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A yoga class at the convention center at the Hotel Spa Ixtapan

Ramiro Garciá, spa chef, with 220-calorie
Florentine salad.

pre-Aztec archaeological site at Teotenango an hour away. The hotel arranges cars and drivers for any nearby destination. Our stay coincided with the festival of the Virgin of Candelaria on Feb. 2, which marks the end of an extended Christmas season throughout the Spanish-speaking world. The day is celebrated in this part of Mexico with special markets, fiestas, and a joyous religious ceremony in which people of all ages carry dolls, representing the baby Jesus, into church to be blessed. A $4 taxi ride took us to the nearby town of Tonatico, where we strolled through the market and sampled the sweet, flat bread, pan de nata, that is baked specially for the religious festival.
   Back at the hotel, there was a different religious ceremony that explained a bit of why this is not just another spa. Most of the elderly guests are Jewish, many European-born and still speaking in the accents of the old country. For many years, they have been worshiping together on Friday night, using a traditional prayer book with "The North American Jewish Community of Ixtapan de la Sal" on the cover. This year, the hotel invited a retired American rabbi to spend the winter and lead die services.
   About 70 people showed up for the Friday night service, nearly all of them women, averaging perhaps 80 years of age. "Where are all the men?" one asked another, although she clearly knew me answer. These widows were survivors, in more ways than one.
   The group prayed and sang with vigor. The closing lines of Psalm 92, traditionally read on the Sabbath, took on a special resonance here. “They shall still bring forth fruit in old age,” we read from the psalm in unison. “They shall be full of sap and richness.”
   And for that brief moment, at least, this unusual congregation had found what all of us, after all, come to a spa looking for - the fountain of youth. And the quest is quite addictive. Perhaps, decades from now, I will be one of the elderly visitors. in any case, I am already making plans to go back next year.

The Teotenango ruins, about an hour from the spa.

A result of this building boom is visible, trickle-down prosperity in the town of some 20,000 people. Streets are clean, the houses freshly painted, and there are construction sites on most residential blocks as well as "help wanted" signs in many shops. Strolling through the hilly town, the bustling market and beautifully proportioned zócalo, or central square, was always an enjoyable diversion between spa treatments.
   Ah, the spa treatments. The week begins for guests on the spa package with a Sunday-night information session. Elisa Matiella, the spa manager, hands each guest her personal schedule (men have a separate spa, where they get their treatment á la carte).
   The schedule reminded me of high school. I had a 9 a.m. slot for my daily massage followed by a facial at 10 a.m. and, twice, an 11:30 hair treatment If I went on the 7 am hike and took the aerobics or yoga class, I would have no time for breakfast. I fretted over this for a while before it dawned on me - this

wasn't high school. I could leave aerobics early and Heat myself to a good breakfast of fruit and cereal from the ample buffet.
   The spa claims to offer a daily diet of 900 calories, and perhaps theoretically it does. But there was always extra food available for the asking, to say nothing of the delicious breads and other goodies in the town markets. The spa diet was undoubtedly healthy, high in protein, low in carbohydrates, with fish available every day and the poik products that are a staple of the Mexican kitchen notably absent. Crunchy sticks of jicama were always on the table, and there was an endless supply of Red Zinger iced tea. Spa guests can also eat without extra charge in the hotel's main dining room, which has a heavier Continental menu with a few Mexican touches, and a full bar.
     My front-loaded spa schedule suited for me, freeing my afternoons for excursions to nearby towns and markets as well as to the impressive

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The 100-degree thermal-water pool at the hotel.

Pa

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