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Around Town
Meetings & Lectures
Christmas sing-along
Elsmarie Norby will lead the congregation in a sing-along of favorite Christmas carols that have been part of the heritage of most English-speaking people since birth. The entire community is encouraged and welcome to join in at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship on Sunday, December 24.
Norby, a Juilliard-trained pianist, teacher and choral director, is the founder/director of ANYËL, an organization dedicated to providing free, high-quality, early childhood musical education to the children of San Miguel de Allende.
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
Classes & Workshops
Learn to create your own altered book
An altered book is an unwanted book that has been creatively recycled, transforming it into a work of art. The book becomes the canvas for the artist’s ideas and creativity. You can make a personal journal, travel log, scrapbook, artist sketchbook or gift.
The artist starts with a hardback book chosen perhaps for its interesting cover or catchy title or personal significance. A background of paint, ink, or paper is applied to pages. Pages are torn away to make room for ephemera such as old photos, postcards, tickets, and postage stamps. Charms, buttons and other embellishments can also be used to decorate the pages. Techniques such as cutting windows, doors, and niches and making pockets, pull-tabs and pop-ups add interest. The only rule in making altered books is that there are no rules.
People who alter books like the idea of saving and recycling books that otherwise would be thrown away and turning them into a piece of art and a treasured keepsake for their travels or important events in their lives.
Sandra Stone will be giving several workshops in the following weeks in her studio in col. San Antonio. For more information call Sandra at 154-9857 or e-mail
sandrastonesma@hotmail.com
La Cocina cooking classes
On Friday, December 22, discover “The Art of Chiles Rellenos.” This popular class, taught by Mercedes Arteaga, owner of La Bugambilia restaurant, highlights the fundamentals of working with chiles. Bugambilia’s famed Chiles en Nogada, the national dish of Mexico, is on the menu, as well as chile poblano soup, traditional cheese chile rellenos, and stuffed ancho chiles, The two-hour class is followed by a small feast. The class runs from 2 to 5pm and costs US$55 per person.
Tuesday, December 26, and Thursday, December 28, are devoted to traditional Mexican cooking. Hands-on classes are taught by Kris Rudolph, owner of El Buen Café, and encompass such dishes as sopes, moles, chiles rellenos, cactus salad and tres leches cake, It's not just a cooking class, but a fun evening out with a full dinner and margaritas. The cost is US$45 per person.
For more information and registration, stop by El Buen Café, Jesús 23, between 9am and 4pm.
Noted artist returns to teach at Instituto Allende
Fred Stern, an internationally recognized innovator in public art and the application of computer and video technologies to the arts, will be teaching a class at the Instituto beginning in January.
The class, entitled “Process Explorations,” is an experimental course exploring the relationship, significance and meaning of artistic process and is open to professional artists and advanced-level art students. It begins with an exploration of personal vision and the creative process.
Topics to be covered will include the role of the art object and the meaning of completion, dealing with creative blocks, the role of exhibition, gallery and agent relationships, grant-writing strategies and use and the importance of the internet. The class structure will involve lectures, projects, research and exercises. Stern also sees the class involved in projects reaching out to the community.
The class will begin January 10 and meet for 10 weeks on Wednesday afternoons from 4pm to 7pm at the Instituto, Ancha de San Antonio 22.
Cooking classes at Sazón
On Tuesday, December 26, from 10:30am to 12:30pm our chef will take you on a culinary adventure to San Miguel’s colorful mercado. You’ll meet the ladies from the campo who bring in all the local vegetables, fruits, cheeses and flowers, and you'll learn to shop like a pro. Back in the Sazón kitchen, the chef will show you the basic techniques of roasting and preparing chiles and how to create perfect salsas. Cost is US$45.
On Wednesday, December 27, Gonzalo Martínez leads a class and tasting featuring a New Year’s Eve buffet and cocktails from 3pm to 5:50pm. Chef Gonzalo has designed an elegant holiday buffet to show off your culinary and artistic talents to your lucky guests. Elegant does not mean complicated! You’ll be amazed at how easily you’ll master techniques and recipes. And you’ll toast your success with special champagne cocktails. Cost is US$65.
On Thursday, December 28, Sazón holds a class and tasting featuring a taquiza (taco party) from 11am to 1pm. What could be more fun than a traditional taquiza? Our chef will teach you to roll and press tortillas like a master, create fillings for your tacos and to use the molcajete to make a perfect guacamole. Cost is US$55.
