny island two-hundred-and-fifty miles west, a courageous journey that lasted almost two years. And every man returned home to tell about it. In 1977 and 1978, Naomi James became the first woman to sail alone around the world, actually beating Sir Francis Chichester’s record for speed. For 271 days she lived, moved, and walked on a 53 foot yacht, her movements attuned to the movement of the sea. On land during a three-day stay in Capetown, she writes in Alone Around the World, “I could feel the motion of Crusader under my feet, and the floor of the restaurant felt very hard and blunt, almost as if it was striking my feet when I walked.” These incredible adventures do have spiritual consequences on the participants. To Graham Mackintosh, “It has been more than just a physical adventure. Baja gave me an intermittent, fleeting glance into another world; not just a world of columned cacti and strange creatures, but a world of spiritual experience a thousand times more different than my old rational, logical, scientific

conception of reality…. “ Colin Fletcher, at the beginning of his Grand Canyon book, writes, “I saw that by going down into that huge fissure in the face of the earth deep into the space and the silence and the solitude, I might be coming as close as we can at present to moving back and down through the smooth and apparently impenetrable face of time.” In her diary, Cindi Ross writes: “For nearly half a year I’ve walked the length of California, discovering its mountains, meadows towns and people. The Pacific Crest Trail, a line

of dirt in the earth, asks nothing of us. It is silent, immobile, indifferent, yet everything experienced along its course is intricately connected to life.” These are all wonderful journeys, but in the next “Hearts at Work,” I will explore equally wonderful journeys, walks closer to home, the little pilgrimages, perhaps even a walk to the grocery, that we can take every day to the Holy Land inside of us. Jim Tipton

Saw you in the Ojo 29

PROFILING TEPEHUA %\ 0RRQ\HHQ .LQJ President of the Board for Tepehua

PRRQLH #\DKRR FRP

Jose Antonio Jimenez Aguilar: a Success Story

aised in hard times, he was the eldest of six children. Life had him out of school and picking tomatoes at the age of twelve. In the brutal heat of summers in the field, he dreamed of being an Electrical Engineer. His parents, Jose and Maria Luisa, born of simple stock, were good people but the family was overwhelmed by poverty in the little town of El Chante. Against all odds, he went back to school after six years, and paid to own his dream. He married his childhood sweetheart, Natalia, who gave him a son now aged 13. Many others achieve their dreams, but not many want to share their good fortune with those less fortunate. Antonio wanted to give back to society and honor his mother and her life struggle raising six children. Antonio became President of a little-known organization called H.O.W. AC (Health Outreach for Women). Benefactors in the state, who wished to remain anonymous, acquired a van and soon Antonio was on the road with two nurses taking maternal health care to isolated villages around the lake. In affiliation with the Tepehua Community Center´s free clinic and Sylvia Flores of CEDEJO women’s clinic, postnatal and prenatal care, family planning and cancer checks were taken to those areas where maternal health, controlled by

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

poverty, has never been available. The gentlemen north of the border are leaving huge footprints in the sand as they quietly help change attitudes about women’s health, an awareness that change is needed to lower the high mortality rate of women and their infants. Poor women cannot get to the only free hospitals available in Guadalajara as bus fare and test costs are prohibitive. H.O.W. also supports the maintenance of the Maternal Mobile Unit, paying for diesel fuel, insurance and the two nurses’ compensation for their work each time they make a trip (about four times a week). They go to a different village each time. They are quiet heroes, like Antonio, who wish to give back to women in need. The Mobile Unit will also work closely with the almost-finished Maternal Health Center in Tepehua. It will bring in the women from isolated areas for sonogram checks, cancer and prenatal and postnatal care. The Tepehua laboratory will screen all the pap smears and blood tests, cutting the costs to almost nothing and eliminating the arduous trip to Guadalajara for the women. At the moment, the cost of a sonogram is between $450 and $650 pesos in the “free” hospitals. This makes the whole trip prohibitive. This joint effort of non-profit organizations has been a long time coming, but working together will double the benefit to the people in need, and will bring support to the other barrios that have never had it before. The author salutes the young of Mexico, like Antonio, like the volunteer interns in the Tepehua medical and dental clinics, still alive with idealistic dreams of a better world. And it will be. Unless the village women are taken care of, society loses 50% of the work force, has a bigger pocket of poverty and a shrinking middle class. In such an unbalanced society the economy of the village will never be stable. The educated youth now emerging in ever growing numbers in every barrio will not only see change, they will be the authors of change. This world is already a better place.

Saw you in the Ojo 31

DEAR PORTIA Advice to the Lovelorn, the Drastically Distracted and the Deeply Disgruntled

ear Portia, With the Ho HoHoHo of the Holidays upon us, I want to know if sex toys are an appropriate gift for elderly friends. I have seen some hilarious ones that should be useful on so many levels! May I splurge?? Gifter Dear Gifter, I extol your exuberance, admire your adventurousness and hail your humorous impulse. One word of caution though. Might your gifts be interpreted as overtures? Are you ready for that? On the other hand, maybe that’s what you meant in the first place. Having a natural proclivity for the absurd, and knowing that you have no control over the way others may react, I suggest full steam ahead. Worst case scenario, you will add to the stash of re-gifting items your friends have gathered, and they never talk to you again. Still, there’s every chance that your New Year will vibrate with new and interesting energies. Dear Portia, I went to a local church to see a movie, and was approached by a lady who asked me to join the organization. She told me I would have to attend weekly worship, regular luncheons and go on outings twice a month. It’s a nice place, but I really don’t want to put all my excess

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

The New Portia! capital in one basket. What to do? Basket Case Dear Basket Case, Like any small business, churches depend on return customers, preferably big spending ones. While a retailer is dependent on customer satisfaction and good will to attract participants, some organizations seem more coercive. No worries! They may not even notice your lack of participation. Also, in a community of elders, you can posit various abstruse health limitations that would preclude your total immersion. Or rather than letting fear guide you, jump in with both feet, be your sullen judgmental self, and you’ll probably be sidelined before you know it. In the meantime you will have met a variety of strangely wonderful people, and maybe you’ll see movies and have popcorn at the same time. ‘Tis the Season… Dear Readers: Portia’s email is portiaojodellago@gmail.com. Please gift her your knarliest problems. She’ll have the best New Year ever!

Saw you in the Ojo 33

Birth Of An Avocado %\ 7HUL 6D\D

RASH! My y e eyes yes n, and and pop open, orr my y I reach for ll b utt Te-Bo stick, a small but k handy weapon I keep ay next to the bed. I llay w e still in the darknesss while listening for more sounds rglar foolish of the clumsy burglar enough to park over our courtyard wall in the middle of the night. My husband wears earplugs and continues to snore softly. The dog has perked her ears up but is not interested enough to drag herself out of bed. Hearing nothing further, I silently crawl out of bed and tiptoe to the window that faces the courtyard. With the full moon and eerie glow from the streetlights, it’s pretty bright out there. I look for movement in the shadows and broken pottery. I see neither. I glide through the quiet house with weapon in hand, peeking into each room and at last, checking the locks on the doors. Everything seems to be in order. Then, what the heck was that noise? It had sounded like a clay pot being knocked over. Maybe it was in the neighbor’s yard, and they have a clumsy burglar or a stray cat? I go back to bed, put my Te-Bo stick back in its place and fall asleep. The next morning, I go out and check the courtyard. In the farthest corner, on top of a small table under the tall avocado tree, I find the broken shards of a ceramic plate I had placed there the night before. In the middle

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

of the shards lay of a perfect, large, dark green avocado. I look up into the tree; its broad lle leaves obscuring view of any ing more g green bombs. I pick up the avocado and move out of target range. The tree had been planted six years earlier by our neighbor and friend, Chone—an older gentleman who had a habit of rising early in the morning to sweep the sidewalk and street in front of his and our homes. He always had a cigarette hanging from his lips and was full of information about the neighborhood. He would bring us things like a bag of oranges, cookies, chayote’s, and the best spicy sausages I had ever tasted! My husband knew him much longer that I had, and he told me how Chone would look after the place whenever he had to go back to the states to work. One year after my husband had retired and we had permanently moved to Mexico, the familiar swish, swish of the broom Chone used every morning went silent. He had died in his sleep. We missed him terribly. It was strange a few days later to come across a photo of him on Google Earth’s street level view standing there in front of our home with his broom in hand. Even a year after his death, every once in a while, we hear someone sweeping our sidewalk early in the morning, but when we go to see who it is, there’s no one there. The avocado seed that Chone had planted in our courtyard had become a fifteen-foot shade tree that never produced fruit until now. When we both saw that new avocado, we were thrilled that our tree had finally given birth, and we thought of Chone shaking that tree to let us know he’s Teri Saya still around.

Small Altarss Where the Sun Perfforms Mornin ng Serrvice e %\ -RKQ 7KRPDV 'RGGV 5HYLHZHG E\ 0DUJDUHW 9DQ (YHU\

ohn Thomas Dodds’s most recent book is a collection of paeans to a woman of flesh who embodies for the poet a holy spirit that connects him to himself and to the universe. These poems are a celebration of transformation from the ordinary to the sublime through love. As his title says, “together our bodies/are small altars” where a daily morning service is performed. Through these poems the reader experiences the exultation of the poet’s union with the divine. Dodds designed the evocative cover himself, using a photo of Lake Chapala at sunrise. The scene is bathed in the rosy glow that happens briefly every morning to remind mortals of the sacredness of ritual renewal. With drooping wings, a bird is suspended in the golden sky with the wing tips down. Like the bird, we are caught in the ambiguity of existence, rising and falling, sometimes indistinguishably. The language of Dodds’ poems is natural and spontaneous, the simple words of everyday parlance. Artless expression is not automatic, however, and is far more difficult to achieve than it appears. Dodds is a poet who does it well and is able at the same time to preserve the rhythm. Some of the poems hint of the concise perfection of short form Oriental poetry. In this volume, the first line, always italicized, constitutes each poem’s title. One of my favorite poems breaks from Dodds’ theme of worshipful lover in praise of the beloved. Here he praises the legacy she leaves to her son as the emblematic woman. let your silk dust/leave a fine lace layer/on your son’s life/ that he will always trace/your name upon/ let your breath leave a mist/on the window/he views all women from Some of these poems express the poet’s whimsical musings: I made love to you/as you walked/ towards me/ in my mind you were embarrassed/ but you smiled Or this amusing example, which is one of the few that rhyme—a clever epigram: the world as we know it/is subtly showing/a little thigh/

and what to our/short sighted surprise/cataracts and all/might we suddenly surmise/ there’s more to it/than meets the eye Some poems tend to be meditations on how to best live: on average the only things/we’ll pass along/will be the kindness we’ve given away/ without even noticing/a kindness received/and carried forward/ well beyond the marker/of our lifetime/well into the hereafter An exquisite tribute to the beauty of the sleeping woman: winter has a way/of moving a chill/ through the veins/of early mornings/ the soft pumping/of your heart/is music enough/to warm this man/ winter needs only lean/across your sleep to thaw The object of Dodds’s devotion in real life is a visual artist. I particularly like how the two art forms become one and interchangeable in this poem: I have all these/unfinished word paintings/ in notepads/on napkins/in files/on the computer/ if only I could/with a brush stroke/lay them visible to the ear I suggest that you open your ear to the visible, sweet contagion of Dodds’poetry. Allow yourself to be carried away, beguiled, and lifted high on the altar of Margaret Van Every love.

Saw you in the Ojo 35

/,)( 8 81'(5 1 1,.//$, & &($86(6&8 %\ &DURO / %RZPDQ

ntil now, any mention of ‘Romania’ triggered images in my mind of Dracula’s castle in Transylvania and roving bands of gypsies. Truth is, the ‘Dracula’ who spent time in a Romanian castle was mid-15th century, imprisoned Vlad, the Impaler, not Bram Stoker’s famed vampire of 1897. Communist propagandists invented the myth to attract regional tourists and it stuck. Westerners still believe it. Gypsies, known by the politically correct term ‘Roma’, originated in India, but who knew? False premises slipped away as I stood on Romanian soil, when I learned of her people’s struggles, when grave realities replaced ‘tourist tales.’ A steady drizzle dampened the colorless façade of a communist-era apartment building, with its crumbling concrete and rusted window

frames. Un-mowed lawns, weeds three feet high and wild bushes reflected a city that had not yet rebounded from chaos. Sheltered by umbrellas, we gathered beside what used to be the Communist Central Committee Building in Bucharest, Romania to hear a survivor’s account of ‘life under Nikolai Ceausescu.’ Having visited nine post Eastern Bloc countries, we had come to expect bleak recollections from the citizens.

