Chapala stock show
Animal exhibits and entertainment galore await visitors at Expo Ganadera, Chapala’s fifth annual livestock show, set to run Friday, April 27, through Sunday, May 6 on the grounds of the Lienzo Charro J. González Gallo located on Avenida Madero, opposite the Pemex service station.
The ten-day country-style shindig kicks off Friday evening with a equestrian parade departing from the gates of the arena around 6 p.m. to make a full loop along the main thoroughfare.
While nowhere near the magnitude of Guadalajara’s giant stock show held each October, the local version will attract crowds with a slate of family-oriented activities in the exhibition area and the music-cum-cowpoke events happening in the main arena. Visitors can meander through the pens holding horses, cattle, sheep and other farm animals, turn small fries loose in the petting farm, hop on mechanical rides and savor typical vittles at assorted food stalls.
Open Circle
Ricardo Emmanuel Navarro Jiménez (Yohualocelot) will present “Creating Self-Sustainable Communities” at the next meeting of Open Circle, Sunday, April 29, 10:30 a.m. on the patio of the Lake Chapala Society (LCS).
Our consumer society has pushed Mother Earth to her limit and we now must work to align ourselves with the environment. Yohualocelot will tell us how he is working toward establishing a self-sustainable community based on four principles of indigenous Mexican ancestors: spirituality, permaculture, calpully, and minimizing consumption.
The speaker is an electronics technician who in 1995 began searching for ways to improve quality of life based on eco-communities incorporating ecology, organic gardening, housing design, innovative energy technologies, recycling and more. In 1998, Navarro met Rosalio Albarran Olpamitzin, a spiritual guide in the Mexican tradition, and since that moment his life turned to spirituality as the path for living the mexicayotl, applying the native science of healing with plants, healing through dance, Mexican philosophy, ceremonies and rituals. He also prepared himself in bio-construction, specialized crops, permaculture and alternative business.
Today, Navarro leads the Calpully Tlaltonal and is its teacher and guide. This talk will be in Spanish and interpreted by Francisco Nava.
For more information on Open Circle, see opencircleajijic.org.
Democrats Abroad
The next film in the Democrats Abroad Lake Chapala chapter’s “Sunday Afternoon at the Movies” is “The Visitor,” to be shown Sunday, April 29, 1:30 p.m. at Cinemas del Lago, Plaza Bugambilias.
A heartfelt, humanistic drama that deftly explores identity, immigration, and other major post-9/11 issues, “The Visitor” concerns a lonely economics professor who finds his mundane existence suddenly shaken up when he befriends a pair of illegal immigrants, one of whom has recently been threatened with deportation by U.S. immigration authorities.
Film proceeds are being used to support the chapter’s non-partisan voter registration efforts.
Ongoing registration activities at the Lake Chapala Society (LCS) closed on April 24 for the spring, but will reopen in the same location (under the LCS umbrellas) August 28. In the meantime, U.S. citizens who live abroad or who will be traveling this fall can register directly online at Votefromabroad.org or FVAP.GOV to be sure their vote will be counted in their primaries and the November mid-term election.
For more information on Chapter activities, 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..
Genealogy Forum
The Genealogy Forum will meet Monday, April 30, 1 p.m. at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Riberas del Pilar.
Wills are included mostly in probate documents, which are often readily available if you know where to look. They can tell you the location, occupation, family members, property holdings, and often, the social standing of the person who made the will. They may expose the deep dark secrets of family relationships while they document your ancestors. It might almost be necessary to learn a new language to be able to read a will in older English. Phyl Gaskell will present sources and examples of probate documents from many places in the English-speaking world.
Genealogy Forum is open to all. There are no dues. Whether you are just starting to research your family tree or you are an experienced genealogist, The Genealogy Forum will have something for you. The group meets monthly on the last Monday of the month.
The Family History Center will be closed on Wednesdays beginning in May, but will still be open on Thursdays from 10 a.m. to noon.
LCS TED talks
Historian David Christian presents “The History of Our World in 18 Minutes,” Tuesday, May 1, noon to 1:15 p.m. at the LCS Sala.
Christian narrates a complete history of the universe, from the Big Bang to the Internet, in a riveting enlightening, wide-angle look at complexity, life and humanity.
LCS tech help
Every Thursday, a tech expert will be available to help with questions and issues with phones, tablets and laptops from noon to 2 p.m. outside the LCS Sala. Members are encouraged to bring their portable device so that questions can be solved during the sit down.
The LCS tech classes listed in this space last week have been cancelled.
British Society
The Lakeside British Society holds its monthly luncheon Saturday, May 5, 12:45 p.m. at Manix Restaurant, Ocampo 57 in Ajijic.
The speaker will be John Jones, who was born in Africa, and grew up in Swaziland, a country of 1.3 million people. It is wedged between Mozambique and South Africa, and was a British Protectorate until 1968 when it gained independence, much to the Crown’s delight. Jones spent the first 20 years of his life there and saw the great trials and tribulations of the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s.
