Bus Ride

I'm returning to SF to help my mom through surgery, but Sue and the family will be staying in San Miguel. For my travel, I booked a flight through Volaris, a new Southwest style airline serving Mexico. There was a direct flight from Toluca to Oakland, and as such, I had to get from San Miguel to Toluca (which is near Mexico City).

Antonio drove me to Queretaro, about an hour away, and from there I bought a bus ticket to Toluca, which was a three hour ride, for about $12. Sue told me that the Mexican buses were actually really nice, but I was surprised at how civil the whole experience was. The bus was clean, comfortable, and had Spanish dubbed movies playing the whole time. When I boarded, they even gave us free water bottles and some cookies. I'd definitely do that again.

The ride was also a great way to see the countryside. I think I saw more car junkyards on that trip than I'd ever seen in my life. The countryside was pretty, except for the amount of trash along the road, which coming from the USA seems just wrong.

The Volaris flight was nice. Given that it's a new airline, the plane was one-third full, which is pretty rare these days. They even had power plugs under every seat for laptops, etc. I'll probably take Volaris again when I return.

muñecas

Laurel has quite a fascination with the little dolls or muñecas that are sold all over San Miguel by little old ladies sitting on the streets or curled up in an entryway. She seems most intrigued with the bright ribbons that are braided in the dolls hair and the various sizes they come in. Thus she now has a baby, sister, and mother muñeca. Interesting enough the dolls are racially diverse. Laurel appropriately picked her Mommy doll to have blond hair and gringo colored skin. And she completed her transaction all in Spanish. Muy bien!

Salsa Mexicana and Independence Month

Around town, there are lots of vendors selling all sorts of green, white and red paraphernalia for celebrating the Independencia, or independence day. This isn't until September 15, but apparently there is a lot of opportunity for pre-partying. And I imaging post-partying too. Bryce and Laurel have become experts at getting their birthday extended into a birthday week, but the Mexicans are able to extend their celebration day for an entire month!

Speaking of the Indepencencia, on my car ride with Antonio today, we got to discussing one of our favorite subjects: food. In San Miguel, they call Salsa Mexicana what we know as Pico de Gallo. It's a salsa of tomatoes, onions and cilantro. The reason they call it Salsa Mexicana is that it has all the colors of the Mexican flag: red, green and white. How cool is that!

Sabado

It's the first free day for the kids after a taxing week at school, and as we promised them when we first got here, we went out for Chocolate y Churros (Hot chocolate and donuts) for our Saturday morning tradition. I got some sort of an energy drink with fresh carrots, parsley, celery, pineapple and grapefruit, as well as Huevos Rancheros. Sue got a Huevos con Chilaquiles, eggs with cooked tortilla strips, and everything was tasty.

Afterward, we went to Parque Juarez, where a kids painting class goes on every Saturday. The kids painted, and then played in their favorite playground for a while.

Next, we bought some Talaveras pottery as gifts, and did a little grocery shopping. Everyone is resting now to recharge to return to the Jardin tonight.

Date Night

It's Friday night, and Sue and I have secured Rocio to watch the kids while we go out and enjoy the adult side of San Miguel. Rocio speaks no English, so we leave the kids with an electronic translator, some index cards with phrases they will need like "I'm hungry" or "to bed", and off we go.

First stop is the "Sunset Bar", which has 2 for 1 drinks, and a nice rooftop deck. We get a seat on the edge, and we can see people lining up to watch a show at the theater across the street. This is gringo-ville, both at the bar and in the theater line. It's sort of like opera night in San Miguel, as the crowd is older (50+), and the women are well dressed. Sue points out many of the women are wearing a special kind of shoe they sell here, which has extra ankle support. Since there are so many uneven spots in the sidewalk, it's a great idea.

After our two drinks, we decide it's best not go another 2 for 1, and we head out to La Capilla for dinner. La Capilla means "the chapel". It's housed in back of the Parroquia, in an old chapel, and it's gorgeous. Lots of very old stone work, and three amazing rooms. It's really romantic, and the food was great. We sat outside on their rooftop deck - Sue had a view of the Parroquia, and I could see the mountains in the distance, and the chapel dome in the back of the Parroquia. It was expensive for San Miguel, but at $75 for two of us with appetizers, dinner, two glasses of wine and one desert, it was well worth it.

