Category Archives: La Yacata Revolution

March 18, 2024 · 7:13 am

Water, water everywhere?

Although we wanted to focus on getting the sewer situation squared away first, the presidencia (town hall) insisted that we figure out where we would get water from as our highest priority. Those of you who read La Yacata Revolution might remember that at one point, a pozo (community well) was drilled. It was later closed and a lawsuit filed as Chuchi (the guy in charge) hadn’t bothered with the proper permits.

The current administration in town seemed more open to work with us on getting the pozo legalized because there was no extra water in town that could be diverted to our little village or community or whatever La Yacata happens to be called at the moment. We needed to prove that the pozo was viable if we wanted to advance towards getting escrituras (individual property deeds).

Well, alrighty then. The first thing we did was have a video of the interior of the well done to see what condition it was. That didn’t get very far because someone (and you probably know who I suspect) had sabatoged the well with a giant boulder. We did this in November.

In February, we had enough money in the community account to hire a well-digger company to come and smash the boulder to bits. It took two days, but the pipe was cleared. The employees of the company left quite a bit to be desired in the intellect department. It was blazing hot, and they hadn’t even brought a bottle of water. So La Yacata purchased a garrafón (container) of water and ice and delivered it to keep the workers from collapsing.

There was still the matter of the pozo being “irregular” that we had to deal with. Super Prez and I headed to the ConAgua office in Celaya to ask about that. My concern was that there would be a HUGE fine levied for the clandestine well. Super Prez and I speculated how ConAgua even knew there was a well being dug in the first place if no permits were requested. My thought was that perhaps the well-digger went and reported it after Chuchi didn’t pay him for his work.

It was blazing hot when we arrived and I hadn’t been feeling well for the previous few days, so I was less than 100% on this mission. However, I knew how important it was, so I mustered on. We signed in at the security office and marched around the front because the normal entrance was sealed off for some reason. We passed a fountain with no water, and I found it ominous that the WATER COMPANY couldn’t even keep a fountain going.

We didn’t have long to wait and were ushered in to talk to a ConAgua employee. Super Prez did all the talking, I was feeling quite miserable at this point although I hadn’t made any complaints. This needed done, so by golly, it was going to get done. The employee looked over the documents we had, which included a closure notification and a lawsuit for quantities of water rights that were never paid. The lawsuit was settled with the default of Chuchi’s house. He had made the application for the water rights in his own name rather than the community, so he alone was liable for their payment. He did this with the thought of charging the colonos of La Yacata whatever he wanted for their use, making a hefty profit, only it backfired on him.

So, with the lawsuit settled, La Yacata was in the clear. The employee gave us a checklist of things to legalize the well and didn’t seem to think there would be any problems down the road. He did say that there was a water crunch in our area and that water rights were hard to come by. Good to know.

Before we left the compound, we strolled over to a separate building that housed a couple of lawyers, specialists in the realm of water rights, apparently. They checked their database and confirmed that water rights were hard to come by in our area. So they added us to the waiting list with an approximate wait time of 9-12 months if we were lucky.

When I finally got home, I was running a fever and went to bed, where I stayed for the next week. I even posted on the community Facebook page and the Whats App group that I would not be able to talk to anyone for a few days because of illness. That’s how sick I got.

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Want to read the prequel? La Yacata Revolution: How NOT to Buy a Piece of Heaven in Mexico is available on Amazon!

La Yacata Insurrection — Apples to Oranges

One day, out of the blue, this car full of people pulled up to the front door and asked to speak to whoever was in charge of the community. Well, I’m your huckleberry (or sort of). This little posse was made up of representatives from FE Guanajuato (https://feguanajuato.org/), an organization that is a liaison between rural communities and state government programs. I invited them to come to the next junta (meeting) in December and sent along their contact information to Super Prez.

The head rep did come to the junta and was given a few minutes to talk about what her organization does and examples of different programs they offer. The workshop for December was a piñata making class. She left a sign-up sheet for interested individuals.

There was a lot going on during the junta, with taking attendance and explaining the proposed bank account and organization needed to apply for individual escrituras (deeds). A few did sign up. If I had had the time while multitasking during the junta, I would have helped others register since the literacy rate is so low, but I can not be all things to all people, as much as I would like.

I had forgotten about the whole thing until I received a message from the organizer asking for the attendance list. She sent the posse to come and pick it up. Then, a few weeks later, another message asked if I would help rally the troops for a taller de cocina (cooking workshop). I posted on the community’s Facebook page and in the WhatsApp group with not much hope for a large turnout. The workshop was set the day of the big parade in town Las Ferias de Moroleon, where El Señor de Esquipulitas statue (an ebony crucified Jesus wood carving) is carried through town in a procession followed by a jaripeo (rodeo), the feria (carnival with amusement park rides) and live music all night long. It would be sacrilegious to miss any of that!

The neighbor down below had offered the cabaña (cabin-like building) up the road to host the event. However, the day before, she came and said she hadn’t had time to clean, and it would be better to have it down at her house under the techno (little roof) they had just put up. I didn’t know how having the cooking class outside would work, so instead, I had my husband clear out the downstairs at my son’s house to use. We put the Pupper boys (Fred, George, and Bruce) out back.

I asked my cunada (sister-in-law) if I could borrow the huge wooden table she has in her house across the street. She didn’t seem entirely gung-ho about that but finally agreed. Then she didn’t want us to use the wooden table which is at the front of the house, but the new plastic table that was in the back. However, we didn’t have the keys to open the back door to get it, so I just moved the card table I use for the juntas (community meetings) over there with a few chairs.

Despite it being a high holy day, we had a whopping 10 attendees, including Super Prez, but only one brought an apple for the manzana de chamoy workshop. Fortunately, I had an inkling that might happen, so I bought apples and brought them. The workshop people at least provided the chamoy and sticks.