Menu choices begin with a small salad or Aztec soup; choice of a club sandwich and fries, fish and chips or large salad with protein. Dessert is lemon sorbet. The cost is 150 pesos plus tip.
Contact 331-412-0850, or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to confirm your attendance and menu choice.
Cinco de Mayo
Celebrate Cinco de Mayo Saturday, May 5, and help the dogs at The Ranch. The fun begins 5 p.m. with live music and a Mexican buffet at La Bodega Restaurant & Bar, 16 de Septiembre 124, Ajijic. Get reservations now, this fundraiser sells out fast. Call (376) 766-1002.
LCS Bus Trips
The Lake Chapala Society hosts a bus trip to Tlaquepaque Thursday, May 10. Find upscale retailers and fine dining in Tlaquepaque’s historic, architecturally significant pedestrian-only zone. For those wishing to shop at nearby Forum Mall, arrangements will be made. The bus leaves at 9 a.m. in front of the sculpture in La Floresta.
Wednesday, May 23, 9:30 a.m., LCS will take a bus to Home Depot and Costco and Mega. Tickets for either trip are 370 pesos for members and 470 pesos for non-members. Sign up at the LCS office at least two days before the trip is scheduled.
Spanish classes
Classes using the Warren Hardy Spanish-language course begin at LCS May 7 and run through June 23. Classes are two days per week at the Wilkes Education Center (Biblioteca) in Ajijic. Several levels of instruction are available as students progress in the program. LCS members only.
For more information, see LCS Spanish Classes at lakechapalasociety.com, or email the Spanish Program Coordinator, Vivian Sternfield, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call the LCS office at (376) 766-1140.
CASA
Culinary Arts Society of Ajijic (CASA) members enjoyed a unique competition at their April 16 meeting. Cooking in pairs, the participants prepared “food truck main courses,” with clever titles such as “Uncle Bud’s Spud Buckets & Fit to be Thaied.”
Partners Patti Taylor and Monica Molloy took first place, presentation award and tied for the People’s Choice award with their BBQ-duck-filled bluecorn pancakes with habanero sauce; Tracy Reuter and Steve Parker came in second with tropical island shrimp kebobs and Roberta Kalan and Allegra Willis were in third place with “por nada” empanadas with sweet and sour vegetable escabeche
Avril Stephenson and Dennis Brann’s “Fit to be Thaied” shared the People’s Choice award with Taylor and Molloy.
Judges for the event were Marie-Lyse Jacobsmuhlen, Chantal Lessard and culinary student Ali Ochoa.
CASA’s next meeting will be May 21 at the Hotel Villa Montecarlo. Categories will be main course poultry, duck, turkey and “Did someone say there would be pie?”
For more information regarding CASA, contact 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..
Buddhists
The Heart of Awareness Insight Meditation Community, located at Guadalupe Victoria 101 in Ajijic, offers multiple opportunities each week for silent meditation: Sunday and Monday, 9 a.m., Wednesday, 4 p.m. and Thursday, 11 a.m. Sunday, Monday and Thursday practice periods consist of one hour for both sitting and walking meditation. Wednesday there is 45 minutes of sitting meditation. All sessions are open to the public regardless of experience or affiliation, and chairs and cushions are provided. There are brief written instructions on meditation for beginners.
May 2, the meditation period will be followed by a video presentation featuring Bonnie Duran, one of the founders of The People of Color Sangha in Albaquerque, New Mexico and in Seattle, Washington. Duran is a contributor to Hilda Guitierrez Baldoquin’s book, “Dharma, Color and Culture: New Voices in Western Buddhism,” and has written for the “Turning Wheel Journal of Engaged Buddhism.” The series in May is titled “Mistaking a Stick for a Snake: What the Buddha Taught about Inherent Bias,” and offers a thoughtful perspective on responding to the challenges of the divisive and polarized political and social environment we inhabit. Duran’s topic May 2 is “The Mind’s Four Distortions.”
Yoga classes resume at The Heart of Awareness Thursday, May 3, 9 a.m. These gentle and relaxing yoga practice sessions are taught by Latika Claude. Some mats and blocks are provided but participants are invited to bring their own mat and water bottle. The class is one hour and 45 minutes.
The meditation center is located at Guadalupe Victoria 101, Ajijic. For more information, see heartofawareness.org.
Chapala meditation
Chapala Meditation Community offers silent mindfulness meditation in Chapala at Calle Cinco de Mayo 260 just north of Lopez Cotilla, (brown door in white building), Monday and Friday, 11 a.m. to noon and Wednesdays, noon to 1:30 p.m. Activities include meditation and teachings from an audio presentation by Frank Ostaseski, author of “The Five Invitations.” All are welcome.
For more information, see chapalameditation.com.