Yes, it's the day after Independence Day here in Mexico. Okay, it's not really July 5th, and Independence Day is September 16th, not July 4th. It is a great holiday, which is celebrated beginning the night before with the reading of El Grito - the call to independence from the Spanish, proclaimed in the nearby town of Dolores Hidalgo by Father Miguel Hidalgo. And it wasn't Dolores Hidalgo then - just plain Dolores. As San Miguel de Allende was just San Miguel el Grande. The first town to which the peasant army marched was San Miguel, where the Allende family lived and young Sr. Allende was in the thick of the revolutionary planning. So it's a big ole holiday here in San Miguel. And you can probably see a pattern emerging here: Dolores = Dolores Hidalgo; San Miguel = San Miguel de Allende, eh? Where it all began! (I'm not kidding, you can look it up!)
Although the party began on Thursday, September 15th and continued on into the 16th, we missed it entirely last year. We were on our way to Barcelona, Spain - where they don't celebrate Mexico's revolution for some reason. Can you guess why? Anyway, we then sailed westbound across the Atlantic, meandered through the eastern Caribbean islands, spent some time in WDW, and eventually made our way back home to Mexico. It was all over by then.
This was our chance to participate in the festivities first hand. After walking past the stands selling patriotic gear (flags of various sizes, car pennants, bric-a-brac, and those Vuvuzela horns that were so effective at the World Cup last year) for the last couple of weeks, we tried to stay up until midnight on Thursday to watch the fireworks from our rooftop patio. Failed; fell asleep before they started.
On Friday, we walked into Centro and tried to reach the Jardin at the center of town. Got about a block from it when the crowds became unmanageable and we abandoned the Jardin for lunch at Hecho en Mexico. And in a shocking display of the lack of patriotism for our host country, we ordered bacon-guacamole burgers! [They were great, by the way!]
We were thinking of walking part way into town to watch the parade later in the day as it reached out into the non-Centro area, but there was a terrific thunder storm that shook the town about the time the parade was to start. We don't do crowds and we don't do electrical storms (don't get us wrong, we love them when viewed from inside). So we missed the parade which started after the storm abated. We also missed watching the bullfights - well, not so much.
When we walked into town this morning, things were pretty much back to normal. The crowds were still with us, though not so very many. Actually the Jardin looked quite normal for a Saturday morning. But Starbucks was jammed! There was no place to sit, so we walked over to those lovely looking, iron benches in the Jardin that are not so lovely when sitting before we made our way home; four miles according to the trusty pedometer.
Now to pack a few last things and head off to the Mexico City airport really, really early Monday morning for this year's trip down the coast of the western United States, the Mexican Riviera, and a few days at Disneyland - where it all began!
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Sunday, September 4, 2011
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — He needed a little push before speeding backward down a makeshift slide. Once in the water, he popped his head up for one last look. And then he was gone. The wayward emperor penguin known as "Happy Feet" was back home in Antarctic waters after an extended sojourn spent capturing hearts in New Zealand.
Wellington Zoo veterinarian Lisa Argilla said Happy Feet's release went remarkably smoothly given that the boat was being tossed about in 25-foot (8-meter) swells in the unforgiving Antarctic ocean.
"He swam away, not caring about us anymore," Argilla said.
She paused.
"And that's a good thing," she said.
Wellington Zoo veterinarian Lisa Argilla said Happy Feet's release went remarkably smoothly given that the boat was being tossed about in 25-foot (8-meter) swells in the unforgiving Antarctic ocean.
"He swam away, not caring about us anymore," Argilla said.
She paused.
"And that's a good thing," she said.
Another Weather Report
I know you've all been waiting with baited breath for a new weather report. Now, it doesn't have the same immediacy as the remnants of Hurricane Irene, which hurled wind and rain up the Eastern seaboard and on states as far away as Vermont, flooding and isolating towns that are still waiting for their electricity supply to be reconnected. Nor is it even on a par with Tropical Storm Lee, delivering up to 20 inches of rain on the Gulf Coast this weekend, but we did receive 2 inches of rain over Friday night!
