Christmas Bag Distribution at So Others May Eat - SOME

168 hours a week. That's what we get. How we use them is up to us. Today we were privileged for 4 hours to enter a women's ministry that she has been doing for over 20 years. Each Wednesday, she feeds the poor, beggars, old widows, 

 and has been working to help them document their births, marriages, deaths of spouses, etc.,  to meet government requirements so they can receive a small pension. Eight of her regular attendees have died during this past year.

Everyday we see some of them on the streets, and Julie always carries pesos in her pockets.

Today we bagged up gifts of food to give after the meal. Enough for them to bring to their extended families or for themselves for Christmas. Some toilet paper, rice, noodles, tuna, and a few other items. We had raised funds for the past few weeks for this.

First there was a feeding. More people started showing up; far more than was anticipated. More tables, more toothless widows, more sticks for canes.
This meal will be the only one for the day, so it is as big as possible. A little soup, greens, a taco with a small piece of meat; orange quarters, noodles, and a bit of dessert.

We began to run out of food, and it was a bit chaotic as we divided up things in smaller portions so everyone would get something.

Antoinette, who is this incredible woman gave out 150 tickets to her " regulars" and they received the gift bags from the church.

I was invited to speak with the use of a translator about how Jesus comes to the poor, the broken, the helpless. How Jesus is with them, next to them; how Jesus comes in the form of those who served them today, and fed them.

At the end we brought up the people for the bags,,and Julie had the best spot. Her Spanish is really coming along, and she spoke to each person. She welcomed each one, and received hugs, kisses from each woman. And some of beggars knew her already from her conversations with them on the street.

One of the interesting things was that Julie was much taller than some of the women, and that's saying a lot if you know Julie.

But it was another day to remind the two of us how fortunate we are to have met such amazing, gracious, generous people in so many parts of the world. And how honored we are to be invited into their personal care for others.

Next week, winter sweaters will be given out, and they expect double the number of people to come.

The Procession

La Fiesta de la Guadalupana continues. At 1pm the procession that started at Puente de Fraile was to reach the Parroquia de San Antonio. After doing our usual Saturday morning at the organic market (it's mostly about seeing people and chatting - and buying a few vegetables), we turned the corner to walk down the the Parroquia de San Antonio. We soon found the street full of vaqueros on horseback, 4-5 abreast, who had ridden from their rancheros out in the campo. Many of the horses were clearly ill at ease on the rock and cobblestone streets, as it is slippery to them. The vaqueros carried flags of their ranches. Ahead of them was a long procession of people who had walked from Puente de Fraile, or even further. This was a solemn and patient group, many carrying family statues of the Virgen, or photographs or paintings that they had in their home. There were many small children in the best village traditional dress. At the parroquia, there was a festive atmosphere with bands, singing, food vendors, but a solemn atmosphere with praying, singing, prayer and veneration. We saw one young woman who made the journey on her knees, with a parent on each side of her. She even went up the steps to the parroquia on her knees. This is a very meaningful tradition to the people here. This evening, there will be more bands, dancing, more fireworks, more fireworks, and did I mention more fireworks.

Fiesta de la Guadalupana

Today is the Holy Day of the Virgin Mary here, or as it is called, Fiesta de la Guadalupana. It started at midnight with songs, fireworks and ringing of bells, at the Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel (5 blocks away), the Parroquia de San Antonio (4-5 blocks in another direction) and the Mercadolganacio Ramirez and the Mercado de San Juan de Dios (all within 5-7 blocks of us in different directions. At 6 am, crazy bell ringing and more fireworks and firecrackers at all of the above places, plus people running in the streets. This will go on all day and evening, with lots of singing, celebrating, the arrival of the procession with the virgin that left at 9am from Puente de Fraile. It is a wonderfully celebratory time preparing for the birth of Jesus Christ. Better than standing in line at WalMart or the Apple Store

