Mega's Grand Opening

The long awaited opening of Comercial Mexicana's Mega store at the Glorieta happened yesterday. They had people on the streets wearing arrow hats that pointed the way to the new store. I hear that the parking lot filled up and some people couldn't get in to check the store out. So we decided to walk there this morning, have breakfast and take a look around the store. I was only planning on doing some comparison shopping since we don't really have an operational kitchen.

We heard that there was a restaurant in the store but it is more of a cafe or food court with pizza and sandwiches. It is a place where you walk up to the counter and order and then pick up your food, similar to Costco's food courts. Although some people were eating pizza at 9:30 AM I wanted the Desayuno Expess for 29 pesos. It was fruit, croissant, biscuit, orange juice and coffee. The Desayuno Express wasn't express. The cafe had eight people working in it and maybe eight customers. Everyone behind the counter and in the kitchen were very earnest in what they were doing but it was disorganized and took about 5 minutes per person to place an order then you waited while it was put together. It wasn't Fast Food. The layout of the service area didn't make it easy for them to fill orders very quickly either. I'm sure they'll get the hang of it but right now they could use a little more training.

There is also a coffee shop by the bakery. The bakery looked really good. We didn't buy anything there but the pastries were tempting.

One thing I didn't understand was that the sugar and eggs seemed to be in the vegetable department cold cases. Maybe there was some special or something but if that is where they are going to be all of the time, I don't get the logic of it. The vegetable assortment was very nice and everything looked fresh. I really liked the look of the green beans and they had russet potatoes.

The wine section isn't very large but it was well organized by country, then variety and they had a good selection of wines 50 to 150 pesos a bottle. We saw wines that we don't usually see at Espinos so it will be fun to go back and browse through them some more.

The meat, fish and poultry is what interested me the most. They had frozen turkeys and smoked turkeys, rock cornish hens, packages of chicken parts, leg of lamb from New Zealand but I didn't see lamb chops, boneless pork roasts, pork tenderloin, duck and all kinds of fresh seafood from squid, octopus, shrimp to talapia and salmon.


The deli meats were pretty much the same ones that we regularly see and the selection of cheeses was nice but nothing exotic. They also had smoked salmon. La Arquitecta told us that she bought some of the prepared foods yesterday and she and her family thought that they were delicious. We looked at them and they did look good. Pork in green sauce, beef in pasilla, cochinita pibil and spaghetti were some of the ones we remember seeing.

Going up and down the aisles of groceries we noticed a few more American brands like Hunt's and also Heinz catsups, more varieties of cereals, and large jars of Smucker's jellies. The fruit juice section was large but there wasn't any tomato juice. I don't know why tomato juice is hard to find here but the tiendas don't carry it. Most of the time we can find it at Espinos and Bonanzas. Maybe the Mexicans eat so many tomatoes that they would rather have other kinds of juices. Gotta have tomato juice for Ned.

We did not see any of the Kirkland's branded merchandise. Lots of people thought that because Comercial Mexicana has the franchise for Costco in Mexico that we would see Costco merchandise. I was really hoping for the Kirkland paper products and also the Kirkland tuna, even their jars of mixed nuts. But no, nada.

The store carries some clothes, kitchen appliances and dishes, electronics such as TV's, and some bookshelves and desks for assembly. Nice department of personal items like shampoo, toothpaste and some makeup. There is also a drug department.

The store is bright and clean with large aisles but not nearly as large as the WalMart store in Queretaro. Of course San Miguel is a much smaller town than Queretaro.

La Arquitecta was very enthusiastic about the store and she felt that Mega's prices were good. While the store is a great addition to San Miguel and it will provide more jobs, I don't think it is going to totally eliminate our Costco run from time to time. And we feel like we will probably continue to do most of our daily shopping at our regular places. We just like walking in town and living without a car for our daily needs.

Path to Happiness

Researchers are saying that they may be on to how people can make themselves happier. It is pretty simple. No prescriptions from the pharmacy just an exercise every night. Think of three good things that happened during the day and analyze why they occurred.

My list for today:

• Waking up in the morning in a warm bed. No alarm clock. No jumping up to get on with the day. Just dreamly looking at the dawn and lying in the luxury of retirement.
• A wonderful breakfast cooked by mi esposo.
• Connecting with family and friends via the internet.
• Having chicken from Pollo Feliz for comida. It was delicious.
• Walking down the hill and up the hill. Feeling the strength of my legs carrying me where I wanted to go.
• Seeing the first Christmas lights go up in our street.
• Having the garbage truck come today when they didn't come on their regular route yesterday.
• Standing in a hot shower. Hot water flowing over my body feels so good.
• Looking out the window toward town...a blue sky over this beautiful colonial town.

Oops more than three. Well I didn't analyze them but I really am a happy woman.

What Is The Real Cost?

Mexico has not had mortgages or credit to buy big ticket items but credit has come to Mexico.

Grupo Elektra was one of the innovators who first started giving credit to the "common man" in Mexico. I'm not sure just how many ways they offer credit but here in San Miguel their store is always busy. They sell washing machines from the simplest kind where you feed the clothes through rollers to wring the water from them to a regular washing machine, refrigerators, stoves and other appliances. They also have launched a rent-to-own Linux-based PC program. Hmmm...I wrote several days ago about our neighborhood getting wired. Maybe that is a result of Elektra's program. I've seen credit advertised for cars, motorcycles, 4-wheelers, and bathroom fixtures and tiles. The list is growing.

