Around Town

Meetings & Lectures

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

Dr Thomas Lynch speaks on "Where Did Jesus Get His Ideas," at this Sunday's Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Meeting.

Jesus is one of the most influential people in human history, and his message was not one consistent with a humble background from the Jewish area of the Roman Empire. Although his ideas were definitely Jewish, his thoughts were not mainstream Jewish thought for his time. Dr Lynch will explore sources which may have influenced the thoughts of the man from Galilee.

Dr Lynch is both an Interfaith Minister and a Professor of Public Administration. He currently teaches as a Full Professor at Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge. He and his wife, Dr Cynthia E. Lynch, lead a discussion on "Growing Spirituality" at the Biblioteca Pública on Tuesday at 3:30 to 5pm during July and August.

The UU Fellowship meets every Sunday at 10:30am at La Posada de la Aldea, Ancha de San Antonio 15, and welcomes people of all ages, races, religions, sexual orientation and gender identity. Visitors are invited to attend the service and then join the UUs in the hotel restaurant for brunch. For more information about Mexico’s only chartered UU Fellowship visit portalsanmiguel.com/lifestyle/unitarians/unitarians.html.

Midday Rotary Club

Dr Cesar A. Gil Hoyos, Medico Cirujano y Homeopata, will be the guest speaker at the Midday Rotary club meeting on Tuesday, August 7th. Dr Gil will be talking about alternative medicine and anti-aging. This will be the first in the ‘Fall Series’ of talks regarding medical issues.

Dr Gil is from Cali, Columbia, and has lived in Mexico for 20 years. His medical and homeopathic training was at the Instituto Politecnico Nacional in Mexico City. Dr Gil also studied Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese acupuncture, neural therapy and herbal and naturopathic medicines. He is currently studying anti-ageing medicine at the Morelos University in Cuernavaca-Morelos. Dr Gil has had his own practice for the last 12 years, 9 of them in San Miguel. He has a store on Salida a Celaya and prepares homeopathic medicines in his small laboratory.

The Rotary Club of San Miguel de Allende-Midday meets every Tuesday at the Villa Jacaranda Hotel, Aldama 53, Centro. Check-in time is 12–(N)12:25 and the meeting starts promptly at 12:30. Visiting Rotarians and others interested in Rotary are invited to attend this meeting. Rotary is an organization of business and professional persons united worldwide who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world. Lunch follows at 1:30 in the hotel dining room. For more information, please go to the website www.rotarysma.org. 


Center for Global Justice panel

Is the nation-state disappearing with globalization? What is imperialism? Is it compatible with democracy? Are there alternatives to neo-liberal globalization? 

These are some of the big questions being debated by a group of scholars at the Center for Global Justice this week. They will share their ideas with the San Miguel public in Globalization and Imperialism on Tuesday at 2pm in Sala Quetzal in the Biblioteca Pública. They are part of a larger working group that has been exploring for the last year the changing nation-state, contemporary imperialism and democracy.

The panel will consist of Dr Orlando Cruz of the Cuban Institute of Philosophy, Dr Steve Martinot, philosopher at San Francisco State University and Dr Cliff DuRand and Arturo Yarish, Research Associates of the Center for Global Justice. Join them for an intellectually stimulating discussion. Some of their writings on these topics are available at www.globaljusticecenter.org. 


Center for Global Justice lecture

“There is no work,” is often heard from unemployed rural and urban workers across the Americas. Of course by “work” they mean labor paid by others, others who also derive the profits. Capital hiring labor is indeed the dominant pattern, but it is not the only one. In fact, there is work; work which is often organized so that workers get both basic income and profits. Labor then hires capital. From Canada to Argentina, thousands of worker cooperatives have long acted as such “collective entrepreneurs.” Unburdened by absentee owners or costly managers, their capitalization requirements are lower. This has made them an increasingly attractive option for small businesses and farmers suffering displacement by transnationals in Mexico and Latin America. Co-ops come in many forms, from credit co-ops offer banking services at reasonable rates under account-holder control to housing co-ops open books to resident-members who vote on expenditures to consumer organized co-ops for bulk purchases at lower prices. All fit into a viable new economy in which human need comes before profit.

