Dinner music during the “break-in” period of Casa Domenech at LCS. Grand opening Sunday.
Patrick O’Heffernan Ajijic (JAL) Casa Domenech, Ajijic’s iconic hub for music, food and community for 5 years has moved from its original location on Calle Zaragoza in West Ajijic to the Lake Chapala Society. Ray Domenech, founder and owner, has been operating Angelina’s Café at LCS and negotiated a complete move to and renaming of the old café location on August 30, opening a new chapter in the Casa D story and in the Ajijic music scene.
“We were doing OK at the old location, but lost customers because we were all indoors and we were small – the tables were close together,” Ray Domenech told Laguna while the band took a break playing at the new location. “People were calling and apologizing for not coming because they were worried about Covid – there are new rules now, and we had to respect that, and now we have a larger space that is outdoors,” he said.
Domenech told Laguna that the move was his idea, although LCS had originally invited him to take over the Café for breakfast and lunch. Holding the 5th anniversary celebration for Casa D – as it is affectionately known in Ajijic – at LCS showed him that there was potential for more space and for larger events.
The move took some negotiation because Casa D’s is now open at LCS when everything else on campus is closed. But the Board was in favor of it and the membership liked the idea, so he went ahead.
“LCS did an online poll of their members asking if they wanted us to be open evenings and serve dinner, and the result was 75% to 80% in favor. Everyone at LCS was very nice and helpful,” he said.
When asked about possible complaints from the neighbors over music noise at night, he said that there might be some but he has the necessary license for music and that he will start early and shut music down early – possibly as early as 7pm – to avoid disturbing the neighbors.
Most important, Domenech intends to recreate the magic the original location was known for, with great bands, drop-in musicians jamming, guest artists, and relationships and friendships kindling over food and jazz.
“ It is a different challenge – recreating the kind of magic we had in the smaller original venue, but it is my intention to make it happen here, he said, “the musicians will be here – just like tonight when a great trumpet player showed up and joined the band.”
Casa Domenech LCS is in its break-in period now, open daily for dinner and featuring music every night. The Grand Opening will be this Saturday, September 4, from 4:30 to 8 pm. The Aloha Rock band will be playing but Ray Domenech confided to Laguna that he expects many of Casa D’s musical friends to drop by and jam. Reservations can be made at facebook.com/domenechmusic/ and are recommended.
Yolanda Martinez llamas shows off her new supplement offering for health as well as beauty.
Patrick O’Heffernan, Ajijic. Yolanda Martínez Llamas, owner of Yoly’s Styling Salon and the President of Cruz Roja Chapala, obviously believes that health and beauty go together. So she recently added the Immunocal supplements line to her beauty products to give her clients a tool to use to strengthen their immune systems and stay well.
She choose Immunocal because it is a US-patented whey protein isolate – a natural food protein concentrate – which assists the body in maintaining optimal concentrations of glutathione (GSH), a powerful producer of antioxidants in the body and it is rated by the FDA as GRAS – generally recognized as safe.
The power of whey protein isolates to help the body generate GSH was discovered at McGill University in Canada in a research project to find a dietary protein source that would optimize the immune system and reduce hospital stays. Scientists there discovered a whey protein concentrate that boosted the immune system by helping maintain high levels of glutathione in 1981 and refined it until 1993 , when Immunocal put it to use.
Immunocal and Immunocal Platinum are lactose- and fat-free whey protein isolates derived from cow’s milk formulated to stimulate the production of GSH and has no known side effects. It was issued a method-of-use patent, which is given when an inventor has discovered a way to use either a patented drug or an unpatentable (generic) drug in a “novel, useful, and non-obvious” way.
Yolanda is happy to offer Immunocal to her clients, especially during the pandemic, because she felt that we all need a way to improve our resistance to diseases and because linking health and beauty makes sense. They can pick up a box after a haircut, making health care a habit as much as beauty care is.
L.A.
Patrick O’Heffernan.- Returning to NOB for a vacation after two years away, more or less, is a bit of a shock. NOB for me this week has been California – Los Angeles, a drive partway up the coast, and the SF Bay area. But LA had the greatest impact – as it always does.