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

Edmund, a stalwart looking man, arrived on site and shared events that changed his life 25 years earlier, at the age of 15. His tales of oppression, which would have collided with blue skies, mirrored the grey atmosphere. Edmund revealed that Romania’s people led the only rebellion of the European Communist countries to forcefully overthrow its leader. On December 21, 1989, just steps away from our meeting place, the simmering revolution to overthrow the megalomaniacal leader, Nikolai Ceausescu brewed in Palace Square. From the balcony of the Central Committee Building, the brutal Party Leader had ordered the assembly of 100,000 Bucharest citizens to condemn the uprising against him a few days earlier. But rather than rally support for him, the crowd booed and hissed, waved protest signs defending the revolt, and boldly cut out the Communist shield from the center of their national flag. Young Edmund stood at the front of the throng, along with several of his teenage friends and brazenly wore Romania’s colors over his shoulders, his head poking through the space that once paid tribute to Communism. The embers of discontent burst into flame. The president and his equally tyrannical wife, Elena, unable to quell the cries for revolution, escaped from the terrace. “Shots rang out. The Securitate, the Secret Police, sprayed the crowd with bullets,” said Edmund, as he pulled a pouch from his rain jacket and unfolded that very national banner with the hole in the center. “My best friend took a slug and died next to me, clutching onto this flag,” he said. “The next day, after protesters stormed the Central Committee Building, Ceausescu and his wife fled by helicopter,” continued Edmund. “The pilot, realizing the revolution had spread, landed near Travosite. A local doctor, promising the pair safe haven, instead took them to an agricultural center and locked them inside an office.

On Christmas,1989, a hastily assembled Liberation Military Tribunal conducted a two-hour trial and convicted the pair of genocide and abuse of power. Both faced execution by firing squad before day’s end.” Edmund smiled at the remembrance of that Christmas gift given to the Romanian people. Twenty-two years of repression extinguished in under a minute. I felt drawn to Edmund’s story and asked him to tell more about ‘life under Ceausescu.’ “Shortages of food and electricity, escalated during the ‘80s’. Ceausescu liquidated the nation’s 11 billion dollar debt by exporting all of the country’s manufactured goods, leaving the people with nothing,’ said Edmund. “I remember having to do my homework every night by candlelight, because the electricity was cut off after 8pm. The Party censored all news, movies and books and thousands of people, hoping to eke out an existence, acted as Secret Police informants, reporting any anti-Party activity. We hung close to Radio Free Europe,” Edmund continued, looking in the distance as if recapturing those difficult times. “Ceausescu demanded a rise in the national birthrate to expand his base of admiring comrades. Every woman of child-bearing age was expected to deliver five children and had to undergo regular gynecological exams, if she didn’t produce. Parents had nothing to feed these large families and our orphanages swelled.” Edmund’s voice turned softer, as the list of abuses grew stronger. “Ceausescu commanded that grandiose structures be erected in his honor. He forced Bucharest citizens, including children, to build without pay, the largest square foot civil building in the world, (3,700,000 square feet) the House of the Republic, today’s Palace of Parliament.” “The worst offense,” said Edmund, “occurred while constructing the ‘Danube to the Black Sea Canal’. The Secret Police gathered up tens of thousands of educators, businessmen, and those considered bourgeoisie by Ceausescu. He ordered them brought to the Canal site and forced them to dig, their enslavement kept secret from the world.” We stood before a man who had witnessed the toppling of a tyrant; who has used those past experiences to enlighten new generations of his people and to educate travelers about his country. The rain stopped and the greyness lifted. I will think of this scene the next time I hear ‘Romania.’ Carol L. Bowman

Saw you in the Ojo 37

CONSERVATIVE CONTRADICTIONS %\ )UHG 0LWWDJ

ne obvious manifestation of this conservative neurosis is the unusual degree of anger and hate they display. Who can forget Congressman Joe Wilson’s shout of “You lie!” to President Obama during his address to a joint session of Congress. Or Governor Jan Brewer wagging her finger in President Obama’s face. And so many other examples of the crude level of behavior to which conservatives have sunk. Rush Limbaugh called Sandra Fluke a prostitute and a slut. This is hate and anger at unusual levels, far beyond reasoned political debate. I think a lot of it is neurotic frustration over having a black president. I hypothesize that conservatives hate Obama because he’s black; therefore, their instinct is to destroy him. That’s the stimulus that comes from their hatred of him. The conflicting stimulus is that they can’t do it. Their fear of punishment is the stimulus that stops them. And so they suffer an unresolved conflict, no different in principle from the mouse that is rendered neurotic by whether to press the button with its nose. The mouse is torn between the stimulus of hunger and the stimulus of fear at a possible electric shock if it presses the button. Just as the mouse suffers agitated behavior from its neurosis, I think the result of the neurosis in conservatives is that it shuts down their brain. What else could explain a conservative saying that Arab terrorists are coming across the Mexican border posing as “wetbacks”? What else but an incapacitated brain could make a conservative believe Mexicans are bringing leprosy and Ebola to the United States? What else but a crippling neurosis could make Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) state in Congress that a warm pipeline in Alaska would encourage caribou to have romantic dates by the warmth of the pipeline and increase the caribou population? What else but neurosis could make conservatives believe Obama was born in Kenya? Also, that he’s a Communist Muslim? Nobody can believe these are normally functioning brains at work. In many cases, the coping mechanism for conservatives is cognitive dissonance. I think the evil they commit in various ways, including especially

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

racism and the economic damage done by conservative ideology, is too much for them to accept, and they just go into denial of their evil, reassured by their sitting in a church pew on Sunday morning. How can they be evil if they go to church? An appeal came from Congressman John Lewis this evening to sign a petition demanding that voting rights be reinstated. I was happy to sign it. He is a revered civil rights leader from the 60s who was beaten into a brain concussion by racist police. He said that Republican voter suppression resulted in the 2014 election having the lowest voter turnout in 72 years. That, of course, is exactly what the Republicans intended, so as to enhance their base of angry old white men. Voter suppression is also another expression of institutionalized racism, since it mostly targets minority voters. Rudy Giuliani’s statement that white policemen are needed in black neighborhoods to keep blacks from shooting each other is something that came back to my mind several times today. It seems like a bizarre thing for him to have said. And he repeatedly drove home the point that 93% of black murders are committed by other blacks. In his racism, it never occurred to him to wonder what percentage of white murders are committed by other whites. The answer is that it’s almost exactly the same percentage. According to Giuliani’s logic, black police officers should be sent into white neighborhoods to shoot white men and to keep whites from killing each other. Conservatives have never been accused of having critical thinking skills. To the contrary, they officially want to keep thinking out of our schools. It’s in the Texas State Republican Party’s platform. I kid you not. In a lifetime of being a student, a teacher – and I hope a lifelong learner – I could never possibly have believed I would live to see the day when the suppression of thinking skills became an official position of a political party. Thinking is the essence of what I have worked for my entire life. God help us. Fred Mittag

Saw you in the Ojo 39

POMP AND CEREMONY ʹ :ŽŶĂƚŚĂŶ ůĂŝƌ͕ ^ŽƵƚŚ ĨƌŝĐĂŶ ďŽƌŶ ĚŽĐƵŵĞŶƚĂƌǇ ĮůŵͲŵĂŬĞƌ ŝƐ ŝŶǀĞƐƚĞĚ ĂƐ Ă ŽŵŵĂŶĚĞƌ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ KƌĚĞƌ ŽĨ ƚŚĞ ƌŝƟƐŚ ŵƉŝƌĞ͘

%\ *DEULHOOH %ODLU

“

his is the moment I’ve most been waiting for!” commented my brother, showing a sign of excitement as we drove through the palace gates. The investiture ceremonies, where the Queen of England honors some 2,000 citizens of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth for services ranging from government, education, health, science, the arts, military, sports etc. occur 25 times yearly. “Who would have thunk it!” said Jon when inviting me as a guest to accompany him to Buckingham Palace to receive his C.B.E. “I have earned many awards, so I

feel ambivalent about this one, but for most others, this is a moment of unimagined glory.” I wasn’t ambivalent about accepting the invitation. I remembered the thrill of the Coronation in the fifties, a nine-year-old in a South African boarding-school. Now 87 men and women to be invested and 260 guests would come within touching distance of Royalty. Tension mounting, we ascended the magnificent, red-carpeted, bronzebalustraded Grand Staircase lined with royal portraits, marble and bronze statuary and priceless Sevres porcelain vases in niches; past gleaming brass,

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

breast-plated Queen’s Household Cavalry Guards. Arrangements of orchids and lilies scented the air. This is the home of one of the richest women in the world. Being in the ballroom, not just for a tour, is impressive. 120 feet long by 59 wide, it is brilliantly lit by six gorgeous crystal chandeliers hanging from 44 foot ceilings. Two thrones are at the far end; enormous tapestries adorn the walls; red carpets and gold-leaf predominate. Everything speaks of wealth and power. Among the dark suits, kilts and women in fascinator hats, I sat at the back on a raised, red and gold, satincovered bench, perfect for viewing both the investitures and the backing and forthing of ushers leading singlefile recipients to the waiting chamber. The Lord Chamberlain forbade applause. Only whispering allowed. Five Yeoman of the Queen’s Guard in Tudor, red and gold uniforms, dating from King Henry VII, 1485, entered in formation, their leader pounding his staff. They stood at the front, their backs to the audience until, at a cue, they turned in unison. One forgot to turn and was prompted. Some of us giggled. They stood motionless for 90 minutes, a feat, given they were well past retirement age. Guarded by two

Nepalese Gurkha orderlies, a tradition begun by Queen Victoria, Prince William entered in gold-braided uniform. If it was not the Queen presiding, William was definitely a second best! Standing on a little carpet onto which no one may step, the Prince dubbed the Knights with a sword. Then came the C.B.Es. I felt a surge of pride as Jon bowed his head to receive his medal. “You must have had a very interesting career” William remarked. “Not as interesting as yours!” Jon replied. The actor, Chiwetel Ejiofor (Twelve Years a Slave) followed after Jon. As we couldn’t hear what the Prince said to each one, the endless list got tedious. Younger guests shuffled in their seats and I amused myself by counting the seconds each got in the spotlight, averaging about 50. A string orchestra and piano in the Musicians Gallery played throughout the ceremony, helpful in stemming the tedium. The choreographed pageant ended as it had begun with the anthem, then Royalty and guards exited down the ballroom’s centre aisle. Outside the guards obliged for photographs with us. “What’s it like standing for so long?” “Not easy, especially with my bad ankle,” replied the friendly Yeoman, before climbing into a horse-drawn carriage, to circle the Quadrangle and leave through the palace gates, a fitting ending to a ceremony of a life-time. What is it about us mere mortals that remain attracted to Royalty? Many would gladly see them dissolved as no longer serving a function. Scotland wants independence; Britain’s economy, like so many countries is suffering; social services and National Health are under-funded; some citizens live in cardboard boxes, and yet the Monarchy prevails. Does the tradition provide a sense of continuity and stability? Would Her Majesty’s realm be worse off without her? (Ed. Note: Gabrielle is a part-time resident of Ajijic, and has been for some years.)

Saw you in the Ojo 41

The Gift Of Giving %\ 0DUJLH +DUUHOO 5HSXEOLVKHG E\ 5HTXHVW

A Letter to My Grandchildren

earest Children, I have befriended a Mexican family that lives on the shores of Lake Chapala. We visit each day as I take my walks. They are a family of seven, five children and Momma and Poppa. Their home is a tarpaper shack just inches from the water’s edge. When it rains, the papers are rolled up so that the rain can run through the shack over the dirt floors. There are no windows and the only light comes through a lopsided wooden door. Each day as I walk by, the children run to greet me. We laugh together and skip along the shore. Words are not necessary as they speak no English and my Spanish is malo. I carry a few candies in my pockets and the children play a game trying to find them. To go to school in Mexico you need two things, a pair of shoes and one clean outfit. Only one of the five children is able to go to school at the present time. There is barely money for food most days for this family. Twenty U.S. dollars to my grandchild up in the States equals about two or three movies and popcorn or a few CDs and a Coke, am I right? Twenty U.S. dollars to a Mexican child is the WORLD! A pair of shoes, a pretty dress and tortillas on the table for

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

three days. So I go shopping for my Mexican friends. Tiny canvas shoes WITH socks, clips for the girl’s hair, belts to keep the boys pants up, tortillas for a week and just enough left over for Hershey Kisses. Guess what they liked the most? As I am about to take my leave of this happy scene the children begin to say, “Nada para usted?” which I knew meant “Nothing for you?” I smiled and said gracias but they pulled me towards the lakeshore. Immediately they scattered and started to search the shallow waters. It wasn’t long before they had what they were looking for, bright shiny white shells especially for me. I was thrilled and they were happy they had repaid me for the kindness. The shells were beautiful but the smiles on their faces were payment enough for me. The Spanish word for grandchildren is nietos and that is who I told the children had given them the gifts this holiday season. Of course they wanted to meet you both but I told them you lived far, far away. Mexico is a Third World country and what that means is it is a poor underprivileged country, but what they don’t tell you about Mexico is, they are happy, proud, friendly people who are content with the life God has given them. We from, such a prosperous country as America, could learn from our neighbors south of the border. We will have many more Christmases, more birthday parties and more of everything I am sure— but this year, know in your hearts, my children, that your gift went to a worthy cause. I feel good inside for doing this, as I know you do too. As we say here in Mexico, “Que le vaya bien,” which, loosely translated means, “May everything go well for you.” Love, Your Grandmother Margie Harrell

