Around Town, Aug 25, 2006, Meetings & Lectures, Classes & Workshops, Tours & Excursions, films & Videos, Volunteer Opportunities, Crossword

In a follow-up to his recent presentation on global warming, former Vermont senator Ben Zion Ptashnik addresses the issue of alternative energy at this week’s Unitarian Universalist Fellowship service. Traditional fossil-fuel energy-producing sources are disappearing rapidly, and prices are skyrocketing. Their effect upon the environment is disastrous. The time for implementing alternative energy sources, he says, is now.

The UU Fellowship meets every Sunday at 10:30am at La Posada de la Aldea, Ancha de San Antonio 15. Visitors are invited to attend the service and then join the UUs in the hotel restaurant for brunch. For more information, visit www.portalsanmiguel.com/lifestyle/unitarians/unitarians.html

It’s not your daughter’s Peace Corps! Peace Corps Mexico is testing a new model in which volunteer technical professionals are placed into government research labs and scientific agencies as “cooperantes.”

The program, now in its second year, has 22 volunteers in Mexico working in various research centers of CONACYT, the government’s science agency. Two cooperantes, Tom Chapman and Donna Breslin, will be in San Miguel de Allende on August 29 as guest speakers of the Midday Rotary Club of San Miguel de Allende.

Tom Chapman was a professor of chemical engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for 32 years and more recently was a program director with the National Science Foundation in Washington. His wife, Donna Breslin, with an M.S. in industrial engineering, has worked as a computer analyst in Madison and in Washington. In 2005, Tom and Donna, both retired, joined the Peace Corps.

No reservations are required for the meeting, which takes place Tuesday, August 29, at 12:30pm at Villa Jacaranda, Aldama 53. Lunch is also available (80 pesos) immediately following the meeting.

It is not a cathedral. It is not the oldest church in San Miguel. Its façade was finished only a 100 years ago and is now being renovated. But San Miguel de Allende’s parish church, La Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel, has become world-famous, the symbol that instantly identifies San Miguel the way the Eiffel Tower announces Paris or the Golden Gate Bridge San Francisco.

On Thursday, August 31, at 5:30pm, local author and photographer Robert de Gast will present hundreds of photographs during a slide show and lecture at the Teatro Santa Ana at the Biblioteca Pública on the history of the church. He will show the many ways in which San Miguel’s icon has been used to promote the town (and sell merchandise!).

The slide show, titled “A Portrait of the Parroquia,” will explore the spaces within the church, many seldom seen by the casual visitor. Photographs will show what it’s like to climb up the spires or to climb down into the crypt. De Gast will also show examples of how representations of La Parroquia are used to sell anything from T-shirts and coffee mugs to books and posters. Admission to the presentation is 50 pesos and benefits the many programs of the library.

Have you ever wondered what went on in the old mine buildings in such places as Pozos?

Some of the ancient mining sites have fascinating stories to tell, and the history of Mexico is tied very closely to that of the mining industry. The Spanish crown considered the mining of silver the most important aspect of the occupation. The Count de Regla, who owned the mines in the Pachuca area, was able to build two battleships for the king of Spain. The wealth of Mexico is still largely hidden underground and every state has mines; Mexico is still the largest producer of silver in the world.

Robin Luxmoore has visited and researched many of the old mines and will give an illustrated talk on the progress of mining from the ancient times, through the Spanish occupation, to the introduction of steam in the early 1800s and on to the end of that century.

Discover what went on in the old mines of Mexico at Teatro Santa Ana, Biblioteca Pública, Insurgentes 25 at 5pm, August 28. Admission is 50 pesos.

On Wednesday, August 30, at 3pm there will be a meeting of Freemasons in the Biblioteca Pública’s Sala Quetzal. A Freemason from San Antonio, Texas, Dan Owczarzak, invites other masons from around the world to meet new Masonic brothers. A donation to the library will be requested.

The general monthly meeting the Biblioteca Board is the last Thursday of every month. This month it takes place at 11am on Thursday, August 31, in the library’s Sala Quetzal.

On Wednesday, August 30, at 4pm in the Sala Quetzal of the Biblioteca Pública, internationally known yoga teacher Sonia Nelson will offer a workshop/presentation on chant and yoga. Chanting is a powerful tool for uncovering our voices and expressing the human spirit. Combined with other tools of yoga, chanting helps us to discover and influence new connections between body, mind and breath, infusing our practice of yoga with new vitality.

Taught step-by-step through listening and response, pure sounds and simple chants will accompany gentle movement, breathing and meditative practice suitable for all ages and levels of experience. This integrated approach brings relaxed energy, awakens attention and memory and encourages a natural movement of the mind toward spiritual reflection.