How Alarming

So our house has an alarm system that I must admit I have not been using, since I cannot find the sheet of instructions. Our friend, Rocky is visiting us, and since he knows a lot about all things technical, I put him to helping me figure out how to set it. The labels on the buttons and digital readout are in Spanish. There was a symbol with a line that went to two buttons, the * and the #, like you should push them together. So, we did - and did again, since the first time didn't seem to do anything, then did one more time just for luck. Nothing happened, except now, the Listo (Ready) button has gone off. So Rocky goes onto the internet to try to find the manual. I went upstairs and all of a sudden there is loud pounding on the outside door. I start to go to the door calling out "un momento", realize that I don't have a key, so back to get Rocky. Now there is extremely loud and heavy, insistent pounding on the door-like beating down the door, so Rocky and I agree that he should open the door, since we do not have any idea who is there.
It is two policia in black uniforms with full assault weapons. They asked a few questions like "Who are you?", "Do you live here?" "What is your name and your age?" Who owns the house?". Then the lead guy tells us that we set off the panic alarm. That is why they are here. So we explained what happened, as best we could. After figuring out that we are stupid gringos, they took the information and left. I had to call the landlady and let her know what we had done so she could get the system reset.
At least we had a good excuse for being late to meet Newt at the Terrazo Bar.
Sorry not to be able to provide a photo of the policia with their terrifying guns, but thought it might be pushing my luck to ask them to pose).

Visit to the pyramids of Canada de la Virgen

The Chichimeca are the original inhabitants of the Bajio, the countryside of the area surrounding San Miguel de Allende in the state of Guanajuato. Less than an hour drive from SMA, a pyramid area has been mostly excavated in the 21st century. There are still many unexplored sites in the general area, but there are difficulties with permission as much of the land is privately owned. These sites are historically very import and their discovery has caused the northern border of what was considered Meso-American to be moved further north to include this area.
We took a trip to this pyramid with one of the archaeologists who excavated this area and now does private guide work. Albert is very knowledgeable about the dig, the history and anthropology - and very interesting and a great story-teller. He is from the USA but is now a dual citizen. It was a great trip and very informative.
This site contained the burial grounds of a king, a young woman warrior, a child and about 11 others, whose remains had actually been brought by the priests of this temple from far away. This area is a very significant find for many reasons.
There are still descendants of the Chichimeca in the area, but much of the history is lost. Many churches were built by friars and missionaries on worship sites of the indigenous peoples to stop their worship and convert them to Catholicism. The locations of many sites have been lost.

Christmas Tree Lighting in the Jardin

I think we are in a parallel universe here. Last night was the tree-lighting ceremony. Workmen have been busy scraping all the metal benches and repainting them; others have been replacing cobblestones in the streets, and poinsettias are placed all around. Nobody steals them or defaces anything in the plaza.

We sat above in a terrazzo bar and watched the sun set, then went down to the plaza. Got an ear of corn from one of the vendors and watched as people streamed into the plaza. The band set up; their first number was "Strangers in the Night". Could be interesting to make that work theologically...

Candied apples and toys were being sold to the many children in the plaza. The intersections of the streets nearest to the jardin have lights strung across. 

But then they gradually moved into Christmas music, and the countdown to lighting the tree began, led by characters on stilts (St. Michael as an angel, a candle, an Elf, a penguin) fireworks and dancing. Adeste Fidelis and Silent Night were sung in Spanish. 

We moved a few feet away, and heard other music. Drifting off to the side of the plaza we encountered a pre- wedding party with a 20 piece band (including a sousaphone!), dancing puppet people, and a crowd that followed as they paraded down a side street. The elder members of the families were in a little coach pulled by a donkey. 

The most unique tree lighting ceremony we've ever attended.

Rows of sweaters

In the jardin, the central square in the town, in front of the parroquia, is a large open space. On Friday, there were rows of butcher paper laid out. The goal was for people to fill the rows of paper with sweaters and jackets. Earlier in the afternoon, only two rows were there. By evening the whole open square was filled with rows filled will sweaters. The organizing group were able to roll up the papers and then will distribute them during the winter.

