AROUND TOWN

Meetings & Lectures

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship 

Educators Anne and Jim Olsen discuss “Educating an Expatriate Child in San Miguel” at this Sunday’s meeting. The Olsens outline private education opportunities here and explain the considerations necessary for selecting a model of education for children of expatriate families.

The longtime residents have worked both formally and informally with expatriate children for nearly 20 years. Their San Miguel experiences include teaching at a high school and university, serving as principal of a private primary school, and private tutoring and counseling. They also write an education column for Atención.

Anne has several master’s degrees in education and social work. Jim did doctoral work in curriculum design and holds a Ph.D. in international education. Both have worked in educational publishing and as consultants to ministries of education throughout the Caribbean and Latin America and for various international agencies and the US Agency for International Development. 

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.

Mariachi Mass

St. Paul’s Church at Cardo 6 offers a unique celebration of the Holy Eucharist with a local mariachi band at 10:30am on Sunday, September 28. Church members are asked to invite friends, especially Spanish speakers. A coffee hour follows the Eucharist, also with special music.

Midday Rotary Club

Ben-Zion Ptashnik, former state senator from Vermont, founder of EarthRight Institute and president of Solar San Miguel, speaks about “Sustainable San Miguel:

The Global Challenge” on Tuesday, September 30. The talk’s focus is economic development strategy and long-term plans.

Sustainable San Miguel is a coalition of businesses, banks, individuals and municipal agencies and leaders who have been meeting for seven months to chart a sustainable ecological and economic course for the future of the city. The group’s first project is a November 8–15 conference and expo in the Jardín and the Instituto Allende, 

The focus is water and energy conservation, recycling, green lifestyles and green/sustainable economic development. The expo includes a week-long exhibit in the Jardín by companies involved with recycling, water-conservation and energy-saving products such as wind generators, water-catchment and solar systems.

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. For more information, visit www.rotarysma.org. 

Classes & Workshops

Chess in three places

Adults meet Mondays 5–6:30pm in the north portal of the Biblioteca Pública’s central patio. The library closes at 7pm, but Café Santa Ana lets players carry on for another hour or two.

Players also gather at Mamma Mia, Umarán 8, on Thursdays, 5–7pm.

Chess players meet three times a week at Casa de la Cultura on Chorro: Saturdays, 10am–2pm, Wednesdays and Fridays, 5–8pm.

Wai-Dan Chi Kung and Tai-Chi Chuan Basics

Grandmaster Dr. Dan-Horia Chinda conducts weekly workshops offering basic exercises in the external forms of Chi-Kung (Wai-Dan) and Yang Tai-Chi Chuan. He discusses related issues, from theoretical to practical, benefits of practicing, implications in daily life and the awareness offered by diligent practice. Sessions are Wednesdays, 9:15–10am, on the second-floor terrace at the Biblioteca Pública. No age limitations; everybody is welcome. Donations support the Biblioteca’s many programs. 

Stepping on the Shambhala Buddhist path

Are you interested in a spiritual path that relates mind, heart and everyday life? Have you wondered about the possibility of making every moment of life an artistic expression? Are you curious about meditation practice? Have you wondered what it really means to become a Buddhist?

Shambhala Senior teacher Achyra Allyn Lyon leads meditation practice and discussions on these questions at the Shambhala Centre of San Miguel, Friday–Sunday, October 3–5. All are welcome to attend. To learn more about Acharya Lyon, see http://www.shambhala.org/teachers/acharya/alyon.php. 

For more information, contact program coordinators John Perkins at jperkins@ca.inter.net  or Patricia Gonzalez patriciafgonzalez@yahoo.com. 

To learn more about Shambhala Buddhism, see http://www.shambhala.org. 

Tours & Excursions

Saturday Adventure Tours

Adventurers are off to real adventure today. First to Pakina and Jaime’s ranch, where we will see a troje, an adobe home, and a group of waiting mariachis to serenade us. The home is filled with antiques and photographs of the Fernández family. It is also a home with wooden floors, open shelving in the kitchen and a baptismal font in a bathroom. The troje is a home brought up from Pátzcuaro but now converted to a studio for Pakina, a working artist. You will love her unusual nichos. Out past the mariachis, tootling away on their oil-drum instruments in a silent concert, is the bar and play room.

