Expat Living

National holiday

On Monday, March 16, Mexico marks the birth of Benito Juarez, one of the nation’s most respected presidents.

Jazz

Former Guadalajara Reporter staffer Hector Mendieta has opened a new cafe/bar with live music, reasonably priced Mexican beer (including Cerveza Minerva) and wine and hearty food. Altazar/Diagonal is Mendieta’s second venture, having run the successful Altazar cafe for more than 10 years in Mazatlan’s downtown cultural zone. Now back in Guadalajara, he offers no-cover jazz featuring the Chen Quintero Quartet playing classic and contemporary jazz standards from 9 p.m. every Friday. On Thursdays there is a film club and live music and Saturdays local bands play classic rock. Stop in to this friendly renovated house just off the beaten path with a multitude of spaces to relax in and enjoy 15-peso cerveza Leon until 6 p.m. and free Mexican snacks with your beer. Comida corrida is only 40 pesos. A 32-inch screen is available to watch movies and two private rooms lend to meetings or poker games, free wifi. Open noon to after midnight, Tuesday to Saturday. Guadalupe Zuno 1961. (1/2 block off Av. Chapultepec, in front of the entrance to LAMAR university). Tel. 3826-0601.

Jalisco Open

Gilles Muller of Luxembourg, ranked 69th in the world, will be the number one seed in the second ATP Jalisco Open tennis tournament that gets underway on Monday, March 12 at the Telcel Tennis Center in Zapopan’s Parque Metropolitano (Economos and Los Naranjos).

Home at last

Chuy, the pet crocodile, rescued from a home in Tlaquepaque February 8, has been absorbed into the Guadalajara Zoo’s reptile house. Zoo officials say he appears to be in good general health, if overweight from his lifestyle confined to a patio. So far, he seems to be adjusting to his new habitat. The zoo has plans to breed Chuy with Luisa, a female of the same species, when he is healthy. As Crocodylus acutus, or American crocodiles, they are listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) threat scale.

Gourmet coffee expo

Coffee lovers are in for a treat. The Gourmet Coffee Festival will take place at the Expo Guadalajara for the second year running from Thursday, February 23 to Saturday, February 25.

Food for love

The American Society of Jalisco (AmSoc) is turning its weekly Thursday luncheon on February 16 into a Valentine’s Day feast. On the menu is lasagna, garlic bread and dessert. Cost: 100 pesos for members, 120 visitors.