Is it good or bad? For most Mexicans, credit and the cost of money is new. The Mexican people are smart. Their Ancestors, the Mayans, built amazing cities and roads that exist even until today. I think that for the majority, they just need a little education.

Let me give you an example. One of my friends told me that their maid told them that she and her husband were going to buy a motorcycle so he could get to work easier. They don't have a car and San Miguel is getting bigger and they thought it would be better to have the motorcycle instead of relying on buses. The maid needed a paper signed saying she was employed because they were buying it on credit. My friend asked them if they were getting a good deal. In the conversation that followed she asked questions about the rate of interest that they would have to pay. The maid seemed a little confused so my friend suggested that if the maid and her husband would like to bring the papers by they would look over the papers with them.

The maid and the husband did just that. I don't remember what the interest rate was but it was very high. My friend and her husband did just a little math for them and showed them what the actual cost of the motorcycle would be. Then continued on with the different ways that interest can be computed. They got the message right away. This motorcycle was going to cost a lot more than they thought. It ended up that my friend loaned them the money at a very reasonable rate. The maid wanted to work extra to pay it off sooner because that interest was costing them money. Well, as I said earlier the Mexicans are smart.

My Space

The American way seems to be as the old song says, "Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above, don't fence me in." We want our personal space.

There is an interesting article about the study of personal space or proxemics as the study of personal space is termed in the New York Times article In Certain Circles, Two is a Crowd by Stephanie Rosenbloom. As a culture Americans seem to need more personal space than other cultures. We don't liked to be touched and if we are in crowded situations, we tend not to make eye contact. We want houses big enough so that we can have personal private space. And this need for personal space extends to public spaces too.

The requirements for personal space is different in Mexico. Mexicans don't need as much personal space. I'm still adjusting to less personal space in public spaces.

The one that bothers me the most is in shopping. Aisles are small...make that tiny. Just big enough most of the time for two people to pass. And if you have stopped to pick out tomatoes and two people pass behind you, everyone will be touching. Or someone may reach over you or around you to pick out their tomatoes. At first I could barely stand to stay in the Ramirez Mercado long enough to shop. I felt.....well, I'm not sure what I felt, except I just had to get out of there. Now I can shop and tolerate being touched and reached around and over but I still try of maintain some sliver of space and there is no way I can reach over or around someone else who is picking out tomatoes. Even in the "grocery stores" the aisles are small like at Bonanza, where the space is so small there isn't any possibility of using a grocery cart and even the small baskets have to be carried in front of you so that you can pass another person. If there is any room it seems to be a signal to put up some additional display that narrows the space down. If Ned and I are shopping together, he will stay outside at Bonanza and hold packages because it is such a tight squeeze through the aisles. While I usually don't shop with a list, I do at Bonanza because there is no browsing the aisles and checking on merchandise. Reading labels? Forget about it. Just get the things on the list and get out. Maybe that is why the gringos like to go to places like WalMart or Costco where the aisle space sizes are similar to those spaces in the USA.

Another place where my personal space feels invaded is in a bank. Once you finally get to sit down with a banker, it isn't unusual at all for a Mexican to come to the banker to ask a question or maybe even sit down beside you. Maybe all you are doing is asking a question about something like doing a wire transfer but this seems like such an invasion of privacy.

There isn't any question that we want more space in our homes. Back in the USA, we have always lived in a single family home with a yard. Actual open space between our house and the next house. I realize that many people in the USA live in condos, townhomes and apartments but up until now that hasn't been our choice. We wanted privacy. Yet here we are in Mexico, happy as can be in a small house smack up against the house next door, right on the street. We know what our neighbors up and down the street are doing and they know what we are doing. Still what we consider our "small" house is a mansion to some on our street. I don't know how some of these extended families live in the tiny spaces that they live in. How do all those people get by with one bathroom?

Having less house space, less privacy and less personal space hasn't been as hard an adjustment as I thought it would be. I love living in the Mexican culture so much I'm willing to give up some of my American space concepts in order to be a part of San Miguel de Allende.

The Glorieta

I've been wanting to check out what is happening at the Glorieta at the end of Ancha de San Antonio so this morning I walked in that direction instead of toward the Centro. It is changing and changing fast. Last year the city redid the Glorieta with new paving and in the center added a statute of El Pipila, a fountain and landscaping. That was all just a prelude for what was coming. First it was the Pemex Station on the right hand side of this image. Both of the buildings on the right side are new but I'm not sure what the most left-handed one is but the other is for TelCel.

Before all this happened about the only thing at the Glorieta was a Pollo Feliz Restaurant which is a Mexican chain that is expanding not just in Mexico but also in the USA. The restaurant on the Glorieta was the largest Pollo Feliz in town but it was in an older building without any pizazz. Not the case now. They have opened a new Restaurant across the street but still on the Glorieta in the McDonald's style with a huge playground inside but overall the building is bigger than any McDonald's that I know of and they are building another building for some purpose on the property also. When it opened it caused a traffic jam for several days because everyone wanted to go and while it has a large parking lot it wasn't big enough for the opening.

