AROUND TOWN

Meetings & Lectures

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

Roger Hind and Joan Strouse talk about the objectives and successes of Mujeres en Cambio at this Sunday’s meeting of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.

Mujeres En Cambio is a non-profit organization committed to developing economic sustainability and education for women living in the rural communities of central Mexico. Public education in Mexico is not free past the 6th grade. Junior high and high school are beyond the means of poor families. The group’s scholarship program seeks young women who want to improve their living conditions, and those of their families and communities. Currently, the organization supports more 130 students, primarily in elementary through high school, from the rural communities of Atotonilco, San Marcos, Agustín Gonzales, Corral de Piedras, Támbula and Alcocer.

Mujeres is also interested in creating projects where rural women can develop products to sell and increase their family’s incomes. The most successful of these has been the Rug Hook Project. This group of 16 women from the local village of Agustín González create one-of-a-kind hooked rug art pieces, which are sold in San Miguel de Allende and at special exhibits in the United States. Funds are raised through donations and luncheons.

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.

Rotary to hold club assembly

On Tuesday, October 2, the Midday Rotary club will hold a club assembly. This is an opportunity for all club members to discuss decisions that affect the club and for the various committees to report on their activities. Featured will be discussions about the wide-ranging projects in which the club will be involved for the next few months.

The Rotary Club of San Miguel de Allende-Midday meets every Tuesday at the Villa Jacaranda Hotel, Aldama 53. Check-in time is 12:00-12:25 and the meeting starts promptly at 12:30pm. Visiting Rotarians, those interested in Rotary, and all members of the general community 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 1:30pm in the hotel’s dining room. For more information, please go to the Rotary Club website: www.rotarysma.org.  


Permaculture group to discuss solar power

Permaculture is a design system and a way of life rooted in the science of ecology and a system of ethics of living lightly on our earth. This is a grass roots movement among diverse people on every continent. It seeks to reconcile the needs of human communities with the ecological imperatives of a living planet.

On Friday September 28 in the Sala Quetzal at 5:30 pm the group of Friends of Our Earth will be meeting to discuss solar power. Soon homeowners will have the option to buy a variety of roofing materials with built-in photovoltaic cells that turn sunlight into electricity. It’s the first phase of a revolution that could make photovoltaic an integral part of our homes and commercial buildings as are now present in Japan and Europe. Improvements in electrical components could also make solar roofing more affordable. Today’s photovoltaic panels produce direct current, or DC, electricity; an inverter converts DC to AC, or alternating current. New panels being developed by Solarex will be equipped with built-in inverters.

Come join in the evolution of living lightly one step at a time the Permaculture Way.

Stay tuned for October 26 meeting for information on ferro-cement and cob building techniques. With our environment at a critical juncture, ecological building has never been more important.

San Miguel Singles to meet at Romano’s

Unmarried folks are invited to join old friends and make some new ones with San Miguel Singles when they hold their next fall social mixer at Romano’s from 5–(N)7pm Wednesday, October 3.

Come on, get out of your house and do something different. Make suggestions for future social events that interest you while you enjoy half-priced drinks and free pizza from 5–(N)7pm, courtesy of Dave & Patrice Brucia and Romano’s. If you like, stay put, order delicious Romano’s Italian and enjoy great Argentine and Brazilian jazz at 8pm.

Expats, Mexicans, all are welcome. San Miguel Singles has no age restrictions, no membership fees, no pressure. The group focus isn’t “singles-on-the-prowl,” but rather unmarried folks who welcome the opportunity to make new, also unmarried, friends.

Ask your questions of the Consul

To facilitate living and visiting San Miguel, US consul Ed Clancy holds an informal Question and Answer session every month. The next meeting will be 9:30am, Friday, October 5 at Café Etc, Reloj 37.

Classes & Workshops

Meditation workshop with Shambhalas

The Shambhala Meditation Group of San Miguel will be hosting a Level I Meditation Weekend, Friday, October 5 to Sunday, October 7. There is a free public talk Friday evening at 7pm at Palma 22, Colonia San Antonio. Acharya Allyn Lyon will be teaching. She is the master teacher of Mexico and resides in Tepoztlán. The program will be in English and translated to Spanish.

Shambhala Training is a series of contemplative workshops, suited for both beginning and experienced meditators. The simple and profound technique of mindfulness and awareness is the basis of a secular path of meditation, which can benefit people of any spiritual tradition and way of life. Shambhala Training is the study and practice of Shambhala warriorship, the tradition of human bravery and leadership. Come discover basic goodness in the world and in yourself. For more information, please contact Patricia Gonzalez at 152-6336.

