Our slides will tell you most of what's to show and tell about Guanajuato, another beautiful colonial town of the Central Highlands, where we spent our last four days before flying back to Portland on March 31st. We loved exploring the many streets and neighborhoods. It seems much larger than San Miguel with the accompanying crowds and traffic,but fortunately many streets are for the pedestrians only and wandering them is like being in a candy box. We also loved the cultural offerings from concerts to theatre, and fabulous art shows. There's a famous university in Guanojuato and the evidence was in the many young people from around the world we saw on the streets. It reminded us of being in Salamanca, Spain in 2003. We came at just the right time, after the Pope's visit but in time for the amazing Dia de Los Flores (Day of the Flowers). We were also invited on our first night, by our French hostess and owner of the small casita we rented next to her house, to an amazing "inaugaration" at the Municiple Art Museum of three artists selected to tour the country---the "stars" of the contemporary Mexican Art Scene. Part of the exhibit was held at the Diego Rivera home and museum where we saw many other artists work and even got a peek of Diego and Frida, posthumously, in paper mache form.
Sit back and enjoy a trip to Guanajuato with us. I'll soon be home in Portland and look forward to talking to some of you and seeing others who live near by. Let me know your reactions to "Adventures with Sher." Hope you've enjoyed the trip to Mexico!
Adios, amigos! Sher
Monday, April 16, 2012
The Spring Equinox in San Miguel de Allende-March 21, 2012
Enjoy some photos of our Spring Equinox celebration:
Hola and Felices Primavera,
I would like to share with everyone the way we celebrated the Spring Equinox this year in San Miguel. A half hour's hike from our casa is an amazing Botanical Garden known as El Charco de Ingenio. Set in the heart of the central highlands, this nature reserve covers more than 300 acres adjacent to our town of San Miguel de Allende. It is the result of a nongovernmental initiative, begun in 1990, to rescue and protect a treasured area benefiting and open to all sectors of the community. It is committed to the restoration and conservation of it's native econsystems. In 2004 it was proclaimed a Peace Zone by the visiting Dalai Lama.
Each Spring members of the community are invited to join a local shaman to celebrate Spring and the four directions, East,West, North and South. An impressive ceremony is held in the center of a big stone plaza built for such occasions. Flower seeds are blessed and thrown in a fire, and the winds carry our blessings for the Spring planting. At the conclusion of the ceremony we are all invited to walk along the small pathways down to a deep Canyon surrounding a wetland. Along the way, are tables set up with small pottery cups filled with mescal, a native drink made from the Maguey plant, and we are invited, for a small donation to El Charco, to imbibe. We find a place amongst the rocks and settle down for a concert. Two years ago when we participated, we had the pleasure of hearing a very famous Opera Star from Mexico City perform excerpts from many well known operas. This year the limelight was on an internationally known pianist. As unbelievable as it seemed, they actually managed to get the piano carried down the trails and over the rocks to sit perched on a precarious landing. Very impressive. We enjoyed the company of a delightful French woman, Françoise and her Mexican husband, sitting near us as we all anticipated the concerts' beginning. Music started, we settled into our hard seating and fell mesmerized into a dream like state---no, we didn't drink too much mescal, but admittedly it probably helped us to relax. As I sat there, my eyes perused the crowd of people sitting below, above and beside, young Mexican families, teenage lovers, old lovers, gringos and Mexicans alike. It is a time of community and interconnectedness as we reflect on the new season and watch birds soaring above and time slips by and music collides with the setting sun.
I hope you enjoy the photos and can imagine yourself there next Spring. We know we will be back. I'll add a few more photos of El Charco's treasures, the extensive botanical collection of cactus and other native Mexican species, which are rare and in danger of extinction. Many of these plants have been collected from different parts of the country. Enjoy---disfruta!
