For Juanita Crampton and Nikki Duncan, the cacophony of village sounds is one more charming aspect of living in Ixtlahuacan del los Membrillos: from clomping horses, mooing cows, braying mules, to bands practicing and the ever present trucks announcing gas, fruit and tortillas.
Being among only a handful of expats inhabiting this Mexican town 20 minutes from Ajijic, both expats agree that there’s nowhere they’d rather be.
Little by little, the two are integrating into the community and getting to know their neighbors, including the gringa lady, one block away, who’s lived in the town for 14 years.
“As gringas, we’re the oddities here, but feel very welcome,” says Crampton. “We walk down the street and send and receive friendly greetings. If I was living in an expat community, I’d be hanging out mostly with expats.”
Duncan, 69, moved to the area from Northern California, not knowing any Spanish. Although Crampton’s Spanish was basic, it got them by.
“Since moving to Ixtlahuacan,” says Duncan, “Juanita’s Spanish has vastly improved. She’s able to practice with our gardener, Jose, and our maid, Lupe, who speak only Spanish. This inspired me to start taking classes.”
Crampton, 73, moved to Ajijic in August 2016 from Newburgh, Oregon, 13 months before she and Duncan moved to their property in Ixtlahuacan.
Says Crampton, “I’d been living in a spiritual and business community and was ready to let go of it all and retire. Being a gardener, I spend most of my time outdoors and didn’t want to retire in Oregon because of the weather. Upon visiting lakeside I knew immediately that this was going to be my home.”
The pair met through a mutual friend while Duncan was visiting Oregon.
Duncan, a master gardener, owned a five-acre organic vegetable farm in the Sierra Foothills of Northern California. She retired, sold her farm and moved to Hawaii before realizing that she couldn’t afford to buy anything there.
Says Duncan, “I returned to Northern California to help my mother who had a stroke and saw that I could no longer afford to live there either.”
When Duncan visited Ajijic for the first time in May 2016, she had a hard time finding property with acreage that would meet her budget. “I wanted something more rural than what the village could offer.”
Visiting during the dry season left her feeling uninspired after seeing a dry lake and breathing the smoky air. What did inspire her, though, was the culture and the people, so she decided to revisit during the rainy season, this time having a more positive feeling.
One week before arriving,” says Duncan, “I saw an online video of the Ixtlahuacan property for sale, and had a good feeling about the place.”
During the same time, Crampton was also looking for property in Ajijic, so Duncan sent her the video before arriving in June 2017. The two spent a full day looking at lakeside properties, the last one being the one-acre Ixtlahuacan property.
On entering the main gate they instantly fell in love with the 15 fruit trees, main house, casita, outdoor kitchen, solar pool, mirador and two bodegas – and only a short walk to the plaza.
It wasn’t in their plans to live on the same property, but when Juanita saw that there would be plenty of room for her dogs along with a cozy, one-bedroom casita that she could claim, she added her share to the purchase price, with Duncan holding the title. They moved in last September.
Says Duncan, “I’m grateful to have found my spacious, tranquil place where I can garden. I know I wouldn’t have been as happy in Ajijic, with all the traffic and noise.”
Although the Ixtlahuacan plaza has an open market on Sundays, which the two have shopped at, they do most of their shopping in Chapala or Ajijic.
“Since we grow vegetables we don’t have to buy much this time of year,” says Duncan. “For us, Ajijic’s weekly organic market is just as much a social event as a shopping event. We like to connect with our gringo friends.”
Adds Crampton: “With an abundance of birds, butterflies, plants, and the mountains, I feel content just staying home all day. It’s so restful here. Our gardener keeps our place looking like a park.”
It’s not only the tranquility that Crampton and Duncan love but also when that tranquility is broken by the sounds of village life.
“Several times a day a milkman on horseback announces his arrival,” says Crampton. “I can take my vessel to the gate and he fills it up with raw milk by the ladle, ten pesos per liter.
“Then there’s the festival times, like when a tuba player was practicing nearby from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., five nights in a row, or the time a Mexican woman was singing a cappella for hours, and she was really flat. Instead of being bothered by these things, I find them rather humorous and realize it’s all part of living in a Mexican village.”