Groups

Sue and I picked the kids up from school today, and had decided to do a nice in-town day. As usual, they were ravenous, so we went to Hecho en Mexico for lunch, then afterward to the local playground at Parque Juarez. There we met a group of Gringo moms, and we quickly made friends with them. (Update: Sue called this the "Mother Lode".) One family from Baltimore - Sam and Ann - brought some wine later on. All these families had moved here, and had kids in the various schools, and we connected with them instantly. Bryce and Laurel made new friends too. We stayed for a while, and then decided to go to the Jardin next, and our new friends would meet us there.

Apparently, today was the 300th birthday of someone who founded a church here in San Miguel, and you know what that means: Fiesta! When we got to the Jardin, there were two big music stages set up, and lots of people milling around. The kids played tag, and Bryce bought a yo-yo (all by himself - in Spanish!). We met another mom also named Ann - who moved here with her three boys. Turns out she is Griffin's mom. She also has a soon-to-be-8-year-old named William, who played well with Bryce and Laurel.

At 8 PM, Sue and the kids went home, and I stayed around to check out the festivities. One of the bands took the stage, and they were pretty fun to watch. Then I noticed a bunch of people dancing in another part of the Jardin - on the street. I went over there, and there were about 80 people - all in masks - dancing behind a pickup truck with a DJ and huge speakers. Around the corner from them, another group of people in masks and costumes were dancing behind another pickup truck and DJ. The taxi driver later told me these are called "Groupos Locos" - or "crazy groups" - and they often take to the streets to dress up and dance during various fiestas. Apparently, there are as many as 50 such groupos here in San Miguel. Sometimes they travel to other towns, and sometimes groupos locos from other towns travel here. June 14 is apparently a big day for the groupos locos.

As I was getting ready to leave, I walked toward a street where I could get a taxi, and I heard a loud explosion. Someone had just set off a firework about 60 feet from me, and it went up into the sky and made a huge flowery light show directly above me. A couple more went off a minute later. This was the first time I had ever been so close to the launch of fireworks. It was really cool.

Afternoon shopping with Bryce & a sunset

In spite of the non-materialistic nature of our adventure and the Rudolph Steiner school, Bryce still loves to shop. This afternoon, we took a walk down to the Artesian area, and bought some small gifts to give to my mom when I return. We then got some ice cream and hung out in the Jardin for a bit.

The sunset tonight was great. We all hung out on the front porch and talked. I had some sipping Tequila, and Sue made herself a margarita. As we chatted, the kids told us they like school. Bryce's only complaint was about the bathroom. Laurel said she is making friends with a couple of girls that speak no English.

I think things are going well for them after two days, especially given the language and cultural challenges.

Stop signs?

Come to think of it, I haven't seen any stop signs since we've been in San Miguel as well. The streets are so narrow and rocky that drivers have to go slow anyway. And everyone just looks before crossing an intersection.

On the outskirts of town, there are traffic circles which regulate the flow of traffic.

Second day of school

Bryce and Laurel came home today ravenous. I think they had a big day at school, but it was hard to tell because they were wiped out. Bryce especially seemed really zonked.

Margarita made us some yummy chicken mole enchiladas for lunch, and the kids had chicken soup and quesadillas. Now they are chilling out watching TV (Spanish kids shows).

I'm hoping all of the sudden they will start just speaking spanish naturally. They are certainly getting a good immersion experience. Probably 50% of the kids at school speak only spanish, 30% are bilingual, and 20% are mostly english. Laurel sits next to a girl that speaks only spanish, and it seems the girl is helping Laurel. Bryce is less communicative about his days, although he dos tell us about recess time, and some of the physical stuff he did. It seems like they are having fun though. They have a good attitude about school so far.

Carnitas, Ice Cream and Pottery

After the "opening ceremony" at school, since we had a few hours to kill before picking up the kids, Antonio drove us to the nearby town of Dolores Hidalgo to explore. Dolores Hidalgo is known for amazing ice cream and pottery.

Our first stop at a ceramics shop did not disappoint. We saw all sorts of cool, painted ceramic stuff, from sinks to electrical plates to vases to wall decorations. There was so much stuff - and so inexpensive - that we were overwhelmed and didn't buy anything. Plus, we were hungry.