Saw you in the Ojo 43

Sandy Olson

Phone: 331-283-8529 Email: sandyzihua@hotmail.com

COMING EVENTS The next production from the Lakeside Little Theatre is Rumors, by Neil Simon. It is directed by Paul Kloegman. Show dates are December 4-13. Rumors is hysterical, fast-paced and fun, an elegant farce. The plot: Charley Brock, Deputy Mayor of New York, and his wife, Myra, have invited eight good friends to help celebrate their anniversary. The first couple arrives to find that Myra is missing, and that Charley has “accidentally” shot himself and remains unconscious. As the remaining guests arrive, each is drawn into increasingly unlikely and complicated scenarios. The ensemble cast includes Collette Clavadetscher, Frankie Alexander, Candace Luciano, Dave McIntosh, Zane Pumiglia, Georgette Richmond, Al Kirkland Jr., Sharon Lowry, Fred Koesling, andAlice Poltrock. Tickets are available any time by email (tickets@lakesidelittletheatre.com) or via message at the LLT Box Office (376.766.0954). Also, the Box Office is open from December 2 through the run of the show, 10 a.m. to noon, except Sunday, and one hour before the opening of each show. OPEN CIRCLE Sunday morning finds many Lakeside residents at the Lake Chapala Society and Open Circle. A social hour with coffee and snacks at 10:00 a.m. is followed by an interesting lecture and discussion at 10:30. Here’s the program for the month. December 13. Choral and Orchestral Performances by the Children of San Juan Cosalá. Less than two years in operation, the Children’s Rescue Program through music education in San Juan Cosalá has mushroomed to participation of 100 children in either the choir or a budding orchestra. December 20 Holiday Stories presented by Lila Wells. She will entertain us with readings of A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote and The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry. Lila has acted in a variety of community theatre productions. December 27 All Our Words Needed Saying: An Anthology of Women’s Writing. Several contributors will read on the topic of mothers from this recent collection of fiction, memoir, and poetry dealing with compelling women’s issues. The writers invite the audience to join them after Open Circle in the garden of La Nueva Posada. January 3. Organizational Theory and Behavior . . . No, wait, it’s funny!! Presented by Michael McLaughlin. He will explore how efficiency, rules and regulations affect never ending change. He will show you how to achieve calm enlightenment next time you have to suffer through meetings and survive within a dysfunctional organization. Lakesiders, can you say “Home Owners Associations?” ‘TIS THE SEASON Los Cantantes del Lago’s holiday concert is happening soon. This year the event features works from Benjamin Britton’s A Ceremony of Carols, 27 Christmas carols in three minutes,

accompanied by harp, flute and piano. The show is at the Auditorio de la Ribera, on December 8 at 7:00 p.m. and December 9 at 4:00 p.m. The bar opens one hour before performances. Tickets are 250 pesos and are available from the website: www.loscantantesdellago.com, from Diane Pearl Colecciones or Mia’s Boutique, or from any Los Cantantes member. SEE BEHIND THE WALLS… Now see beautiful homes on the Behind the Walls Home Tours, to benefit children at the School for Special Children in Jocotopec. The next tour is December 10. Later tours are scheduled for January 28, February 25, March 24 and April 14. Tickets are 200 pesos for the regular tour, and 300 pesos for the December 10 Christmas tour. Tickets are available at Diane Pearl Colecciones or at Charter Club Tours at the Plaza Montana. If not sold out, tickets will be available at the Pier. Tours leave at 10:30 a.m. For more information call Jessie Wynan at 766-1438, Kathy Baker at 766-0420, or Leslie Martin at 766-2274. SINGLES ALERT…. …and they don’t really care if you’re single. You all are invited to the Fourth Annual Holiday Bash sponsored by Lake Chapala Singles on Saturday, December 12, from 3 to 7 p.m. The event will be at Salvador’s, where cooks do a marvelous job cooking up a sumptuous dinner that includes traditional turkey with trimmings and ham, finishing off with an array of luscious desserts This year Noe, along with accomplished musicians Jimmy Barto and Paco, will entertain with music for dancing and listening. Tickets will be sold at LCS next to the corner entrance from 10:00 to noon, Cugini’s Boutique on the corner of Colon and 16 de Septiembre, and the new Sweets and Treats shop in the next block west of LCS (open 11-5, Tuesday through Saturday). Tickets are 230 pesos when purchased in advance and 270 pesos at the door. START SPREADING THE NEWS……….. The holiday season will be here sooner than you think! Coming Monday, December 14, for one night only, is Mac Morison’s fourth annual show, “One More for the Road,” an evening of music, romance and laughter. Mac will be singing your favorite jazz standards from Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald and other jazz greats. Featured performers are vocalists Judy Hendrick and Luci Merritt. Dancers are Cortlandt Jones and Alexis Hoff. A returning special guest is stand-up comic Jeff Capri. This year the show benefits Ajijic Cares, a new program that goes into our local schools, for educating and providing free testing to Lakeside teenagers about AIDS, HIV and sexually transmitted diseases. The show is at Club Exotica on the Ajijic Plaza. The doors open at 6:30 pm and the performance is at 7:30 pm. Tickets are 400 pesos and are on sale at Diane Pearl Colecciones, Mia’s Boutique and Su Casa in Bugambilias Plaza. Call 766-2489 for information Mac Morison NOTES FROM VIVA MUSICA You won’t want to miss this beautiful Christmas concert….. back by popular demand… Thursday December 17: “Christmas Concert” with the Hermosillo family: Antonio Hermosillo, baritone; Gaby Zepeda, soprano and piano; their children Mariana, Lucia and Jorge, violins and voices, and a guest tenor; singing and playing a new program. 7.00 pm in the Auditorium. Tickets are 200 pesos from the LCS ticket booth Thursdays and Fridays 10 to noon, also at

continued on page 46

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

Saw you in the Ojo 45

Diane Pearl Coleccioness and at the Auditorio. JOIN THE CAROLERS…EVEN IF YOU CAN’T SING Six or eight years ago a group of friends agreed that caroling at Christmas time had been a significant event, both for them and for the homes where they used to carol. Lakeside Carolers was born! The group carols at some of the Lakeside convalescent/independent living homes and has continued to do so one day each December. Each year a few more people have joined in as people “spread the word.” The 2015 caroling date is December 17. This year their first stop is Casa Nostra in Riberas del Pilar. Then they travel to Alicia’s. There’ll be a lunch break at Laguna Mall and then the group ends with its final caroling destination for the day at Abbeyfield. Belva McIrvin de Velazquez is responsible for the music and Kay Borkowski handles administrative details and sending out notices. If you are interested in joining in, please contact Kay at kaybork@yahoo.com. BENIFICIENT BIKERS Everyone is welcome to join Los Gueros Motorcycle Club and the American Legion on their second Annual Toy Run on December 19. The run starts at 10 a.m. at the Legion. Breakfast will be available for purchase. At 12 the bikers and their gifts leave the Legion and parade to Jocotepec, where La Ola Orphanage will hold a barbecue for participants. The club is also doing a food collection for Love in Action. Collection boxes for both the toy run and the Love in Action food donations are located at the Iron Horse Saloon on the carretera in Riberas del Pilar, Mama’s Bar in San Antonio, and also at the American Legion. NAKED STAGE The next Naked Stage show is A Bench in the Sun. It’s directed by Don Chaloner. Performances are January 1, 2, and 3. Here’s the plot: Harold and Burt, longtime friends, live in a retirement home and spend their days on a bench in the garden bickering. A once famous actress has just moved in, giving them something new to argue over. When they learn that the home is about to be sold and they will have to find a new residence, the three join forces to prevent this upsetting development. The email address for reservations: nakedstagereservations@gmail.com. Reservations guarantee a seat until 3:50, after which seats will be sold to those waiting without reservations. Naked Stage is located at #10A Rio Bravo. Directions: west on the carretera from Ajijic, south on Rio Bravo, about two blocks down behind Daniel’s Restaurant on the east side. Daniel’s is open with a no host bar and botanas available at 3:00 p.m. and during the intermission. The box office opens at 3:15 p.m. and the show starts at 4:00 p.m. FEELING TRIVIAL? If so, you might be interested in Ninos Incapacitados’ Trivia Quizzes. This super popular event is coming up on Tuesday, January 12, at 2:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. It’s held at he Hotel Real de Chapala. Tickets go fast. They are 250 pesos for the 2:00 competition and 300 pesos at 6:30. There can be eight players maximum on each team. There are prizes for winning teams, team themes, and costumes. Contact Lorna at 766-2793 or at mcintyrelornahotmail.com. Pay for and pick up tickets from Riviera Alta on Monday, January 4, from 11:00 to 1:00. TEE IT UP TO HELP THE SHRINERS HELP THE CHILDREN! On Monday, January 25, the Lake Chapala Shrine Club will host a golf tournament at Atlas Country Club. This will be a round of 18 holes limited to 72 players (36 twosomes…men and women welcome!). The format will be a go go/scramble. Registration will begin at 8:30 am and play will begin at 9:30 am, a shotgun start.

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

The fee is 1,600 pesos (1,400 pesos for Atlas members). The fee includes a continental breakfast, green fees, golf cart for two persons, and the awards banquet following the golf. Caddies are not included in the fee. The awards banquet will include a gourmet Mexican buffet, and prizes for the top three twosomes, and the O’Yes holes as well as a special prize for a Hole-in-One on designated Par 3 holes. Family, friends and all others are welcome to attend the awards banquet. Individual tickets are 250 pesos. Registration forms are available at the Atlas Country Club Tournament Office located by the starter’s shack, the Chapala Country Club pro shop or by contacting Denny Strole, 376766-0485 or dstrole@gmail.com. Completed forms with fees should be delivered to the Atlas tournament office or to Denny Strole. All funds raised from this tournament will be donated to the Lake Chapala Shrine Club’s Transportation Fund. From 2006 through 2014, the Shrine Club funded 735 trips to the Shriner’ Hospital for Children in Mexico City, and funded 491 treatments locally at Lakeside and Guadalajara. The total cost during this period was 2,393,410 pesos. Your support will be greatly appreciated by the Shriners and the children they assist!

PAST EVENTS WHAT A NICE GROUP The Lake Chapala Garden Club President Sandy Feldmann is shown in the photo presenting a check to Nancy Brown, of Project Seed in San Juan Cosala. Says Sandy: “The check we donated to Operation Seed/Feed went toward the construction of a bodega to store their tools, and for a fence to keep animals out of the garden area.” Membership in the Garden Club is open to anyone with an appreciation of the beauty of the garden. The LCGS meets on the third Wednesday of each month. Generally there is a tour of a local garden from 10:30 to Sandy Feldmann and Nancy Brown 11:30, members only, followed at noon by a luncheon at La Nueva Posada , with a guest speaker and a plant raffle. Proceeds from the plant raffle and the small membership fee has allowed the club to make donations to local endeavors. Operation Seed in San Juan Cosala and Villa Infantil were among the recipients. A new, comprehensive local garden book is in the works for sale in 2016. The club’s website www.lakechapalagardenclub.org. Contact them on the website if you would like to join a meeting as a guest. DESTINATION IN PARADISE The Lakeside Garden Guild presented its 2015 Floral Design Show, “Destination in Paradise” recently, at an invitation-only afternoon event, chaired by Georgia Barneburg, Joyce McNiven, and Suzanna Baillergeau The proceeds of this annual affair are reserved for ongoing community projects. PAINT OUT AJIJIC! Thirteen painters joined forces to PAINT OUT AJIJIC! last month. The day was sponsored by the Lake Chapala Painting Guild. Sonia Mocnik won the People’s Choice Award with her entry, “The Orange Tree” and Bev Kephart and Steve Achs tied for second for an honorable mention. Participants were Steve Achs, Ardelle Holden, Anita Lee, Sonia Mocnik, Marian Decker, Winnie Hunt, Bev Kephart, Geraldine Classen, Lois Schroff, Anna Nunez, Miguel Nunez, Mariano Soto and Cynthia duBois. CORRECTION, PLEASE! The credits for the Cover Photo of our November issue were slightly misspelled. They should have read: Painting by Candis Flesher Dodds, Photograph by John Thomas Dodds. We regret the error.

Saw you in the Ojo 47

%\ -RKQ &RPDQGR $GDSWHG IURP KLV EORJ UHWLUHGQVLQJOHEORJ ZRUGSUHVV FRP

or a variety of reasons more and more Americans and Canadians are contemplating moving abroad for retirement. For many, Mexico ranks high on their list of places to explore. You may fit that category - here snowbirding and checking out the Lake Chapala area. However, there are many back in the states who would never think of taking even the first step. For starters, they must believe what they read and hear in the U.S. media. Why would anyone want to retire in Mexico anyway…especially the area around Lake Chapala. That’s OK with us. You see, the Lake Chapala region is

our little secret. We expats here today like it that way. If too many Gringos and Canadians come down here, they might spoil it for the rest of us. Luckily, most retirees north of the border would rather stay where they are and worry about whether they’ll remain healthy enough to see their grandchildren graduate college...or whether they’ll have enough money saved to live out their years short of poverty...or how long they’ll be able to maintain that middle-class life style they’ve become accustomed to. So, to make them feel better, I’ve compiled a list of the top 20 reasons NOT to retire to Lake Chapala (in no

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

particular order): 1. You’ll be getting enough from Social Security and your retirement plans to live in the lap of luxury for the rest of your life. 2. You haven’t figured out yet that you need to down-size your lifestyle to survive retirement. 3. You like living at a lower standing of living than you are used to. 4. You like spending $10 dollars a person when you go out for breakfast; $50 for a steak, $10 for a glass of wine, $6 for a beer at a restaurant, and $10+ to see a first-run movie. 5. You like spending thousands of dollars for a tiny apartment in New York, Boston, or San Francisco. 6. You like arguing about politics all of the time. 7. You like paying $60-$100 an hour for house cleaners and gardeners 8. You like shoveling snow, raking leaves, or cutting the grass. 9. You like being used by your children as a babysitter, cook and house cleaner. 10. You’d rather pay your dentist $150 for a teeth cleaning and check-up rather than $20. 11. You don’t like making new friends from around the world, and are happy with a shrinking social group that is slowly moving away.