Sonia Nelson, director of the Vedic Chant Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, has been a student and teacher of yoga and Vedic Chant for over 30 years. Since 1975, she has studied with T.K.V. Desikachar of Chennai, India, and is a Certified Teacher Trainer with the Krishnamacharya Healing and Yoga Foundation.

A presenter at conferences and workshops throughout the United States, Sonia has recorded a number of instructional CDs as well as healing chants from the Vedic repertoire. For further information, check the Vedic Chant Center website at www.vedicchantcenter.org

The Adventurers have a “one-stop” this Saturday to San Gabriel, a center for talavera pottery. We will visit the factory where the pieces are formed, painted and fired and learn the fascinating story of where the various pigments are obtained. The vibrant green is from recycled and ground copper wire, and a shade of yellow comes from a rock mined in the nearby mountains. We will visit homes of two workshop owners, where we will see their extensive use of ceramic products. Finally, we will have time to browse and shop in their mammoth showroom, where everything from tiny salt and peppers to gigantic, triple-tiered patio fountains can be found. If you are building or remodeling, this will be a paradise for finding ceramic bath basins, tiles and murals, not to mention all sizes of pots for plants. Cameras are a must for this trip. The tour leaves from inside the Jardín, across from the Parroquia, at 10:30am.

Every Tuesday morning, discover the marvels of cacti and other Mexican plants as well as the history of El Charco with Mario Mendoza, vice-director of El Charco. An additional privilege of this visit is the opportunity to see the plants in the nursery that is not ordinarily open to the public. Many rare species and plants threatened with extinction are protected and propagated at El Charco.

The entrance fee is 30 pesos (waived for members) and the tour is 50 pesos. All proceeds benefit the garden. The tour is in English and starts at the main entrance at 9am. It lasts about two hours.

p. 61Please bring a hat and water. Space is limited; reserve by calling Mario at 044-415-101-0338 or email charco@unisono.net.mx

On Monday, August 28, Shalom SMA presents One Day in September, a highly acclaimed documentary that tells the complete and shocking story of the massacre of the Israeli team at the Munich Olympic Games in 1972. While Steven Spielberg’s movie Munich blurs the line between historical fiction and the recounting of real events, to cast doubt on the morality of counter-terrorist activity, One Day in September recounts the real story of the massacre through live film clips, news broadcasts and interviews with the police, close relatives of the victims and the sole surviving perpetrator. The film reveals the lack of vigilance on the part of the Germans and Israelis, as well as the Olympic authorities, and exposes the cynicism and bungling that led to its tragic conclusion. In doing so, One Day in September affirms the need for vigorous and aggressive counter-terrorist capabilities. For anyone interested in what really happened at Munich, the film provides a troubling but unflinching perspective on the true nature of terrorism.

The movie will be screened at 4:30pm in the TV room of the Hotel Quinta Loreto, located at Loreto 15. It is 1 hour and 43 minutes long, and a discussion follows the film. A 50-peso donation is requested.

Franco Zeffirelli again works his magic with an intimate production from the tiny 300-seat Teatro Giuseppi Verdi, located in the composer’s home town of Busetto. This outstanding performance puts as much emphasis on the cinematic aspects of the production as on the music. As a result, the performance is both vocally and visually stunning. The singers, including the chorus, actually act—and convincingly. Stefania Bonfadelli as Violetta is outstanding. Whether as flirting hostess/courtesan, faithful lover or dying consumptive, her voice, looks and demeanor make you believe every word she sings. She is that rare singer who can convince you that she is really succumbing to TB. American tenor Scott Piper as Alfredo starts a little uncertainly at the beginning—perhaps conductor Placido Domingo, who practically owned this role and has some firm ideas how it should be sung, intimidated him a little—but by Act Two Piper is a match for Bonfadelli note for note. Veteran baritone Renato Bruson as Germont doesn’t need any makeup to look and act the role, and his voice has lost none of its compelling force.

This film version of the opera, sung in Italian with English subtitles, is 139 minutes long and will be shown in the Teatro Santa Ana in the Biblioteca Pública on Saturday, September 2, at 2:30pm. Ticket price is 50 pesos.

Teaching English not only opens your heart and mind to the people of this community, but it will serve to open doors for those who study with you. Speaking English increases job and career opportunities as well as confidence and self-esteem.

And what does it give you? A way to give back to the community of San Miguel de Allende in a meaningful and rewarding way. A way to get to know Mexicans from all walks of life. Plus an opportunity to learn about yourself.

Our materials lead you through fail-safe daily lesson plans. And you do not need to speak Spanish or buy materials. Just bring your generous spirit and enthusiasm and we’ll furnish the rest. Classes meeting twice a week begin September 4. Times may be arranged to fit your schedule.