Entry #5

Wednesday, October 26th, 2005

This was a very busy day. I was up early to go on a 2.5 hour walking tour of Centro sponsored by one of San Miguel's numerous charitable groups, Patronato Pro Ninos. This group supports a free mobile dental clinic for children in need. I learned many new things about the history of San Miguel from our guide Harry. After the tour ended I had a relaxing lunch at La Buena Vida Cafe a few blocks away from the Jardin. I met some friendly people on the tour- Sally and Ralph from Rochester (formerly Egypt) who were driving through Mexico on a search for a place to live permanently. Harry was helpful to suggest a place where I might get my suitcase repaired. Threads holding the zipper on were worn away In places. I had visions of my bag bursting open on the next leg of this trip. I wish I had packed the duct tape!

After lunch I walked to the San Antonio colonia (neighborhood) in search of a jewelry teacher I had found out about on the internet. Maestro Enrique Lopez had taught at the Allende Institute for many years but now was retired and gave classes at his own workshop. This location proved to be inconvenient for me and I decided to take the "creative jewelry" class at the Instituto since I was going to be there anyhow Monday to Friday for my semi-intensive Spanish class. So that was my next destination--to pay the balance of my language class tuition and sign up for the jewelry class.

After a quick meal at home I went out to the second photography lecture. Tonight Elizabeth Opalenik and Chris Rainier showed their very different work to a full house. Opalenik, using b/w and infared film, is known for her "draping technique" and handpainted images. Her swirling fabric draped dancers were dreamy images. Rainier is a photographer for Time and National Geographic and has been in most of the world's recent hot spots. His special project is on ritual tattooing around the world and those images were fascinating and disturbing. It was an excellent presentation. Both of these talks have made me more aware of what I could do with my digital camera. Too bad I don't have enough tiome for a photography course!