(written from home)
Well I made it home. I’m sitting here with a cup of coffee. The dishwasher is cleaning up after me and the washing machine is removing all traces of San Miguel from my clothes. After finally finishing perusing all my photos, I can see my mind has not quite made the transition back to Texas. I have looked at the calendar three times to determine when I have to return to work and just cant believe all my Holiday is gone. (I’ve also had to check my map of San Miguel a few times to confirm where a particular photo was taken.) I’m in a sort of Limbo between Mexico and reality. I spent the entire day yesterday going through the remaining 400 photos I had taken but never viewed. So it’s like I just arrived home now. I finally look up and realize the photos are not views out my window.
My last night in San Miguel I had to change rooms. (another couple arrived and needed the space) The only reason I mention it is the new room was on the other side of the courtyard. I lost the clip clop of the horse hooves on the cobblestone below my window and instead heard the neighborhood houses. It seems the family directly behind me was having a Christmas Party. I could occasionally hear children’s laughter and the clank and tinkle of eating; Silverware, plates, glasses. About bedtime, about the time I finished packing all my stuff and crawled into bed to finally finish book #1, I heard music. It was very faint and not possible for me to make out exactly what it was. I listened carefully for awhile but couldn’t quite place it. Like a breeze it would drift in and out and I would catch parts of it through my open window. Ten minutes into the serenade I realized they were singing along with the music. The reason I couldn’t understand was they were singing lyrics – in Spanish. It was little drummer boy. They sat out on the porch and sang me to sleep enjoying some Christmas CD at 'our' party.
On Thursday 12.27, the shuttle picked me up in front of my hotel at 9:30am for the drive to the airport in Leon. ($57US roundtrip) On the drive inbound I had been the only passenger. On the drive back we filled every seat. Ten of us. Lots of the usual, “oh where are you from” and “what did you enjoy most” type questions. Then the – “why did you pick San Miguel for holiday?” This is the good part! Kathey Anthony, realtor from Flower Mound Texas, with Ebby Halliday, 972/539-3000, katheyanthony@ebby.com said she and her husband Don chose it because they had read the Tony Cohan book: On Mexican Time. (I was also drawn by the book, having read it from the library when it first came out in 2000) Kathey then related the story about how she and Don had written the editor and had gotten an email back from Tony Cohan saying ‘if you are in town let’s meet in the Jardin and visit.’ So they had met Tony the night before and gotten their books signed. (while I was going to bed early) Tony, now living in Guanajuato, made a special trip and talked with them for an hour. How funny that I had walked the city for 8 days looking for the house where Tony and Masako lived and had written about….
Small World! I got an email yesterday from Maria Luisa Aguin, a wonderful lady from Buenos Aires Argentina, who was also staying at Le Mansion del Bosque in San Miguel. She made it home safe and wishes everyone a splendid New Year. (she was so cute. She had a girl stay in her home for 6 months as a foreign exchange student and came to San Miguel to visit at the Holiday. To visit in the home of the girl. She ‘thought’ well, we speak Spanish in Buenos Aires and they speak it in Mexico, so I’ll have no language problems. It turns out the Spanish is not quite the same and she was surrounded by English speaking people so she spoke mostly English. “STOP, I am so tired of speaking English!” her little brain got overloaded at times.) Now I need to write everyone whom I met and have emails for. Do my followup. Burn disks of photos to share.
(art institute where Diego Rivera studied)
Well again, I am home from this latest adventure. I met some wonderful people and truly enjoyed San Miguel. I should have stayed a month to capture it more fully. (kathey and don rented a house and stayed 6 weeks) All the locals of San Miguel were friendly and patient with my horrible Spanish and for that I am eternally grateful. I always felt safe and recommend San Miguel to anyone wanting a ‘different’ Mexican vacation. I can already imagine going back in July when Texas is 113 degrees and in San Miguel its cool enough to see my breath in the morning as I walk across the cobbles to the coffee bar for my Cyber. They say it’s spring year round. With fresh fruit, flowers and people singing you to sleep… I kinda like it.
(milkman delivers)
Happy New Year! Stay safe and enjoy.
Warmest, Skip
Ps. I finished with 31 gigs of photos / 3,215 shots (my favorites: 468 / 2.34 gigs)
Pss. If you are interested, I recommend these books for further reading:
1. On Mexican Time – Tony Cohan
2. Falling in Love with San Miguel – Carol Schmidt and Norma Hair
3. The Doors of San Miguel de Allende – Robert de Gast *
4. Nothing to Declare – Mary Morris
* I met Robert de Gast twice during my visit. The first time during breakfast at Ruth’s guest house – La Mansion del Bosque, where I was staying. (I bought a map from him. HIS – “the Best Map of San Miguel.”) The second time I met de Gast was Sunday at the Open House. He was in the courtyard of the library where we gathered for the tour. He had a little table set up signing his books.