We had nearly given up on any further rain; it's pretty far into the rainy season here and our 9-month dry spell will soon be under way, so everyone we spoke with was quite happy with the deluge. It caught us by surprise since after a few bouts of sprinkles in the early evening, most of the rain poured down later in the evening - after we'd retired for the night. Even with the cupola in the bedroom ceiling, the house is pretty well insulated from noise and the rain didn't wake us up until morning. Two inches probably isn't enough to make a noticeable difference in the presa, but any rain helps!
Luckily, it had rained itself out on Friday night and things were dry last night (okay; a few muddy spots remained) when we walked into town and back to enjoy a PreHispanic meal at a new restaurant. Actually, it is going to be a new deli specializing in meals-to-go using ingredients, seasonings, and cooking methods from the PreHispanic era. For instance, the mashed green bananas which played a part in the casserole of sweet, spiced chicken required two days of preparation. Even slower than the recent rage for slow cooking, eh? The meal - which included a salad with hibiscus flower dressing, a potato croquet stuffed with cheese and a spinach-based salsa, and the aforementioned casserole - was very tasty, particularly the casserole. I think they're having another dinner next Saturday; we may try another menu.
The chef is from Oaxaca, a hot bed of indigenous folk with distinctly 'early' cooking styles and recipes. Though formally trained in Italy, he has adopted the Oaxacan styles of cooking to good effect. It's his native part of Mexico and he combines the native styles with his formal training nicely. It did involve sitting at large tables with - gasp! - strangers, but we made the best of it. At least they were interesting without being slightly wacko. You have to be careful around here!
In even lesser news, we've finally gotten our hands on the correct battery charger for the new camera. It took two tries, but this last one seems to be the real deal. The camera came without a separate charger because it has the ability to recharge a battery while it is still in the camera, but I wanted to be able to travel without dealing with the cables, et cetera that are required to connect the camera to power. We also have a back-up battery that I wanted to be able to recharge while using the camera out-and-about.
The first charger had the additional ability to charge from a vehicle's battery, but didn't fit the batteries. Luckily, this second charger was cleverly researched before ordering and it specified that it would work with the battery series with which the camera operates. Additionally, this charger did not get entangled in our mail delivery service: it was dropped into the USPS mail on August 23rd and reached us on September 2nd - about 10 days, which is about right with the additional courier service to SMA. So we've got both batteries charged up and we're ready for our pending vacation!
Speaking of vacations, it was very strange to go to Costco in Celaya last week without two of our good friends. Their remaining aunt had passed on recently (oh, that's a long and separate story) and, as a result, the girls had a modest inheritance. They've been without a car for about five years (it was sold to finance some knee replacements) so once we arrived in town they stopped taking the bus to Celaya and we traveled together about every two weeks to Costco/Home Depot/Sam's Club in Celaya. This was particularly imperative when they opened a restaurant and needed supplies on a regular basis.
Well, what with the aunt's demise, the restaurant was closed; with the inheritance a small car was purchased; and now they've gone off to Europe for six weeks to re-visit Italy and sail around the Mediterranean on the Queen Victoria (another 30-year bucket list item to check-off). So it was a bit strange to visit Costco and not share a pizza with them - but that meant all the more for us! Lunch and dinner, yum!!
There's not much else to report this week. The dogs are getting brushed out before being sent to the doggie B&B while we're on vacation; there are no pressing transcripts at this point (our reporter is on vacation, herself); we're sorting out how to pack for two cruises and several days in Disneyland with formal clothes and piraty outfits and stay within the strictures of airline baggage limits (I think there might be an extra bag or two). We've simplified our pirate costumes for the trip: no big frock coats, no tri-cornered, plumed hats, no thigh-high boots. It was going to cost us $80 to UPS our hats to Canada for the first cruise! It'll be dreadlocks, instead. They pack much more compactly....