Sher
Hola and Felices Primavera,
I would like to share with everyone the way we celebrated the Spring Equinox this year in San Miguel. A half hour's hike from our casa is an amazing Botanical Garden known as El Charco de Ingenio. Set in the heart of the central highlands, this nature reserve covers more than 300 acres adjacent to our town of San Miguel de Allende. It is the result of a nongovernmental initiative, begun in 1990, to rescue and protect a treasured area benefiting and open to all sectors of the community. It is committed to the restoration and conservation of it's native econsystems. In 2004 it was proclaimed a Peace Zone by the visiting Dalai Lama.
Each Spring members of the community are invited to join a local shaman to celebrate Spring and the four directions, East,West, North and South. An impressive ceremony is held in the center of a big stone plaza built for such occasions. Flower seeds are blessed and thrown in a fire, and the winds carry our blessings for the Spring planting. At the conclusion of the ceremony we are all invited to walk along the small pathways down to a deep Canyon surrounding a wetland. Along the way, are tables set up with small pottery cups filled with mescal, a native drink made from the Maguey plant, and we are invited, for a small donation to El Charco, to imbibe. We find a place amongst the rocks and settle down for a concert. Two years ago when we participated, we had the pleasure of hearing a very famous Opera Star from Mexico City perform excerpts from many well known operas. This year the limelight was on an internationally known pianist. As unbelievable as it seemed, they actually managed to get the piano carried down the trails and over the rocks to sit perched on a precarious landing. Very impressive. We enjoyed the company of a delightful French woman, Françoise and her Mexican husband, sitting near us as we all anticipated the concerts' beginning. Music started, we settled into our hard seating and fell mesmerized into a dream like state---no, we didn't drink too much mescal, but admittedly it probably helped us to relax. As I sat there, my eyes perused the crowd of people sitting below, above and beside, young Mexican families, teenage lovers, old lovers, gringos and Mexicans alike. It is a time of community and interconnectedness as we reflect on the new season and watch birds soaring above and time slips by and music collides with the setting sun.
I hope you enjoy the photos and can imagine yourself there next Spring. We know we will be back. I'll add a few more photos of El Charco's treasures, the extensive botanical collection of cactus and other native Mexican species, which are rare and in danger of extinction. Many of these plants have been collected from different parts of the country. Enjoy---disfruta!
Sher
Reflections on the Light and Dark Sides of San Miguel
One day while walking to the Centro, I was thinking of all the things I love about San Miguel and the things I don't like---I call it the Light and Dark Sides of SMA. Let me elucidate. I love the beautiful and colorful old colonial buildings with their inner courtyards filled with tropical flora, the local small tiendas (shops for groceries, sundries and anything one would need)on nearly every street corner. I love the sounds of the church bells on the hour, passing the beautiful La Perroquia, at dusk as the lights come on. I call it the "wedding cake church" because of its fanciful baroque architecture, Most of all I love the gente, the people who are so kind and respectful, full of zest for life, and real. I love the music and all the fiestas in spite of the frequent and startling sounds of the firecrackers going off at all hours of the night.
And, I love my barrio, my neighborhood in the colonia of San Antonio. As I walk along the cobbled streets I now feel "at home" and can't express how much I love the sunshine and warmth. Gary and I often stroll home in the evenings as late as ten or ten-thirty in short sleeves. It's good to not feel the chill of Portland's winters. Si, there is much to love about San Miguel de Allende. (Read about"Mi Barrio" and see photos in the post titled "Mi Barrio")Oh, and let me not forget the favorite site I have seen everyday in March, the amazingly beautiful blooming jacaranda trees, flourishing purple against clear blue skies.
Now,for the "dark side" of San Miguel, just in case you should think that I am surely looking through rose colored glasses. I don't like the dog poop on the sidewalks, the rebar on the tops of many of the rooftops (even though I understand the reason for this is the lowering of the taxes for the people when the building appears not finished). I don't like the many holes in the streets where one can twist an ankle or break a leg. Again it's understandable. This is a four hundred year old city. The Mexicans are constantly working on the streets and trying to fill holes, improve the old sewer system and replace cobbles. Our Mexican friend, Maria Elena, who's an engineer for the city, said the "hole problem " is getting worse due to the people, who at night steal the metal plates off the utility meters in the streets and sidewalks, in order to sell the metal. It's a never ending problem, an economic one. Many people are poor and they will do whatever it takes for "dinero."