Betsy Bowman and Bob Stone will discuss the new worker co-op movements that have grown in recent years in response to movement of capital to lower wage areas, as a strategy for self-help and employment, in How Co-ops Are Changing the World from Canada to Argentina on Wednesday, August 8, at 3pm in Sala Quetzal in the Biblioteca Pública. A donation of 50 pesos is requested.

Classes & Workshops

La Cocina cooking classes

Tuesday, Aug 7, from 4–(N)7pm is devoted to Mexican food, traditional dishes as well as a few with a modern twist. The menu includes roasted tomatillo salsa, chile pasilla salsa with skirt steak, grilled vegetable and goat cheese chile rellenos, chayote salad, and raspberry chipotle brownies.

On Wednesday, Aug 8, from 2–(N)5pm, savor some traditional dishes made with corn—(M)the soul of Mexican cooking. This popular class, taught by Mercedes Arteaga, owner of La Bugambilia restaurant, features pozole, tamales, quesadillas and corn flan. The cost is US$55 per person.

Thursday, Aug 9, from 4–(N)7pm is mole class. After snacking on freshly made sopes con tinga, you'll learn the secrets of making homemade mole, one of Mexico's most festive dishes. The menu features black mole cheese enchiladas, green mole with chicken, cactus salad, tres leches cake and café de olla.

Tuesdays and Thursdays are not just a cooking class, but a fun evening out with a dinner and margaritas. The cost is US$45 per person. For more information and registration, stop by El Buen Café, Jesus 23, between 9am and 4pm or go to mexicocooks.com. 


Mindfulness meditation retreat

Under the auspices of the Meditation Center of San Miguel, Steve Shealy will offer a weekend retreat, Mindfulness Meditation Beyond the Cushion: An Integrated Practice, Aug 3–(N)5. The following weekend, Aug 11–(N)12, a provocative workshop, Mindfulness and Emotional Healing, will be hosted by LifePath Center in San Miguel. While these are self-contained, free-standing programs, they are complementary, as the skills developed during the meditation retreat would be a natural foundation for the healing workshop.

Mindfulness is bringing compassionate, non-judgmental awareness to what is happening to us or within us in the present moment. With mindfulness, thoughts, emotions and physical sensations move endlessly through the mind and body without reactivity or resistance. Without mindfulness, uncomfortable experiences, like pain or fear, may activate unresolved emotional conflicts that can, in turn, trigger a regression into old reactive patterns or “schemas.”

Through mindfulness meditation practice, one sees that there is no need to suppress or to unskillfully express these energies. One can simply allow them to move through and out of the body/mind with gentle compassion. As this old repressed energy is the fuel for the schemas, its release can lead to greater freedom from emotional distress (e.g., anxiety, depression, panic and confusion) and related negative habits and addictions. The resulting spaciousness and freedom is the basis for true and lasting happiness.

The workshop will include basic instruction and practice in mindfulness meditation and the cultivation of non-judgmental awareness. With this foundation, conditioned emotional energies can then be identified, released and a new level of emotional freedom realized. The fee includes three training CDs and a light vegetarian lunch each day. No prior meditation or yoga experience is necessary to benefit from this workshop. To register please visit LifePath at lifepathretreats.com or call 888-667-3873.

Steve Shealy, PhD, a clinical psychologist with an independent practice in Tampa, Florida, specializes in mindfulness-based psychotherapy aimed at long-term relief of anxiety, depression, stress-related physical disorders, addictions, and intimate relationship, marriage and meaning of life issues. To learn more, visit his website: BeMindful.org.

Touching the Christ Within, an exploration of the Sermon on the Mount

In this transformational two-day workshop from Auguast 8–9 with Alejandro Negrete, you will explore Jesus' powerful teachings of the Sermon on the Mount taken from The Gospel of the Perfect Life. In Part One, discover the universal truths Jesus taught and how they are deeply relevant to our life today, giving a clear map of our return to the Source, the spark of God which dwells within us.

