We took off from Guanajuato on Friday afternoon and headed for San Miguel de Allende, a trip of about an hour and a half. This is the town that my Uncle John and Aunt Elanna, may her memory continue to be for a blessing, lived in for many years. My uncle still lives there, and he and his caregiver Holly came to pick us up from the bus stop. It was really a nice change to get picked up by family rather than catching a cab. From the station they drove us to our hostel to check in. We were in a dorm room this time but as it turned out we had it all to ourselves for the two nights we were there anyway. From there we drove out to see my uncle's house, which my dad designed, and I have always wanted to see. It is located a little outside of town and has incredible view of the lake and valley around San Miguel, I must say the architect really used the land in beautiful ways, and the large windows took advantage of the natural beauty of the area. The house was really cool although right now it is a bit dusty from not being lived in, when someone wants to come see it the real estate agent gives them notice and they come give it a little cleaning for potential buyers (its for sale--Interested? Let me know!). It was so cool to see the house in person and I could tell that will with a little attention I think it will be as gorgeous as when my Aunt and Uncle were living there and giving it more love and attention. Every room in the house has a giant window that faces the beautiful view of the valley and lake. After watching the sun set from the balcony. Holly and my uncle took us out for dinner at a very delicious restaurant with a very American menu, called Hecho en México. My uncle seemed really good and that was good to see. The staff that takes care of him seemed responsible, friendly and well trained. Holly cooks him healthy food and the one of the two live in care givers is studying to be a nurse. It was a little sad to see him have trouble with his memory but he seems to remember well and with fondness many of his experiences rocking with New Riders of the Purple Sage and he mentioned talking to my grandma and told us about what she said on the phone that day so I think that he is still doing well. It was fun for Michael to get to meet him too since he was one of the last relatives left for Michael to meet, since he wasn't able to come up for the wedding.
One can easily see why San Miguel is so well loved by the 25,000 expat Americans who now call it home. It is a really charming city with a very pretty colonial center and thanks to the influence of the wealthy tourists and foregin residents, it seems to have quite a bit of money. You can also find most any American type treat you might want. Including... THAI FOOD! (I guess that is not technically an American treat, but you know). We were very skeptical when we walked into a little restaurant that labled itself Thai Mexican Food. Holly had told us there wasn't any good Thai food so we had very low expectations but thought, what the hell. We were so pleasantly surprised! The food was really good. Including the chicken being all white meat, the curry being really well spiced, and the Pad Thai just as authentic tasting as most of the places I have tried in the states.
We also were lucky enough to be there for The Day of the Dead, which is currently on my top 5 favorite holidays list. I am going to let Michael tell you more about it, but really if you ever have the chance to come to Mexico over Nove 1-2 I recommend it. Although you have to venture further south than the border because as you go north the tradition gets mixed into a strange Halloween/Day of the Dead hybrid. We are told Oaxaca is a great place to be for the celebration.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Cutting Classes
We haven't talked much about our classes in Guanajuato, but I think we may have dropped a hint or two in the last week that we're not entirely satisfied with our experience. For example, you might have noticed that we decided to leave town a week early, even though we're loving the city of Guanajuato itself. Here's the deal:
Our school here, for future reference, is called Academia Falcon. When we arrived there a week ago last Sunday, we were shown to our room and basically left without explanation of where anything (i.e. outdoor lights, water, etc.) was located. We found out pretty quickly that besides being a bit on the dirty side and having a less than comfortable mattress on the bed, the toilet wouldn't flush. We were willing to troop through a lot, but if we're going to stay 3 weeks, we need a flushing toilet. So, we were off to a bad start.
The next day we had our first classes at the school. Academia Falcon is a bit like high school, with a schedule of one-hour classes on a variety of possible subjects. We started off in a class on indigenism in Mexico, which was just an hour-long lecture by a teacher who did not seem all that interested in our existence or presence for her droning presentation. Next we had a grammar class. We had been assigned to the most advanced class available, but we found ourselves learning simple rules about certain pronouns and well ahead of the two other students in class. What's more, we weren't convinced that the teacher actually knew what he was talking about. Our third class of the day was good: a simple conversation class with nice classmates and a good teacher, Catalina. Finally, for our fourth and last hour, we had a class on Mexican history, another lecture class, albeit slightly more interesting than the other.
