Bilingual Toastmasters
Arturo Gutierrez took first place at a Spanish speech contest at the Monday, February 16 meeting of the Lake Chapala Bilingual Toastmasters Club. Marrisa Urrutia and Carmen Guzman ranked second and third. Gutierrez will represent the local group at a regional competition in Guadalajara on Saturday, March 28.
The Toastmasters will meet in an English session on Monday, February 23, 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Sala of the Lake Chapala Society (LCS). For English information call Guy at (376) 766-5181. Spanish information is available from Marissa at (33)1600-5937.
LCS Seminars
The noon learning seminar on Tuesday, February 24 for LCS members is chaired by Fred Harland. The featured TED talk presentation by global health expert Hans Rosling is “Religion and Babies.” Rosling asks, “Do some religions have a higher birth rate than others — and how does this affect global population growth?” Speaking in Doha, Qatar, he graphs data over time and across religions. With his trademark humor and sharp insight, Rosling reaches a surprising conclusion on world fertility rates.
Dr. Rick Rhoda presents the second of two Neill James Lectures about evolution on Tuesday, February 24, 2 p.m. with the topic, “Human Evolution: Did Language and/or Religion Play a Role?” Rhoda investigates how humans out-survived Neanderthals, Denisovans and other homo species and if language and religion gave humans a survival advantage.
Genealogy Forum
The Genealogy Forum meets Monday, February 23, 2 p.m. in the Sala at the LCS. The topic for the February forum is how to use vintage newspapers in family history research. The discussion will cover some of the information that can be found in papers. Billions of pages of vintage newspapers have been digitized in the last few years. There are tricks for finding the newspapers that can assist in family research, including resources for worldwide free and subscription sites. Pam Ames will present a summary of the information she learned at Roots Tech.
Women’s Cancer Group
The Women’s Cancer and Life Threatening Disease Support Group will meet on Monday, February 23 and on every second and fourth Monday from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. This group is a place where women can receive comfort, support and information from people who understand the experience of illness. The group is free and run by a professional counselor, and is open to those currently in treatment, as well as recent survivors. For more information email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call (376) 766-4522.
Men’s Workshop
The Ajijic Open Men’s Circle is sponsoring a workshop, “Introduction to Men’s Work,” on Saturday, February 28, 9 a.m.-noon.
Facilitating the workshop is Sheldon Weinstein, who is a teacher, therapist, group facilitator and certified leader trainer for the ManKind Project. The workshop will focus on inner work leading to greater awareness, wholeness, authenticity, emotional availability, creativity and effective relationships. All men welcome. There is no charge for the workshop to be held at Nicolas Bravo 17 in Ajijic.
For additional information contact Tim at (376) 766-0920 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Continue Recycling
Scrap Recyclers announced that they can no longer do doorstep pick up of all plastics, glass, metal, paper, cardboard, small appliances and electronics. To add this green habit, area residents can leave bags of items in the container at Calle Juarez 52-A in Ajijic, Monday through Friday. They can also deliver their items to the Scrap Recyclers warehouse at Privada La Paz 7 in San Antonio Tlayacapan from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday through Friday, or to the container at San Marcos 226 in Riberas del Pilar from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
For more information, call (33) 1537-8427 at 10:30 a.m. or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
Loss Support Group
The Loss and Moving Forward group is designed to assist those who have lost a life partner through death or divorce, or are recovering from the loss of a parent or child. The circle of support places focus on the roller coaster of emotions experienced and ways to positively harness those emotions and direct that energy into creating a new life. The group meets on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month from 2:30 to 4 p.m. The group is free and facilitated by a professional counselor. For information and location, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call (376) 766-4522.
Community Sale
Lakesiders will have the opportunity to participate in a huge Community Sale on Saturday, March 14, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The sale, organized by the Lakeside Presbyterian Church, creates a venue with large attendance for those who wish to sell new or used items. Early shoppers will be allowed to enter the space at 9 a.m. on the day of the sale by buying a pre-sale entry ticket for 100 pesos.
Table rent ranges from 300 to 700 pesos, depending on the space allotted. Spaces can be rented by contacting Judy at (376) 766-5751 or Betty at (376) 766-4292. The sale will be held at the new Lakeside Presbyterian Church Building on San Luis in Riberas del Pilar. (One block south of Mom’s Deli).
Little Chapel
The regular worship service of the interdenominational congregation of the Little Chapel by the Lake will be held on Sunday, February 22, 11:15 a.m. The Sunday morning activities will begin at 10:45 a.m. with fellowship and refreshments shared with the congregation of Christ Church Lakeside.
Rev. Gene Raymer’s message is “CGI’s, Leprechauns, Magic Tricks and Other Illusions.” He says, “The world is full of illusions, most of them harmless and perhaps even fun. But people who believe they can be ‘Unchurched Christians’ are suffering under an illusion that can have grievous consequences. The scriptures teach that we should be united as believers, not isolated in our faith.”
Following the service, members of the congregation meet for fellowship and food at a local restaurant.
The Little Chapel by the Lake is located on the mountain side of the Carretera in Chula Vista just east of the golf course.
St. Andrew’s
The Sunday, February 22, 10 a.m. worship service at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church begins with the traditional Great Litany, chanted in procession. Fr. Winston Welty’s sermon, “Updating God’s Memory,” is based on the story of Noah and the flood. Bi-lingual Sunday school begins at 9:45 a.m. There are refreshments and fellowship in the garden after the service.