Atotonilco Sanctuary of God

Atotonilco is a beautiful out sanctuary built in 1748. It is a World Heritage Site, included in the San Miguel de Allende WHS. It is several miles out of SMA in a very small village. Atotonilco means "Place of the Hot Waters". The sanctuary was built by Father Alfaro who traveled the area preaching to the locals in the 1700s. It has a main temple and several chapels all covered with beautiful paintings depicting the life of Christ, and also inscriptions of his poetry. Each year, one of the statues of Jesus in the sanctuary is walked in procession to San Miguel de Allende.

The 105th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution

As we were walking into the centro to get the weekly social paper, Atencion, we heard marching drums, then saw police cars, blocked streets, lots of people. It was a parade - a very long parade - it took several hours. There were participants from every school in San Miguel de Allende, many organizations (Rotary, service groups, karate studios, dance studios, sports teams). Kids were dressed like bandits, soldiers, historical figures, beautiful senoritas. They did dances, march maneuvers, acrobatics, cheers, fake gun battles, marching band songs. The streets were lined with locals and many proud parents. We didn't know what the occasion is and finally found a English-speaker who knew. It is the 105th anniversary of the revolution. We started watching at 11am. The last of the parade finished well after 1pm - possibly closer to 2pm.  That is much better than last year, when the parade lasted from 11 to 3. They marched into town, through town, into the square and past the reviewing stand, then around the rest of the square and ended up hill. A long march for the littlest of the marchers - and it was very warm today.

Blankets for Villages

Today we began the delivery of blankets to several small villages in the area outside of San Miguel de Allende. The villages were chosen by a local social service organization that the church works with. Our guide from the organization had made appointments in each of three villages. The people gathered, we all introduced ourselves, she gave the instructions that each family unit gets one blanket. We distributed blankets, cooed over new babies, smiled and greeted. Our guide made sure that villagers who could not come out would get blankets, verifying a careful count, and designating someone to take blankets to them. The villages were each isolated, but close to each other. Homes were very modest, some in states of partial building or repair. The villagers very friendly and grateful. We saw a very small school in each village. Each village also had a small church that the priest came to once a month. Between the three villages, we distributed about 110 blankets. We will go out two more days to different villages.

XXI Festival Internacional de Jazz&Blues in San Miguel

This is a great season of music in San Miguel. The 22nd Festival Internacional de Jazz & Blues is happening this week. Last night we enjoyed King Solomon Hicks, a 19-year-old guitar prodigy and singer from New York. He has been playing for 13 years. He regularly performs at the Cotton Club. It was an amazing performance with a local bass player, a keyboardist and a drummer. At the beginning and at the end of his concert, he walked around and through the audience, talking and joking while playing  his guitar above and behind his head. He is amazing and has 3 CDs out, the first one cut when he was 13.
This concert was held in the Teatro Angela Peralta, a historic and restored theater in the central part of San Miguel. This is one of the most important festivals of its kind in Latin America. It was great, great fun. This is a small town - we saw people we knew.

Blended Worlds

Tuesday (Martes) must be cabellaro day in San Miguel. As I was walking home doing errands at the square, I passed 8 men on horseback, riding up the street to the jardin. It all felt very old world, men on horseback on cobbled streets, until one of their cell phones rang.

Massive Forest Fire in Tanjung Puting National Park in Borneo

We are so saddened to read of the massive wild fires in the beautiful Tanjung Puting National Park in Borneo. We spend an unforgettable week there while we were in Bali. Many of you will remember the photos of the orangutans we took while we were there. It was the best trip of my life. If you are so moved, you can donate to replant the forest at ecolodgesindonesia.com. Each tree costs $3, 5 trees cost $15, 10 trees cost $30, 100 trees cost $300.
100% will go to helping reforest the burnt areas.We remember when we were in the park, the one man whose life mission was to replant trees in deforested areas, where we each planted a tree. The area outside of the park is already suffering deforestation and loss of habitat from the planting of trees for palm oil.

Here is the news article and some photos:

MASSIVE LOSS OF FOREST AND WILDLIFE IN TANJUNG PUTING NATIONAL PARK IN BORNEO

Volunteer fire fighters Tanjung Puting
Tragic loss of forest and wildlife in Tanjung Puting
It is with great sadness that we bring you news of this tragedy and seek your help to replant 1 million trees and especially urgently needed fruit trees for orangutans.

