Getting Ready to Depart

Today, I'm with my dear friend, Marlene, who is helping me get my blog page set up before Gary and I leave on our Big Trip!  On August 23 we will celebrate our 45^th anniversary by departing on a new adventure.  We're cheating a little as our actual anniversary is not until November 6th!

We'll be starting out in southern Sweden, visiting my relatives for a week and then spending a few days in Stockholm with an old high school friend, who married a Swede.  From Stockholm we fly to Paris and spend ten romantic days in our favorite city, staying at our pied-á-terre, a small apartment on the Rive Gauche (Left Bank) that we rent from a friend.  

…then, off to Turkey, to visit this exotic land of multiple civilizations and rich history.  I will be doing a Hot Air Balloon ride over Cappadocia (Gary is shy of heights so will not join me on this adventure).  We'll visit Istanbul, the Lycean coast on the turquoise Aegean and small villages in between.

After Turkey, we'll return to France to visit dear friends in Auvergne and Poitiers.  We'll head out to the Atlantic coast town of La Rochelle to travel across a long bridge out to our favorite French island, the Ile de Ré with my dear French "sister," Michelle.  We'll spend four days there, returning to Paris to fly back home on October 7th, just in time for our Granddaughter Zoë's birthday.

We hope you will enjoy following our adventures via this blog: http://adventureswithsher.blogspot.com/

Just Returned from El Salvador

Hola familia y amigos,

My apologies for not writing more about our adventures the last two weeks. On Thursday, March 18th I left early in the morning by "coche" with a driver to go to Mexico DF airport, 3 hours away, to catch the Mexicana flight to airport. That day I spent more time in cars and airports than I did in the airplane. It was only a two hour flight to San Salvador and Mexicana even served a full hot meal---our airlines sure don't do that anymore.

I arrived at the Comalapa International Airport in San Salvador at 2:05 but by the time I made it through the lines, first to buy the $10 tourist card required in El Salvador and then to pick up my one suitcase and go through customs, it was almost 3:30 pm. My friend, Joalgar, who was waiting outside all that time in the hot sun had begun to think I had missed my plane. There were several planes arriving at the same time so that is why it took so long. As I stepped out into the parking area I was hit by the oppressive heat (about 98 degrees and very high humidity). I had forgotten how hot it could get in El Salvador after living for almost two months in the pleasantly mild climate of San Miguel. Joalgar greeted me with big smiles and hugs and I immediately felt the "warm" welcome. We whisked off in the car with Don Jose, his neighbor who used to drive us in his pick up truck to the Bajo Lempa when I was there in 2006 to teach some of the youth art classes.

When we pulled up 45 minutes later in front of Joalgars house in the suburbs of Ilopongo, the whole family greeted me with hugs. It was fun to see Isabel, Joalgar's wife and their two cute grandchildren, Ronald,age 9 and "la Princessa Isabela" his granddaughter whose 7th birthday we celebrated that night as family friends stopped by. Ronald was so proud to show me his school work and his drawings and Isabela showed me how she can dance. later we all ate pupusas, the dish of El Salvador and went off to bed under the usual mosquito nets. At 10 o'clock at night it was still very hot and sticky but it was still great to be there.

The next morning the children had to go to school very early and Joalgar, Isabel and I had breakfast together. Soon it was time for me to go to the hotel in San Salvador to meet up with all the folks who were arriving that day from Chicago, Rochester, NY, Portland, Oregon, Cincinnati, Ohio and Oakland,California, the delegates coming to join us for the Romero Delegation sponsored by Eco-Viva (the new name of the foundation Gary and I have contributed to for the past ten years which helps small rural villages in El Salvador with tecnical and financial assistance. March 24th was the 30th anniversary of the assassination of Monsignor Oscar Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador who spoke out for the poor and oppressed. It was propitious moment to be in this city not often known for its beauty but rather for the pain of the war.

