AROUND TOWN
Meetings & Lectures
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship meeting
Do you find yourself seeking, always seeking, but not quite rooted in your personal religious and philosophical beliefs? Do you know your Unitarian roots and their relevance to who you are and what you believe today? Join Rev. Jade “JD” Benson as she shares “The Beauty and the Peace,” some of the discoveries she made about the Unitarianism that unfolded in Europe over 500 years ago and its relevance to her own search for truth and meaning (perhaps yours too!).
Rev. Benson was ordained into the Unitarian Universalist ministry in 2001. Prior to and during her years at the Pacific School of Religion she worked for many years as a licensed marriage and family therapist. She was one of the first wave of people to work with those affected by AIDS, a mysterious disease then. Subsequently, as a trainer for healthcare providers about the psychosocial issues of AIDS, she developed and implemented training and workshops on AIDS and its mental health impact. In recent years Rev. Benson served as a hospice chaplain in California.
She has just relocated to Arlington, Virginia, where she will be serving in the chaplain residency program at Georgetown University Hospital.
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.
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. Players will not meet on Saturday, July 19.
US voter registration assistance
Voter assistance for US citizens 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. 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. Direct questions to rowlandken@hotmail.com. To volunteer at the registration table, call Doug at 152-3744.
Tours & Excursions
Saturday Adventure Tours
Today the Adventurers are going to a lovely home-studio, where Eschwan Winding works her charm as a painter, sculptor and artesania. Her small table-screens are beautiful accents to any table arrangement. Her painted wall murals add vibrant color to her small home.
Then, a short ride brings us to ex-hacienda “La Landeta,” built for a wealthy landowner by Otomí laborers. The façade features artistic stonework, and the walkways are embellished with inlaid mosaics in flower designs and even a scorpion if you look closely. We will see the original eighteenth-century chapel with its partially visible old frescos and the colonial granary, which is now used for elaborate wedding receptions in the spacious salon. Don’t forget your camera!
This tour leaves from inside the Jardín, across from the Parroquia, at 10:30am.
Botanical Garden tour
El Charco del Ingenio, San Miguel’s Botanical Garden, now offers more tours. Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning you can 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 trip to Mexico City
Instituto Allende will lead an overnight field trip to Mexico City and the nearby pyramids on Saturday, July 26, at 9am. This historic tour of the nation’s capital takes in downtown, the impressive Bellas Artes, el Caballito Monument, the Zócalo, 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 it was considered the richest of all zones.
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 remained hidden 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. An adjacent museum houses a magnificent collection of Aztec art including altars, statuary and weapons. The quantity and quality of finds far surpasses anything previously discovered from this period of Mesoamerican history.
The tour visits the renowned Anthropological Museum, a hallmark location dedicated to the study of humanity in this part of the world. The museum is an in-depth complex that 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, we tour Mexico City’s nightlife. Sunday is the visit to Teotihuacán, Mexico’s unsurpassed pyramids, a true wonder and maybe alone worth the trip. The tour returns to San Miguel late afternoon, Sunday, July 27.
The trip is US$235, 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.
International Lions Club
On Wednesday, August 13, the International Lions Club of San Miguel is offering a trip to Morelia and Patzcuaro for two nights and three days. A minimum of 30 people is needed for the trip.
Participants travel by first-class bus, arriving in time for lunch in Patzcuaro, and a afternoon of sightseeing and shopping. We stop at the reed factory on the way back to Morelia, where the group will arrive at the Solidad hotel in time for a BYO coctail party, with nibbles supplied by the Lions.
On Thursday, a full day of sightseeing includes Mercado de Dulces, Palacio Clavijero, Museo del Estado and the cathedral with its 4,600-pipe organ. The Governor’s Palace is across the street. Also to see are the Palacio Justicia, Morelos Birthplace Museum and the Casa de las Artesanias. That evening, participants gather for another cocktail party.
The cost for each person is 1,700 pesos, double occupancy, and 2,650 pesos for a single, which includes the bus, all tips, the hotel and breakfasts, plus a donation for the Lions Club. The club dispenses glasses for the needy and gives free diabetes testing. The clinic at Correro 63 is open on Thursday mornings. Reservations must be made by July 28. For further information, please call Jean Schickel at 152-0934.
Performances & Events
Arts and crafts fair
The second Instituto Allende arts and crafts fair for the summer is Saturday and Sunday, August 2–3, 10am–6pm. The fair showcases 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
Seventh Eckhart Tolle video
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The Meditation Center of San Miguel, callejón Blanco 4, presents the seventh 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 24. The presentation is free, although contributions are accepted.
Volunteer Opportunities
Does your nonprofit need some extra help? Send your short requests to edit@atencionsanmiguel.org
with “Volunteer Opportunities” in the subject line. Maybe you have an event coming up, some extra support could be appreciated.
The Chamber Music Festival
The “Summer” Chamber Music Festival (30th Annual Festival de Música de Cámara) needs volunteers for various assignments in housing and transportation, event planning/support, student program help, “asking” and some office assistance for the festival scheduled July 31–August 17. Contact Gloria G. at
promocion@festivalsanmiguel.com
, or call 154-8722.
Hospice San Miguel
Hospice San Miguel is looking for volunteers with experience in fundraising and publicity. Please call 154-4287 or email
markb@hospicesma.org.
Field volunteers needed for Patronato Pro Niños
PPN, one of the oldest and most vibrant charities in SMA, is looking for a selective group of volunteers who would be willing to dedicate two or more mornings per month to go out to the outlying areas of the municipality of San Miguel de Allende to visit schools, talk about the work that PPN is doing to assist children with medical and dental problems, and to invite those children who need medical attention to the office of PPN for evaluation and assistance at little or no cost to the family. The volunteers ideally would either be reasonably fluent in Spanish and/or have a car/truck/SUV which can withstand the back (mostly unpaved) roads of the municipality. If interested, please contact Steve Livingston at
steve@stevelivingston.com with your name and contact information.
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.)
Feed the Hungry looking for screening volunteers
Feed the Hungry is looking for volunteers to help with the preventive medical screening of our school children. We are looking for persons with one or more of the following skills: Bilingual persons, drivers with access to vehicle with high ground clearance willing to drive out to the ranchos, computer data input persons. This medical work is being conducted in cooperation with Patronato Pro Niños for the children our organizations serve. For more information please contact us on 152-2402 or
contact@feedthehungrysma.org.
Pro Musica
Pro Musica de San Miguel AC puts on more than 30 classical music concerts throughout the year in the city. We are looking for volunteers to fulfill various roles. These include helping out as ushers at St Paul’s church and other venues during concerts, selling tickets prior to the House and Garden Tour at the Biblioteca on Sunday mornings, helping to organize suppers in private homes after concerts for our musicians and patrons, and assisting with publicity, marketing and fundraising. We are a fun group of people to work with and the music is fantastic! Contact Pro Musica’s President, Michael Pearl, at 152-2688 or email him at
mpearl5493@aol.com.