south shore -- san cristobal zapotitlan

roofbob (oncesubtle) asked me to write up some information about the south side of the lake where i live. on the "previous" board, i had written quite a bit, so i apologize to those of you who read that and will now be reading duplication.

i live in san cristobal zapotitlan, which is the second lake-side pueblo outside of jocotepec (san pedro tesistan being the first). san cristobal is a pueblo of, i would guess, maybe 3,000 folks. it's long and narrow. only a few blocks wide (from the lake up toward the carreterra) but pretty lengthy from west to east. to get to san cristobal, there are three entrances off the carreterra, but only one paved and marked by signage on the highway.

as you turn off the carreterra toward the lake, you'll see a women's basket cooperative on the right-hand side, right past the soccer field and across the street from the school. the basket cooperative is open from about 10am until about 3pm, monday through friday, and provides a sales outlet for the women and their daughters in SCZ who make baskets and corn husk dolls. these are the same products that you see for sale on the north shore of the lake and in Guad, but at (generally) reduced prices. probably the nicest thing about making your purchases from the co-op is that the money goes directly to the makers themselves. the co-op may take a little of the money for overhead, but once you see the place, you'll see that there's not much overhead!

SCZ is primarily a fishing village and every morning at the crack of dawn, i can see out my windows facing the lake the fishermen setting out in their small boats with their cast nets. the other men in the village work as gardeners here or work at jobs in jocotepec or san luis soyatlan (further east on the south shore).

besides me, there is only one other gringo in town (actually, a gringa in her mid-80s who has lived here for about 10 years). i've been living here for a little over a year. i rent a fully-furnished one bedroom little house right on the lake, for which i pay $3,000MX a month. my casita is a 1/2 block from the church, a (short) block and a half from the plaza and a block (walking) to the small malecon. the houses on my block on the lake-side are empty, for the most part, although some folks come down for holiday weekends. you'd think it would be quiet (when my mexican friends find out where i live, they always say "muy tranquillo, no?"), but that would be SO wrong!

aside from the noise of the roosters, chickens, dogs, cows, donkeys, horses, sheep, pigs, and birds, SCZ has an abundance of fiestas! and at least two nights a week -- sometimes 4 or 5 or even 7 nights a week -- there is music at the plaza. i've been told that lots of musicians are from SCZ and apparently they use the plaza to try out their new "routines." music on the weekends often goes until 1 or 2 in the morning....sometimes later. and after a night of cohetes being shot off in the area of the malecon, i find lots of the cohete "sticks" in my front and backyards. so, no, it's not so tranquillo, but i love it nonetheless.

i'll write more about SCZ in another post if anyone is interested....or maybe even if they're not!

p.s. here's a link to some pictures of the basket co-op:

http://picasaweb.google.com/barbarahopkins20/SCZBasketCoop#

and here's a link to some pictures of my rental casita:

http://picasaweb.google.com/barbarahopkins20/SanCristobalHouse#

Thank you, Lucky, for sharing those pictures. When we do our morning walk on the new Ajijic malecon by the lake, we'll give you a wave!

Nice post lucky, please do post more info. and thanks for the photos! I can guarantee you Candace will be shopping in the basket co-op and I'm rather interested in how much lake front properties might be selling for, any idea? Thanks again.

Maybe you know Rene

San Cristóbal Zapotitlán Fiesta

Well not quite a fiesta but good food, beer and people. Rene's place is big enough for a fiesta and there's even talk of making a restaurant out of it - we'll see. Trouble is not many in that small town could afford it, they have one beach restaurant, it's a 25 minute drive from Jocotepec and a long way from Ajijic/Chapala.

San Cristóbal is on the south side of Lake Chapala but not far from the west end and Jocotepec. This was a 2 pm party which is perfect to be back before sundown. We ran into an 87 year old gringa who had lived there for 10+/- years (she wasn't sure) and invited her. She moved after living in Ajijic for 10+/- years (she wasn't sure) to get away from Gringolandia.

