Barbara Kingsolver and the Writer’s Conference in San Miguel de Allende

Glad that I decided to stay for the Writer’s Conference. What a privilege to hear Barbara Kingsolver in person – first as the keynote speaker and then in two additional panel discussions, discussing her most recent novel, Lacuna and her approach to writing.

Lacuna is a piece of historical fiction, set both in Mexico and in the United States. It brings to life such figures as Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and Trotsky. During one of the Conference’s evening fiestas (see photo of me leaning over Barbara), I had an opportunity to say a few words to Barbara. I was still in the midst of reading the novel, so couldn’t say anything yet about the overall impression. In fact, I hadn’t yet reached the portion of the book that portrays what it may have felt like to live in the States during World War II and during the rise of McCarthyism. However, I was thoroughly enjoying the depiction of Frida and thanked Barbara for allowing me to see Frida Kahlo as a vibrant, sexy, and mischievous woman – a magnetic personality who was overflowing with powerful vitality despite her physical and emotional adversities.

I like to think that my comments pleased Barbara, because I think that she worked hard to being Frida to life in that way.

B.K. told us that she always starts her writing with a theme that she wants to depict. She thinks about the questions that the novel will pose and what needs to happen in the story to raise these questions, and then creates the characters who will tell the story. She generally invents her characters. They are not based on her own life. She said that she doesn’t really like to write about herself. She is more interested in writing stories about ideas.

In Lacuna, she has also woven in some real, historic figures and she tried to be as accurate as possible, doing lots of research, using the actual dates that Frida was hospitalized, etc.

A major impetus for writing this novel was the flak that Barbara received when she dared to suggest that the attack on Afghanistan was not a logical or appropriate reaction to 9/11. Thus, the theme of the howlers is the predominant theme in the novel.

Some people seem to feel that any criticism of one’s country—particularly during a time of danger—is a sign of disloyalty. This is an issue that continues to be relevant.

My sympathies are aligned with Kingsolver’s. Even if we love our country, we should be able to criticize some of its actions. It’s a basic tenet of democracy. I can relate to this both as an American and as an Israeli, as I happen to have dual citizenship. I love both the USA and Israel. Nevertheless, I do not feel that these countries can do no wrong. I believe that the ability to tolerate criticism is an essential component of a healthy democracy.

But Lacuna is a novel, not a political essay. And I thought it was a very good read. Felt sorry when it was over.

The other photos in this posting are from the same fiesta - at a resort in the hills above San Miguel. One photo shows me standing with Elizabeth Powell, who taught one of the first mini-workshops that I attended at the Conference. She is an Assistant Professor in the BFA program at Johnson State College in Vermont, teaching poetry, fiction, and literature. The mini-workshop was just one hour. That's not much time, but she did a good exercise with us on recognizing and using either implicit dialogue or explicit dialogue. She did a really good job on the workshop and she was also a very warm, likable woman.

My Right Hand Man

Back in California. Spent my first afternoon getting my hand checked by a hand specialist/plastic surgeon at Kaiser. The good news is that the pin appears to have been inserted correctly. Yay! But the doctor here was a bit surprised to say the least that our Mexican doctor, the rather philosophical Dr. Murillo, had deemed an elastic bandage to be sufficient protection. Dr. Murillo encouraged me to try to return to normal—to continue writing with the non-injured fingers of my right hand and most important of all, not to worry.

I think Dr. Murillo would have been pleased to see me dancing happily with Micha at the Lacuna theme party on the second night of the Conference. I'm including a couple of photos from that party. The fellow sitting behind us is supposed to be Trotsky. My California doctor would have been horrified, particularly when the dance floor got more crowded. But I had a great time.

I left Kaiser with my hand well protected and twice as heavy, encased in a nicely padded, carefully sculpted cast. The cast further limits my capacity to do some simple tasks that I could previously do with the thumb and index finger of my right hand. Now the cast gets in the way. : (

But I can sleep better at night – without worrying that I will inadvertently bump my fourth finger. Sigh. Just two more weeks and then I can be rid of both the cast and pin. Looking forward to March 11.

In the meantime, I have gained a new understanding and appreciation of the term, my right hand man – in this case, my husband, Micha. Also, enjoying seeing family and friends. Here's a shot of me and Micha playing with Gali yesterday. HAPPY PURIM to all my Jewish friends and family! Planning to go to a Purim party tonight -- but haven't decided on a costume. Might just wear my old Mexican poncho. It's at least 35 years old and I don't know where I got it. But it's one of the few things that fits easily over my cast.

In the City of Fallen Women

Actually, it isn't just women who fall here. Since breaking my hand, I've also met a few men who want to swap injury stories with me. But the locals like to joke about it being the city of fallen women.