In the following days as we visited key historical sites in San Salvador and then traveled southeast to the Bajo Lempa (the base of the Lempa River near the Pacific) where our small villages are working to be self sufficient, I came to appreciate the 22 people in the delegation whose ages ranged from 9 years to 80 years old. They were a wonderfully compatible group and it was a joy to travel with them. The young people ranging from 9-17 years old added a special dimension to our delegation and their good behavior and genuine interest in learning about the struggles of the Salvadorenos was impressive. We shared meals with the folks in the village many I have to come to love from past delegations (This was my fourth trip to El Salvador), walked the dirt streets, played games together at night before settling in at our dorm rooms. It was terribly hot and humid but nobody complained and in fact, loved the cold showers. Each day was a new learning experience and even for me after being there so often. I loved visiting the new turtle hatchery which has helped save the four species of sea turtles on the Bay of Jiquilisco which we help support, the Mangroves which line the coast and which my first delegation contributed to 5 years ago when we planted 500 "candles" as the young mangroves are called. They are a very important part of the ecology of the bay as well as protection against the damage of the many hurricanes that El Salvador endures. We learned about the new community youth program and went on a tour of one of the "fincas", farms which is now totally organic growing a variety of fruits and vegetables. The progress is palpable and it feels good to know that the money we have donated over the years is truly making a difference in the lives of these dear people. The last two days of our adventure were spent at a beautiful resort on the Pacific meeting under the shade of palapas by a beautiful beach and next to a huge pool with tropical gardens surrounding it. It was quite a contrast to our first 6 days but much appreciated by everyone. I hope some of you will consider joining me and Gary for a future delegation---it is always a life changing and inspiring experience as was obvious our last day as we had a "reflection" circle in which everyone talked about their "Wow" moments.

I flew home on Friday and was glad to get back to Gary and our little place here in San Miguel. We have had a busy weekend with a birthday "fiesta" at our Mexican family's house for the daughter of our hostess, Francisca. We met many more family members and ate a delicious meal to which I contributed the "botanos"(hors d'oeuvres), small "sopes" made with corn flour and filled with frijoles, salsa and cheese, a recipe I learned in an earlier cooking class. I was happy they let me contribute something. Sunday we got together with our writer friends from Cape Cod for a fun afternoon of sharing our writing and some artwork (Milton has been going to the same sculpture studio where I go and has produced some wonderful pieces and wanted to share his paintings as well,.) Today I finished my second wax sculpture which will be cast in bronze and which Mario, our mentor will then keep for me until I come back next year. Gary and I started our packing tonight anticipating our next two very busy days before we have to leave to head home on Thursday, April 1st. We arrive back in Portland at 11 pm.

We hope you have enjoyed reading about some of our adventures here in Latin America. Each year we come, we find ourselves more drawn to its magic and I must say it helps my Spanish, too. We look forward to seeing our dear kids, both daughters and grandchildren and catching up with lives of our friends as well. Take care and we will see you soon.

Abrazos, Sher and Gary

Time Marches On in San Miguel de Allende

Hola amigos,

Well, the fact that we have not found time to do weekly posts on this blog is indictive of the very busy lives we are leading here. As I am sitting here next to our big arched window, I am witnessing the "fourth of July" in Mexico, a fireworks display par excellance with reds, golds, blues, all colors of the rainbow and the popping sounds which accompany it. Sounds of the mariachis in the streets below us, waft up our hill and the celebration is on. We are not sure for what but, as we said last year, every day in San Miguel is a fiesta. We do know that Monday is a holiday celebrating the birthday of Bonito Juarez, the much loved past president of Mexico who brought changes for the poor and working classes and also passed a law separating Church and State. He was the first and only, we think, indigenous (i.e. indio) to become President.

We are staying in tonight despite the temptation to join the festivities as we have had a very active week since last Saturday, when we left for the Sierra Gordo ("fat mountains") of the neighboring state of Queretero, for a three day car trip. We shared the rental car with our friends, Rosalie and Jack, from Denver Colorado. Rosalie and I researched the area on the internet and with questions to our local Mexicana friends and it sounded too good to pass up.