I don't like the small bits of garbage that's sometimes thrown carelessly in the streets, despite the every other day free garbage pick-up in San Miguel and the small trash bins attached to electric light poles along many of the main streets. Last Wednesday, the annual childrens Spring Parade, showed us there is a growing environmental consciousness, though, as children, all decked out in bumblebee, flower and bunny costumes, carried signs that said in Spanish, "Protect the Environment", "Recycle and Reuse" and other "green" messages. It may take a couple of generations to change the habits of the people.
I don't like that there are teens and kids languishing on the streets with no work and often joining gangs that spray grafiti on the lovely old buildings in certain neighborhoods; I don't like that they sometimes feel the only answer is that they flee to El Norte, the US, for "a better life" and then some die crossing over. It is up to the governments of both the US and Mexico to change our migration policies. We in the states need to put more pressure to find a better and more humane immigration policy and the Mexican government must do more to help its poorest of the poor.
Another thing I don't like is the number of poor old women, and young ones with children, sitting on the sidewalks with hands outstretched begging for just a little "moneda"(a few coins)for survival. I feel sad every time I pass them and, until recently, I always dug down in my pockets, to drop a few pesos into their hands. Recently I learned this is not a good idea. Many of these women from the "campo", the countryside, are being prostituted by men who bring them into town early in the morning in the back of pickups, along with "rented" children who have been drugged. We've always wondered why the children seem so passive and inert,willing to sit all day long in the laps or beside the women. Of course, what tears at our "gringo" hearts the most? ---poor women and children. Our Mexican friends and others who have lived here longer than us tell us to avoid giving and instead put pressure on the municiple governement to have the same policies they used to have, to fine and imprison the "pimps" who are preying on these ignorant women of the campo. Nobody seems to understand why that policy has not continued. Many of the poor people in the campo have farmland, but with the last few years drought and the competition from big agri-businesses, they find it hard still to grow enough and/or sell enough to make ends meet. They are enticed to try and earn more by street begging. Well, it's a complicated issue, but definitely a "dark side" of San Miguel.
But then there's always another bright side. One of those is the excellent medical and dental treatment here. Many of the ex-pats have purposely moved here because of the excellent care they can get at affordable prices. Well trained doctors (many educated in top rate institutions in the US) still make house calls. A friend of ours who had a bad case of food poisoning was given excellent care; his doctor came to the house and called each day until he was well. Gary and I have both had to have some dental work done here recently, and our new crowns cost us a third of what they would be in the states. In addition, my dentist, a woman, sent me daily emails from her iphone, to check on how I was doing and to make sure I didn't have any pain. When the final crown was put on and I walked out of her office, we hugged and I commented "In the US we usually don't hug our dentists!"
All and all, there are more bright sides to life in San Miguel than there are dark. We look forward to continuing our odyssey here in the following years that we are alive and well.
There is a cultural pre-disposition among Mexicans to like and,in fact,cherish older people. It is not unusual to see older Mexican or gringo women, being gently supported on the arm of a young Mexican girl or boy, helping their "abualita," or employer down the street, carrying her groceries or helping walk her dog. It's a culture with a proclivity for kindness and respect. Everything reported about violence in Mexico is not always true in all parts.
So, to wrap it up, the adventures go on and they are Muy Bueno!
We will spend our last four days in Mexico, in Guanoguato, a lovely neighboring colonial town. Then, on March 31st, we wing home from the airport in Leon, just a half hour from there. We will be back to our Portland casa by late Saturday night, March 31st, ready for Spring!
Hope you are all well and healthy and we look forward to making contact with friends and family once we are settled back into our Portland routine. Felize Primavera---Happy Spring!
