THE STREETS WE WALK

This will be a series about the towns around Lake Chapala starting with Chapala.  

 The modern culture is shaped by past influences, not least among them the beliefs and practices of the indigenous peoples.  The people that were living around the lake when the Spaniards came here had no written records, so the history was recorded by and under the influence of Spain.  The Aztec empire was in Mexico City.  Most of the stories that the Spaniards wrote about the people that were here when they came, show that the people were of Aztec origin.

Now, I do not know if this is true or not, but the way that I see Mexican towns and people today is in relationship to the influence of Mayan or Aztec.  For example, it seems that the more south you go in Mexico you see the Mayan influence.

When we lived in San Cristobal le los Casas the Mayan's were all over there.  While they were all Mayan - they were in different "groups" from each other.  It was like there were different tribes of Indians.  Each group of Mayan had different ways of dress and customs. The groups do not socialize with each other and many have their own language.

The records of Chapala show the town in the same location as the town currently is in. The recorded history tells about hot guisers erupting soon after the Spaniards came.  The people that lived here were very frightened and thought that their Gods were mad at them because of the new God so they cut out the hearts of some of the people and threw babies into the boiling water. The hot mineral baths are a popular place and some people have pipped into the mineral water and put it in their own pools.

The lake was huge and the Spaniards were amazed at its beauty.  They said that there was enough white fish to feed all of Spain and that the water was the healthiest and purest they had ever seen.    

Today Chapala is a busy town that many people from Guadalajara flock to on the weekends.  This is what we see today.

this is a park where I am trying to fit my butt into a too small swing bottom.

Boats take riders out onto the lake.  you have to walk down some pretty steep steps to get to the boats.  The water use to be much higher but Guadalajara now takes a lot of water from the lake.  There are also dam's around to prevent flooding into the towns.  

the church in Chapala.

The lake is the largest in Mexico and today families come to enjoy the park, the shopping, the vendors that line the lake area and just to enjoy cooler weather.

The lake area creates its own micro climate. National Geographic has made the comment that the weather here is second on their list of having the best weather in the world.  

I actually have an allergy to hot weather.  So when it is over 80 degrees, I brake out in little tinny bumps that itch like crazie. The weather is around 82 degrees year round, and that is too hot for me.

Having grown up in Southern California I surfed and was in the sun  every day.  My body just got too much of it and the bumps are a reminder.  As I have gotten older, I am now effected by the heat as well.

Lake Chapala is a busy city.  There is a main street where all the shops are and the traffic is so unreal for such a small town.  Things are cheaper in Chapala than they are here.  

On the weekends Chapala is crammed with people from Guadalajara.  There is music all over - people enjoying the restaurants, the parks, the fountains, the boating and just walking around.  There are vendors selling everything along the boardwalk. The party goes until all hours of the night.

Written records begin only with the Spanish missionaries and Conquistadors.