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Published: February 6th 2007
Aqui es Mexico
A nice Restaurant in San MiguelIt has been almost two weeks since my last post -- sorry. A lot has happened. The first week of February was a very busy week. It was more about dealing with the reality of teaching than the adventures of Mexico. At the Technologico De Monterrey, grading is a little different than in the States. They follow a normal Semester pattern, yet they actually receive 4 grades during this time. Partial 1 (4 weeks), Partial 2 (4 weeks), Partial 3 (4 weeks), and the final grade (full 15 weeks). The grades for Partial 1 were due on 2-12-07. For most of last week, I was either preparing for MY test (Spanish) or grading my student’s tests & projects for the two classes that I teach.
It is day 46 in Mexico and I am completely stuffed again. I have a problem that I will share with everyone. I am told that the road to recovery is honesty. So here’s my stab at honesty. Mexican food has become a problem. I just can’t stop eating it. I love the enchiladas, can’t stay away from the sopes, need to eat at least one quesadilla each day, and the gorditas are just plain
I Love Mexican Food
Does it look like I have gained weight? I don't think so....do you? wonderful. That does not even touch the desserts. Until you have tried Mexican flan, cakes (literally dripping with moisture or “cream de leche”), cookies, and cheese cake you have not truly experienced Mexican culture. The problem is, I am afraid that I am experiencing a little too much of the Mexican Culture. I just don’t know when to stop. One day last week, I stopped for flan, and then had a wonderful slice of Crème de Frese Pastilla (a cream cake with strawberries). I could not leave the shop without buying a second piece of flan which I ate the next day. Yikes! Well, I have included a picture, I am not sure if I have gained weight (we don’t have a set of scales here) but I am afraid I have! Your input would be appreciated. Please be kind.
A friend (and co-worker) of Teresa’s, Kristina, arrived on Friday, 2-09-07 at 8:00 p.m. We picked Kristina up at the airport and took a driving tour around the city before going home -- stopping for flan (of course). Kristina is definitely the adventuresome type. It was a lot of fun having her around and we feel almost like a
Driving to San Miguel
Scenery on the drive from Queretaro to San Miguel part of the family just left us. The week just flew by. Here is the short version of our week of adventures with Kristina.
On Saturday morning we drove into Juriquilla for fresh squeezed orange juice. Kristina took one sip and said “this is the best orange juice I have ever had. It tastes like I am sucking on a really delicious orange, not bitter like store-bought juices in the U.S.” Later on Saturday, we drove to San Miguel de Allende. San Miguel is another colonial town located in the central highlands of Mexico. Yet, this is a very different sort of town. You know it is different as soon as you arrive. It is home to many very high profile artists. The town has more art work for sale than any other place in the Highlands. Moreover, retirees from the US come here in large numbers to retire. As a result, more English is spoken. Our first stop was at the scenic overlook called El Mirador (we took several photos). Then we went to the Mercado de Artesanias (all kinds of stuff for sale). We then drove to the local Mercado. I am forever amazed at the fresh
San Miguel de Allende
The scenic overlook to San Miguel fruit and vegetables in the market. The square in the center of town is one of the most beautiful in this area. It has several churches. The sculpting on the churches are detailed, yet weathered to a rich, worn appearance. Many walls and ceilings are painted over brick or cement walls. The amount of detail is astounding (I have included several photos)
We spent most of the day just wandering around the town visiting several artisan shops. We ended up eating lunch at “Aqui es Mexico” (Here is Mexico) where we had, of course, Comida Corrida. We picked this placed based on the recommendation in the “Rough Guide to Mexico.” It said, “Cheerful and attractive upstairs dinning area with a wide range of Mexican favorites, though the best value is one the comidas corridas.” That was enough for my vote! The place was really neat, the food was great and the owner of the restaurant was very kind and friendly.
We had read about a place called “La Gruta” that is located near San Miguel. In this area are several natural hot springs. La Gruta is one of the most popular locations. As you enter, it is a park
like setting. So, it really builds up your expectations. We changed and hurried to the “hot springs.” First impression: hmmm…a warm swimming pool. But then we realized that at the one end you could walk through a stone tunnel (chest high water) that led to a large cave like room where the spring water entered. As you walked through the tunnel, the water (and air) got hotter and hotter, until it was quite hot at the center. We swam for about two hours and really enjoyed the place. (see pictures)
The final stop of the day was at a church called Sanctuario de Atotonilco. To get to the church, you travel on a small dirt road that leads to a dusty, somewhat dirty, indigenous community. The road was long and rough, and I stopped three times to confirm that I was going in the right direction. All at once, you enter a little, quiet town where this large church is located. This church was simply amazing. It was founded by Padre Felipe Neri, and it was from this location that Padre Hidalgo marched with the banner of the Virgin of Guadalupe that later became the flag of the Mexicans
in the War of Independence. The churched is covered with murals. It has intricately painted ceilings, scripture passages, shrines, and other details literally all over the walls and throughout the church. As we left, we saw processions of people following behind others who were carrying religious flags or small shrine-like objects on sticks. The entire procession was singing as they passed us.