This is the take out window. This Pollo Feliz is more expensive than the other Pollo Feliz stores in town. And it is about double the price of most of the small rotisserie chicken places in town. But regardless, I think it is the best roasted/grilled chicken around. And for all the business it does, I guess the Mexicans feel that way too. In case you can't read the menu, a whole chicken with salad, grilled onions and Jalapenos, tortillas and salsa cost 99 pesos. Yes, it is decorated for Christmas. Now before you start to talk about the Americanization of Mexico, just remember that this is a Mexican Company. On the other corner of the Glorieta a new Mega Comercial Mexicana store (think of a Super WalMart in the USA) is near to opening. This morning the parking lot was set up with a lot of tables and chairs outside. I don't know if it was for some ceremony or maybe more likely some kind of training for the employees. It looks like the finishing touches and signage is being installed to the outside and while I didn't get close enough to look in a door, from what I could see it looks like shelving and such is being set up inside. Rumor has it that the store will open in December.

One of the things that has been an aggravation to people who go up to the Gigante store at the Caracol is that they started charging for parking even when you buy something in the store. Well, the signs and gates are up for collecting parking fees here at this new store also. The cost is 8 pesos per hour but you get two free hours if you shop at the Mega store. Lose your ticket and you will pay 100 pesos to get your car out of the lot.

On two sides of the store are places for buses to pull in and pickup or let passengers off the bus. The parking lot is also big so Comercial Mexicana is projecting lots of traffic in this store. This is interesting because we have only had one so called super market, Gigante. I'm not sure we have even been in Gigante this year. To me it didn't seem clean and it smelled bad. The produce wasn't any different than I could get in the Ramirez Mercado so there was just no reason to get the car out or take a taxi or bus to go there. Well, Gigante is closing that store and building a new "Super" store across the street from the old location. It will be in competition with Mega Comercial Mexicana.

You just wonder how these new stores will affect San Miguel. I don't know what impact it will have in the San Juan de Dios and Ramirez Mercados but I do think that the Gringos will definitely give the new grocery stores a try rather than having to drive to Ceyala or Queretaro to go to WalMart or Costco or Sam's.

Cold Snap

Can you believe that the official temperature of San Miguel de Allende this morning was 28 degrees? Unheard of for this early in the winter. I don't know where they take the "official" temperature but on our patio the thermometer read 40 degrees. Since the patio is the kitchen during construction, making toast and coffee today was a bit chilly. I'm sure that up on the hill or out in the campo the frost was on the pumpkin or cactus or whatever. If you are really from the NORTH and you are thinking that 28 degrees isn't that cold, it is for me because at 28 degrees in Houston, Texas we start talking about closing highways and schools!

But actually I'm warmer this morning than I have been for the last five days. The first couple of days when this cold front moved in we had strong winds and overcast skies. The middle of the day never warmed up as it usually does in the 8-week winters of San Miguel. I didn't want to stick my head out the door. I just wanted to stay in the studio where the fireplace was going. Still my hands and feet felt cold. I looked ridiculous walking around the house in a long sleeve shirt, sweater and muffler. But I didn't care. I just wanted to be warm.

The houses are not insulated and for most of them the fireplace is the only heating that is in the house. Some of the gringo houses are big and a fireplace can only do so much so you hear a lot of complaints from the gringos, especially the ones who are here visiting, about the cold. Fortunately for us, our house isn't that big and the way it is built we can close off the room we are in and light the fireplace and be fairly warm. We have a warming blanket on the bed so we are nice and toasty during the night. Then, lucky me, my beloved bedmate gets up first in the morning and lights the bedroom fireplace and turns on the little electric heater in the bathroom. Then by the time I get to the studio/office, he has the fireplace there lit too.

Lots of the full time gringos escape to the beaches of Mexico during the winter months by renting condos or houses for a month. I've never felt like I needed to do that until this week but if we ever have a month of overcast, cold days without any warming sun in the middle of the day, I may have to re-consider.

Thanksgiving

It seems like just another day here. Alfredo the blacksmith across the street is pounding on metal, the painters arrived promptly at 9 to continue to work on the floors of the kitchen and dining room. The gas and water trucks are going by calling their wares. There are no smells of onion sauteing for the dressing, no fragrance of cinnamon and pumpkin, no piles of produce ready for preparation. But then of course I don't have a kitchen right now where any of those things could happen. Still that doesn't mean that we won't be celebrating a Day of Thanksgiving. It will just be a little different than it was last year. We are going to Michael and Jean's house to enjoy a traditional Thanksgiving feast. I think there will be about 10 of us.

Wherever we are or whatever we eat, we have so much to be thankful for. Ned and I are especially thankful for our health as well as the health of the rest of the family. We are thankful for wonderful sons, daughters-in-law and grandsons. We are thankful that we have the opportunity to live in Mexico and we can travel back and forth to the USA to be with family and friends on both sides of the border. We are thankful for good friends. I'm thankful that I have my photography. This list could go on and on but I'll stop there and wish all my readers from the USA, a wonderful day of family, friends and food.

Wired

Recently, the house two doors down opened a small internet cafe. They charge 10 pesos an hour and every afternoon we see lots of the kids in the neighborhood sitting there in front of a computer connecting to.....well to the world.

This seems to have sparked more connections. We're watching our calle get wired. One house and then another, the families are connecting to cable and to the internet.

When we moved into our house, it and the one across the street were the only ones we could see that were connected to the internet. You can tell who is and who isn't because if you have cable internet, the cable coming into the house is blue, like really blue. I always thought that this was strange because it was like announcing to the world, "Hey robbers, this house has an internet cable so therefore it must have a computer."

