Yes, we are spending another five month in the El Parque Villas, in fact, we are living in the villa right next to the one we lived in last year. It is a bit bigger, with lots of patios--this is the view out of our master bedroom suite of Lake Chapala and the mountains beyond. El Parque is a highly secured community with guards checking in all guest and others who do not live here. In all, there are 116 self-contained villas all having access to a pool, hot tub, and a club house. Keep us informed by clicking on the email link Larry and Glorine.
	We said our farewells to Mike, Carmen and the grand kids on the morning of November 1 and by evening we were at Dennis and Nancy's place. They were also hosting a couple of Nancy's college roommates. It was great to see the great progress Dennis had made since his heart surgery just a month earlier. If all goes as plans, they may be our guests here in Ajijic in February or March.	With every new place we rent, we spend at least a week doing some cleaning and organizing our personal things. So Glorine and I (mostly Glorine) put our finger prints all over the villa. November tends to be a bit early for snow birds, which makes our transition back into Ajijic life style so much more relaxing. Here we are with friends viewing art work brought in from Cuba and dozens of other Latin and South American countries.
	The Art Show was hosted at the Chapala Yacht Club, which is a massive club with boat storage, both dry-docking and mooring, a large swimming pool, and a club house. Mostly used by Guadalajarans, this was a rare peak for us to see the life style of the growing middle and upper class Mexicans.	Here is Maureen and Wayne with one of their God children, Diana. She is as cute as a button and as sharp as a tack. Maureen is putting on a final coat of finger nail polish. Diane is the daughter to a friend that Maureen and Wayne made since moving to Ajijic.
	Parties are a main stay here in Ajijic. Here is a snap shot of our first party we hosted for the season with both new friends and friends from the past three years. A dip in the hot tub and pool got the evening started, then for some of Glorine's delicious Chili and salad (mix in some wine, beer and tequila) and then it was MOVIE NIGHT. We watched "It's Complicated." Everyone loved it, which made for a grand party.	Each Sunday we attend a group known as "Open Circle, " which hosts guest speakers that lecture on every imaginable subject. Besides being a great mixer to meet and greet people we might not have seen since last winter, it is also the beginning of an afternoon of lunch, walks and whatever the group decides. This particular gentleman was a great speaker with passion for Russian poet, Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin, who he compared to Shakespeare.
	One of our new found friends we met through Jerry and Gloria live in the village Casa we lived in three years ago. What a small world. They are Allistair and Donna, the second and third person on the right during movie night. They gave us some lemons and bananas from their Casa. Here Larry is using an electric juicer to speed the process to get to the great tasting juice.	Fund raisers are designed to raise money for worthy causes and to have fun in the processes. One of the annual fundraisers is modeling clothing from clothiers in the area which is hosted at a local restaurant during lunch time. Here is friend Lil modeling clothes along with about a dozen other women. Each modeled three to four outfits. We enjoy supporting our friends and their various causes.
	Richardo, in the striped shirt is one of the most popular stage entertainers in the area. He and his singing accompanist, Blanca, make the "house rock" every Wednesday night at Manix. This evening was a special event, Richardo's birthday and what a party it was. A special prepared pig was cooked and the presentation and the flavor was outstanding.	Along with dancing the night away, we were treated to two special entertainers. Blanca danced several belly dances (to Richardo's utter amazement) and Hector the manager of Manix put on a pony costume and danced like the real Mexican "dancing horses." Thanks to a friend that lives in Ajijic year around, we got reserved seating to enjoy this fun event with a couple dozen friends.
	El Parque is a gated community of 116 villas owned largely by English-speaking Canadians and Americans. Estimates have it that about 1/3 live here full time, 1/3 winter here for five to six months and the remainder are a mix of homes sale or for rent. About the middle of November, a majority of the snow birds are back for the winter and El Parque has a tradition of having a big welcome back party to get acquainted/reacquainted.	Hamburgers, beer and wine were the main and only entree of the evening. A DJ played excellent rock and roll and Latin music. We got to know the couple that is renting the villa we rented last year They are just a hoot. We also met several people who were renting for the first time and invited them to break bread with us.