We happened to hear the well known song on that theme "The Rising Sun" earlier this week at a Mardi Gras celebration in Harry's Bar. It was more modest than a Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans and definitely more modest than Carnival in Brazil, but pushing the line a bit for San Miguel. The more typical way to celebrate Mardi Gras is for the boys and young men to throw confetti-filled eggs at one another or perhaps at girls that they are interested in. Our teacher, Aide, said that the boys used to be much more polite and they would ask permission before breaking a confetti egg over a girl's head. But recently, they have become more rowdy so that families and most young women try to avoid going to the Jardin (the main plaza) during this time. It's over now. Today is Ash Wednesday and some people--particularly some of the older Mexican men and women--have ash crosses drawn on their foreheads.

Feeling better about my hand today after another visit to Dr. Murrilo. I phoned him yesterday to ask him a couple of questions, and he suggested that I come to see him at the clinic. I thought he said "a las diez" (at 10 A.M.), but he actually said "a las doce" (at 12 P.M.). Next time, I'll make sure to confirm the hour by asking whether the time is "media dia" (noon).

So we left class at 9:30, took a taxi to the now familiar Hospital de la Fey, and discovered our mistake. We wanted to go back to class and stay for the remainder of our session. The latest time we could change to was 12:30, which allowed us to partipate in another 1 1/2 hrs of classes.

We took the local bus to get back to the center of town, because the bus came before a taxi and it was beginning to rain. The bus took a bit longer than the taxi, but we enjoyed reading the signs on the stores along the way.

I'm glad that we did go in for the checkup, because Dr.Murillo did manage to reassure me that my hand is doing well and he showed Micha exactly how to change the bandages. He also encouraged me to move my hand and my other fingers as much as possible. So now I am typing with the index finger on my right hand in addition to the fingers of my left hand.

I had already started writing a little bit with my right hand when classes resumed on Monday, because I wanted to take the weekly evaluation test. I can't bear down very hard and I do tire easily, but I did manage to take the test, and I have also started writing some brief notes in class. That feels like some progress.

Went out to two new restaurants this week and liked both of them--El Pegaso for lunch yesterday, and Burrito Bistro for lunch today.

Last night, we went to a play reading at St.Paul's Church. The actors were very good and the selection of plays was interesting. We met a couple there that invited us back to their place for drinks and ice cream after the show. The woman is originally from Israel, like Micha. And they are friends with another couple that we met on our previous visit.

Turns out that their house in San Miguel is just one block away from our apartment.

Feeling Better After a Couple of Margaritas

My cold is improving, my hand is mas or menos the same as it has been, but I got hit by a wave of depression this afternoon. Started worrying whether my hand will heal correctly. The fourth finger, which is immobilized due to the fracture below its knuckle, is an ugly thing to behold. Swollen and blue, it is stuck in a curved position. And sometimes, I find myself worrying that it will stay that way forever. And it is so hard for me to do simple tasks that I am very dependent on Micha. I don't think that I can lock or unlock the front door of our apartment without him. And I cannot write with my right hand. So I began to wonder if I should cancel my plans to attend the Writer's Conference and go back to California as soon as possible.

But I will probably feel depressed in California, too, because I won't be able to do my usual activities--no yoga and probably no Israeli folk dancing or serious hiking. When I am in Spanish class, I still enjoy it even though I can't take notes or do homework. And I suppose that I would find the Writer's Conference very stimulating even if I won't be able to write during the workshops.

Anyway, Micha managed to cajole me to stop crying and go out with him to a happy hour, mardi gras celebration at Harry's Bar and I started feeling better as soon as we began our walk into town, and better yet after drinking two margaritas (I ordered only one, not realizing that it was 2 for 1.)

My hand makes it hard to get in a comfortable position to sleep, but it doesn't hurt as long as I am careful to protect it from any pressure, that is, as long as it doesn't touch anything and nothing touches it. One problem is that the only jacket I brought with me has somewhat fitted sleeves. It's actually my REI hiking jacket and the sleeve does allow for some expansion. But it isn't quite enough.

Yesterday was the warmest day that we had so far, and I didn't need to wear my jacket at all. Micha and I took a bus to Queretaro and spent the entire day there, which was a bit too long a day for me. That's why I didn't post anything when we came home. I went to bed instead.

