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| Lilacs on a terrace at sunset |
We love the city, the people and the ambiance, and to make it even better we have friends who return annually like us or others who have decided that SMA will be their home.
There always seems to be something to do-- concerts, plays, and movies are frequently offered--often free but never at an outrageous cost. This year, with the collapse of the peso, living in San Miguel and in Mexico, in general, is a real bargain.
At urging from our friend, Bob Larson, Sue got more involved with art--taking lessons from a Mexico artists and joining the Urban Sketchers for weekly sketching outings to former haciendas, churches or other beautiful settings.
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| Media Luna with Gil Gutierrez |
Last year, we first became aware of a local music group, Media Luna--two young brothers, Caleb and Jair along with some of their relatives and friends.
Almost every Friday evening would find us at the Paprika Restaurant, where we were able to enjoy a two hour live concert by these remarkable young musicians while dining in the restaurant's open air patio. After a few Fridays, the band began to recognize us (especially Sue) and play our favorite of their songs (Tears of Joy). You can see them playing this song on YouTube.
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| Fiesta at Marilu's home |
This year, thanks to the generosity of our landlady, Maria Louisa (Marilu), we were able to return to our favorite apartment, which is located in the heart of the city (Centro) on Mesones, just a block from the Jardin, the city's main plaza.
The apartment consists of a large living room, a good sized and fully equipped kitchen, a bedroom, one and a half baths, and fantastic terrace.
Marilu, as she has done in the past, invited us to her house, which is just outside of town, for a beautiful fiesta, inviting many of her friends as well as a few other extranjeros. The food was delicious as always--featuring chiles rellenos and chiles anojados, lots of wine, beer and tequila, and singing.
It seems every Mexican can sing and play the guitar and we were entertained with many a Mexican ballad or love song. As in the past, this celebration was one of the highlights of our visit. The guitar, along with wine and tequila, was passed repeatedly around the table and we were provided with one lovely song after another.
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| Procession down our street (Larry watching from our patio) |
This year, our stay overlapped with Semana Santa, or Holy Week, and many a religious procession passed by our apartment. But there always seems to be some reason to celebrate or an event to commemorate with a parade or procession, and of course music and fireworks.
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| Palm Sunday Procession |
We had originally planned to stay on through March and April, but as time went on, we decided to stay through the month of May.
A mistake--everyone had told us that May is the hottest month of the year and that the city can be almost unbearable at times, and indeed it was. We still enjoyed ourselves, but we now know that we will never voluntarily stay in SMA during May.
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| View from our patio |
Easter is a spring celebration and its celebration is connected with the vernal equinox. Tuesday night, before Easter Sunday, there was a beautiful full moon filling the night sky.
Looking from our terrace towards the San Francisco church made a beautiful picture.
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| View from our patio |
Later in the week, the clouds somewhat obscured the moon, but the view towards the church still made a beautiful, but different picture.
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| Crowd gathered to watch Easter Procession |
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| One of the votives in the Easter Procession |
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| Bob, Sue, Mart and Larry |
One of the most special Friday evenings at Paprika, listening to Media Luna, was our farewell meal with our great friends and traveling companions, Mart and Bob Larson.
They left SMA just before Easter, and we were so sorry to see them leave--but we know that our paths will cross again in the not too distant future. Most certainly next Fall in Tuscany!
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| Carole and Larry |
No trip to Mexico is complete without a visit with our friend, Carole, who lives in the Roma Sur Neighborhood (Colonia) of Mexico City.
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| Carole, Fernando and Sue in a Mexico City subway entrance |
Carole is the consummate hostess, always stocking up on what you like to eat and drink and making sure we are always entertained and introduced to new sights and sounds. MC is a wondrous city, full culture, museums, theater and, of course, good restaurants. Carole wants to make sure we don't miss anything!
Besides gabbing and eating and a lot of dominoes, we took in a New York Met Opera HD live broadcast performance of Eugene Onegin and a live broadcast of George Bernard Shaw's play, Saint Joan.
Both performances were great as expected. Carole's friend (and now ours) Fernando joined us for both--it's always great to catch up with him and to talk about theater and performance with him, as he an arts reviewer for the Auditorio, a large performance venue.
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| Bob Larson sketching |
A new adventure for Sue was to go sketching with Bob Larson (thanks to his giving her a totally equipped sketching pouch: pencils, paints, brushes and sketch pad). Thanks, Bob !!
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| Sketch |
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| Actual View |
These are a couple of her sketches with photos of the actual setting for comparison.
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| Sketch |
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| Feathered dancer with tiny companion |
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| Actual view |
Often in the Jardin, some of the "Indigenas" (indigenous people) perform and march in parades and processions.
We particularly like this photo as it shows one of the young children who is learning about their heritage by participating in the celebrations.
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| Woman with doll we bought for Elinor |
You can not visit Mexico without buying a Maria Doll--we liked the ones that this woman had to offer and bought one as a present for some young friends whose little girl, Elinor, was born in the USA while we were in Mexico.
We mentioned the heat and how all pervading it was. With air conditioning at a premium, it was some times hard to escape the heat,
but at her suggestion we accompanied our friend Mary Abernathy, to the Rosewood Hotel where we spent a wonderful day luxuriating in the opulence and comfort of the pool and other facities--it's a pricey getaway ($30/ person including drinks and lunch) but well worth it.
So much so, that we had to return for a repeat visit on our next to last day in town. We were not let down or disappointed by a second visit.
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| Baby on the bus |
We often take the public buses to get around town--a ride costs eight pesos (40 cents) versus a $2.50 or $3 cab ride. Most often, we are the only gringos on the bus.
We loved this little baby with her smart hat who happened to be traveling with her mom during one of our trips.
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| Sue and her heart throbs |
And, of course, this visit to San Miguel will forever be associated with Media Luna, the great local band, featuring the guitar virtuosos, Caleb and Jair Cabrero. Here is a link to their own composition and Sue's favorite, Tears of Joy.
We end with a photo of Sue with her Boys--they are not only talented, but quite handsome as well. They were always welcoming and delighted to see at their performances.
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