June 2010 - Travels back in the USA

This was a month of many travels. We left San Miguel de Allende on June 5 and returned on June 30th. We are so grateful to our many friends and family that entertained us during this trip. Here is Ricardo with Julian - our grand nephew. We spent a few days with him and his parents Joanna and Stephan on the eastern end of Long Island. For his birthday Ricardo gave him a picture that he painted last year in Mexico. Soon he will learn how to say "elephant". From Long Island we headed to Cape Cod - see the next post about the family wedding.

Then on to Asheville, NC after a two day driving marathon including a stop at the Delaware Water Gap National Scenic Site (and a stamp in my book and hike to waterfalls). We always enjoy Asheville - especially visiting with Sophie and Amy, playing scrabble and eating their wonderful yummy meals. We also had a chance to take a wonderful yoga class with our favorite yoga instructor in the US - Cindy Dollar.

Here we are at Overlook Mountain in Montreat, NC. Then we headed to several friends in our "hometown" - Carrboro/Chapel Hill/Durham. We stayed with Marni and Fred, Lee and Eleanor and Rosey. First stop was to the UU Church in Chapel Hill where there was a 'member and friends' art show and here are our two pictures hanging. Mi Corazon Dulce (My Sweet Heart) sold and was also commissioned for a copy and will sell along with Richard's next year!

Here I am quilting a quilt for Habitat for Humanity. It was made of scraps by the UU Quilters and I agreed to get my sewing machine and machine quilt it at Eleanor's. We managed to get in a few games of bridge also both with Lee and Eleanor and with Marni and Fred. Below you can see a "suduko" quilt that I made and gave to Becky - our niece. She has moved to NC and will begin her first job - a first grade teacher in a charter school in Lewisburg, NC. It was great to have time with her and show her around our "towns".

Lastly you will see us swimming in the Eno River - a wonderful hike on a very hot day with Becky and Melva and then a chance to cool off!

Obviously we had a wonderful month and though we love San Miguel de Allende, we also love our family and friends and enjoyed every minute of our whirlwind tour of the northeast US.

Meditation and Vegetables

I can't say that we meditate on a regular basis but we have moments while in quiet surroundings that are special. Here I am in a canyon in the botanical garden. Every other Saturday I walk with my friend Agnes and we take two stops along the way for quiet meditation. It is a very special time for me. My other moments of such focus are at yoga classes and while doing artwork. I would like to get the same focus on my spanish vocabulary words!

Here is Richard in his meditation mode - at the Parque Juarez where he takes a half hour of juggling while I do my speedwalking with Marcia. Richard is also able to focus in this way at meditation class as well as yoga class. I have much to learn from him about focus and meditation.

Have you ever seen an artichoke growing? They are in the thistle family. This week I walked to the organic garden and bought an amazing pile of beautiful vegetables - all for under $5.00. Included were artichokes, beets, beet greens, fennel, dill, basil, lettuce, leeks, broccoli and cauliflower. We also bought purslane which I have eaten cooked and raw. It is a weed in the US but seems to be a veggie with one of the highest amounts of omega 3 fatty acids - something new for our repetoire.

Yesterday at the Botanical Garden there was a Nopal Festival - the main cactus of the area. There were loads of items, all made from nopal. I bought nopal pasta and small breads made of nopal. I had a delicious salad of nopal and potato served in a blue corn tortilla. Agnes had a cake and pizza made with nopal. There were so many more items. I never realized the variety of ways it can be used.

Jardin Botanico and the colorful life

Now we have been here for one month. It seems amazing to me that we still have most of a year to go. Our lives are full of daily and weekly activity. The first picture is a collage postcard that I just sent to NC. I belong (have for close to 5 years) to a postcard group and each month I send one postcard and receive one. The only requirement is that they be hand made. For me it is a good chance to do some artwork each month. In this case, I painted a piece of paper and then cut it up and glued it on a card that I painted.Then I outlined the buildings and sidewalk with a black pen. It is very much like the typical street seen we see around every corner. Next is the street outside a shop that sells wool rugs and the colorful yarns caught my eye.

The Botanical Garden (Jardin Botanico) is right in town - high up along a canyon. We have been there many times but just recently discovered that we could walk across the dam to the otherside and have a completely different view and experience. The colors of green in the fields were amazing. A good friend Agnes goes every Saturday and I will join her every other week. (The opposite Saturdays I will go to Zumba in the park).

A cactus heart wishing you LOVE.

La Gruta - Hot Springs

One of our weekly entertainments is heading to La Gruta - the hot springs on the outskirts of town. These are natural mineral springs that are in pools. There are several places taping into these underground springs and our favorite is La Gruta. Here you will see pictures of the long tunnel that goes between the hot and very hot inner cave where several times each day there is a hot shower that we take turns standing under which creates a massage feeling as it hits the body - great for after one of our intense yoga classes. So....remember when you come and visit that you must bring your swim suits.


















































I am now winding down from my 3 weeks of intense spanish in the past tense. I am making progress and next will be a 3 week private conversation class with the same teacher. I figure if she makes me talk I will do it and get used to trying to speak. Writing is much easier than speaking but as they remind me it is "poco a poco".

