Sorry for the pun title, here’s a little jazz to make up for it.
One of the oddities of living in a place with such a wide variety of cultures is how they mesh. Annually for the past 40 years, Ajijic has hosted a charity fundraiser called the “Mexican National Chili Cook-off.” The event looks exactly like any of the hundreds of similar Chili contests NOB, but with a Mexican flavor.
This is the unofficial start of the charity fundraising season down here, with several different types of events aimed at the large population of temporary expats known as snowbirds.
The Chili cook off ran Friday through Sunday, with contests for Margaritas, Salsa, and of course Chili. They had a large stage with a steady stream of performers: we were there Saturday at noon for some local Mariachis. In addition to the contest tastings, there were booths for drinks, hot dogs, pizza, hamburgers, and tacos. For some reason we always end up getting in line for the taco booth; I guess I have already eaten all the hot dogs I ever should.
There were several raffle drawings each day, and a large collection of tents where local tradespeople or organizations could pitch their wares. We bought a rug and some knives, but I still couldn’t find just the right hat.
Some store owners had exotic pets on display: we saw an owl, an exotic bird, and a snake. There were roving bagpipers and Caballeros on dancing caballos. And it all seemed to fit together. Anyway, a good time was had by all, whether you ate Chili or not.
