Whistles and Wails on Reloj

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Most mornings, on my first break in Spanish School, I hotfoot it down to Reloj to La Comela, better known as the Blue Door Bakery to get a cinammon roll.  Along with caffeine it keeps my brain going.

As I approached the corner this morning there was a racket-  whoops, whistles, cries of “eeieee  eeiyee” and sirens.  I arrived in time to see about a 100 school kids on bikes careening down the street on bicycles with what I am assuming were parents and teachers running along side, shouting encouragement. There was also a police escort with sirens wailing.

The tail end of the group were the youngest kids who clearly were finding the it a challenge to keep their balance on the cobbles. You just never know what you find on your 10 minute study break…..

Yes I can....

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I walked out of a gathering in a coffeehouse at 4:30 on a Sunday afternoon to a most unexpected winter event - rain, or more accurately a sprinkle from an errant cloud.  The sun shone while the stray raindrops fell, not living long enough to fill the many indentations on San Miguel sidewalks.

Music surrounded the Jardin and a crowd gathered to watch people dancing in Halloween type costumes to a Spanish "rap cha cha cha" sort of music.  They are known as Los Locos. Then the drums started beating on the other side of the square and 25-30 people in indigenous dress started dancing.  This little girl was determined to learn  the dance....

The Twilight Zone

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All week David has been telling me I am going to be late to things I have put on the calendar. 
According to his calendar my photo club is at 1:00.
 “Well I made a mistake, I know it is at 2:00.”

“Don’t you have a meeting at noon?”
“No it is at 1:00.”

“Book club is in 45 minutes,” he says. 
“No it isn’t.  It’s at 5:30.””
“Well why did you put 4:30 on the calendar?”

This was getting out of hand. It seemed as though the Gmail calendar that has been the Demilitarized Zone for calendar communications in our marriage was failing, or I was losing my mind. Neither option was a good one. So we started an investigation. 
✔ Both of our computers were set to the same time zone.
 ✔ Both computers started with correct dates in the calendar.

But we when the dates flew through cyber space they consistently arrived with different time settings- David changed his Google settings to Central Mexico time-  I had not

I am happy to report that marital equilibrium has been restored and we are both living in the same house in the same time zone.

Art Is Everywhere

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The bulk of the tourists in San Miguel de Allende for the Christmas & New Year holidays have departed. No more beautiful young women trying to negotiate the cobblestone streets in their beautifully stylish 4” heels: no longer are the streets clogged with cars and buses moving at a snail’s pace.

So the other day, I went for a long stroll down one of the main thoroughfares. My goal was to acquaint myself with the shops along the way and also to exercise my eyes. I scoped out some agaves that would be lovely to photograph when the sun was in a different part of the sky and I had almost walked completely by a closed gate when I found myself advancing backwards to look again. It was one of those slow processing moments where at first it didn’t register what I was actually seeing.

As I began to tune into the details of the tableau in front of me, I began to smile. There was a whole world of flora, fauna and family all made of old auto parts at 19A Ancha, the shop of Mecanico Hermilo Tovar. Is it any wonder that I felt I was in the presence of a kindred spirit? As a person who can imagine a six foot hummingbird from waving ornamental grasses, I loved seeing the work of a man who could envision the human form in a rusty gas tank and winking eyes in worn old gears.

Senor Tovar was a great mechanic in his day and an artist as well. His widow was kind enough to bring me inside and show me some of the “family” still living among his collection of old car parts. I hope you enjoy his artistry and humor.

Magic

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As we approached the main square in town after another great foreign film – Jean de Florette Part 2, we were surprised by the excellent sound quality coming from the band on stage.  Often, the music being played is marred by poor quality speakers but on this evening the singer was great and the sound was clear. In a tight leopard patterned outfit, the lead singer was belting out I Will Survive in a way that would have made Gloria Gaynor proud. 

 

Standing tall in the enthusiastic crowd was a big, proud papa with his daughter high on his shoulders and the two of them were swaying to the disco beat- the little girl’s pony tail going in one direction, while the tail on her animal back pack completed the arc in the other direction.  You couldn’t help but smile….

Starting the San Miguel Life

Thursday was the beginning of the familiar life in San Miguel.  Our children left for their further vacation adventures.  In the afternoon we meandered through town, picked up a few groceries, and found that there was a good movie to see at the 60 peso- 10 seat theatre on Correo.  For 60 pesos, currently about $3.60 US, you get a drink, popcorn and a movie.  We watched Jean de Florette, a French classic, starring a very young Gerard Depardieu. 

On Friday morning we walked through town and met our friend Denis for breakfast at a little café on the northeast border of the historic district.  Afterwards we headed off to the boys orphanage in town Mexiquito Santuario Hogar Guadalupano.  (To learn more about the orphanage go to: http://www.mexiquito.org.mx.) Our task was to look at the refrigerator situation and assess the computers.  

Twenty five boys live at this orphanage staffed by 5 nuns and a few other employees.  Ninety meals a day and their big restaurant style fridge is dead.  The cook has been making due with one small kitchen sized fridge, but it is a real problem. Denis, David and I, and any other willing friends we can find, are going to buy them a new commercial fridge.  Measuring, discussions of electrical work – new commercial fridges often run on 220 current, rearranging the kitchen and evaluating the state of the computer room took the better part of the morning.

The opportunity to help is endless.  There are boys who have received scholarships and other candidates for scholarships that need tutoring in English.  The nuns would like to improve their English.  Field trips and outings for the boys need assistance.  Several of the computers are sick, dying or dead and only one connects to the internet.  Little boys need people to push them on the swings… 

From the Orphanage we headed off to the mall area outside San Miguel to go to Office Depot to get some CD’s and speakers as phase one of a long computer project.  To find these items in town would require going to several different little shops and hoping they have what you need.  In the small store spaces in the historic district, an extraordinary array of products is available, but nonetheless, there is no one-stop shopping.  One place for CD’s, another for pens, another for scissors, an nowhere for speakers.   

 

 

The Truth Will Set You Free

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The University of Guanajuato now serves over 30,000 students in several campuses across the state.  But the original campus here in Guanajuato started as a Jesuit school.  According to our guide, the intention was to create a school that would be a hive of learning, which is reflected in the architecture and the bumblebees on the seal.  The latin inscription means: the truth will set you free.  There is an irreverant ditty in there somewhere. Perhaps I will figure it out before the Pope visits here in March 2012.


 

Scenes From Hildago Market in Guanajuato

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Here in San Miguel it is not unusual to see a woman in brightly colored  indigenous dress hawking hand made dolls, while talking on her cell phone.  In the Hidalgo Market in Guanajuato, I found this somewhat less discordant, but equally interesting  contrast-traditional hand made bags and baskets in a stall with a vendor more interested in his cyber electric guitar lessons than selling.

 

Land Art

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At Charco del Ingenio, Mexico’s largest botanical park right here in San Miguel, there was a terrible fire last spring.  Fortunately, there has been a great recovery by many of the plants, and our year round San Miguel friends tell us that the wildflowers after the wild fire were the most spectacular in many years.


Currently there is an an exhibit of “land art” in the park.  Andy Goldsworthy type art made of natural materials.  These photos are of a burned mesquite sculpture, acknowledging and remembering that fire.