Part Two includes a session of Pneuma Breathwork, breathing consciously and deeply while accompanied by inspiring music, holding the intention to connect with our Inner Self. This can lead to a transpersonal experience of direct insight which connects us to the virtues of love, wisdom and well-being, through which we come into a greater state of clarity regarding our life's purpose and our unique gifts. Alejandro Negrete is a trained teacher and breathwork facilitator of the Pneuma System, and a Reiki Healer and Spiritual Counselor from the Pneuma University. To register call 152-7854 or email aleanimas@yahoo.com. The cost for both days is 600 pesos. Part One on August 8 takes place at the LifePath Center from 11am to 3pm and Part Two on august 9 at the En Forma Aerobics Studio (Mesones 14) from 11am to 3pm.

Tours & Excursions

Instituto Allende trip to Mexico City

Instituto Allende will lead an overnight field trip to Mexico City and the nearby pyramids on Saturday, August 11. The Mexico City trip provides a historic downtown tour of the nation’s capital taking in the impressive Bellas Artes, presently featuring a special Frida Kalho exhibit, el Caballito Monument, the Zocalo, the Cathedral and the National Palace.

The valley of Mexico was, as it still is today, the center of Mesoamerica’s high civilization. For centuries has been considered the richest of all zones. It is said one cannot know the history of America without viewing the major sites and museums in what is now Mexico’s Federal District.

Participants will visit the site of the great temple, which was once the heart of the Aztec ceremonial world. The temple was completely buried and was almost forgotten for 270 years after the conquest. Since the rediscovery, artifacts have come to light like the eight-ton statue of the Moon Goddess and a 24-ton calendar stone. There’s an adjacent museum that houses a magnificent collection of Aztec art including altars, statuary and weapons of the time. The quantity and quality of finds far surpasses anything previously discovered from this period of Mesoamerican history.

There will be a visit to the renowned Anthropological Museum, a hallmark location, dedicated to the study of humanity in this part of the world. The Anthropological Museum is an in-depth complex that perpetually educates and inspires a nation and its people. Explanations of all artifacts and installations are printed out next to each exhibit in Spanish and English. At night there will be a tour of Mexico City’s nightlife. On Sunday there is a trip to Teotihuacán, Mexico’s unsurpassable pyramids, a true wonder and maybe alone worth the trip. The cost for this trip is US$225, all-inclusive: (transportation, hotel, museum fees, and four restaurant meals and refreshments.)

Instituto Allende tours are all-inclusive; including transportation, museum fees and restaurant-served meals. Native-speaking, bilingual guides lead all tours and offer further insight within a secure environment. A free preview lecture of upcoming weekend field trips takes place each Wednesday at 4pm at Instituto. Reservations are a must and fees must be paid in advance. Visa and MasterCard accepted. For more information, visit Instituto Allende at Ancha de San Antonio 20 or call 152-0226.


Botanical Garden tour

Every Tuesday morning, discover the marvels of cacti and other Mexican plants as well as the history of El Charco with Mario Mendoza, Assistant Director of the garden. The tour includes a visit to the nursery that contains many rare species and is not usually open to the public.

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, lasting about two hours. Bring a hat and water. Space is limited, so reserve by calling 154-8838 or email charcodelingenio@gmail.com. 


Saturday Adventurers

Join the Adventurers this week to visit the glass-blowing factory Guajuye to see how they recycle old glass. Watch the workers as they take a red-hot glob of glass from the kiln and then run with it to a bench where they blow and shape the molten glass into the desired form. Nearby all the glass products are on display and on sale at factory prices. Next to beautiful Rancho de Agua, a dream of elegant ranch living, with a Fron-ton court, a pool-house and stables with Andalusian horses. These beauties will perform a dressage demonstration in the small ring. After visiting the ranch and guest house, we retire to the pool-house for refreshments, courtesy of the Centro de Crecimiento. This Tour leaves from inside the Jardín, across from the Parroquia, at 10:30am. Cameras are a must!


Garden Lecture series

This month we have the privilege of visiting the ranch in Los Galvanes where many products are made that we sell at the botanical garden—(M)soaps, lotions and creams, shampoos and more. Luis Brito, an ex-Jesuit priest, and his wife moved to this community over 30 years ago. They built an adobe house, use solar energy for electricity and methane for the gas stove and grow the plants they need to make the natural products they offer.

Since it is a little difficult finding the ranch, we will meet at the parking lot at the Aurora Factory and leave from there at 9:15am sharp on August 6, following Mario Mendoza, vice-director of the botanical garden.