We had nearly given up on any further rain; it's pretty far into the rainy season here and our 9-month dry spell will soon be under way, so everyone we spoke with was quite happy with the deluge. It caught us by surprise since after a few bouts of sprinkles in the early evening, most of the rain poured down later in the evening - after we'd retired for the night. Even with the cupola in the bedroom ceiling, the house is pretty well insulated from noise and the rain didn't wake us up until morning. Two inches probably isn't enough to make a noticeable difference in the presa, but any rain helps!
Luckily, it had rained itself out on Friday night and things were dry last night (okay; a few muddy spots remained) when we walked into town and back to enjoy a PreHispanic meal at a new restaurant. Actually, it is going to be a new deli specializing in meals-to-go using ingredients, seasonings, and cooking methods from the PreHispanic era. For instance, the mashed green bananas which played a part in the casserole of sweet, spiced chicken required two days of preparation. Even slower than the recent rage for slow cooking, eh? The meal - which included a salad with hibiscus flower dressing, a potato croquet stuffed with cheese and a spinach-based salsa, and the aforementioned casserole - was very tasty, particularly the casserole. I think they're having another dinner next Saturday; we may try another menu.
The chef is from Oaxaca, a hot bed of indigenous folk with distinctly 'early' cooking styles and recipes. Though formally trained in Italy, he has adopted the Oaxacan styles of cooking to good effect. It's his native part of Mexico and he combines the native styles with his formal training nicely. It did involve sitting at large tables with - gasp! - strangers, but we made the best of it. At least they were interesting without being slightly wacko. You have to be careful around here!
In even lesser news, we've finally gotten our hands on the correct battery charger for the new camera. It took two tries, but this last one seems to be the real deal. The camera came without a separate charger because it has the ability to recharge a battery while it is still in the camera, but I wanted to be able to travel without dealing with the cables, et cetera that are required to connect the camera to power. We also have a back-up battery that I wanted to be able to recharge while using the camera out-and-about.
The first charger had the additional ability to charge from a vehicle's battery, but didn't fit the batteries. Luckily, this second charger was cleverly researched before ordering and it specified that it would work with the battery series with which the camera operates. Additionally, this charger did not get entangled in our mail delivery service: it was dropped into the USPS mail on August 23rd and reached us on September 2nd - about 10 days, which is about right with the additional courier service to SMA. So we've got both batteries charged up and we're ready for our pending vacation!
Speaking of vacations, it was very strange to go to Costco in Celaya last week without two of our good friends. Their remaining aunt had passed on recently (oh, that's a long and separate story) and, as a result, the girls had a modest inheritance. They've been without a car for about five years (it was sold to finance some knee replacements) so once we arrived in town they stopped taking the bus to Celaya and we traveled together about every two weeks to Costco/Home Depot/Sam's Club in Celaya. This was particularly imperative when they opened a restaurant and needed supplies on a regular basis.
Well, what with the aunt's demise, the restaurant was closed; with the inheritance a small car was purchased; and now they've gone off to Europe for six weeks to re-visit Italy and sail around the Mediterranean on the Queen Victoria (another 30-year bucket list item to check-off). So it was a bit strange to visit Costco and not share a pizza with them - but that meant all the more for us! Lunch and dinner, yum!!
There's not much else to report this week. The dogs are getting brushed out before being sent to the doggie B&B while we're on vacation; there are no pressing transcripts at this point (our reporter is on vacation, herself); we're sorting out how to pack for two cruises and several days in Disneyland with formal clothes and piraty outfits and stay within the strictures of airline baggage limits (I think there might be an extra bag or two). We've simplified our pirate costumes for the trip: no big frock coats, no tri-cornered, plumed hats, no thigh-high boots. It was going to cost us $80 to UPS our hats to Canada for the first cruise! It'll be dreadlocks, instead. They pack much more compactly....
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