Around Town, Nov 10, 2006
Meetings & Lectures
Mexico’s presidential election
Hector Ulloa discusses the process, meaning, and implications of Mexico’s recent presidential elections at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship on Sunday, November 12.
Ulloa, a longtime student and observer of Mexican history and journalism, is currently the academic dean of the Instituto Allende and a former editor of Atención.
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
Midday Rotary Club
On Tuesday, November 14, Brian Smart, World Past President of the Rotary International Travel & Hosting Fellowship (ITHF), will speak at the Rotary Club of San Miguel de Allende-Midday meeting. Brian, a member of the Rotary Club of Kerikeri, New Zealand, and his wife Janice are visiting San Miguel for a month.
The International Travel & Hosting Fellowship exists to promote and facilitate regional, national and international connections among its members. This organization currently consists of over 2,000 Rotarians and their partners who enjoy travel and connecting with people of other cultures and who understand that fellowship really does make a difference in Rotary.
The Rotary Club of San Miguel de Allende-Midday meets every Tuesday at 12:30pm at the Villa Jacaranda Hotel, Aldama 53. Visiting Rotarians and others interested in Rotary are invited to attend. Lunch follows at 1:30pm in the hotel dining room. For more information, visit the website at
www.rotarysma.org
Classes & Workshops
Shambhala training
At the heart of the Shambhala teachings is the view that a dignified life based on meditative understanding is accessible to everyone. Shambhala training is a series of contemplative workshops suitable for both beginning and experienced mediators. Here, participants experience the profound but simple technique of mindfulness-awareness meditation while exploring the challenges of daily life as opportunities for personal wakefulness and creating enlightened society.
The training consists of two series of weekend workshops (called Levels).The first series, “The Heart of Warriorship,” consists of five levels. Although the levels are sequential, participants can sign up for each level separately and may elect to discontinue the training at any time. Each weekend includes meditation training and practice, talks by senior instructors, personal interviews, group discussions and social interaction.
On Friday, November 17, at 7:30pm, Shambhala presents Level 1: The Art of Being Human. This free program will be in English with translation into Spanish. Training continues on Saturday, November 18, from 8:30am until 5pm, and Sunday, November 19, from 10am until 5pm. These sessions include meals and snacks. All sessions will be held at the Meditation Center, Callejón Blanco 4.
For additional information regarding the workshops, call Margaretta Sander or John Perkins at 120-0767 or via email at msander@ca.inter.net.
Visit www.shambhala.org
or www.shambhala.es/index.html
for information regarding Shambhala.
Intuition workshop
Beginning November 24 and running through December 15, a four-week course entitled “Awaken Your Intuition” will be taught by Dorie Beach, MSW, every Friday from 3 to 5pm.
In this course, participants will develop techniques for defining and empowering intuition in daily life and will be exposed to a wide range of cutting-edge literature on awakening one’s intuition.
Additionally Beach, an enthusiastic student of the intuitive process, has designed written exercises to expand the facility of intuition and will conduct group discussions to validate students’ experiences as the class progresses.
Beach holds a Master of Social Work from Adelphi University and has been a Board Certified Diplomat of Clinical Social Work and a member of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. She trained in individual, group and family therapy and is experienced in therapeutic work with cancer patients. Beach also served as an individual and group bereavement counselor with Hospice of the Valley, Phoenix, Arizona. She has been a resident of San Miguel for over seven years, where she maintains a private psychotherapy practice.
The only course requirements are a thick spiral notebook and an open mind. The fee is 800 pesos for four weeks’ study, including out-of-class exercises. Space is very limited so early reservations are advised. For more information, call Dorie Beach at 154-7605 or email delaplaya3@yahoo.com.
Computer obedience training
Beginning Tuesday, November 28, and continuing twice weekly for four weeks, Roger Hind’s acclaimed computer classes for new users and for those who want to review the basics will be offered in the computer training room at the Biblioteca.
Hind is particularly well known for his ability to put at ease those suffering from “computerphobia.” Classes will be in plain English (no computerese!). Each student will have his or her own computer, and there will be lots of hands-on exercises to reinforce the principles as they are presented. Please note that the classes are for PC users—the classroom does not have Macs.
Among the topics to be covered are introduction to computers and computing, Windows and basic Windows techniques, word processing and internet-based functions such as browsing, searching and managing email and attachments.
