I've Arrived in Patzcuaro, Mexico.

Well, friends and family, here I am in Patzcuaro, Mexico.  I'm staying at a nice, slightly funky hostal hosted by cute, friendly, helpful Jaime, up a narrow street about a kilometer from the center of town.  Here's the view of Lake Patzcuaro from the balcony outside my room:

I arrived late Friday afternoon after an overnight in Dallas.  A friendly Canadian guy staying at the hostal told me about a little hole-in-the-wall eatery on a nearby street and an art gallery opening farther down the hill.  So I wandered down into town, to the grand plaza surrounded by colonial arcades, then headed back up the hill.  As I approached the gallery, I saw that it was one run by expats that I had read about in an online forum about the arts in the area.  Going inside, I bought a plastic glass of decent red wine for $1.50 (!) and proceeded to mill about and chat with lots of friendly expats, including a gay couple who said to give them a call and we'd get together.  It was a warm, welcoming crowd and I'm looking forward to seeing them in the future.

I then continued up the hill, to Dona Toya's little eatery, which doesn't even have a sign - I was told to look for the red door.  I went in and sat down and a waiter walked up and asked me simply "How many?" (in Spanish of course).  Since I had no idea what exactly they served, I had to ask for an explanation.  It turns out they serve only two things;  little tacos, and sopes - which are disks of fried corn dough piled with shredded beef, with onions, cilantro, limes and hot salsa on the side.  I ordered three and had them without the cilantro - which I don't care for - but with a bit of the spicy salsa;  I figure I better get myself accustomed to it!  They were quite tasty.

Back at the hostal, which has wifi available, I discovered to my delight that my Skype computer-to-telephone system does work here - so I can make and receive unlimited calls to and from the U.S.!
And then I discovered that my calls to Mexico cost nothing!  Unfortunately, for folks to call my number from Mexico it's an international call.

I slept like a log and didn't get up until after 8:00 the next morning.  I lay in bed thinking "Ah - I can stay here as long as I'd like!" - plus it was quite chilly in my room, so I was in no hurry to face the cold.  Luckily when I finally did get up the shower water was nice and hot.  And the casita I'll be renting for 3 months, starting on Tuesday, has a couple of small gas heaters to take off the morning chill.

I went out for breakfast - to a place with great coffee (Yay!) - and had a nice chat with a guy from Dallas who has come to Patzcuaro several times.  It seems he's had a rather stressful life and he finds this area very soothing.  I can deal with soothing! After breakfast I went for a nice long walk down to the dock at the lakeside, partly along a wide tree-lined boulevard and partly on small side roads, taking in the sights and sounds.  Here are some views of typical buildings in Patzcuaro.  As you can see, the color scheme doesn't change much:

                      Near the center of town.  Somehow I managed to get a pic without traffic.

 Down toward the lake.  An explanation I've seen for the white-painted tree trunks, common in Mexico, is that it's calcium hydroxide, which is very alkaline and keeps leaf-cutter ants off the trees.

 Common along the roadside are wild marigolds - the ancestors of today's many varieties.

From the dock, which is lined with little eateries and souvenir shops, there weren't any good views of the lake because it's in a cove, so pics will come later.  There were musicians hanging around the dock, waiting for more tourists to arrive before playing, so I headed back up to town - trying to stay in the shade.  The daytime temps here are usually in the 70's, so coming from the Vermont winter it feels hot in the sun - and very comfortable in the shade.  I'm sure that eventually I'll adapt to the climate!

Back in town I visited the library - formerly a church - whose back wall is covered in a fascinating, colorful mural depicting the history of the area - including  the horrors inflicted by the conquistadors, such as the burning alive of the local native chief:

I also wandered through the maze of the market and was pleased to see lots of fruits and vegetables for sale at very inexpensive prices.  I couldn't resist buying a 4.4 lb. bag of mandarin oranges for 70 cents!  Once I get moved to the casita on Tuesday I'll be back to stock up.  Today I'll do some more exploring of the town - and tomorrow I'll be checking out a big religious festival of Nuestra Senora de Salud at the Basilica.