El lunes: I sat in on a class in the second Spanish school I had visited on Friday.
I learned about the reason there are so many fireworks (with noise but no color) being shot off into the sky at any time of day….back in the day before communication technology, the local people used loud firecracker rockets to communicate with each other and make announcements of the death of a child. The teacher said the Mexican people don’t even flinch when they hear what sounds like explosions to me.
After class I went to lunch with Susie,
a woman from class who described the trauma of the recent flooding in her home and neighborhood in Houston over the last three years. She decided to sell rather than rebuild after the first year, and saw the second and third year flooding get progressively higher and more damaging. She is here in town for two weeks for the Spanish class, and will be joined by her husband for another week.
Monday night I met Tera y Romero,
the owners of the house I’d been staying in since Friday night. We had a really good “get to know you conversation” in Spanish and exchanged gifts.
El martes;
Here is the view from my first AirBNB neighborhood at the beginning of my walk in to town. You can see the central church in the distance - about a twenty minute walk. You can also see the crazy cobblestone roads which all the ladies talk about are unsuitable for heels-I saw more than one person with a bandaged ankle and I am happy I had my sturdy flat Sketcher sandals to walk in the whole time.
After class I went to lunch with three others at Via Orgánica.
We sat on the rooftop terrace to eat and watch fútbol and waited out a thunderstorm
for quite a while before walking home in streets which were now serious streams in some places.
When I got home, Tera y Diego drove me in their car to my new AirBNB house so I did not have to go by taxi. Very nice of them. I simply decided to move to get to know another section of town.
This is my new house
And my new room - bright, close to the bathroom (private for me this tome because there were no other guests in the other rooms) with a window for air and a nice view.
el miércoles: I walked in to el centro to Los Milagros - a restaurant I had seen reviewed on a travel cooking show but was closed yesterday when we tried to go after class. This time I sat alone at the bar and watched England lose to Croacia
The man next to me was from Spain originally. He offered to share the guacamole he had just ordered because I asked for a small portion which they did not offer and a single order was too much for one person. The dish came with normal chips and extra thick cups which I used as a spoon to help myself to 1/3 of the total, and ate separately on my own plate. When I asked him “que eso?” What is that? Referring to the thick chips, I learned it was chicharron - floured, seasoned and fried pig skin. Oh my!
I walked into a store filled with colorful items made of fabrics (which is my favorite) and discovered the store was owned by the same family I am renting from in my new AirBNB room. Crazy coincidence! I ended up spending over an hour inside and got the friends and family discount for the items I purchased.
Next I walked back to Gwen and Rocky’s house because they invited the Spanish class over for food and conversation.
Notice I finally bought some pantalones at the store I just left, and put them on after dark because it was a cool-ish night tonight.
el jueves: I took a day off from walking today. I stopped at a coffee shop for lunch on the way home from school to study and do my homework, then went home to enjoy the community swimming pool in the afternoon.
el viernes:
I took a taxi to LaGruta - a nearby hot springs property with three warm pools and a super hot cave at the end of a long dark tunnel. I don’t have a waterproof camera, so you’ll just have to imagine the cave, it was very nice for a few minutes at a time. The outdoor pools were like hot tubs without the jets. Very nice too!
I had lunch on the lawn
and spent a good part of the afternoon on a lounge chair in the shade knitting and listening to the Spanish conversations all around me.
I befriended a couple from Florida who let me share their Uber ride back to town and showed me their cool AirBNB house - they are here for two weeks of Spanish school.
el sábado:
My last day of class with Antonieta and these two local residents
who want to improve their Spanish.
I bought some dream catchers from this crafter in the square outside the school
And walked on a new street to me
down the hill to a big city park that was having a food, art and live music fiesta all afternoon. Here is one restaurant’s cooking station.
And the music stage
Perfect for me. I spent five hours there wandering and people watching. I befriended this couple from Mexico City when I slid over on the wall seat to give them room
And got more opinions about what to do while I’m in Mexico City next week. I also had a nice conversation with a fellow solo traveler. He is from Massachusetts originally but has been intentionally homeless for four years traveling and house sitting in interesting places. He has been house sitting here in San Miguel since April. Very interesting idea.....!
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