The Jaguar Museum of Jennifer Haas is a collection of Mexican crafts not to be missed. Here you can see pieces you have never seen before and will never see again—antique pottery not made any more, old fiesta costumes not worn any more. You also will see Aztec instruments as they were made centuries ago. Play a tune on the stone xylophone or the wooden jaguar drum. A camera will come in handy today!

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. A hat, water and good walking shoes are recommended. Fees are 50 pesos for members and 80 pesos for nonmembers. Private tours are available for 150 pesos per person (minimum five). 

The easiest way to Jardín Botánico is by taxi. Staff will call for a taxi for the return trip to town.

Reservations are not necessary. If you have any questions, email nzerriffi@yahoo.com.  

Performances & Events

Registration opens for San Miguel dog show

Registration is open through October 4 for the 21st Annual San Miguel Kennel Club Dog Show at the Hotel Real de Minas, October 11–12.

All entries must be registered with FCM (Federación Canolfila Mexicana) and have microchips. Dr. Alma Miranda (Stirling Dickinson 27) is qualified to insert microchips.

The entry fee is 150 pesos a day and may be sent by fax to (01) (415) 152-2347 accompanied by a deposit slip from Bancomer 134 Account #044-307-5494, Club Canofilo de San Miguel. A late charge will be levied up to October 8. For further information, call (415) 152-0286.

CASA fall sale needs donations

Moving? Housecleaning? CASA (Centro de Adolescentes de San Miguel de Allende) needs used beds, stoves, refrigerators, televisions, electrical appliances and clothing for the grand fall sale on October 11, 9am–2pm at their Santa Julia facility. For pick-up, call Elbeth at 152-2813. For more information, visit www.casa.org.mx. 

Films & Videos

Meditation Center: Eckhart Tolle 

On Thursday, October 2, at 5:30pm, the Meditation Center at callejón Blanco 4 presents “Living a Life of Inner Peace,” a talk Eckhart Tolle gave in San Francisco in March 2003. Reality is the present moment! This statement is not to be thought about; it is to be lived! “Accessing the Now,” as Tolle explains, is beyond the limits of thoughts and the “forms” that this moment takes. The ultimate reality cannot be fully understood with the mind. This video contains a deeper level of introductory teachings and you will learn to access the “Power of Now” and live a life of inner peace and harmony.

There is no charge for presentations, though donations are gratefully accepted.

Shalom/Forum: Control Room

Shalom/Forum presents Control Room, a documentary that peers into the controversial and often dangerous operations of the Al Jazeera news network. Although it often enrages its own people, the news outlet has become the most accepted information resource in the Arab community. Filmmaker Jehane Noujaim gains extraordinary access to Al Jazeera journalists and examines the risks they confront daily. 

Shalom/Forum invites you to think about the implications of this film and enjoy exchanging opinions in their always lively refreshment session.

Join them Monday, October 6, at 5pm in the television salon of Hotel Quinta Loreto, calle Loreto 15.

Volunteer Opportunities

For a list of nonprofit organizations in San Miguel, visit the Community Connections section of the Atención website at www.atencionsanmiguel.org.  Dozens of organizations in San Miguel 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? Send your short requests for volunteers to edit@atencionsanmiguel.org with “Volunteer Opportunities” in the subject line. Maybe you have an event coming up and some extra support would be appreciated.



English Book Committee needs volunteers

The English Book Committee at the Biblioteca Pública needs librarians with an extensive background in children’s and adult literature, and catalogers experienced in using electronic systems. Call Robin Velte at 154-4661.

Red Cross seeks new board members

The Red Cross association of San Miguel seeks new volunteer board members. The association is the vehicle through which the foreign community supports the efforts of the Red Cross and generates revenue through memberships, emergency medical classes, the sale of medic alert bracelets and bingo every Tuesday night (a new feature of bingo is one unannounced large cash game). If you are interested in helping those who are always there to help us, call Barbara Lichter at 152-2303 to discuss volunteer opportunities.

Teach English

FINO (Fundación de Ninos Olvidados) is in its third year of teaching its unique “Leading with English” program to elementary age rural children. The program is designed to help identify leaders and inspire leadership skills through English language acquisition. Currently, we work in the village of Jalpa and are looking for volunteers who love children to begin October 1, noon–3pm on Wednesdays, for a minimum of four to six weeks. Leading with English combines interdisciplinary, experiential approaches and resources, reinforced by teams of English-speaking volunteers. We also open our new community library to other children at the same time. Transportation provided. Contact Elizabeth at www.finoacmex.com. 

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