Hasta luego,
Sher
And, I love my barrio, my neighborhood in the colonia of San Antonio. As I walk along the cobbled streets I now feel "at home" and can't express how much I love the sunshine and warmth. Gary and I often stroll home in the evenings as late as ten or ten-thirty in short sleeves. It's good to not feel the chill of Portland's winters. Si, there is much to love about San Miguel de Allende. (Read about"Mi Barrio" and see photos in the post titled "Mi Barrio")Oh, and let me not forget the favorite site I have seen everyday in March, the amazingly beautiful blooming jacaranda trees, flourishing purple against clear blue skies.
Now,for the "dark side" of San Miguel, just in case you should think that I am surely looking through rose colored glasses. I don't like the dog poop on the sidewalks, the rebar on the tops of many of the rooftops (even though I understand the reason for this is the lowering of the taxes for the people when the building appears not finished). I don't like the many holes in the streets where one can twist an ankle or break a leg. Again it's understandable. This is a four hundred year old city. The Mexicans are constantly working on the streets and trying to fill holes, improve the old sewer system and replace cobbles. Our Mexican friend, Maria Elena, who's an engineer for the city, said the "hole problem " is getting worse due to the people, who at night steal the metal plates off the utility meters in the streets and sidewalks, in order to sell the metal. It's a never ending problem, an economic one. Many people are poor and they will do whatever it takes for "dinero."
I don't like the small bits of garbage that's sometimes thrown carelessly in the streets, despite the every other day free garbage pick-up in San Miguel and the small trash bins attached to electric light poles along many of the main streets. Last Wednesday, the annual childrens Spring Parade, showed us there is a growing environmental consciousness, though, as children, all decked out in bumblebee, flower and bunny costumes, carried signs that said in Spanish, "Protect the Environment", "Recycle and Reuse" and other "green" messages. It may take a couple of generations to change the habits of the people.
I don't like that there are teens and kids languishing on the streets with no work and often joining gangs that spray grafiti on the lovely old buildings in certain neighborhoods; I don't like that they sometimes feel the only answer is that they flee to El Norte, the US, for "a better life" and then some die crossing over. It is up to the governments of both the US and Mexico to change our migration policies. We in the states need to put more pressure to find a better and more humane immigration policy and the Mexican government must do more to help its poorest of the poor.
Another thing I don't like is the number of poor old women, and young ones with children, sitting on the sidewalks with hands outstretched begging for just a little "moneda"(a few coins)for survival. I feel sad every time I pass them and, until recently, I always dug down in my pockets, to drop a few pesos into their hands. Recently I learned this is not a good idea. Many of these women from the "campo", the countryside, are being prostituted by men who bring them into town early in the morning in the back of pickups, along with "rented" children who have been drugged. We've always wondered why the children seem so passive and inert,willing to sit all day long in the laps or beside the women. Of course, what tears at our "gringo" hearts the most? ---poor women and children. Our Mexican friends and others who have lived here longer than us tell us to avoid giving and instead put pressure on the municiple governement to have the same policies they used to have, to fine and imprison the "pimps" who are preying on these ignorant women of the campo. Nobody seems to understand why that policy has not continued. Many of the poor people in the campo have farmland, but with the last few years drought and the competition from big agri-businesses, they find it hard still to grow enough and/or sell enough to make ends meet. They are enticed to try and earn more by street begging. Well, it's a complicated issue, but definitely a "dark side" of San Miguel.
But then there's always another bright side. One of those is the excellent medical and dental treatment here. Many of the ex-pats have purposely moved here because of the excellent care they can get at affordable prices. Well trained doctors (many educated in top rate institutions in the US) still make house calls. A friend of ours who had a bad case of food poisoning was given excellent care; his doctor came to the house and called each day until he was well. Gary and I have both had to have some dental work done here recently, and our new crowns cost us a third of what they would be in the states. In addition, my dentist, a woman, sent me daily emails from her iphone, to check on how I was doing and to make sure I didn't have any pain. When the final crown was put on and I walked out of her office, we hugged and I commented "In the US we usually don't hug our dentists!"
