Yesterday illustrated a few of the things I love about San Miguel.  First, I went out early again and took more door photos which I will publish as tomorrow morning’s blog post on www.iDigHardware.com.  I love walking the streets in the early morning – the weather continues to be absolutely beautiful and there are so many interesting things to see and absorb. 

After my short photo safari I went home to get Norah up for our ceramics class.  To be honest, I wasn’t all that excited about spending the day with a lump of clay – my creativity is more linear and my perfectionist tendencies makes clay a difficult medium for me.  But Norah had seen an advertisement for the class way back at the beginning of our trip, and a few days later we were approached on the street by Andrés, who was organizing the class.  Apparently we looked artistic, or maybe it was just the allure of filling 5 spots in the class.  None of the other kids were interested, so Andrés told me that some moms had signed up to take the class with their kids.  At that point there was no way Norah was letting me off the hook, so the two of us signed up. 

On the way to el Sindicato, we stopped at the Bagel Cafe.  The bagels were really good!  I met a lady there who has lived in SMA for 21 years and we had a long talk (food takes longer to serve in Mexico) about how much we both love it here.  Then Norah and I sat in el Jardin to eat and watch the goings-on before heading to the class, where we sat down with an American girl about Norah’s age and a mom-looking person who turned out to be a family friend.  The dad was there with her little brother.  Then another girl about the same age came in, with her mother.  I started to think I’d at least have some interesting people to talk to – did I mention that it was a 5-HOUR class?  As the class began, all of the parents said goodbye and took off, and I spent the day under the scrutiny of three 6-year-olds (“you’re older than my dad”, “you’re getting gray hair like my mom”, “you need to practice with clay more”).  At one point early-on Norah said I should leave too…no way kid – we’re making some mother-daughter memories today whether you like it or not.

The class was actually fun, and I made a ratoncito which for some reason that I haven’t figured out yet seems to be a symbol of SMA.  I also made a flaming heart – another common symbol.  I made a bunch of other things but they all failed spectacularly.  Norah made a “dead guy” that she saw at the mummy museum, along with a mug, a heart, and a rat of her own.  After working with clay in the morning, we painted some already-fired pieces in the afternoon.  At lunch-time we were serenaded by a few musicians, one of which was playing the jawbone of a large animal by running a stick along the teeth.  There are so many opportunities for classes, camps, and workshops in SMA, most of which are much less expensive than they would be at home.  Considering that 2 weeks for 3 kids at day camp in Framingham cost almost as much as a month’s rent for our beautiful house in SMA, I can see the writing on the wall for future summers.

Helena, Lola, and Norah getting started on making their clay the right texture to work with:

Norah was afraid of the stairs leading up to the dance studio because they were open to the first floor about 12 feet below, but her new friends helped her out.  The allure of peeking in on the couple dancing was too great to ignore.

I think the thing I love most about SMA is how open and friendly people are.  I’m a connector – I love connecting with people and connecting people with each other.  I’m sure there was a time when Ben disliked that particular character trait – I was always bringing home random people and he was extremely shy.  But he has adapted very well and not only is he a huge help with the preparations and clean-up for my gatherings, I think he is actually starting to enjoy meeting new people. 

On Friday night we met a mom and 20YO daughter right outside our door – the kids had all starting playing soccer in the street and the other mom (Lisa) and I realized that we both spoke English and started chatting.  She lives in Mystic, Connecticut and her daughter (Amy) goes to UConn, and they were renting a house down the street with her sister (Deedee) and her two daughters, who live in NYC.  By the end of our conversation I had invited them all to dinner the next night, when we had already planned to have dinner with our friend Becca from Casa Hogar Santa Julia.  When Norah and I headed off to our ceramics class, I left Ben and the other kids a scavenger hunt list of dinner fixings.  We had rotisserie chicken (so good!), roasted cauliflower with garlic and olive oil (another big hit), mashed potatoes, asparagus, chopped salad, fresh bread, and carrot cake with homemade ice cream from the ice cream man down the street who Norah calls “my guy.”  And I think we had a fair amount of wine because I have a slight headache.  It’s nothing a mimosa with fresh-squeezed OJ from the guy at the end of our street won’t fix. 

We had a fabulous dinner with our new friends, and the kids were extra-excited when they found out that the other family’s house had a plunge pool.  After another game of street soccer the kids went down to #20 for a plunge.  Since Lisa and Amy are leaving Monday, they invited us to dinner at their house tonight, and we’re going to take Deedee and her daughters to the orphanage with us this week.  I don’t know if San Miguel tends to attract interesting people or I just think everyone is interesting, but it was a great time.

