Tlaquepaque – Page 2 – Messy Suitcase Travel Blog

February 10, 2019

Mecca in Mexico

In mid-January, when we drove to Guadalajara from Leon, we passed mile after mile of people walking along the road. We must have passed eight miles of people walking, many with backpacks or bedrolls, adults and children, before we branched off the road and headed toward Tlaquepaque.

We speculated that this was a caravan of migrants headed toward the US border. Yet, we didn’t see anything in the press about anything the size of what we saw. We did, however, see some tweets and more tweets from the government of the state of Guanajuato about “pilgrims,” with estimates of 70,000 to 100,000 pilgrims. But we saw nothing in the US news.

When I asked about this on an expat forum, I discovered that these were actually religious pilgrims headed to the town of San Juan de los Lagos in the Mexican state of Jalisco to view a revered image of the Virgin Mary called Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos. This Madonna is said to be responsible for tens of thousands of miracles dating back to 1623. (Read more here, and note some of the powerful comments from people who have visited the image.)

The image itself is made of sugar cane paste and stands about 38 centimeters high. It is believed to have been brought from Michoacán, Mexico, in the early 16th century and refurbished 400 years ago.

Somewhere between 7 and 9 million people yearly visit San Juan de los Lagos to see the image of the Virgin. The most heavily visited time, though, is Candelmas, when approximately 2 million people visit. Candelmas, or the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord Jesus, falls on Feb. 2, the 40th day of the Christmas Epiphany season. In San Juan de los Lagos, they celebrate with a festival extending from Jan. 25 to Feb. 2 that includes fireworks, music and amusement rides.

This was the destination of the pilgrimage that we saw. Organized groups walk or bike for hundreds of miles. Most come to repay the image for a miracle they have received. There is a popular belief that people who fail to repay the Virgin risk being turned into stone.

So, even though there is another, much smaller, caravan of Central American migrants currently headed to the US (learn about it here and here), the miles of sojourners that we saw were religious pilgrims headed to San Juan los Lagos to keep from getting turned into stone.

Here’s the caravan we saw:

January 16, 2019

Gas Crisis in Mexico

We didn’t make it to Tlaquepaque! We literally ran out of gas.

Well, we didn’t completely run out of gas, but we did get low enough on gas to not have enough make it to Tlaquepaque, and we couldn’t find any more.

Why No Gas?

Mexico has what are called huachicoleros, or gas thieves. The initial image that comes to mind is someone with a 5-gallon container and a hose that siphons gas out of cars. But in Mexico, the issue is far, far bigger, to the tune of $3B USD a year in stolen gas. And it’s not stolen from cars, it’s siphoned right out of the large gas pipelines that distribute the product from refineries to various points in the country.

The gas is stolen by the cartels in a very systematic, almost professional manner. Tapping these lines, with flammable gas running through them, is a dangerous process, and can only be done by extremely skilled people. The government says over 12,000 taps have been put into the gas distribution pipelines.

Sad, empty gas station

A Government Crackdown

This has been going on for years, but Mexico’s new, anti-corruption president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, took office last month and started cracking down. He decided to fight the huachicoleros by stopping the distribution of gas through the pipelines, identifying the taps and then more vigorously guarding those lines. The plan was to replace pipeline distribution with distribution by tanker truck.

Unfortunately, that distribution plan has failed to meet the needs of the population, leaving some areas, mostly central Mexico — where we are — with a gas shortage (actually a distribution shortage).

We knew about this 10 days ago before we left Pennsylvania. Fully aware that we were heading into the area hardest hit by the shortages, we thought that surely the kinks in the distribution system would be worked out by the time we got to Mexico, especially after we were delayed another two days at the border.

Our trip through northern Mexico was uneventful and there was plenty of gas. There was even plenty of gas in Matehuala, six hours in, where we stopped overnight and easily gassed up the next morning. We knew that one tank of gas wouldn’t get us to Tlaquepaque, so we wanted to go far enough before stopping to ensure we had enough in the tank to make it the rest of the way.

Unfortunately, when it came time to stop, first there weren’t any gas stations for miles, and then the next one we found didn’t have any gas. Its gas nozzles were just lying on the pavement, and a long line of cars idled a half mile back along the roadside. We drove 40 miles to the next town where there was a possibility of finding gas, but none of the five gas stations there had gas either.

Choosing a Detour

So we were faced with a decision, and discussed it while looking at a map of Mexico: continue on toward Tlaquepaque and hope we could find gas, or turn left and take a detour toward the closest city, Leon, where we could find pet-friendly lodging and hope to find gas. We chose the Leon option, not wanting to chance being stranded on a roadside with three cats.

