Back at the ranch

Friday, January 23, 2009


The birds are singing, the sun is shining, it’s a gorgeous day. I ‘m going on my daily, early morning walk way up to the view point to see the sun rise. What and experience.

Ramiro leaves early to go with Joe to Suchitlan to work on the house of one of the scholars. I spend the day with Mom, doing laundry and catching up on e-mails.
Mama is looking for something to do and Francie puts her to work, sorting donated clothes.
We pick oranges, which grow right outside our door, and spend the evening at home playing Rummikub and I work on some of my projects on the computer.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

An afternoon in Comala

10 minutes south of Cofradia, direction Colima, is Comala. (The place of the griddles)
Comala was once known as El Pueblo Blanco (The White Town) for all its white buildings with red-tiled roofs. We have heard so much about it, but did not have a chance to visit yet.
Today is the day. First we deal with our daily e-mails while Mom fixes some of the pillows at the Hacienda.

We park the car and walk to where all the activities are.
There is lots to do and to see. There is always something to buy from a rpivate home along the tiny streets. One house may sell Ponche, a sort of eggnog style drink, whihc is availablae in various flavours. Comala has numerous vendors selling just that. Others may sell coconuts or melons. The melons look so tasty we decide to buy some.
Vendors are selling candy, balloons and toys. Along the plaza are Los Portales, which house several outdoor restaurants. We find a table and order our drinks.
Within a few minutes a dish with tortillas is placed on the table, later a different dish and the waiter keeps bringing different dishes. These are called botanas. We keep eating and wonder when they will stop bringing food. Once we ask for the bill, the waiter offers dessert, which the guys order We find it hard to believe that we only pay for the drinks and for dessert. We can’t resists buying one of the leather handmade ponchos. We have no idea what we will do with it, but they are so beautiful.
There are lots of opportunities to buy gifts or crafts. We spend some time walking through the various streets and enter some of the little shops. This is a real neat place. The Mariachis band are trying to outdo each other for business.

Before we go home, we still have time to visit Laguna La Maria. A favorite place for locals for a family picnic.

We make a quick stop at the Hacienda just when a group of volunteers arrive for the next workweek.