AROUND TOWN
Meetings & Lectures
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship meeting
Rev. Mary McKinnon Ganz describes how Unitarian Universalist theology met up with the homeless on San Francisco streets in “The Saving Power.”
Rev. Ganz recounts her year working with the Faithful Fools Street Ministry, a small community of street people who meet weekly for Bible study in the Tenderloin district. Rev. Ganz is a visiting minister from Arlington, Virginia. She holds a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University, an MFA in poetry from Mills College and a Master of Divinity from the Pacific School of Religion.
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.
Midday Rotary Club
On Tuesday, July 8, Canadian visitor Jill Plotnikoff from the Trail, BC Interactors talks about the club, what it does in the community and the international interests of its members. Interact is a service club for young people ages 14–18, sponsored by individual Rotary clubs.
Plotnikoff, an excellent student and talented artist, graduated from high school this June and will attend college in the fall. She has been involved with the Interact Club for two years and was chosen this spring to represent her local area in Ottawa.
Chaperone Chris Ashman, an accountant/bookkeeper for a local hotel chain, is a member of the Trail Rotary Club and the leader of the six visiting Interactors. She actively volunteers in the community in addition to Rotary.
The Rotary Club of San Miguel de Allende-Midday meets every Tuesday at its new location, the Hotel Real de Minas at the intersection of calles Ancha de San Antonio and Stirling Dickinson. Check-in time is 12–12:25pm and the meeting starts promptly at 12:30. Visiting Rotarians and others interested in Rotary are invited to attend this meeting (website: www.rotarysma.org).
Obama’s views on race
Barack Obama’s campaign for the presidency is truly historic. Never before has an African American been the candidate of a major US political party. Yet, in many ways he is a post-civil rights political figure, the first black national politician who did not come out of the Civil Rights Movement of the fifties and sixties.
To help make sense of this phenomenon, the Center for Global Justice presents “Obama’s Views on Race,” a talk by Dr. Fred Pincus on Monday, July 7 at 3pm in Sala Quetzal at the Biblioteca Pública, Insurgentes 25 (50 pesos). Dr. Pincus is a sociologist at the University of Maryland who for the last 40 years has specialized in race relations. He wrote Understanding Diversity and numerous articles.
Dr. Natalie Sokoloff on domestic violence
Domestic violence is one of those semi-hidden problems that plague family life in the US and Mexico. Sociologist Dr. Natalie Sokoloff sheds light on the topic in a talk sponsored by the Center for Global Justice, Wednesday, July 9 at 3pm in Sala Quetzal at the Biblioteca Pública, Insurgentes 25 (50 pesos). She teaches women’s studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City and wrote Domestic Violence at the Margins and many articles.
Classes & Workshops
Chess: Four days, three locations
Free chess workshops for adults meet Mondays 5–6:30pm in the central patio of the Biblioteca Pública. A dozen players occupy the north portal of the patio each week. The library closes at 7pm, but Café Santa Ana lets players continue to slug it out for another hour or two.
Players also gather at Mama Mia, Umarán 8, on Wednesdays, 5–7pm.
Chess players now meet three times a week at Casa de la Cultura on Chorro: Saturdays, 10am–2pm, Wednesdays and Fridays, 5–8pm.
What you always wanted to know about international law, but were afraid to ask
Forget rumors and word-of-mouth misinformation and come to the source for the real story. On Tuesday, July 8 at 6pm in the Biblioteca Pública’s Sala Quetzal, attorney David Barrow speaks about how US and international law interact with Mexican law, and what that means to the expatriate community.
Barrow is one of only a handful of attorneys actively practicing US law in Mexico. He has over 25 years of experience in civil case litigation and international law, including estate planning, real property transactions and business law. He has been practicing law in San Miguel for nearly four years. For more information, contact Barrow at 154-8975 or smalawyer@gmail.com.
The pleasure of acting
Anyone who wants to try acting without having to learn scripts is invited to attend “The Pleasure of Acting” workshop. People who are on stage for the first time as well as experienced actors have fun by playing unexpected scenes, under certain rules and frames. Former students say they have enhanced life skills through the body preparation and the experience on stage.
The workshop lasts five weeks: July 16–August 15, Wednesdays and Fridays, 11:30am–2:30pm.
Ana María Muñoz coached professional actors in Chile and Mexico for 22 years and teaches organic acting step by step, so everyone can handle the tools.
The workshop meets at Shelter VG4 Theater in Privada Vicente Guerrero 8, colonia San Rafael. Go down Calzada de la Luz, cross Avenida Guadalupe, after one block turn right; parking at calle Antonio Villanueva.
The minimum is seven students; maximum twelve, and the fee is 1,800 pesos. For information and registration, contact munoz_anamaria@yahoo.ca.
