AROUND TOWN
Meetings & Lectures
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
At this Sunday’s meeting, in “The Conquest of Mexico in the Twenty-first Century,” Hector Ulloa reflects upon what Mexicans in the campo know or think about the Spanish Conquest. A longtime student and observer of Mexican history and journalism, Ulloa is currently the academic dean of the Instituto Allende and a former editor of Atención.
The UU Fellowship meets every Sunday at 10:30 a.m. at La Posada de la Aldea, Ancha de San Antonio 15. Visitors are invited to attend the service and then join the UUs in the hotel restaurant for brunch.
Midday Rotary Club
On Tuesday, November 11, our guest speaker is Marina Viracacha, a volunteer fundraiser for Casa Hogar Don Bosco. Viracacha is from Colombia and earned a degree in international business at the Universidad Antonio Narino in Bogotá in 2003. Casa Hogar Don Bosco is a well-known refuge for girls in need of protection and care because they cannot live with their family or have no family. The institution receives virtually no aid from government or church and must depend on donations. Viracacha will discuss two funding priorities. First, Casa Hogar would like to initiate an expanded program of professional services, bringing psychologists, social workers, education specialists and nutritionists together as a team to provide ongoing, individualized care for all girls. Second, the casa needs more space. The current space does not provide suitable privacy, especially for the adolescent girls, and is insufficient to accept more girls or to offer recreational, occupational and educational activities.
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. Visit www.rotarysma.org for more information.
Social and newcomers club
The weekly dinner for the social and newcomers club is Tuesday, Novemeber 11, 7pm, at the Italian restaurant Mare Nostrum, Umurán 56. For more information call Jean Schikel at 152-4299 or Paula Nesti, 152-4299. All welcome.
Classes & Workshops
Chi-Kung and Tai-Chi Chuan at Los Frailes
Grandmaster Dr. Dan-Horia Chinda, founder of the Chinda Institute International for Mind-Body and Spirit Development, offers weekly workshops for Los Frailes neighbors on “Mind, Body and Spirit Harmony through Chi-Kung and Tai-Chi Chuan.” He discusses basic issues, theoretical and practical aspects, benefits of practicing, implications in daily life and the awareness offered by diligent practice.
Workshops focus on simple exercises, from basic Chi-Kung (energy cultivation) exercises which improve health and personal healing power to later Tai-Chi Chuan basics, an ancient method of improving coordination, balance and flexibility.
Workshops are on Sundays at Plaza de Azulejo, around the big fountain, at 10:30am, for about 45 minutes. No age limitation, everybody is very welcome!
Workshops are free but donations are welcome and will be used for Los Frailes maintenance.
Advanced Directives / Care Share Workshops
Hospice San Miguel offers 1.5-hour workshops beginning in November for preparing Advanced Directives (Living Wills). Meetings are small (12 persons or less) and we discuss the decisions that need to be made to assure your wishes are followed in an emergency. We provide Advanced Directives forms, the book Hard Choices for Loving People and a special book to record pertinent data in one place for those responsible for handling emergencies or your estate.
Care Share Groups allow individuals to band together to assure they have a network of friends who can help each other in time of need. You do not need to be living alone to be part of a Care Share Group.
Workshops cost 200 pesos and schedules are based on your preferences for time and day. Call 154-4287 or email info@hospicesma.org.
Bereavement Support Groups
Hospice San Miguel sponsors two free bereavement support groups. The English group meets Mondays, 3–4:30pm and the Spanish group on Thursdays, 5–6:30pm. Hospice is located in Colonia la Lejona (behind Mega) on Calle Manuel Rocha 35. Call 154-4287 or email mail@hospicesma.org to make reservations.
Acting classes start November 11
San Miguel Actors Workshop classes are on Tuesdays and Fridays, 2–5pm, from November 11 through December 5. The series of eight classes, limited to 10 participants, is 1,500 pesos; call 154-0352 to register, or visit www.theatersanmiguel.com for information.
Simply Art: watercolors in February
Simply Art brings guest teachers to San Miguel and the first is Bonnie Steinberg from Toronto, who will teach a class in watercolors February 16–20. Each daily class lasts six hours. For more information and registration, call Marcia Dworkin at 152-4280.