On Friday, December 29, from 11am to 1pm, Chef Gonzalo Martínez holds a class on botanas (Mexican hors d’oeuvres). This class is a must for anyone who loves to entertain and delights in surprising their guests. Chef Gonzalo will shop for what’s fresh and seasonal at the market and will teach you how to turn ho-hum hors d’oeuvres into memorable and beautifully plated morsels—all with a delicious Mexican twist. Cost is US$55. Sazón is located at Correo 22. See the website at
www.sazonsanmiguel.com
Tours & Excursions
Instituto Allende tours Querétaro
On Saturday, December 30, Instituto Allende will host a field trip to the city of Querétaro at 9am. Originally, Querétaro was an Otomí Indian settlement that the Aztecs eventually conquered. With the expansion of national tourism, Querétaro has become an important tourist destination.
The city has played a significant role internationally. Maximilian, one-time emperor of Mexico, was executed there, and the treaty between the US and Mexico ending the Mexican-American war was negotiated and drawn up in Querétaro. The city also has a reputation for embracing the arts.
During the outing, there will be stops at the famous aqueduct, an ambitious engineering feat from the mid-18th century, the Cemeterio de los Hombres Illustres, the Plaza de Armas and Querétaro’s centerpiece, the Villa del Villar del Aquila Fountain.
Querétaro’s popular outdoor market is on the itinerary, as is a walking tour through the typical colonial streets to see the gardens, churches, fountains and the house of La Marquesa, now a luxury hotel. Finally, we will visit the Hill of the Bells, where the Benito Juárez Monument and the Chapel of Archduke Maximilian stand.
Instituto Allende tours are all-inclusive, including transportation, museum fees and a restaurant meal. Bilingual guides offer insight within a secure environment. Each Wednesday at the Instituto at 4 pm, there is a free lecture that previews the forthcoming week’s field trip. Each tour costs US$55. Reservations are required and fees must be paid in advance. Visa and MasterCard are accepted. For more information, visit at Ancha de San Antonio 20 or call 152-0226.
Performances & Events
Dates for January crafts fair changed
The dates of Instituto Allende’s January Arts and Crafts Fair have been changed to January 6 and 7, rather than January 13 and 14 as published earlier in Atención.
Volunteer Opportunities
Call for volunteer proofreaders
Are you pathological about punctuation and grammar? Then we want you!
Get the inside info on San Miguel first and join the Atención team with a few hours per week of volunteer proofreading (hard copy and on-screen). Excellent knowledge of English grammar and punctuation is essential. Contact editor-in-chief Suzanne Ludekens at
edit@atencionsanmiguel.org
Volunteer opportunities at La Tienda
Do you enjoy working with people? Do you have a background or interest in retail sales? If so, La Tienda Gift Shop is the place for you.
Assist customers and perform cashier duties in our attractive library gift shop, La Tienda, located in the main patio at the Biblioteca Pública. We offer a 10% discount to gift shop volunteers. Orientation to the library and training in the gift shop will be provided. This is a great opportunity if you enjoy meeting new people, helping others and gaining valuable community and retail experience.
We need friendly volunteers to assist with displaying and selling merchandise in our fund-raising gift shop. Patrons include international visitors as well as local residents.
These are sales and customer service positions in a small gift shop that specializes in Mexican crafts, jewelry, books and other gift items. Volunteers may work in the shop and also assist in vending at special events, good opportunities for people who are results-oriented, flexible and dedicated. We’re looking for people who are self-motivated and team-oriented ... good communicators and good listeners ... honest and innovative. Applicants should have good skills with the public and be able to handle sales, make change, and keep up with paperwork related to sales. If you are looking for volunteer work in which you can truly make a difference in people’s lives, consider La Tienda.
We need volunteers who are free at these times: Fridays and Saturdays 10am to 2pm and Fridays 3pm to 6pm.
Contact store manager Stephanie Hough at 152-0293 or e-mail shough@bibliotecasma.com
Biblioteca holiday hours
The Biblioteca will be closed
Dec. 25, 2006, and January 1, 2007.
The Biblioteca will be open from 10am to 2pm from December 22 to December 30.
La Tienda will be closed
December 23 thru December 28.
The Atención office will be closed the following days:
December 25 and 26 and January 1 and 2.
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