Casa D owner Ray Domenech and long-time fan celebrate the Grand Opening of Casa D LCS.

Patrick O’Heffernan (Ajijic JAL). It’s official!  The new, improved and larger Casa Domenech  launched  at the Lake Chapala Society with a packed  – but Covid safe – Grand Opening Saturday. The community Ray Domenech has built for years around his original location – fans and musicians –  turned out in force.

Casa Domenech is now in the space at the LCS formerly known as Angelina’s which was operated by Ray Domenech for lunch and breakfast.  Casa Domenech is now open for breakfast lunch and dinner and features music most days for lunch and dinner.

The Grand Opening followed a  short “break-in” period in which  Casa D was open for food and music but had not yet been officially inaugurated.  Ray Domenech wanted to make sure the operation was smoothed out and working perfectly, which it was by Opening Night.  The celebration also showcased the advantage of moving Casa D from its original location in a small restaurant in West Ajijic to LCS where seating was outdoors and could spread beyond the immediate restaurant into the adjacent courtyard.  

“I love the new space where we can continue to create food, music and community like we have for five years, only with more people.  Many thanks to LCS for inviting us,” Domenech told Laguna.

According to Domenech, he can produce events for well over a hundred people at LCS. And the different seating locations give diners the option of being close to the music, or far away for conversation. And of course, special events like the recent Casa Domenech 5th Anniversary party in the LCS courtyard are always possible.

Music was in abundance, headlined by the Aloha Rock band and joined by the duo Old Souls – Scott Henrich and Yvonne Watterson,  singer Barbara Sangrey and folksingers Mike and Terrie.  And of course Ray Domenech sat in with his guitar whenever he could.

Casa D at LS is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Dinner served at 4:30 pm until 8 pm.  Enter through the library entrance to LCS for dinner.

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.

Wall along the border with Sonora.

Patrick O’Heffernan Ajiic. JAL. Citing a “crises at the border”,  the Republican governor of  Texas,  Gregg Abbot,  announced that Texas will build a wall between his state and Mexico, using state taxpayer funds and crowd-sourced money raised online. 

 Human rights and  immigration advocates responded quickly saying that the only crisis on the border  is the GOP’s lack of a coherent strategy  and  grandstanding stunts, adding that he does not have the authority to build a border wall.

“I will announce next week the plan for the state of Texas to begin the border wall,” said Abbot at a border security “summit” in Del Rio last week. This week he released details of a plan to use $250 million of state funds for a project manager and preliminary studies while he raised additional billions through a crowd-sourcing website.  

His announcement  did not address the question of how a state-operated wall would interface with Federal Immigration and Customs, since the state has no Constitutional role in visas, international trade, customs or border crossings. Critics pointed out that if completed, the wall could be an impediment to the thousands of tourists, US and Mexican citizens, and commercial trucks crossing the border in Texas every day, encouraging them to use New Mexico crossings instead of Texas facilities like Laredo.

He also did not address questions about how the state was going to force private landowners to give up their property for a wall when the Federal government was mired for years in court battles, which  were declared moot when President Biden cancelled the wall on his first day in office.

Ken Salazar.

Patrick O’Heffernan Ajijic (JAL)  US President Joe Biden has nominated Ken Salazar, a former U.S. Senator from Colorado, to serve as the next ambassador to Mexico. The nomination has to be approved by the full Senate after hearings.

Salazar, 66 and currently in private practice as a lawyer, served as  Secretary of the Interior under President Barack Obama and in the U.S. Senate for a term. He has no prior diplomatic experience, but played an important role in negotiating the cross-border management of the Colorado River with Mexico.

Although a Latino-American and fluent in Spanish, his heritage traces directly to Spain, and not to Mexico.  His nomination was applauded in  most quarters, although his past associations with oil companies has drawn criticism from environmental organizations and his support for fracking contradicts Mexican policy against it. 

A Co-Chair of the President’s election campaign, will be the Biden’s point man in Mexico to move forward on a day-to-day basis the initiatives with Mexico launched by Vice President Harris in her meeting with AMLO last week , especially policies  to deal with an influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.

INM.

Patrick O’Heffernan, Ajijic, JAL. Spencer McMullin of Spencer’s Office S.C. Abogados posted a warning that  INM  (Instituto Nacional de Migración). was setting up checkpoints throughout Mexico to confirm Expat’s residency status.  According to the post, immigration has changed its policy and is now detaining non-Mexicans legally in the country who are not carrying their original immigration or residency  documents on them. 

This is apparently in response to INM’s analysis that many people are here with expired  tourist cards and not returned home prior to their expiration due to Covid travel restrictions. So far no checkpoints have been seen in Lakeside, but reports have been posted in Facebook groups that cars have been stopped on the way back from Guadalajara through Jocotepec.