We left early Saturday morning and by 9 o'clock we were in the charming town of Tequisiapan with a lovely walking street and large central plaza surrounded by an arcade and the usual focal point, a large church with bell tower and decorative coral orange and white facade. We found a cute restaurant and ate breakfast outside under the arcade. Chiliquillias, fresh squeesed orange juice and coffee came to about $4.00 each. After exploring more of the town, we headed for the hills. As we climbed higher up into the beautiful mountains which rose from dry, mesquite and cactus covered "cerros" to a height of 7,500ft. we found ourselves above the "cloud forest" known as "La Puerta de Cielito" ---"The Door to Heaven". As we rose in altitude we were surrounded by a richly vegetated forest of pines, deciduous trees reminding us of autumn with some turning light gold and orange and others covered with pink and magenta blossoms which we later learned were peach trees. Believe it or not, this was mixed with pre-historic looking palms all in bloom with pendulums of white flowers and lower down were a mix of cactus. The area is know for its biodiversity and one can see why. It is actually about 4000 acres of protected biosphere. .We visited several small pueblos and stayed in one the first night by the name of San Joaquin (brings back memories of my high school days in the San Joaquin valley of California when my dad was transferred to Bakersfield---believe me, this San Joaquin was far more picturesque!) We found two clean rooms with baths to rent from Senor Casas (means "houses" appropriately)for only $20 for the night! Senor Casas seemed to be the most entrepreneurial man in town, owning the local Abarrotes (small grocery store) and the lodgings as well as having an interest in the two restaurants, one he recommended for dinner and the other for breakfast. While in SJ we explored the nearby archeological site of Las Ranas, just unearthed in the late 1980's, The ruins were in a beautiful "bosque" which means forest, but were not as dramatic as Monte Alben or Mixla which we visited in Qaxaca last year.

The second day we went on to Jalpan which is the center of a region known for its five famous missions designed by the famous Father Junipera Sera. We remember his many missions in California. We visited two of the five here, which was enough---they are each very differenct with beautiful decorated (almost rococco) facades containing reliefs of the saints and an interesting symbol on each, of the crossed arms and hands of the Dominicans and the Franciscans, apparently representing the "joint venture" in converting the "savage" indios. I must say after the two, and thinking about the suffering of the native peoples building these glorious icons to the church, we had had enough. We were tired and hungry and drove back into Jalpan for dinner at the hotel we had found earlier in the day. We had a rather restless night with a strange noise waking us up which we later found out was some kind of vibrating water pipes just outside our room. After breakfast the next day we headed back towards the big city of Queretero stopping for a couple of hours at Bernal which Rosalie and Jack hadn't seen yet. We described this pretty Mexican town in a former post. After a delicious late lunch there we returned to San Miguel just in time to turn our car in and say Buenos Noches!

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I went to the sculpture studio of Mario, the best artists' secret in town which I learned about from a gringo friend last year. I am having a wax sculpture cast here at Mario's foundry, as the cost is so much less than in the US. I started the sculpture 30 years ago at a workshop in Mendocino California and have had fun finally finishing it here. I am now working on a second sculpture. We had guests for dinner on Tuesday night with drinks before on our terrace from where we have a vista of beautiful sunsets and the city below us. Being up high on the hill is a real advantage except when we climb it everyday coming home from our activities in town. It's great exercise. Gary has been doing some woodcarving and vsited with a local wood sculptor, who he hopes to visit more next week when I am in El Salvador. I leave on Thursday, March 18th and will return via Mexico City on the 26th. I will be joining the Romero Delegation sponsored by the foundation we have donated our energies and some money to for the past ten years, FSSCA, soon to have the new name of Eco-Vida. We assist 86 small rural villages in El Salvador with microfinanced chicken farms and agricultural and reforestation projects to name a few. It is the 30th anniversary of the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero, a real hero to the people of El Salvador. I will be helping our leader as we have a large group this time, 22 people from around the states and happily Portland has a nice contingency of 5 people joining the delegation.

Gary is not at all worried about feeling lonely in San Miguel. We have made lots of friends here and he loves going to the Bibliotecha where he not only checks out books but enjoys partaking of the many lectures and films offered on a full gamut of subject matters. He will also attend the annual Spring Equinox ceremonies up at the beautiful botanical gardens on a higher hill above us with friends. I regret I am going to miss that this year.

Hope this finds you all healthy and happy enjoying the approaching Spring. We hear cold weather is still upon you and feel very appreciative of our lovely warm 75-80 degree days. Nights are still somewhat chlly but it's great to awake to blue skies and sunshine.