12. You like cloudy days, rainy or snowy winters, hurricanes in the autumn, or tornadoes in the spring. 13. You don’t like kayaking, golf, hiking, tennis, bridge, the arts or culture, or doing whatever pleases you, outdoors or indoors…365 days a year. 14. You don’t drink bottled water. 15. $25 a month electric bills are too high, and you’d rather spend hundreds of dollars a month to heat and air-condition your house. 16. Your real estate taxes have been going down every year and government services have been getting better. 17. You hate looking at beautiful flowers blooming all year long. 18. You like waiting months to see a doctor for a routine appointment. 19. You feel safe in places like New York, Baltimore, Detroit, St. Louis… or, for that matter, church or the movie theater. 20. You’re just plain scared to make changes to your life. So don’t believe all those books about the wonderful life here, or the promotional websites all the realtors produce to entice you to buy a house. As the saying goes, “Life is Good” in the U.S. and Canada. So stay there for retirement…if you can afford to.

Saw you in the Ojo 49

%\ $OOHQ 0F*LOO

t was on a Saturday back in the 60’s that I’d planned a quiet day at home, avoiding the New York crowds and, especially, the subways crammed with hustling, holiday shoppers. A restful day to be spent lazing, reading and generally doing nothing. Indeed, a day of unabashed self-indulgence. Until the telephone rang—as it always does on such a day. “Al, what are you doing tonight?” the voice of Jack Hinton, a long-time friend, asked in an eager voice. I was always leery when that question, or any one similar, is asked without a reason being given. I’d been coerced into too many less-than-ideal situations in the past when I’d answered with an innocent, ‘nothing.’ “Why?” I asked. “What’s up?” “A friend of mine called,” he said. “They’re short a couple of ‘supers’ at the Met for tonight. Want to go with me?” Supers—superintendents? Met—Metropolitan, I assumed, but what? Museum? Life? Jack was hardly the type to get enthusiastic about mopping the floors for an insurance company. “What are you talking about?” I asked. “The opera,” he replied, obviously growing impatient. “They’re doing Aida tonight and they’re short two extras—you know, spear carriers and

soldiers. My friend can get us in, so if you’re not doing anything, come with me. It’ll be fun.” A spark burst into flame beneath the dormant ham in me. The Metropolitan Opera! On Stage! Aida! “That might be nice,” I said, gripping the phone, trying to breathe normally and attempting to keep the tremor from my voice. “Who’s singing tonight?” “Leontyne Price, Leonard Warren and Mario del Monaco,” he replied. I felt faint. To be on the same stage... maybe even at the same time. Oh, my God. The ham began to sizzle, my eyeglasses to steam. I’d never been a true opera buff, as were some of my friends, but would have paid a fortune, if I had one, to see and hear that cast in person. Tickets were unavailable at any price. “I think I might be able to make it,” I said, trying to keep my hands from shaking. There was a pause, before Jack said, “It has to be definite. If you’re not sure, I’ll call...” “No!” I blurted, instant panic threatening composure. “I’ll be there. Where? What time? What do I have to do?” We arranged to meet at the stage entrance. The STAGE ENTRANCE, where Caruso had entered, and Callas, and all the other glorious voices of the century. The portal to opera heaven—and I

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

was going to enter that portal, to be a part of it. “Oh, and wear old clothes,” Jack said, before he hung up. “The dressing rooms can be pretty grungy downstairs.” I was going to be in a dressing room, downstairs at the Met! That means I’d be wearing a costume! All those people in the theatre would be looking at me...on stage... in Aida...with Leontyne! Well, maybe Jack would wear old clothes if he wanted to, but I certainly wasn’t going to. Imagine! Entering the grand old theatre was an occasion! For me, at least. Unlike some cretins I’d seen, ascending the marble staircases and brushing past antique frescos in sweatshirts and jeans! Abominable! The glorious monument was like a jeweled dowager by virtue of her age and quality alone, deserving the respect of, at least, proper attire. It did house Grand Opera, after all. And Aida, which to my mind was the grandest opera of them all. I wondered if it would be looked upon as pretentious by the rest of the cast if I made my debut entering through the STAGE DOOR in white tie and tails. Perhaps wearing a cape? A top hat? Carrying a cane? Practicality grabbed hold quickly, spurred by the exorbitant price quoted by the tux-rental company. So, when I met Jack at the STAGE DOOR of the Met, I was dressed as he’d suggested, namely like a peasant...my best clothes. The entrance for the “in” crowd was gloomy and intimidating: gray, plastered walls, tunnel-like hallways going off in all directions. Which was a bad enough letdown for this stage-struck tyro, until I learned that the “supers’”— short for supernumeraries—dressing room was several layers below ground; the lair, one would suppose, of the legendary Phantom. Actually, it was grimier. The room itself was a vast, stark square with clothes hooks along one wall and shower heads along the opposite one. A maze of benches spread throughout the center, on which dozens of men in various stages of dress and undress were spreading a thick, orange-y mess on their skins. Texas dirt, I learned it was called, a muddy concoction that would afford ancientEgyptian skin color. Who, I wondered, in the makeup department was old enough to remember. Jack and I were called to a counter by a bearded man wearing heavy makeup and a short skirt, who looked us over and said, “soldiers.” With that, he tossed parts of costumes in our direction. The glamour of Grand Opera was beginning to dissipate. After stashing our clothes, slathering the “dirt” over most of our bodies and donning the pieces of costume as-

signed to us—the best part, so far—another “Egyptian” came by to draw eyelines on us. Afterwards, a bare-chested bald guy came to ask if we wanted pictures taken. “Oh, yes,” I exclaimed, shocked at myself that I’d forgotten to bring a camera. “Five bucks,” he said. “It’s a Polaroid.” He obviously recognizes a newcomer, I thought. Five bucks was a lot, Polaroid or not. But, of course I said, “Fine!” Applause suddenly burst forth from speakers at each corner of the “dungeon.” “Curtain going up,” someone announced. “Finish up, everybody.” The overture began, strains of the world’s most beautiful music filled the cluttered, yet dingy, room. Waves of emotion once again filled my being, thrilling me deeply. I was here! Part of it all! Overwhelmed, I sat to listen and experience the glorious moment to the fullest. “Okay, guys,” a tall, pharaonic-looking gent called. “The triumphal march is coming up. Line up by costume, tallest guys first.” I lined up at the rear of the “soldiers,” giant that I am, and waited. Music suffused my being. “From now on,” the pharaoh lookalike announced, “no talking. Everybody, let’s go.” He led the way up the stairs, and up, and up. At one level I saw the stage! Some of the taller guys branched off as we reached each landing, but we littler guys kept climbing and climbing until I thought we must be as high as the roof. Finally, we came to the top landing and were directed to a door. There weren’t many of us left by then, so we strolled through...to the largest open indoor area I’d ever seen, short of Grand Central Station. We were at the uppermost back wall of the Metropolitan Opera stage itself! On the top level of Aida’s pyramid! Looking down, way down, on all the lower levels, each lined across with Egyptian soldiers. And there was Miss Price, levels below, center-stage, regal and alone. Mr. Warren was singing a most exquisite aria beyond the scrim, which divided up- from down-stage, hiding us from the audience’s view. The aria ended and the applause exploded, “Bravos” lasting for minutes. Finally, the scrim rose high, revealing Leontyne...and me...to a packed, eager, and enthusiastic audience. I had found my calling, to be a star, to be noticed, to be adored. . . I just wish I’d remembered to take off my glasses. Allen McGill

Saw you in the Ojo 51

FATHER CHRISTMAS OF FUSION %\ 5RVHPDU\ *UD\VRQ

or Augustine Alvarez, December is hectic. Count in the other 11 months too— since for some 719 souls in San Juan Cosala, he is their all-year-round Father Christmas. Mexican American fusion is the secret of success for his menu at Viva Mexico. Yet this same brand of fusion is the secret of success for San Juan’s most innovative charity ‘Operation Feed.’ Many men can be shy admitting to fatherhood. Augustine (48) is proud to reveal that he fathered this infant good cause by adoption eight years ago. Two North-American couples came to him with their struggling protégé, on the strength of his poverty action man’s reputation. It was hard to dig down. Augustine admitted guilt on this count plus many others to be taken into

consideration. The notable good deed, which far from going unpunished endeared him to a much greater audience than friends and family. He set up shelters for the homeless in the aftermath of the shock mudslides of 2007. At the time, Augustine was working as a waiter with eyes on the prize as manager at Mama Chuy’s restaurant in tandem with construction jobs in 1993, when Richard Sullivan walked in. Mr. Sullivan, fluent in German, French and Spanish offered Augustine a passport. It was English lessons which the American gave without asking a peso, yet on one condition. Augustine must pass on this gift to the youngsters of his home town, San Juan Cosala. And so Augustine cleaned up. Literally. He taught his 400 strong army

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

of little pupils on the job English during weekly work scouring the littered streets. Kindly shopkeepers fed and watered the kids free of charge. A 17-yearold Mexican, Senor Villa, won three gold medals in this year’s national cycle race, one of four youngsters a few years ago whom Augustine sponsored through free lifts first to Guadalajara, throughout Jalisco, then Colima, Michoacán to compete in their early days. Well tooled-up, with his burgeoning English, restaurant training, construction know-how, plus his Aunt Lupita’s cooking, in 1999, they launched Viva Mexico, to a more than appreciative audience. For these citizens had long memories of Augustine’s community support plus later as savior from the nightmare flood. Now with the help of many “angels,” as he calls them, the infant Operation Feed is flourishing, newly under the chairmanship of Carol Curtis. Many hands make light work packing the budget-priced grain from a generous Jocotepec family business to feed 90 families. The romantically named, Mexican Maringa Madres, help tend the 18 trees in the community garden on land, courtesy of Augustine and friends. The leaves bring in 100 peso a kilo from over the border. Gardening, plus other work, like plant pot sculpture offers the novel-

ty of a peer group team, plus the chance to earn tokens. It’s Operation Feed’s new currency. Mothers ‘buy’ token store goods for the family. New comic relief just waddled in during this interview: a flock of ducks. They supply eggs and entertainment, in a pen apart from serried ranks of vigorous vegetables. Now that’s fluffy fusion. Operationfeedweebly.com Viva Mexico Tia Lupita www. facebook.com Rosemary Grayson

Saw you in the Ojo 53

The Path All things are echoes of God’s Voice. Decision’s power is my choice. Old values are not as they seem, As though awakening from a dream. I see God freshly as Love’s Source, Benevolence to guide my course. Defenseless now my safety flies Toward happiness beyond the skies. I will step back and let Him lead, Since He still knows just what I need. He sees no sin that needs forgiveness; I’m free to walk with God in holiness. Since God is but true Love Divine, Then as I follow, Love is mine; Forgives myself, opens my heart and readies me to do my part. And should another see my shine, I give forgiveness dear as mine. Today I learn to give to all The miracles, not large nor small, That on this path have come to me: “I am as God created me”; And God is Love, therefore am I. This Thought of God I’ll not deny. To live by grace, by grace released; To share this path with those increased; See all my brothers’ sins erased By purity of God’s embrace. Eldest Brother Christ’s Love has shone To each of us, part of One Son. We walk with God. He leads our way Past limits of the time-space play. We all return to path began; Where we are home, safe in God’s Plan. So join me all, no need to stray. Step back and let Him lead the way. Think deeply now. Receive His grace To lead you back to Heaven’s place. —Nancy Greenheart— nancygreenheart@gmail.com