Sue's guidebook highly recommended a local eatery called Vicente's, which is known for their outrageous carnitas. We found the restaurant, and sat down to order. The menu basically has one thing: carnitas (roast pork). You order by the kilo, and they bring you salsa and tortillas to go along with it. When our kilo of pork arrived, you could pick and choose which parts of the pig to put into your tortilla. Sue and I both "pigged out". The carnitas were really good.

Afterward, we walked to the center square (Jardin) to check out the town for a bit. Unlike San Miguel, the sidewalks and roads here are flat concrete, and not the stones patched together. (Antonio told us the stones in San Miguel were to give the burros better traction when climbing hills.) In the Jardin, there was an ice cream stand, and the nice woman let us try all the flavors we wanted, including some exotic ones. I tried vanilla, avocado, mantecado, cerveza (beer), queso (cheese), pulpo (Octopus) and a couple of others before settling on the mantecado. The beer and cheese ones were OK, but the pulpo was a little challenging, especially since my taste had a small piece of octopus in it.

On our return to pick up the kids we stopped at an antique/junk shop to browse for a bit. They had some interesting things, including bayonets, swords, old irons, sewing machines, anchors and more. I'm sure some interior designers go nuts here.

First Day of School

Well the first day of school was interesting to say the least. Not being totally familiar with the Waldorf rituals, I'm not sure how much of this could be attributed to Rudolph Steiner or pure Mexico history and culture. Nonetheless, families were encourage to be present for an all school ceremony in which the new and Kindergarten children stepped up as new students. First they were introduced by their teachers and then led down a stone path, across a wooden balance beam, under a flowing rainbow flag, and then handed a beautiful red rose. Then, each teacher has something different to say about their class and what they wished for the school year to come. Some did this with a story, others with a backpack full of visual presentations such as a measuring tape, saw, and heavy weights. The kids were enthralled. Afterwords, the parents and teachers found partners and then joined hands to form a long arched gateway in which each kid then walked down towards their new class. Most of this was in Spanish so it was a challenge to our whole family but the overall feeling was one of feeling welcomed and comfortable. One hour after arriving in school, the door was shut to Bryce and Laurel's classroom and we left till the 2:30 pickup. Phew!!!

Domingo

Our last free day before schools starts!

We visited our landlord and landlady - John and Margaret - this morning. They own two houses in San Miguel, and we went and visited them at their main home. John is an architect, and Margaret an interior designer, and they have teamed up to create a really cool living space at their other home. It is 3 blocks away from the center of town, in a building that used to be owned by the local refrigerator repairman. When they bought the house, there were several families there, dogs, chickens and other farm animals, and of course, tons of refrigerator parts. They cleaned it up, and it's a large bit of land now, with the house on two sides of a courtyard, as well as an upstairs patio with a view overlooking downtown. (Actually, our house has a better view IMO.)

Afterward, we had lunch in a hotel ($30 for 4 of us, and a terrific meal), then the kids played in the Jardin (town square) for a while. Bryce bought a huge $2 pencil-shaped balloon, which popped after about 10 minutes of play. There was a band in the center square, and Laurel an I watched the salsa dancing for a bit. Next, off to the Mercado to get school "slippers" for the kids. (Our school requires kids to have special shoes they wear only in the classroom.) Then back home for "siesta" and work.

First Chilango spotting

On our way out to the school yesterday, we got to meet our driver Antonio, who has a knack for language. Apparently, he learned English strictly from driving people around. Before that, he was a schoolteacher on a ranch. He had 40 kids in his class, and they didn't have a schoolhouse. The kids sat on rocks, and school was outdoors. After doing that for a few years, he migrated to being a driver.

Somehow, the word "Chilango" came up. Chilangos refer to Mexicans - usually people from Mexico city - who are well dressed, well groomed, wear a lot of bling, but have no money. The words comes from "Enchilada", and means something that looks pretty from the outside, but has hardly anything underneath.

On our way back from the Mercado today, our Taxi driver was stopped by three well dressed, well groomed Mexican people in a nice car looking for directions. When they left I said to him "Chilangos?", and the driver laughed and nodded. Made me feel good to share an inside-San-Miguel joke with him.

Stoplights?

I haven't seen a stoplight in 10 days.