The first impact was sticker shock. $3.00 cookies! $14.00 sandwiches ($8.00 at Subway, but still). An ordinary sit-down lunch for two at an ordinary sidewalk café in the Westside was $35.00 – plus tip and parking! You know how many lunches that will buy in Ajijic, even on the Expat economy, and even more at your neighborhood taqueria.
Covid shock came next. It seems to be more serious here too, with high case numbers, antivaxers, and breakthrough infections. I hosted a dinner for musicians and bands that I have known for years, and one of my dearest friends, a popular pop singer, could not attend because her boyfriend had a breakthrough infection of Delta after two shots. They had stayed home for months when she performed at just one concert and he attended – masked, and vaccinated – he got infected. (he is OK now, but in an abundance of caution, they did not attend the dinner, although everyone there was vaccinated and had a negative test.)
Now, LA is not California, nor the US for that matter, but it is my hometown, so the skyrocketing rents, grocery prices, energy prices, cellphone costs, and restaurant and entertainment prices, and homeless tent cities were a shock, although I have been keeping up with them online. Makes me appreciate Ajijic and Lakeside even more.
On the positive side LA reminded me of customer service – a shocking concept somewhat in vague in Mexico. I had to go to the phone store and the assistant manager came to me immediately to help me and took care of my transactions quickly. No waiting, no calls to HQ, no redtape. When she did not have the part I needed she called another store and said it would be ready for me when I go there. It was – no waiting. Same courtesy in the bank – opening up new tellers when a line got to be more than three people. Credit cards are fine everywhere. Bank transactions took place at the teller – no approval from Mexico City needed, the only i.d. I needed from everything was my CA drivers license – and no copies necessary and nothing got stamped and signed. That was a shock.
And, also on the positive side, I found myself back in LaLa Land – the land of movies and entertainment. Huge billboards all over touting shows for Emmy and Oscar awards. Skyscraper-size ads on Hollywood Blvd and other locations for rock bands and TV stars. But most memorable of all, as I reeled at $3 cookies, were the faux soccer bleacher displays set up in malls importuning Academy members to vote for Ted Lasso in the Emmy Awards, for which it has 20 nominations. And just to make sure you didn’t forget, the attractive young woman or man staffing the promotion gave you a pink box of shortbread cookies- free.
Free shortbread from a TV show and $3.00 cookies from the store. That’s LA. It is fun to be here on vacation, but Ajijic – and 25-cent galletas – are home now. See you all next week.
Cabildo Chapala.
Arturo Ortega (Chapala, Jal). – Citizens and Chapala Council members join to reject a proposal of city limits that would take approximately 1,411 hectares from the municipality of Chapala.
During the town council meeting on Saturday, August 14, residents primarily from Ajijic voiced their opposition to the proposal. Lending his support, Chapala Mayor, Moisés Alejandro Anaya Aguilar, also spoke out against the congressional proposal, and supported residents in defending the current city boundaries which are based on geographic and economic data collected by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI)
«I will be the first to defend the territory . . . I am not going to allow them to take away one square meter of our territory,” said Anaya Aguilar, regarding the congressional proposal. With a 60 day limit for Congress to respond and a new administration starting on October 1, the Mayor urged new leadership to continue defending municipal boundaries, adding that for the remainder of his administration he will take advantage of all legal resources available to him to ensure the boundaries remain intact.
Councilmen joined in defending the municipal boundaries and were critical of information that is being shared with the public, arguing that it is not accurate. Councilman Javier Degollado asserted that this is not a new problem, that over the course of the last decade, both Ajijic and Atotonilquillo have confronted this issue.
Ajijic councilwoman, Cristina Gómez Padilla pointed out that the proposal issued by the Commission of the State Congress would further reduce the area she represents, therefore she is also in favor of an extension during which support for the municipal territory can be gathered. Her colleague, PAN councilwoman, Lilia Alvarado Macias, highlighted discrepancies between the plan proposed by the Congress and that affecting land in Ajijic, San Nicolas de Ibarra, the municipal seat, and Atotonilquillo. Councilwoman Edith González estimates that in the proposal put forth by the State Congress Commission, Chapala would lose around 1,411 hectares.