Today is an unplanned day and tomorrow we’re headed out on an overnight horseback riding trip, so if you don’t hear from me again it means that I was washed away in a flash flood down in the canyon or eaten by whatever predators live down there.  Hopefully we’ll live to tell the tale of how we survived overnight without electronic devices.  TTFN!   

When people heard that we were headed to Mexico this summer, there were several who responded with fear and trepidation because of the bad press about Mexico.  Yes, there are certain areas of Mexico that I wouldn’t want to visit right now because of the drug-related violence, but San Miguel de Allende is far removed from the danger.  Of course you need to avoid flashing large sums of pesos around or walking alone late at night, but it’s very safe here.

While I was Googling for proof that SMA was not in the danger zone, I found a blog post listing the 10 most dangerous things about San Miguel de Allende and I decided to create my own version.  Here are the 10 things you need to take note of if you come to SMA:

Walking – El Centro is bustling with cars and people. The sidewalks are narrow and there are steps, ramps, cobblestones, and the occasional hole to watch out for, along with window sills, doors, and other things jutting off the sides of the buildings. There’s so much to look at that it’s easy to fall off an unexpected curb cut while gazing at the embroidered tops or painted figurines (or doors). When you step off the curb to pass someone, look first or you may be hit by one of the many buses or taxis. On certain streets you can get stuck behind a couple out for their evening stroll, with no break in the traffic to allow you to pass – especially when you have 7 people in your party.

Not recommended:

Rain (and Sun) – We’re here during the rainy season, so I expected rain and packed raincoats for everyone. It has actually only rained about 4 or 5 times in 2 weeks, but when it rains, it pours. Each building has rain spouts that go from the roof to the street, so if you’re walking in the rain you need to watch out for those unless you want a shower. And avoid wearing flip-flops in the rain because we had another flip-flop accident yesterday (told ya so). When it’s not raining the sun is very strong, so I’ve been pink for a good part of our trip. The kids have Ben’s skin pigment and are all brown little berries, even thought we used sunscreen.

I haven’t taken my camera out in the rain so this is someone else’s photo, but it confirms our theory that the trees in el Jardin are dense enough to provide some protection during a downpour:

Objets D’Art – They’re EVERYWHERE and there are two problems: 1) I am terrified that one of the kids will break something. 2) I want to buy at least one of everything. I had been warned about “drunk shopping” but I’m dangerous even with no alcohol involved. There is beautiful embroidery, metalwork including light fixtures (I want one!), painted pottery and wood, silver and beaded jewelry, baskets, paintings, rugs…a zillion amazing things. I will be leaving Mexico flat-broke with college in jeopardy, but it makes me feel better if I think about how I am helping the local economy.

Some photos from the Artisans’ Fair at Instituto Allende over the weekend:

Beer Bottles – I don’t understand the beer bottle return policy. The first time I bought beer I couldn’t figure out what the cashier was saying, even with the help of 3 interpreters and the bag boy. So I told her to just forget the beer but she sold it to me anyway. We decided she was saying something about needing to bring the bottles back. So we tried to return the empties and were told that we needed some sort of receipt or ticket. The next time we took the receipt but apparently you’re supposed to return the bottles within 2 days and we were beyond the return period. So at this point our housekeeper is probably thinking that Elizabeth and I are a couple of drunks because we have enough bottles to build one of those beer-bottle pyramids from my college days.  Problem solved – wine bottles are not returnable.

Chilis – You never know where you’re going to find chilis – chili pepper, chili sauce, or the peppers themselves. It’s on the roasted corn, potato chips, plantains, of course a lot of the tacos and gorditas, and the scariest place – candy! Even the Mexican Doritos are spicier than the ones at home.  Last night we ordered pizza and it came with 2 containers of chili sauce. 

Dogs – There are A LOT of dogs in SMA – both street dogs and pets. Most of them don’t seem to bother anyone, but they do bark at night (especially when there’s a raucous party going on) and while you’re watching the sidewalk for steps, ramps, and holes, you also need to watch for dog poop. SMA employs people who clean the streets (sweeping by hand with twig brooms!) and in general it is very clean, but we have had the occasionally poop-on-a-shoe incident (another reason to skip the flip-flops).

Fireworks – We have heard random fireworks throughout our stay – for weddings, new babies, and other celebrations. If you didn’t know about this tradition in advance, you might think the city was under siege, especially when they go off at 7 a.m.  Last Sunday there were enough fireworks that we made it up to the roof in time to enjoy them, but usually it’s just a few that we hear but don’t see.