All and all, there are more bright sides to life in San Miguel than there are dark. We look forward to continuing our odyssey here in the following years that we are alive and well.
There is a cultural pre-disposition among Mexicans to like and,in fact,cherish older people. It is not unusual to see older Mexican or gringo women, being gently supported on the arm of a young Mexican girl or boy, helping their "abualita," or employer down the street, carrying her groceries or helping walk her dog. It's a culture with a proclivity for kindness and respect. Everything reported about violence in Mexico is not always true in all parts.
So, to wrap it up, the adventures go on and they are Muy Bueno!
We will spend our last four days in Mexico, in Guanoguato, a lovely neighboring colonial town. Then, on March 31st, we wing home from the airport in Leon, just a half hour from there. We will be back to our Portland casa by late Saturday night, March 31st, ready for Spring!
Hope you are all well and healthy and we look forward to making contact with friends and family once we are settled back into our Portland routine. Felize Primavera---Happy Spring!
Hasta luego,
Sher
Mi Barrio
Dear amigos,
It's going to be hard to leave my neighborhood, mi barrio. This past week I have loved talking to the shopkeepers, my haircutting neighbor, Sandy, who cuts Gary's and my hair for 30 pesos ($2.50 once a month). We'll miss our grocer, Antonio,and the old man, who stops with his burro every couple of weeks and calls out "suelo", soil. Most houses in San Miguel do not have yards with gardens, but instead these old, colonial homes come with courtyards, patios and terraces where people delight in creating their "potted gardens"---thus, the "dirt man". Yolanda, the flower lady will be missed, also. I've enjoyed her tap on the door every Friday with her arms filled with fresh flowers. It's fun to buy a bouquet to adorn our small casa before guests come for dinner or margaritas on the weekend at the low cost of 20-40 pesos ($1.50-3.50). Such a deal!
I love the children I hear each day, practicing with their marching band in the corner school yard, or running out at the close of the day to play in the beautiful old square at the end of our street in front of our neighborhood 16th century church. Two old guys sell them sherbet and ice cream at the square, and I stop to talk with them on my way to and fro. There is much to love and delight one in this quarter of town, called "Colonia San Antonio." Like other barrios, we even have our patron Saint, a sculpture of Saint Anthony, gracing a corner fountain. Visiting artists often come and set up their easels in the street to do some "plein air" painting, and local musicians strum their guitars in the plaza. Young lovers snuggle on the old ornate iron benches under the trees.
Yes, it's going to be hard to say "Adios" to our barrio when we leave, but we know we will be back. Hope you enjoy a peek at a few photos of"mi barrio."
Maybe next year some of our friends and family will join us here. Hasta luego!
It's going to be hard to leave my neighborhood, mi barrio. This past week I have loved talking to the shopkeepers, my haircutting neighbor, Sandy, who cuts Gary's and my hair for 30 pesos ($2.50 once a month). We'll miss our grocer, Antonio,and the old man, who stops with his burro every couple of weeks and calls out "suelo", soil. Most houses in San Miguel do not have yards with gardens, but instead these old, colonial homes come with courtyards, patios and terraces where people delight in creating their "potted gardens"---thus, the "dirt man". Yolanda, the flower lady will be missed, also. I've enjoyed her tap on the door every Friday with her arms filled with fresh flowers. It's fun to buy a bouquet to adorn our small casa before guests come for dinner or margaritas on the weekend at the low cost of 20-40 pesos ($1.50-3.50). Such a deal!
I love the children I hear each day, practicing with their marching band in the corner school yard, or running out at the close of the day to play in the beautiful old square at the end of our street in front of our neighborhood 16th century church. Two old guys sell them sherbet and ice cream at the square, and I stop to talk with them on my way to and fro. There is much to love and delight one in this quarter of town, called "Colonia San Antonio." Like other barrios, we even have our patron Saint, a sculpture of Saint Anthony, gracing a corner fountain. Visiting artists often come and set up their easels in the street to do some "plein air" painting, and local musicians strum their guitars in the plaza. Young lovers snuggle on the old ornate iron benches under the trees.