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

I HATE HATE! %\ 7RP 1XVVEDXP

hate hate. I hate the emotion. I hate the word. In fact, I never feel hate or say the word aloud or use i tin writing. Ever. That is because hate is negative, destructive, immature, crippling, and unhealthy. Therefore, I have made a point to eradicate hate from my life. When faced with something I do not like or that irritates the bejesus out of me, I choose, instead, to detest it, abhor it, or loathe it. It is much healthier and mature that way. But I would never hate it. That would be wrong. The following are five things I detest, abhor, loathe, but don’t, hate: 1. The fact that neither Glenn Close nor Johnny Depp has received an Oscar. Just what do they have to do to win an Academy Award? Play each other in a film set at the Oscars in which they lose to Oprah Winfrey as Juliet and Justin Bieber as King Lear? 2. The overuse of the words “like,” “love,” “sexy,” and the phrase “I mean.” We all know young people have like been saying “like” for decades. It is like an obsession. “Love,” is overused by everybody. Do we really love Aunt Mildred’s chocolate chip cookies, Honda’s new blue color, or Justin Bieber’s latest video? If I had a nickel for every time “sexy” is used incorrectly to describe a celebrity at a red carpet event when the adjective is glamorous, striking, beautiful, handsome, or stunning, I could buy a sexy new blue Honda. I mean I just love them. And, finally, just how many times do we need to hear an interviewee begin an answer to a question with “I mean?” “I mean” is a clarifying phrase; you need to say something first before explaining it.“What do you think of Justin Bieber’s new video?” “I mean it is like so sexy. I like love the blue hoodie he wears in it. It is like the color of those sexy Hondas.” 3. Sit-com laugh tracks and “Applause” signs in live TV studio audiences. Could anything be phonier? No. Could anything be more insulting to our intelligence? Well, yes. Political campaigning. 4. Tattoos and stubble beards. Just because permanent ink stains

and perpetual four-day growth are trendy and in style, it does not make them flattering to most men. Especially when trying to look nice in a tuxedo, suit and tie, Speedo, or a sexy new blue Honda Civic. I mean they like distract from the man’s natural strong features. “Like where did you get those incredible eyes? I mean they are like the color of The Biebs’ hoodie, which is like those sexy, new blue Hondas.” And where did these “styles” come from anyway? It is a cliché, I know, but when I was a kid the only people who had tattoos were drunken sailors, circus freaks, and people from the wrong side of the tracks. Today, though, everyone has them. Even respected, admired, intelligent people like Justin Bieber. 5. Cable TV. There are many reasons we need, use, and should appreciate Cable TV. However, for decades now, to fill the countless cable networks air time, we have been subjugated to fluff-filled, confrontational, ratings-driven 24-hour news networks that don’t have 24 hours’ worth of news; half-hour long infomercials; “reality TV;” and constant repeats of the handful of mindless two-star movies that we purposely skipped when they ran in theaters, none of which starred Glenn Close or Johnny Depp. Cable TV could be a perfect example of less is more. Of course, I would not complain if we had a 24-hour All Sexy New Blue Honda Infomercial Network. I mean I like love them. I also ha…I mean despise when people mispronounce my name. I’ve dealt with this all my life and still do. Constantly. It isn’t that difficult to say correctly. Really. Look at this column’s by-line. Now, say it aloud. It’s pronounced Tom. I mean it is like really sexy. Tom Nussbaum

Saw you in the Ojo 55

ear Editor: I am writing regarding the “Betcha Didn’t Know That . . .” article or editorial item (it is unsigned and carries no by-line, so its status is quite unclear) on page 68 of the November issue of the Ojo. That item makes the assertion that “The Constitution of the United States reads: ‘Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens . . . [etc.].’” The Constitution of the United States and its amendments make no such statement nor do they have any passage that reads that way. When you publish inaccurate, unsubstantiated nonsense like that, you call into question the quality of your entire publication. Further, since the

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

item ends with an “Ed. Note,” regardless of who wrote it, the implication is that these are statements coming from the magazine’s editors and that the Ojo is taking specific responsibility for them. Since none of the assertions made in the item (such as “Children of the U.S. Congress members do not have to pay back their college student loans,” to cite only the first) are documented or sourced in any way, they are certainly all at least open to question. Published assertions such as these and the following ones should be supported by specific references to law, rule, or regulation, or other credible source, if in fact such exist. As written, these statements are at

best impossible to verify. This is all quite disappointing and should call at least for a retraction of the statement about the Constitution, which with a simple reading of the document and its amendments can easily be proven a lie. It should also call for a serious reconsideration of your editorial policies and standards. I think we all enjoy and benefit from reading the Ojo each month, and we know you are not the New York Times (not that they don’t make mistakes, too), but there are basic journalistic standards. Sincerely, Ted Kassier Ajijic tmkassier@live.com Our Editor Responds: The information came to us from a long-time reader, and because it did not seem partisan in any way and was instead of the “a pox on all your houses” variety, we tended to give the piece the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps we were also lulled by the fact that the approval rating of the U.S. Congress has rarely if ever been lower. In any case, we should have taken the material through a fact check, and apologize to our readers for not having done so.

Saw you in the Ojo 57

A PACKER BACKER PRIEST IN MEXICO %\ %LOO 'HDQ

recently had lunch with Father Brendan McKeough at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin. He turns 92 next Armistice Day. Father Brendan no longer strays too far from the Abbey, but he regularly celebrates Mass for the many Mexicans in Green Bay’s Norbertine parish. He is a Packer diehard who, given the chance, would beatify Don Hutson. Brendan also has an insatiable appetite for learning. He reads about a book a week, mostly history, a passion passed down from his mother, who spent a lifetime teaching in a one- room school house. Upon graduation from high school in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, Brendan moved in with his grandparents, who provided him with room and board for $2.50 a week while he

studied accounting at St. Norbert. But WW II was raging so he had to take a break from college. Brendan next found himself in basic training at Camp Wheeler in Georgia. It was there, at a Mass, he got a real whiff of social wrongdoing. Six pews were roped off “FOR COLOREDS ONLY.” He was outraged - but that was just the beginning. He was then shipped off to the South Pacific where it was one shock after the other. He witnessed black sailors relegated to waiting on

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

tables. He saw Filipinos still exploited in the rice paddies, a reminder to him of a remark about “Our Little Brown Brothers.” (The paternalistic remark was coined by William Howard Taft, but it later took on racial overtones.) Brendan returned to St. Norbert in 1946 and one year later completed a degree in accounting. But he knew then that he had to do more than shuffle numbers for the rest of his life. So it was a monumental day for him in 1948 - and a tearful day for many young ladies - that he announced he would be entering the priesthood. Brendan was ordained in 1953. He went on to decades of juggling a teaching career in De Pere with caring for his beloved mother who, in 1988, died at age 97. As Father Brendan put it, “The Lord then gave me a special message.” It came to him in the guise of a “World Hunger” brochure advertising a retreat in Cuernavaca, Mexico. At first Father Brendan didn’t grasp from whom the heavenly message came. He glanced at the brochure and threw it in a wastepaper basket. The Lord intervened once more: Brendan’s cleaning lady did not empty the basket. Father Brendan took another look. This time he got the message right. He not only went to Mexico - he stayed 13 years. Most of that time was spent in Cuernavaca with side trips to Mayan communities in Guatemala. Cuernavaca is about 55 miles south of Mexico City. Parts of it are upscale. But upscale people were not Father Brendan’s kind. So he sought out his kind of people near Cuernavaca’s bus station. Hidden from view by landscaping is a shantytown called La Estación where thousands of Mexico’s poorest, mostly from rural areas, struggle to survive while looking for work. Father Brendan walked the slum alleys. What he saw were dirt floors and children everywhere. No signs of electricity and no

running water. It didn’t take Father Brendan long to get drawn into the miseries of this shantytown and to acquaint himself with the people who had no choice but to live there. He heard stories from exploited wives and abused girls. Who else but a priest could they talk to? And listen he did. Any doubts Father Brendan may have harbored about leaving priestly comforts in Wisconsin vanished when, in 1992, he attended the funeral of Cuernavaca’s former Bishop, Sergio Méndez Arceo, and saw the outpouring of grief and affection people had for the Bishop. Yet, not everyone felt that way. The “Red Bishop,” as he was known among his detractors, had long ago set aside his privileged background and became a staunch liberal with ties to the likes of Cuba’s Fidel Castro and Ivan Illich, an Austrian who wanted to make Cuernavaca a center for de-Yankeefication of Latin America. Chumming around with leftists like them did not endear the Red Bishop to J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI. Nor did becoming an activist for the poor. I didn’t ask Father Brendan where he came down on Arceo’s outspoken ways, but I could sense that Father Brendan was among those at the Bishop’s funeral who grieved mightily. Well, my interview was coming to an end. He said he was running out of material. I did not believe that for a minute, but it was time for lunch. Father Brendan did not want to end the interview with talk of funerals and other dreary subjects, so he wound up on a lighter note. He told me he was baptizing babies one Sunday in his Parish when he found himself in a very awkward situation. Where in the baptismal instructions is there a clue about how a priest is to anoint a baby with holy water when the mother is breastfeeding the infant? And, finally, there was his account of a shantytown Christmas party at which the only presents children could even hope for might be candy from a smashed Piñata. Father Brendan described a young girl who was in exactly the right place when the candy cascaded above her. She grabbed a handful of sweets in each hand. The Father choked up a bit as he told me that she offered one handful to him. This was not the first time, and certainly not the last, that Father Brendan would experience Mexican genBill Dean erosity.

RAMBLINGS FROM THE RANCH %\ 6\G 6XOOLQV

Be a Hero!

ick me! Pick me! That’s what I feel like all 60 to 70 dogs at the Ranch are saying to me as I walk by their runs with a leash. The excitement builds the moment you make the initial motion to reach for the leashes. The majority of the dogs can’t see this from the position of their runs, but it must be a special bark they relay from pen to pen, so all know that it’s walk time. Some run around in circles with excitement; others sit quietly with a longing look on their face. But for the lucky dogs who have their turn to walk that day, its pure joy. They proudly prance outside the enclosure and sniff and mark multiple times on their way. They’ll sometimes munch on grass or strain to chase a squirrel. At the end, there’s always some grooming and lots of love pats. Then they happily walk

back to their run. As I watch so many people trudging along the carretera to get their daily exercise, I feel almost smug. So much more enjoyable to be up at the Ranch, especially this time of year. The sky is clear and blue, the mountains are gorgeous and green, and the leaves on the trees are starting to fall so it feels a bit like autumn. I’m not breathing the smog belching from the cars zooming on the carretera and no need to worry about traffic as I cross the busy streets. And at the end of the day when I hang up the leash and mark off the dogs that were walked, I know that I had a nice workout. And this day, for those dogs, I was their hero. If you’d like to be a hero for a shelter dog, contact us at adoptaranchdog@ outlook.com or call 331.270.4447.

Saw you in the Ojo 59

/HW¶V 0DNH $ 5HVROXWRQ 7KLV &KULVWPDV %\ -RKQ :DUG

hristmas is just around the corner now and I can’t wait. Oh yes, I am going to “have my cake and eat it too!” God, what a loathsome expression that is. I know what people are driving at, but shouldn’t it be “Oh, you want to eat your cake and have it too?” Even though this would be better, it is still a stupid expression, because “having it” could be interpreted as eating it, couldn’t it? Look: having your cake and eating it too is idiotic because, naturally you have to have the cake first before you can eat it. Whether you buy it or receive it as a gift, you have it, right? So saying “Oh, you want to have your cake and eat it too,” is just goofy. I mean, the obvious answer is “Yes. Unless I want to eat some other person’s cake!” What the accuser is saying is “you want it both ways” you want to have the benefit of eating a cake, but still having it available for eating again and as we all know, that is not possible or there would be no world hunger. So at least let us say: “Oh, so you want to have eaten your cake, but still have it available to eat later, huh?” While we’re on it what does the expression “Starve a cold and feed

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

a fever” mean? My wife has a cold right now... Do I starve her to get rid of the cold? If it turns into a fever, do I force feed her to kill the fever? Alternatively does it mean, if you starve the cold, you will feed, (or promote), the fever? Who comes up with this stuff? Explain yourself! I really would like to know, especially now. Should I be feeding my wife or starving her? Remedies, Christ! I caught a cold while doing The Bird Cage at LLT. I got all kinds of advice and remedies from different members of the cast. I followed them all and at the next rehearsal, I was reduced to a babbling idiot. I had to be driven to where my wife was taking Spanish lessons so she could drive me home and put me to bed, babbling and shaking. Here’s another: “Too many cooks spoil the broth!” I can spoil a broth all on my own, so can many individuals I know. I also wonder why we keep certain words around, like Wassail! What the heck is Wassail? Can I get some at the store and must I have a whole bunch of it available for the Christmas season? People who use these words and expressions seem so wise and worldly, but I bet half of them don’t know what they mean. So, this Christmas, let us all try to make a resolution to communicate more clearly, change or eschew confusing axioms, homilies, sayings, analogies, allegories, allusions and expressions we learned from our parents that we never really understood. OK, I am off to Costco to buy several gallons of wassail, an unlimited cake, broth and a funnel to goosefeed my wife. Shalom/Salaam/ Peace/Pax/Pas/ Pace and a Merry Christmas. John Ward

THE WANDERER %\ %RE .RFKHV

walk among you, but am not seen. I am that person that you sometimes feel when you walk along, turn around, and see no one there. You know how it feels when you get that shudder and it feels like someone has walked right through your body and your soul? It could be me. Who am I and how did I get this way? I was a real person once, just like you. I travel not in body, but in spirit. Have you heard about out-of-body experiences? Well, through the use of meditation I was a traveler, with my body securely placed at home and my spirit wandering the world. Oh the things I have seen and the places I have been. It was wonderful! I was able to visit big cities, far away jungles and places I had only dreamt about. When you travel this way, there is always a safety line, a silver cord attached from your body to your spirit.

I knew I could always return home to my body and I always felt safe. Then one day, everything changed. I was traveling out very far, visiting a city just like this one; in fact it was this one. Suddenly the unthinkable happened. The silver cord broke. My lifeline was no longer there. My body must have died. How this happened I do not know, as I was too far away. My death occurred without my knowledge, and here I am left as a shadow, walking this city over and over again. I am here amongst you, sometimes felt, but never seen. This seems to be my fate and I am destined to wander these streets through an eternity of boredom and emptiness. So think of me when you feel that chill, and you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know where it came from. I could be wandering right beside you or even pass through you one of these nights.