2-11-07 Sunday
This week also marked a first time event. We found an English speaking Christian Church. It is called The Rose of Sharon, or La Rosa de Saron. We attended the service on Sunday. The congregation was a small, eclectic mix of Americans, Mexicans and other nationalities. A Mexican couple with two small children played the music for the day on a dulcimer and a piano. Their little boy was hilarious to watch - he sat next to his mother and swayed his head and made faces along with the music. The lady that played the dulcimer also spoke about how many poor people there were in Mexico and how it was important not to let the younger generation forget their culture and heritage or to get comfortable and not care about the poor. The minister
La Gruta Hot Springs
La Gruta Hot Springs near San Miguel for the church is seriously ill, so the speaker for the day was a British man from Cambridge who spoke with a fabulous English accent. He preached from the story of Jesus with the Samaritan woman.
We made it to the “Mercado de la Cruz” on Sunday. This is the largest market in Queretaro. We walked through tons of crowded booths of T-shirts, jeans, jewelry, CD’s and DVD’s, baked goods and candies, trinkets and small children’s toys, etc. and then moved into the areas with fruits and vegetables, flowers, and meat (entire pigs’ legs, fresh raw meat, and even a cow head with the eyeballs still in it, hanging from a hook by its nostrils). Teresa and Kristina found a group of venders selling birds. There were hundreds of birds, they had all kinds, even cardinals. They wanted 800 pesos for a cardinal - about $75.
On Sunday evening we went back into town to the Jardin Zenéa (central square) to listen to live music and walk around. Couples wandered everywhere, and you cannot go far without seeing a father interacting with his children, carrying them or holding their hand. It is such a family atmosphere. Although there
La Gruta Hot Springs
La Gruta Hot Springs near San Miguel are literally thousands of people, mingling, talking, and dancing, no one is drinking alcohol and the people all seem to be so happy to be there just enjoying the moment. We watched a street performer for awhile. He was pretty funny, dressed in clown shoes and big black clown pants on suspenders. He did a funny routine with a coat and a hat where he put his arm through the coat sleeve and made it appear to be another person that he was dancing with. It got a bit risqué after awhile, but overall was pretty cool looking.
2-12-07 Monday
On Monday, Teresa and Kristina went to a park in Queretaro called Cerro de las Campanas, which means Hill of the Bells. The girls and I had gone to the park two weeks earlier, but it was Teresa’s first visit. This description is from Kristina: “The park had a giant statue of Benito Juarez, which was made out of huge square stones. The trees looked like mushrooms at the park, and there were really cool curvy staircases with yellow and orange trim on the curbs around them. It seems common in Mexico (or at least this area) to sculpt
Santuario de Atotonilco
A Beautiful Church in a small village. bushes into shapes and animals, which is fun. Teresa and I also climbed up in a bright yellow alcove at the park that seemed like it should have a statue in it - we each struck a pose and took pictures, which caused a trio of Mexicans sitting nearby to laugh at our antics. She and I also just enjoyed a nice time of talking and sharing stories, which was really great.”
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Here are some general impressions and comments from Kristina about her time in Queretaro: “One of the interesting things down here regarding the roads are the “topes.” These are basically speed bumps, but they have them all over throughout the city and any roads that you drive on. They basically control the speed of the traffic without speed limits, because you HAVE to slow down repeatedly to go over them. The Rubels all hate them. I wonder if Mexican drivers do too, or if they just take them for granted and don’t think too much about it.
Many of the streets as we drive seem very much like American streets, but then others are narrow alleys with brick or cobblestone pavements that you can barely fit through
Santuario de Atotonilco
A Beautiful Church in a small village. in the car. There seems to always be lots of people everywhere you go milling about the streets or going from place to place. There are food vendors cooking in portable booths on the corners, and sometimes you can go past a corner where nothing is at, only to come by later and find a booth set up and surrounded by hungry customers.
The buildings in the city seem to be a solid square of small shops side by side, with doorways that open into a hidden courtyard or other alleys inside, which are not visible from the outer streets. I am very curious what is inside many of the doors and where the alleys behind them lead. Jeff mentioned that the Ole school where Teresa goes for Spanish is set up that way, so it would be a good place to go to see what the inside of the squares look like.
