AROUND TOWN
Meetings & Lectures
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship meeting
What has it meant in your own life to be welcomed? Why does it matter? Whoever you are, there are probably places in your life where you weren’t welcomed. What was that like? As a religious community, what should it mean to be welcoming? Whatever your identities, it is clear that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people find themselves unwelcome in many parts of the larger community and in many religious homes. How do you want your religious home to be welcoming to people of the GLBT communities? What is the “Welcoming Congregations” program of the Unitarian Universalist Association? Why be a part of it? Come consider these matters with Rev. Jade “JD” Benson and service associate Ellen Snyder.
Rev. Benson was ordained into the UU ministry in 2001, and has just relocated to Arlington, Virginia, where she will serve in the chaplain residency program at Georgetown University Hospital.
The UU Fellowship meets every Sunday at 10:30am at La Posada de la Aldea, Ancha de San Antonio 15 and welcomes people of all ages, races, religions, sexual orientation and gender identity. Visitors are invited to attend the service and then join the UUs in the hotel restaurant for brunch.
Midday Rotary Club
On Tuesday, July 29, Anne and Jim Olsen cover “The Ins and Outs of Education in San Miguel,” from early childhood to university, including the disadvantages of public and private schools, alternatives for parents and the special advantages of education in a World Heritage city. The couple write a bimonthly educational column for Atención, based on questions they have been asked by San Miguel parents over the years.
The Olsens have lived in San Miguel for the last 18 years and have successfully worked with both American and Mexican youngsters for 14 of those years. Ms. Olsen has a nursing degree from St. Mary’s Mayo Clinic in Rochester and a master’s degree in education from Antioch College. She founded the first school for the physically and mentally handicapped in Barbados and co-founded an elementary school in San Miguel.
Mr. Olsen has a Ph.D. in international education with bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Columbia University and an Ed.D. from New York University. He is a former editor-in-chief for elementary and high school instructional materials for the McGraw Hill Book Company and a syndicated columnist for the Charlotte Observer. He was public policy advisor to former NYC mayor Ed Koch.
The Rotary Club of San Miguel de Allende-Midday meets every Tuesday at Hotel Real de Minas at the intersection of calles Ancha de San Antonio and Stirling Dickinson. Check-in time is 12–12:25pm and the meeting starts promptly at 12:30. For more information, visit
www.rotarysma.org.
Behind the Doors of San Miguel
Photographer and writer Robert de Gast again presents the popular slide show and lecture based on one of his books, Behind the Doors of San Miguel. De Gast photographed hundreds of private scenes—sunstruck, shade-dappled courtyards, seldom-seen roof gardens, little sanctuaries of peace and beauty, in all parts of town. More than a hundred of these photographs are featured in his book. This time he shows hundreds of other images: not only the gardens and fountains of rich and famous expatriates, but also the delightful patios of our Mexican neighbors, sometimes bizarre, but always interesting and often beautiful. In these photographs, we glimpse the lives and traditions of a unique and magical place.
De Gast, born in the Netherlands and a long-time resident of San Miguel, is the author of nine books, lectures frequently and conducts photography workshops.
The one-hour presentation is Tuesday, July 29, at 5pm, at the Teatro Santa Ana in the Biblioteca Pública. Admission is 60 pesos (50 pesos for library members) and benefits the many programs of the library. Seating is limited. Tickets may be purchased in advance at the theater entrance in the Café Santa Ana any weekday after 11am.
Classes & Workshops
Chess: Five days, three locations
Free chess workshops for adults meet Mondays 5–6:30pm in the central patio of the Biblioteca Pública. A dozen players occupy the north portal of the patio each week. The library closes at 7pm, but Café Santa Ana lets players continue to slug it out for another hour or two.
Players also gather at Mama Mia, Umarán 8, on Thursdays, 5–7pm.
Chess players now meet three times a week at Casa de la Cultura on Chorro: Saturdays, 10am–2pm, Wednesdays and Fridays, 5–8pm.
Tours & Excursions
Saturday Adventure Tours
A great adventure today: first, on a fascinating, even startling visit to Lothar Mueller’s different art gallery/home/studio. Concrete is the star of the gallery, from rough walls to smoothly polished kitchen countertops and the non-movable, polished-top dining table.. Upstairs you will find the bathtub placement truly unorthodox. Don’t miss the top floor with the view and an extraordinary cactus collection.
Then it’s off to Dolores Hidalgo to “Talavera Heaven,” the San Gabriel ceramic factory. First, we visit the factory where we will see the many molds of the great variety of shapes made of ceramic. Talented artists will be painting plates, cups, etc., which later will be fired. The colors painted on completely change when they come out of the kiln. We will visit homes and see how beautiful ceramics are utilized in everyday life. In the magnificent showroom, you will find everything from azulejos to floor tiles, bathroom sinks to wall murals, and three-tiered garden fountains to tiny salt and pepper shakers. If you are building or thinking about it, this is the place to come. Don’t forget your camera!
This tour leaves from inside the Jardín, across from the Parroquia, at 10:30am.
Botanical Garden tour
El Charco del Ingenio, San Miguel’s Botanical Garden, now offers more tours. Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning you can discover cacti, Mexican plants and the history of El Charco with curator Martin Smith. Entrance fee is 30 pesos (waived for members) and the tour is 50 pesos. All proceeds benefit the garden. The tour is in English and starts at the main entrance at 9am and lasts about 2.5 hours. Bring a hat and water. Space is limited; reserve by calling 154-8838 or email charcodelingenio@gmail.com.
Instituto Allende trips to Michoacán and Guanajuato
Instituto Allende has two smashing, insightful field trips the weekend of August 2. Trip #1 departs on Saturday as an overnight stay in the state of Michoacán, while Trip #2 is a day trip to Dolores Hidalgo and Guanajuato.