Maybe this doesn't seem like much to some of you, but I can tell you this is an event here. It means that the family who lives in a very modest Mexican house where we seldom see more than one light bulb (florescent light) on in the house at a time, has bought some kind of computer and made a commitment to get an internet service provider. The cost is huge for the family because the cost of cable TV and internet is basically the same as it is in the USA. From a cultural and educational standpoint what will it mean? That I can't answer. All I can do is report that here in San Miguel the middle class want to be connected.

Backup Plan

First of all let me say, I'm happy to be living in San Miguel and while I loved my Houston house, I'm glad we have sold it and it has new owners who are living in it and taking care of it.

Even though we were in the process of selling out in the USA, I still had a feeling that I wanted a toe hold. I wanted a place in the inner city that I could come back to should we decided because of health or some other reason that we wanted to live in Houston again. But we didn't want the responsibility of a house. Prices on housing in the inner city continue to escalate and we worried that we could be priced out of the market. That could mean back to the 'burbs? Oh no!
The solution seemed to be to buy a lot in the inner city before lot prices went up even more. It would be a hedge against inflation, an investment and a reassurance that we could go back and live where we wanted to live. Or another thought that I had was that if we found we wanted a place in Houston for when we visited there, we could build a garage with an apartment on the lot and wait to build a house if we went back. All in all, a lot was a good solution.

Would you believe that I found the perfect lot immediately? That is because there was another area of Houston that I had been watching on Houston's Southeast side called Eastwood. Ned and I both grew up on that side of town but a little further out. We have friends who lived over there and had been remodeling some of the old houses. They had great things to say about what was happening in Eastwood and to some extent it still seemed to be a hidden jewel because the prices had not escalated as had happened in some close in neighborhoods.

I had done some reading about the neighborhood. It was one of the first subdivisions in Houston and was developed in 1913 with paved streets, curbs and gutters and lots terraced with soil dredged to make the Houston Ship Channel. Originally a neighborhood of custom homes built for entrepreneurs, business owners and managers it had gone through some tough times as houses became rental units but things have been changing. The housing stock is for the most part good and people who want to live close to the city have been buying and remodeling.

When I went on line to look at real estate, I found the lot. We were here in Mexico so I had Janice our real estate broker go take a look. She called us on her cell phone raving about the lot. She too had grown up in the area but hadn't been back for years. She liked the looks of what was happening in Eastwood. We made an offer on the lot sight unseen. And the rest as they say is history. We now own the lot....and what is even better it is a corner lot.
Sometimes when I'm awake in the middle of the night, I start thinking about how we would design a house for that lot, where would I want the kitchen, how would the sun flow over the house, how much room do we really need to have a comfortable "Not So Big House." I have to admit that I'm so content in San Miguel right now that I wonder if we will ever go back to Houston but it makes me feel good to have that lot.....just in case.

Spanish to Spanish

Just because two people are speaking English to each other doesn't mean they are communicating. The same lack of communication can happen with two people speaking Spanish to each other.

Raul was scheduled to start on the floors on the Terrace and in the new kitchen/dining room space today. But today is a National Mexican Holiday, Revolution Day. When we realized this last week, Ned called la arquitecta to ask whether Raul would come on the holiday. She said she would check with him and call us back. Yes, he was coming on Monday at 9:00 AM.

This morning we were up and had done some rearranging of furniture so that they could start in the kitchen/dining room. A few minutes after 9, Ned saw Raul in his truck outside but he didn't come in and didn't come in. Finally he rang the bell and asked if la arquitecta was here. Ned told him that we weren't expecting her but we thought that he was going to start today. No, he wasn't planning on starting today. It was a big holiday and his muchachos were at the fiesta.

After a phone call to la arquitecta, the confusion was resolved. They had talked but not communicated. La arquitecta thought he was going to start today. He thought he was meeting her here to pick up the anticipo or advance payment for the work.

All is resolved now. The anticipo has been paid, Raul and the muchachos will begin tomorrow and la arquitecta will meet them here in the morning. At least that is what we think the communication was. We'll find out for sure tomorrow when we see what happens.

Guess

Duck swiming?
Reflections in Water?
Modern Art?
Side of a Truck?
Modern Art on the Side of a Truck?
What do you see?

Walk Into Town

It has turned chilly, a bit of a breeze. At 5:00 PM as it started getting dark, we debated.....do we want to follow our plan and walk into town or just stay cozy at home....maybe get a gordita from the car wash place around the corner or a tamale from the door by the barber shop just up the street. We decided to walk into town. So a little before 7:00 we headed out. There was a lot of activity at the Instituto. I had been by there earlier in the day and saw that a caterer was hard at work. So we surmised that a wedding reception was going to happen there.

We stopped at the tile store. The sample tile was going to be ready on Friday but when I stopped there this morning the employees didn't know anything about it. Usually the owner is there in the evening so we stopped in. No, the tile wasn't ready and Monday is a holiday so maybe Wednesday. Grrrrrrr.......

Back on the street there was a procession approaching.....it was the wedding party. The Transito truck was leading the way followed by a Mariachi band and the bride and groom, the wedding party and guests headed to the Instituto. Everyone was merry and most had a drink in hand. I love the way things are done here.

On into the centro. At the Jardin there were lots of Mexican families pushing baby strollers, buying toys from the vendors and talking. All of the food stands were setting up around the Jardin. We went past the Parroquia to the Correo Cafe. The doors and windows, usually open to the street, were closed against the chill and the restaurant was warm with bright red and pink tablecloths. We found a table and had a leisurely dinner.