I spent the entire workshop filling out paperwork and writing the attendees’ names so they could just sign or initial (as their abilities allowed) the attendance sheets. The organizer did give me some chamoy so I could make mine later.

Having people in their house upset the boys (Fred, George, and Bruce) somewhat. When my son went over to move their bedding back to the designated spots, he tripped on Fred, who yelped. At that point, Bruce attacked Fred for whatever reason. My son managed to separate them, but then George got involved, and it was a doggy free-for-all for a bit. In the kerfluffle, Bruce bit my son’s leg, at which point all three dogs stopped their tussle in absolute horror at the injury. DADDY’S HURT!!!

The boys continued to be out of sorts the following day as they blamed each other for the INCIDENT, and it took some time for the bite to heal. Let’s hope future workshops don’t end with bloodletting!

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Read how it all began in La Yacata Revolution available on Amazon!

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Filed under La Yacata Revolution

Tagged as living in rural Mexico, manzanas con chamoy, rural communities, workshops

December 21, 2023 · 2:24 pm

Signed, Sealed, and Delivered?

For the December junta (community meeting), I thought it would be a good idea to send letters to colonos to make sure we weren’t missing those who didn’t listen to the radio or hadn’t seen the sign posted on my sister-in-law’s tortillería.

The last time we tried to rally the troops I hand-wrote addresses on flyers, and my husband delivered them. With every person averaging four names (first, middle, paternal last name, maternal last name) and every street at least four words long (Avenida Juan Jose Torres Landa), it was a very time-consuming process.

This time, I thought I’d try to make up printable address labels so that future mailings would be easier. It was a very time-consuming process. I tried to organize the list by colonia (neighborhood) and make just one label per address if several family members had lots in La Yacata. And it was a very time-consuming process.

The final letter sent outlined what we had been doing since June, including our progress on the electricity, water, sewer, and lot registration. It also clarified that the registration process would end in January and we would be charging a fine for anyone who registered after that date (with the exception of new sales). Additionally, we would start charging a late fee for any outstanding demanda (lawsuit) money in January. This fee was assessed in 2012 in the amount of $250 pesos per lot to cover the lawyer’s defense when Chuchi sued the colonia, saying we owed him money. The letter ended up being three pages long.

I had to buy business-size envelopes and get the 300 copies of the letter printed. It made for a hefty bill at the papeleria (stationery store). Then, there was the stuffing and the address affixation. I didn’t have adhesive labels, so I just printed it out on regular paper and taped it on. It was a very time-consuming process.

We went to the post office to see how much this would cost and the estimate was between 10-12 pesos per letter. All righty then. My husband said he would deliver them on his moto. It took 5 days and two tanks of gas, but most of them got to the right person. About 10 lived outside the immediate area, like in Mexico City or Morelia, so those did get sent via Correos de Mexico. Then I discovered another 17 in his messenger bag that he said were “duplicates” but weren’t, so that bunch got mailed as well. Just so you know, Moroleon mail delivery is done by bicycle in most areas, so I imagine those last 17 deliveries were time-consuming as well.

This massive letter also contained information on our brand-spanking new Facebook community page and my phone number as a WhatsApp contact. As soon as the letters hit the doorstep, I was getting calls. Phone calls, mind you, not WhatsApp messages. Of course, these people were calling during my online work meetings and classes, which totally stressed me out.

So it came to me that perhaps these methods of communication (Facebook/WhatsApp/letter) weren’t the best for our community. A good portion were illiterate, which means sending text messages is nigh impossible unless they had a child or grandchild do it for them. Then the humongous letter was dense and packed with juicy informative bits that a portion of property owners could not read. Again, they would need to rely on someone else to read it to them. This literacy gap would explain why most juntas (meetings) that Chuchi (the former guy in charge) called were via radio announcement only. It also explained how he managed to bamboozle residents for so long. They weren’t able to read those documents he flaunted and believed his explanation of things. Sigh.

But I have to say, this letter-sending method of communication was effective to some extent this time. Property owners came out of the woodwork. J. Trinidad called to say that he gave his lot some time ago to Pancho Flores to cover a business debt (something to do with cell phones), but Pancho died of Covid two years ago and that he didn’t know who had the property certificate now. Ma. Trinidad (no relation) called from Chicago to say that she had the property certificate with her in the U.S. and was planning on coming home in February, depending on this next doctor’s appointment to die at home.

Family representatives came knocking with concerns about how to register lots of family members who lived in the U.S. now. Several more contacted me saying their parent had passed on and they needed to transfer ownership, so I explained the procedure to them (copy of will and/or acta de defunción to start with), and we got those registered.

As a result of this letter-sending campaign, there were a few follows and likes on the Facebook page, but not as many as I’d hoped. Many of the colonos are over the age of 70 with a handful over the age of 90 and not tech savvy. I was hoping that the Facebook/WhatsApp information would help those who are in the U.S. keep up with our progress, but perhaps their parents (those 70-90) who couldn’t read didn’t know to pass that information on to them.

There were also a handful of visits, before and after the junta, about different items. Some came to assure themselves that their lots were registered (most were). Others came to pay the $200 pesos we were gathering to clean out the unregistered community well and conduct water studies to see whether it not we could use it as our water source. And still, others came with certificates issued by the now-deceased Chuchi claiming property rights to lots that belonged to others. Chuchi was notorious for reselling lots when the coffers were empty. Unfortunately, now that Chuchi has gone to the great beyond, there’s not much we can do to help them recover their money anymore.

Although I thought the letter would launch us ahead in the community organization process, it looks like the paperwork has just begun.

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Read the prequel! La Yacata Revolution: How NOT to Buy a Piece of Heaven in Mexico