Primarily because of our frustration with our grammar class, Emily and I decided to rearrange our schedule with the school. We dropped grammar entirely, because they didn't have a gramar class suitable to our level, nor were they able to make any adjustments in order to create one. We also dropped out of the indigenism class in order to facilitate rescheduling, though we weren't sad to see it go. We ended up with another conversation class and a class on Latin American literature, which we had wanted to take in the first place. The second conversation class turned out fine, which was predictable given that it was just the two of us in class talking with the teacher. The literature class not so much. The literature teacher is the sort of teacher who kills class conversation because he can't wrap his mind around thinking that it is not exactly the same as his own. Most frustrating was our second day in the class, during which we discussed a story by Julio Cortázar, an author by whom I've read several stories now. It's too hard to explain without spending a great deal of time describing the story, but by the time I had read and reviewed the story for this particular day, I was convinced, and with solid evidence, that much of the last half of the story had been a dream and that the main character who was dreaming about being on an island had, in the end of the story, died in a plane crash just off the island. I know, it sounds weird, but trust me on this. I had plenty of textual evidence, and the storyline is consistent with the way Cortázar tells stories. What was frustrating was that when I offered my view in class, the teacher made no effort to understand it or to change his overly narrow-minded (and I think incorrect, even if you didn't agree with me that the guy died in the end) view of the story. And instead of fostering a potentially interesting conversation, he killed it and returned to a mundane question he had asked to try to start conversation. I'm not sure I've explained the whole interchange well, but it was very frustrating.
Given our disappointment with our lodging--which we changed the next day but which remained less than ideal (e.g., the two twin beds we pushed together to make it sort of like sharing a bed)--and with the class offerings and with the quality of teaching, we decided to cancel our third and last week of class with Academia Falcon. Instead, we decided, we would have an extra week to make getting home a bit less stressful and to give us time to head out to California to see my family and to pick up our cats before settling in to Tucson before Thanksgiving and the impending beginning of Emily's new job.
This week of classes, for the record, has been a bit better, though it hasn't changed our minds one bit about our decision to cut school short a week. Emily and I are each taking a class aimed at teaching terms useful for our respective professions (and each of us is alone in our class, making it very easy to tailor to our needs and wishes). We're also taking two conversation classes, each with good teachers. And finally we have another literature class, but this time with a teacher, Eva, who knows what she's talking about, who fosters interesting conversation while also making sure we understand what happened in the stories, and who actually seems to enjoy the subject. So, we're still leaving, but at least we're leaving on a less sour note.
Our school here, for future reference, is called Academia Falcon. When we arrived there a week ago last Sunday, we were shown to our room and basically left without explanation of where anything (i.e. outdoor lights, water, etc.) was located. We found out pretty quickly that besides being a bit on the dirty side and having a less than comfortable mattress on the bed, the toilet wouldn't flush. We were willing to troop through a lot, but if we're going to stay 3 weeks, we need a flushing toilet. So, we were off to a bad start.
The next day we had our first classes at the school. Academia Falcon is a bit like high school, with a schedule of one-hour classes on a variety of possible subjects. We started off in a class on indigenism in Mexico, which was just an hour-long lecture by a teacher who did not seem all that interested in our existence or presence for her droning presentation. Next we had a grammar class. We had been assigned to the most advanced class available, but we found ourselves learning simple rules about certain pronouns and well ahead of the two other students in class. What's more, we weren't convinced that the teacher actually knew what he was talking about. Our third class of the day was good: a simple conversation class with nice classmates and a good teacher, Catalina. Finally, for our fourth and last hour, we had a class on Mexican history, another lecture class, albeit slightly more interesting than the other.