Hasta luego,
Sher

P.S. Here's a book tip. I am just finishing Barbara Kingsolver's wonderful new novel, La Lacuna, and have enjoyed it immensely. The plot, much of which takes place in Mexico of the 20's and 30's amongst a host of interesting characters such as Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and Trotsky to name a few, is fascinating and the main character, Harrison Sheppard of both Mexican and Gringo heritage, is intriguing. An important segment of the book takes place in the US as well, during the pivotal time of WWII and the aftermath "fear mongering" of press and government alike known as the McCarthy Era. Kingsolver makes her politicl points cleverly using actual newslippings of the era which earmark similarities to our time and its "politics of fear". I suggest you read the book.

Continuation of Our San Miguel Story

Hola, or perhaps I should say 'buenes Noches": We just arrived home from a wonderful dinner out at "Mama Mia's" a good restaurent in the center of town about ten minutes from our casita. Now I must tell you about the others around the table and the story of how it happened that we were having dinner with 2 Mexicans and a Salvadoreno.

Last night we came home after a wonderful Sunday starting with brunch with friends, Rosalie and Jack, who we met in Lake Patzcuaro last year and who visited us in Portland last summer.
After brunch Gary and I dashed off to buy our "verduras and frutas" at the mercado to replenish our food supply. About 4 o'clock we went to the opening of the Baroque Music Festival in the Central square in commemoration of Mexico's bi-centennial and Centenario of the Revolution and the War of Independence. It will continue all week with performances every night, each with its own special theme representing pre-hispanic times to the present. We spent two hours outside in the central plaza, known as El Jardin,where a special stage was erected for the spectacle. We watched a theatrical threesom and a marionette act out a scene with Louis the 14th and Marie Antoinette and a friend lamenting that they could not return to the past (it was a satire, of course, and very "Molieresque" with many laughs). They introduced a baroque quartet who played Vivaldi, Bach, and others from the period (a flute, violincello, violin and harpsichord). The whole preformance was quite wonderful and Free!

Now, here is where our incredible story really begins: We walked home entering the main casa where we were greeted by our hostess, Maria Elena who invited us to join her on the patio with a visiting friend. It turns out that the friend was Father Eustaquio Martinez Pena, a priest from El Salvador---she remembered I had been to El Salvador and thought I would like to meet him. Of course, it was delightful and more so when we both realized we knew the same person, Jose "Chencho" Alas, our friend and the man who inspired Gary and I to work with the Foundaton for Self Sufficiency in Central America ten years ago. Eustaquio's nickname is "Tacho" and he knew Chencho very well, as during the war they were priests under the tutelage of Archbishop Romero, the hero of El Salvador who was assasinated in 1980 because he spoke out for the poor. Tacho and Chencho were both tortured by the right wing paramilitary. Chencho escaped to the USA and Tacho was one of only two who made it to Mexico for they had to find families that would sponsor or, as they say, adopt them. He was a young priest of 21 years old. Of all the families and people in San Miguel. would you believe that my friend, Francisca (mother of Maria Elena)was the mother of that family who took him in. She is the one who I lived with nine years ago when I came to San Miguel to study Spanish. I remembered that,at that time she told me she had an adopted son there", but I never understood the full story until now. Tacho is now a priest in San Salvador, after completeing his semenary studies in Morelia, Mexico and returning to his country of origin after the Peace Accords were signed in 1992, when my friend Chencho also returned and started the Foundation to which Gary and I contribute. He was quite anxious to know how Chencho is and what he is doing and we had much to talk about. What a miracle this is. He is a delightful man of 51 years old (Chencho was his elder, now being 74 years old). It has been a very rewarding experience, the least of which is that I was able to converse for an hour in Spanish (he speaks no English and Marie Elena doesn't speak much English either). Once we met he decided to spend an extra day here and Gary and I were invited to go to dinner with him, Maria Elena and her brother, Salvador, this evening. My head is full of new Spanish words and expressions that I have learned, and I think Gary's is, too. Luckily, Salvador speaks a little more English and between the two of us we were able to translate for Gary. Well, I know this is a long story but I think it is quite remarkable and I just wanted to share it with you, friends, who, for so long, have witnessed my passion for the people of El Salvador and Nicaragua. We met our first Salvadorenos in Nicaragua as they were refugees from the war there. It's been a type of "odyssey" since our time working in the hospital in Nicaragua in 1987.

