(DAY 1) 7:12am – I wake up to the sound of coffee beans in the grinder. This is one of my favourite ways to begin the day. 7:41am – I check my email. One of my articles has been accepted by a British journal. This is another one of my favourite ways to begin the day. 10:44am – We poke around a few second-hand stores in Ajijic. Three local men are heaving a long dresser into the back of a truck. The men, like men everywhere, are standing awkwardly when half the dresser hangs out behind the tailgate. The women, like women everywhere, are shaking their heads. I start to laugh. It is the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time. As we drive away, one man has found rope but the women are still shaking their heads. They are not convinced.
(DAY 2) 9:39am – We go to the Wednesday market, only four blocks away. We arrive to find a man chopping raw chickens into various pieces with a cleaver. The man beside him is hand-grinding coffee beans from a large sack. Across the alley are a couple fruit stalls and a fishmonger. We pass a man selling used computer parts and next to him is a woman selling handmade jewelry of semi-precious stones. There are Chinese-made flip-flops next to fresh-squeezed orange juice next to beaded coin purses next to pottery geckos next to greasy pizza next to counterfeit sunglasses. I have no idea what the next stall will offer. It is organized chaos.
(DAY 3) 6:22pm – We eat dinner at a restaurant on the shore of Lake Chapala. We walk through what looks like a post-apocalyptic theme park, but the food is good.
(DAY 4) 1:59pm – We pass four teenagers on one scooter. It looks dangerous, and I doubt whether it’s legal. There are two policemen in the parking lot, but they don’t notice anything. They are too busy applying new stickers to their motorbikes. 2:44pm – We pass a seafood market. Several letters have fallen from the front of the building. It reads: Crab S_ui_ _ish _hrimp Lobster
(DAY 5) 12:51pm – We wander in and out of shops, alleyways, and small courtyards in Tlaquepaque. With some food in his teenage belly, Nicholas finally perks up and finds a couple things: a Mexican Baja hoodie and a Mexican Baja backpack. I have mid-‘90s flashbacks. Everything old is new again. I find an espresso cup and a man-shawl. 4:55pm – I finally learn how to pronounce Tlaquepaque.
(DAY 6) 11:21am – I find a place called Café Montaña. It features two old typewriters in the entranceway and a courtyard with a fountain. I plunk myself down, order a cappuccino, and scratch out a few ideas for some new poems. 3:04pm – I end up at the Ajijic mall. The open-air complex features a number of high-priced stores, a sports bar, a food court, movie theatres, and the smell of buttery popcorn. I’m on my own, and I sit down at an outdoor table. The waitress informs me that they have Negra Modelo on tap. “I’ll have one of those,” I say. “Big or small?” she asks. “Um… big,” I say. I am served a tankard of beer. The weight of the thing tilts the table.
(DAY 7) 11:39am – We lunch in the town of Chapala. Nicholas and I decide to split a local specialty served in the molcajete (mortal and pestle). It features shrimp, crab, octopus, frogs’ legs, and an enormous amount of melted cheese. It is a lot of food. 1:44pm – I jump in the pool and then lie in the sun while reading a book. I almost fall asleep. I hear it’s snowing back home.
(DAY 8) 8:33pm – I bite into one taco and it is spicy. I bite into another taco and my face is on fire. “This is crazy hot,” I say as I guzzle a local cinnamon-flavoured drink. Nicholas is laughing. We are halfway home when he says, “I thought the lady said something about the orange sauce being ‘very spicy’, so I put lots on. I guess she wasn’t lying.”
(DAY 9) 2:02pm – We visit a ceramic sculpture factory, run by an Italian artist. The road to the factory is in the middle of nowhere and is really rough. The ceramics are beautiful, but I’m more interested in the dozen or so dogs and cats that are sleeping by the entrance. The cats are skittish, but the dogs are friendly.
(DAY 10) 3:03pm – I do a whole lot of nothing. I lie in the sun and read a book and listen to some music. I think about getting some lesson plans together, but I don’t bother.
(DAY 11) 9:26am – We find a table at a crowded restaurant. After ordering eggs and chorizo, I watch the world go by. I make eye contact for a second or two with dozens of people – all of them leading their lives as best they can in some crazy kind of harmony. It’s odd to think that soon I’ll be back where the nighttime temperatures still dip below zero. 9:39am – Two men with beat-up guitars serenade the patrons, and then walk around the restaurant collecting pocket change. The music is pleasing, but one man has trouble with the high notes. 4:50pm – There are four young children playing tag in the courtyard. I break up the last of my cookie and feed the bits to the little birds that hop down from the trees. 6:09pm – We head out for more tacos at the town square. It is a pleasant walk under a full moon and along the cobblestone roads of San Antonio Tlayacapan as the air is filled with the perfume of flowers in bloom. I will miss this place.