“Easter People” is the theme of the Lenten Bible Study beginning Wednesday, February 25, 11 a.m. with a meditation on Mary Magdalene. The focus each week is on one of the six people whose road to the empty tomb changed their lives.
The monthly men’s lunch will be held on Tuesday, February 24, noon at Adelita’s Restaurant in San Antonio Tlayacapan.
St. Andrew’s is at Calle San Lucas 19 in Riberas del Pilar, a block south of the Carretera.
Christ Church
Christ Church Lakeside will observe communion during the first worship service of Lent on Sunday, February 22, 9:30 a.m. Deacon Rob Wells will preside. His message is “The Good News,” based on Mark 1:9-15.
The Christ Church congregation shares a fellowship time with the members of the Little Chapel from 10:30 to 11:10 a.m. each Sunday. Both groups meet in the Little Chapel by the Lake at Carretera 10 in Chula Vista.
Wells leads the one-hour Bible study session each week on Tuesdays at 10 a.m. The lively discussion of the Gospel of Luke continues.
Lakeside Presbyterian
It may be fair to say that no part of the Bible has come under attack more in the past century than the creation story in the first chapter of Genesis. Pastor Ross Arnold continues the “Why We Believe” sermon series on Sunday, February 22 with “Why We Believe in Genesis,” while explaining that most people who have a problem with Genesis are expecting something from it that was never intended.
Lakeside Presbyterian Church is in Riberas del Pilar, on the mountain side of the Carretera beside S&S Auto. English-language worship services are 10 a.m., and Spanish-language services begin at noon on Sundays. Both English- and Spanish-language congregations gather in the garden at 11 a.m. for fellowship and refreshments.
Unitarian Universalists
Fred Harland will present a video service by Rev. Daniel O’Connell, who discusses “Direct Experience” during the Sunday, February 22, 10:30 a.m. service of the Lake Chapala Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (UU) at Plaza de la Ribera, Rio Bravo 10. O’Connell relates that while many religions start with a creed, a sacred text, or a singular prophet, UU starts with each person’s own direct religious experience.
Members of UU search for truth along many paths, gathering around common moral values that include the inherent worth and dignity of every person. They are a caring, liberal, open-minded community that encourages others to seek their own spiritual path, wherever it leads. For more information, visit www.uuflc.org.
San Andrés English
“At the beginning of Lent we renew our response to the Covenant, the pact of love that God made with each of us at our baptism,” says Rev. Basil G. Royston, D. Min. of the theme of the Sunday, February 22, 9 a.m. Mass at San Andrés Parish Church. He adds, “Imagine what good news it must have been to Noah, alone in a drowned world, when he learned that God’s love had not abandoned, nor ever would abandon, the earth and its creatures.”
Royston will celebrate Mass for the English congregation of San Andrés at noon on each Wednesday during Lent. The service will be followed by a one-hour Lenten Bible study.
Heart of Awareness
The Heart of Awareness Buddhist Community meets on Wedesday, February 25, 4:30 p.m. for meditation and dharma teachings. Gina Sharp’s film “Granting Forgiveness will be featured during the dharma talk.
Loretta Downs presents the final session of her four-part workshop “Options at End of Life” on Saturday, February 28, 2 to 4 p.m.
The sangha’s new location is in Plaza San Juan at Guadalupe Victoria 101 in Ajijic. Heart of Awareness is a non-sectarian Buddhist practice community grounded in the original teachings of the Buddha as preserved in the Theravada/Vipassana tradition. Membership in Heart of Awareness is open to those with Zen, Tibetan or Shambhala backgrounds, as well as people with no previous meditation experience. For further information on the sangha or the workshop, call Janet Reichert at (376) 766-6069.
Open Circle
Barbara Rotthaler, speaker for the Sunday, February 22, 10 a.m. session of Open Circle, will present “Pain, Go Away” and a new way of understanding muscular-skeletal pain. She explains that the cause of pain lies in the overly tense and chronically contracted musculature. She suggests that traditional medical practices including drugs and surgery often don’t have satisfactory results.
After eight years as a registered nurse, Rotthaler studied natural and alternative medicine. Once certified, she specialized in classic homeopathy in her Munich practice. There she was also co-founder and board member of the Homeopathic Forum, taught homeopathy and natural medicine. Prior to moving to Mexico in 1996, she spent a year in Taiwan learning Chinese, Tai Chi and Qi Gong.
Rotthaler practices alternative and natural medicine, and therapeutic massage at lakeside. She specializes in alternative pain therapy.
Traditional Mexican Dishes
An alternate array of traditional Mexican dishes were in the spotlight at the Ajijic tianguis held on Ash Wednesday, February 18. During the 40 days of Cuaresma (Lent) local housewives spark the meatless Fridays by creating special vegetable and fish fillings for tamales, empanadas and tacos. Enjoying brisk sales at the market were 25-peso containers of the Lenten dessert favorite, capirotada. Bread slices are layered with a variety of ingredients which can include shredded cheese, onion, tomato, pecans, fresh coconut, raisins and/or cilantro. The dish is then generously doused with piloncillo (raw sugar) syrup and baked.