Well, as they say in espanol, "esta suficiente"---this is sufficient to show a little of why we say magical things happen in San Miguel.

To go on with other happenings and entertainments, Gary and I enjoyed a wonderful classical guitar concert last Sunday with a renowned guitarist Maestro Enrique Florez who once studied with Andreas Segovia in Spain. He played the ten string classical guitar, which was quite amazing to hear and to watch.

The Sunday before that, we went out to La Gruta, a hot springs spa and grotto about fifteen minutes out of town. Farrel and Joe joined us and we had a very relaxing time bathing in the hot springs pool and having lunch at the small restaurant there on a lovely lawn at a table under an umbrella. It was one of our first really warm and lovely days. Since then the weather has been increasingly warmer with cool mornings and evenings.

Our guests left last Wednesdayand since then I have been trying to get back to a routine of writing daily---this has been a challenge with my Spanish studies, daily activities like films and lectures at the Bibliotecha and invitations to join new friends for "bebidas"--drinks, lunches, etc.

Our next post will be about our adventure coming up this weekend, March 6,7 and 8th, when we are going with our friends, Rosalie and Jack to what sounds like a fascinating area in the high mountains of the Sierra Gordo, outside of Queretero in the state of Quereterro where we will see Toltec archiological sites in Ranas, and near San Juaquin,a group of five missions designed by Fray Junipero Serra, si, the same one who built or rather had built by the indios, missions in California. they are supposed to be quite spectacular and in excellent condition in spite of the fact that they were built in the mid 1700's. We will also visit several interesting villages along the way on Hwy 120. and then stop in Bernal on the way home on Monday, the 8th. We are sharing a car rental with our friends so we will be free to go at our own pace. It is an area where it would be hard to go by bus. On one of the high and very winding roads we will go along a place called "La Puerta del Cielo"(Door to the Sky) which is apt because the guidebooks say you are at such an altitude in an area of mists where you can actually look down on the clouds. Sounds interestng doesn't it?
So, amigos, we will continue to share our adventures upon our return from our weekend trip. We send warm "abrazos" to you all and hope you are experiencing good health and the beginning of Springtime wherever you are. Que te vayas bien!

Sher and Gary

More News from Magical San Miguel

Hola familia y amigos,

Lo siento (translated: I am sorry!) for not getting back to you since the 17th of February. Needless to say, our time is filled with continuing adventures, new acquaintances, studies in Spanish and one discovery after another. There is certainly never a dull momentito in this
magical colonia city. It is like "peeling back the layers of an onion---only to discover a new layer", more meating and pungent than the last---legrimas (tears) flow with the joy and excitement of it all. Oh, that's corny but you know me!

Since I last wrote you, the Writers' Conference came and went, our guests Farrel and Joe, from
Sonoma California, came and went and I have almost completed my 2 1/2 week Spanish course which has been the best one yet---an in depth exploration of the 7 major and minor tenses of the Spanish verbs most used! I know that must sound very dry to those of you who do not consider yourselves linguists but it has been fascinating for me and especially when I have been able to apply what I learn daily on the streets of San Miguel, in converstions with taxi drivers and shop owners and most importantly with our lovely house hosts, mi amiga Francisca's daughter and son, Maria Elena and Salvador as well as sweet Araceli, the maid who comes about 4 times a week and is always ready to help me with my Spanish or with anything else I might need, like an extra plate for dinner guests, a tray to take a pot luck fruit platter to our Spanish Class pot luck (must tell you about that!), etc. Was that one long, runny sentence? A "no, no" for writers.

