AROUND TOWN

Meetings & Lectures

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship

Unitarian Universalist Service Committee Coordinator Gay Ann Gustafason discusses the human right to water at this Sunday’s UU Fellowship meeting.

International treaties and national constitutions have recognized the fundamental right of everyone to have sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic use since 2002. Still, persistent attempts to privatize supplies continue. Gustafson will address questions such as “What is the current status of access to water by people around the world?” “How can we assure that water remains a global commons, not a commodity?” “How can we support the right of people to be involved in the management of water in their communities?” “What is our individual responsibility for water conservation and stewardship?”

Gay Ann Gustafson lives in Houston, Texas, where she teaches as the librarian in a public elementary school. For more than 30 years she has supported the work of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee and its mission to advance human rights and social justice around the world. As a regional coordinator for the UUSC National Volunteer Network, Gustafson has informed UU congregations and other groups about opportunities for involvement in social justice issues. She participated in JustJourneys to Guatemala in 2004 and 2005, and a JustWorks project in New Orleans in 2007.

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

Wanted—World ambassadors

Friendship Force International (FFI) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the principle that each person can make a contribution to global goodwill. FFI was created in 1977 by then President Jimmy Carter, his wife Rosalyn and a friend Wayne Smith. Home hospitality—the heart of a FF exchange—provides the opportunity for people of different countries and cultures to connect at a personal level.

There are over 350 clubs and programs in 58 countries on six continents with over 20,000 members. Currently, seven active FF clubs are in Mexico.

Attend a presentation and learn of the vast array of opportunities you and your friends, as citizen ambassadors, will have for changing the way the world is viewed. FFI ambassadors and citizen hosts have created understanding and respect between people of different cultures for the past 30 years. A special recognition was given the organization when nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992. For more information, www.thefriendshipforce.org. Presentation by FF members, Tuesday, April 15, 6:30pm, Biblioteca Pùblica, free.

Talk on meditation

On Friday, April 18 at 4pm, the Ishaya Monks of San Miguel will host a free, one-hour talk entitled “Finding Inner Peace,” at the Warren Hardy School, San Antonio Abad 13. The Ishayas teach a series of powerful meditation techniques, called Ascension, that lead you to experience your own inner source of peace, joy and unconditional love. This talk will discuss the many benefits of a daily inner practice and describe the unique characteristics of the Ishayas’ Ascension. A workshop immediately follows the talk, beginning Friday evening and continuing Saturday and Sunday. For more details, please email the SMA Ishayas at sma_ishayas@yahoo.com  or go to http://web.mac.com/sma_ishayas. 



Classes & Workshops

Chess workshops
Free chess workshops for adults meet Mondays 5–6:30pm in the central patio of the Biblioteca Pública. The Biblioteca has good chess sets, but bring your own if you like. More than a dozen players occupy the north portal of the patio each week. Some players meet in the patio informally other days of the week.

About 10 players gather at Mama Mia, Umarán 8, on Wednesdays, 5–7pm. The restaurant has tournament-class sets, long inlaid tables, attentive waiters and spectacular views of churches, mountains and sunsets from the rooftop terraces.

Adults also play chess at Casa de la Cultura on Chorro, 10am–2pm on Saturdays.

You’ll know you’ve earned the extraordinary view after you climb the last switchback on the road to the top of the hill.





Tours & Trips

Saturday Adventurers

This Tour will long be remembered, for we are going to Santuario Atotonilco. The site will be explained by Carmen Riojas, who has worked with those doing the restoration. But, first we go to an unusual nearby ranch where the house is made of adobe, one of the oldest building materials in this area. Besides being beautiful in color, it is a natural insulator. Inside, the floors are of wooden planks; the decor is casual, of good taste throughout.