School Picnic

We were out the door relatively early today (by 11 AM) to be picked up by our driver Antonio and taken out of the city for the kids first look at their new school. Colegio Los Charcos is a Waldorf inspired bi-lingual school located on a farm which required a bumpy car ride down a dirt road. The campus is very rustic yet they grow organic vegetables, recycle, and thankfully have a school bus that picks up in town. So far the families we have met are very cool and represent folks from many countries and speak multiple languages. Laurel has formed a new friendship with a girl named Isabelle who happens to live up the street from us (yeah, a playdate is in store). Bryce bonded quickly with 2 other boys while they endlessly pushed a very large tire up and down a cement ramp in the play yard. The back to school picnic began with a unique gathering in which we all held hands and wove ourselves in, out, and around what I would best describe as a mother earth effigy while singing a song about belonging to the world. Kind of like the KDBS snake dance but more primitive. After that we were welcomed (and applauded) as new families to the school communiy. Then we just all sat around, ate delicious food and yacked it up with our new friends. And so the adventure begins for Bryce and Laurel on Monday...

Pelvis

I got word today that my mom (Ruth) back in SF has broken her pelvis. Ugh. Apparently a car was backing up and didn't see her. She's OK, but we don't yet know the extent of her injuries, and what the rehab process will be like. I'm considering moving her here with us, as the house may be a better place to navigate while she's on the mend, and Margarita can make a mean chicken soup. We'll see. Fortunately we have a good support team set up in SF, but this is far from ideal right now.

Update: At least Ruth is retaining her sense of humor. Our old family friends Michael and Thuy went to visit her last night, and Ruth introduced them as "her nephew and his sex slave".

Mega

After successfully getting our phones, Bryce and I went across the street to check out another of the large supermarkets here: Mega. I was pleasantly surprised. It was large, immaculate, and had a wide variety of foods. They even had organic, boxed milk. We bought 5 bags of groceries for about $55.

Margarita recommended Aurerra (the stealth WalMart store) as the best place to shop, but I actually preferred Mega for foodstuff, as it seemed to have better food and was better organized.

Telcel

Today Bryce and I went to the Telcel "Customer Service" center to get our cell phones registered and operational. The whole process was rather efficient and friendly. I brought my passport, and in 10 minutes or so we had working cell phones. One of the customer service reps even helped me figure out how to unlock the phone.

When I returned home, I had the challenge of navigating configuration menus in Spanish - on two different phones. As most of my Spanish vocabulary revolves around food and shopping, this was a little harder than normal, but with the help of a Spanish dictionary I was able to set ring tones, get the clocks set properly, and add a few contacts.

Our phones are definitely a step down from the iPhone, but they are small, cute and functional. Bryce has already laid claim to them for his "electronics collection" once we return to the states.

Mucho lluvia

They say that when it rains it pours, and apparently, that goes triple here in San Miguel. Here's a crude video of a very wet taxi ride we just took after a nice hike, playing in the park and dinner. The streets were like rivers, and the water spouts coming from the rooftops added a nice effect. Notice the woman on the ATV. (There are a lot of ATV's here).

Rocio

Here's a photo of Rocio:



Turns out she's the wife of Margarita's nephew - not cousin, as I mentioned earlier.

Update: I finally got her name spelled correctly. It's not "Rosario", or "Rosia". The "o" ending was unexpected, as all female words in Spanish end in "a", not "o".

Scorpion!

Look what Sue found (and caught) on the stairs this morning:



Margarita says they are not poisonous, but I think we'll be wearing crocs around the house more - just in case.

Mealtimes in Mexico

We're trying to assimilate as much as possible here, and that includes meal times. Most spanish speaking countries have a siesta time in the afternoon, and so far this seems to work well for us. Here's how the daily schedule is operating, more or less:

8:00 AM or so: Wake up and eat breakfast.
10:30: Do our big adventure of the day.
3:00: Have lunch/dinner.
3:30: Siesta/quiet time.
6:00: afternoon adventure
8:00: Final snack/ice cream for the kids.
9:00: Bedtime for the kids.
1:00 AM: Bedtime for Bill.

I am managing to work between 8:30 and 10:00, during afternoon siesta time, and then at night after everyone has gone to bed. Once the kids are in school, I think we can maintain a similar schedule. At home in SF, the kids come home from school really hungry, so why not have dinner at 3:00 instead of a snack, and then dinner later?? We'll see how it goes, but I'm optimistic.

Besides, it's better to eat two meals a day instead of three.