Also many of the towns seem to have at least one central square, which has a large fountain or statue(s) surrounded by beautiful sculpted green trees and low walls where people sit and visit. Benches also surround the square. These squares seem to be a
Santuario de Atotonilco
A Beautiful Church in a small village. popular gathering place to socialize and hang out, not just for young couples but for entire families as well. There are lots of large statues of significant historical figures around the town, and plenty of fountains and other water features.
On Tuesday, Teresa and I went on a walking tour of the city. We started with a monastery in the town called the Convento de la Santa Cruz - another beautiful church, then walked down Independecia to find the Museo de Casa de la Zacatecana. This is an interesting 18th century house with period furniture. The legend of the home is that the Senora Zacatecana murdered her husband and then was also murdered. We looked at all of the period furniture and antique paintings and sculptures in the rooms, and also got to look through a plexiglass hole in the floor at the skeletons down below. They had a small doorway in one room that led to a narrow, curved metal staircase that went up onto an overlook of the city. The coolest room in the museum had dozens of clocks with pendulums, so when you entered the room each clock ticked. The sound in the room was really
Santuario de Atotonilco
A Beautiful Church in a small village. cool with all of the ticking. Another interesting room had dozens of different crucifixes on the wall. Some were really large and carved out of woods, others were smaller or were just Christ without the cross.
We decided to get lunch and voted to wander down Cinco de Mayo (5 of May) the next street over to see if we could find a restaurant we wanted to try. We ended up at a small restaurant where a middle aged, plump woman in an old dress and apron was serving up tacos and quesadillas from bowls of ingredients on a counter. She had a large drum shaped stove top and placed homemade corn tortillas that she rolled out from a hand-cranked machine similar to a pasta cutter onto it to cook. The quesadillas were awesome, and although it was difficult, Teresa and I managed to order and pay for them without too much trauma! Teresa did a great job with her Spanish.
2-14-07 Wednesday
Today Teresa, Jeff and I drove about 45 minutes out to the city of Bernal. A huge rock sits next to the town and has historical and spiritual significance to the people. You can climb
Santuario de Atotonilco
A Beautiful Church in a small village. up the rock if you want - it takes about an hour and a half to go up and back down. We just spent time in the town though. The town was very quaint with little shops all along the streets. It was not very busy. Many of the shops sold sweaters, slippers, gloves and other wool knitted items. For lunch we ate sopes and quesadillas from a little stand. The sopes are like a fat flat tortilla with a ridged edge, covered with beans, cheese, and a topping of your choice.
2-15-07 Thursday
Teresa and I went to the art museum today. It cost $20 pesos to get in (a little less than $2). The museum was amazing architecturally. You walked into the doorway and came out into a huge courtyard inside a two-story building with very intricate carvings, figures and arches all around the courtyard. The center of the courtyard featured a large stone fountain. The building was beautiful.
The artwork in the museum was nice. There were quite a few paintings of saints, Mary, Jesus, etc. similar to the paintings inside some of the churches that we saw. It’s clear that the
Santuario de Atotonilco
A Beautiful Church in a small village. Roman Catholic influence in Mexico has a very strong impact on the culture. Another room in the museum was filled with large colorful lithographic prints that were very cool. The details and textures in the prints were really interesting. After we left the museum we walked around for awhile and ended up at another outdoor square with a large fountain in front of a very large, beautiful building called Santa Rosa. This building had huge carved scrollwork curls on its sides that were covered in tiles or bricks. Walking past the building, we passed a school letting out. The streets were full of waiting parents and children snacking on the sweets that their parents had bought. We kept walking and eventually found a restaurant with Comida Corrida. I had tortilla soup, which was literally strips of crunchy tortillas in a broth with no other ingredients except a few dallops of guacamole on the top. The main meal was pollo empanadas, which ended up being a round piece of breaded, fried chicken, with rice and beans. It was very tasty.
2-16-07 Friday
This morning we got an early start and Jeff took Teresa and me to a small restaurant for
Santuario de Atotonilco
A nun walking in the road to the small village were Santuario de Atotonilco is located. breakfast. I wasn’t feeling adventurous and just ordered pancakes, but they were served with caramel sauce instead of syrup which was really good. Teresa and I then took off for a Tequisquiapan (a quaint town about an hour away with a market, little shops, and of course a square with a church). The buildings are brightly painted with really cool doors and windows. We enjoyed a casual meander through the shops checking out the ceramics, metalwork, sweaters, and other hand-made things. We also especially noticed the lamp posts around the town - each was beautifully detailed and interesting. It seems that everything here is special, never ordinary or repetitious."
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Momo
non-member comment
Love the view!
Do you guys go to a hotel like every week? Just kidding, but it seems like it. It looks so beautiful there and I want to come visit! Have fun and enjoy your time there, cause you will be home soon enough! Love you, Momo