On the
first Friday in Guadalajara for us,we met two teachers from Ontario who were to
become good friends –Lucy and Lori! We went with them to Gigante, the
equivalent of Superstore, Mexican style. While there we met our Winnipeg
friend, Brigitte, who had settled into a small flat near the school as well but
a fair distance from us. Our semi-daily trips to Gigante for fresh produce
would have us logging in a lot of kms through the year!
We
discovered to our chagrin that groceries were not cheap here. As well we had to
learn Mexican equivalents of common labels. Some American and Canadian items of
food were available but at what seemed like astronomical prices to us. We
learned quickly that to eat Mexican labeled items would be most beneficial to
our purses.
In the evening
we went over some Spanish lessons we had on tape with our friend, Brigitte, and
her son Matthew. This took place during a torrential down pour. The rain had started
around 500 p.m. and was of about 2 to 3 hours duration. The streets were awash
with a flood of streaming water as all the moisture drained by surface
drainage. We learned that because it was rainy season, we could expect these almost
daily deluges for the next month at which time it would stop and we would
probably experience little or no rain until around June which was the start of
rainy season.
After the
rain finally stopped and the level of water in the streets made them passable
for pedestrian traffic, I walked Brigitte and Matthew home. It was midnight by
the time I returned home and got to bed.
There
were more gunshots that night and a terrific bang outside our house on the
street on the Mar Egeo side. A returning patrol of policemen had driven their
half-ton truck into a light standard at the entrance to the police station. It
was obvious that the driver, the man in charge, was very drunk and his men were
very careful in not offending him. Most of the policemen looked so young. They
appeared to me to be around 16 to 17 years of age but they were all armed with
revolvers and automatic rifles. They were unable to re-start the truck, so they
pushed it into the compound with the “Sergeant” yelling and swearing at them.
Life on Mar Caribe was going to prove to be most interesting!
We soon
discovered that sleeping peacefully might be difficult to achieve. Cars passed by
at all hours right under our windows, many of them the cheap VW’s being built
in Mexico that all seemed to have lousy muffler systems. Garage doors beneath us and around us opening
and closing. Street dogs barking! Gunshots sporadically through the night. Loud
music! You had to be really tired to
sleep through the distractions.
Saturday
morning found us on a bus heading for Tlaquepaque, soon to become a favorite
destination. Our bus took us through some of the poorest areas we had yet seen,
people merely trying to eke out an existence. In Tlaquepaque we were
approached constantly by children and adults alike, both begging for some spare
pesos. There were people singing and playing a variety of instruments in the
hope of earning some pesos. There were flies everywhere! You could almost feel
yourself breathing in strange bacteria. Cleanliness in 1989 did not seem to be
a priority here.
But we
also saw some of the most beautiful handicrafts. There was also the usual amount
of what we would label junk, cheaply and quickly made. This area really catered
to the tourists. We ate a wonderful meal at El Patio and listened to a roving
mariachi band. We met Jean-Guy and Barb here. It is becoming obvious to us that
of all the latest hires, teachers, were coming here on the strength of a
degree, but very few of them had any teaching experience.
We
learned also that because of the size of the city and its over-taxed
transportation system, getting “around” in our new city was going to be
challenging if not difficult. The buses were old diesel school bus types with
front and side doors. Their mufflers were mere lip service and they belched
enormous amounts of black diesel exhaust into the already polluted air. Fares were
cheap – about seven cents Canadian - but being the cheapest form of transport
around, the buses were always packed to the bursting seams, often with
passengers hanging out the front and back doors.
On Sunday
morning, we walked about 12 blocks to Gethsemane Baptist Church. There we met
some very interesting people most of whom were elderly, about the age we are
now. It looked and sounded like a very fundamentalist church. After the service
we wandered over to a local market set up on one of the streets. It was very
crowded, very noisy, very dirty, but yet very very interesting! There was every
fruit and vegetable available for the buying. Patti had a close call when she
was very nearly struck by a car making its way through the area in an unsafe
manner. Apparently pedestrians seem to be fair game! We got thoroughly lost on
our way home loaded down with fruits and vegetables and melons. Oh, to be in the
future with an i-phone with a GPS app!
In the evening after supper,we played
Monopoly while it rained outside. We were finally able to connect with our
families back home in Winnipeg via landline. Long distance calling can be very
sporadic in Mexico! It was good to hear everyone.
Now if only more people are
home in bed here, perhaps there won’t be as much traffic buzzing by our bedroom
window. Oh, for a full night's sleep!
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