A painted bed brought from Germany is in one bedroom and in a bathroom is a baptismal font used as a washbasin. The nearby studio of the Sra. is a Troje, a typical house brought from Patzcuaro and put together with wooden pegs. Here we see more talent of the Sra. in her many objets d’art. We go from here to the Santuario, built in 1754 by Padre Felipe Neri. The main purpose of the church was a place that Otomi Indians could go and atone for their sins, as the Padre had found them cavorting in the nearby hot springs, and we will assume naked. To this day pilgrims come to atone for their sins by beating themselves with whips, conveniently sold in stands outside the church. Inside the Santuario, almost every inch of wall space is covered by Biblical murals or poems. Atotonilco also played a big part in the revolution of 1810. Listen carefully as Carmen explains this wondrous treasure. Flash photos are not allowed inside the sanctuary!

Botanical Garden Tour

Every Tuesday morning discover the marvels of cacti and other Mexican plants as well as the history of El Charco del Ingenio with Martin Smith, curator. 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. 


Sunday in the Parque with Audubon

On Sunday, April 20, Audubon Mexico will offer one of its renowned day hikes in the local countryside. This one will be in the Monja Reserve, a vast, sprawling parque ecologia in the state of Querétaro, just outside San Miguel off the Salida a Querétaro. Participants are limited to 20 and reservations are necessary.

The deadline to sign up is April 16. You may call Al Lerner at 152-8159, through the 14; after that, Saul Whynman at 152-2139 will have information.

There is a 10-peso entrance fee at the park, which boasts rolling hills, a little forest area, a ridge to walk along and various levels of hiking ease or difficulty. Estimated time of the event: one and a half to two hours in; lunch; the same time to get back to the cars. There are certain essentials to bring along (besides lunch, which really will be essential after your long walk): good shoes, a hat and that always crucial bottle of water.

Participants will meet at 9am that Sunday at the parking lot on Stirling Dickinson, in front of the gym. Cars that can manage cobblestones will be needed—car-pooling can be arranged for those without transportation. Audubon members come along for free; nonmembers pay 100 pesos to join in. If you join and pay your yearly dues of 300 pesos that morning, the hike will be free for you, too.)



Films & Videos

Apocalypto: On trial

What? This is a movie about the ancient Maya and everybody speaks Yucatec Mayan, not a word of English? That’s right. And critical opinion ranged from “Brilliant. A masterpiece” to “…the most reprehensible, brain-dead and offensive movie… .” Surely the truth lies somewhere in between. The Biblioteca Pública will screen Apocalypto, not to settle the reviewers’ “brilliant” or “brain-dead” issue but to answer questions like “Does this film give us a true picture of the ancient Maya?” Many may never read a book or article about the Maya; can this film be trusted to inform them of the nature of the most advanced of the New World cultures?

The screening of Apocalypto (about 130 minutes) is on Tuesday, April 15 at 3pm. Biblioteca lecturer on the ancient cultures of Mesoamerica, Professor Guillermo Méndez, will discuss with the audience what is true, false or conjecture on the part of the filmmakers on Wednesday, April 16 at 3pm. Each event is 50 pesos. This discussion will be aided by digital images of Maya art, artifacts and architecture. Apocalypto on trial! Is this film good “history”?

All proceeds from this film-discussion will be reserved for the Biblioteca’s workshop in Pre-Hispanic Music for Young People. The workshop is taught by a professional Mexican musician from Pozos who both makes and plays pre-Hispanic musical instrument replicas. Weekly classes are free to young Mexicans.

Audubon Sightings
By Walter L. Meagher

The Cactus Wren

Few birds appeal to sentiment as strongly as the wren. There is a cheery quickness in its movements, a pert and sassy disposition. You can see a Cactus Wren in El Charco atop or diving into shrubbery along the pathways leading from the Visitors’ Center to the cortina.

Male and female wear the same brown robes, share the duties of parenting, defend a territory together, and mate for life. Brown is the color of autumn leaves, of dried grass and of wrens; however, the Cactus Wren’s prominent white eyebrow says, “I want to be seen, even if most of my body is camouflaged.” Bird nests are not easily detected, but the visibility of the Cactus Wren nest, a woven cone of natural fibers secured to a spiny arm of a cholla cactus, boasts its security. We see the nest more often than the bird, for each pair builds two to three decoys, doing their best to confound the world and dissuade whipsnakes from stealing nestlings. The Cactus Wren has its own adaptation to semi-arid scrubland: it gets all the moisture it needs from the food it eats, including the juicy fruits of the cholla.