We found the Hotel Soleil Business Class, an affordable, pet-friendly three-star hotel, and walked down the street to a gas station that didn’t have any gas. The attendant told us he wasn’t scheduled to get gas for 4 more days.

We knew we had a problem, so we went and booked a two-bedroom Airbnb apartment in Leon for a week iand decided to make lemonade out of lemons.

Making Lemonade

Leon wasn’t on our initial list of places to visit, but it has turned out to be a wonderful discovery! There’s lots to see and do here, the cats like the apartment, and we are really enjoying our stay.

Meanwhile, we’re monitoring the gas situation online. We have seen a few open gas stations with long lines, and have heard about people waiting four or six hours or more for gas, and then coming away with only a few pesos worth (because of 500-peso limits, about $28US), or not getting gas at all. We are not “line” people.

We are not getting in that line

At some point, when the situation improves, we’ll get in what should be shorter lines, only when we can get enough gas to make it all the way to Tlaquepaque. And then we’ll move on to our next adventure.

In the meantime, join us in exploring Leon!

October 5, 2018

The Retirement Itinerary: Europe First

LISA

People are asking, “Why are you in Europe? We thought you were moving to Mexico!”

Well, we are … but not yet. We are not going to Mexico till January 2019.

First, Le Tour de Europe

First, we are launching our adventures with five weeks in Europe — Iceland, Germany, Spain, England, Italy and Greece.

We are visiting family — our oldest child Aryk at Keele U. in Newcastle Under Lyme, England, and then London because why not? (Also got tickets to Hamilton and the Harry Potter Studio Tour.)

We’re visiting Lisa’s brother Pat and his wife Ines and their family in Pinneberg, Germany, outside Hamburg.

First we gotta visit Aryk at uni!

We are spending a few days with the family of our awesome foreign exchange student, Laia, around Barcelona and Reus.

We are joining Troisi (Lisa’s mother’s side) cousins in Italy as part of a family genealogy trip. So we’ll be in Rome, Naples and Solofra.

Then we’re wrapping it all up with a few days in Athens before flying home Nov. 7.

Then, New England

Then, we gotta hang out in Vermont!

We’ll be spending about a month at our vacation home in Ludlow, VT – hopefully taking a couple grandmas and Bob’s sister, Beth.

Next, Holidays with Family
We’ll spend the winter holidays in PA with Bob’s Mom and Lisa’s stepmom, sister Julie and any family we can see.

Finally, Mexico
After Aryk goes back to Uni after Winter Break, the first week of January, we’ll begin the next road trip, taking the cats and Lexie on the road from Pennsylvania to Tlaquepaque, Mexico. The trip is about 37 hours, so we will stop in Nashville and spend a couple of nights in New Orleans on the way.

Stay with us — it’s going to be a blast!

September 8, 2018

Falling into Place

LISA

Today everything fell into place for Phase 1 of the Mexico adventure. We sat down and planned it out, and then we took action!

Step 1: Figure out our dates
First we looked at the calendar and Google Maps and figured out how long it will take us to drive to Guadalajara, Mexico, from Harrisburg, PA, where we will be visiting Grandma for the Christmas holidays before embarking on our adventure. We argued a little about whether the Mexican portion, after we cross the border at Laredo or McAllen, TX, should be done in one day or two, and finally decided to wait and see how the traveling went. (but we found a cat-friendly midway hotel just in case.)

The arrival date will be Jan. 10 or 11, 2019.

Step 2: Sign up for Spanish immersion classes
First I booked us for two months of four-hours-a-day Spanish immersion classes at the Guadalajara Language Center. They teach from 8:45 AM-1:30 PM, Monday through Friday, with a half hour off for lunch. Only $680 a month! They also have excursions to show you the area and give you a chance to study your Spanish, as well as opportunities to volunteer in the community.

Step 3: find a place to live

House La Holandesa

Next, I booked us for three months in a four-bedroom house in Tlaquepaque, in the southern suburbs of Guadalajara, Mexico’s biggest city, for a ridiculously low $850 a month. (that was through the foreign language school. the same property is $137 a night on Trip Advisor!) So lesson #1: Book local.

It’s called House La Holandesa. It’s in a gated community. The house has plenty of room for us all to spread out, even when Aryk comes home on Easter Break from University. It has a nice looking kitchen with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances, and a guest room! The most important amenities, though, are a parking space, and cat-friendly.

The house is about a ten-minute walk from the center of Tlaquepaque and 15 from the language school.

So we have a language school, we have a home. We have a plan. Now we are really getting excited!