Primarily because of our frustration with our grammar class, Emily and I decided to rearrange our schedule with the school. We dropped grammar entirely, because they didn't have a gramar class suitable to our level, nor were they able to make any adjustments in order to create one. We also dropped out of the indigenism class in order to facilitate rescheduling, though we weren't sad to see it go. We ended up with another conversation class and a class on Latin American literature, which we had wanted to take in the first place. The second conversation class turned out fine, which was predictable given that it was just the two of us in class talking with the teacher. The literature class not so much. The literature teacher is the sort of teacher who kills class conversation because he can't wrap his mind around thinking that it is not exactly the same as his own. Most frustrating was our second day in the class, during which we discussed a story by Julio Cortázar, an author by whom I've read several stories now. It's too hard to explain without spending a great deal of time describing the story, but by the time I had read and reviewed the story for this particular day, I was convinced, and with solid evidence, that much of the last half of the story had been a dream and that the main character who was dreaming about being on an island had, in the end of the story, died in a plane crash just off the island. I know, it sounds weird, but trust me on this. I had plenty of textual evidence, and the storyline is consistent with the way Cortázar tells stories. What was frustrating was that when I offered my view in class, the teacher made no effort to understand it or to change his overly narrow-minded (and I think incorrect, even if you didn't agree with me that the guy died in the end) view of the story. And instead of fostering a potentially interesting conversation, he killed it and returned to a mundane question he had asked to try to start conversation. I'm not sure I've explained the whole interchange well, but it was very frustrating.
Given our disappointment with our lodging--which we changed the next day but which remained less than ideal (e.g., the two twin beds we pushed together to make it sort of like sharing a bed)--and with the class offerings and with the quality of teaching, we decided to cancel our third and last week of class with Academia Falcon. Instead, we decided, we would have an extra week to make getting home a bit less stressful and to give us time to head out to California to see my family and to pick up our cats before settling in to Tucson before Thanksgiving and the impending beginning of Emily's new job.
This week of classes, for the record, has been a bit better, though it hasn't changed our minds one bit about our decision to cut school short a week. Emily and I are each taking a class aimed at teaching terms useful for our respective professions (and each of us is alone in our class, making it very easy to tailor to our needs and wishes). We're also taking two conversation classes, each with good teachers. And finally we have another literature class, but this time with a teacher, Eva, who knows what she's talking about, who fosters interesting conversation while also making sure we understand what happened in the stories, and who actually seems to enjoy the subject. So, we're still leaving, but at least we're leaving on a less sour note.
Best Of Oaxaca-Arrival in Guanajuato
So now that we are leaving Guanajuato in one day we are actually getting around to putting together our "Best of" list for the middle third of the trip. We will take care of the best of Guanajuato as well as of the travel home when we get back.
Best City: Oaxaca
While DF certianly has a lot to offer, and the museum in Xalapa was incredible, Oaxaca was definately the highlight of the middle part of our trip. It has such an excellent mix of walkable streets, interesting day trips, great food, and incredible artesian work at every turn.
Best Restaurant: Casa de Tio Güero, Oaxaca.
This place couldn't be beat, it had really good food, and lots of it, for a very reasonable price, good service, and a really pleasant setting. If you are ever in Oaxaca they also offer Cooking Classes way cheaper than most of the other one. My favorite dish was the Pollo Almendrado (Chicken with thick Alomnd Mole).
Best Hotel: Villa Las Margaritas, Xalapa.
It was fun to have a big queen size bed and cable TV for around $30 per night, roomservice was totally reasonable as well.
Best Ruins: Teotihuacan
The others in the runnign for this trip were Monte Alban and Mitla, and not to say that these two weren't pretty cool too. But the size and magisty of Teotihuacan can't really be beat. We climbed to the top of the 3rd highest pyramid in the world!
Best Museum: Museo de Anthropología, Xalapa.
The Museo National de Anthropología in Mexico City came in a close second. But we settled on the Xalapa Museum for the beauty of its displays and the impress collection of 7 giant Olmec heads.
Strangest Museum; Museo de la Universidad, Puebla.
It didn't seem fair to put this in the same category at the other too but felt it merited a mention on the best of list. It really was the best weird museum we have visited in all of Mexico.
Best Artesania Demonstration: La Grana Tejido, Teotitlan de la Valle.
It was between this and the incredible Alebrijes demonstration but this won because I got to smash a bug with red paint inside and the passion of the man giving the demonstration was evident in the quiet pride he took in his work and his mission.
Favorite Olemc Head: The Smiling One.
The museum in Xalapa had the only smiling Olmec head known to exisit.
Best Artesania: Alebrijes
These fanciful wooden creatures made in two different pueblos outside of Oaxaca city won us over with their bright colors and silly poses.
