Migrations cover generations
By Arturo Morales Tirado
November 28, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

Lecture
The Monarch Butterfly 
Thu, Dec 4, 1:30pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
50 pesos

To visit the biosphere reserve of the monarch butterfly, it is important to understand the phenomenon and cultivate a critical awareness of the threat imposed by human activities in Canada, Mexico and the US.

This incredible insect weighs less than two grams and its long-distance migrations cover several generations during a year. Sanmiguelenses visit the sites from November to March.

The Michoacán monarchs migrate 4,000 kilometers from the US east of the Rockies. They encounter snow, hail, rain, temperatures below zero, natural predators like sparrows and the destruction of habitat in Canada, the US and Mexico.

This unique natural phenomenon has been threatened in the last year since the relative population of colonies at 12 sites where they hibernate generally was not found at five sites and at the other seven sites, the occupied surface diminished in 75 percent from three years ago.

I have visited the Monarch site at least 20 times each cycle over the last seven years. My Thursday lecture is profuse in images to illustrate commentary on this amazing phenomenon.

Politics of the US Latin community

UNAM Lecture Latin American politics in the US Fri, Nov 28, 5pm Teatro Santa Ana Biblioteca Pública Reloj 50A Free

UNAM and Biblioteca Pública present a lecture offered by Rodolfo Rosales, professor at the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Texas at San Antonio. The lecture will be on Latin American politics in the US and it is based on the book co-authored by Rosales and Dr. Sharon Navarro, which analyzes the politics of the Latin community in major US cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Miami and San Antonio. The lecture will last 30–45 minutes, followed by time for questions.

Surreal art and natural heritage
By Arturo Morales

Lecture
Xilitla and Sierra Gorda 
Tue, Dec 2, 1:30pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 2
50 pesos

Xilitla, in the Huasteca potosina, has fascinated visitors from San Miguel since the mid-eighties with the surreal art of Sir Edward James, an eccentric, wealthy English nobleman isolated for 25 years in the middle of the Huasteca rainforest east of the state of San Luis Potosí.

Another reason to visit James’s Las Pozas is the attraction of crossing the Sierra Gorda of northeast Querétaro, a spectacular natural heritage less than 150 miles from San Miguel. We tread the Queretano (on the Estorax river basin) to the Encino pine and tropical forests that are part of the protected biosphere reserve of Sierra Gorda.

In this amazing natural territory, occupied by Pames, Jonases and Huastecos Indians, are five jewels of the Mexican mestizo baroque, the Sierra Gorda Franciscan missions, another World Heritage site.

Between San Miguel and Xilitla are magical Bernal at the base of a spectacular monolith, vineyards with huge cavas, paleontological sites, mineral quarries and two mountain archaeological sites in oak forests, Toluquilla and Ranas, with ball courts and pyramid temples. With multiple images, Arturo Morales shares 25 years’ experience visiting this region.