Clowns – In el Jardin there are always musicians and other performers, one of which is a clown act. The grand finale is when the clown (a full-grown man) and two tiny-women clowns act out a song about a man torn between two lovers (no, it’s not the song by Mary MacGregor), which includes them beating each other – of course not for real but we all found it a little disturbing, while there were some spectators who were laughing hysterically. A very interesting cultural dichotomy.

Spanish – This is Mexico, and the residents of SMA primarily speak Spanish. I had heard people say that SMA was “Americanized” because of all the ex-Pats, but I disagree. I’m sure there have been some changes brought on by the relocation of so many Americans and Canadians, but SMA is still very Mexican. I’ve been working hard on my Spanish, but I need to get serious about it so I can move to SMA someday.

Desire to Relocate – I’ve heard that a lot of people come to SMA and never leave. If it wasn’t an insanely complicated idea, I’d go home, rent out my house, pack up the necessities, and come back for an extended period of time. And if I hadn’t already spent my life savings on Mexican arts and crafts, I’d buy a house here. I will live here at some point in my life. I love the energy of this place.

And there you have it – the dangers of SMA.  Don’t come unless you can handle creepy clowns, unexpected chilis, and occasional poop-on-a-shoe.

One thing Elizabeth and I love about SMA is that it’s really easy to meet people and it’s such an interesting mix.  There are a lot of ex-Pats here but they don’t seem to be your ordinary run-of-the-mill retirees (no offense to any ordinary retirees reading this).  On the horseback excursion we met an award-winning cinematographer, and his nephew – from Waitsfield, Vermont (I lived in VT until I was 25).  We met the neighbor-lady art teacher with the big fluffy dog who drives down from Michigan whenever she has time off.  We met several people at Casa Hogar Santa Julia, including the director of a bilingual school, and a real estate agent who spends a lot of her free time with the girls.  Since I was having trouble with my back I sought out (just short of stalking), a chiropractor who is familiar with Direct Non-Force Technique, and went to his house for a craniosacral treatment with his wife and and adjustment with him.  They moved down from Berklee 2 years ago and built an amazing house.  They’re now working on a movement studio in their yard.  Very cool and interesting people.  Yesterday I had the best massage of my life, from a massage therapist who was born here, moved to Texas where she learned English and massage, and moved back.  I asked her 1,000 questions until she had me flip over – possibly to shut me up.  Elizabeth met two ladies at La Gruta who moved from the US years ago, got married and had kids here.  She later saw one of them at Mega (the big grocery store), and we also saw someone we met at the organic market there – the kids ran after him like he was a long-lost uncle.  Then there’s Becca, our wonderful contact at Casa Hogar Santa Julia who just graduated from college and is spending close to working with the girls.  And of course Albert Coffee, our archeologist guide from Louisiana.  There’s always so much going on here and so many opportunities to meet people, and an obvious desire to fulfill their social responsibility.  Right up my alley.

Two of our favorite new friends are Rodrigo and his daughter Monique, from our horseback riding trip.  The weirdest thing happened yesterday.  Elizabeth and I had booked massages in the morning and hadn’t made a lot of other plans for the day.  It was their last day in SMA so we wanted to make the most of it.  The kids finally decided that they’d like to go back to Santa Julia.  We wandered a couple of blocks away from our house and got some churros and ice cream, then grabbed two taxis.  While we were standing at the gate waiting for someone to buzz us in, along came Rodrigo and Monique on a 4-wheeler.  We were so happy to see them!  They live RIGHT next door to the orphanage – we could see their house from inside the walls.  Since nobody had answered the gate yet, Rodrigo said we should come see their monkey.  Monique had told us that she has a snake named Monkey so I thought we were about to meet her snake (yuck), but it was a real monkey.  And not one of those creepy monkeys but a lovely affectionate monkey called Susie.  She climbed on each person’s lap and sat there like a little kid.  I have a monkey phobia but she was very gentle and they have had her for a really long time.

After we untangled the monkey from the kids we went to spend some time with the girls, and when we came out, our taxis were a no-show.  While we stood there wondering how long we should wait before calling another one, Rodrigo and Monique came out of their house to go somewhere.  The kids were enamored with the 4-wheeler, so Rodrigo offered to give Norah a ride around the block.  So off they went, no helmet, leaving me wondering whether this was going to turn out to be my worst mommy-moment ever, or an amazing memory for the kids.  As I edited the photos I just realized that as she was driving the 4-wheeler, she also had a lollipop in her mouth.  I’m pretty sure some rules were broken there.

To top off our visit, which was like a trip to Mexican Disneyland at this point, we went to see their other animals – horses, a Doberman, 2 goats, and a donkey.  It was a great and unexpected adventure, and everyone is still in one piece.