Every Move I Make

 teaches me something new about this country where I now live and most likely will die.

In June I moved to a small town on a pretty river, Las Juntas y Los Veranos.  I have friends here and they introduced me to a couple from Washington who have a small, quirky hotel here on the Rio Horcones.  These folks drive back to the northwest US in their big rv every June and return back in December.  I don't know for sure why I thought living in a small hotel on a river by myself was the answer, but I did.  And here I am.

Lessons abound, but the one I am currently learning is about Ejidos.  What is an Ejido?

An ejido is an area of communal land used for agriculture in which community members have usufruct rights rather than ownership rights to land, which in Mexico is held by the Mexican state. Peasants awarded ejidos in the modern era farm them individually in parcels and collectively maintain communal holdings with government oversight.

They also are allowed to develop and run various enterprises that can provide additional income to those members, ie. ziplines, jungle tours, etc. 

Los Juntos y Los Veranos is an Ejido.  The tourist enterprises here include canopy tours, zip lines, tequila distilleries, coffee shops and a few restaurants that cater to the tour trade.  Even now, pandemic and all, there are tour groups here on most days. 

Another aspect of ejidos is family involvement.  Many of the small communities that have established themselves include family members that date back to original founding, with spouses from other parts of Mexico included in the current arrangement.  An Ejido is not a town, so Las Juntas has also a town government, mayor, commissioners, a sheriff, etc. The overlapping is as expected.  There's a fair amount of checks and balances, government oversight and financial responsibility included in all this.

In other words, an Ejido is a tremendous boon for communities that are fortunate enough to have one.  

So, that is what I learned about Ejido this summer.  

Sadly, the other thing I learned is that they are not very friendly.  They really like it if we just come, eat and play and then go back on our tourist van to a hotel in town.  Not all ex-pats do that.  Some stay here, sometimes for many years.  I think the folks that own this hotel have been coming back for six months at a time for about thirty years. 

As in many parts of this area, ex-pats are big contributors to the economy.  They are also pretty good about hanging out together, having a few drinks and gossiping.

Another aside comment, I'm not an ex-pat, I'm an immigrant.  To generalize: many of them are here for the weather, the lack of official oversight to their behaviors, and cheap alcohol.  They have little or no interest in the country, the people, the accomplishments or the problems.  

As you know, my folks and brother lived in Ajijic, near Guadalajara over forty years ago.  My kids are sure that's one of the reasons I so cheerfully immigrated here when my advanced age rendered me unemployable in Texas.

This is the perfect place for me to be.  I really like and admire Mexican people and their country.  I even fell madly in love with one of them.

But I guess I look like an ex-pat.

I have dear friends in this little town, members of the Ejido, with businesses I'm proud to support and homes I'm welcomed into.

But, I'm not welcome beyond those few doors.  

I miss my friends in Old Town, where I'm welcomed by name, invited to kid's birthday parties and teased about my "old car."

So, while this is a very quiet beautiful spot, it is not a place for me to stay.  

I'll be looking for a little studio in Old Town when my six months here is finished.  I've learned a lot.