Mardi Gras in San Miguel

Our lovely neighbors, Maria Luisa and Jacinto, spend the two months leading up to Mardi Gras making clowns and paper flowers to sell in the Jardin. They have been making these traditional items for over 20 years and their work is detailed and imaginative. Here they are in their workshop with some of their clowns.









And here are some of their flowers ready to head to the main square.

Vendors of clowns and flowers line the square in front of the Parroquia for the days leading up to Lent.

Their young daughter helps them sell as well.Mardi Gras is a family celebration; no parades, floats, costumes or trading beads here. Blown eggs are filled with confetti or powder, sold by the bag, and cracked over the heads of friends and unsuspecting strangers alike. On Saturday night anyone is fair game and by dark the ground is littered with eggshells and confetti.
We went down on Friday night and discovered that Jacinto had a night job as well, that of burro handler for a troubadour group. The decorated "bar" on the back of the burro holds liquor for the singers who follow the troubadours around.
Once Lent begins on Wednesday February 25th, the the religious tone of the town becomes more serious culminating with the end of Holy Week (Semana Santa) and Easter. Of course there is always the Cuban Festival and the Indian Dancers and the Children's First Day of Spring parade so there is still plenty to do in San Miguel de Allende in March.

Hot Air Balloon Surprise

I opened my eyes yesterday morning and this is what I saw from bed...a hot air balloon peering in our window.

I went to the roof and shot this photo of the balloon sinking over the central square for a spectacular view of the Parroquia, the pink spires in the middle left of the photo below. (Click the photo to enlarge it for a better view.)
Speaking of good views, for the time being we have this splendid and newly improved view of the city. Our neighbor was having a boundary dispute and ended up removing a large tree which blocked our view of the church spires and the second domed church in a direct line behind it. We just learned that the property has been sold and will most likely soon sprout a big house to block our city view, but for the time being we are enjoying it.

This is what the Parroquia looks like from ground level.

To the Beach - Oaxaca style

No, that isn't a photo of us; it is Yoli and Victor our traveling companions enjoying the beach below our house.

Here we are.
We rented a casa on the Costa Chica of Oaxaca near Huatulco. I had to look it up on a map, too.
If you want to see where it really is, try Google Earth or Google Maps and search Salchi, Mexico. Lots of tiny beaches carved into miles of rocky cliffs. Our community turned out to be about a dozen homes owned and developed by Canadians down 8 km of really rough dirt road.

We have spent the last 5 days exploring the nearby communities of Puerto Angel and Huatulco, eating fresh fish under grass roof palapas on the sand.

One day we drove about 1 1/2 hours to some incredible waterfalls at Llano Grande, a working coffee plantation run out of the original hacienda buildings. I would love to have had Melissa's camera skills to capture the the over 40 waterfalls we could swim under but the light on the water was too much for my point and shoot.

Another day we took a small boat out of Puerto Angel to snorkel and look for whales but only succeeded in seeing beautiful swimming turtles and some ideal nearly deserted snorkel beaches. I wasn't disappointed about the whales because nothing will ever top the experience we had in 2001 in Bahia Magdalena, Baja, out of the tiny town of Puerto Lopez Mateos. We spent over an hour with a mother and calf literally under out boat. The mother lifted her calf to be petted; it was an otherworldly exeprience. I took this photo of the baby at another boat right next to us.
Another day we took an even smaller boat to see crocs. There is a lagoon right behind the behind the beach with dark black water due to the iron in the sand. We cruised in among the mangroves and saw several of these big guys and lots of birds and iguana.
Ultimately, though, it has been a trip about sitting in hammocks. I found this chair hammock in a "hammock factory" overlooking the beach. I liked this one but they didn't actually sell it; it was there for them to enjoy.
This one on our terrace was where we all spent a lot of time, Oaxaca style.

The Moment -- San Miguel Style

I am in awe of this man's intellect and ability to give that moving address extemporaneously. I didn't see a teleprompter, did you? What a beautiful man and an inspirational leader.

San Miguel streets were almost empty at 11am as residents congregated around any place with a large flatscreen. We chose Juan's Cafe Etc and it was a full house.

Mama Mia's had an overflow into the street.
And Milagros was home to the Democrats Abroad and several large screens.
Today I am full of hope for our country and love for the wonderful people who braved the freezing early morning weather on the mall. I'll never hear My Country 'Tis of Thee (or maybe it is called America) again without thinking of Aretha's performance today. She still has it! And hopefully so do we.

After the Wedding

Yes, there is life back in San Miguel after the wedding of the year. (It must have been, considering it took place only 3 days into 2009.) I've had a request for a photo of the mother and father of the bride so here it is. Of course there are plenty of photos on Melissa's own blog.

We had a seamless trip home, this time returning our rental car at the San Diegio airport, then taking the Volaris airline bus from the Santa Fe station downtown across the border to the Tijuana airport. Our three-hour fight to San Miguel was right on time to the second and our Super Shuttle was waiting at the gate.