Yes, it's going to be hard to say "Adios" to our barrio when we leave, but we know we will be back. Hope you enjoy a peek at a few photos of"mi barrio."
Maybe next year some of our friends and family will join us here. Hasta luego!
Friday, March 23, 2012
Winding Down our San Miguel Stay (Forgive the late post)
Hola Amigos,
We are winding down our stay in San Miguel and feel sad we are leaving though it will be wonderful to see family back in the states. As you can tell by the lack of recent posts, we have had a very fun but busy month since I last wrote. Our activities with new and old friends, yoga classes, an encaustic workshop with a fine artist here, movies, my Spanish conversation group, the Cuba dance festival, and my presentation on EcoViva and our work in El Salvador, have filled my time---it's all been fun and stimulating. Gary has completed a couple more carved birds and enjoys the Global Justice programs at the bibliotecha.
We saw an excellent film at the Theatro Santa Ana at the Bibliotech that I highly recommend:. It brought back memories of our 2006 trip to Bolivia where we learned about the Water War of 2002. Though the film is a fictional story of filmmakers making a film about the Spanish conquistadores' exploitation of the native peoples, it coincides with the actual current day exploits of multinational corporations and the privatization of water. It's moving and educational. We've actually seen many wonderful documentaries and other films while down here. One of the groups supporting young girls, raising money for educational scholarships for them, had a fun and successful fundraiser the night of the Academy Awards. Guests walked the red carpet like the stars and then sat down outside on big patios at a B&B which was once a famous bordello in San Miguel. We watched the broadcast of the award ceremony on two big screens while being served wine and hors d'oeuvres by roving young waiters. They raised $2000 which will help young Mexican girl. The following week we were able to see several of the winning films.
On March 21st, Gary and I presented our own program at the Bibliotecha, sponsored by the Center for Global Justice, about our work in El Salvador through the NGO we support, EcoViva. We had a really nice turn-out and were very pleased, as many expressed an interest in joining us on an Empowerment Tour to El Salvador next year, and also wanted to help support EcoViva's good work. It took some time preparing the power point presentation but I had a great helper, Mark Saunders, as my tech guide. He's the author of a new and very funny book "Nobody Knows the Spanish I Speak" and also 30 plays which have been produced on and off Broadway. We met him and his wife Arlene a month ago at the writers conference. We learned they are former Portlanders who moved down here to live permanently two years ago. They love it, and their big poodle, Duke, does, too. Mark has a wonderful sense of humor and we have enjoyed getting to know them both. They will be back in Portland for a visit in April and he will be having a book signing party. I'd like to invite you all, who live in Portland, to come. Will send out a save the date notice soon.
We leave here on March 27th to spend four days in the charming town of Guanajuato, about an hour from here. It's nearer the airport in Leon so we will take advantage of that as we wing our way back to Portland, on March 31st. Hope you've enjoyed adventures with Sher. Stay tuned for future blogs, about Guanajuato, my novel, and life back in Portland. Hasta luego!
We are winding down our stay in San Miguel and feel sad we are leaving though it will be wonderful to see family back in the states. As you can tell by the lack of recent posts, we have had a very fun but busy month since I last wrote. Our activities with new and old friends, yoga classes, an encaustic workshop with a fine artist here, movies, my Spanish conversation group, the Cuba dance festival, and my presentation on EcoViva and our work in El Salvador, have filled my time---it's all been fun and stimulating. Gary has completed a couple more carved birds and enjoys the Global Justice programs at the bibliotecha.