 The post warns that  if your papers have expired you should stay home and if you are legal you should always carry your original documents such as your Temporal, your Permanente or a valid visa,  especially if you are traveling to the beach.  This may confuse some people who have obtained certified copies of their immigration cards and carry them for safety.  The advice is to carry the original and save the copies at home.

Laguna verified the post with Spencer by chat through his office, receiving a message that some Expats have been detained, although it is unknown if it was either through errors or by inexperienced people. Other posts on social media have verified the problem.  As of Wednesday May 19, the INS website section covering immigration documents for non-Mexicans was not loading, although various posts on social media claimed they were able to verify the policy with INS.

Foto: Archivo.

Patrick O’Heffernan, Ajijic JAL.  A social science survey of expats in Mexico is now being conducted by postgraduate students at UdG, using the web-based tool Survey Monkey to gather data from Lakeside, Puerto Vallarta and possibly other locations with high expat concentrations.  Local expats can take the survey b y computer or on their phones.

Dr. Marco Córtes , Rector of UdG between 2008 and 2013, and CUCosta Research Professor Dra. Cecilia Soraya Shibya Soto, are managing the study which they expect to give a detailed picture of the expats living in Lakeside and other areas, in order “to know the effect of the social, economic, recreational and cultural practices of the foreign population, along with the main characteristics of their socio-moral, civic and political identity in the community and how the interaction of this foreign community with the local community has contributed to economic development, urban space and identity construction.”

“With this data,” Dr. Shibya told Laguna, “ the needs, opinions and contributions of the foreign community will be better understood and heard, and this will enable various sectors to integrate with them for the improvement of all.”

The 50 question multiple-choice survey is designed for permanent and temporary residents and is voluntary and anonymous. It covers location, income, religion, living costs, language, local involvement, cost of living, and recreation to give the research team a detailed demographic snapshot of expat communities.  It will not answer questions about the population of expats, but could provide data that can be extrapolated into population estimates. 

The researchers are hoping for a large number of respondents to give them not only a statistically reliable data set, but also to make the information useful to other institutions and provide a baseline of information on the expat communities. They are working with a number of local organizations to distribute the survey, so it may arrive in people’s mailboxes from a variety of sources. Expats may also have participated in similar surveys by the TransAmerica Center for Retirement Studies  and Expats in México which are more financially focused.

To take the survey, you may use either a phone or a computer.  For a phone, hold the phone’s camera over the QR code printed here or that you receive in an email, and it will take you to the SurveyMonkey page with the questions.  For those using computers or tablets, you may also access the survey  at https://es.surveymonkey.com/r/iiigajijic which will take you to the Survey Monkey page  of the Instituto de Investigaciones en Innovación y Gobernanza where the survey is located.

You may request the results or send questions to ceciliasshibya@hotmail.com

A lectores y público en general:

A través de este medio, Semanario Laguna «La Noticia Como Es» se deslinda de toda publicación y relación con la cuenta de Facebook: Laguna Jocotepec, que fue creada el 5 de mayo del año en curso y cuyas publicaciones han circulado desde entonces.

Semanario Laguna es un medio de comunicación impreso y digital que vio la luz en el 2012 y que se ha ganado la preferencia de los lectores de la ribera del lago de Chapala, debido a sus publicaciones con contenido informativo.

La línea editorial de Semanario Laguna está limitada a informar de manera comprobada lo que publica y nunca a hacer denostaciones hacia alguna persona o institución política, pública, privada o religiosa.

Las opiniones publicadas en nuestras páginas digitales e impresas son responsabilidad de quien las firma y solo se publican si cumple con los requerimientos de nuestra línea editorial.

Semanario Launa no es un sitio en redes sociales e internet que surgió de manera improvisada a mitad de las campañas políticas, como muchas páginas incipientes que buscan aprovecharse de ello y del nombre de nuestro medio, por el cual usted y más de 37 mil seguidores se informan del acontecer diario de la Ribera de Chapala.

Adquiere la versión impresa de cada viernes en tiendas y puestos de revistas en Chapala y Jocotepec. Infórmate en el www.semanariolaguna.com y  sigue nuestras redes sociales:

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Poster.

Patrick O’Heffernan, Ajijic. Lakeside’s music season is off to a great start with the International  Music Festival this weekend, produced by the Ajijic-based music organization Ray Velvet Productions,  directed by Ray Domenech of Casa Domenech. The festival launches Friday evening  with R&B and funk,  moves onto Saturday with soft rock by Ajijic’s own SAGREY, and wraps up Sunday with hot Latin music from Mexico, Cuba and Venezuela.

The festival will be held at Number 9,  a large outdoor venue owned by a local musician,  located at Aquiles Serdan #9, 20 steps down from Vinos America on the Carretera. Festival goers will enjoy a Mexican all-you-can-eat buffet  dinner with fresh handmade tortillas, a cash bar, and socially-distanced tables.   