Saw you in the Ojo 61

%\ 9LFWRULD 6FKPLGW

December in Mexico

s a Midwesterner, December in Mexico is a dream come true. No snow; no ice, no cold. Mexico is full of traditions different from those north of the border. It is wonderful to observe the local customs. Yet in all my years in Mexico, Christmas Day for me is just not the same. There is no searching out the window to see if it will be a “White Christmas” and we are blessed with snow. It seems like the true fun of Christmas to me was always the kids. When there are no children to hang socks by the fireplace, have trouble falling asleep because they are so excited about Santa, and Christmas morning there is no sea of wrapping paper and empty boxes and string to pick up from the floor. While I miss the customs I grew up with, I embrace the customs of this nation I chose to live in. I didn’t move to another country to change it into the midwest. The non-commercial approach to Christmas has always been endearing to me. At this time of year, I like to think about all the others. I didn’t really do much for presents, as I did for charities and needy organizations. It always had more meaning that accumulating things. We would often “adopt” a family and give gifts for all the kids and of course, the Mom and Dad. December is the time of year when the Mexican employees get their annual bonus. That means your maid, gardener and dog-walker, cook, etc. They all receive a bonus by the 15th of December.

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

The garbage men ring their bell to collect their bonuses, and bonus gifts are often given to those who have been especially helpful to you during the year. With these bonuses, the Mexicans do their Christmas shopping. But their children don’t receive tons of toys. They don’t hang stockings by the fireplace, but they put a single shoe outside their door. Gag gifts for relatives really spice up the parties as the families get together and celebrate. Often the children get one gag gift, and a real gift. The children I have encountered are so grateful for their families, their lives, and they know their parents have little funds. They go to church, they spend time with their families, and they have fun with their friends. Usually, many businesses will close for two weeks at the end of December for both Christmas and New Years. Schools close. And people spend time celebrating their lives and their loved ones. Before the breaks, schools and villages have posadas. These are reinactments of the night of the birth of Christ. They are great to witness. For those expats who stay year round, this is the time to show your generosity. Village authorities collect toys and supplies for needy families they take donations. Perhaps you have a family nearby that could use some Christmas cheer. But the season doesn’t end with Christmas or New Year. Three Kings Day day is January 6, 2016. This is the days when Rosca de Reyes an oval bread is shared. When someone ends up with the small figure of the baby Jesus, they must provide all those sharing the cake with tamales on the last day of the season on February 2nd. The traditional day for exchanging gifts used to be, and for some, still is Three Kings Day. But as has happened with so many things, the custom of Santa and shopping has slowly infiltrated and is slowly changing a time honored custom. No matter how you celebrate your holiday, honor your custom and think of the needy. Victoria Schmidt

IN MEMORIAM

²3LD .UDXV $LWNHQ²

Pia Kraus Aitken, also known by her professional and pen name Barbara Harwood, died at San Javier Hospital in Guadalajara on August 14, 2015. With her death the Lakeside community lost one of its most gifted and caring residents. An adopted child as a ten-month old baby by parents in the small agricultural town of Sidney, Nebraska she grew up on a wheat ranch. Jewish by birth—but a fact not known to her until she was 19. She was also very musical, starting to study the piano at age 4, and as well had a lovely soprano voice. These musical gifts stayed with her in many forms throughout her life. In 1997, Pia wrote the The Healing House, a best-seller on Amazon. Pia moved to Ajijic in 2007 with her husband, Dr. Donald Aitken, bought a house in West Ajijic and converted it to the first all-solar-energy house lakeside. An accomplished

pianist, she frequently held musical evenings in their home. She was the Volunteer Coordinator for the annual Northern Lights Music Festival, and served on the Board of Directors of the Lake Chapala Jewish Community. Pia is survived by her husband, daughter Robyn Gothelf of Detroit, MI, and son Victor Bannon. She was a beautiful woman, inside and out, and will be sorely missed by the Lakeside Community. Submitted by Michael McLaughlin

Saw you in the Ojo 63

THE OJO INTERNET MAILBOX (Wherein we publish some comments about our previous issues.)

UNCOMMON COMMON SENSE - NOVEMBER 2015 Lell Sconce Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I’ve tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice. Robert Frost Rich I think people are crazy. That’s a big problem. THE TIANGUIS Lell Sconce Tianguis market beckons me, Your Wednesday’s camaraderie, Your vivid palette to behold, Your produce ripe, your colors bold, Your spirit young, your manners old. Mark Sconce THE GIFT OF “THE DONALD” Lell Sconce Your last graph is particularly insightful, Clare. Yes, the Spiritual Bypass beckons but not for me or thee. A well-written article that expresses our deepest concerns--your gift to understanding the problem and the solution. Thank you... Rich “...greater harmony, for collaboration and cooperation, for com-

passion and solutions” TRUMP? Let’s just look at his statement that Mexicans crossing the border are rapist and criminals. Don’t think money is intelligence. Trump is an idiot. More an uncompassionate manipulator creating disharmony for his personal gain. JackF I’m afraid I don’t see how you got from The Donald to cooperation and compassion. Given Lell’s comment, I must be missing something. THE DANGEROUS BOOK FOR BOYS—And the Death of Childhood Douglas Denbow I was a boy raised in a funeral home. I loved the outdoors for obvious reasons. The snow we got in Ohio during the Battle of the Bulge was glorious for our trench and tunnel warfare. I doubt that 1-in10 women around age 80 even remember it. I rest my case. I so enjoy L.S.’s ability to crank our engaging stuff. NOTES FROM THE QUEBEC WILDERNESS Rich Good story until you got to the part of killing the bears. Gabrielle Blair Bears are hunted in the North. That is a fact. It is not as though I approve, although I understand that this helps control the population which might otherwise become a menace. SOMEONE WAS GOING TO DIE Gabrielle Blair Good story! Kept me on edge throughout, with a terrific surprise ending. UNDOCUMENTED MEXICANS AND THE 2016 U.S. ELECTIONS Rich Just last week, the auto makers said they are shifting more small car production down to Mexico. If this turns into a Business trend we may see “majority” U S citizens seeking work permits in Mexico.

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

Saw you in the Ojo 65

CHILD

of the month

By Nicole Sergent, Clinic Director Maria Margarita M.G.

aria is a ten year old child who lives with her family in Chapala. Her mother first came to us in 2012 when Maria had been diagnosed with a heart murmur. The doctor had told her that the child would eventually need open heart surgery but that she was fine at that moment. Through 2012 and 2013 Ninos Incapacitados paid for transportation for visits to Hospital Civil in Guadalajara and also for some tests that had to be done. In 2014 Maria was doing quite well and did not have many tests or appointments. In August of this year, doctors advised that she would be ready for surgery in the next few months. The open heart surgery took place on 5 October, at Hospital Civil.Â The surgery was a success, Maria was in Intensive Care for a period of 3 days, followed by a 9 days hospital stay. She is returned to school around the third week of November. She is doing very well.Â She has a follow up appointment with her heart surgeon in January and one with her cardiologist in March. Following these it is expected that she will live a normal life. We have reimbursed the family 15,000 pesos since 2012.

As Clinic Director for Ninos Incapacitados, I thank you for this opportunity to present Maria.Â Please note that our regular monthly meeting is on the second Thursday of every month at the hotel Real de Chapala in Ajijic at 10:00 am. We have 3 clinics: Jocotepec, Ajijic and Chapala.Â Should you want to visit, do not hesitate to contact Barb Corol for Jocotepec (766-5452) or myself for Ajijic and Chapala (7664375). To learn more about Ninos Incapacitados, please visit our website at: www.programaninos.com 376-766-4375Â Mexico 450-232-0314 Canada

MID-MONTH BONUS! The Shadow of a Star Chief is Carol %UDGOH\ÂśV PXOWL GLPHQVLRQDO VWRU\ DERXW D ZRPDQ ZKRVH PLVSODFHG DVVXPSWLRQV VKDGHG WKH FKRLFHV VKH PDGH 7KH DUWLFOH FDQ EH IRXQG DW KWWS FKDSDOD FRP HORMR LQGH[ SKS PLG PRQWK DUWLFOHV (DFK PLG PRQWK ZH RIIHU VXSHUE DUWLFOHV WKDW ZKLOH D bit too long for our print version are SHUIHFW IRU RXU GLJLWDO IRUPDW &KHFN LW RXW

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

Saw you in the Ojo 67

Anyone Can Train Their Dog %\ $UW +HVV artthedogguy@yahoo.com

A Couple of Different Training Ideas

question I get asked often is: “What do I do when my dog doesn’t listen to me?” If your dog does not listen to your command, the dog is not properly motivated. Motivation has to do with consequences. It can be difficult training pet dogs sometimes because they can be hard to motivate. Think of the different ways to motivate a dog. Food, toys and praise are the ways we motivate. If a dog has constant access to food, toys and the owner’s attention, the dog will be difficult to motivate. So if you are having a difficult time training your dog you have to think about deprivation. Not big deprivation, just enough to get better results with your dog. Instead of leaving the food out all day, feed twice a day. Take some or all of the toys away and teach your dog that playing is done with you. Start having your dog work for your attention. This does NOT have to be for the rest of the dog’s life, just when you are having a tough time getting your dog to listen to you. Something I rarely see dog trainers talk about. It is the cornerstone of all your training. Get this right and many problems will go away. Get it wrong and your dog could become leery of you and others. Worst case scenario, your dog could develop an aggression

problem. What am I talking about? I’m talking about trust. The relationship between you and your dog has to be developed and maintained with trust. But let me explain why this is so important and what you can do to improve your training. You see, having a dog often becomes a game of “catch me if you can.” It then often becomes a relationship based on setting the dog up for failure which leads to corrections. When you first get a dog or puppy you need to be really good at managing your dog’s behavior. You have to make sure they don’t have the opportunity to get into trouble. Then when you start training you need to focus more on helping the dog get it right than correcting for getting it wrong. One of the first steps I take is to teach what is called a Non -Reward Marker. This is a word the dog learns that means a reward is not coming because the command was performed incorrectly. It communicates to your dog that they didn’t do it right but they are not going to get nailed for doing it wrong. One of the first commands I teach is stay because the dog learns the words or Markers “Yes,” and “Wrong.” I put a treat on the ground and give the command, “Stay.” Most dogs will go for the food and this is when I quickly grab the treat before they do and say, “Wrong.” I repeat the process until the dog stops moving toward the treat. Once the dog freezes I say, “YES!” and the dog can now get the treat. Giving a correction at this stage would break down trust. The dog would also be nervous about doing anything which leads to frustration on our part. Teaching a Non-Reward Marker can go a long way to developing trust. Try these two ideas. I hope you’ll enjoy the results. Art Hess

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

Saw you in the Ojo 69

Mexico’s Long Christmas %\ -XQH 1D\ 6XPPHUV

“

was the night before Christmas, and all through the casa, Not a creature was stirring,” Caramba, que pasa? The long Christmas holiday season (Dec.8 to Jan.6) owes its uniqueness to the Spanish priests who accompanied Cortez. Hoping to leap past the cultural and language barriers, the Franciscan priests resorted to skits and mini-dramas. They began with the story of Christmas. At first spontaneous, the dramas were later formalized and became part of the “Franciscan Theater” in 1532. The presentations would begin on December 8, the feast day of Purisima Concepcion, the Immaculate Conception. “The stockings are hang-

ing, con mucho cuidado, in hopes St. Nicholas will feel obligado...” Las Posadas, or literally ‘the inns’ depict the nine days of wandering by Joseph and Mary, as they search for a place for Jesus to be born. The ceremony begins on December 16. People march in pairs, carrying lighted candles and singing carols which beseech a bed for Mary. Children dress as angels, while some adults wear the costumes of shepherds or wise men. On the final night, the procession ends inside a church, where Mary identifies herself as the Queen of Heaven. Carols are sung as the village priest takes the infant from the angels and places it in the crèche. “To leave a few cosas aqui y

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

alli, For Chico y Chica and something for me.” Now comes the Posada Fiesta. It begins with food and drink. Hot ponche, a combination of hibiscus blossom tea, guava and cinnamon. It is usually laced with alcohol. Buñuelos, a crispy confection, is also traditional. “Los Niños are snuggled all safe in their camas; some in vestidos and some in pajamas. The breaking of the piñata culminates the fiesta. Even though the children are intent only on the goodies inside, the breaking of the piñata is a religiously symbolic act. The brightlycolored, paper mache piñata represents Satan and his power to lure one into evil ways. The children are blindfolded and armed with a stick. When the piñata is finally broken, this symbolizes victory over evil and the slaying of Satan. The sweets falling to the ground are a reward to all those who helped to slay the evil spirit. (A similar ritual was practiced by the Aztecs.) “Their little cabezas all full of good things They esperan what Santa will bring.” Las Pastorelas — The Shepherds’ Songs are light, humorous musical dramatizations performed between December 24 and January 6, following the Posadas, to depict the celebration of the birth of Christ. The first scene is

the revelation of the Holy Birth to the shephards, and their subsequent plan to travel to the site of the birth. But Lucifer and his cohorts plot to thwart the pilgrimage of the shepherds. Thus the stage is set: good versus evil. Lucifer and his devils appear, breathing fire, to assault the shepherds. After much mayhem, Saint Michael and Saint Gabriel step in and save the day. The Pastorela ends with the adoration of the Christ Child, amidst much rejoicing. “Santa is down at the corner saloon, muy borracho since mid-afternoon. Mama, sitting at the ventana, is shining the rolling pin para mañana.” The Mexican Crèche is the Nativity Scene, first devised in 1223 by Saint Francis of Assisi, wherein the birth of Christ is portrayed in tableaux, using actual people and animals. This custom, which the Spaniards called pesebre, was brought to Mexico by the priests who came with Cortez. Mexican crèche scenes are beautified by the scarlet Flor de la Noche Buena, Flower of Christmas Eve. (It was later introduced in the United States in 1825 by Dr. Joel Roberts Poinsett, first American ambassador to Mexico. The flower, was named after him, and the poinsettia became the Christmas flower in the Western Hemisphere.) Mexicans, as they build their crèches, relate the legend of the poinsetta to the story of the little beggar girl who wept because she had nothing to put on the Christmas altar. Her tears, falling on the snow, bloomed as bright red flowers so that she too had an offering for the Christ Child. “When Santa will enter in un manner extraño, Lit up like the Star Spangled Banner, cantando.” Epiphany comes on January 6, when Mexican children place their shoes outside the door and the Wise Men leave gifts for those who have been good. Thus the long Mexican Christmas, which began on December 8, finally comes to an end.