But we both liked Queretaro a lot. We had heard that it was a big city, with lots of traffic, etc. That's true, but it also has a very large historic center and a lot of those streets are closed to traffic on Sundays. We visited two museums -- the regional museum and an art museum. Both museums are housed in former convents and the architecture is beautiful. In the regional museum, Micha took a lot of photos of an exhibit of miniature scenes showing the type of activities and artesans in different areas of Mexico. The exhibit is intended to be educational for the whole family, so the descriptions were written in easy Spanish, which also made them easier for us to read. Another visitor noticed us and also spent some time talking to us in slow Spanish. She was a retired teacher and told us that this was a popular exhibit for the schoolchildren.

There were also some beautiful, active churches in the same area and parks, and lots of people. We enjoyed people watching as much or more than anything else. Unlike San Miguel, we hardly saw any gringos. And there seemed to be more yong people. We ate lunch at a pleasant restaurant with a tranquil patio, La Llave. The food was good and inexpensive, and no one tried to talk to us in English. In fact, one of the other things we liked about our excursion to Queretaro was the practice we got in using Spanish. We even watched Spanish movies during the bus ride -- without subtitles.

Really Not Crying -- It's just my head cold

Micha and I went back to the hospital today so that Dr. Murillo could check my hand. My hand really doesn't hurt much at all. Haven't even been taking the pain pills. But I have caught the cold that Micha had earlier in the week. It's mostly a problem of a stuffy, ruuny nose. But my eyes are also sensitive and running a bit. I had to assure Dr. Murillo that my tears had nothing whatsoever to do with him or my hand.

He took off the bandages to look at my hand. It was my first look at it post-surgery. Looks a bit gross to me with the pin showing at the knuckle and some swelling. But he was very pleased with it. Wrapped it up again in new bandages. Told me that I should start icing it again through the bandages, keep it elevated, and try to do some movements with my arm and shoulder to keep the rest of the arm as limber as possible.

He spent a long time talking to us, patiently answering our questions in a combination of slow Spanish and a little English. We talked about other things, including more anout his work at hospitals in San Miguel in the nearby city of Querretero, and the upcoming Writers Conference with Barbara Kingsolver.

He asked if we plan to return to San Miguel--maybe he would have liked to get a look at the results when my hand is all healed. Micha loves it here. But I answered that I'm not so sure, because I have fallen down during both our visits here. The first time I just got bruised. But this time, the fall was more serious.

Before we left, he said to me that maybe somehow this was all part of God's plan so that we would meet. Who knows...

I had been hoping to do a lot more writing and maybe some drawing during our time in San Miguel. You know that familiar saying, "Man makes plans and God laughs."

I need to consider myself lucky that it's just a fracture. With time, it will heal and I will have a greater appreciation of my right hand. Maybe in the meantime I'll develop some more facility with my left hand. Might be good for the brain.

After the hospital, we went for lunch at a Sri Lankan restaurant called Dela's. Interesting. Wide range of dishes available. The food was good, but my dish was a bit too rich for me. Couldn't finish. It was such a nice day that we meandered through Parque Juarez and the Jardin before coming home to rest. As we walked along Sollano street, which is one of the nice residential streets between the Parque and the Jardin, we saw one house that stood out from all the others. Probably someone is preparing to tear it down and decided to discourage inquiries from potential buyers by covering the walls with grafitti in both Spanish and English--see the photo in this posting.

Went to classes today

Micha and I returned to classes today. Actually, don't feel that bad. Micha has to help me with zippers, buttons, snaps and shoe laces. He also had to make the oatmeal and coffee. I skipped makeup except for lipstick, which I can put on with my left hand. We stayed for the cooking class. But, of course, I couldn't do any of the cooking. So I sat in the sun, relaxing and chatting with my new fried, Jane, an artist from Oklahoma. We joined the others at the table when the food was ready. Chiles Relleno. Delicious, but this time I can't even begin to describe how they made it. Only that it was very complicated and very rich.

WOOPS!

Beware of the 3 Ds--Drowsy, Distracted, or Disgruntled when driving, operating machinery or walking anywhere in San Miguel. I will try to keep this short, because I am typing with just my left hand. On Wednesday day morning, as I was descending the 5 stone stairs within the apartment, I stumbled and fell. It's a a stone floor and I must have tried to catch myself with my right hand. It definitely hurt a lot and I sat there dazed for a little while. Micha was taking a shower at the time and didn't hear anything. I continued to prepare our breakfast, but started feeling worse instead of better. I decided to try to get to the school a bit early, so that I could ask Carmen, the office administrator (who also functions as the cooking teacher on Fridays) for a recommendation for a doctor. At the school entrance, I saw one of the other students in my class and told her that I was hurting. She gave me 2 Ibuprofen. By this time, I was beginning to suspect that the knuckle cf the finger closest to my pinkie was not in the right place.