Best Sign: Any direction you want, Mitla
Michael posted a picture of this one earlier, three arrows, no idication of where they lead. Hey, we know there is a road at least.
Best Movie: Blindness
In our time in Mexico City and Puebla, not being much of big city night life people we saw a lot of movies. Our favorite was Blindness, an adaptation of the book by the same name by Jose Saramago. It should be out in the states too.
Best City: Oaxaca
While DF certianly has a lot to offer, and the museum in Xalapa was incredible, Oaxaca was definately the highlight of the middle part of our trip. It has such an excellent mix of walkable streets, interesting day trips, great food, and incredible artesian work at every turn.
Best Restaurant: Casa de Tio Güero, Oaxaca.
This place couldn't be beat, it had really good food, and lots of it, for a very reasonable price, good service, and a really pleasant setting. If you are ever in Oaxaca they also offer Cooking Classes way cheaper than most of the other one. My favorite dish was the Pollo Almendrado (Chicken with thick Alomnd Mole).
Best Hotel: Villa Las Margaritas, Xalapa.
It was fun to have a big queen size bed and cable TV for around $30 per night, roomservice was totally reasonable as well.
Best Ruins: Teotihuacan
The others in the runnign for this trip were Monte Alban and Mitla, and not to say that these two weren't pretty cool too. But the size and magisty of Teotihuacan can't really be beat. We climbed to the top of the 3rd highest pyramid in the world!
Best Museum: Museo de Anthropología, Xalapa.
The Museo National de Anthropología in Mexico City came in a close second. But we settled on the Xalapa Museum for the beauty of its displays and the impress collection of 7 giant Olmec heads.
Strangest Museum; Museo de la Universidad, Puebla.
It didn't seem fair to put this in the same category at the other too but felt it merited a mention on the best of list. It really was the best weird museum we have visited in all of Mexico.
Best Artesania Demonstration: La Grana Tejido, Teotitlan de la Valle.
It was between this and the incredible Alebrijes demonstration but this won because I got to smash a bug with red paint inside and the passion of the man giving the demonstration was evident in the quiet pride he took in his work and his mission.
Favorite Olemc Head: The Smiling One.
The museum in Xalapa had the only smiling Olmec head known to exisit.
Best Artesania: Alebrijes
These fanciful wooden creatures made in two different pueblos outside of Oaxaca city won us over with their bright colors and silly poses.
Best Sign: Any direction you want, Mitla
Michael posted a picture of this one earlier, three arrows, no idication of where they lead. Hey, we know there is a road at least.
Best Movie: Blindness
In our time in Mexico City and Puebla, not being much of big city night life people we saw a lot of movies. Our favorite was Blindness, an adaptation of the book by the same name by Jose Saramago. It should be out in the states too.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Itinerary for the Home Stretch
For those of you curious where we will be and when, here is our tentative itinerary for the home stretch of our trip, with starts with our departure from Guanajuato this Friday.
Fri., Oct. 31: Afternoon trip to San Miguel de Allende to see Emily's Uncle John
Sat., Nov. 1: Celebrate Día de Muertos in San Miguel
Sun., Nov. 2: AM travel to and evening in Zacatecas
Mon., Nov. 3: Morning in Zacatecas (including visit to an old mine) before afternoon travel to Durango
Tues., Nov. 4: Election day in Durango, including a visit to an old western movie set. Overnight travel to Mazatlan
Wed., Nov. 5: Explore Mazatlan
Thurs., Nov. 6: Mazatlan
Fri., Nov. 7: Travel to Los Mochis
Sat., Nov. 8: Train ride through the Barranca de Cobre from Los Mochis, getting off in Creel to spend time exploring the Copper Canyon
Sun., Nov. 9: Hiking, horseback riding, or some other fun outdoorsness in Creel
Mon., Nov. 10: Morning in Creel before PM travel to Chihuahua
Tues., Nov. 11: Explore (and shop for cowboy boots!) in Chihuahua. Overnight travel to the border, if not all the way to Tucson.
Wed., Nov. 12: Home in Tucson!