ANNOUNCEMENT Liz Moulder’s book, Tales of the Tropics: Stories of Hawaii, Guatemala and Mexico is all about her experiences living among cultures in foreign lands, and the intrigue, confusion and culture shock that she experienced; one’s that forced her to choose between her customary values and those of compromise, evasion, defiance, and collusion when confronted with the unexpected. It is available for 70 pesos at Diane Pearl’s, Yves, Super Lake and Aztec Weaving Studios, as well as on Amazon and Kindle.

n Sunday, November 8th, the Mothers of the children helped by Niños Incapacitados hosted its semi-annual outdoor event called the Kermes, at Christiana Park in Chapala. As always, the Mothers of the children got permission to hold the Kermes from Municipal Presidente Javier Degollado who offered the park revenue for the day to this event. This Kermes event is held as a thank you to all the volunteers of Niños Incapacitados. People in both the ex-pat and Mexican communities donate clothing and other household items as well as used electronic items (keyboards, printers), and toys for a bazaar in conjunction with the Kermes. The Mothers of the aided children prepare and sell delicious food (tacos, pozole, hamburgers and hot dogs) to raise money. At the Kermes, volunteers also supervised drawing and art projects for the children. A good time was had by all and the whole Lakeside community was invited. All money raised from the sale of bazaar items and food went to the families of the children to help pay for their medical treatments and transportation. Because the mothers did not want to handle the money, volunteers from Niños Incapacitados did all the collecting. Even the normal entry fee of 5 pesos, collected every day at the entry to Christiana Park, was donated

to Niños Incapacitados. During the Kermes this November, Municipal Presidente Javier Degollado came by to thank the volunteers for their work. He paid his 5 peso entry fee, bought food from the Mothers and also gave a generous donation. A special treat to see was the hot pink shirts all the mothers wore with the logo of Niños Incapacitados and the name of their child. Niños Incapacitados and the volunteer Mothers want to thank Javier Degollado and everyone who came to Christiana Park, paid their entry fee, bought items and donated to the worthy cause. Look for this special event again in the Spring 2016.

Saw you in the Ojo 71

NEW ORLEANS – A HISTORY %\ .D\ 'DYLV

urricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, affecting much of the city and flooding 80% of it. The storm surge overwhelmed the levy system, once thought the best in the world. Even now restoration continues, and while it does, many of us are becoming interested once again in visiting this historic city. The following is from a visit prior to the hurricane, but history itself has not changed and the French Quarter managed to survive intact. So let us review a bit of what awaits us. Only one hundred years ago New Orleans was a safe harbor for pirates of the Caribbean. Jean Lafitte was perhaps best known for his skill in hiding out in

the many inlets, bays and bayous that form the great delta. The city was also an important port during the Civil War. Today it is a vital center for shipping oil and many other products as well as for receiving imports. Its history has given the city a carefree approach that attracts people from all walks of life. The southwestern portion of the state is inhabited by Cajuns, descendents of French refugees exiled from Nova Scotia, then called Acadia, by the British in 1755. Their culture has been retained in their music, food, language and lifestyle. A wonderful variety of Cajun influences are found throughout New Orleans, most obvious of which is the food.

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

The French Quarter is the original site of the city when the French founded it in 1718 and still its cultural heart. The old buildings snuggle up against one another, revealing architecture not found anywhere else in America. Some of the ornate balcony railings are decorated with immense ferns. Those balconies and much of the architecture itself come from the Spanish influence during a brief reign by Spain over what was renamed the “Spanish Quarter,” a reign that lasted only 40 years from 1762 – 1800 but which left an indelible mark. Some of the Quarter’s entryways are set back within fenced areas. Once a visitor passes through the stone alley separating buildings on either side, he or she finds a lovely garden and another building behind it, often of historic beauty. Some buildings in the district, however, are quite run-down and these are disappointing, but still this is not unexpected in a city whose origins are nearly 300 years old. There are 35,000 buildings in the Quarter which are listed as historic places and a number of residents are 5th generation. The Quarter is not a museum. It is a neighborhood. Our hotel was located on historic Bourbon Street, home of Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong, home of Jazz, and today a street of questionable repute, offering as much drugs, sex and rock ‘n roll as you might wish, but also some excellent restaurants, some with their own histories. The Italian restaurant where we had our first dinner was called Tony Moran’s Italian Cuisine, and it is upstairs in the Old Absinthe House on Bourbon Street. What drew us in was that the restaurant owner had fascinated us with a recounting of the history of the building and of the Battle of New Orleans. It seems the building was erected in 1806 as an import house and functioned that way for 40 years of trade, bartering in food, tobacco and Spanish liquor, a sort of early “corner grocery.” It was here that the notorious pirate Jean Lafitte and “Old Hickory” Andrew Jackson plotted the Battle of New Orleans against the British, who had decided to take over the port. In the early 1800s, the US had only recently won its Revolutionary War against Britain with the assistance of France, Britain’s long time nemesis. Meantime pirates in the Caribbean had plundered ships trading through the area, and Jean Lafitte was the most successful of them. What he did infuriated both the British and the Americans. While he allowed other trading vessels through the port unhindered, he attacked British and American ships. As a trading ship sailed up the Mississippi River, Lafitte attacked at a particular bend in the river, unloaded the goods onto his own ship, and then

sailed into the Barataria Canal, which cut straight across the bend. Then he docked at New Orleans, sold his goods, and was gone before the traders could recover. From the Americans, he raided a ship full of ammunition, hiding the ship within the canal until he could unload and then stockpiling the ammunition. Those seeking the escape route failed to find the canal because its entry was covered by wetland growth on either end, yet it was deep enough and wide enough for the passage of a full-sized ship. When the British decided to capture the port in retaliation, Lafitte offered to throw in with Andrew Jackson, offering the ammunition he had stockpiled. The choice of comrade in arms was not so strange. After all, something momentous had occurred in 1803 that made such a plan natural under the circumstances. It was called The Louisiana Purchase. US President Thomas Jefferson had attempted to negotiate the purchase of the harbor of New Orleans from the French. To his astonishment, cash-strapped Napoleon counter-offered the entire territory from the Canadian border through the port, in essence the entire French claim to the middle states of what is now the USA. President Jefferson concluded his land deal, making the USA an international force to be recognized and putting the French and the Americans in an even snugger relationship where New Orleans was concerned. And just in time for Jean Lafitte. His only request of the Americans in exchange for his assistance in driving out the British from the port was amnesty for his piracy. The Americans granted him 24 hours to get out of Louisiana once the deal was complete. And so the painting of the battle of tall ships appears on the wall of Tony Moran’s Italian Cuisine on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans. The French-American alliance won out. Jean Lafitte survived to live out his life. And the food, by the way, is great. The Louisiana Purchase was signed at the Cabildo in New Orleans, and it is considered the 2nd most significant building in US History, second only to Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Look for the Cabildo. It is a beautiful building and worth a visit. And it was Andrew Jackson’s victory over the British that assured his candidacy for President. Enjoy the history along with the food, music, and a myriad of tours in America’s first marvelous city. Kay Davis

SUPPORT YOUNG ARTISTS —And Have a Great Time!

he Marie DwyerBullock Artists’ Scholarship Fund was established to preserve Marie’s devotion to helping members of the local community sustain themselves economically and her love of art. Come celebrate Marie’s legacy at the Fund’s first annual fundraiser on Tuesday, December 15, from 4 to 7 p.m. in Upper La Floresta, Ajijic. You’ll enjoy cocktails, appetizers and music. You can bid on that piece of Marie’s jewelry you always loved. You’ll meet the first two artists sponsored by the Fund and the two new artists who will receive scholarships. (The current artists’ paintings will be for sale.) And, you can bid on a painting that Efren Gonzales will create and auction at the event. Tickets are $250 each and are available at Diane Pearl’s and Mia’s. There are a limited number available, so don’t wait to purchase yours!

Saw you in the Ojo 73

The Ojo Crossword

ACROSS 1 Sheer, triangular scarf 6 Wire projection 10 Stag 14 Sap (2 wds.) 15 Whim 16 Writer Bombeck 17 Oldest 18 U.S. President William Howard __ 19 Reserved 20 Downwind 21 Object 23 Holdups 25 Russian ruler 26 What a nurse gives 27 Abut 30 Blamed 34 Submerge 35 Voluble 36 Pain unit 38 Executing 39 Gent 40 __ Saxon 42 Child 43 Chinese Dynasty 44 Removes the outer layer 45 Contains Book of Psalms 48 Like hippieÂ´s clothing 49 NeitherÂ´s partner 50 Noodle 51 Make angry 54 Tinter

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

%XOOÂżJKW FKHHU 58 Adolescent 59 Lotion ingredient 61 Move forward 63 Space administration 64 Morning 65 Steam bath 66 Branch of learning 67 Bod 68 Chicken brand DOWN 1 Fire maker 2 Island 3 Give 4 Tint 5 Revolting 6 Chomper 7 EveÂ´s husband 6SRUWÂ?V RIÂżFLDO %DWKURRP Âż[WXUH 10 Portray 11 Goofs 12 Give off 13 St. Louis football team 22 Convert into leather 24 Measure of length 25 Small city 27 Totals 28 Slouch 29 Links 30 Natural aptitude 31 Help 32 Sharp 33 Plaything 35 Cement 37 Mislay 40 Beekeeper 41 Desire 43 Rivers 46 Pineapple (Gr.) 47 Lumber 48 Ball holder 50 Laughing dog 51 Gas burner 52 Not far 53 Drowse 54 Residence hall 55 Musical composition 56 Comedian Jay 57 Vivacity 60 W.C. 62 Can

Saw you in the Ojo 75

“People Helping People”

The

Lൺ඄ൾ Cඁൺඉൺඅൺ Sඈർංൾඍඒ

News

www.lakechapalasociety.com

You know you have had a great party when people you run into three weeks later are telling you what a “great time we had!” On a glorious Saturday LCS opened its door to the community for its 60th Anniversary “Free-esta”. It was a wonderful day of music, dancing and food and everyone enjoyed each other’s company. Hopefully this will be the first of many such events in the future. A big thank you goes out to all of the volunteers who helped to make this day a huge success! The vendors also appreciated the opportunity to participate. Most whom I spoke with told me they were happy to be a part of the celebration because of the patronage the ex-patriot community has given to their business over the years. Romana Cardona, owner of Lillian Lucile located in Chapala on Ave. Madero and who orchestrated the manta fashion show, has noticed an uptick in sales from the ex-patriot community. “For three nights before the show I worked late every evening preparing outfits”, she said. “I’m hoping this event will help bring more sales”. Our growing success of strengthening ties with the Mexican community is evidenced by LCS being invited to participate in both the Chapala and Ajijic Revolutionary Day Parades. In the Chapala parade I had the opportunity to ride in a convertible with the queen of the parade. She is an 18 year old student at the Chapala High School and hopes to attend university at Monterrey and study medicine. Last Friday Board Member Yoly Martinez and I rode together in a golf cart in the Ajijic Parade. In both parades the LCS’s presence was received favorably by the community. Also as a result of our outreach to the Mexican community LCS will be having meetings with both Presidente Javier Degollado and Ajijic Delegado Rafael Escamilla to hear their vision for the future and discuss how LCS can play a role to improve the quality of life in the community. As part of our ongoing effort to support education, last month the LCS sponsored a Student Financial Aid Mini-Summit. Attendees included nine organizations Lakeside that provide financial aid to students. The goal was to strengthen our respective programs through collaboration and networking ensuring successful outcomes for the students and families we serve. If your organization wasn’t there please

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

December 2015

contact our Executive Director and get added to the list for future collaboration. The attendees agreed it would be helpful to develop a pamphlet outlining Lakeside’s financial aid opportunities. Attendees also agreed to explore the possibility of one community-wide fund raising event in which each organization would help to stage and share in the donations. Next in the planning is a Student Aid Summit bringing together government and academic institutions along with our Lakeside organizations to learn about other student aid programs and explore ways to further collaborate. Our work in promoting education continues with another Career Day at the Chapala High School. Presently this is scheduled for next March. We have also been in communication with the Jocotepec High School, and the San Juan Cosala Middle School to offer similar programs. We’re very excited about a new poster series to be placed in elementary, middle and high schools. This program is aimed at promoting the importance of continuing your education. Here is one of the prototypes (English sample version). As you can see, LCS is an active catalyst in the community collaborating with local government, non-profits and schools to maximize efforts that improve the quality of life for everyone at Lakeside.