Classes will run from 10:30am until 1pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays for four weeks, beginning Tuesday, November 28. Pre-enrollment, including payment of the course fee of 350 pesos, is required. Classes are limited to 10 people, who must be temporary or full members of the library. A temporary membership costs 150 pesos, of which 100 pesos is refundable when you leave San Miguel. A detailed manual written by Hind is an essential adjunct to the class and is available at the first class for 150 pesos. Hind donates 100 percent of the course fee to the library’s scholarship fund.
For more information regarding course objectives and content, contact Hind by phone at 154-6552 or via email at
rogerhind@hotmail.com
Tours & Excursions
Saturday Adventurers
On November 11, the Adventurers meet artist Ana Thiel, who combines almost anything from the junk yard—odd pieces of oxidized iron, scraps of burnt wood and twisted, rusty wire—with molten glass. We will visit the foundry where the furnaces melt the glass she uses in her sculptures. In her gallery and garden, we will see her prize-winning sculptures on display.
We will also travel outside the city to enjoy “spring” in Mexico with wildflowers blooming along the roadsides and to tour the Madrazo family’s Rancho La Laguna home. Here they grow the produce that is processed in their San Miguel cannery. Through a stone-paved courtyard featuring a cantera fountain, we enter their beautiful home. Typical of many Mexican houses, the principal rooms open off a large, bougainvillea-filled patio. Following the red-tiled corridor, we emerge to find a verdant lawn with mature trees and a most unusual pool. The tour leaves the Jardín, across from the Parroquia, at 10:30am.
Explore the campo with Global Justice
San Miguel de Allende is surrounded by 500 rural communities. Most of us know little of life in these small settlements—home to many of Mexico’s poorest citizens. The Center for Global Justice is establishing communications with some of these communities in an effort to better understand campo life.
You can participate in this Diálogo Comunitario by joining one of our day trips to the countryside.
On Saturday, November 18, the Center will visit Boca de La Cañada, a community of 350 persons, located at the mouth of the picturesque Cañada de La Virgen (Canyon of the Virgin). You will have an opportunity to talk with the people, learn about the ancient culture and history of the indigenous Otomi, find out why so many are migrating to the US, share a traditional comida with them and enjoy the music of el Norte played by local musicians. Then you can hike through the canyon, or rent a horse and explore it on horseback.
This is your opportunity to venture beyond the familiar cobblestone streets of San Miguel and experience a piece of México profundo. The tour will leave at 9am from the Center for Global Justice, Calzada de la Luz 42. A 300-peso ticket covers transportation, the comida, and the services of a translator. Advance registration is required. Call 150-0025 for a reservation or come by the Center weekdays between 9am and 2pm to purchase your ticket.
Cacti Propagation at the Botanical Garden
This month we have the opportunity to learn about propagating cacti from Martin Smith, curator of the Botanical Garden who has recently returned to San Miguel from his native England.
This session will demonstrate different techniques of propagation of succulents and takes place in the nursery at the botanical garden on November 16th at 9:30a.m. Cost is 100 pesos for non-members and 70 for members. Please reserve by contacting Naomi at
nzerriffi@yahoo.com.
Performances & Events
International Potluck Dinner
Don’t forget the International Pot Luck Dinner on Saturday, November 11, at 6:30pm at St. Paul’s Church. The featured cuisine will be East Indian food. You don't have to be a member of St. Paul’s congregation to participate—everyone in town is invited. You must bring a dish that serves 8 to 10 people.
Call Pat Caballero at 152-7663 for reservations. If you don’t cook, she will give you ideas about what you can buy to bring to the dinner.
Casting call
You don’t need a degree in English history to know about the violation of a country’s laws by its leaders or of a country’s leaders who brand their citizens as disloyal when those citizens disagree with them. Nor do you have to be drenched in English history to appreciate Robert Bolt’s beautifully written story A Man for All Seasons, about King Henry VIII and his problems with his wife and, in particular, with Sir Thomas More.
The Actors Lab is holding auditions for the casting of A Man for All Seasons on Monday, November 13, from 10am to 1pm at the Biblioteca’s Teatro Santa Ana. The cast calls for nine adult men, ages 25 to 70+, and one young woman. The play will be presented this winter with seven evening performances and two matinees. Rehearsals will run from four to six weeks.
Contact Murray Kamelhar at 152-4942 if you have any questions.
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
Apprenez le français!
El 15 de Noviembre comenzaremos las clases de francés en la Biblioteca Pública, a cargo de la maestra Florence Dengreville, nativa de la ciudad de Annecy en los Alpes franceses. Dengreville tiene un postgrado en la enseñanza del francés como idioma extranjero, ha sido directora de la Alianza Francesa de la ciudad de Puebla, directora del instituto Universitario de Lengua y Cultura Francesa, en la Universidad Católica de Toulouse, Francia, así como maestra particular y traductora.