Friday’s lineup is ON FIRE , a R&B and jazz funk band with Willy Zavala on keys, Armando Curiel on drums and “Malabres” on bass and featuring Ajijic’s star saxman, Chuco Soto.  Saturday evening will bring the vocals of Barbara Sagrey,  fronting the SAGREY ban , with Diego Casas on drums, Kevin Real on bass,  Azael Medeles on Keyboard, Ray Domenech on guitar  and  Kenji Matsui from Japan on lead guitar. 

The Festival wraps up Sunday, April 25, with MANO PA’RRIBA, playing red hot Latin Music  with the beloved Freddy Adrian from Venezuela on standup bass, Mexico’s  Giovanni Figueroa   on drums and Ronald Rivero from CUBA on the keyboard and fronted by Jackie Jacks  with her beautiful vocals.

Tickets are $700 for VIP and $580 for general admission for each day (discount for multiple days). You can buy your tickets online at: Paypal.me/rayvelvetpro or in Casa Domenech, Zaragoza 109 Ajijic ,or At Angelina’s inside the Lake Chapala Society.  Doors open at 6:30pm each day.

Kassi Valenti getting the new Stoplight Club for its grandopening April 15.

Patrick O’Heffernan, Ajijic. The Los Amigos Big Band’s “Welcome Spring” concert will open  Wednesday April 7 at the 4TO Sentido restaurant in San Antonio Tlayacapan, after two previous concert dates had to be scrubbed because of Covid.  The concert will kick off at 3:30pm with 2 hours of Expat favorites and some classic Mexican hits.

The Los Amigos  Big Band,  comprised of 20 Mexican and Expat artists, features 4 vocalists–Christy Carter Caldwell, Andrea Pérez Romero, Wanda White, and Lorenzo Elmo Adam,  was founded by local musician and entrepreneur Christine Phillipson.   Philipson worked hard to assemble a multicultural band of the best musicians she could find locally, although a few of the musicians, like the famous swing band leader Klaus Mayer,  are from Guadalajara.  The concert band will be directed by Paul Silverman of Ajijic, formerly music director at Big Band de Playa del Carmen.

“It was a lot of work to put together a bi-cultural big band – a lot of phone calls,” Philipson told Laguna in a phone interview, “ but our mission is to help local musicians who have been hurt terribly by Covid,” she said, adding that musicians who contract Covid can have problems with their lungs for years after the virus has left their body, especially impacting singers and horn players.

Poster for Welcome Spring concert by Los Amigos Big Band in Sn Antonio

Los Amigos Big Band is the third big band Philipson has created. The child of a musical theater family in Canada, she formed a band while in the Canadian military in 1990, and then full big band in 2009 after she left the military that is still going. She moved to Ajijic for the sunshine and founded the third big band, Los Amigos Big Band.   

“My mother once told me I have a love of music, but not a gift for music, so playing would not be my career,” she said, noting that she actually plays the alto sax in the Los Amigos Big Band. The Band allows her to indulge her love of music while helping musicians and providing unique entertainment to the Lakeside community.

The April 7 concert at the 4TO Sentido – formerly the Hole-in-One and then the Avocado Club – will be produced with full Covid protection, including mandatory masks for dancers.  Philipson pointed out that most of the anticipated 100-person audience should have had a Covid-19 vaccination by April 7. The restaurant is known for its fine international cuisine and may serve a  special menu of classical Mexican and word food.

“Welcome Spring”, Wednesday April 7 at the 4TO Sentido, Chula Vista 89 in San Antonio Tlayacapan. Tickets are $180 pesos with one drink: food is extra. Tickets are available at   mxnphilly@gmail.com or at the restaurant.

Poster for Quarantine for Two.

Patrick O’Heffernan, English Editor. After being off the stage for an entire season, Lakeside Little Theater will present a fully realized play – actors, costumes, stage, props – all in a socially distanced, Covid-19 safe, specially-built outdoor theater on the Angel Terrace.

Appropriately entitled Quarantine for Two, the play written by Hy Conrad who has generously allowed LLT to produce it, will feature three actors live onstage, six live by Zoom, and three projected onto a screen.  The stage will be specially constructed  under the awning on the Angel Terrace with the audience seated outside in socially distanced chairs and mandatory masks.

The dark comedy speaks to our times. After months of quarantine, the recently retired Oscar Ebersol and his wife Ruth are driving one another nuts and are ready to kill each other.  A chance encounter with a stranger turns their world upside down and someone is likely to end up dead!

On stage will be Peter King as Oscar, Monnie King as Ruth, and Brian Fuqua as Marty the disruptive stranger.  On screen will be Johanna Labadie and Gabriel Casillas and the Zoom party will feature Donna Burroughs, Randy Warren, Araceli Kopiloff, Brian Mattes, Carlos Rodriquez, and JeanMarie Harmon.

Quarantine for Two will run from March 25 through April 2, with no show on March 29.  All productions will begin at 7:30 pm except for Saturday and Sunday,  March 27 and 28, when curtain will be at 4 pm.