Xote Hot Springs

Xote Hot Springs

Today we took a 20 minute taxi ride out of town to Xote Hot Springs. There are several Hot Spring baths near San Miguel, and we chose this one as it seemed the most kid-friendly. As you can see from the photo, it has several water slides, as well as various pools - all kid friendly. Bryce in particular had a blast.



Here's a little video of Sue and Bryce doing the "racer" slide:



Apparently the hot springs in this part of the world are created by very warm radioactive minerals that live below the surface. Here's an explanation I plagiarized from another web page:

Unlike the hot springs of volcanically active zones like Michoacán, those of San Miguel owe their warmth to a different phenomenon. According to Trujillo Candelaria, the kind of rock underlying Mexico's northern mesas, extending from the state of Guanajuato to the U.S. border, is classified as riolithic, composed of the hardened ash of ancient volcanoes. It's the same pink and brownish stone that paves the streets of San Miguel de Allende. This rock contains small quantities of radioactive elements such as uranium, potassium and thorium, which produce heat as they disintegrate at a very slow rate. As rainwater trickles under ground, it penetrates this permeable rock, absorbing its heat to around 40 to 42 degrees Centigrade, slightly higher than body temperature. In the process, the water is enriched with a slew of minerals, chiefly fluorine, iron and silica, though unlike the often smelly springs of Michoacán and Morelos, San Miguel's balnearios contain no sulfur.

Bonanza!

As we did our afternoon adventure today, we had two goals: get everything we need for hand-squeezed lime margaritas, and find some chocolate.

For the margaritas, we bought a bottle of Herradura Silver, and some Cointreau at a nice liquor store in the center of town. Later that night, we attempted to duplicate the Margaritas from Tommy's restaurant in SF, but we need to work on the recipe. Sue and U squeezed about 80 limes and saved the juice, since it seems we are starting to use limes everywhere.

For chocolate, the guys at the liquor store recommended a store called Bonanza. It seemed like a regualr grocery store, but when we explored a bit, it turns out they had a decent selection of organic stuff, including some real granola and Oat Milk, which delighted me. We also got some organic crema de cacahuate, which appeared to be like peanut butter, but tasted like Halvah. Actually not bad, but I'm not sure the kids will go for it.

Internet access

In case you're wondering about web access in San Miguel...

So far, we've had flawless connectivity here at the house. We get 1.47 MBps down, and 343Kbps up. We've also got a Vonage phone number here, which for some reason dials out fine, but never rings. Not sure what's up with that.

Tuesday Market

We visited the humongous Tuesday market today, which has just about everything. Food, clothes, hardware, CD's, etc. Bryce bought a few toys and a Chevy hat, and Laurel got some string for some sort of art project. I tried some of the local Aguas Frescas (fruit drinks), which were delicious. We also got a little produce. Definitely a little different than the local WalMart knock-off. The kids were great.

We returned to find Margarita had made us a great meal of Chicken Mole, rice, and even some chicken soup. Can't wait!


inside the market


Bryce & Laurel outside the market

More fireworks

11:15 PM. Someone is setting off fireworks about 3 houses away from us. They are really loud. I think there were some Roman Candles, and maybe some M-80s. I don't know too much about fireworks, but I'm sure I'll be an expert soon.

Hecho en Mexico

After buying phones, Bryce and I went to the park to meet up with Sue & Laurel. We played for a while, and met another bilingual mom from England (Lisa) who married a Mexican and lives on a ranch. Also met "Griffin", who it turns out was the kid that tossed me some pesos while I was spinning poi in the Jardin the other night. He's 9, speaks Spanish and English, and has moved here from Dallas after spending a lot of summers here.

For dinner, we had another great meal at a place called "Hecho en Mexico". Two meals, two kids meals, a beer and a margartia were $28, including tip.

Buying cell phones

Since our AT&T iPhones are $0.99 per minute here (or $0.59/minute with an extra $5.99/month), it seemed to make sense for Sue and I to get our own phones. Bryce was very excited about the thought of adding new electronic gadgets to our household, so the two of us went out and looked at cell phones. We bought two, and some prepaid phone cards. So far so good. All in all about 1200 pesos, or $80 or so, for two phones and 120 minutes of talk time. (You can pay as you go here.)

Once we were all ready, the woman informed me that we would have to get them "registered". I asked where, and she told me "Atencion de Clientes Telcel". I asked her where that was and she didn't know, but said it was next to the Banamex. Not very helpful.

