Tomorrow, September 16th is officially Independence Day in Mexico; however, you got to start early! Let me give the background story, Nanci style. In 1810, a priest named Miguel Hidalgo was unhappy with colonial Mexican society; in particular, how it was determined by skin color, parentage and birthplace. At the top of the tree were the Spanish-born colonists, followed by criollos (most of whom were extremely wealthy), the mestizos (people of mixed ancestry), and lastly the indigenous people and African slaves. The criollos started to rebel against the Spanish rule and Padre Miguel Hidalgo gave his ‘Grito de Indepencia’, or shout for independence. When Hidalgo, Allende, Aldama and Jimenez were fighting in Guanajuato, the city decided to put the colonists and the criollos in the Alhondiga, where they’d be safe. They were wrong. A Mexican miner ... read more

As I was writing my blog last night, I looked out our window to La Bufa for inspiration. La Bufa is a huge (to me, anyway) rocky cliff above Guanajuato. There were hundreds of torches making their way to the top of La Bufa. July 31st is the annual pilgrimage to the cave of San Ignacio. Last night several hundred people were going up, but it was nothing compared to all the people that were on the way up today. There were tons of people of all ages – little babies being carried to little old ladies. I, however, was a bit chicken. I could blame it on my shoes, I could blame it on my age, but it reality I was almost crying like a little girl! We finally made it to the cave! I ... read more

Saturday we drove to the city of Leon. Leon has 1.2 million inhabitants and is about 45 minutes from our casita. Leon used to be where the cowboys came to sell their cattle. What happens when you have an excess of cattle? An excess of leather goods! Leon is known as ‘The Shoe Capital of the World’, and for good reason. We went to La Plaza de Zapato and every store inside the two story mall was totally devoted to shoes! Yes, ladies, I said shoes! There were cowboy boots, men’s Italian dress shoes, babies’ shoes, and of course, women’s shoes. I have never in all my life seen so many shoes. Unfortunately, I left my camera in the car. Across the street there was another mall that had nothing but leather goods – jackets, purses, ... read more

On the eve of my first Spanish lesson, I thought I’d share with you what I already learned. BABIES: Babies don’t speak English or Spanish. If you smile and wave to them, they’re fascinated with you. Moms will smile at you, too, and everybody feels good. DOGS: Every house has an outdoor dog. They’re mostly for security; the bigger the bark, the better the dog. I have seen quite a few dogs living on roofs, incessantly barking when someone comes near. I always want to pet one, but am afraid. I guess they’re not pets. C AND F: The C and F on the sink does not mean Cold and Freezing, but rather Caliente and Frio – enough said. D AND C (or M AND H): David walked into a restroom labeled “M”. He found out ... read more

As I sit on my balcony listening to the cacophony of dogs barking, roosters crowing, church bells chiming, and crickets chirping, I can’t help but think how lucky I am to be here! The weather has been absolutely perfect - mid 70s. Either the roads are getting easier or we’re getting better, but we went to the grocery store and back and we didn’t get lost once! We even took the tunnels instead of going all the way around! I was stoked! We decided to forego Spanish lessons for the time being. We’ve got 3 Spanish books here. That, coupled with all the signs, I think we’ll do okay. We may have to revisit this in a month or so, but we’re pretty comfortable with our decision. I believe we’re going to have our own Spanish ... read more