Fri., Oct. 31: Afternoon trip to San Miguel de Allende to see Emily's Uncle John
Sat., Nov. 1: Celebrate Día de Muertos in San Miguel
Sun., Nov. 2: AM travel to and evening in Zacatecas
Mon., Nov. 3: Morning in Zacatecas (including visit to an old mine) before afternoon travel to Durango
Tues., Nov. 4: Election day in Durango, including a visit to an old western movie set. Overnight travel to Mazatlan
Wed., Nov. 5: Explore Mazatlan
Thurs., Nov. 6: Mazatlan
Fri., Nov. 7: Travel to Los Mochis
Sat., Nov. 8: Train ride through the Barranca de Cobre from Los Mochis, getting off in Creel to spend time exploring the Copper Canyon
Sun., Nov. 9: Hiking, horseback riding, or some other fun outdoorsness in Creel
Mon., Nov. 10: Morning in Creel before PM travel to Chihuahua
Tues., Nov. 11: Explore (and shop for cowboy boots!) in Chihuahua. Overnight travel to the border, if not all the way to Tucson.
Wed., Nov. 12: Home in Tucson!
I want my mummy!
Emily and I had a quiet day yesterday. After class, we took a short walk with our upstairs neighbor and her small dog, Jim, around the Presa de la Olla, a small reservoir up the hill from our school. Then in the evening we went down to the centro for dinner (inluding the best chocolate malteadas we've had in Mexico) and a brief visit to an internet cafe (Emily had a Skype call with her friend Jess during which Emily's mike didn't work, so Emily typed while presumably listening to Jess speak, and Emily periodically attracted the attention of everyone in the place when she burst into laughter and banged the table in her hilarity--very amusing to watch). Mostly, we stayed out of the weather, which has suddenly turned grey, cold, windy, and even a bit rainy since the end of the Cervantes Festival. It's as though the gods were waiting to let Guanajuato get everything it could out of the 3-week festival before letting loose the bad weather.
The weather is not much better today, but that didn't stop the two of us from taking the long walk across to the other side of town to see the much-vaunted Mummy Museum. Yes, you heard me right: Guanajuato is spectacularly proud of the museum, which is located underneath the city cemetery. For some reason, the combination of soil properties and environmental factors is just right for turning dead people here into mummies, rather than allowing them to decompose in the normal manner. What's more, the cemetery here is not big, and what happens is that people who have no family or who couldn't afford the spot get buried in the cemetery, and they are then exhumed after 5 years, by which time the afore-mentioned soil/atmosphere combo have turned the bodies into mummies. If no one comes to claim the body at that time, the mummy by process of who knows what law reverts to the property of the museum. The museum then displays the best mummies for the amusement of paying visitors.
There were actually not as many mummies as we expected in the museum: I'd guess a total of about 40. But there is some variety. Some of the mummies have clothes, many have at the most shoes and socks but nothing else. There are baby mummies in the mix, and there is even one mummy who was pregnant when she died and is displayed along side her mummified unborn child. There are three mummies laid side by side who each died in terrible ways, including one poor soul who they think, based primarily on her pose, was buried alive while in a cataleptic state from which she must have awoken to find herself in the most horrible situation I can imagine. It was, needless to say, a unique and wholly strange collection.
The museum also includes a small, separate wing that is called the Museum of the Cult of the Dead, which we were told had something to do with displaying instruments of torture from the Inquisition. In that cheesy stretch of museum, though, it was hard to tell what was real from what was a load of hooey, and there was very little that even conceivably had anything to do with the Inquisition. The first display, to give you a taste of the silliness, was a finger bone on display on a pillow. The description told the story of a man who had been tortured by having his fingers cut off and then killed. Some time later, a single finger bone appeared on his grave, pointing in the direction of his murderer. Right. They also had a coffin filled with spikes perforating one poor mummy (which I assume they just pulled from the collection and unceremoniously impaled on the coffin's spikes), and a hokey display of a wax figure being guillotined. Oh, and they had an old chastity belt, which looked absolutely brutal for everyone involved.
Ultimately, we were a bit disappointed by the visit. The museum gets a lot of hype, and we didn't walk away feeling that it was worth the money. I mean, the Casa de las Leyendas was also incredibly cheesy, but at least it was an amusing way to pass an hour. The Museo de las Momias was a little amusing but mostly kind of sad. Well, I can at least say it was a unique experience, and we would have been disappointed if we had left town without seeing it.