I was lucky up until now never to have broken any bones. But I had a sinking feeling that my luck had run out. Carmen was a wonderful combination of efficiency and solicitude. She thought it might be just a sprain, because I could still move my fingers. But she proceeded to set up an appointment for me to get an x-ray at a place across the street from our school at 10 AM and to meet with a doctor at noon. She also gave me a bag of ice to put on my hand.

We were having a small test in my class and I didn't want to miss it. I found that I was able to write the answers using a pencil and not bearing down to hard. That was the last writing that I was able to do.

Micha came with me to the xray place, the doctor, and then to see the orthopedic surgeon at Hospital de la Fey. He recommended a surgical procedure, using a pin to stabilize the bone.

Sent me home but told me to come back Thursday morning. That's pretty much how Micha and I spent our day, yesterday--at the hospital from 10 - 3.

Feeling a bit better this morning. Have a pin in my hand and it will need to stay there for one month. But tomorrow they will unwrap the hand -- I think. And then I may be able to type with a couple of more fingers on my right hand. Going to class with Micha this morning. Can't take notes, but can talk and listen.

These photos were taken before, during, and after surgery. I am on pain pills in all of them.

Choosing To Be Less Than Totally Free

Many of the expatriates from the USA and Canada who come to retire in San Miguel de Allende seem to experience a renewal of spirit and creativity. They are so excited about this rejuvenation or sometimes reinvention of self that they have a tendency to encourage others to come join them and experience the same thing. In some ways, San Miguel really does seem to be like the elusive fountain of youth--particularly so for people who love the creative arts as I do. I would be happy to spend more time writing, painting, and socializing with the art community.

But much as I love the creative arts, I would not choose to spend multiple months away from my daughters and grandson. I made a similar choice many years ago when I decided to get married. I knew that it meant I would no longer be totally free. But I wanted a family. For me getting married and having children was the right choice even though it meant giving up that sense of freedom.

It's still a challenge for me to find the right balance of priorities. Sometimes, I don't take good enough care of myself. I'm getting better at this, but it's a work in progress. I'll have to keep looking at http://www.spaceclear.com for additional inspiration and support.

I definitely do feel a sense of renewal from being here. I'm glad that I chose to come despite the imperfect weather. But I have no doubt that I'll be just as happy to go home again to see my family and friends in the San Francisco Bay area.

Micha and I both took a number of photos today with my Android phone. Now that I've gotten used to it, I don't think I'll bother trying to get a USB cable for my regular digital camera. I can wirelessly upload photos from the Android to Picassa and then add them easily to my blog.

FYI: I wrote captions, but unfortunately you won't be able to see them in the blog. I wasn't able to import them directly from Picassa to the blog (too complicated to explain), and the captions got lost in the transitions.

Now that it's not raining, we managed to take more photos as we are walking back and forth from school. Wanted to give you a better idea of why I think it's okay that I'm not going to exercise classes while I'm here.

Relaxing Sunday in San Miguel

Today was the sunniest, warmest day that we've had since we arrived in San Miguel. In the late morning, we took a leisurely walk over to Parque Juarez, stopping on the way to buy coffee for each of us and a croissant at Cafe Ventana on Calle Sollano. This place--literally just a hole/window in the wall--is rumored to sell the very best coffee in San Miguel. And we agreed that it really was very good and enjoyed drinking it as we strolled down this lovely street on our way to the park, which was full of vendors selling plants and flowers for the Candelaria Plant Fair. The poor vendors had also been there during all the days of pouring rain with no customers and very little shelter. But today the park was full of familes happily buying plants and pots for their gardens. There was also free live music and dancing. The music was supposed to start at 1 PM. But it started late even by Mexican standards. The announcer apologized for the delay, explaining that there were problems with traffic and some of the roads were still undergoing repairs due to all the rain. It finally started around 2 PM. They had a 3 piece miramba band and other musicians, too. There was lots of room to dance, but at first only a few couples were getting up and dancing. I finally got Micha to do some salsa with me, which was fun. But I have no pictures of that unfortunately. And Micha was getting really hungry by then, because we had eaten only a light breakfast. So we left and headed over to Hecho for lunch. It was already 3 o'clock,which is a normal time to eat lunch in San Miguel.

Afterwards, we went to the Biblioteca to see if we could get in to see the last night of their current theatre production, My Old Lady by Israel Horovitz. They were sold out, but they managed to fit us into a couple of seats that they keep for the staff. The actors are really good. The play was a combination of comedy and drama, a bit strange, but it definitely held our interest.