Trip #1 departs at 8am for the city of Morelia via Yuriria, where we tour the famous monastery. In Morelia, we visit the cathedral, the Clavijero Palace, the Government Palace and Plaza de los Maritires.
Morelia is Mexico’s only preserved seventeenth-century city. The quaint lakeside town of Pátzcuaro boasts postcard-like views and is the location of the hotel used by Instituto guests. We also visit the archeological zone high on a bluff above Tzintzuntzan, the one-time pre-Hispanic capital of the Tarascan Empire. This is a memorable trip into one of Mexico’s most fascinating and colorful regions.
Michoacán is famed for handicrafts, copper products, woodcarvings, ceramics, weaving, embroidery and furniture making. Its artisans create the country’s best guitars and violins. This field trip affords time to browse some of Mexico’s finest markets in three different towns. There will be a guided tour of the State Museum of handicrafts that sets a standard for perhaps later shopping with superb antique lacquerware, the best examples of Tarascan pottery and lovely needlework. On Sunday, it’s off to the ancient Tzintzintzan archeological site and town. Cost for this trip is US$235.
Trip #2 is a day-long trip to Dolores Hidalgo, a center for Talavera ceramics. The main square is where Miguel Hidalgo uttered El Grito, his famous cry for freedom on September 15, 1810. The town square offers avocado, shrimp, tequila and other flavored ice creams.
Later the tour heads to the charming capital city of Guanajuato with its great cultural tradition. Home of the University of Guanajuato and famed painter Diego Rivera, the easy walking tour also visits sites of interest like the Plazas de la Paz and the main Jardín. Cost for this trip is US$65.
Trips are all-inclusive; reservations are a must. Native-speaking, bilingual guides lead all tours and offer further insight within a secure environment. A free lecture previews upcoming weekend field trips each Wednesday at 4pm at the Instituto. Call 152-0226, or visit Instituto Allende, Ancha de San Antonio 20.
International Lions Club
On Wednesday, August 13, the International Lions Club of San Miguel is offering a trip to Morelia and Pátzcuaro for two nights and three days. A minimum of 30 people is needed for the trip. The cost for each person is 1,700 pesos, double occupancy, and 2,650 pesos for a single, which includes the bus, all tips, the hotel and breakfasts, plus a donation for the Lions Club. The club dispenses glasses for the needy and gives free diabetes testing. The clinic at Correo 63 is open on Thursday mornings. Reservations must be made by July 28. For more information, call Jean Schickel at 152-0934.
Performances & Events
Arts and crafts fair
The second Instituto Allende arts and crafts fair for the summer is Saturday and Sunday, August 2–3, 10am–6pm. The fair showcases some of San Miguel’s finest art and crafts people with as many as 100 vendors, plus great food and entertainment. Call 152-0226, or visit Instituto Allende, Ancha de San Antonio 20.
Films & Videos
Salt of the Earth
If this film did not have historical significance, political background, or precocious treatment of women discovering equality, it nonetheless stands on its own with the key elements of a good movie—interesting characters involved in situations that change them as they confront their lives.
This honest film is about what happens when Spanish and Mexican Americans working as union miners discover that their working conditions are less generous and more dangerous than the mines manned by “Americans.”
The film was made during the Cold War, when many Americans were labeled subversive and blacklisted—even union membership was suspect and striking union members were surely subversive. The Mine, Mill, and Smelter Workers Union shown in the movie was expelled from the CIO in 1950 for alleged communist influence.
Hollywood studios, rather than resist the craziness, caved in to McCarthyism and Cold War hysteria. They established their own blacklist of suspicious film workers, though no charge was made against them. All the workers knew was that they were denied work.
A group of blacklisted people formed their own production company. Their first film, in 1953, was Salt of the Earth, written by Michael Wilson, an Oscar winner for A Place in the Sun and Bridge on the River Kwai. He co-wrote Lawrence of Arabia with Robert Bolt, but Wilson’s nomination for an Academy Award wasn’t validated until 1995, because he was blacklisted at the time of the film’s release in 1963.
The only show is Wednesday, July 30, at 1pm in Teatro Santa Ana for 50 pesos. Stick around after the film and we’ll talk.
Center for Global Justice presents Charlie Wilson’s War
This week’s title in the Center for Global Justice’s summer film series is Charlie Wilson’s War, the true story of how a womanizing playboy Texas congressman, a renegade CIA agent and a beautiful Houston socialite joined forces to lead the largest and most successful covert operation in history. Their efforts contributed to the fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.
A laugh-out-loud comedy starring Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman, the film is also serious and saddening. Prodded by his major conservative supporter, Joanne Herring (Roberts), Wilson (Hanks) learns about the plight of the people suffering in the brutal Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. With the help of maverick CIA agent, Gust Avrakotos (Hoffman), Wilson dedicates his canny political efforts to supplying the Afghan mujahideen with the weapons and support to defeat the Soviet Union. However, Wilson eventually learns that while military victory can be had, other consequences are ignored to everyone’s sorrow.
Charlie's Wilson’s War demonstrates just how futile wars can be, especially to the very people who fund them. It garnered five Golden Globe nominations and a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for Hoffman. Politics has never been so much fun.
The film screens Thursday, July 31, at 3pm in the Biblioteca’s Teatro Santa Ana. Admission is 50 pesos.
Eighth Eckhart Tolle video
The Meditation Center of San Miguel, callejón Blanco 4, presents the eighth installment of a 13-week series of Eckhart Tolle videos, Touching the Eternal, from a 2002 retreat in India. Each video is about an hour and a half long; they show at 5:30pm on consecutive Thursdays continuing July 31. The presentation is free, although contributions are accepted.
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