The weather is not much better today, but that didn't stop the two of us from taking the long walk across to the other side of town to see the much-vaunted Mummy Museum. Yes, you heard me right: Guanajuato is spectacularly proud of the museum, which is located underneath the city cemetery. For some reason, the combination of soil properties and environmental factors is just right for turning dead people here into mummies, rather than allowing them to decompose in the normal manner. What's more, the cemetery here is not big, and what happens is that people who have no family or who couldn't afford the spot get buried in the cemetery, and they are then exhumed after 5 years, by which time the afore-mentioned soil/atmosphere combo have turned the bodies into mummies. If no one comes to claim the body at that time, the mummy by process of who knows what law reverts to the property of the museum. The museum then displays the best mummies for the amusement of paying visitors.
There were actually not as many mummies as we expected in the museum: I'd guess a total of about 40. But there is some variety. Some of the mummies have clothes, many have at the most shoes and socks but nothing else. There are baby mummies in the mix, and there is even one mummy who was pregnant when she died and is displayed along side her mummified unborn child. There are three mummies laid side by side who each died in terrible ways, including one poor soul who they think, based primarily on her pose, was buried alive while in a cataleptic state from which she must have awoken to find herself in the most horrible situation I can imagine. It was, needless to say, a unique and wholly strange collection.
The museum also includes a small, separate wing that is called the Museum of the Cult of the Dead, which we were told had something to do with displaying instruments of torture from the Inquisition. In that cheesy stretch of museum, though, it was hard to tell what was real from what was a load of hooey, and there was very little that even conceivably had anything to do with the Inquisition. The first display, to give you a taste of the silliness, was a finger bone on display on a pillow. The description told the story of a man who had been tortured by having his fingers cut off and then killed. Some time later, a single finger bone appeared on his grave, pointing in the direction of his murderer. Right. They also had a coffin filled with spikes perforating one poor mummy (which I assume they just pulled from the collection and unceremoniously impaled on the coffin's spikes), and a hokey display of a wax figure being guillotined. Oh, and they had an old chastity belt, which looked absolutely brutal for everyone involved.
Ultimately, we were a bit disappointed by the visit. The museum gets a lot of hype, and we didn't walk away feeling that it was worth the money. I mean, the Casa de las Leyendas was also incredibly cheesy, but at least it was an amusing way to pass an hour. The Museo de las Momias was a little amusing but mostly kind of sad. Well, I can at least say it was a unique experience, and we would have been disappointed if we had left town without seeing it.
Casa Ofelia
I would like to take a break from our regularly scheduled blogging to bring you an unsolicited commercial plug for Casa Ofelia, a lovely restaurant at Paseo de la Presa 59 in Guanajuato. During our week and a half so far in Guanajuato, Casa Ofelia has been like a second home to the two of us. Every school day, without fail, we have strolled down the street 2 blocks or so for the ever-changing but always delicious lunch menu (soup, a main dish, dessert, and flavored water). One of the best parts of the restaurant is the actual use of vegetables in meals, a seeming rarity in much of Mexico. Our regular waiter, Augustín, has been ever friendly and attentive, and the owners, Pedro and Fernando, have been warm and welcoming. We have been such steady customers that Pedro even agreed to give us a small discount for our meals each day. I'm no food critic, so I'm not going to go into detail on this, but between delicious and nutritious meals and the always friendly service, Casa Ofelia gets four very big thumbs up from Emily and me. If you ever visit Guanajuato, be sure to give it a taste, and tell everyone there we said hi.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Art in Guanajuato: from breathtaking to hokey
Today is the last day of the Festival Internacional Cervantino which means that next week the crazy crowds of young people from all over mexico will have headed home. The tents will be cleared out from the park and we will be left in the city with hopefully shorter lines for museums and more available tables at the popular restaurants. It has been really incredible to be here for the festival and I truly recommend that you try and make it here some year. The highlight of the festival was definately our Thursday night show. We went to see Pilobolus, a US based modern dance group, and they were breath taking. The group is known for its incredible lifts and human sculptures. They do things with their bodies that astound, without ever requiring contorsionist like flexibility or abnormal joint structures. At intermission Michael turned to me and said, "so its like the most awsome trust game ever." He is right, the amount of trust and harmony between the dancers required by the choreography is hard to undervalue. Many of the dances were done with very little clothes and the coreography strips away pretenses and taboos and the creations that result and the novel combinations that are available to the dancers because of this is truly incredible. Lucky for you all they are an American group so keep your eye peeled, it isn't something you would want to miss if they come through your city.