Conservationists estimate that at least one third of Indonesia's wild orangutans may have been lost due to the overwhelming number of fires over the past three months in Borneo and Sumatra.

Estimates vary widely but somewhere between 30,000 and 90,000 hectares in Tanjung Puting National Park have been destroyed by fire. Despite welcome rain over the last weekend of October some areas of peat are still burning.

Now a large team of locals and NGO staff are working to replant the burnt out areas. They need to plant 1,000,000 trees before next year's dry season starts in March. Please donate to the Ecolodges Conservation Fund's campaign to raise money for trees.

Tanjung Puting local communities all coming together to save their forest and wildlife. An inspiring example of what ordinary people can do in the face of adversity.

Rain falls over the last weekend in October. Bringing huge relief to the fire fighters.
Please open your hearts and support these people and the orangutans of Tanjung Puting.
Each tree costs $3, 5 trees cost $15, 10 trees cost $30, 100 trees cost $300.
100% will go to helping reforest the burnt areas.

Finally, Rain

Volunteer Firefighters rushing in

The dock at Ecolodge Rimba, where we stayed-cannot even see the river

Orangutan fleeing fire

Volunteer and Ecolodges shareholder, Jeni, carrying orangutan to safety

Pro Musica

"Without reference to any religious text or image, music can speak of the ineffable things of God". Fr. Mark Brown

We are in San Miguel de Allende during the "Pro Musica" International Concert Series season.  Their mission is to bring world class classical music to San Miguel de Allende. They also do an opera each season. Last night was violinist, Andrew Sords and pianist/accompanist Tim Durkovic. Their program was wonderful - Elgar, WA Mozart, Bartok, Brahams, Chopin ... a full concert with two encores. The venue is St. Paul's Episcopal Church.

Pro Musica exists because of loyal member patrons, mostly ex-pats, and it's seasonal subscriptions. Their season is 6 months - widely varied in performances.
Pro Musica is devoted to educational outreach in the local area. They teach violin classes in a local boys' orphanage. This year, they have extended their educational mission to teaching classical music instruments to students at the secondary level and to form  a chamber orchestra at the secondary level out of the students from their Rhythm, Rhyme and Reason elementary program which teaches the basics of world music to boys and girls in five elementary schools in and around San Miguel.
Throughout San Miguel de Allende, we find the hands and dollars of the "gringo" population, bettering the community.

Destination Weddings

We walked up to the jardin to a terrace bar overlooking the jardin and the parroquia for Friday afternoon people watching. As usual, the jardin (town square) was full of people, locals and gringos, as this is the place to be for people watching.
There appeared two human puppets, dressed as a bride and groom. Human puppets are about twice the height of people and the "puppeteer" is inside, looking out of an opening below the chest so they can navigate. They and the wedding reception party were waiting for the bride and groom (gringos) to appear. The mariachis played and the bride and groom danced. After a while, a donkey, gaily decorated with flowers led the bride and groom, the reception party up the street and around back to the square, accompanied by the mariachis, dancing all the way.

Just after this group left, local people, beautifully dressed in evening attire, started going into the parochia. A beautiful bride and her father appeared and also entered for her wedding. As we walked back down the calle to our home, we passed a few straggler guests who did not get to the church before the bride. Hopefully they got there to see the vows.

                                                                                   The parochia on another day. 

The First Week in San Miguel

Looking down our street, Umbara. The streets of el centro are cobbled, as are often the sidewalks. We are about a 10 minute walk from the jardin. Most everything is close in and walkable. There are buses and taxis to take us to areas further out. There is lots to explore and learn. 
       The first week was the week of Day of the Dead, celebrated in great style in San Miguel. We attended lectures about the Day of the Dead, family altar building, wonderful dinners, parades.....

The Parroquia de San Miguel Archangel in the center of the jardin

A very large family altar at the jardin

Above and below is another family altar with
Pan de Muerto, fruit, candles

  

Human puppets danced around the jardin, led parades.
Below - the night of All Souls, thousands of people
milling around the jardin - dancing, shouting,
many Mariachi bands