The municipality of Chapala unanimously rejected the proposal and requested an extension of 90 days to respond and gather documentation necessary for the new administration to continue defending the city limits.
Translation: Yvonne Watterson
Police confront protestors in West Ajijic.
Sofía Medeles (Ajijic, Jal.) – Last Sunday evening, the group known as Pueblos Unidos de la Ribera, held a picnic to celebrate their ongoing efforts to remove the chain-link fencing that blocks access to public land.
About 25 people gathered at around 6:30PM in the area between Tío Domingo and Puerta Nueva, in West Ajijic. Based on what Laguna observed, this was a quiet and peaceful gathering with participants following social distancing protocols.
Within an hour of starting, however, the picnic was interrupted by uniformed police officers who had been called by property owners citing fears of vandalism or theft. Those at the picnic, some of whom had their children with them, remained calm and explained to officers the situation and their recent actions in response to losing access to recreational community space.
Along with the arrival of the uniformed officers, an individual claiming to be a lawyer representing homeowners in the area, indicated that his clients had been granted a concession from (CONAGUA). The group informed him that CONGAUA’s concessions do not include fencing.
The protestors finally left, but not before making it clear that they will continue on their mission to remove fencing from public land in the Laguna de la Ribera.
Translated: Yvonne Watterson
Auditorio de la Ribera.
(Translated by Yvonne Watterson)- The remodeling of Auditorio de la Ribera in La Floresta, began in October 2019. Envisioned as a cultural point of pride for the area, the project promised classrooms for various disciplines, enhancements to sound and ventilation, a cafeteria, pergola, library, restrooms, and state cultural offices. It should be completed by the end of next month to coincide with the arrival of the new administration on October 1, but some teachers are already voicing concerns about the renovation, ranging from classroom readiness to water leaking through ceilings in the brand new ballroom.
On condition of anonymity, one teacher told Laguna that a list of needs, including dressing rooms, water-proof blinds, and a partitioned dance floor for small group instruction.
had been presented twice in meetings with state and municipal authorities, but to no avail.
“These needs were not included in the final design and construction. The list – presented twice in meetings with the contractor, the architect, the Jalisco Secretariat of Culture, and representatives of the municipality of Chapala – was ignored.”
The teacher also believes that the architect in charge was more concerned with design than the needs of users pointing to the lack of dressing rooms for rehearsals. To prevent further damage in the new ballroom, staff are covering the wood floor with cardboard.
According to the Chapala government’s Communications department, the work, completed by Constructora y Edificaciones Remi y Asociados S.A. de C.V., was 80 percent complete in February of this year. To date, the project has cost 24.5 million pesos.
Verificación.
Patrick O’Heffernan Ajijic JAL. Lakeside residents must now obtain either a temporary or annual smog verification document to enter or drive through Jalisco, even if their car has non-Mexican plates, according to an expert who has handled registrations for years.
“A lot of people are freaking out about the latest rules the Governor released about smog inspection,” said Antonio Regalado, owner of R&R New and Used Cars and Car Solutions in Ajijic who handles dozens of registrations. He warned people, especially Expats, not to trust everything they read on Facebook about smog checks.
“The Governor wants every vehicle to be smog tested, but your car will not be impounded if you are late getting a permit,” Regalado told Laguna. “But, the regulations require that out- of-state or foreign plated cars need to get an appointment now regardless of the last number of your plate – the appointments are available in mid-September. It is a new system and it is backed up with many people, so the sooner the better,” he said.
The regulations he referred to were published March 3 in the El Periódico Oficial El Estado de Jalisco, but the English translation is not clear on whether or not non-Mexican and non-Jalisco plates are excluded from the last number of the license plate system initiated for Jalisco-plated cars. Regalado says his reading is that out of state and out of country plates need appointments now for inspections regardless of their last plate number.
