Around Town, Dec 29, 2006

Meetings & Lectures

Falling in love with San Miguel

Is it still possible to live well in San Miguel on Social Security? Carol Schmidt and Norma Hair, authors of Falling ... in Love with San Miguel: Retiring to Mexico on Social Security, will talk about the current changes in San Miguel and how they affect those on modest incomes at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship on Sunday, December 31.

Schmidt is a former newspaper and magazine editor and writer who has published three mystery novels and contributed to hundreds of publications. She now writes the bimonthly column “SMA Day by Day” for Atención San Miguel. Hair is a former tax accountant and trade show organizer. 

The two met in 1979 when both were on the state board of the California National Organization of Women. They moved to San Miguel in 2002.

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 

Greening San Miguel

The Center for Global Justice is sponsoring a January 4 talk by Kevin Danaher titled “The Local Green Economy Is the Future.” Danaher is a nationally known speaker and has organized Green Festivals in San Francisco, Chicago, and Washington D.C. He is currently developing a green office building in San Francisco to house various progressive organizations as well as retail space for green merchandise. 

So what is green merchandise? First of all, it is produced in ways that won’t harm the environment. Organic food is food produced without fertilizers, pesticides or genetically modified organisms. 

Organic methods promote more sustainable and environmentally sound agricultural practices. Further, the producers of the product earn a fair price and thus can make a decent living. They also work under humane and safe conditions. Ideally, “green” might also mean cooperatively produced by worker-owned and -managed companies. 

First gathering of facilitators for healing

The first 2007 gathering of facilitators for healing, an “energy exchange,” takes place at noon on Thursday, January 4, at Privada de Pila Seca 5 (turn into the cul-de-sac opposite Pila Seca 45). The meeting is free and open to the public, including those in need. Facilitators are invited to participate. Call 152-0376 to reserve a place on the program.

Classes & Workshops

Grant-writing workshop

Learning how to “talk the talk” to granting organizations can be the key to obtaining funds for worthy projects, says Dr. Cynthia Lynch, who will host the first in a possible series of workshops designed to assist local organizations with obtaining funds.

“The funding sources are governmental organizations, family foundations, and corporate foundations, and the key is to learn how to find the organizations and how to use the language that will be most effective in obtaining grants,” she says.

Lynch is no stranger to the nonprofit world, having worked in nonprofit organizations as a volunteer and as a staffperson most of her life. She teaches grant writing at Southern University.

The workshop, held January 8 from 10am to 4pm in the Sala Quetzal of the Biblioteca, is for newcomers to the grant-writing process. Topics to be covered include how to search and find appropriate granting organizations, how to narrow the scope of a project to fit the granting organization’s guidelines, and how to frame a proposal for maximum effectiveness.

“Many people may not know that there is so much money available, and that even organizations created and working in Mexico may be eligible for reciprocity with US granting organizations,” Lynch says. 

“There are directories available that list sources of funds, but these directories cost upward of US$500 per year, which is prohibitive for many small organizations. The workshop will be the first step in accessing this information and therefore these funds,” she continues.

Future workshop topics may include how to develop a board of directors and strategic planning. The January 8 workshop will consist of three sessions, with a break for a no-host lunch. The cost of the workshop is 150 pesos per person, and all materials are provided. For information and to register, please contact Jose Luis in the box office of the Teatro Santa Ana.

La Cocina cooking classes

Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4–7pm are devoted to traditional Mexican cooking at La Cocina. The hands-on cooking 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, or go to www.mexicocooks.com.

Sazón cooking classes

On Tuesday, January 2, Sazón hosts a market tour, class and tasting from 10:30am to 12:30pm. The chef will take you on a culinary tour of San Miguel’s colorful Mercado, where you’ll meet women from the campo who bring in local vegetables, fruits, cheeses and flowers. Back in the Sazón kitchen, he explains your mystery items and creates a menu of seasonal items from the market. Cost is US$45. The market tours will be offered on January 9, 23 and 30.

On Thursday, January 4, a class on traditional Mexican cooking will be held from 11am to 1pm. Menu items include sopa purépecha (soup, originally from the neighboring state of Michoacán, made with aged cheese, crispy ancho chiles and tortilla strips), manchamanteles (literally, a “tablecloth stainer,” this simple mole with chicken has a pleasing note of pineapple and plantains), tortillas and nieve de tunas (prickly pear ice). Cost is US$55.