El método que utiliza la maestra Dengreville es interactivo y divertido, usando juegos de rol, grabaciones, así como conversación, ya que su clase es impartida en su mayoría en francés.
A partir del día 15 de Noviembre, cada miércoles de 2:30 a 3:30pm en la cafetería Santa Ana de la Biblioteca Pública, estarán invitados tanto los estudiantes como las personas de habla francesa en general al taller de conversación, en el que se practicará tanto el habla como se entrenará el oído al sonido natural del idioma.
Las clases serán impartidas en la sala Gloria Grant de la Biblioteca Pública. Para mayores informes e inscripciones favor de comunicarse con la maestra Florence Dengreville al teléfono 044 415 109 59 27.
Platica sobre El Nacimiento de la Joyería Prehispánica
El inicio de la metalurgia en América según algunos investigadores, se da aproximadamente antes del año 1000 de nuestra era en la región de Perú, Ecuador y Colombia.
La tecnología de la metalurgia en Mesoamérica se desarrolla entre los años 600 a 800 d.C, probablemente dicho conocimiento fue introducido desde el Ecuador por vía marítima. En México, los primeros registros sobre el trabajo con metales se encuentran en la zona del occidente.
Raul Ybarra estudia las Técnicas de Fundición de la Joyería Prehispánica, que ha presentado en los Congresos de Arqueología y Metalurgia en México.
Ybarra posee Maestría en Ciencias con especialidad en Embriología y más de 25 años de experiencia en las diversas técnicas de elaboración de joyería.
Ybarra va a dar una ponencia en la Sala Quetzal de la Biblioteca Publica de San Miguel, el próximo Viernes 17 de Noviembre sobre las técnicas de elaboración de joyería prehispánica y mostrará algunos de los moldes con diseños en plata. La Ponencia será en español, entrada Gratuita, a las 5pm.
Feature Workshop
You are how you move
By Joseph Dispenza
Ricky Harris taught Oprah Winfrey how to walk.
Harris was being interviewed by the popular talk show host about how to move with grace and confidence. Oprah got quite excited and said, “Show me!”
Harris immediately began walking gracefully and confidently around the set and down the aisles in the audience, followed by Oprah.
It was not the first time she had coached a celebrity, but the stars she had worked with previously were ice skaters. Her first book, Choreography and Style for Ice Skaters, was published in 1980, and is still the only definitive book on choreographing a skating program. Busybody Exercises for Bodies Too Busy to Exercise came out in 2002, and Coach’s Manual on Choreography and Style for Ice Skaters was published in 2003. Soon to be published is her fourth book, Ageless Attitudes: Staying Youthful Forever.
Harris has been involved in body development most of her life. She was first educated by the U.S. Air Force as an instructor in physical training. After the service, she entered the professional ice skating world, performing with the Ice Follies and the Sonja Henie shows. Following that, she obtained her BA in Drama, MFA in Dance and PhD in Choreography from the University of California, Irvine. She created a PBS television Series, Dancethenics, combining exercise and dance, before being appointed Professor of Dance at Chapman University in Orange, California. Now a renowned Olympic coach and choreographer for competitive ice skaters, she conducts workshops and seminars internationally for professional and lay people.
In the last 30 years, Ricky has developed a formula that has opened doors not only for people in the arts but for laypeople as well. Golfers, musicians, housewives and artists have all taken her workshops. Previous experience is not necessary. It is for men and women who want to learn about themselves and how the body communicates through movement. As the process develops, what is seen as body language is a manifestation of what is felt inside.
“The process of understanding movement is one of working from the inside out,” Ricky says. “As the process develops, what is seen as body language is a manifestation of what is felt inside. The development of the use of energy and movement problem solving, results in the alleviation of fear, low self-esteem, shyness and insecurities.”
Ricky provides tools for making movement and understanding the relationship between music and movement. These create an approach to thinking that contributes to efficient and effective problem solving in one’s business and personal life. Learning about movement leads to an ageless creative mind and spirit, resulting in originality, laughter and sensuality, with the ability to dream and fantasize, which is mandatory for inventive productivity.
This day-long workshop is held at LifePath Center, Recreo 80, on Saturday, November 11, from 10am to 5pm. Cost is US$75. Enrollment is limited and advance registration is required. Call 154-8465 or email
info@lifepathretreats.com
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