Friday night we traveled to nearby Leòn, a city that had very little to recommend it. It is known especially for its leather shoes but we were told to wait until Chihuahah for the boots we are both hoping to find before getting back. We went to see a precusion group called Tambuco, which was very different from what we were expecting but still very interesting. They did Bach using percusion and had one piece that was done all with their bodies.
On Saturday, yesterday, we went to see La Hija de Rapucchini, a play by Octavio Paz. We were really glad that we had bought the play and read it before hand. It really helped understand the play. Actually seeing the play acted helpped me understand what I had read just as much as well. The play was really well stagged with gorgeous costumes and a very innovative set. Tonight the final show, a band called Cafe Tacuba will be playing but we are not yet sure that we are going to have the energy to fight the crowds for one of the free seats since all the tickets have sold out.
So now on to the hokey. This morning we went up to the Casa De Las Leyendas which is a museum of sorts that brings to life the various legends about the city of Guanjuato through the means of mechanized scenes. These included little moving gophers that dug mines for silver, a man who visted hell, and the legend of the student to died of a heart attack visiting the cemetary and getting his cape caught on a tomb. It included a full on replica of the Callejon del Beso, a very narrow alleyway were a rich girl was said to have fallen in love with a poor miner. When her father forbid the relationship the miner bought the house across the alley whose balcony nearly touched that of the girl's family. The father ended up killing the daughter in a fit of rage upon discovering the couple kissing from the balcony of the house. Overall it was pretty fantastically hokey.
On another note we have decided to cut our stay here in Guanajuato short by one week on account of not really loving the school we are taking classes back. This actually works out really well interms of getting home with a little less of a rush to get everything done before I start work on December 1st. We will be in LA probably from around Nov 17th to the 23rd for those of you out in LA. From there we will pick up Ella and Pepper who have been living with my friend Liz and her family and head home to Tucson to get an apartment and get started with real life, which we are looking forward to as well.
Friday night we traveled to nearby Leòn, a city that had very little to recommend it. It is known especially for its leather shoes but we were told to wait until Chihuahah for the boots we are both hoping to find before getting back. We went to see a precusion group called Tambuco, which was very different from what we were expecting but still very interesting. They did Bach using percusion and had one piece that was done all with their bodies.
On Saturday, yesterday, we went to see La Hija de Rapucchini, a play by Octavio Paz. We were really glad that we had bought the play and read it before hand. It really helped understand the play. Actually seeing the play acted helpped me understand what I had read just as much as well. The play was really well stagged with gorgeous costumes and a very innovative set. Tonight the final show, a band called Cafe Tacuba will be playing but we are not yet sure that we are going to have the energy to fight the crowds for one of the free seats since all the tickets have sold out.
So now on to the hokey. This morning we went up to the Casa De Las Leyendas which is a museum of sorts that brings to life the various legends about the city of Guanjuato through the means of mechanized scenes. These included little moving gophers that dug mines for silver, a man who visted hell, and the legend of the student to died of a heart attack visiting the cemetary and getting his cape caught on a tomb. It included a full on replica of the Callejon del Beso, a very narrow alleyway were a rich girl was said to have fallen in love with a poor miner. When her father forbid the relationship the miner bought the house across the alley whose balcony nearly touched that of the girl's family. The father ended up killing the daughter in a fit of rage upon discovering the couple kissing from the balcony of the house. Overall it was pretty fantastically hokey.
On another note we have decided to cut our stay here in Guanajuato short by one week on account of not really loving the school we are taking classes back. This actually works out really well interms of getting home with a little less of a rush to get everything done before I start work on December 1st. We will be in LA probably from around Nov 17th to the 23rd for those of you out in LA. From there we will pick up Ella and Pepper who have been living with my friend Liz and her family and head home to Tucson to get an apartment and get started with real life, which we are looking forward to as well.
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