When we left the restaurant even more people were in the Jardin and the Tunistas were playing to a large crowd on one side of the Jardin and on the other were a couple of Mariachi bands playing. Lots of people were strolling around the Jardin but not many were sitting at the tables outside of the restaurants. Too chilly.

Young people were starting to gather in the street outside of Mama Mia and some were around the windows watching the soccer game.

We could have gotten a cab but it was a nice night and we walked home. We made a good decision to walk into town.

Tao

We gotta winner with the new kid on the block, the restaurant Tao at Pila Seca 16 which opened a week ago. It may not be the Tao of New York fame but it was delicious.

We had tried to go there the week it opened but only one table was open. There were six of us and the place is small, just five tables, each for four, and not much room for moving tables around to accommodate a party for six or eight. So last night we tried again, this time with only four people. Right after we got a table, the place was full and several parties came in but could not be seated.

The place is run by a Korean couple. She speaks great Spanish and English. She runs the dining area and he is the chef. They were far too busy on Thursday night for us to find out any more about them. The food is Asian but with a heavy Korean hand. Every dish that came out of the kitchen was plated beautifully and looked so delicious that we kept asking the other restaurant patrons what they ordered, easy to do in such a small place. I think I have a long list of reasons to go back again and again.

At our table we opted for a salad with noodles and the Korean barbeque. The Korean barbeque is for two or more people. She said that two salads would be enough for four and it was. The salads were delivered to the table along with a gas-fired grill to cook the raw beef and onions. The salad was crisp and crunchy with slivers of fennel, red and yellow bell peppers, dried cherries and walnuts and it was dressed very lightly....maybe with a rice wine vinegar. The beef was tasty. This food was fresh, with bright, crisp tastes. It was a wonderful dining experience in San Miguel de Allende.

At Home and Far Away

I posted about Gloria Baker Feinstein going to Africa and bringing home amazing images. But images are also found at home right before our eyes. Raul Gutierrez at Heading East blog, posted Day is Done.

Gloria in Africa

It is quite amazing to me when a photographer travels to another place, another country, another continent and comes home with images that are.....well they are amazing. My friend and photographer, Gloria Baker Feinstein, has done just that. She recently made a trip to Uganda, Africa. Gloria went for a workshop where she was to help document Non-government Organizations. She wanted to concentrate on an orphanage. In two and a half weeks she had some amazing experiences with the people, along with having her laptop disappear along with many of the images she had taken. Still she brought home some beautiful, evocative images.

It was a life changing experience and one of the things that she is doing is trying to set up a Foundation to help the children in the orphanage. I hope that you will go to her blog take a look at more of her images and read her story.

Can You Name This?

During Day of the Dead the flower stands leading to the cemetery had big galvanized tubs full of this flower. Does anyone know what flower it is and something about it?

Galleria, Houston

Isn't this weird, creepy even, that this mega shopping center in Houston, Texas the 4th largest city in the USA seems almost devoid of people?

On Mexican Time

On Mexican Time is the title of Tony Cohan's book where he writes about falling in love with San Miguel. But another English speaking blogger from Mexico feels that the phrase "On Mexican Time" is derogatory towards Mexicans. I don't feel that way. I think it is a recognition of the Mexican way of life.....what is important and what isn't to them. And the longer we are here the more I like Mexican Time for eating.......particularly comida in the mid afternoon.

This affection for Mexican Time comida is growing while we are without a kitchen. Today we were back at Juancho for Comida Corrida. Juancho is on Orizaba between 20 Enero and Palma. Today Isabella served us a wonderful light cream of broccoli soup, pork in a piquante salsa verde, rice, beans, a basket of hot tortillas and a salad dressed with a squeeze of lime. Dessert was an wonderful flan that was creamy but melted on the tongue like Blue Bell Ice Cream. That was all washed down with Jamaica tea. All of this cost 35 pesos. What a deal. Delicious food and an economical price.

We left the tiny restaurante feeling satisfied but not stuffed. Here it is almost 10:00 PM and neither of us is really hungry. I've had a light snack and a glass of wine and Ned had a postre. No heavy meal late in the day. This has to be a much healthier and certainly a very satisfying way to eat.

The other advantage for me is that I can schedule shopping, yoga and other out of the house activities before comida, then a siesta and that still leaves me the afternoon and evening for my work with images. It makes a really nice concentrated work time.

However I have to admit that there are some Mexican Times I don't understand and I'm having a hard time adjusting to, like the garbage truck that comes between 5:30 and 7:00 AM. But then my Mexican neighbors don't understand that either.

Yellow Belts and Other Things

While I was back in Texas I went to Austin and saw the Austin Grandsons, Maxwell and Dexter. It seems like I'm always in Houston for events with the Houston contingent of grandsons but this trip my timing was right and I was able to see Maxwell get his Yellow Belt in Kuk Sool Won. He was so proud of his achievement and you can see it on his face. I like this picture of Dexter. I like the distortion of the wide lens and the angle from above him. I like his hair sticking out but most of all I like that look. I don't think it is a look of puzzlement. No, I think that is a look of assessment.....how far can he go. How much can he get away with. He is his Father's son! Dexter is 18 months old but is already in the "terrible two's." His favorite word is NO. His Father writes thoughts about him and his 'No':

Yes is subservient
No is independent

Yes is mainstream
No is rock and roll

Yes makes parents smile
No makes funny, red faces

Yes is boring
No opens up the world

Yes, definitely his father's son. Oh, it is going to be fun watching Doug deal with this child.
A little family roughhousing in the floor minus Mom who is busy trying to keep up with all the messes these "boys" make.