On Friday, January 5, the class focuses on Día de Los Reyes (Three Kings Day) and will be held from 11am to 1pm. Celebrated January 6, hot chocolate and tamales are the special treats of the day, along with Rosca de Reyes, a sweet yeast bread ring decorated with candied fruit. A little plastic doll is baked inside, and the person who gets it is obligated to throw a tamale party for the Fiesta de la Candelaria on February 2, which marks the end of the holiday season. This class will help you overcome the fear of baking yeast bread and take the mystery out of making tamales while you sip comforting hot Mexican chocolate. Cost is US$55.

Performances & Events

New Year’s arts and crafts fair at Instituto Allende

A special arts and crafts fair featuring artisans from around Mexico, many of them in San Miguel for the first time, will be held at Instituto Allende December 29–31 from 10am to 6pm. The more than 60 exhibitors will offer handmade jewelry, clothing and textiles from India, unique décor items, blown glass, leather goods, textiles, rugs, amber and fossils, among other items. Live music accompanies the fair, and food is available.

Tours & Excursions

Center for Global Justice trip to Cruz del Palmar

The rural community of Cruz del Palmar has invited the Center for Global Justice to join them in their annual Santo Entierro festival on Saturday, January 6. Come with us to this traditional celebration with a parade of the locos and dance of the sonaja. Enjoy a delicious comida prepared for us by the local women. Experience the life of the “real” Mexico, far from the beaten tourist track.

The trip costs 300 pesos, which includes comida, bilingual translation, and transportation. Advance registration is required and space is limited. For more information or for tickets, email info@globaljusticecenter.org, or call the Center for Global Justice at 150-0025 and come by to pay the fee at the Mujeres Productoras store at Calzada de la Luz 42 (near the corner of Loreto) between 10am and 5pm weekdays. Explore Pozos and the past

On Saturday, January 6, Intituto Allende Tours hosts an insightful field trip to nearby Victoria and Pozos. This outing departs at 8am. Pozos is sometimes referred to as a ghost town. A one-time silver-mining center, approximately 45 minutes from San Miguel, the Victoria and Pozos outing is a camera buff’s delight. The scenery is spectacular. The views for 360 degrees are stunning.

A free, preview lecture is at the Insituto, 4pm, Wednesday, January 3. The all-inclusive trip costs US$55. For information call 152-0226, or visit the office at Instituto Allende, Ancha de San Antonio 20.

Films & Videos

Monarch butterflies: “Winged wonders of the insect world”

On Tuesday, January 2, at 4pm the Sociedad Audubon de México, A.C., will present the popular slide show “Monarchs, Butterflies without Borders” at the Villa Jacaranda, Aldama 53. Presented by Bob Graham, a retired naturalist from Parks, Canada, this slide show details the life cycle of the monarch butterfly and its fantastic migration from the milkweed fields of the northern United States and Canada to Mexico. At the same time, Bob will emphasize some of the problems threatening the survival of this “endangered phenomenon.”

Scientists believe that monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) belong to a family whose evolutionary origins are tropical. None of this family is able to tolerate freezing at any stage of their life cycle. Nevertheless, over tens of thousands of years, monarchs have extended their breeding territory into the extensive milkweed fields of the United States and Canada.

Each fall, like many Canadians and Americans, monarchs abandon their northern homes and head south. What triggers this exodus among monarchs is uncertain, but decreasing hours of daylight and cooler temperatures probably play a major role. Their final destination is high in the mountains that make up the Sierra de Angengueo, in the state of Michoacán, only a half-day´s drive south of San Miguel de Allende. For some monarchs this journey spans much of North America.

Tickets (50 pesos) can be purchased the afternoon of the presentation. The proceeds will go to the Sociedad Audubon de México, A.C. The Sociedad would like to thank the Villa Jacaranda for the use of their cine/bar theater. For additional information, call Bob Graham at 154-9856.

Snowbird Symposium opens with film and talk

The Center for Global Justice opens its annual Snowbird Symposium next week with two events focused on the critical issue of Mexican migration. The film Letters from the Other Side will be screened on Tuesday, January 2, followed on Wednesday, January 3, by a presentation of the results of a five-month study of the “Impact of Emigration to the US on Families Left Behind in Mexico.” 

Both the film and the research results discussion transform the abstract concepts of globalization and immigration into the real and lived experiences of people we see everyday, not only here in San Miguel but also in the US. Despite the powerful economic and political forces at work, these two events provide a sense of hope that change is possible and a better and more humane approach to immigration is within our reach. 

Volunteer Opportunities

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.

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 Stephanie Hough at 152-0293 or email shough@bibliotecasma.com