These other pictures are of dancing in the park one afternoon and one of several walls of sun in one of the local hotel/apartment complexes.

Vounteering in San Miguel

Richard and I have found some wonderful opportunities for volunteering now that we are here for an extended period of time. We are working with an organization called "Ojala" (www.ojala-kids.org). This is an after school program and Richard goes on Monday afternoons to teach the children English.He is having wonderful success using his juggling balls as a way to engage the children and have them learn words, body parts, action verbs, etc. Next week he will bring some magic tricks to show them as well. They are happy to be learning and having fun at the same time.
I go on Wednesdays to help with the art classes. Here are pictures from last Wednesday when I worked with the kids on collage cards for Dia de la Madre (Mother's Day). There has been an ongoing project that just finished after one year working on miniatures. These are minatures of Casa de las Flores - a flower store. I am not able to speak very well with the kids but with a bit of sign language and some encouraging words to the kids I am really enjoying this opportunity. This program is in Viejo San Miguel which is a small part of the old town which is about 15 minutes outside the city in the countryside. The younger kids (eating their oranges for snacktime) are in a different area but meet up with all of us at the end.

My other volunteer activity is with Mujeres en Cambio - an organization that raises money for women in the countryside to attend school. After primary school the families have to pay for books, uniforms and other fees so often it is only the young boys who go to school. Right now we have 150 girls who are going to HS or university through this scholarship program. Here is the website for more information: (www.mujeresencambio.com) I am working on a cookbook that they are putting together for fundraising based on the recipes from the guest chefs and members over one year of their fundraising luncheons.

I know that these are important opportunities for helping others but I find that it helps me in many ways as well - giving is receiving - we meet new friends, see happy people, and live on in the tradition of our families of helping others.

If anyone wants more information or wants to contribute money to any of these worthwhile organizations - please let me know.

April 25 Daily Life

It is hard to describe why the life here is so wonderful. Probably it is a combination of the beauty and the lifestyle. Wherever I go there are beautiful things to see and photograph. Though I have taken so many photos over the last few years, I always want to take them again. The colors are amazing and because the sky is always blue and mostly clear, the light is devine which is why artists have flocked to San Miguel over the years. The Mexican way of life is more relaxed than it is in the US even though we are busy with many activities of our choice. One difference that is noticable is that in restaurants people linger for hours and no one makes you feel like you should be moving on. The bill is not brought till asked for and so relaxing and enjoying the companyof friends is just part of everyday life. We have many friends here as we have been here before and each week we make new ones. We are getting involved in several volunteer activities which brings more people into our lives. Through our yoga classes we have met so many wonderful friends and of course we have our friends here from Chapel Hill(Barbara & David) that live here now. Our friends from Durham (Bob & Jamie) are not here right now but will return in June.

My big weekly focus is spanish. I am taking private classes and learning the past tense and direct and indirect object pronouns. I find it difficult, but feel progress happening - poco a poco. I enjoy my spanish teacher very much (Rocio). We also go to an "intercambio" which is at the Biblioteca (Library) where people of all levels meet - to learn either English or Spanish. Richard has been doing this for quite a while when here but last week was my first time. I met a lovely woman who is at about the same level as I am and she will be here for the summer to learn English so hopefully we will have many chances to work on our languages together.

Wonder what Richard is doing right now??? Most of you know that we do not have a TV in NC so are used to never watching. Here at Kathie's house (we are housesitting) there is a large screen and he is enjoying watching "Spiderman" in Spanish. I have not heard a peep from him in over an hour other than to answer questions about conjugating verbs in spanish!

Here you will see pictures from the Earth Day celebration at the Botanical Gardens yesterday, a view of the city, and "Tiangus" - the big Tuesday Market.

April 19 Bienvenudos a Mexico

We're back "home" in San Miguel de Allende for the coming year. We've been busy in the last month since our trip in March - mostly renting our house in NC for one year and moving ALL our belongings into our garage. Also last weekend was a wonderful weekend celebration of my father's life at Silver Bay on Lake George, NY with 60 of his friends and family from all times in his life. For me it was a good time to think about his whole life and keep that as a memory instead of the last 1 1/2 year of his life which had been in the forefront of my mind when thinking about him.

We've only been here a few days and already we are immersed in our life. We have reconnected to old friends, made some new ones and are back to our favorite activities - yoga classes, spanish classes, walking miles on cobblestone streets and wonderful meals at home or out with friends. I intend to write in this blog from time to time when there are new and interesting things to share and also to attach some pictures. It is a haven for good photos - each day has something new.

The new sights for us are the blooming Jacaranda trees - beautiful purple flowers everywhere. Since we have not been here at this time of the year we will be seeing different flowers. I have attached a few for you to see.

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Amor a todo, Susanita