November Moon

I just can't resist photographing the moon from the terrace. This time it was cloudy and we didn't think we would see it but Ned went up to check it out and called me. We could see it through the clouds. I grabbed the camera still set to 3200 ISO from the Day of the Dead shots in the cemetery and made a few. It was a little lighter on this night and I love the colors of the buildings in the foreground. I guess I'm going to have to get serious about photographing the moon from the terrace and do it properly......on the tripod and at a lower ISO. Who knows....one of these days I might get one that could be printed.

Rain Before Midnight

Before midnight, rain
A good strong rain
Into the early dawn
Was this the last hurrah?
A mark for the end of the season?

Many sounds
The whole is rain
But the parts....
Splat on the windows
Plop on the leaves
Ting on the skylight
Dull on the bricks
Sighs from beyond the walls

Savor the sounds
The smells
The wetness
The dry season is upon us

Here It Is

Here is a picture of the Armoire in the store. It will be delivered on Saturday. I love the detail in the clasp.


Just wish the renovation was done so we could hook everything up and enjoy it but I've waited for almost 5 years so what is another month (or two.)

Patience Pays Off

Patience has finally paid off! Almost five years of being patient! Patience since we bought this house! Finally, Finally, I've found THE Armoire for the Sala. The Armoire to hold the TV and other equipment. The Armoire Gods were with me today!

I'm excited.....can you tell?

Ok, here is the story. I have had the requirements for what I wanted....size, doors that fold back, etc. So everywhere I've gone I've looked. For five years I've been looking. There was always something that didn't work. I knew I could get one of the fine furniture makers in San Miguel to make me one although that was going to be rather pricey but we were coming up on 5 years of looking so I had asked one of them to design one for me. Today I went to his shop at Aurora to look at the design. He was late so I decided to look around the design center. Well, I walked in another shop and there IT was....right inside the door. The right height, the right width, with doors that are double hinged so that they fold back against the armoire. It had some carving, it looked like an old antique piece.....Mexican? Guatemalan? Indian? It was dark wood but with some green rubbed into the wood. The color was perfect. And the best part was the price. Much, much less than if I had one made. Just a little more than one made in Dolores Hidalgo but this was 100 times better than anything I had seen in Dolores.

I can't believe that I didn't buy something out of frustration somewhere along the way. Yes indeed. I'm excited and I can't wait to get it delivered. Patience! I must remember to practice patience.

Weeping Mary

Weeping Mary, Photographs by O. Rufus Lovett, Foreword by Anne Wilkes Tucker......another new photography book for me. Rufus is a long time friend and fellow Texas photographer. So while the book is new, I've been seeing these images emerge for years whenever there was an opportunity to connect with Rufus. He always had his portfolio box with him containing the latest work on this project.

Weeping Mary is a small community of the descendants of freed slaves in rural East Texas. Rufus has photographed in the community for a decade. The images are carefully composed in a square format and show a deep empathy with the people. While his craft is impeccable, it is the sense of intimacy and spontaneity that prevails.

Anne Wilkes Tucker, Gus and Lyndall Wortham Curator of Photography at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, writes eloquently in the Essay titled Pandora's Box about Weeping Mary, the community and the images. Titled Pandora's Box because Lovett's beautiful images have taken the lid off of this neglected community for better or worse and others have come to get a piece of what he has found but not necessarily with the same empathy and sensitivity for the people that he has. She asks the question for all photographers, "How does one balance whatever harm the invasion of privacy might cause against the value of preserving something of beauty and human relevance?"

This book has that spirit of the South, that something that is hard to put your finger on but you know it when you see it in other Southern photographer's work. Birney Imes, Sally Mann, Debbie Fleming Caffery, Keith Carter and Ralph Meatyard who quickly come to mind. It is a South that is hard to find in Atlanta, Houston, or Nashville. But it is still simmering below the surface.....spiritual, sometimes sinister, raw, emotional.....in the landscape and in small communities like Weeping Mary.

Weeping Mary. Definitely a book that needs to be in your collection.

Halloween vs Day of the Dead

Halloween originated as a pagan festival among the Celts of Ireland and Great Britain. But many European cultural traditions hold that Halloween is one of the times of the year when spirits can make contact with the physical world and when magic is most potent. Immigrants from the old world brought some of these traditions to North America in the 19th century and it has evolved to a time of costumed ghosts, goblins, Darth Vader, cowboy, or whatever you want to be. Until recently it was a time for children to collect candy or maybe do a little mischief but now it is a festival for adults too. It is a part of American Pop Culture that is getting exported.
The Day of the Dead is an ancient Aztec celebration in memory of deceased ancestors. Somehow this ancient custom has been tied to November 1 (All Saints' Day) and November 2 (All Souls' Day.) Mexicans celebrate this time joyfully with flowers and food and with an emphasis on remembering and honoring the lives of the deceased, and celebrating the continuation of life.