Art, Live Music, and Free Wine

Started off our Saturday night by attending the Anniversary Celebration at Fabrica Aurora, a former textile mile that has been converted into multiple artist studios and galleries. Micha and I visited Fabrica Aurora a couple of times on our previous visit here, and it's one of our favorite places in San Miguel. But last night was a particularly special, festive occasion with lots of live music--I felt like dancing down the corridors, particularly after my first or second glass of free wine. They also had lots of hors d'oeuvres--brie and other cheeses with crackers, empanadas, pane dulce and more. Most of the artists from the galleries were there--including Peter Leventhal (www.peterleventhal.com), who is probably one of better known artists in San Miguel. He doesn't keep his gallery open for public view on a regular basis. During our last visit, I peeked through windows of the closed gallery and then went to see the pieces that he had hanging at Cafe Berlin. But he was celebrating the opening of a new gallery at La Fabrica last night. Didn't have a chance to say much to him other than tell him how much I like his work.

We were able to stay at the celebration for a little more than an hour before catching a cab to meet friends at Bella Italia. We had made reservations for dinner and music, which was supposed to be Doc Severinsen's band (Remember seeing him on the Tonight show in the days of Johnny Carson?). We had already paid 300 pesos per couple for the reservation, which is a good way for getting people to keep their reservations. But Doc Severinsen did not make an appearance. The jazz band that played was reasonably good, but not all that wonderful. We heard the violinist earlier in the week at Ma Vida and enjoyed the musical selection more there. And the food wasn't as good as the food we had at Ma Vida. It was nice to spend time again with our new friends, but the best part of the night was definitely the celebration at Fabrica Aurora.

Some solo time on the sunny streets of San Miguel

It is such an incredibly beautiful day today that I feel like spending as much time outdoors as possible. Started off the day with an early Zumba class in Parque Juarez. Apparently, Micha tried to meet up with me there. But he came after the class had ended and we missed seeing each other.

I walked back to our apartment after class and we did eventually meet up there, at which point, I was anxious to go back outside as quickly as possible. Inside the apartment, it is still cold. But outside in the sun, it is delightfully warm.

Unfortunately, Micha is not feeling that good today. Maybe all those days of wet, cold feet got to him. So he chose to remain in the apartment, and I went back out on my own to enjoy the sun. I bumped into Stephanie (http://www.spaceclear.com/) as I was walking down the hill to toward the Jardin (the main plaza)and we talked briefly about how happy we were to bask in the sunshine. Then I continued on my own. I took some photos with my regular camera, which I still cannot upload since I don't have the right USB cable. But I also took a couple of shots with my android phone. The Jardin area is always full of life and I find the balloon sellers particuarly cheerful. So I will upload a couple of shots with the balloons. I sat for a while at La Parroquia Cafe (on Jesus St.)eating a light lunch and reading my book. We are going out tonight for dinner and a show with Kent and Jane, our new friends from Oklahoma. So I didn't want to eat a big meal for lunch, too. I ordered soup azteca. I think it's a vegetarian tomato based soup and it is served with cut up pieces of avocoda, white cheese, and tortilla strips, which I added to the soup. They also brought me a fresh baguette with butter. I enjoyed sitting on the patio, reading a little of my new book (Barbara Kingsolver's latest novel, Lacuna)and also doing a little bit of people-watching. I was surprised that most of the people sitting nearby were Spanish speakers. They might have been tourists from Mexico City, but they weren't gringos.

Afterwards, I went back to the Jardin area and bought a small cup of chocolate icecream at the icecream store on the corner of Correo and Reloj. I forget the name of the store, but not the address. It's supposed to be the best ice cream in San Miguel. I ate it while sitting on a bench in the park and doing some more people watching.

Then I figured that I'd better buy some groceries and head back to the apartment in case Micha was hungry. So I went to Bonanza grocery store on Mesones, which is where we did on previous shopping, got a few things there, bought a fresh baguette and the panaderia nearby, and then took a taxi home.

I heated up some soup for Micha, but he's still sleeping. So I'm using this time to write instead. Looking forward to going out later tonight -- the entertainment is Doc Severinsen's (famous from his days leading the NBC Orchestra on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show) jazz band. I've heard that it is quite likely that Doc Severinsen may not appear himself. He is over 82 and rarely comes. But the band is supposed to be good anyway.

Yay!! - Gorgeous Sun and Carmen's Chicken Mole

It is so, so wonderful to see the sun again after all these days of pouring rain. I asked Micha to take a picture of me on the way to school this morning. You can see that I am wearing sunglasses in the picture, and the driveway is almost totally dry. We no longer have to pass through a waterfall going down the stairs to get out to the street. And the streets were also dry--at least in our area.