The Verificación Responsable website is also not clear. In its Q&A section it says that:
“All vehicles circulating in Jalisco are required to carry out Responsible Verification, including those from other states” directing readers to the March 3, 2020 regulation. However, in the site’s description of the Verificación Responsable system, it reads: “As of August 1, 2021, Responsible Verification is mandatory for all cars that circulate in the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area, except hybrids and electrics. Private vehicles have to be tested once a year and heavy-duty vehicles twice a year. Check when you have to verify in the month-plate calendar.”
The question of whether out of state or non-Mexican plated cars can remain in Jalisco with a temporary pass good for the few days they may be in Guadalajara is not clearly answered. Regalado recommends that those with out of state or country plates assume they need full smog permits and make appointments now.
Regulations require that vehicles spending less than 20 days per month in the Guadalajara Metropolitan Area (AMG) obtain and display a » Verificación Responsable » pass on a car window. The pass can be downloaded online without a visit to an office, but must be obtained for each visit to Guadalajara.
Passes are available for download at the New Verificación Responsable website. You will need your car’s registration card, VIN, and license plate numbers as well as the make and model. You can only select the days you plan to visit/drive through Guadalajara and you are limited to 20 days every six months. The site will generate a pdf. for you to print out and tape to your car window. You have to obtain a new pass for each visit. For full details, see instructions posted by Pat’s Plates at www.fb.com/PatsPlatesPv
If you plan to be in Guadalajara more than 20 days a month you need to obtain an annual Responsible Verification sticker ( bi-annual for commercial vehicles and trucks – hybrids and electrics are exempt). Appointments for inspections are now available for private cars with license plates ending in “7”, for out of Jalisco plated cars, and for heavy duty/commercial vehicles whose plates end in “3” and “4”. Enforcement begins Oct 1, but no fines will be assessed util 2022.
Obtaining a Verificación Responsable requires making an online appointment for an inspection, paying a $500MX fee in advance, passing the smog test, and displaying the sticker. At present there are only three inspection stations available for online appointments , all in the Guadalajara area, although more have been promised by the Jalisco government. The website offers a credit card option for payment, but it appears to reject American-based credit cards, requiring the user to print out a form to take to Oxxo or a bank.
The program is labeled as “new” by the current administration in Jalisco because it is replacing an earlier program that did not function well. The regulations can be found in Spanish at https://periodicooficial.jalisco.gob.mx.
Car in Chapala.
Patrick O’Heffernan Ajijic JAL. Each year you have to renew your car registration by March 31. In Jalisco you get a discount if you pay early, starting in January. Theoretically, you can do this online at the site of the La Secretaría de la Hacienda Pública You will need your license plate number (placa in Spanish), your VN number, and your old vehicle registration card (tarjeta de circulación in Spanish). If the site is working, you can pay online and then after March, take your receipt to the traffic office in Chapala and pick up your new registration card. There are also some Oxxo’s and banks that will take the payment. Best to do it in early January because the discount is highest and the crowds are smallest. Keep the receipt in a safe place.
If you are re-registering a car from another state in Jalisco, the cost, red tape, hassle and time involved go way up. You will need a lot of documents, you will have to get up at 5 in the morning and go to a registration office in Guadalajara, you will have to have the car inspected, and you will run into problems if the VIN and motor numbers do not match the numbers on the facturas (bill of sale), or if the original factura has no motor number – not uncommon.
You will need 3 copies each of (these requirements can vary from office to office):
Once you have gathered and verified your documents, go online and make an appointment with the Verificación Vehicular. Set up a user name and password and follow the prompts. Print out your appointment confirmation and bring it with you or you won’t be admitted into the Verificación Vehicular office. The closest office is in Tonalá, but there are offices all over Guadalajara and Zapopan, but none in Chapala or Jocotepec. A map of the registration centers can found at https://gobiernoenlinea1.jalisco.gob.mx/vehicular/#/mapa-recaudadoras
The website tells you “not to be surprised if the process is completed in one day”, not a reassuring message, especially since some Facebook posts report three trips to a Verificación Vehicular to finally get the documents the way the clerk of the day wanted them.. Also, don’t be surprised that you have to show up at 6:30 am because the office opens at 7 and if you not in line by 7 am you will not be allowed in and have to start the appointment process all over again.