Over the last 6 or 7 years we have seen a gradual increase in Jack-o-lanterns and witches on broomsticks at WalMart and in the Mexican markets. And we were getting more and more kids coming to the door to "Trick or Treat." We didn't make it to Walmart before Halloween this year but locally things were different. There has been a greater emphasis in the schools, churches and on the radio to remind people that Day of the Dead, not Halloween, is the Mexican tradition. This year only two groups came to the door for candy and in the Jardin, where for the last couple of years I have photographed the children in costume and out for trick or treats, there were a lot fewer children.

I've also been photographing in the cemetery for several years and the number of people who are going there to clean the graves, paint the crosses and put out flowers has increased substantially. Certainly you can tell by the crowds going into the cemetery but the flowers on the graves are an overwhelming blanket of color and fragrance. The arrangements are not the standard bouquets and sprays that you see in the USA but each family buys and brings what they can. They arrange the flowers in vases or tin cans, they make designs with colored sawdust or flower petals. To me it seems that each grave is personal folkart. Up until last year I did not see a priest in the cemetery except for a mass. Now I'm seeing them with families at the graveside saying prayers. Up until last year I had not seen bands or small trios at the graveside playing music.....not funeral music but lively music.....probably the favorite songs of the deceased. Up until last year I had not seen people bringing folding chairs to stay for the day although in some other parts of Mexico the relatives spend the night at the graveside. Up until last year I had not seen many candles left burning at sunset but I'm seeing more and more of them.

I'm thinking that I'd like for my kids to adopt the Mexican Day of the Dead rituals after we are gone. Make a home altar with pictures, put out our favorite foods and drinks, a lot of flowers, have some lively music, and laugh and have a good time this one day of the year remembering the old folks. And who knows, we might just join them in spirit.

Photography Books

Since I was a kid, books have always been important to me. I always felt that if I had books I was rich. So I buy books and when I became more involved in photography, I started buying photography books.

About 10 years ago I became interested in handmade artist books and I bought Structure of the Visual Book by Keith A. Smith. I see on his web site that this book has been expanded. But many of the things he says in this book explain why I love and collect photography books.

The book, as object, is intimate, it insists on a one-to-one confrontation.....

A book can be seen anywhere, at any time, in any situation and be returned to time and again.

Since it is bound, the order of viewing is maintained.

If a book is mass-produced, it can reach a greater audience than an exhibit.

In addition to collecting photography books, I also collect photography. Some of the images are on the walls but not all can be displayed. They get put into archival storage boxes and put away. I seldom ever go through the boxes and when I do, I usually only have one print from an exhibition or from an artist so I can't study and compare. While I agree that the reproductions in some photography books isn't up to the standards of the photographer's prints, with a book I still have a collection of 30 to 50 prints that are as easy to access as my bookshelf. I can take one with me to bed, or drop it in my bag to enjoy while on an airplane.

On Alec Soth's blog he had an entry about the printed page and some of the people who commented said that now instead of buying photography books, they could go on the internet to see images so the book was no longer relevant for them. Maybe it is my age, but I can't image how seeing the image on the monitor is the same as holding it in my hands or looking at images curled up in a comfy chair by the fireplace.

At the prices of photographic images these days I can purchase very few pieces but in a sense, when I own the book, I own the images. Looking at images on a computer monitor is just a fleeting vision. I like the feeling of possession. I just wish I had all my stored photography books with me in Mexico but not to worry, I'm still collecting so maybe before too long my new bookshelves in San Miguel will be full of photograph books too.

The On-Going Tile Adventure

I want to use Mexican tile for the backsplash in our renovated kitchen. And why not.....we live in Mexican tile country. Dolores Hidalgo has many, many pottery and tile manufacturers as does the area around the city of Guanajuato. Right away I saw that Gorky Gonzales tiles would work great in the kitchen but they are a little spendy for my pocketbook.

A large manufacturer out of Dolores who has a wonderful large showroom in San Miguel told me that he could do anything I wanted. Change the background color and he showed me different ways he could do this, change the colors in a design, etc. I told him that I knew that he usually did much larger jobs and this was a small order but he said he wanted my business. Hey, this sounded good to me. So for a month I've been working with him to get a sample done. It is a long story but finally after losing the sample order several times some samples appeared. I don't have any idea where the colors came from. The sample is not what we have discussed at all. And I didn't think we had a language problem because although he is Mexican, he was raised in the USA and speaks perfect English. He is out of town and I haven't given up because I really like his designs but at this point, I thought that maybe I should look for a backup.

So yesterday we went to Dolores to see if we could find another tile company who has a small showroom in the plaza on the corner of Canal and Hernandez Macias. We had a phone number and an address for the manufacturing facility in Dolores Hidalgo. Ned called and asked for directions. They said they were near the Bomberos and the new hospital. So after some driving around and asking directions in Dolores we found the central Bomberos (fire station). The Bomberos did not know where the street was although the tile company had said they were just two blocks from the Bomberos.

We found a payphone and called them. They said go wait at the Bomberos and they would come get us. They were close by but the road was under construction. The road bed was about six feet down from what was left of the sidewalk in the block where they are located and about every 15 feet the sidewalk was missing too except for a single line of a brick wall. It was a little precarious to say the least to get to their showroom. And what a disappointment it was. They had fewer tiles on the wall than the tiny showroom in San Miguel. But they took us back into their taller (manufacturing shop.) It was a huge barn of a place with many, many employees painting tiles, moving tiles, and packing tiles for shipping. I just wonder how many of these kinds of places are in Dolores Hidalgo. You can't tell from the street and this one was off of the main streets and in a Colonia.

