Hi folks! Sorry for the delays. No excuses, just apologies. Mea culpa, etc.
We last saw our intrepid travelers in May. For the earlier part of 2019, we covered most of that in previous newsletters:
In January we announced this newsletter and our plans to move from Ajijic to somewhere else in Mexico.
In February we visited several cities across Mexico and eventually decided to move to Zacatecas. During our 2-day visit, we even committed to an apartment! We also visited the Monarch butterfly reserve in the mountains of Morelia with our friend Martha.
In April we moved to our new home in Zacatecas.
Here’s what we’ve been up to since we last wrote:
Lots of miscellaneous hiking and birding at various places, too numerous to mention (or remember).
May 26 - revisited Ajijic, Glenn had his new yet cracked bridge replaced. We joined in on a vegan potluck at Greg and Eddie’s animal farm/sanctuary, did a little rock-climbing in San Antonio Tlayacapan. Visited our former Spanish teacher Lourdes in Guadalajara.
June - Zacatecas - helped plant some trees. Attended a 20’s-themed birthday party. Visited the town of Jerez with Natalie and had a lovely hike in the mountains.
July - revisited Ajijic, again. Glenn had his cracked replacement bridge replaced, this time with implants. Final appointment scheduled for January.
August - Bryn gets a ukulele. Watched battle reenactments based on 2-3 different Ottoman empire vs. Spanish Moor battles. Loudest event for us in Mexico, so far.
September - Big long hike through the hills south of town for Bryn’s 4th annual 59th birthday :) Stood *very* close to a castillo during Independence Day in downtown and dodged the shower of sparks and burning paper and generally smelled like gunpowder for awhile. Celebrated our 29th anniversary. (!)
October - Visited our former Spanish teacher Laura in San Luis Potosí for her going-away party. She is now in France working on her PhD. Visited family and friends in Texas for the first time in just over a year.
November - Bryn took a trip with a friend to Puebla and Oaxaca. She spent over two weeks at a retreat in the mountains with very little internet connection. There were rumors of sweat lodges, yoga, massage therapy training, body-painting and magic mushrooms. Meanwhile Glenn took some art lessons and got a new tattoo in San Miguel de Allende, a cooking class and jazz tour in Mexico City and then hung out in Oaxaca a bit. They reunited in the mountains for a few days before returning to Oaxaca city and touring ruins, local artists, ancient trees and waterfalls.
December - Recovery time! Much quieter and cooler, downright cold even! Neighbors in 1st and 2nd floor apartments, all Cubans, all have moved out in search of larger accommodations. We now have the building to ourselves! Endured an overnight water outage due to the bathroom faucet on the 1st floor exploding. Ready to meet up with a few friends for drinks/snacks before going downtown to ring in the New Year. Feliz nochevieja y año!
More news/blog posts soon, Ciao!