It turns out that any cell phone needs to be tied to a person in Mexico - this is their way to try to combat drug trafficking and kidnapping (which is almost exclusively at the US border). So, I have to go find the Telcel customer service building, and get our phones registered. I think I may have to be fingerprinted as well. Fortunately, the Internet was able to help be find the building, so I'll get this done tomorrow.

Bibliotecha

Our afternoon adventure today was to go to the local library. They have a decent amount of books, both Spanish and English, as we ll as a decent collection of kids books. Laurel has finished the 6 books we brought for her, and this is a good way to keep her entertained, as she is an avid reader. I also got a bilingual book, so we'll see if the kids take to it.

At the library, there was a free kids art class. Laurel attended, and sat at a table with 8 other girls, none of whom spoke English. She was a little reticent at first, but once she got into it she had a great time. One of the girls sitting next to her even lent her something.

Margarita

The road

Most of the roads here look like this: rocks patched together. I've almost twisted an ankle already. Watch your step!

Tacos Blaseros

We went back to the Mercado today to get some fixin's for Margarita to make us a feast tomorrow night. We bought a chicken, Mole sauce, and a bunch of fruits and vegetables. And some cookies from the "store with the blue door". And best of all, a kilo of fresh tortillas for $0.80.

When we returned home, we had a lunch or fresh hot tortillas, fresh made salsa (courtesy of Margarita), butter and avocado. Margarita told us these are called "tacos blaseros", which are frequently eaten in the market.

Here's one photo from the mercado:

More fireworks

6 AM Monday. Fireworks. The loud kind that are designed to wake you up. Kept going to 7. Kids slept through them.

Ascencion Parade

Today we went into town, and happened upon a parade. It was to celebrate the ascension of Mary into heaven. The parade was a great example of the mixed Spanish/Indian culture here. The first part looked like a traditional Catholic serious celebration, with incense. The second part had people with feathers in their hair dancing to drums in a circle - very native american. And the last part had some giant paper mache heads dancing around to drums - not sure what to make of that. But it sure looked cool.

Saturday night in town

We purposely laid low this afternoon in anticipation of an evening of fun in town. We left for a restaurant called Pueblo Viejo, and had yet another killer meal, including a mexican fondue with tequila, another awesome caesar salad, and a melange of beef, chorizo, peppers, cheese and nopales (cactus) in a raised hot iron dish. (Unfortunately, I forgot the name, but it was yummy!)

After dinner, we hung out in the Jardin (main square) for a while. The kids got these light-up flying saucers for about $2 each, and were launching them up in the air along with many other kids. I did a little glow poi in the square, and had a few people ask me where I got the glow poi from. One kid threw me money, but I told him to take it back since I didn't want to turn professional yet.

There were more sporadic fireworks, and a lot of people in the Jardin, but it appeared that the kids were getting tired so we returned home at 9:30 and watched a little more fireworks from the house. It seems all the fireworks ended at 10:30 or so.

Aurerra

Margarita said we should go to a new store called Aurerra to do our major shopping, so off we went. It turns out it is the WalMart of Mexico - owned by Walmart, but operating under a different name. It certainly made shopping easier, as we were able to stock up on a bunch of staples, and even get things like a mouse pad and a power strip. $200 USD later, we had a shopping cart full of goodies.

Parque Juarez

After breakfast, we took a long walk to Parque Juarez, the big park in the city, We met our first bilingual Gringo kids: Jonas (9), who spoke English & Spanish, and Emilia (9), who spoke English, Spanish, Greek and French. They had gone to the same school as Laurel & Bryce, and seemed like they liked it. Apparently, it's pretty bilingual, so Bryce and Laurel won't be the only kids speaking english, which is both good and bad I suppose.

Buying Eggs

Sue asked me to buy some eggs at the local mini-mart, so I walked a couple blocks downhill to a store the size of a large walk-in closet. I asked the store owner if he has eggs, and he asked me how many "kilos" I wanted. I said I wanted 12 eggs, but he insisted on kilos. Finally, I talked him into giving me 12 eggs, in a small plastic bag. I'm not used to buying eggs by the kilo. The total was 15 pesos, or about a dollar.

