Entry #14

Week of November 21st to 27th, 2005

Wednesday, November 23rd
5pm Slide show and talk by photographer Robert deGast on "Weird WIndows and Dazzling doors" of San Miguel. It is really fascinating how people decorate their doors in this city. There is no real organization of numbers. Some streets change names three or four times from the top to the bottom of their lengths. There is an amazing variety of personalization in house names and decoration of house number plates. Windows are another story; so many are bricked in or almost doors or left incomplete. DeGast has published several books of San Miguel photosgraphs. Check Amazon.com for a selection. Here is a link to "The Doors of San Miguel": http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/156640990X/ref=
pd_sim_b_1/104-1641996-9858314?%5Fencoding=
UTF8&v=glance&n=283155


7:30pm Art Opening: Works by Pita Nieto de Velez...needlepoint art reproductions. It was not the art here but the company that was memorable. I was introduced to Cynthia who had the most wonderful sense of humor and who kept a group of us enthralled with her stories of a traitorous ex-husband, a missing and presumed murdered chef from her B&B, and finally the ordeal she went through to get a B&B licence in San Miguel. She has a actress/comedian daughter who should be a great success if she has inherited half of her mother's comedic talent.


Thursday, November 24th
Alma y Pasiones: Photographs by Raul Touzon at Bellas Artes. This photographer presented one of the Santa Fe Workshops lectures earlier this month, and these photos at the opening were all taken in and around San Miguel during different fiestas. http://www.touzonphoto.com/


Friday, November 25th
7-9pm: Opening reception at Galeria Pergola inside the Instituto Allende.
Some of my favorite works on display were by Lupina Flores, Ana Thiel, Yolanda Marroquin, and Raul Oscar Martinez. I wish I had a house here to decorate with all the beautiful and interesting art I have seen the last month. Once again I met old friends who introoduced me to new ones. It is very easy to meet people here.


Saturday, November 26th
I went with 8 other people on a unque tour to the Sierra Gorda valley of Tierra Blanca where we toured an ecological house that used self- composting toilets, recycled "grey" water and collected rainwater. There was a self-watering greenhouse and a temazcal inside of which volcanic rocks are heated and the occupants sweat like in a dry-heat sauna. Later we visited with an indigenous community involved in the Slow Food and ecology movements. The women there prepared a typical comida for us, consisting of foods they grew or harvested from there area. There was a soup of beans, tomatoes, and cactus buds, fresh tortillas hot from the grill, a nopale salad, and a very fresh and spicy salsa. We drank a liquado of guava that was very refreshing and soothing after the hot salsa. I met many interesting people deeply committed to the work they were doing, such as replanting large tracts of land with endangered cacti of many types.

This was a very memorable day. We were all invited back to the pueblo on Thursday for a large meeting of the neighboring indigenous pueblos. There would be dancing in ceremonial costumes, singing and much food. This invitation was not offered lightly. We were made to feel very welcome and a connection between the two communities was being opened.






Sunday, November 27th
I took a long walk in the adjacent neighborhood of Los Balcones. Much new construction is underway. The homes here have great views. Since they are on the top of one of the tallest hills in the area, they get the sun all day, from sunrise to sunset. The Botanical Gardens are adjacent and members can get a key for easier access at the top of the street. I never got a chance to visit the Botanical Garden; it will have to wait for the next time.