AROUND TOWN


Meetings & Lectures

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship meeting

Retired Baptist pastor and acting Unitarian Universalist minister Dennis Hale discusses “The Heresy of Peace Without Justice” at this week’s meeting. Down deep we all consider peace an ideal state for our communities, nation and world, but is peace desirable above all else? What if Rosa Parks had preferred peace to justice when she sat in the white section on the Montgomery bus? Hale explores that question in the context of the century of racial segregation and discrimination that followed the Civil War.

Hale, a regular summer visitor to San Miguel, served 25 years in Europe as fraternal representative to Spain’s Baptist Evangelical Union and is now a freelance Spanish interpreter/translator. He wrote The Prayer Amendment: A Satire of Southern Politics and 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 15, City Council Secretary Cristobal Finkelstein Franyuti discusses “San Miguel as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.” A large turnout is expected for his first public appearance after the announcement.

A World Heritage Site is a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city on the list maintained by the World Heritage Program. The program catalogs, names and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common heritage of humanity.

The annual World Heritage Committee Session chooses sites for the World Heritage List. Finkelstein and Mayor Jesús Correa just returned from Quebec, Canada, where the 32nd session announced San Miguel’s inclusion on the list. 

Born in France, Finkelstein grew up in Mexico and studied law and international relations in Mexico and in Spain. He was a trial attorney and founding partner of Finkelstein, Du-Pond, Whistles & Lara. 

The Rotary Club of San Miguel de Allende-Midday meets every Tuesday at 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 ).

The Romance of Ruins: A Visit to Pozos

Mineral de Pozos is an abandoned mining center less than an hour’s drive northeast of San Miguel via excellent roads, but for residents and visitors without a car (or a guide) it is a demanding three-hour, four-bus expedition. But you can experience Pozos vicariously with a slide show called “The Romance of Ruins: A Visit to Pozos.”

On Tuesday, July 15, at 5pm, long-time San Miguel resident Robert de Gast presents a talk, illustrated by his Pozos photographs, in Teatro Santa Ana at the Biblioteca Pública, Insurgentes 25. Admission is 60 pesos (50 pesos for library members) and benefits the library’s many programs.

Pozos was mined for more than 300 years before being abandoned shortly after the Revolution started in 1910. Three original smelting ovens, dating from 1597, survive in Santa Brigida.

For a long time Pozos was wealthy with mining operations yielding silver, gold, copper, lead, magnesium and mercury, but after the Revolution the town was virtually abandoned and mining was suspended due to a lack of manpower, capital and spare parts for machinery. The mines flooded and mining never resumed. Today fewer than 2,000 people live in Pozos.

Robert de Gast is a photographer, teacher and the author of nine books, including, most recently, Behind the Doors of San Miguel. 

Classes & Workshops

Chess: Five 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 Thursdays, 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. The June 28 free-for-all in the Jardín drew 18 players, so the Casa-crowd plans to come off their Chorro perch again in the near future.

US voter registration assistance

US citizens living in San Miguel can vote for federal offices, for the president and for Congress. Your last US residence is your voting address for US Representative and Senator. The only requirement is that you send a registration form to the registrar of voters in your last county of residence. If you voted from abroad in the last election, you may still need to request a ballot. The same form is used.

You may fill out and print the brief registration form, and get the address to mail it, by going online to OverSeasVoteFoundation.org. You also can fill out the form by hand and mail it in. Voter assistance is offered in the Biblioteca courtyard every Monday and Wednesday, 1–3pm, during July and August. Forms are available there, as well as at the US Consulate. Direct questions to rowlandken@hotmail.com.  To volunteer at the registration table, call Doug at 152-3744. 

Grounding into the Body

In the “Grounding into the Body” workshop you learn the way to use your body for better living. You will learn how to ground yourself for better movement habits, for handling difficult situations and for improving decision making. When you are aware of what you do and how, you empower yourself because you listen to yourself as an organism. You are able to own yourself, putting body, mind and emotions together and learning to live as a wholeness in the present. The workshop by Ana María Muñoz meets July 22–August 14, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:30am–1:30pm, at Café El Chai (Salida a Celaya 24). The fee is 1,600 pesos. For further information and registration, email munoz_anamaria@yahoo.ca.  

Tours & Excursions

Saturday Adventure Tours

An Adventurous Day today, from necklaces to an ancient chapel. The charming home of Eunice O’Hannas is on a beautiful street, but the main interest is the necklace, often inspired by Mayan or Aztec jewels. Each is different, but with so many, you can’t decide which, so you buy several! Every wall shows Eunice’s talent in her amusing murals. Notice the one of Adam and Eve, caught just after the serpent entered Eden.