The Writers's conference (Feb. 19-23) was fabulous. One of many highlights was the keynote address by reknowned US author, Barbara Kingsolver whose new book , La Lacuna, takes place in Mexico of the 30's and 40"s . She was articulate, humorous and adept in answering the audience's questions which were many. The next morning there was a detailed Q&A time also for many questions to be answered and then a wonderful panel discussion with several other authors both from North America and here, including most importantly, a Mexican authoress who was wonderful and actually criticized one aspect of Kingsolver's book, the inaccuracies in the translations of Spanish words in the text. Ms. Kingsolver quickly responded that she was well aware of them and because the Publisher assiged a copy writer who did not speak Spanish(not so smart) and in their haste to get the first edition published did not correct. Kingsolver said she has insisted the next edition be corrected. I guess we shall see. The critic, otherwise, loved the book and said Kingsolver accurately portrayed the levels of Mexico's caste system and she found it "rich in detail" and spellbinding!

Lucky for me, I was able to be a voluntary door monitor for some of the events so was offered a chance to attend two of the mini workshops, one on "character development" with writer from Eugene, Oregon, John Reed author of several books, and one on fiction writing with author, Elizabeth Powell, from Vermont. Both workshops were extremely interesting and helpful to my process of trying to write my first novel.

In the meantime, we had a great time with our guests, Farrel and Joe who were low maintenance guests, joining us for the writers conference main events, the keynote and a wonderful play, "Jamaica Farewell", the closing event. Check it out on the web---the playwrite, a beautiful and talented writer and actress, immigrated from Jamaica, tells her harrowing story of her migration in her superb one woman show which will be made into a movie and played on Off Broadway to rave reviews. She was here and acted in her play and shared anecdotal stories with the audience at the end. Farrel and Joe also enjoyed joining us for another fabulous concert with Richard Dowling, famed pianist, who did a concert of Chopins music in honor of the anniversary of his birth. Our visitors got an insider's view of San Miguel de Allende with our frequent invitations to friend's casas and casitas, dinner out at some fun restaurants, shopping in the mercado and preparing meals in our small apartment kitchen with many laughs as we bumped into each other!

Oops---just looked at the clock and we have a dinner date with Maria Elena, Salvador and the mystery guest, who is now not a mystery but a wonderful coincidental, serendipitous new acquaintance from El Salvador who is staying with them for two days---a marvelous story to tell you---but you must wait. To be continued in my next post later tonight or tomorrow morning!

Hasta luego, amigos,
Sher

Hola familia and amigos,

Our continuing good times, adventures and discoveries in San Miguel de Allende are being a bit dampened today by more rain after a lovely, drier and sunny week. It's certainly not what Portlanders expect when coming down to "sunny Mexico" but we are not letting it dampen our spirits or our activities even though the Mexicans are saying "Hay chihuahua, mucha lluvia!"
This is local vernacular for "Oh darn, much rain!"

Last week was filled with lots of fun activities with new and old friends we met here last year. We had a lovely dinner party at our friend, Luisa's casa, with new friends who moved here a year ago. They are loving their new residence here and we enjoyed seeing their charming Spanish Casa. It's fun to see the variety of housing arrangements our ex-pat friends have chosen. We prefer the more modest places but have enjoyed touring the palatial ones, as well ---just not for us, nor are they in our budget. San Miguel prices, though much higher than a few years ago, seem to be dropping a bit with the global economic downturn and everyone comments now that it's a buyer's market. We did have a fun evening at the cute two bedroom casita of new acquaintances we met at the wonderful Pro Musica concert last week, Ron and Kathleen, former Portlanders, in fact, who have a very satisfactory long term lease from a Mexican family. They have decorated it and added some nice features and we enjoyed seeing their "pad" as well as getting to know them. Kathleen writes memoirs and teaches memoir writing. She is also getting into some painting so we have much in common while Ron, her husband, enjoys tinkering with tools and doing a bit of woodworking. He and Gary hit it off well. Kathleen has invited me to join her weekly "Art and Writing Group".

This is just one example of the many interesting people one meets in San Miguel who come often from as far flung places as Winnipeg, Manitoba in Canada. We spent an afternoon following one of the interesting lectures we attended, with a couple from there who were on their first extended stay in San Miguel or SMA, as the local gringo community calls it. They shared many of our political views and we had a very stimulating converstation. It is not unusual to meet people who, when we ask "Where are you from?" reply "Oh, we live here now."