In class, our teacher told us that a lot of people in the lower lying areas of the town had to be evacuated from their homes and schools were closed because the main thoroughfare was flooded. The highway from San Miguel de Allende to Queretaro was also blocked and under repair.

The forecast predicts that there will be a few days of sun, followed by more rain. The hope is that the water levels in the rivers and ravines will subside sufficiently during these sunny days that there won't be major flooding when the rains start again. They are particularly worried about some of the lower lying villages on the outskirts of San Miguel.

Today the weather is still a bit cool in the shade, but blissfully warm in the sun. After class, Micha and I stayed for an optional cooking class. The menu for the day was chicken mole and Mexican rice.

There were 9 students--and we hadn't met most of them, because they are in different levels at the school. If it hadn't been raining all week, we would have met each other during the breaks between classes. But it was so terrible outside, that no one wanted to stand in the open patio area during break time. We all remained in our classrooms.

Carmen, a lovely woman who runs the office in the Academia, is also a wonderful cook and teaches the class. She had bought the ingredients and started to cook the chicken while we were still in class today. Otherwise, we would have all been too hungry to wait until the chicken was done. She handed out two sheets of paper to each of us. One sheet has the list of ingredients and a summary description of the cooking steps (in Spanish of course). The other sheet has the names and pictures of the four different types of dry chiles that she uses to make the mole.

Carmen boils the chicken in a soup pot with onion and stalks of celery and mint--similar to the way that I make chicken soup at home, except that I've never used mint. That's the easy part. The rest of it involves multiple steps and multiple ingredients (including almonds, peanuts, pecans,raisins, pitted prunes, dark chocolate, an apple and a banana!) and a lot of frying. In other circumstances, Micha is horrified by anything fried. But he seemed totally transfixed by Carmen's cooking today. We all were. And we did help a little--some more than others. The cooking area is located in a shaded area of the patio and some of us were too cold to do much of anything except watch. Micha seeded a couple of the chiles. And my sole contribution was washing the apple and later stirring the pot of mole sauce while it was simmering.

The mole was absolutely delicious. The best that I've ever had. But I'm not sure that I want to tackle trying to make it at home. Carmen suggested that I could try a shortcut--buy some mole sauce in a Mexican grocery and then add some more ingredients. That's an idea. But maybe I will try to make the whole things from scratch at least once.

In case you want to try it yourselves, here is the recipe--I'm using English, but haven't tried to convert the measurements:

Ingredients (for 10 people)

10 pieces of chicken [I recommend more. We had enough sauce for more chicken!]
200 grams of peanuts
100 grams of almonds
50 grams of pecans
100 grams of raisins
50 grams of prunes (without pits)
50 grams of pumpkins seeds
1 small roll of soft bread(optional)
1 tablespoon of sesame seeds
1 package/90 grams of dark chocolate(optional)
1 cinnamon stick
5 chiles anchos
4 chiles mulatos
3 chiles pasilla
3 spoons of sugar [You decide whether to use teaspoons or tablespoons. It depends...]
a couple of black peppercorns
2 cloves
1 onion
head of garlic
mint (one or two stalks with leaf)[Looks different than what I see in USA...]
1 or 2 stalks of celery with leaves
salt to taste
oil for cooking
a pinch of cumin seeds

1. Put the chicken in enough water to cover and season with garlic, onion, mint, celery, and salt to taste.
2. Wipe off the chiles with a clean cloth.
3. Remove seeds and veins from chiles and saute in oil until golden.
4. In the same oil, saute all of the remaining ingredients separately and in turn(nuts, raisins, prunes,pumpkin seeds, cumin seeds) until golden.
5. Put the ingredients that you have lightly fried (which may include one banana and one apple if you like the sauce to be a bit sweeter), plus the cloves and the peppercorns into a blender or food processor.
6. Put the blended ingredients into a pot and simmer on low heat until the flavors blend for about 15 minutes. Taste and add additional ingredients as desired. Keep stirring.

For the rice:
1. Saute white rice in oil until golden.
2. Add a sauce made of a blend of tomatoes (2 - 3 roma tomatoes), onion, and some water.
3. Add some of the broth from the chicken soup.
4. Cook on low flame until liquid is absorbed -- approximately 30 minutes.

To put on top of the chicken mole:
1. Lightly saute the sesame seeds.
2. Prepare a little bit of chopped onion by putting it in a dish with a little water and some lime (or lemon juice). This supposedly makes the onion easier to digest. It is an optional topping for the chicken mole.

It's good to accompany this with warm tortillas. You will want to sop up the delicious sauce.

Don't forget the cerveza!