The next day was Three Kings Day, eagerly awaited by the children who get gifts from the Kings that day rather than from Santa Claus on Christmas day. This year we saw almost no Santa Claus' except at the big mall up the hill where you can choose to sit on the lap of Santa or a King. We ran into the Kings doing their business in the Jardin (main square). The children got sweets and they were handing out the colorful balls you see in the pickup trucks. I think that is the mayor with the crown.





Here's to a New Year full of promise and change. We wish you all the best.

The Wedding

Well, it happened and it went, in Melissa's own words, blissfully perfect. The day started with rain showers. The officiant, Kirsten, a yoga instructor and friend of Melissa's from college, started the morning with meditation and stretching for the bridal party women, focusing on the Sun Salutation to encourage the sun to shine. It worked and by evening the sky was a mass of changing clouds over the ocean off the cliffs of Pt. Loma. Since the wedding was at sunset Melissa and Tim decided to do formal portraits before the ceremony. This photo, taken by Scott Hatelstad of San Diego, is my first peek at some of the wonderful shots captured by the 18 professional photographers in attendance.

In the next couple of days more photos will be available. Until then you can read a review of the wedding at I Do Monday Morning, a blog by a woman who covers the San Diego wedding scene.

Congratulations to Melissa and Tim Selenak!

More good eats

I was recently reminded that my earlier discussion of food in SMA needs to be updated: there are so many new really good places to find carefully prepared food and reasonable prices here.

Our new top favorite is Buenos Dias on Calle de Reloj 64. Here I am with Carlos who runs this cozy place with his business partner and cook, Eliza. The recent cold weather has made this the perfect place for breakfast in front of their fireplace. Fifty pesos is the set price for a full American breakfast, which really means lots of tasty fresh brewed coffee, eggs, bacon, toast and jam.

They do lunch on a tiny patio in the entry or inside. Check the menu board for daily lunch specials.




Another new favorite is Media Naranja on the corner of Hidalgo and Calzada de la Luz, upstairs from Pharmacia San Gabriel. We have heard raves about their breakfast and their fresh muffins but have only had lunch there - several times. The owners spend summers serving burritos from a small trailer in their home state of New York. While in San Miguel they produce beautiful baguette sandwiches made with organic veggies in a creative menu that also includes chicken salad with curry, veggie lasagna and falafel in pita bread. The have a full menu of smoothies as well.

We will breakfast there soon.







Yet another new breakfast find is Cafe Monet, on the corner where Ancho San Antonio, Zacateros and Codo come together. (For those Once Upon a Time in Mexico fans, this is the intersection where Johnny Depp's character gets his eyes gouged at the end of the movie.)

For us the draw is the french press coffee delivered to your table and the breakfast entrees such as fresh cinnamon rolls or oatmeal, starting at 25 pesos. The lunch menu changes daily but everything we have ordered has been excellent.









If you are a fan of eggs Benedict, Donovan's at Hidalgo 15 is the place for you. They even claim they have waffles on the menu but every time I have asked they are not available. Not to worry, everything else is tasty.















Now you think we only "do" breakfsts, but Puerticita at Santo Domingo 25 has a wonderful view of the back of the Parroquia church and a reasonably priced lunch menu. You have to go up narrow stairs, continuing all the way to the roof.

Bryan's favorite here is Cochinita Pibil, a slow-roasted pork dish with sour orange and spices, traditionally cooked in a banana leaf. (For you OUATIM fans again, this dish was the obsession that caused Johnny Depp's character, CIA Agent Sands, to shoot any cook who makes it too well)








We found Le Crepe at Hospicio 37, at the back of the courtyard, when we decided on an evening treat. We loved our crepes with raspberry filling and the careful attentive serice. The patio with it's small fountain was so perfect that we went back a few days later for their December special, turkey and cranberry crepes, beautifully presented with a green salad.

There is inside dining but the weather has been so lovely that the patio has been perfect. There are outside heaters in case there is another cold snap.

If you haven't seen the Jardin like this then you haven't been to the rooftop La Teraza Cafe. Enter from under the arches where the dried flower sellers are and climb upstairs all the way to the roof. There you have a front row seat to whatever is happening in the Jardin while enjoying sandwiches and beer or lemonaide. It can be rather windy but I see that they have recently put a glass barrier to hopefully keep your french fries from blowing down below.




Since we are in Tlaquepaque right now before flying tomorrow from Guadalajara airport to Tijuana and then crossing to San Diego for Melissa and Tim's wedding, I thought I would share a favorite restaurant here: Rio San Pedro at Jaurez #300. This well lit and festively decorated resturant can be identified by all of the ceramic pigs adorning the walls. The service is excellent, the price is under US$10 for an entree and a beer, and of course Bryan orders Cochinita Pibil in deference to all the pigs.

Please feel free to comment with any favorites you might have; there are too many great places to mention them all.