Tours & Excursions
Saturday Adventure Tours
Today the Adventurers will be at a loss for words at what they see in the workshop and gallery of Monica Galera, an alchemist in natural fibers. Her land on the banks of the Rio Laja provides her raw material: Carrizo, similar to bamboo; papyrus; banana trees; and she uses recycled cartons, paper, wool and cotton. Lovely wastepaper baskets, round or square, are woven of papyrus. Wall hangings, screens and other amazing articles made from natural fibers are in her sunny, bright gallery. Natural-fiber placemats come in various colors. Her work is amazing, fantastic and other superlatives.
Next is Rancho San Miguelito, a colonial home lovingly restored with modern amenities such as baths, but still with the feeling of the eighteenth century. The furniture is mostly family pieces from that era. A larger than life-size rooster in the kitchen is made entirely of dried chiles. The grounds are gorgeous, most notably a large Japanese garden. The rooms surround a central patio with a carved cantera fountain. Don't leave your camera at home.
This tour leaves from inside the Jardín, across from the Parroquia, at 10:30am.
Botanical Garden tour
El Charco del Ingenio (Jardín Botánico) offers two-hour tours on Tuesdays at 10am sharp. Bring a hat, water and good walking shoes. Fees are 50 pesos for members and 80 pesos for nonmembers. Private tours are 150 pesos per person (minimum five).
The easiest way to El Charco is by taxi. Staff will call a taxi for the return trip to town.
Reservations are not necessary. If you have any questions, email nzerriffi@yahoo.com.
Lions Club treks to Cuernavaca and Taxco
On Tuesday, November 18, Lions Club International embarks on a three-day trip to Cuernavaca and the silver-mining town of Taxco. Reserve through Jean Schickel at 152-0934.
Performances & Events
Arthur Murray dance at Romanos
The Arthur Murray dance studio holds its twice-monthly dance night at Romanos Italian restaurant, Hernández Macías 93, on Friday, November 7, 7:30–9pm. The dance is every other Friday at the same time and place—no cover charge but a 100-peso minimum order per table is requested.
Volunteer Opportunities
The Community Connections section of the Atención website at www.atencionsanmiguel.org lists nonprofit organizations in San Miguel that assist children and families; promote education and schools; provide food, potable water and medical treatment; and even take care of animals and the environment. This section provides descriptions, contacts and information for donors or volunteers.
Does your nonprofit need some extra help, perhaps for an upcoming event? Send short requests for volunteers to edit@atencionsanmiguel.org with “Volunteer Opportunities” in the subject line.
Biblioteca needs rare book dealer/collector
The Biblioteca Pública plans a major fundraising Book Fest sale this winter. Rare and collectible books accumulated through donations over the past several years will be a featured section of the sale. We need someone in November and December to evaluate and price about 400 volumes. Contact Kathleen at the library office or Kennedy at Atención.
Proofreaders needed for Atención
Sharp-eyed people needed to proofread newspaper copy weekly. We have a crew reading galleys on Tuesday, but need two more people with copy-editor inclinations to read manuscripts Thursday or Friday afternoons. Background in editing or technical writing preferred. Contact Suzanne, John or Kennedy at the Atención office on the second-floor terrace of the Biblioteca, or email edit@atencionsanmiguel.org.
Audubon Sightings
By Walter L. Meagher
The White-throated Swift
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White-throated Swifts winter in El Charco, arriving in November, departing in April; some stay on, possibly breeding here. |
They are the swiftest of all swifts, darting, swooping and turning faster than the eye can register. In the evening, they come to roost in the cracks and crevices of El Charco’s canyon wall, a fortress made for them. Before bedtime, they play chase.
Bird follows bird, forming a funnel of whirling swifts; once formed, individuals fly away, dissolving the funnel, soaring high into the sky. When the sun sets in the western sky and city lights go on, the swifts return, restarting the chase, reforming the funnel that resembles a tornado. Then, as if enough play is enough, birds dart away from the multitude, leave the game and enter crevices in the canyon wall. The birds have gone to bed.
Swifts, like swallows, have wide gapes suited to hoovering insects on the wing, catching flies, beetles, bees and wasps, even nesting materials—grass fragments, feathers and light pieces of paper. The swift’s legs are too short to walk. If a swift lands on the ground, it cannot stand or fly away, and may die. Like no other bird, it is wedded to the sky.
Note: Adapted from Wild & Wonderful: Nature Up Close in the Botanical Garden “El Charco del Ingenio” by Walter L. Meagher with photographs by Wayne Colony.
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