: )

Waiting for the Gasman

There are several things about San Miguel that remind me of life in Israel back in the 70s. The lack of central heating is one of them. Waiting to have gas delivered is another. In the USA, we take it for granted that the gas is piped--as if by magic-- into our houses. As long as we keep paying the bills, we don't have to worry about it running out. But here the gas is delivered in cannisters (we used to call them "balonim" in Israel). The cannisters are outside, so theoretically we should not have to be home when they are delivered. But we have to pay for the gas that we are using while we are here. So we had to be here to pay the gasman.

We were told that the delivery was going to be around 2 PM. Our classes ended at 1:45 and we rushed home. That meant that we couldn't go out to eat for lunch today and we didn't have time to even buy any additional groceries. Luckily, I still had half a bag of uncooked pasta and some vegetables left over from our previous grocery shopping. So I made lunch, assuming that we might be interrupted at any minute but too hungry to wait until after they came. It's a good thing that I didn't wait. They didn't arrive until after 4 PM.

So--even though the rain stopped in the late morning--we spent a quiet afternoon at home. Micha took a nap while I tried to review the differences between preterite indefinido and imperfecto. For some reason, I'm also having a lot of trouble memorizing the conjugations. And it's beginning to look like I might need to increase the strength of my reading glasses. There isn't a strong light in the living room and I'm having a really hard time seeing whether words are supposed to have an accent mark or not. You should see me taking the textbook into the kitchen area and trying to hold the list of verbs under the stronger light to determine whether there is an accent mark or not. I would do my studying in the kitchen, but there is not enough room to sit down and set up a table.

It's a bit frustrating that I still forget and get confused with the conjugations. The truth is that I should have been studying at least a little bit while I was in the States.

Anyway, I got so wrapped up in my studying that I didn't pay attention to the time. So I missed going to the Spanish movie about Panco Villa at the Biblioteca, which I thought would be another good way to practice and improve my Spanish skills.

Micha says that this is probably a good day for us to go visit the exercise room at the apartment complex and I guess that will have to substitute for the movie. We've been doing so much walking (including climbing lots of stairs and walking up some pretty steep streets) that I haven't really felt much need to exercise. But I'll give it a try.

Rivers and Lakes

No, we haven't gone sightseeing in the area. But after multiple days of rain, there are rivers of water flowing down the streets. And puddles that seem large as lakes. Luckily, I did bring a sturdy pair of shoes unlike one of the other hapless students at our school who thought she could make do with two pairs of sandals. But I would have preferred to wear a pair of old fashioned rubber galoshes like I used to have when I was a kid. And a slicker and big rubber hat -- like fishermen wear. Yes, that would have been the perfect style for this weather.

After class, we stopped at a little bakery close to the school to buy a fresh loaf of bread and then headed home. We were indecisive about whether it would be better to try to catch a taxi to get out of the rain or walk by a store that we thought might have a cable for my camera to upload pictures. We decided to walk, since the store is on the way to our home. But it turned out they didn't have a cable. So we got soaked for nothing.

Not willing to give up, I asked Micha to take a couple of photos with my android phone when I came in. I'll upload those to give you some idea of what's going on. You can also see a little bit of our cheerfully decorated apartment in the background.

I don't think you will be able to tell from the photo, but my jeans were soaked all the way to my knees. So I slipped into my pajama bottoms and threw the jeans back in the dryer.

Made a good vegetarian pasta for lunch--with a little onion, some local peppers and tomatoes from our grocery shopping the other day. The apartment has a well stocked spice shelf that we are welcome to use. So we had a nice lunch with the pasta, the fresh bread and cheese.

Now it's time to do some homework.

Freezing Feet But Feeling All Aglow

Today was our first day of classes at Academia Hispano. The day started off cloudy, but not too cold. So I didn't layer up as completely as I did yesterday. After our traditional home breakfast of hot oatmeal, we headed off merrily to school. Took us less than 10 minutes to get there from our apartment--less time than it used to take us to reach the school from our homestay last August.

We were suprised to see a lot more students enrolled. People must have stopped worrying about swine flu, which was actually never a problem in San Miguel in any case. Instead of having 3 students in the class, we now have 11 students. But the students at our level are pretty good. Several of them speak better than we do. That means that we can also learn from them. And they are an interesting group of people. The majority of people are retirees, but there are some people who are still working full time and studying Spanish for their vacation. And there are a few younger people, too. Everyone in our class is from the United States, but from different parts of the country. One of the students is coincidentally from Palo Alto, but we never saw him before today.

Didn't exactly ace the placement exam. Not much of a surprise. I haven't take any additional Spanish classes since last summer and hadn't made any attempt to review my Spanish before coming back. Oh well. Maybe this time, I'll manage to keep it up.

