September
11, 2001 - Just as I was awakening that morning, Harry yelled for me to come
watch CNN. We saw that a plane had hit one of the World Trade Center towers. We
were dumbstruck. Was it an accident? How could it be? As we watched the TV, we
saw a plane head for the second tower - and crash right into it.
The Mexican people were in shock over the tragedy as well. That day, and during the rest of our trip, they were so kind and empathetic when they learned we were Americans.
Although we had bought a few things in San Miguel for our import business, we kept hearing that we could buy at much lower prices in Tonala (near Guadalajara). So on September 14th, when our two-week stay at the casita was finished, we left San Miguel around 10:30 a.m.
We got lost a couple of times on the way to Guadalajara, but, hey - getting lost is just part of the adventure. People were always helpful. In Irapuato, we missed our road and were very confused. We asked directions from a Pilgrim's Pride truck driver who was in a lane beside us at a stop light. As the light turned green, he told us to follow him. He led us to the right road, which was about 10 miles from where we had encountered him. We don't know if he had been headed that direction anyway, or if he went out of his way to help us. Nevertheless, it was a very kind gesture - the kind that is typical in Mexico.
We
drove through more beautiful rolling hills of farmland - corn, sorghum,
collard
greens and more. We noticed many granaries along the way. In this area
there are
numerous hybrid corn test fields as well. (Update: at the time I had no
idea that these "test fields" were Monsanto's toxic GMO corn!)
After a six-hour trip, we arrived in Ajijic (ah-hee-heek'), where we decided to stay instead of Guadalajara. Ajijic is on Lake Chapala, about half an hour from Guadalajara.
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We stayed at Italo's Hotel. To the left
is a view from our window.
The plans were to stay here a week or longer. Saturday night, 9/15, the celebration of the Revolution began in earnest. A band with LOUD speakers in the nearby plaza played continuously until 4:00 a.m. The music was excellent - but it kept us awake all night. |
Sunday 9/16 - we drove to Tonala, about 45 minutes away, for their market day. The market was huge. We bought a few items, but many of the things we liked in San Miguel were not available in Tonala - and the type and quality of goods offered were disappointing.
We decided that we would have to return to San Miguel to finish our shopping. So we went back to the hotel, checked out, and headed back to San Miguel. We managed to find most of the toll roads this time, and the trip was only 3-1/2 hours.
In San Miguel we checked into the Hotel Quinta Loreto and had a great night's sleep. We were exhausted!
Advance to PAGE 5.