Morgan and I arrived in San Miguel, for our second month here, my third visit within a year. I guess we like it. It took me awhile to get to blogging. Here are a few days, a few pics. Here I am happy to be here. Here I am, happy to be in SMA.

 

Sunday, February 8

 

With Jim and in his car, Morgan and Lisa and I went to the town of Dolores Hidalgo–I’ve been a couple times now–where they make and sell beautiful ceramics. I bought some. Lisa (my step and Morgan’s daughter) bought some. Then we went to a great little Mexican carnitas (pork) place on the way into Dolores and ate pork with pickled peppers and 3 salsas and fresh fresh tortillas. Here’s the vat of fat in which they cook the puerco. Yahoo.

We went into the center of town to the square, where a thousand Mexicans in their Sunday best are eating reknowned Dolores Hidalgo ice cream. I stepped into the parrochia and sang the Amen Amen Amen with all the congregation which was pretty wonderful. Toddler girls are dressed in fancy white dresses and little boys in priest vestments. The parents show them off. I wish I had a picture.

 

We returned to San Miguel and stopped into the Candelaria annual flower show in the Parque Juarez and bought a few ceramics as well as more pots and plants for Suzanne’s house. Lisa is upstairs on the third story terrace of Suzanne and Robert’s beautiful house (scroll down to see photos and all about the house you can rent) where she is potting plants right now.

 

We had dinner last night on the other side of town at Jim’s house, on his rooftop garden, where he grilled chicken, but forgot the smelts that he bought.

 

Later today, I’ll go swimming (or actually playing in the pool) up the hill and take Lisa to a few last stores for her to buy gifts. She goes home tomorrow.

 

Here’s Jim and Lisa and Morgan when we went to the Monja Hotel which was formerly a convent.

 

 

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Today, Morgan and I walked down and up and down the mountain to the Fabrica Aurora which was once a textile factory. It lay dormant for years and in the last 15 years has been made into a chichi gallery with cafe and shops. It’s very nice and proves that there are very rich people in San Miguel.

 

We made our way back on Calle Quebrada (means rough, like hruby means rough, as some translate it) and had lunch at a Thai restaurant, which was very good and a nice change. We bought vegetables at a little green grocer’s, and other groceries at a tienda downtown, took a taxi toward home, stopped at Parque Juarez where a flower and plant sale is still going on. It’s so beautiful with every color of flower and the cool of green just makes you feel so dang good. I hopped out and bought a couple more flowering plants for our hosts and came home.

 

We had dinner at Jim’s tonight, shrimp with red and yellow peppers on the grill and broccoli and sauteed eggplant. It was really good. With a great $5 French merlot.W We love Jim’s fish chimenea. Morgan is doing one of the things he loves best and has done a load of at Suzanne and Robert’s, but the pic is from Jim’s. Gardening, not smoking.

 

Today I saw the pit Morgan fell in. Yikes. It is sheer concrete, a rectangular box and you can’t see it. It’s like a shadow on the sidewalk. He was all alone, near home, checking out the view and wham. He doesn’t even know what happened.

I took some pics of it today, one with Morgan in the pit. He is so so so lucky. He could easily have broken is neck. They now have it banded off as peligroso (dangerous). It’s a snake pit. (Thanks, Kerry!)After a few days he was 98% recovered. But it’s going to hang on, I think. He must have slammed way hard.

 

Citibank closed our Master Card credit card. Apparently you’re supposed to tell the credit card company that you’re going abroad. They saw Mexican charges and just shut it off. And our American Express won’t work at the ATMs. In fact the only place we’ve found to use it is the huge Mega grocery store. At least we won’t starve.

 

We tried to make reservations at a gorgeous rooftop garden restaurant tonight but it’s filled. So we’ll go there Thursday. Hopefully we’ll have money by then. (See Resource Entry below). Wouldn’t you know this happened right when the weekend started. Actually we tried to get a new card from Citibank, insisting that they bail us out but 1) I could not remember my social security number and 2) I don’t know the zip code or mail code of this place. They thought I was an idiot 😉 and said they’d love to help me out when I got home to the states. I thanked them profusely, of course.

 

Thursday, February 11

 

Jim and our friend Norma Cecilia (mentioned in previous postings), our Spanish teacher, came to dinner. Troubles always comes too. Here’s a nice pic of the two of them.

 

Random sitings:

Here’s how they announce garbabge (basura) pick up: boy runs down street with a big pipe triangle clanging it LOUD. People come out with their garbage. The streets en el centro are much too narrow to clutter with garbage. So, this is an effective system. Basura pick up is funded by taxes. It’s a good thing.

 

Saw an 18^th C house today for sale on Correo listed for 1.4 million. Pretty cool. They’ll never get the money, marked down from 2.2 mil.

 

I saw a horse being shoed right in the street. Just like you change a tire. On the cobblestone street.

 

Indigenous people sometimes sit, sometimes wander. We always give them what change we have.

 

There’s this great chanter in the jardin. We hear that he was once an effective political activist here in SMA, but the government put an end to his activism. Now he shuffles through the park, chanting a stream of consciousness gripe about how he used to do good and now they won’t let him. Sometimes I follow him and listen. It’s kind of like Gregorian chant but not quite. Morgan shot this great pic.

 

Advice and small bits of information:

            In SMA, mangoes are better in June – September than they are February. Papayas are better in February. I don’t know about the other months.

            Travel tip: To avoid digestive disrupts, aka turista, start taking oil of oregano in capsules ten days before going on your travels and continue for awhile while you’re here. It’s a mild herbal antibiotic or antibacterial that you can buy at your health store and neither Morgan nor I have had any problems and we eat in the market, tamales bought from venders on the street.