I am still living in Canada but probably only until the summer when I hope to retire. Two years ago we bought a house in Roca Azul, which is about thirty minutes walking distance from Jocotepc. Our house is currently rented and will be until at least June but we did manage a two week vacation there before it was occupied. We have so many, many questions about Mexico and Lake Chapala in particular but one thing that our brief stay in Roca helped with was to dispel the cautions of friends regarding living living so far away from Ajijic (about thirty minutes driving). We were so taken with the charm and the peace of our little village and there must be many more small villages that are quiet havens, a little less expensive in terms of housing and still close enough to shopping areas etc to make them both practical and desirable.

We walked into Jocotepec several times to do some shopping and also took buses into Ajijic on many occasions. Despite our absolutely appalling lack of Spanish, we managed easily with the aid of many local shop keepers, taxi and bus drivers. When we finally get settled there for good, our first priority is to learn Spanish but until we are proficient we feel quite certain that the local people will continue to be helpful and we are so looking forward to meeting more of our neighbors who are decidedly a mixture of Mexicans and NOB expats. Jen