Mom was out back by the squash patch cooking Tilapia in a wok. Surprisingly only one young person. She was sitting out back by herself next to the tramoline (brincolin) and I told her she should use it and she spent the rest of the day there. She wanted to be serious for the foto but opened up when I said 'dice queso'. Fun day and good conversations.

http://sparksmex.blogspot.com/2010/02/san-cristobal-zapotitlan-fiesta.html

Lucky,

What type of material do they use to weave their baskets. I've read about everything from cactus fiber to lake or stream reeds being used as basket material. Do they gather the stuff locally? BTW, I like the little figurines. If I spoke even passable Spanish, I would actually prefer the south shore. Pedro had some pics on the now-defunct board about his trip to Tizapan. Ever since I saw that post, I've been interested in the area. I plan on making Ajijic/Chapala a "transitional" destination until I learn enough Spanish to get by in other areas. I sort of like the Colima/Comala area, too, but same deal--need more Spanish.

gringal, you'd have to be walking just west of san juan cosala to be directly across from me. i think in ajijic you'd be more across from san luis. but wave nonetheless! looking across the lake from my yard, i can see san juan cosala off to the right. it's amazing at night to see how far up the mountain the racket club goes and how many buildings there are up there!

bob, there are a few houses on the lake front here in SCZ for sale, but since i have no interested in owning, i've never asked about prices. however.....two doors down from me is a house that i have inquired about renting when my lease here expires in september. the owner, who lives in jocotepec, tells me that he wants to sell and is asking about the equivalent of $100,000US for the place. it's on a long, narrow lot (like my rental property, although a bit wider) and extends, as does my place, a block -- from the street in front down to the lake (although a portion of that is ejido land, of course). the property has a two-story, three-bedroom house and a small casita, very nice gardens, and is fully furnished. that might give you some idea of costs.

sparks, i was supposed to be at that cookout/fiesta, too, but unfortunately had a bad cold which i didn't think anybody would want to share! i'm really sorry i missed it. i finally did meet rene a few weeks later.

bud, i'm not sure where they get the basket materials. there is a picture of what they use in my photos of the co-op. it's the tall stuff that looks kind of like sheaves of wheat the way it is bundled. next time i'm in the co-op, i'll ask where they get it. however.....my spanish is, like yours, bad, so i'm not sure how much i'll be able to understand! this proves, however, that you don't have to speak excellent spanish to live on the south side of the lake. i get along quite well. mostly i'm just embarrassed that my spanish is so bad! and even in a little pueblo like san cristobal, there are a surprising number of younger people who speak english (like the aforementioned rene).

by the way, remember when i mentioned lots of fiestas? well, we have one going on now. we started off with a (literal) BANG this morning, about 5am. whatever those things that sound like M80s are, they were going off at that time. then quiet for a while and at 6am we had a huge string of firecrackers popping and more of the M80-things. first ones even scared the cat, who normally doesn't fret much about them! ah, the serenity of the southshore.

Another thing about living on the SS is shopping in Joco and the tianguis is cheaper. I find getting to Guad is easier also.

The noise is exactly as you said, but the most annoying is when someone ties up a braying burro right outside your house.

Lucky, thanks so much for your detailed and timely response. Your pueblo sounds like a charming place and a must see. So uh, are you up for a visit tomorrow, say noonish? Candace and her shopping amiga Shirley are more than a little interested in the basket co-op and I'd like to see the property. The ladies will be packin' pesos and their motto is, "Shop till everyone drops" so you might want to warn the basket weavers. My interest will be poking around the vil, an outside peek at the property for sale and maybe a chat if you're available. What thinks ye, amigo.

bob, the co-op isn't open on saturdays and sundays, unfortunately. could you do it next week sometime during the week? would love to meet and greet you and candace and whoever else! also, the owner of the property two doors down MIGHT turn up this weekend since it's a holiday weekend. if so, i could ask him about you getting a chance to view it. let me know.

Thanks for the heads up lucky. Can we meet you at the co-op on Monday at 11:00? I would like to see inside the property but don't want to inconvenience the owner. At this moment in time I'm just a lookie-loo.

Thanks again and hope to see you then,

Bob, Candace and Shirley

bob: monday would be great!! (i also sent you another PM about this.) i'll meet you there at 11am on monday. tell candace and shirley to bring smaller bills if they can. you know how the change situation is in small towns....and there's not even a bank or ATM in san cristobal!

if anyone else would like to see the co-op on monday morning, feel free to join us! the women and children of san cristobal would thank you.

bob, how's your spanish? the lady at the co-op doesn't speak english and suffers graciously through my spanish so if yours is good, she's love it and could answer a lot more questions.

See you there lucky and we'll be packin' muchos pesos pequenos. Thanks again!