Fireworks at Night

At 9 PM Friday night, we heard some loud noises, and saw some beautiful fireworks over one part of town. The kids were thrilled. They went to bed at 10:00, but were sort of restless, which was a good thing because at 11:15, another fireworks show started right over the center of town, and we had a great view from our deck. Not many places have fireworks shows so late at night, but for here that's nothing. At 4:15 AM, I was awakened by more loud noises, so I woke Bryce and we looked over town to see even MORE fireworks, but just the loud, noisy kind. Apparently this is a signal that a big fiesta is about to happen, so Saturday night will likely be even more festive. Can't wait...

Here's a photo taken from our house:

Mercado

After breakfast's dessert, we visited the "mercado", the center-of-town market which has all kinds of great fresh fruits and vegetables. We returned with melons, apples, mangos, avocados, cilantro, tomatoes, and a bunch of other yummy things. I had to pay $1.50 USD for 2 avocados, which felt like the "gringo discount", but I'm sure I'll wise up soon. Everything else was pretty inexpensive and decent quality.

Chocolate y Churros

We had promised the kids "chocolate y churros" on our first morning in San MIguel, so after breakfast we went into town and found a cool cafe. We ordered hot chocolate, and a doughnutty long sugary thing called a "churro" that you dip into your chocolate. Laurel got cold chocolate, which also worked well. Everyone enjoyed this treat, which will likely become a Saturday morning tradition.

Margarita and Rosario

Today we meet Margarita, and her "niete" Rosario. They are the "Sue support team." Sue is only 5 foot 1, but she towers over Margarita. Laurel is about as tall as Margarita.

Margarita is probably in her eighties, but does a great job around the house. She cooks us a "huevos revueltos" breakfast (scrambled eggs), which is great.

Rosario is about 30, and Bryce takes to her quickly after a small bout of shyness. I see them reading a "first 1000 words in Spanish book" together, and Bryce is getting into it. Hopefully this will be the start of a great relationship.

I finally ask Margarita if "niete" is a daughter-in-law, and it turns out that "niete" is the wife of a cousin. I'm amazed that Spanish actually has such a word, but it says a lot about the culture.

Oh, and I asked Margarita if she would clean clothes, and get an emphatic "yes". Awesome!

El Pegaso

After getting settled, we head off to our first dining adventure: El Pegaso. This is a "nice" restaurant, and we had a fresh-made Caesar salad which was delicious, and I had a stuffed pepper with ground meat, and a walnut and cream sauce with pomegranate seeds, which was fabulous. Bryce had something he liked, and Laurel got a pasta dish with some red sauce, which due to her new-found pickiness she wasn't thrilled about, but had some nonetheless. Afterwards, we went to the centro, and tried some of the local ice cream. Bryce got a manecado, which is an interesting mixture of fruit, nuts and caramel-like flavor - it's hard to describe. The activity in the "jardin" (the town center) was fun to watch too. The kids were pretty wiped, so we came home early.

Arrival

tired travelers

After a long journey (4 hour plane ride, 4 hour car ride), we arrive at our new house tired but excited. The driver has a hard time finding the house. It's on "Privado del Foro", which our driver insists is the same as "Cerrada del Foro", but it turns out they are different side streets. A call to the house clears it up.

Our home is interesting - a lot different than anywhere else I've "lived" before. It's very much outdoor living, one part of the house is separated by a courtyard, and there are several outdoor tables for eating, projects etc. Our deck and living room have a great view over town and the mountains beyond.

We meet our landlady, Margaret, who is very nice and welcoming. We get the scoop about washing vegetables thoroughly, and not drinking the tap water or brushing your teeth with it. She also tells us Margarita, our cook/cleaning lady, will do everything but clean clothes, which is a little disappointing for Sue.

About 129 Days in San Miguel

A lot of our friends and family have asked us to keep a travelogue of our stay in San Miguel, so here goes.

This blog is intended primarily for people we know, but if you happen upon this and want to learn more about living in San Miguel de Allende, it should be interesting to you. We are a family of four from San Francisco, CA. Our kids are both 8 years old, and will be going to school here.

We've rented a house in the hills above the main city, walking distance to the center of town. The kids are enrolled in a school. We've stuffed everything we'll need into 7 large suitcases and 4 carry-ons. We even have a cook/cleaning lady (for an extra $25/week). Plane tickets are purchased - everything is set.

The adventure starts.... now!