The night we had dinner with Luisa, we enjoyed getting to know Colleen and Norman, two friends that our friends, Noel and Jerene, in Portland, had suggested we look up. They moved down here last year and are loving their charming Spanish casa here and the many stimulating activities San Miguel offers. We, like they, are finding one has to be cautious or our calendars of daily activities become way too full. Norman is a birder and leads tours up at the Botanical Gardens in SMA and Colleen enjoys the writing crowd here. She, like I, is looking forward to the 4th Annual PEN Writing Conference coming up this weekend. The writers amongst you will enjoy checking out the website at www. sanmiguelwritersconference. com for a look at the lineup of wonderful workshops with well known writers. Barbara Kingsolver will be the keynote speaker at the opening and I am looking forward to attending that, as well as the Q&A with the author the next day. I am going to be a volunteer door monitor at a few of the events over the five days and, for that, have the opportunity to attend some of the mini workshops with well known writers and publishers which should prove interesting. There is quite a stir amongst the local writers about Kingsolvers most recent novel, which takes place in Mexico and whose fictional characters mix with historical figures such as Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. I am enjoying reading it right now but will never get this vast volume finished by this weeks opening events. I guess my questions will be scarser than from those who have finished it.

In the midst of all this, I have started an intense Spanish Class which is wonderful and very helpful. I am finding I am getting more and more confident conversing with my Mexican amigos,
people in the shops and on th streets but am still far from fluent. Hopefully, I will get a bit more fluent with this excellent course offered by the Warren Hardy Language school. My friend Rosalie, from Denver is taking the class, too, and we laugh about "all the good brain cells we are growing"! She and her husband Jack arrived in San Miguel last Friday and we enjoyed a fun weekend of "catching up" and visiting some of our favorite spots in SMA.

Last Sunday was "El Dia de Amor y Amistad", "The Day of Love and Friendship" and the El Jardin , which is the center of San Miguel life (the central Plaza) was filled with festivities, music and the typical balloon sellers we saw in Oaxaca last year with their huge "bouquets" of heart shaped colorful balloons. We later went to a lovely new restaurant with Rosalie and Jack where we enjoyed a delicious dinner of foods from the Yucatan region (the cook moved here from there). I had tilapia wrapped in a banana leaf which was delicious.

Our friends, Farrel and Joe, from Sanoma, California, arrived on Monday night to some chilly weather and after an overcast day yesterday, we all woke up to the rain today. They are being great sports and we managed to fit in lots of sightseeing and enjoyable adventures together yesterday and today. Tomorrow we are hoping to go up to the Botanical gardens with them, then to a film at the Bibliotecha, in the afternoon. Gary saw an excellent film there last week put on by the very active Center for Global Justice, "Capitalism Hits the Fan" by Richard Wolff. He enjoyed the discussion afterwards with the author. We plan on going to a documentary film entitled "The Take" by well known filmmaker Naomi Kline tomorrow afternoon. There is never a dull moment in San Miguel.

Well, dear amigos, maybe this is the right time to sign off before I continue on too long and become dull. This brings good wishes to you all and warm "abrazos"! Sher

Hola amigos,

I hope to be able to add some photos soon so you can all experience the wonders of San Miguel de Allende with us. In spite of the very unusual weather when we arrived this past week, like nine inches of rain in four days, we are already enjoying ourselves immensely. It finally warmed up on Friday, the sun came out and we have had a lovely weekend. Word is out, though, that more rain is coming on Tuesday and Wednesday. "Hay chihuahua!" That's "oh, darn" in Spanish. I'm learning a few other idiomatic expressions but won't repeat here.

We didn't let the rain stop us last week and enjoyed rediscovering "our town". I took a Spanish class on Thursday morning and then met Gary and our friend, Luisa, a long time resident of this fair city, for lunch at the Bibliotecha, which means Library in Spanish but, here, it's really more than that, being also a very popular community center with a bookstore, patio restaurant and theater for films, lectures, musical performances and plays. It's an "all in one fun place"--for both ex pats, visiting gringos and Mexicano whose kids like to come and study here. Everywhere one hears the mixture of Spanish and English conversations.

