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.