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The Guadalajara Experience - page 3
My favorite is the Sunday flea market where thousands upon thousands of stalls stand cheek-by-jowl filling street after street, block after block with all the wares of the world dazzling the eye and emptying the wallet, but at surprisingly inexpensive prices.

Los Arcos of Guadalajara
Of course there is also the touristy Tonala, impossibly crowded on market days, but filled with furniture, wrought iron, glassware and crafts, and in direct competition with the even more upscale Tlaquepaque.

There is a large American population here, involved with Amsoc and the American Legion, but largely lost in the vastness of the Guadalajara millions even with its own weekly newspaper, the Guadalajara Reporter.

Chapala and Lakeside are something else. An hour from Guadalajara you are suddenly enmeshed in the sophistication of a rich suburb of Houston or Toronto. Half-million dollar houses dot the hills, lolling in the perfect year-round weather, and overlooking the beauty of the lake while gaga gringos race through the restaurants and arts and craft galleries. In the distance, aging white amateurs trying to emulate Tiger Woods chase little white balls around the rolling green hills of several local Country Clubs.

Here too, you can still experience the political viciousness of small-town America where the many gringo organizations with too many chiefs and not enough indians fight for primacy. The center may be the pretentiousness of the venerable Lake Chapala Society with its voluptuous grounds running riot with flowers and reflecting pools, but there are numerous upstarts elbowing for position. The Humane Society. Democrats Abroad. The Red Cross. Ninos Incapacitados. The Little Theater. The Ajijic Film Festival. Here, it is possible to do as much or as little as you want, or simply to fill your days with nothing except running from restaurant to restaurant, and there are plenty of them, and get tired doing it. Or you can read the news and the comings and goings of your neighbors in the Ojo Del Lago.

Guadalajara and vicinity

Ajijic is also fairly interchangeable with Puerto Vallarta and all the Pacific Ocean resorts, but that's another story.

Yes, Western Mexico is quite a place. You'll be amazed, but speaking for the rest of the gringos already here, I offer you a heartfelt wish. STAY HOME!

Editor's Note: Lawrence Freeman might sound like he's trying to shoo you away from visiting Guadalajara, but he's just trying to keep it a secret for himself. The Lake Chapala/Ajijic area near Guadalajara has the largest concentration of Americans living in Mexico, so it seems the secret is already out. Learn more about Guadalajara in a previous Feature Story or by visiting the Guadalajara Directory.

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