Cost is 70 pesos for El Charco members and 100 pesos for non-members. Exact change is appreciated. Please reserve a space at nzerriffi@yahoo.com. 


International Lions Club trip

A 3 day trip to Xilitla and the Sierra Gorda Missions is on the agenda for the International Lions Club of San Miguel. The group will depart on Wednesday, August 22 and return on Friday, August 24, on an air-conditioned bus with bathroom facilities. The first stop will be in Jalpan to view the mission church there, then on to the Misión Conca Hotel and the mission there. The leader of the missions was Fray Junipero Serra who went on to found the California mission chain. The churches, built mid-1700s, are beautifully restored and are noted for their colorful facades carved with symbolic figures.

The next morning, the bus will head for Xilitla and the Edward James gardens, Las Pozas. This is a bizarre collection of concrete buildings, bridges, sculptures and spiral stairways leading nowhere. It is hoped that the jungle will not reclaim the marvelous surreal fantasy. On the return trip to the hotel, the bus will stop at the other missions. 

On the return trip on Friday, the bus will make a stop in Bernal for shopping, and then stop for lunch on the way back to San Miguel. There will be two bring-your-own-bottle cocktail parties with nibbles supplied by the Lions. The cost includes a donation to the Lions to support the clinic on 63 Correo which dispenses glasses and does diabetes testing for the needy on Thursday mornings. The total cost is 1600 pesos each for double occupancy, and 2130 pesos for a single, including bus, hotel, tips and breakfasts. Reservations and deposit must be made by August 9. For information, call Jean Schickel in the mornings at 152-0934.


Performances & Events

Authors’ Sala book fair

More writers have joined the Authors Sala Book Fair, which commemorates the fourth anniversary of the San Miguel Authors Sala. Maruja González, a San Miguel author of two collections of short stories, received the prestigious national Jorge Ibargüengoitia prize in 2004 for her first novel, Los Empeños de Consuelo (Consuelo's Resolve), which she will be presenting at the Fair. Local author Eva Hunter will be at the Fair with her book, Lord of the Dolls: Village in Xochilmilco. Mexican writer Víctor Sahuatoba is an author of poetry, essay and narrative. His book, available at the Book Fair, is San Miguel Notebook. In his introduction to the book, Tony Cohan writes, “On the mark narratives that are the essence of tenderness, humor and passion. San Miguel refracted. ‘Thirteen ways of looking at a blackbird’ as Wallace Stevens had it. Here are fourteen.”

Previously announced authors who will be at the Fair include Manja Argue, Charlotte Bell, James Cervantes, Alice Denham, Joseph Dispenza, Janice Eidus, Wayne Greenhaw, Ricky Harris, Gerald Helferich, Halvard Johnson, C.M Mayo, Susan V. Page, Pat Perrin and Wim Coleman, Kris Rudolph, Linda Schor, Sharon Solwitz, Masako Takahashi and Patrice Wynne.

For more information go to the Authors Sala website at www.sanmiguelauthors.com  or contact Fair organizer Kathy Devine at katalinasma@hotmail.com. 



Arts and crafts fair at Instituto Allende

Instituto Allende will host its final arts and crafts fair during the summer season Saturday and Sunday, August 4–(N)5 from 10–(N)6pm. Some of San Miguel’s finest artists and others from around the nation come to show their items at the fair. There is all-day entertainment and a variety of foods.

Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteering at the Biblioteca

If you would like to volunteer to assist in any of the following departments, please see Elia in the Sala Infantil, Monday-Friday, 4–(N)5pm, or send an email to volunteers@bibliotecasma.com and Judy Boston will get back to you. The departments with the most need are La Tienda, the English Book Committee (which needs shelf readers at the moment), English classes and conversation with students, the computer room, the Sala Infantil with literacy programs and painting, administration, the Café, the Sunday House and Garden Tour and Atencíon. A minimum commitment of 3 months is requested for most of these positions.

See you in the funny papers

Mark Saunders, creator of Atención’s “Más o Menos” cartoon, invites suggestions from readers for funny material about living in San Miguel that would lend itself to a cartoon. Selected ideas will be drawn by the cartoonist, and authors will be given credit as well as a signed copy of their cartoon. Please send your “expat” cartoon ideas to edit@atencionsanmiguel.org. .