Blogs from Guanajuato, Mexico, North America - page 19

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The church bells were ringing, the mariachis singing and children were pushed up against the gates to see the bride and groom. Yes, we saw a Mexican Wedding. The HUGE wedding party was coming out of the San Miguel landmark church La Parroquia for all the world to see. Everyone looked so happy, but the bride seemed to be annoyed at being told what to do by her mother. Saturday was the first day that I felt well enough to go out for longer than a couple hours into the world. My illness had disappeared finally, even though my stomach was a bit sensitive right after eating. So on Saturday, Eleanor invited us to join her and her friend, Judy, to go to a crafts fair at Instituto Allende. The fair was wonderful but very crowded. ... read more
Ronnie drawing at the fair
Sitting Pretty
The most famous SMA landmark


Since I have not left the casita since Monday due to my illness, I really have come to learn about the three most important things around the house that we use daily, but never had in the US. First of all is our water filter system. We get all of our drinking water and cooking water from this source and it actually tastes great! Very similar to San Francisco water. I am sure some people in the states use filtered water all the time, but I always used tap. We have learned that if you are going to ingest any part of water in your cooking, to use this. Such as boiling pasta and what not. The next we use all the time is this waste basket. In Mexico, you DO NOT flush your toilet paper ... read more
Waste Basket
Veggie Mineral Bath


Last night, while sitting and reading a book, a giant loud cracking sound exploded near us and scared Byron to death! Okay, us a little too...I looked up in the sky and saw the tails of fireworks. It has been announced that SMA is now a UNESCO world heritage site. It is a a huge deal and all of the people of San Miguel are glowing with pride at their honored city. The days have been coming and going. The other day, Ronnie and I played "tourist" and headed to the Centro. As soon as we arrived, rain started to gush down and the crowded streets we suddenly barren. Everyone squeezed under various coverage to protect themselves. We did the same thing for a little while, but our hunger pressed us forward. We ran in the ... read more
Walkway to Roof Top
Byron enjoying the roof top patio
Archway painting by Ronnie


Things are starting fall into place and our casita is feeling more and more like home. Yesterday we took the bus by ourselves in El Centro. The bus ride was great! Each bus is individually owned by the driver. You flag them down like they are taxis and just hop on. The money is collected during or after the ride. The radio blasts loud music as we bumped up and down on the cobblestone streets. I was particularly touched when a very old man who could barely walk flagged down the bus. The driver pulled over and got out of the bus to help the man up the stairs. You don't see that on Muni in San Francisco! We then spent the day walking around downtown. We picked up the weekly English newspaper, stopped for a ... read more
Julia at Comida
Streets of San Miguel
Ronnie in El Centro


It is now day three and even though the thunder and lightening storms continue, we are giddy with our new life. Yesterday morning I met our first neighbor, though I have forgotten his name. I used my broken spanish to discover he worked on the casita that we live in and that he has visited Houston and San Antonio, but never to California. Then Eleanor (our land-lady and rad Senora) took us in a cab down to one of the major supermarkets to do some shopping. The store is called MEGA and it lived up to it's name. I was so excited to walk in and see many exotic frutas and venduras. (Fruits and Veggies) We bought many things in this section but mostly a lot of avocados and tiny limes that go well with tequila. ... read more
Our first dinner in la casita
Camerones con Avocado
Preparing Comida


After months of planing, emotions, blood, sweat and tears...we have made it to our casita in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico. But before my first impressions and experiences, I want to share with you what happened on the last days on US soil. It was hard to say good-bye to our apartment in the Lower Haight. We started our lives together there and it will always live in my memory as one of the places that I grew into who I am today. With lots of stress that doesn't need to be repeated as far as cleaning and getting every item out of there by the 30th, we left it in great condition and received our FULL deposit back. That night, our friends wanted to throw us another going away party. It was so wonderful ... read more
Family Good-Bye Dinner
View from Patio into our kitchen
Ronnie in La Sala

North America » Mexico » Guanajuato » Guanajuato June 30th 2008

Hi all! Well we caught an early bus from Zacatecas to Guanajuato. We had to get up at 4am as the lady told Rob tickets would be on sale at 4.30am. Then she refused to sell them til 5am so not sure what was going on there. We were sitting in the bus terminal feeling pretty sleepy and grumpy, right next to a donkey childrens ride (you know, the sort the kid sits on and it moves around and plays music). It kept firing up with some jingle and repeating the same phrase in Spanish every 30 seconds. I was honestly ready to go up to it and kick it or something until Rob gently led me away to some far off seats like a crazy person... Both towns (Zacatecas and Guanajuato) are amazing but if ... read more
Murals depicting the story of the revolution, which orginated in Chihuahua
Chihuahua
Chihuahua

North America » Mexico » Guanajuato » Guanajuato April 28th 2008

Guanajuato Hello all!! I know it has been a little over a week since I have written and so much has happened!!! Last week was pretty chill with not to much going on...But this weekend we went to Guajajuato and it was so beautiful. It was like a storybook and I loved every bit of it. We left on Satuday morning and arrived in Guanajuato about 1030ish. We checked into our beautiful hacienda style hotel and then took off to tour the city. First we walked to Alhóndige de Granaditas, which is now a museum but used to be where the Spaniards were stationed during the Mexican Revolution. Guanajuato was the city where Padre Hidalgo rang the bell to alarm everyone the the revolution was beginning and they broke into the Alhóndige to overthrow the Spainards. ... read more

North America » Mexico » Guanajuato » Guanajuato April 28th 2008

Where to start? My brain is so full of everything that happened that its hard to even begin. I did a lot of stuff, and it was packed full, so I'm going to separate it into two entries, mmkay? DAY ONE: SATURDAY Got up way too early, packed, and was of course late to meet the girls. We booked it to Suburbia, got on the bus, and slept for 2 hours. We got to Guanajuato, and checked into our hotel- so nice! Alexa and I were in a room together. I unpacked my stuff and we met in the lobby for breakfast- fruit, coffee, bread, tortas, meat, eggs, etc etc. so much stuff! But expensive. cleaned me out!! Then time for a tour! We walked downtown, and it is so different from Morelia. First of all, ... read more
El Pepile
Ride up the hill!
View from the top

North America » Mexico » Guanajuato » Guanajuato April 28th 2008

DAY TWO: SUNDAY Sunday was way more chill. We got up and had a (free) brunch- pancakes, eggs, syrup, MEXICAN HOT CHOCOLATE, coffee, fresh fruit, beans and tortillas. Then it was time to go to a Don Quixote museum- at first I thought "What? Why are we going to a Don Quixote museum?? Wasn't he Spanish?? Random!" But it was AMAZING. Some of the coolest art I'd ever seen. So many styles, hundreds of paintings, all of Don Quixote. I had no idea he had inspired so many! I knew that Dante's Inferno has inspired the most art of anything else (except maybe the Bible), but it seems like Don Quixote is a close second. We weren't supposed to take pictures but I couldn't help myself. I loved it. I could have stayed there for hours. ... read more
Don Quixote Museum
Don Quixote
Parade for Jesus!




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