The man who designs the tiles and does the colors was in Aguascalientes with a son and his wife because the son was getting a kidney transplant from the wife. Oh dear, I hope the son and wife will be okay. They think he will be back next week. And yes they can do a special order for us but he would have to sign off on it. Well he certainly has bigger problems than our order. We'll check with them to see if he is back before we go again. But I'm not sure at this point that this company will be a backup.

There is also another pottery maker who I have heard does tiles, Santa Rosa. They are in the mountains between Guanajuato and Dolores Hidalgo about and hour and fifteen minutes from San Miguel de Allende. I have bought several beautiful plates from them and so we might have to go check out what designs they have with tiles. I'm sure that Ned is hoping that we can get the tiles closer to home because it won't be just one trip to Santa Rosa but several to get samples, make decisions and then get the tiles made.

It is like a treasure hunt, an adventure. Certainly not like buying tiles in the USA. But then in the USA, I can't even imagine what it would cost to have custom made tiles. So I keep telling myself, "Go with the flow. Enjoy the journey."

More Ideas for My "Mexicocina"

I have a new book. Mexicocina, The Spirit and Style of the Mexican Kitchen by Melba Levick and Betsy McNair. So lush with color and ideas. While I couldn't live....and cook in most of them.....I love to see how others embrace Mexican folkart, craft and tradition.

The problem for me is that I love to look at the Mexicocina but only for a while. It is too much detail for my eye. I start to feel overwhelmed. And while I'm looking at it, I'm wondering how do you keep it clean with open windows and dust. How often do you have to wash the wonderful green pineapples to keep dust and muck from building up on every leaf. How do you keep the grout in the countertops free of bacteria. How long will it be before the tile in the sink is chipped. Sometimes my practical streak is a pain.....you know where.

Still that doesn't mean that I haven't found several ideas that I'm wondering if it is too late to do in our renovation. I've also seen some of my ideas used in similar ways that makes me more confident that I'm on the right track for having a Mexican kitchen. The book also makes me want to bring down all my Mexican dishes. Some of the kitchens in the book have Uriarte, Gorky and Capelo murals and dishes. I love all those ceramacists and have pieces of their work that I've collected over the years and I think I'll have room for them in the dining room.

If you love Mexican Style, this book needs to be on your bookshelf. By the way, the picture is a portion of the cover of the book. I hope that I don't get thrown in jail for copyright violations the next time I cross the border!

Carnitas

Along with most Mexicans, we like carnitas. Carnitas are inexpensive cuts of pork that have been simmered with spices until they are falling apart then browned in pork fat. Every place has its own recipe for making carnitas.

We had heard about the carnitas at Don Cruz del Perdon on the road to Dolores Hidalgo where the road to Taboado intersects. At first they were only open on the weekends but lots of people in San Miguel discovered them, business was good and they decided to open all week. On our return from Dolores yesterday, we decided to stop in and give them a try. They have a long narrow dining room with lots of windows, bright colorful oil-cloth on the tables. A very cheerful place. Although they have some other things on their menu, we wanted the carnitas.

Carol Schmidt of the Falling in Love with San Miguel blog wrote on July 15, 2006 that she liked the carnitas at Perdon better than the carnitas at Vicente's in Dolores Hidalgo. We thought just the opposite. We found on this particular day the carnitas at Perdon to be greasy and a bit too salty. But I will qualify that because we know that the quality of food varies in restaurants here from day to day. We also like Vicente's because they serve bean soup, a pico de gallo and pickled carrots and onions along with the carnitas. Their side order of guacamole is very good. At Perdon all of these are side orders. Of course Vicente's is a little more expensive than Perdon but we are talking about a $2 difference per 1/2 kilo.

There have been so many people that have raved about the canitas at Perdon, I think we may have hit them on an off day. I'm sure we'll stop in again on our drives back and forth to Dolores and see how the carnitas are the next time but it is hard to beat Vicente's

3200 ISO

I have had the Canon 5D camera for almost a year and in all that time, I haven't tried using it at 3200 ISO. Last night at the cemetery I did. Handheld, 3200 ISO after dark. I'm amazed at how little noise I see in this image.

Comida Corrida

Comida Corrida - Fast Food......right here in Colonia San Antonio on Orizaba. They have had a sign out for a while and we have peeked in the door but yesterday we went there for comida since we do not have a kitchen at home. Oh, my, the food is right from the Mexican cocina. Poblano rellenos, guisadas, pollo en salsa verde, res en salsa pasilla, sopa de frijoles, sopa de lenteja, arroz and ensalada. You get a "meat" with rice, beans, salad and soup......and a pitcher of cool jamaica tea.....all for 35 pesos.

The owner of this establishment is a lovely friendly woman who gets a little help from her son when he isn't in school.

It was so good for comida yesterday that we went back for breakfast this morning. We had eggs....mine with ham and Ned's Mexicana, frijoles, tortillas and steaming coffee. And the best part is, it is just a block or so away from the casa.

Day of the Dead

In between appointments yesterday, I managed to take a walk to the cemetery. The flower vendors were still arriving and I'm sure by this morning the road to the cemetery will be a full of flower and food vendors. Here are a couple of pictures from yesterday but if you want to see how things looked last year take a look here and here. And here is what I wrote about Day of the Dead last year.