We saw an excellent film at the Theatro Santa Ana at the Bibliotech that I highly recommend:
On March 21st, Gary and I presented our own program at the Bibliotecha, sponsored by the Center for Global Justice, about our work in El Salvador through the NGO we support, EcoViva. We had a really nice turn-out and were very pleased, as many expressed an interest in joining us on an Empowerment Tour to El Salvador next year, and also wanted to help support EcoViva's good work. It took some time preparing the power point presentation but I had a great helper, Mark Saunders, as my tech guide. He's the author of a new and very funny book "Nobody Knows the Spanish I Speak" and also 30 plays which have been produced on and off Broadway. We met him and his wife Arlene a month ago at the writers conference. We learned they are former Portlanders who moved down here to live permanently two years ago. They love it, and their big poodle, Duke, does, too. Mark has a wonderful sense of humor and we have enjoyed getting to know them both. They will be back in Portland for a visit in April and he will be having a book signing party. I'd like to invite you all, who live in Portland, to come. Will send out a save the date notice soon.
We leave here on March 27th to spend four days in the charming town of Guanajuato, about an hour from here. It's nearer the airport in Leon so we will take advantage of that as we wing our way back to Portland, on March 31st. Hope you've enjoyed adventures with Sher. Stay tuned for future blogs, about Guanajuato, my novel, and life back in Portland. Hasta luego!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
On the Path of the Monarch
See my slideshow. Clicking on photos will show the captions. Enjoy!
Still catching my breath from the writers conference, Gary and I packed up our suitcase two days later, and headed to Michoacan with the local Audabon group to visit the Monarchs, literally, butterflies without borders. These beautiful mariposas make their annual migration, traveling up to 3,000 miles to and from Northeastern Canada to the same over-wintering sight in the central Mexican highlands. This phenomenon, which includes three to four generations in one year intrigues scientists and laymen alike, who have not been able to unravel the mystery of how they do it or know to do it, always coming back to the same places. Today, like so many other species, these magnificent butterflies, with little nectar from the milkweed flowers they depend on due to industrial agriculture, and compromised sources of water, are being greatly challenged. More and more of their winter habitat is being destroyed by illegal logging in Rosario Reserve of Michoacan. It’s a complex issue as the poor people living there need to sell the wood for their livelihood. Of course, climate change is also profoundly affecting the butterflies. We have included many photos and hope you all have a chance to see the Monarchs someday, before they are gone from these once even more densely butterfly populated sights in Mexico.
Still catching my breath from the writers conference, Gary and I packed up our suitcase two days later, and headed to Michoacan with the local Audabon group to visit the Monarchs, literally, butterflies without borders. These beautiful mariposas make their annual migration, traveling up to 3,000 miles to and from Northeastern Canada to the same over-wintering sight in the central Mexican highlands. This phenomenon, which includes three to four generations in one year intrigues scientists and laymen alike, who have not been able to unravel the mystery of how they do it or know to do it, always coming back to the same places. Today, like so many other species, these magnificent butterflies, with little nectar from the milkweed flowers they depend on due to industrial agriculture, and compromised sources of water, are being greatly challenged. More and more of their winter habitat is being destroyed by illegal logging in Rosario Reserve of Michoacan. It’s a complex issue as the poor people living there need to sell the wood for their livelihood. Of course, climate change is also profoundly affecting the butterflies. We have included many photos and hope you all have a chance to see the Monarchs someday, before they are gone from these once even more densely butterfly populated sights in Mexico.
The Writing Life in San Miguel
See my slideshow. If you click on the individual photos you will get the captions.
Well, February sure flew by like a cat on fire---poor metaphor, but best for now. Paradoxically, I did a lot of writing but not on my blog. Now, I’m going to try to catch you up to date on my adventures in San Miguel de Allende.
Well, February sure flew by like a cat on fire---poor metaphor, but best for now. Paradoxically, I did a lot of writing but not on my blog. Now, I’m going to try to catch you up to date on my adventures in San Miguel de Allende.
