Voladores, San Miguel de Allende
For the Festival of Saint Michael the Danza de los Voladores (Dance of the Flyers) is now an integral part of the festivities. Here a Volador, swinging on a slowly unwinding rope from the top of a twenty meter pole, floats past the façade of the Parroquia in San Miguel.
State Police on guard in the Jardin, SMA
Well, not roses, but small colorful dolls. Today, the Governor of the State of Guanajuato is in town, his presence being evident from the hoards of M-16 toting police and army stationed all around as he attends the Mayor’s speech after his first year in office. Despite the show of ballistic hardware, it is all pretty casual. The cop at the back enjoys a can of Coke while the doll seller wanders around searching for parents with little kids.
independance Day parade, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
At this time of the year, almost on a daily basis, we hear the drums of one parade or another at the end of our street. In this instance, we dashed out to meet the Independence Day parade on Mesones while it was crossing Relox. The parade goes on for about an hour and includes practically everyone in San Miguel who has a uniform – including all the schoolchildren. Add to this the marching bands of every school, and the sirens of the Police, Fire Brigade, and Ambulances, and it is hard to miss.
Street food seller, San Miguel de Allende
This weekend is the celebration of Mexican independence and the reading of the Cry of Dolores, or El Grito, in the Jardin. The town is packed with Mexicans coming here to the heart of Independence to celebrate, and our neighbors on Calle Loreto take advantage of the crowds by selling street food which they cook in their doorway. There was a time when I could easily have been a customer, but now, deep fried white bread rolls, known here as bolios, or gorditas (meaning little fat ones), which are small podgy maiz cakes with cheese or other fillings, also deep fried, make me think twice.
Guarderia Ordinaria 001, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
With my minimal Spanish, I assumed that the sign outside this building, Guarderia Ordinaria 001, meant it was a military establishment, but in fact it turns out that it is a day care center. Part of Mexico’s Social Security system, it is free to anyone with pre-school kids who has full Social Security coverage which is what you get when you are steadily employed in a regular job, sadly not domestic workers who only have partial coverage and are not included. What equally interests me is that San Miguel now has at least one other decent example of what Mexican Architects (although I haven’t found out who they are in this instance) can accomplish without resorting to the faux-colonial or semi-classical rubbish that crops up everywhere – as exemplified by the uninspired, badly-sited, and banal new Convention Center.
Bird seller at the Tianguis, San Miguel de Allende
You can buy anything at the Tianguis in San Miguel, from underwear, to parts for gas stoves, used tools, fish, fruit, furniture, video games, and in this instance caged birds which the birdman carries around tied to his back. This market, which springs to life every tuesday, covers acres and is a jostling, noisy, crowded chaos. It is also the most likely place to buy back the spare wheel and battery that disappeared from your SUV last week.
Mojigangas on exhibit at the entrance to the Bellas Artes, SMA
Two mojigangas flank the entrance to the courtyard of the newly-renovated Bellas Artes building in San Miguel de Allende. Housed in an earlier and magnificent two-tiered historical courtyard building, the Escuela de Bellas Artes as such was opened in 1938, and contains several murals including one by David Siqueiros. The building also houses several galleries and artist’s studios surrounding the courtyard on both levels.
Washing down the street, Calle Relox, San MIguel de Allende.
If each before their own door swept, the village would be clean. I often heard this as child in England, and although I doubt if anyone actually does that there anymore, it is an obsession with most Mexicans. Every morning in San Miguel buckets of water laced with Fabuloso, a noxious cleaner which is meant to smell fresh but which smells more like a chemical factory, are sloshed onto the sidewalks and street and are dutifully brushed around. The end result is not so much to wash the dirt away, but to repaint it evenly on the stones, at least giving the appearance of clean.
Fire Department Volkswagen, San Miguel de Allende
The San Miguel Fire Department, the Bomberos, take great pride in their equipment which includes some more sophisticated vehicles than this. Nevertheless, this bug must be a reassuring sight as you watch as your chuletas de cerdo go up in flames.
Humming bird mural Colonia Guadalupe, San Miguel de Allende
Humming birds, Colibri, are everywhere here in San Miguel, and today we came across this great mural, one of dozens on walls all over Colonia Guadalupe. We think they are all the work of one artist, who doesn’t seem to have got his style sorted out yet, but who seems to have access to an endless supply of paint.
