Fighting a cold--San Miguel style

It has been a pretty quiet time for us here in San Miguel.  Still enjoying the house and when we have the energy, very much enjoying SMA, its many attractions and events, but for much of the last week or so we have been sick.  Both of us have had the most enervating cold ever.

Mart & Bob Larson: Great Traveling Companions

Larry thought he was on the road to recovery as we prepared to leave Denver, but Sue began to feel the first symptoms on the plane, and since we have been in Mexico, the cold has run its full course in both of us, including coughing so much to keep us awake most of the night.

We are traveling with Mart & Bob and their friend, Carol,  long time Mexican resident, was able to get a doctor's name and number for us.

Dr. Gardillo speaks English and German as well as Spanish and has a wonderful manner.  His staff and clients call him Dr. Ricardo.  With his help, Sue seems to be making  a good, if not swift, recovery.  He also is the first doctor we have consulted that seems to be making some progress dealing with the ear infection that has been dogging her since last March.  We are much impressed with Mexican medicine and doctors, especially compared with American physicians and clinics. Unfortunately, our friend Bob now has come down with the illness-- he immediately saw "Dr. Ricardo" and we can only hope his bout will milder and more shortlived.

When not dealing with illnesses, we have managed to find the grocery store, the liquor store, and the central market.  The grocery store stocks a lot of American products and has a full line of organic and gluten free products.

Sunset from our rooftop terrace

The market vegetables all seem a little bit fresher and lovelier than those we find at home. The only drawback is that all of the vegetables have to be washed in an antiseptic bath before they can be cooked or eaten raw. You have to be careful not to take an inadvertent bite out of an apple or casually peel an orange to pop into your mouth. Fortunately both the grocery store and market are only a five to ten minute walk from our house, because we seem to need to visit one or the other almost every day.

Although Sue has stayed mostly at home, the other three of us have had enough energy to take a couple of notable tours.  Our first was an Audubon walk through El Charco Jardin Botanico.  We loved this garden and nature preserve when we were here last fall, and it was a delight to visit again.  It is a lot greener this year than last--they have had an incredibly wet rainy season this year, but the biggest difference was walking through it with a group of birders.

Birding in El Charco Botanical Garden

Arriving at the Garden at the appointed time we found four Audubon guides--each armed with their "scopes" and fully outfitted head to toe in their REI "bird watcher uniforms."  After introductions, we were handed a photocopied list of birds that have been spotted in and around San Miguel and then along with some 10 other novices, we started out following our guides to the first lookout point.

 Our guides made sure that each of us had binoculars, loaning a pair if we came "unarmed." The binoculars help to see the birds that the guides point out, but the really astounding thing is seeing the birds through the powerful scopes once the guides have located them--it was truly an eye-opening experience and made the two hour tour fun and educational. The three of us had a great time--even laughing at ourselves as we tried to determine if the "widgen" we had just looked at is considered a duck, plover or a wading bird--we certainly had no idea. All four of us have signed up for an Audubon sponsored tour next Saturday, on an old hacienda half an hour outside of town--we know it's going to be lots of fun.

The other tour was a house and garden tour sponsored by SMA's Biblioteca Publica, a library started and run by the expat community that, in addition to serving as a library and expat community center, provides a wonderful outreach service to the children of San Miguel.  Proceeds from the weekly tours and their many other services, go to the library's children's fund. This past Sunday's tour featured two houses, one in town and the other about ten miles away in the community of Atotonilco.

Living room area in town house

Garden &  featured cacti

 The town house has been built in the last ten years or so and is very spare and modern, utilizing a lot of concrete and bare walls. For me (Larry), the best part of the house were the outdoor spaces, featuring some extraordinary planting of cacti and offering great views of San Miguel and environs. The house really resonated with Bob and his modern aestethic for clean, spare design.

One of the rooftop terraces in the town house

The second house was located in Atotonilco; like San Miguel, it is a world heritage site and is home to a beautiful 18th century church (Sanctuary) that draws worshipers and pilgrims from all over Mexico, especially on Sundays like the day we visited. Because of the large number of pilgrims, each Sunday also sees the tiny little community come alive with a market selling food, religious objects, and lots of other things like jewelry and pottery.

View of the Sanctuary from the house

Atotonilco market

 Two artists have been renovating and expanding their Atotonilco house for the last ten years.  Starting with what were some stables and outbuildings of a nearby hacienda, they have created a beautiful mansion and garden.

Another incredible garden with pool

Every bedroom has its own private and luxurious bathroom.  Every room seems to have its own theme and design features. The entire house is done with great style and taste.

The gardens have been carefully created, again featuring cactus and other indigenous plants, but also more flowering plants and greenery than in the town house.

Great outdoor living space

All of us really liked the country mansion and could easily envision living there--had we only the two million or so dollars that it would take to purchase it--it is on the market, should anyone be interested.

The return bus ride to San Miguel gave us the opportunity to see more of the surrounding countryside--evidently the entire area is in the throws of real estate development--we passed a number of planned communities with homes selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars.  It means more prosperity for the town and region, but also change that could "kill the goose that laid the golden egg".

P.S. (from Sue):  I've been sick, so Larry went out and found another squeeze: