AROUND TOWN


Meetings & Lectures

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship meeting

At this week’s meeting, Jim Berry, who was raised in a strict, religious Texas Panhandle fundamentalist church, poses the question “What Would Jesus Do with the Religious Right?”

Berry points out that “religious rightism” isn’t a new phenomenon, but has existed through much of Western history, including the time of Jesus. Using examples from the gospels, he contends that, far from embracing the religious right, Jesus spent much of his ministry in direct conflict with them. His harshest words were aimed directly at the religious right.

As a young man, Berry attended an Oklahoma Bible college and preached at several small Church of Christ congregations. Systematic study led him to understand that he no longer believed much of what his church believed and he changed his career path. After he retired, he began attending church again when he learned about Unitarian Universalism and became a founding member of the New Braunfels, Texas, UU church.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.







Expresion en corto: Om Shanti Om

Midday Rotary Club

On Tuesday, July 1, film producer Sarah Hoch gives an overview of the Expresión en Corto International Film Festival, Mexico’s largest and the most prestigious of its kind in Latin America. The annual state-sponsored, nonprofit cultural event has grown exponentially over the past decade without charging admission to the viewing audience. This year, the festival is July 18–22 in San Miguel and July 23–27 in Guanajuato. 

Sarah Hoch was born in Kansas City and has lived in San Miguel for the past 26 years. She started her film production career more than 16 years ago, is the project founder of the State of Guanajuato’s Film Commission and the founder and director of Expresión en Corto.

Note: July 1 also marks the first day of the Midday Rotary administration headed by new President David Bossman. Past President Gordon Logan and other leaders of the club will be cited for their dedication to the club and their community service.

The Rotary Club of San Miguel de Allende-Midday meets every Tuesday at their 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. 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. For more information, please go to the website: www.rotarysma.org.  

Adiós is Not Good-bye—Robert de Gast

Long-time San Miguel resident Robert de Gast presents a not-so-serious talk he calls “Adiós is Not Good-bye and Mañana is Not Tomorrow: (Mis)adventures in Language and Culture” at 5pm on Tuesday, July 1, in Teatro Santa Ana at the Biblioteca Pública, Insurgentes 25.

De Gast, a photographer and writer and author of Behind the Doors of San Miguel and several other books about our fair city, relates some of his adventures (and misadventures) in becoming acquainted with the culture of Mexico and the Spanish language.

“I’ll be telling tales on myself,” he explained, “and I’m sure many people will identify with the pitfalls and perils I found, and continue to find, in my daily experiences with the very exotic life in Mexico.”

This is the second time de Gast has found himself in a very different culture. He was born in the Netherlands and emigrated to the US where he enjoyed a decades-long career as a magazine photographer and writer.

“No two contiguous countries in the world are as different as Mexico and the US,” he says. “Even Holland, 3,000 miles from the nearest American shore, and a half-century ago, was culturally closer to the US than Mexico is today. But I still find myself making the same linguistic (and cultural) errors I was making then, except now it’s in Spanish!”

A recent issue of Independent Traveler mentioned the Biblioteca’s lecture series: “Don’t miss Robert de Gast if he’s giving a lecture!”

The admission charge to the presentation is 60 pesos (50 pesos for members of the Biblioteca) and benefits the library’s many programs.



Classes & Workshops

Chess in the Jardín

Chess players who normally meet Saturdays at Casa de la Cultura on Chorro will troop down to the Jardín June 28 for a free-for-all, 10am–2pm. The public is invited to play or just watch. The city provides the tables and the chess group has tournament-class sets, but bring your own set just in case there’s a swarm of players. Players also now meet 5–8pm Wednesdays and Fridays at Casa de la Cultura. The vista from the terrace is magnificent, once you’ve regained your breath from the climb.

Free chess workshops for adults meet Mondays 5–6:30pm in the central patio of the Biblioteca Pública. More than a dozen players occupy the north portal of the patio each week. 

Players also gather at Mama Mia, Umarán 8, on Wednesdays, 5–7pm.

Dharma Art Workshop

“Introduction to Shambhala Art: Awakening the creative process in everyday life” begins Friday evening, June 27 with the free introductory talk, “The principles of Shambhala Art,” which previews the weekend workshop.

The workshop continues on Saturday and Sunday, 9am–5:30pm. Experiential exercises illustrate the principles of the creative process through poetry, videos, movement, group interaction and calligraphy. Some of the themes running through the weekend are: “Seeing things as they are,” “Felt sense and thought sense” and “Pure perception.”

Workshop leaders are three long-term meditators and certified Shambhala Arts teachers. Wandering dentist Gary Hubiak is also a painter who teaches dharma. Yolanda Corona is a professor of child development and dharma art. Geo Legorreta is a musician, dancer, choreographer and teacher of voice, guitar and dance. They teach in English with Spanish translation.

Contact Christina Hager for further details and registration at 152-5814 or email shambhalactrsma@gmail.com.

Sexy, scintillating and literary: Writer's Workshop reading

A short-short story about frustrated sexual love in the country. A love affair in Brazil. A little girl growing up in the Nevada desert whose parents engage in all-out war. San Miguel writers Eva Hunter and Bill Pearlman read selections from their work on Tuesday, July 1, 6–7pm in the Sala Quetzal at the Biblioteca Pública. There is no charge, but donations to the Biblioteca are encouraged.

Pearlman, a poet and Jungian therapist, reads selections from Brazilian Incarnation, which reports “the passionate ups and downs of a love affair in Brazil, with agonies and ecstasies abounding,” he says.

Hunter reads her short-short story, “The Stud Barn,” originally published in Quii, and selections from her work-in-progress memoir, A Little Mormon Girl. She says, “I had to wait until after the deaths of both of my parents and most of my Mormon aunts and uncles to write this one.”

Hunter and Pearlman are instructors in the Writer’s Workshop: San Miguel, along with Donna Meyer and screenwriter Michael Grais. For more information, contact Hunter at 152-6378 or evamhunter@gmail.com,  or Pearlman at bdpearl@yahoo.com.  

Tours & Excursions

Saturday Adventure Tours

No tour this Saturday, but a real adventure June 28, 1–11pm, at the third Festival Gastronómico Vino y Paella at Rancho San Luis Gonzaga, Carretera a Querétaro, Km. 8.

Chefs from all over Mexico will present their own special types of paella. If you want to see them preparing the dish, come early. Shuttle buses leave St. Paul’s Church at 12:45, 1:30, 2:15, 3pm and return at 7, 8, 9, 10pm. The requested donation of 700 pesos benefits Centro de Crecimiento, a center for therapy for disabled children.

Botanical Garden Tour

Every Tuesday morning discover the marvels of cacti and other Mexican plants as well as the history of El Charco 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.

Instituto Allende leads trip to Guanajuato

On Saturday, July 5, at 9am, Instituto Allende Tours leads a day-long field trip to Dolores Hidalgo and the city of Guanajuato. Dolores Hidalgo is a center for Talavera ceramics and the place where Miguel Hidalgo uttered El Grito on September 15, 1810, his famous cry for freedom from Spain. The tour of Dolores centro includes vendors of unusual ice creams flavored with avocado, shrimp and tequila. 

Later the tour heads to Guanajuato, a charming capital city with great cultural tradition and home to the University of Guanajuato. Famed painter Diego Rivera’s home is on the bill along with an easy-going walking tour of Plazas de la Paz, the main Jardín and other sites of interest.

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. One-time San Miguel mayor Jaime Fernandez often leads tours. A free lecture previews upcoming weekend field trips each Wednesday at 4pm at Instituto.

For more information, visit or call 152-0226, Instituto Allende, Ancha de San Antonio 20.

Performances & Events

Fourth of July celebration

San Miguel Democrats Abroad celebrate Fourth of July at Los Milagros restaurant (calle Relox 17), 1–3pm, rather than 4–6pm due to a scheduling conflict. Tickets at 150 pesos can be purchased at La Conexión and BorderCrossings or from any Democrats Abroad board member.

The party is the kick-off for a major voter registration and absentee ballot drive. Volunteers at the party can assist all American citizens and dual citizens in registering and applying for ballots. In July and August, volunteers can assist voters at sites to be announced in Atención. September 1 is the final day to register and request absentee ballots. On that day, volunteers will be in the Jardín and at Hecho en Mexico restaurant. However, voters should request assistance earlier than September 1, to assure that ballots arrive on time. For information, call Ken Rowland at 152-3709 or email rowlandken@hotmail.com. The service is available regardless of political affiliation.



Films & Videos

Bioneers Film Series: Is God Green?

On Tuesday, July 1, Bill Moyers will grace the screen at Teatro Santa Ana in a PBS film about politics and religion. Although not (yet) a Bioneers presenter, Moyers is of the same genre.

Is God Green? was shown here a year ago and the audience was surprised at what was revealed in this in-depth view of evangelical Christians in the US. It is being shown again this year as the political aspects of the increasingly diverse evangelical movement have become a hot topic.

Certainly there is an internet buzz on this issue and it has also been bandied about on TV shows. The debate boils down to the political hot potato of whether the evangelical base will still hold as a Republican voting block.

Moyers talks to church pastors and leaders of alliances of thousands of evangelical churches. Many of these Christian citizens have started to take global warming and other environmental issues quite seriously. Others are waiting for the Rapture. This growing family feud within this powerful political constituency will definitely impact the November election.

The film, shown 3–4pm at 50 pesos, covers the evangelical territory from Idaho to West Virginia and traverses the terrain of theology, ecology, and politics.

Fourth Eckhart Tolle video

The Meditation Center of San Miguel, Callejon Blanco 4, presents the fourth 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 and they show at 5:30pm consecutive Thursdays continuing July 3. The presentation is free, though contributions are gratefully 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. If you have an event coming up, some extra support could be appreciated.



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.



Can you be a mentor? Jovenes Adelante seeks mentors for 20 new scholarship recipients beginning their university careers this September. Minimum requirements: some Spanish, ability to meet or communicate with the student once a month, desire to help bright students from mostly rural areas adjust to university challenges. Mentor orientation, July 29. Contact jovenesadelante@gmail.com.

Audubon Sightings
By Walter L. Meagher

The Great-tailed Grackle

Grackles attract our opprobrium for their aggressive ways. And though nature is indifferent to our likes and dislikes, we can’t help ourselves, ordering creation according to personal preferences. If populations of grackles declined, who would defend them?

I am startled by their beauty, as one might be by a Bedouin tribesman—they have long tails and a preference for black. Like most members of their family (Icteridae), Great-tailed Grackles eat, sleep and travel in flocks. The evolutionary advantage is obvious: flocks are intimidating, food sources may be depleted, so completely taken that little remains for birds that feed alone or in small groups, like sparrows. Intimidation is effected by size, by swagger, by sudden jousting movements, by the long pointed bill and the “great” tail.

I enjoy the sight of grackles on their regular flyways. To see them is to feel a rhythm in nature, 50 birds in the first flock, then another 50 birds, traveling in the evening when the sun is setting, in the morning when it is rising. There is this exception: in late March, males leave the flock to take a perch to which they hope one-note calls will attract a mate.

Adapted from Wild & Wonderful: Nature Up Close in the Botanical Garden “El Charco del Ingenio” by Walter L. Meagher with photographs by Wayne Colony.