Tours & Excursions

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, Vice-Director of the Garden. 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 and lasts about 2.5 hours. Bring a hat and water. Space is limited, so reserve by calling 154-8838 or email charcodelingenio@gmail.com. 

Films & Videos

Meditation Center to show film on non-dual reality

Thursday, October 4, the Meditation Center of San Miguel presents a film, Be Still and Know with Adyashanti, an increasingly well-known teacher of non-dual reality.

How deep are you willing to go into this moment? What is it like to be nothing? In this satsang, Adyashanti reveals the profound and fundamental truth that is the essence of awakening. Dialogues flow like a guided inquiry that illuminates the extraordinary mystery of our being. But beware says Adyashanti, “The reason for the inquiry is to question yourself out of existence.”

Adyashanti dares all seekers of peace and freedom to take the possibility of liberation in this life seriously. He began teaching in 1996, at the request of the Zen teacher with whom he had been studying for 14 years. Since then many spiritual seekers have awakened to their true nature while spending time with Adyashanti.

The author of Emptiness Dancing, The Impact of Awakening, and My Secret is Silence, Adyashanti offers spontaneous and direct nondual teachings that have been compared to those of the early Zen masters and Advaita Vedanta sages. However, Adya says, “If you filter my words through any tradition or -ism, you will miss altogether what I am saying. The liberating truth is not static; it is alive. It cannot be put into concepts and be understood by the mind. The truth lies beyond all forms of conceptual fundamentalism. What you are is the beyond—(M)awake and present, here and now already. I am simply helping you to realize that.”

The Meditation Center is Buddhist-oriented and open to all forms of silent meditation. (See the Religious Meetings box for times) It is located at Callejon Blanco 4, near Quebrada. A donation of 20 pesos is suggested for all film presentations. Please try to arrive early as seating is limited, and late arrivals disturb others.

Volunteer Opportunities

Does your nonprofit need hands? Send your short requests to edit@atencionsanmiguel.org  with Volunteer Opportunities in the subject line.

“Leading With English” Needs Volunteers to Teach English in Jalpa

Forgotten Child International has had such a positive effect on school children of the Jalpa community, that we have been invited to be a part of the Elementary School curriculum. This program focuses on leadership skills through English language acquisition for 3rd through 6th grade children. “Leading with English” uses a unique combination of interdisciplinary, experiential and hands-on approaches to teach English which are reinforced by teams of English speaking volunteers. It’s rewarding, for the children and volunteers. We are looking for a 6-week commitment of volunteering on Tuesday and Thursday from 12:15 to 3:00pm starting October 2. This includes driving time out and back. We can help with transportation. Please get in touch: info@forgottenchild.org. Jalpa is a small community of about 1,500 people about a 30 minute drive along the “Road to Independence” (the old road to Queretaro) nestled in a beautiful valley full of wild flowers this time of year. We are a non-profit organization whose mission is 
to identify leadership amongst underprivileged, rural children living in central Mexico by working with community leaders to develop alternative paths toward economic, spiritual and educational wellbeing http://www.forgottenchild.org. 

Save A Mexican Mutt (SAMM) is a charitable organization that rescues, spays/neuters, provides veterinary care, socializes, and transports highly adoptable Mexican street dogs to the United States for adoption. We need volunteers to foster dogs for up to six weeks and to transport dogs to the United States. If you live here full or part-time and can provide a temporary loving home for one of the many dogs in line to be transported to their forever homes or are traveling to Texas, New Mexico or Colorado by car and can transport one or more dogs with you, please contact Kelly Karger at info@saveamexicanmutt.org and see our website at www.saveamexicanmutt.org. (Save A Mexican Mutt is a US 501c3 charitable organization. Donations to SAMM are tax deductible on your US federal tax return.)



Hosts needed for Jovenes Adelante fundraiser

Jovenes Adelante, a local non-profit providing university scholarships to low income students from the San Miguel area is sponsoring a “Get to Know San Miguel” trip for residents of the Ajijic-Lake Chapala area over the weekend of November 23–(N)25. All proceeds will help fund additional university scholarships.

A bus leaves Ajijic on Friday morning, with a Jovenes Adelante member as host, arriving that afternoon in San Miguel, and the guests will return Sunday afternoon. This will be an event-packed weekend with entertainment, accommodations in local homes and meals included.

For more information about the trip, or if you are interested in being a host family and providing guest accommodations for Friday and Saturday night, and breakfasts Saturday and Sunday mornings, email jovenesadelante@gmail.com or write to Jovenes Adelante at La Conexión Box 49A, Aldama 3, San Miguel de Allende or call Nancy Dobbs at 152 7353 for more information. Tell your friends in the area that tickets will be available at the Lake Chapala Society ticket booth.

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 Atención. A minimum commitment of three months is requested for most of these positions.