After lunch, Luisa invited us to join her for a documentary film on Cuba's health system. The film "Salud" was presented by the very active Center for Justice and Democracy here in San Miguel. It was an excellent look at the excellent health system in Cuba as well as the great benefit that Cuban doctors are offering with their services around the world, some of which we remember witnessing in 2006 when visiting Venezuela. Our country could learn a lot from our Caribbean neighbors!

We met some other friends on leaving the bibliotecha and after some stimulating sidewalk conversation we all decided to continue it at the local St Augustines, a great place for hot chocolate and churros (those delectable sweet pastries that we know are horrible for us but taste so good--unfortunately, Gary could not partake of, with his gluten intolerance, but he enjoyed the Mexican hot chocolate with cinnamon). We laughed as we would usually be meeting friends for a margarita at this time of day but the hot chocolate hit the spot in our wet, cool weather---helped warm our bodies! Hace mucho frio!

The cold is held in by the concrete construction of our apartment and so we have appreciated a small portable heater that our amiga and landlady, Francisca has lent us. Luisa offered us two of hers, also but we quickly learned we can have only one on at a time when we blew a fuse and our lights all went out. Gary quickly came to the rescue having noticed where the circuit box was located.

The weekend warmed up and I even got a sunburn on my arms, hands and face as I chanced not putting on sunscreen not realizing how bright it was up on our terrace. After two hours of sitting in the sun doing some writing and Spanish study, I learned my lesson--both: Spanish and the need to always use sunscreen.

Saturday, we attended a wonderful classical guitar and string quartet concert put on by a local group called Pro Musica,. It was a premier composition by a well known Mexican Composer, Marco Aerelio Alverez, along with two other pieces by composers Samuel Zyman and Hugo Wolf. Music officianados may know these names. We didn;t before, but now we know we love the music of both. It was a most enjoyable performance which ended in standing ovations and a free wine and "botanos" (hors d'oeuvres) reception. While conversing with others there we met a delightful couple who once lived in Portland but now make San Miguel their permanent home---not an uusual story here. We will be getting together with them later.

After the concert, we dropped in on a big art opening at Fabrica Aurora, an old textile mill whose activities were brought to a halt in 1991 by NAFTA---from the early 1900's they had produced cotton cloth from indigenous cotton until they could no longer compete with the multi nationals exporting cheaper cotton into this economy. Of course jobs were lost and it is one more sad statement of what our free trade agreements sometimes do to our neighbors to the south. One good thing resulted and the old factory is now a beautiful huge art center with galleries, restaurant and furniture shops. They were having an anniversary fiesta also celebrating the Mexican Bi Centenial this year, 200 years since Mexico's independence and centennial celebration of the signing of the new constitution after the Mexican Revolutioln of 1910. 2010 is a big year in Mexico and many roads are marked with colorful signs saying 2010 signifying that these routes were taken by the revolutionary armies. They are now undergoing a big facelift as the government is pouring in money for new road construction and upgrading Mexico's infrastructure.

Well, after our fun Sabado (Saturday) activities we slept in this morning, soaked up the sun up on our terrace with the view, and then walked over to the pretty parque Juarez not far from us as there was a big flower and plant exhibit going on (our friend Noel back home would have loved seeing the hundreds of different kinds of cactus being offered for sale---too bad we can't bring some home in our luggage!) After strolling through the park, we went to the art instituto for the tail end of a big craft fair and enjoyed reconnecting with Irma, the Oaxaquena woman we met last year after our visit to Oaxaca and from whom we bought some delicious mole. We bought some more from her today and she gave us a discount, saying we are now her special "clientes"---this is the beautiful Mexican way of doing business.

The day ended with dancing to a fabulous Marimba band in the park. We did everything from the Meringue to ChaChaCha and even some jitterbug---we can still do it and came home laughing about all the various shapes, ages and types of lovely people we saw there, mostly Mexicanos--Sunday is a big family day at the park. The children are darling and everyone seems to have a smile for you and a "buenos dios" "Que te vayas bien!" May you go well.

So, friends and family, this seems like a good way to end our blog for the week: Que te vayas bien and may you all stay happy and healthy.

Abrazos, Sher and Gary