You vehicle will be inspected, then you have to pay the taxes, fees and license plate charges, which are based on a formula but can run over $10,000 pesos for a late model car. Part of the inspection involves checking your VIN and motor numbers and making sure they agree with the previous registration and facturas. If you don’t have the paper receipts for the previous registrations, even though the stickers are on the car window, you may be asked go pay all previous registration fees.
While in the Verificación Vehicular office , you will sit and wait until you are moved into the first chair and called; you will have to show your documents to three different people, so keep them in good order. If there are no problems, the process will take 7 -8 hours.
If you bought your car in Mexico City or it has a Mexico City license plate, the process is more difficult because Mexico state has a reputation for registering vehicles that can’t be registered in other states. In this case it is best to use a gestoria de vehicular service or an automotive facilitator who specializes in obtaining plates. In Chapala, you can contact Antonio Regalado of R&R New and Used Cars and Car Solutions, Luis Perguero, or go to Pat’s Plates on Facebook.
Lake Chapala Community Orchestra.
Patrick O’Heffernan, Ajijic, JAL. The Lake Chapala Community Orchestra Chamber Ensemble will return to the stage in full force Thursday August 26 and Friday August 27 in a “Summer Serenade” concert with special guests the Arche String Quartet from Guadalajara and Ely Molletones of the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra.
The 12-member Chamber Ensemble will play works by Mozart, Faure, Telemann, Tchaikovsky and many more. The two concerts will be held at the Unitarian/Bare Stage in Riberas, starting at 4pm. Orchestra Conductor Michael Reason will lead the Chamber Ensemble and play the piano.
Doors will be open at 3.15pm along with the bar which will offer wine, beer and soft drinks. Admission is free, but seat reservations are required.. Covid precautions will be in effect and masks must be worn while in the building. Reservations are available by email at lccotickets@gmail.com with the date and number of seats desired.
Christine and Tony Valle Hernandez on stage with Los Amigos Big Band.
Patrick O’Heffernan Ajijic ,JAL. Lakeside’s only big band jazz orchestra went to the Centro Cultural Presidencia Antigua in Chapala to broaden its mostly Expat audience with a fundraising concert for Mexican families to help its Mexican band members battered by Covid restrictions.
Concert organizer and Big Band saxophonist Christine Philipson said, “ This is the third concert for the Band, with that many again cancelled due to Covid, so we are very pleased to finally be able to support our Mexican band members”.
The Jazz for Families was an exciting success with all seats in the socially distanced auditorium sold out and an overflow crowd in the courtyard on folding chairs. Many of those in the auditorium and the courtyard were Mexican families with children. All announcements from the stage were in English and Spanish and a special drawing for music lesson prizes for the children in the audience – all Mexican – brought smiles, “ah’s” and applause as children – some shy and some grinning – climbed onstage to accept their prizes.
For adults, Expat and Mexican, two bottles of local Sandy y Daniel tequila were awarded to lucky ticket holders.
Los Amigos Big Band ‘s current stage is 4toSintido in Riberas, a four-star restaurant that easily holds a 100+ audience with plenty of room to dance. The Jazz for Families concert in Chapala was performed in the largely Mexican community of Chapala, with a very low ticket price and children under 16 free to make it accessible to families.
Only the Mexican members of Los Amigos were paid for the performance – Expat performers like Philipson volunteered. The concert was co-sponsored by Semanario Laguna.
The set list, guided by conductor and music director Paul Silverman, consisted of American jazz standards mixed with Mexican favorites like “Azulito” by the famous El Maestro Ray Santos, “Perfida” by Albert Dominguez, and “El Mundo Raro” by the ranchero singer/songwriter José Alfredo Jiménez. Band Leader Silverman introduced local Mexican musicians in the band like Dani Real, Carlos López Desales and his Uncle ‘Chepe’ José Manuel López Hernández, Angel Chavarria, Esteban Olvera, and Tony Valle Hernandez who also translated.
Los Amigos Big Band will be playing one of their popular «Tea Dance» concerts Tuesday Sept 7th – 12 – 2pm at 4toSento in Riberas.
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