	Fiestas Galore!!!. St. Patties Day in the USA is a big deal, it only lasts one day. Here most celebrations go on for nine days. St Andreas, the patron saint of Ajijic was the big event for November. Parades, bottle rockets (BIG and noisy) go off all hours of the day and night. It is a part of the Mexican culture which we have come to love.	Persons of all shapes, ages, and sizes partake in the week+ long activities. While we do not know the significance of this picture, it was too cute to pass up. While churches are packed during different times of the day, at night it is the bars, dance halls, the town plaza and street corners are filled with vendors and music.
	Like we said, they come in all shapes and in this case colors.	The Naked Stage is an off-beat theater in Ajijic. This lady is introducing a play that is about to begin. Last year we went to one that was filled with slap-stick comedy. This play, was read aloud by six actors, which was about the death of their young child and how the extended family was coping with his loss. It was a very Heavy topic and most of us needed a couple of beers to let this one settle in.
	While the USA and Canada Embassies have general alerts out, mostly along the border, there have been a couple incidences that give credence to these alerts. However, that was not going to stop us from exploring the beauty of Mexico. Here we had just arrived in the church courtyard (note the two churches next to one another) - these are OLD churches.	Three cars, four to a car, provided for a comfortable trip up the mountain to a Swiss like village called Topalpa.(Toe-paul-paw), which is about a three hour drive from Ajijic. We had just finished lunch ($4.00 for a large T-bone steak) and we caught this picture before exploring the country side.
	Unlike Ajijic where most building are made out of brick and mortar, home here are still made of wood. And one of the city's conveyances is that all homes must be either natural or painted white. We have never been to Switzerland, but could imagine a small mountain villages looking like this.	Two popular attractions are this reservoir with several large parks on its shorelines. The other is an enormous rock formation. Unfortunately, we only got to take in one. Note all the weekend cabins lining the mountain. We are speculating that these are for people from Guadalajara or from nearby beach resorts.
	The land below this mountain top is a dry lake bed. Too much irrigation along with too little rainfall has turned it into farm land. While there must have been 20 hair pin turns, there were no guard rails. So this is one road one definitely does not want to drive at night.	American Thanksgiving was a big draw at the Lake Chapala Society. A small fee provided all the turkey, dressing, gravy and a glass of wine. Each person provided a side dish to feed eight people. It was a spectacular spread. And all the left overs went to a needy Mexican family. Wow do we have lots to be thankful for!!
	Ok, so we left the Thanksgiving dinner stuffed to the brim. We invited some friends over for movie night. So while we were watching the movie, Glorine is cooking Cream of Wild Rice Soup w/Chicken and bread pudding. We tried to beat the whipped cream by hand when Glorine remembered that there was an electric beater in the casa next door. So Larry ran over and requested the beater. The lady next door was shocked because she had been there for a month and had not seen one. So Larry apologized and came home. About three minutes later, our neighbor knocked on the door with the beater in hand. We would still be beating that cream by hand.	After the movie and "another dinner" we sat around the table and just chatted. Jean, third on the left suggested we should each share what each of us is most thankful for. What a precious moment that was--people reaching into their souls and sharing their heartfelt gratitudes. This exercise was not without moments of comic relief, but all and all finished off our Thanksgiving day with a special treat.
	Here we are treated to dancers from Mexico City, who represented Mexico in a Latin Dancing contest in Brazil. The dance routine took about an hour and touched on the various facets of Mexican culture from Pre-Colombian to modern day. It was well choreographed and performed flawlessly. It depicted a unique culture that most of us are just learning about.	We closed November out and the St. Andreas fiesta was still going on. While most of the old geezers started heading for home about 10ish, this is about when the party starts. Here we had several GYRO tacos. Muy Buen!

November's web page includes November 1 through November 30.