,W¶V 7LPH WR 5HQHZ It is time to renew your membership. If you have not already done it, your current membership will expire on December 31, 2015. We would like all of our members to renew before then. Save time and avoid lines by renewing online. Once you’ve renewed on line you still need to come and get your new card. Look for discounts in next year’s directory for places to use your membership card and receive special LCS member only discounts!

)ROORZ 8V RQ )DFHERRN www.facebook.com/lakechapalasociety.

TKXUVGD\ )LOP $¿FLRQDGRV

:H 6WLOO 1HHG <RX The Garden needs more volunteers to plant, trim, weed, and maintain our beautiful gardens. The Information Technology Department is searching for volunteers who have experience training others to use specific software programs. Contact lcsitmgr@gmail. com. Special Events Coordinator is looking for volunteers to greet guests, collect tickets, and help with fiesta decorations. If you have a bit of flair and are an outgoing person, this may be for you. For more information and applications for these positions and others which may be available, contact 7661140 or visit the LCS Service Office during office hours from 10 to 2 p.m.

/&6 /HDUQLQJ 6HPLQDUV %DVHG RQ 7(' 7$/.6 In the sala on Tuesdays, 12 noon to 1:15 December 1 - chaired by Pete Soderman, features Johann Hari. “Everything You Think You Know About Addiction is Wrong.” What really causes addiction — to everything from cocaine to smart-phones? And how can we overcome it? Johann Hari has seen our current methods fail firsthand, as he has watched loved ones struggle to manage their addictions. He started to wonder why we treat addicts the way we do — and if there might be a better way. As he shares in this deeply personal talk, his questions took him around the world, and unearthed some surprising and hopeful ways of thinking about an age-old problem. Pete Soderman is the author of “Powerless No Longer, Reprogramming Your Addictive Behavior.” December 8 - chaired by Fred Harland, features neurologist Tony Wyss-Coray: ”How young blood might help reverse aging”. The fountain of youth may not be as farfetched as we think. Tony Wyss-Coray shares research that shows how old mice, when given a common blood supply with a young mouse, showed tissue rejuvenation in the pancreas, liver and heart. “What I am most excited [about] is that this may even apply to the brain.” WyssCoray is running a small clinical study in which adults with mild Alzheimer’s will receive injections of plasma from 20 year olds. The results could prove fascinating. December 15 - chaired by Reba Mayo, features Glenn Greenwals: “Why privacy matters”. December 22 - chaired by Rick Rhoda, features Laurel Braitman: ”Depressed dogs, cats with OCD—what animal madness means for us humans”. Dr. Braitman presents examples of animals with mental health issues including Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Author of: “Animal Madness: How Anxious Dogs, Compulsive Parrots, and Elephants in Recovery Help Us Understand Ourselves”. She notes that we can tell a great deal about the mental health of others (animals and humans) by careful observation.

Open to LCS members only. Bring your card. $OO ¿OPV VKRZQ LQ WKH Sala from 2-4 p.m.

No food. No pets. December 3 Ernest and Celestine France 2014 An homage to the creative spirit of France. This is the story of an unlikely friendship between a bear, Ernest, and a young mouse, Celestine. December 10 The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner Bulgaria 2008 This film won a dozen awards at film festivals around the world. Alex, with the help of his charismatic grandfather, embarks on a journey in search of his real self. December 17- Beasts of No Nation Ghana-USA 2015 A drama based on the experiences of Aga, a child soldier fighting in the civil war of an unnamed African nation. December 23 The Dark Horse New Zealand 2015 The inspiring true story of a man who searches for the courage to lead despite his own adversities. December 30 Happy People: A Year in the Taiga Germany-Russia 2013 A documentary depicting the life and work of the trappers in the heart of the Siberian Taiga. This amazing film is by Werner Herzog. NOTE- The last two showings are on Wednesdays.

BACK by Popular Demand - LCS Health Day Wednesday, December 9 LCS Gazebo Area 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM Immunizations (payment due on day administered): * Shingles, Zostavax -- $2,300 pesos. Flu (May be taken with pneumonia shot.) -- $320 pesos. * Pneumonia for Life, Prevenar 13 (May be taken with Flu shot.) -- $1,500 pesos. * Pneumonia - 5 Year (May be taken with Flu shot.) -- $600 pesos. * Hepatitis A & B series (Cannot be taken with any other shot. First shot now, then 2nd shot 1 month later, booster anytime after 6 months. Must have all 3 shots.) -- $1,000 pesos each. Shots require previous registration, sign up in the office by: December 7 Medication / Supplement Consult - Free, Gazebo 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM Blood Pressure - Free, Gazebo 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM Skin Cancer Screening - Free, Clinic 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM Class “ABC’s of CPR, Basic CPR” by Dr Salvadore Flores Free for members, $50 pesos for non-members, Sala - 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Please sign up by December 4 There will be a second CPR class, if there is sufficient interest. Note that all LCS medical events are open to the public.

Saw you in the Ojo 77

9LGHR /LEUDU\ $GGLWLRQV 'HFHPEHU $FWLYLWLHV *Open to the Public ** US Citizens (S) Sign in required (C) Membership card required CRUZ ROJA * CRIV (Cruz Roja) Sales Table Mon-Fri 10-1 CRIV (Cruz Roja) Monthly Meeting 2nd Wed 2-5 HEALTH INSURANCE * IMSS & Immigration Services Mon+Tues 10-1 Lakeside Insurance Broker Tues+Thur 11-2 San Javier Hospital Services Last Fri 10-12 HEALTH & LEGAL SERVICES * Becerra Immigration Thur 10:30-12:30 Blood Pressure Mon+Fri 10-12 Hearing Aid Services (S) Mon+2nd+4th, Sat 11-4 Ministerio Publico Wed Nov 4+18 10-2 Optometrist Claravision (S) Thur 9-4 Pharmaceutical Consultation 4th Mon 10-12 Skin Cancer Screening (S) 2nd + 4th Wed 10-12 :30 US Consulate** Mon Nov 9 10-12 Sign up 10-11:30 LESSONS (C) Children’s Art Sat 10-12* Children’s Reading Program Sat 9-10* Exercise Mon+Wed+Fri 9-10 Fitness and Strength Thru Yoga Mon+Fri 2-3:30, Sat 1-2:30 Line Dancing Tues+Thur 10-11:15 Strength and Balance Exercise Tues+Thur 9-9:50 Thursday Yoga Thur 2-3:30 LIBRARIES Audio Thur 10-12 Book & Video Mon-Sat 10-2 Library of Congress Books**/ Talking Books Thur 10-12 Wilkes Mon-Fri 9:30-7, Sat 9:30-1 SOCIAL ACTIVITIES (C) All Things Tech Fri 9:30-11:30 Bridge 4 Fun Tue + Thur 1-5 Conversaciones en Espanol Contact Karl Homan 766-3766 Discussion Group Wed 12-1:30 English/Spanish Conversation Sat 11-12 Everyday Mindfulness Mon 10:15-11:45 Film Aficionados Thur 2-4:30 Genealogy Forum Last Mon 2-4 History Club 3rd Tues 1:30-4 Mac OS 1st Mon 12-1 Mac User Group 3rd Wed 1-2 Memoir Writers 2nd Wed 2-4 Needle Pushers Tues 10-12 Open Gaming (open to the public from 2) Mon 1-4* Philosophy Group Wed 10:30-12 Scottish Country Dancing Thur 11:30-1:30 Scrabble Mon+Fri 12-1:50 TED Learning Seminars Tues 12-1:15 Tournament Scrabble Tues 12-1:50 SERVICE & SUPPORT GROUPS * Caregivers Support Group 2nd+4th Wed10:30-12:30 Have Hammer Workshop Demo 1st 3rd Mon 10-12* Information Desk Mon-Sat 10-2 Lakeside AA Mon +Thur 4:30-5:30 Open Circle Sun 10-11:30 Toastmasters Mon 7-8:30 pm TICKET SALES Monday-Friday 10-12 *

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

We are liquidating our VHS tapes inventory. We have several hundred tapes for sale starting at 5 pesos a tape and dwindling down to one peso each, depending on quantity purchased. No tape player? We have solutions. 7KH <HDU 2OG 0DQ :KR -XPSHG 2XW WKH :LQGRZ #7079 Interesting Swedish comedy. Boy Meets Girl #7075 Funny and provocative story about non-traditional love in a small town. &DQWLQÀDV #7083 The untold story of Mexico’s greatest and beloved comedy film star. 7KH (OHSKDQW 0DQ #7082 Seriously deformed man in Victorian England. Anthony Hopkins – based on a true story. 3KDQWRP RI WKH 2SHUD #7077 Another version – a good one – with Minnie Driver. Shrink #5034 Something you may or may not expect from Kevin Spacey. 6S\ *DPH #2456 Guess what! A spy game with Robert Redford and Brad Pitt. The Usual Suspects #7080 A surprisingly good crime movie 8.6 on scale of 10 Please see the LCS web page or the bulletin board at the Video Library.

&KLOGUHQ V $UW +ROLGD\ &DUGV 1RZ RQ 6DOH

'HFHPEHU %XV 7ULSV

It's that time of year again! Don't miss out on a yearly Lakeside tradition. Buy your Holiday Cards now in time to mail up north, exchange with local friends, or just add to your collection. The kids' share of the proceeds are a huge help to our children and their families at this time of year. Check out our Holiday Card catalogue HERE to see our selection of never-before-seen cards for this year, plus a collection of classics and favorites from past years. Holiday Cards are available for sale in the LCS Office.

Wednesday, December 9, and Thursday, 29 Tonala Tlaquepaque Shop Tonala for home decor and handicrafts. Tlaquepaque find upscale retailers and fine dining in an historically significant pedestrian-only zone. Departs promptly at 9 a.m. from La Floresta. Thursday, December 17 Galerias Mall Major retailers, restaurants, and the casino. Super Walmart and Costco are nearby. Bus leaves at 9:30 a.m. from La Floresta; cost is 250 pesos members; 300 pesos non-members for all trips. Remember: no refunds or exchanges

Introduction To Spanish LCS’ next round of Introduction to Spanish language classes for members starts Tuesday, December 1. This casual class for beginners covers the Spanish alphabet, simple vocabulary, and phrases to use about town, and other useful information about our area and Mexican culture. Classes are held each month starting the first Tuesday from 12:00 until 1:30 p.m. and continuing for three weeks. Learning materials are provided, and tuition for the classes is $175. Sign up is available at the LCS office during regular office hours, Monday through Saturday. Sign-up is quick and easy on the LCS website.

Pinkies Up! LCS Now Offering a Senior’s High Tea! Come join us as we inaugurate our newest program, the LCS Senior ‘s High Tea, on the backpatio of LCS (side gate for easy, level access) on Friday, December 11th from 3:00 to 5:00 pm. Relax with old friends and meet new ones on our beautiful back patio as you enjoy a lovely, generous selection of teas, scones, cookies and tea sandwiches, all for $50 pesos – and because it’s December, there will even be a seasonal theme! So, dust off that fancy t-shirt and come make new friends this holiday season. For reservations, call 766-2058 or email volunteer@lakechapalasociety.com (not required, but helpful for planning purposes). See you there!

LCS Baseball Trips Charros de Jalisco The November trips sold out! Thanks Baseball FANS!!! Are you on or off of the bus?

Sign up and pay now in the LCS office or you’ll miss the bus! All games are on Sunday 1:00 P.M. Bus leaves at 11:00 AM Dec. 13 vs. Mayos de Navojoa Dec. 20 vs. Cañeros de los Mochis Cost: $550 MXN members, $600 non-members Includes transportation and ticket (1st or 3rd baseline, $300 MXN value). 15 passengers min. and max.

'HFHPEHU (6/ 5HJLVWUDWLRQ Registration for new students for the LCS English as a Second Language classes at the Wilkes Biblioteca will be held December 14, 15, 16 and 17 from noon to 2 p.m. There is no charge for classes, but new students will pay 400 pesos for textbooks. We will continue offering free English conversation sessions on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 5:30 to 7 p.m. These classes are for intermediate level ESL students aged 15 and older. We are looking for volunteers interested in teaching or speaking with Mexicans learning English. Contact the program manager at inezme@ gmail.com.

THE LAKE CHAPALA SOCIETY, A.C. 16 de Septiembre #16-A, Ajijic, Jalisco LCS Main Office: (376) 766-1140 Office, information and other services - Monday-Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Grounds open until 5:00 p.m. LCS BOARD OF DIRECTORS. President - Ben White (2016); Vice-President - Cate Howell (2017); Treasurer - Michael Searles (2017); Secretary - Carole Wolff (2016); Directors: Matthew Butler (2016); Lois Cugini (2017); Ernest Gabbard (2016); Fred Harland (2017); Barbara Hildt (2017); Yoli Martinez (2017); Garry Musgrave (2017); Pete Soderman (2016); Joan Ward (2016); Immediate Past President: Howard Feldstein. Executive Director - Terry Vidal

The LCS Newsletter is published monthly. Deadline for submissions is the 17th of the month preceding publication. Submit all news items to newsletter@lakechapalasociety.com Note: The editorial staff reserves the right to edit all submissions according to time, space availability and editorial decision.

Saw you in the Ojo 79

El Ojo del Lago / December 2015

Saw you in the Ojo 81

Service

(0(5*(1&< 180%(56

ZZZ WHO FKDSDOD FRP