Then off to Rancho de la Capilla, crossing Presa Allende to reach this cluster of seventeenth-century stone houses. Some have been converted to stables and others to unique guest rooms. The ancient chapel with its many frescoes is now used for modern-day weddings. Expert horsemen take you trail-riding to see the real Mexico, shepherds tending sheep, oxen plowing, colonial ruins and stunning vistas at every turn. The home of Steve and Kathy is a mix of modern, antique and a bit of chic country.

This tour leaves from inside the Jardín, across from the Parroquia, at 10:30am. 

Audubon offers La Cienegita hike

Audubon offers a hike of moderate effort over mostly flat terrain in La Cienegita on Sunday, July 13. The 3- to 4-hour hike is limited to 15 people. Bring good hiking shoes, a hat and water. Meet at 8am in the parking lot on Stirling Dickinson; volunteer cars if you can. Reservations: Al Lerner, 152-7543. The hike is free to Audubon members (join for 300 pesos) or 100 pesos for nonmembers.

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. 

The Geology of El Charco del Ingenio

Retired geologist Wayne Colony offers a lecture in English with a slide show Thursday, July 17, 9:20–10:30am. Colony studied El Charco for the last several years and also participated in the latest wildlife research. He will share his beautiful photos of birds, butterflies and the garden/reserve. This entertaining and instructive presentation completely sold out last June, so reserve early by emailing nzerriffi@yahoo.com (general admission 100 pesos, members 70 pesos). Meet at El Charco’s visitor reception area by 9:20am.

Instituto Allende trip to Guanajuato 

Instituto Allende Tours heads toward the state capital on Saturday, July 19, at 9am. The city is about an hour west of San Miguel. Guanajuato both eludes and inspires description, boasting a peculiar combination of Mexican and European qualities. Travelers are reminded of the hill towns of Italy and jewel-like places in southern Spain. Narrow streets wind between flower-bedecked plazas and give way to unexpected balconies, bridges and red-tiled roofs that lie level with the street above. 

Guanajuato was once Mexico’s second largest city and one of the wealthiest in the world due to its silver mines. Opulent structures left behind have become art relics. This outing pays special attention to colonial architecture preserved in residential areas. Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, this flamboyant city is a maze of plazas, byways, dramatic tunnels and picturesque streets. Riding beneath the busy city through underground tunnels is a unique experience. 

Time will be allotted for strolling and shopping in the city’s center. The tour visits the university, stately governmental buildings, the Iconographic Museum of El Quixote and the museum-home of native son and famous painter Diego Rivera. 

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 the Instituto. Call 152-0226, or visit Instituto Allende, Ancha de San Antonio 20.

Performances & Events

Arts and crafts fair

Instituto Allende hosts two arts and crafts fairs this summer. The first is Saturday and Sunday, July 12–13, 10am–6pm, and the second is August 2–3. The fairs showcase some of San Miguel’s finest art and crafts people with as many as 100 vendors, plus great food and entertainment. Call 152-0226, or visit Instituto Allende, Ancha de San Antonio 20.

Taste of San Miguel

On Monday, August 11, San Miguel’s best restaurants serve samples of their finest dishes and specialties at the Acuario Salon de Fiestas on the road to Querétaro (behind the Chrysler dealer). Doors open at 5pm for cocktails (cash bar); food service begins at 6pm. Tickets are US$65 or 650 pesos. Proceeds go to a new kitchen to serve the children in the San Francisco community and surrounding ranchos. For tickets, volunteering, or more information, call Feed the Hungry at (415) 152-2402 or US (505) 349-3700. 

Films & Videos

The Americanization of Emily

The second title in the Center for Global Justice’s summer film series is The Americanization of Emily, a 1964 comedy/drama/antiwar film starring James Garner and Julie Andrews. Adapted by screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky (Network, The Hospital) from William Bradford Huie’s popular novel, The Americanization of Emily offers a scathing critique of the military, war and its glorification. Director Arthur Hiller’s satire created controversy with its portraits of lascivious, drunken, egomaniacal military bigwigs and its elevation to hero of James Garner’s Charlie Madison, a self-described “practicing coward.” Madison is a “dog runner” who pimps women and booze for his corrupt superiors stationed in London on the eve of D-Day. Madison both repulses and fascinates his driver Emily (Julie Andrews), a British war widow. The two fall hopelessly in love despite squabbling about war—Madison argues self-interest and Emily altruism. Madison’s plans to avoid frontline heroics go awry and he is selected as the first man to stor
m Omaha Beach.

The 115-minute screening is at 3pm, Thursday, July 17, in Teatro Santa Ana, Biblioteca Pública, Insurgentes 25; admission is 50 pesos.

Sixth Eckhart Tolle video

The Meditation Center of San Miguel, callejón Blanco 4, presents the sixth 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 on consecutive Thursdays continuing July 17. The presentation is free, although contributions are accepted.