Tours & Excursions
Saturday Adventure Tours
The July 5 Adventure is browsing exquisite semiprecious jewels of unsurpassed quality at Piedras (“stones” in English, but not ordinary stones). This is the home of custom jewelry design by William Harris and Luis Pantoja. With your imagination and their talent, you can create your dreamed-of masterpiece necklace. Their home is also a jewel, using Mexican artesanía pieces in creative ways. The garden is a paradise of flowers, trees, pathways and secret nooks. You will return again and again to the brilliant displays of the hanging piedras, putting rainbows to shame.
Then we are off through greening countryside to La Era, a ranch with 800 milk cows. They give milk because they produce calves on a regular basis. If you care to, you can watch th insemination of the selected cow—it is time for her to produce another baby and give more milk. Their rich milk is sold to Danone, producers of yogurt. We visit the lovely Gomez home, where we can admire the stained glass windows and Tiffany-style lampshades of the talented Sra.
This tour leaves from inside the Jardín, across from the Parroquia, at 10:30am.
Botanical Garden tour
Every Tuesday morning discover cacti, Mexican plants and the history of El Charco with curator Martin Smith. 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; reserve by calling 154-8838 or email charcodelingenio@gmail.com.
Instituto Allende field trip to Bernal and Querétaro
On Saturday, July 12, at 9am, Instituto’s weekly field trip heads to the quaint village of Bernal and then to the city of Querétaro. Bernal is a small town that boasts a significant landmark in the form of a massive boulder looming over the village. Local weavers produce good-quality wool blankets, sweaters, wall hangings, shawls, vests, rugs and pillowcases. The town is also renowned for semiprecious stones.
Afterwards it’s off to nearby Querétaro for stops at the famous Aqueduct, the Cementerio de los Hombres Illustres, the Plaza de Armas, Hill of the Bells and the Benito Juárez Monument, the Chapel of Archduke Maximilian and Querétaro’s centerpiece, the Villa del Villar del Aquila fountain.
The trip is US$65, all-inclusive; reservations are a must. Native-speaking, bilingual guides lead all tours and offer further insight within a secure environment. A free lecture previews upcoming weekend field trips each Wednesday at 4pm at Instituto. Call 152-0226, or visit Instituto Allende, Ancha de San Antonio 20.
Performances & Events
Fourth of July celebration
San Miguel Democrats Abroad celebrate Fourth of July 1–3pm, at Los Milagros restaurant, calle Reloj 17. Tickets for 150 pesos can be purchased at La Conexión, BorderCrossings or from any board member.
The party kicks off a voter registration and absentee ballot drive. For information, call Ken Rowland at 152-3709 or email rowlandken@hotmail.com. The service is available regardless of political affiliation.
Arts and crafts fair
Instituto Allende will host two arts and crafts fairs this summer. The first is Saturday and Sunday, July 12–13, 10am–6pm. The second fair is August 2–3.
Instituto Allende fairs have become bellwether events that showcase some of San Miguel’s finest art and crafts people with as many as 100 vendors, plus great food and constant entertainment.
Call 152-0226, or visit Instituto Allende, Ancha de San Antonio 20.
Films & Videos
Bioneers Film Series: Local food revolution
Michael Pollan speaks on “Beyond the Bar Code: The Local Food Revolution.” In his book, The Omnivore's Dilemna, Pollan addresses the question, “What shall we have for dinner?” The answer is complex yet simple—local food economies are our best hope for checking the drift toward the total global economy.
The second speaker, biologist Janine Benyus, examines “What Life Knows: New Ideas from Biology that Could Change the World.” Author of six books, Benyus is co-founder of the Biomimicry Guild where she works as a “biologist at the design table.”
The films show Tuesday, July 8, 3–4pm, at Teatro Santa Ana in the Biblioteca Pública, Insurgentes 25 (50 pesos). A discussion follows on how to support our “going local” VidaVerde group.
Who Killed the Electric Car?
The Center for Global Justice kicks off its summer film series on Thursday, July 10, with the Who Killed the Electric Car? at 3pm in Teatro Santa Ana, Biblioteca Pública, Insurgentes 25 (50 pesos).
With gas prices skyrocketing, many people are asking when a practical, working electric car will finally be more than a dream. In fact, the electric car has been a reality for nearly two decades, but powerful special interests have conspired to suppress its availability and development.
This 2006 documentary explores the birth, limited commercialization and subsequent death of the General Motors EV1, built in the mid-nineties after the California Air Resources Board passed a zero emissions mandate for that state.
The film describes how General Motors did not want the car to succeed and deliberately attempted to cripple it with inferior batteries and virtually no advertising. But the Bush administration, the oil companies and the car companies feared its success and in 2004, GM recalled all of the vehicles and crushed them in the Arizona desert.
Fifth Eckhart Tolle video
The Meditation Center of San Miguel, callejon Blanco 4, presents the fifth installment of a 13-week series of Eckhart Tolle videos, Touching the Eternal, from a 2002 retreat in India. Each video is about an hour and a half long; they show at 5:30pm consecutive Thursdays continuing July 10. The presentation is free, although contributions are accepted.
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