It started raining right after we reached the school and hasn't stopped. Our teachers tell us that this rain is very unusual. It's not the rainy season. Unfortunately, San Miguel is not well prepared for rain. There is no central heating in the homes or in the other buildings. Our classrooms were so cold that everyone (teachers and students) kept their coats on throughout the morning. There were small kerosene space heaters in one corner of the classrooms and we tried to sit as close to the heaters as possible.

After grabbing a quick lunch at a tortilleria near the school, Micha and I took a taxi back to our apartment, lit the space heaters (ours are better/more modern than the ones as the school)and boiled the kettle to make tea. I threw my jeans in the small dryer for a while, because my cuffs were soaked. It feels so nice to have these extra little "luxuries"--the good space heaters and the dryer--that we wouldn't have had in a homestay. The trade-off is that we'll have to make more of an effort to find other opportunities outside of class to practice our Spanish.

We ate some pieces of the delicious Mexican cholate bar that I bought yesterday with our tea and lit some of the candles in the living room. So we feel very snug and comfortable even though it's raining outdoors. And we have renewed our excitement about learning Spanish. I think that we'll even brave the rain once again today to go to the Spanish literature class at 5 PM.

Got a surprise Skype call from my close friend, Jeanie, who wanted the latest update and asked about pictures. I did take a few pictures yesterday of the apartment grounds, but I forgot the cable to upload them from the camera to the computer. We didn't feel like wandering around in the rain to find a shop that sells cables. So I apologize to all of you for the delay. Maybe tomorrow.

Managed to Walk Uphill to Santo Domingo

Wasn't sure that I could do it. But was pleased to discover that I actually could make it all the way up hill from centro to our apartment in the Santo Domingo area. It's quite a climb, and we had already done a lot of walking before that. But it was a pleasant evening, not too cold, not rainy and we weren't in a rush. Makes me feel better about the huge platter of enchilladas that I ate for dinner.

This is the end of our first full day in San Miguel de Allende. It's our second visit and it feels good to know our way around.

It rained all last night and this morning. So we spent our first morning in our small but efficiently designed rental apartment. Micha and I both have laptops and the apartment has wifi. Nice that we don't have to fight over the computer. We don't have a view from the apartment, but it's decorated with Mexican folk art and the rental management company also filled it with huge bouquets of fresh flowers. There is a really impressive view when we leave the apartment and walk up to the main level of the complex. Feels a bit like I'm working out on a stairmaster every time we do it. That's probably good, because I don't know if I'll manage to fit in time to go to the gym here (they actually do have an exercise room within the apartment complex!).

We walked down to centro for lunch, bought some groceries, and took a taxi back to the apartment. It would have been impossible to carry those bundles uphill.

For dinner we had tentatively arranged to meet up with a couple that had shared the shuttle with us last night. We suggested Hecho restaurant--one of the favorites with the local expats and a place we'd eaten a couple of times on a previous visit--and said that we'd all try to be there at 7 PM. I wasn't sure that I'd remember how to walk there. But Micha did. And we were pleasantly surprised to find our new friends waiting at a table for us.

Had a really nice evening together. And arranged to meet for dinner at another restaurant later in the week. I should probably go to sleep now. Tomorrow morning, we have to get up early for Spanish classes.

Time For Me

I've got a whole month ahead of me with hardly any obligations to anyone but myself. No job. Not even any babysitting for my adorable grandson, Gali. It's just me and Micha here in San Miguel de Allende.

Lots of people have asked me to write about what I'm doing and seeing here. I did update my status in Facebook, but the word limit didn't allow me to write very much. I also sent email to my immediate family. But that leaves a whole lot of family members and friends that I'm not communicating with at all. And I promised I would.

So I figure that it's about time I started a blog. I've published a number of travel stories on www.tangodiva.com. But never set up a blog of my own. Let's see how this goes.

We arrived in San Miguel last night after a long day of travel. I had reserved a shuttle with the same service (info@viajessanmiguel.com) that I used during our first visit to San Miguel last August. It's about 1 1/2 hours from the Leon airport to San Miguel. One of our fellow passengers is going to be presenting a mini-workshop at the Writers Conference that I'll be attending later this month. Her name is Stephanie Bennett Vogt and I've started reading about her on the web, fist on the conference website and then in her blog (http://www.spaceclear.com/index.html). I'm definitely intrigued by what she has to say. I'd like to try some her techniques for clearing space in my home and in my life. Actually, I think that's another reason that I decided the time has come to start a blog.

OK. So this is just about the genesis of my blog. Next time I'll write something about San Miguel.