Toys
The 4th annual Lake Chapala Toy Run to benefit children in the Chapala barrio of Tepehua will be held Saturday, December 16, beginning with breakfast at the American Legion Post 7, 10 a.m. and then leaving at noon to bring the toys to the plaza in Tepehua.
Both cars and motorcycles from any club or group are welcome to join the ride. Cash donations can be made at the Legion, the Iron Horse Bar, Just Chillin’ and Love and Fishes. Toys can be dropped off at the above-mentioned places and Perry’s Pizza, La Mision, Casa Domenech, El Jardin de Ninette, the Canadian Royal Legion, Have Hammers, Adelita’s Bar and Grill, Christine’s and Mama’s Bar.
All the proceeds benefit the children of Tepehua. Sponsors of this toy run are American Legion Post 7 and Los Güeros Motorcycle Club.
Open Circle
Dr. Carla Cueva Flores will present “How to Achieve the Best Health You Can at Any Age,” at the next gathering of Open Circle, Sunday, December 17, 10:30 a.m. at the Lake Chapala Society.
Dr. Cueva will talk about the most common health issues she has observed in serving the local retirement community, and how each of us can achieve the best health of which we are capable, given whatever problems we have arrived with and our willingness to commit to healthful lifestyle practices.
A general practitioner, Dr. Cueva has been a Lakeside resident for the last nine years. Raised in Guadalajara, she studied Medicine at the University of Michoacan and earned her Masters Degree in Genetic Diseases in Mexico City.
After moving to Ajijic, she was a medical volunteer at Niños Incapacitados and at the DIF and Centro de Salud clinics in Chapala, Ajijic and Jocotepec. Two years ago, she started a private practice at Lakeside. She is available two days a week by appointment at Quality Care, and also enjoys doing home visits. She says she is very happy serving the Lakeside community.
For more information, go to opencircleajjic.org.
LCS bus trips
Monday, December 18, LCS heads to Guadalajara’s Galerias Mall. Major retailers include Best Buy, Sears, Home Store, Liverpool, Zara, H&M; and restaurants Cheesecake Factory, PF Chang, Applebees, Outback Steakhouse and more. Costco, Sams and Super Walmart are also on hand.
The cost is 350 pesos for members and 450 pesos for non-members. The bus leaves La Floresta at 9:30 a.m. Sign up at the LCS office. Upcoming bus trips include Tlaquepaque on December 27.
LCS seminar
Lake Chapala Society members are invited to attend a lecture, titled “Cosmology Overview: Ptolemy to Black Holes and Exoplanets,” by Dr. Richard Rhoda, Tuesday, December 19, noon to 1:15 p.m. in the LCS Sala.
New cosmological discoveries are reported every day. To put these into perspective, it is useful to see how human understanding of the cosmos has evolved in the last two millennia. Ptolemy’s geocentric model was the scientific standard for over 1,700 years until the heliocentric models of Copernicus and Galileo gained acceptance in the 17th century. The gravity models of Newton and Einstein were revolutionary. The last 100 years has seen the development of dark matter, the Big Bang, dark energy, black holes, quasars, exoplanets, and multiverses.
Rhoda has lived in Ajijic since 1999. He has been a member of the Lakeside cosmology group since about 2010. He spent his professional career working in Third World with USAID [foreign aid program]. He has an Engineering BS from Cal Berkeley as well as an MA and PhD in Geography from the University of Iowa.
Garden Club
On Wednesday, December 20, the Lake Chapala Garden Club will celebrate the holidays at Tahawi, a luxury event complex in Riberas del Pilar.
‘’As the finale of the club’s 40th year celebrations, we plan to make a major Christmas splash,” said Garden Club Events Director Karen Calderon, who chose the venue to hold the 2017 Christmas party for the club’s 147 members and their guests.
Manix of Ajijic will cater the menu with traditional turkey and dessert. Tickets, 300 pesos, are on sale at Calderon’s home (Paso de la Colima 5, upper La Floresta) between noon and 2 p.m. Call her at 333-969-0464 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information.
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Lakeside Singers
Lakeside Singers will meet to sing Christmas carols at some Lakeside-area convalescent homes. Participants don Santa hats and festive apparel and bring bells, tambourines, kazoos, etc. and join in the fun. The Singers will meet Wednesday, December 20 at Casa Nostra, Santa Margarita 8, in Riberas del Pilar, 10:30 a.m. a.m. at Casa Anastasia, at Hidalgo 73B in Riberas, at noon. The 40-minute performances will include a break for lunch at 1 p.m. at the Centro Laguna food court. The group continues at Mi Casa, Gonzalez Gallo 70 in San Antonio, 2:30 p.m. and finishes up at Abbeyfield, located across from the Ajijic Malecon skateboard area, 4 p.m. The following day, Thursday, December 21, the group will head to O’Hana’s in San Juan Cosala at 4 p.m. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information, or to request song sheets on the singing list. All are welcome to join in at any of the events.
Green Thumbs
Francisco Nava offers gardening classes to novices and more advanced gardeners Tuesdays and Thursdays, January 9 to February 1 at the south campus board room of the Lake Chapala Society.
The beginners class runs from 1 to 2 p.m. and is focused on learning the ABCs of gardening at Lakeside, effective communication with your gardener, including beginning vocabulary and phrases; what type of plants grow well in different gardens; planting from seeds; pest and disease management; pruning, weeding, composting, mulching and a host of other topics.
More advanced gardeners will want to take the class that runs from 2 to 3 p.m. Nava dives into soil testing, horticulture, microorganisms, soil composition, gardening from seed, the range of plant types and forms, weeds, pests, diseases and disorders, management of green spaces, landscaped areas and ornamental gardens and more.
The cost for either class is 700 pesos and you must be an LCS member to attend. Classes must have between 11 and 20 students to be held. Sign up at the LCS office.
Buddhists
Monday, December 18, 3 p.m., the The Heart of Awareness Insight Meditation Community will screen “Walk With Me,” a documentary about world-famous teacher Thich Nhat Hanh. Filmed over three years in France and the United States, this intimate and meditative film travels deep inside a world that seems far from our everyday, and reveals how the monastics transform suffering in themselves and in others through their deep inquiry into the nature of existence, suffering, and their true selves. The monthly movies are offered on a “donation” basis.
The Community’s regular meditation and teaching session is Wednesday when the formal schedule begins at 4 p.m. December 20, meditation will be followed with reflections on appreciative joy (mudita), the third of the Brahma-Viharas (divine abidings). The Brahma-Viharas are mindfulness practices that protect the mind from falling into habitual patterns of reactivity. Wednesday presentations at the Sanga in December focus on cultivating these mind states which also include loving-kindness, compassion and equanimity. The Wednesday session ends by 6 p.m.
The Community offers meditation opportunities several times each week. Hour-long silent meditation periods are offered on Sundays and Mondays, 9-10 a.m. and Thursdays, 11 a.m.-noon.
The Heart of Awareness is grounded in the teachings of the Buddha and anyone with an interest is welcome. The center is located at Guadalupe Victoria 101 in Ajijic. For more information, see heartofawareness.org, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..