The month began with my spending much of my time preparing for the 7th Annual International San Miguel Writers Conference. In between long hours of working on my novel, finishing the last three chapters and brushing up the first part, I was attending some great presentations such as two on writers who would be keynoting the conference, such as Margaret Atwood from Canada, Joy Harjo, native American poet and songwriter/musician. Also, on the program was Elena Poniatowska, one of Mexico's foremost journalists, writers and good will ambassadors now in her late eighties. I attended a play with characters straight from her books, all in Spanish. There was also a book group discussion on Margaret Atwood’s most recent dystopic, speculative fiction, The Year of the Flood. It was a great opportunity to delve into Atwood's ideas, which are dense with metaphor and meaning while describing a not too positive future for mankind and Earth. Fortunately the heavy nature of the topic is accented by her clever wit and puns.
While I was doing this, Gary was enjoying making new friends here, taking long walks with his camera, the results you will see in some of the photos documenting the wonders of San Miguel. He also did some sweet miniature bird carvings, enjoying the sun on our terrace and a chance to chip and carve away at the soft Mexican wood he found. We attended some films and talks together, mostly political in nature, presented by the excellent Center for Global Justice. A day in the "compo," visiting CEDESA, a small community demonstrating many projects on sustainable living, was a good counterpoint to our days in our colonial city with its hustle and bustle. CEDESA is a project started by a Catholic priest from Spain nearly fifty years ago when he was sent here by the Church. He quickly realized the poor peasants needed more than religion. Teaching them to read and write, he also helped them do sustainable agriculture, way before we all used that term, to feed their families. Now it is a demonstration community being used to help other composinos improve their production of food, save water (a precious resource here in the drought ridden central highlands), distill water through a hand-built solar system. As the local aquifer is lowering more and more every year, and getting closer to the bottom, they are discovering high levels of arsenic and fluoride, which have severe deleterious health effects. They have developed a very clever, low-cost, solar driven, distillation system which is helping to alleviate the heavy metals from their water. Newly developed wood burning stoves which conserve wood necessary to prepare their tortillas and other foods are also helping lower the rate of lung cancer in women and children while also saving the forests. The community prepared a delicious organic lunch for us and we enjoyed the educational benefits of the day immensely. It reminds us of our small communities in El Salvador that we support. I will be giving a presentation on Eco-Viva’s work there, on March 21st, an event being sponsored by Global Justice. More writing assignments, preparing the advertising and the presentation, which brings me back to my writing life.
A week before the conference, I met a former acquaintance who’s also a fine writer. She told me about the writing group, which had just met once, and encouraged me to participate. We had a wonderful mentor, a former writing instructor from the New School in New York and author of five books, fiction and non-fiction. I decided to join and enjoyed the camaraderie of four other writers and the fine suggestions of our mentor. I finally finished my last chapters of the novel and the final rewrites and polishing are in process, taking into account all that I learned in the conference’s intense workshops. Needless to say, the conference was fabulous with entertaining as well as stimulating activities to attend from morning ‘till night. Highlights were the keynote addresses, a wonderful one woman play, “That Dorothy Parker,” written and performed by award winning Carol Lampert, and the fun Mexican Fiesta held the third night of the conference. It was fun to meet so many talented writers from all parts of North and South America amongst the 218 participants. The San Miguel community was invited to many of the special events which filled the big Hotel Real de Minas’ ballroom which accommodated around 850 people. It was called “The Creative Crossroads of the Americas” and one could quickly ascertain why: it was truly a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic event. One woman,a Huichole Indian. wore her lovely traditional attire every day and was a colorful attendee we couldn’t miss. Lastly, our conference was bookended by two fabulous presentations: one, by Sharon Robinson, the writer and daughter of the famous baseball star, first to integrate baseball back in the late forties, the late Jackie Robinson. The other special guest speaker was Naomi Wolf noted political activist, writer and filmmaker. She premiered her documentary film, “The End of America,” and gave a follow-up lecture called “Protest 101.” Are you out of breath yet? Well, I was and am still recuperating from this provocative and fabulous conference.
Life continues to be a fascinating journey in San Miguel de Allende!
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