The All About San Miguel Mexico Newsletter Archives
Issue #1, Vol. I
September 10, 2003

Brought to you by:
www.internetsanmiguel.com and www.thesanmiguelchronicles.com 

What's So Great About San Miguel de Allende?

Visitors come and go and return... snowbirds descend on San Miguel every year to flee the chill of northern winters and enjoy our winters filled with sunshine and temperatures in the 70's... lovers plan to wed here... others seeking love find their ideal partners... families come and enjoy pastimes they can all enjoy together... The athletic come and play golf, tennis, croquet, horseback riding, mountain biking, rock climbing, exploring, swimming in our hot springs... the studious come to study Spanish, sculpting, ceramics, dancing... artists come to paint... photographers come to photograph or learn about photography... gourmets come to learn Mexican cooking... shop-a-holics come to shop and find treasures both antique and modern... and some just come to relax!

Whatever you are searching for in San Miguel de Allende you are sure to find it!

IREE: A School with a Difference

As the new school year begins we decided to pay a visit to IREE, the school for hearing impaired children, and talk to the founder and director of the school, Cecilia Escobar.

Escobar told us that the most exciting thing that has happened after ten years in operation is the admission to the school of children with cochlear implants.

This is a relatively new science still very much in development and due to the high cost of the implant operation, around US $25,000, it is obviously not available to the majority of the deaf children at the school.

Escobar said they now have three children with the cochlear implant and this opens up an entire new dimension in the education of the hearing impaired. Fortunately medical authorities have assisted the teachers at the school in explaining the necessary training that persons with an implant must receive.

For instance suddenly being able to hear does not mean that the person understands or can interpret the sound he or she hears. The development of understanding what one hears comes naturally from birth on; the baby associates the sound of its mother's voice and eventually develops this knowledge into language. The person who is born deaf does not have this opportunity and therefore has to actually learn what it is he or she is hearing: the bark of a dog, the sound of music, even the spoken language.

For those who do not have a cochlear implant, aside from teaching sign language an important effort is made to offer speech therapy making it possible for a deaf person to communicate with hearing persons. This is particularly important for the child to eventually develop into an adult who can become self-supporting even if they are hearing impaired.

At the present time IREE has 42 students and could certainly handle more if funds were available to hire additional teachers. Since this is a private school, it does not receive any funding from government sources and must depend on the generosity of the public.

If you would like to know more about the school you can contact Ms. Escobar at +52 (415) 152-0913 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. or via email: iree@unisono.net.mx

A World Heritage Town

In 1984 Mexico subscribed to the UNESCO's World Heritage program and to date it has nine cities that are identified and protected under this program: Guanajuato, Campeche, Zacatecas, Morelia, Puebla, Tlacotalpan, Oaxaca, Quer�taro and Mexico City.

The benefits derived from this nomination include international technical assistance and financing funds.

Guanajuato, only an hour drive from San Miguel de Allende is derived from the indigenous 'quanaxjuato' meaning place of frogs. The capital of our state was discovered by the Spaniards in 1548 where they found silver mines and turned Guanajuato into one of the richest towns in Mexico in the 16th Century.

The Valenciana mine, which is still being mined by a cooperative of the miners, accounted for two thirds of the world's silver production in the 18th century. The Conde de la Valenciana, grateful for the riches he extracted from it built his home next door (it is now a popular restaurant) and the Church of the Valenciana with its impressive altar resembling a Chinese pagoda.

Modern day Guanajuato offers the visitor a challenging and unique experience. Built on a hillside over mining tunnels and the course of a river, the municipality has cleverly turned these underground passages into freeways where cars can circulate freeing the streets for lighter and purely pedestrian traffic.

A walk around the historic center is a necessary introduction to the town with its many churches, theaters, the University reached by a gigantic flight of stairs reminiscent of an Aztec temple with a medieval parapet, modern restaurants and discos where university students hang out, intriguing tiny shops and a mammoth two-story glass and steel market where you can buy everything from vegetables to clothing to souvenirs.

Greater efforts are required to see the homes that cling to cliff sides and are only accessible on foot up steep streets or, in some cases, flights of stairs.

While ceramics are a tradition in this state, Gorki Gonzalez, who studied important techniques in Japan, is known throughout the world for the beauty of his pottery. He lives and works in Guanajuato and visitors can see the works at his factory by appointment at +52 (473) 731-0389.

Chuck the Charro

One of the highlights of the September fiestas are the charreadas an ancient tradition intimately woven into Mexican history and eventually developing into a national sport that is the very essence of mexicanidad.

The sport of charros is associated with the development of cattle raising with the arrival of the Spaniards in the 16th century and evolves over time, as Mexico becomes a nation in its own right.

Chuck Collerain and his wife Joe had traveled extensively throughout Mexico before 'falling in love' with San Miguel. Inside of a year they had bought a home, settled down and Chuck, a veteran horseman from Houston, Texas decided to join the local charro group.

"I think it is important to perpetuate the history of Mexico and this has given me the opportunity to become an integral part of San Miguel life," said Collerain.

Next Sunday, September 14th the first charreada of the season will take place at the Lienzo el Charro on the road to Celaya at 12 noon. The charros of the Rancho de La Loma of Le�n will join the local group. The charreada benefits the Group Nuevo Amanecer, which helps handicapped kids. Entrance is $30 pesos.

The next charreada is on Sunday, September 28th.

A Homegrown Star

There are no prouder grandparents in San Miguel than Nancy and Dean Underwood! Their grandson, Aaron D�az, son of Robin and Beto D�az of El Pegaso Restaurant, grew up in San Miguel and went to high school in the U.S.

During the summer holidays, Aaron would help out in the restaurant always appearing so serious we all thought he would become a lawyer. At one time he even speculated on becoming a chef. But fate, in the form of a girlfriend, persuaded him to study acting at Televisa, Mexico's leading TV channel, in Mexico City.

Before long the gangling Aaron, who is now over 6 feet tall and strikingly handsome, became the lead actor in a telenovela "Clase 406", popular with the teen-age crowd.

Since the launch of the show about a year ago, Aaron has become a teenage idol, singing the theme song of the telenovela and touring with some of the other actors around the country.

Clase 406 deals with many of the problems teenagers face such as alcoholism, drugs, homosexuality and rape, subjects, which up to now had been taboo on television.

Aaron plays the part of Kike Gonzalez and you can watch Clase 406 on Televisa channel at 7 p.m. weekdays. In case you haven't met Aaron, a large framed photo of 'Kike' is hanging over the bar at El Pegaso!

Filming a Telenovela

San Miguel has become very popular as a venue for filming telenovelas and full-length films. Soon to be released are the latest sagas "Once Upon a Time In Mexico" and "Starring Pancho Villa as Himself", both of which feature Antonio Banderas in the lead (are we adopting him?).

The latest telenovela is titled 'Clap, Lugar de la Fama' with Ana Layeska in the lead. It's about some small town girls who go to the big city to learn and look for opportunities.

When last seen (before it poured) they were filming in the Jard�n accompanied by an estudiantina and watched by a crowd of locals who would normally be sunning themselves on the park benches.

The show is expected to run on the Televisa channel following the end of Clase 406, which is supposed to go into recess.

Amigos Del Parque Juarez

Twelve years ago (1991) Salvador Garcia was getting ready to start his first term as mayor and asked Maria Williams to head up the Department of Parks and Gardens for the city. This was before a Department of Ecology existed and raw sewage from the Valle del Ma�z ran year around through the arroyo in Parque Juarez (we prayed for the rains to come to give us some relief from the stench). There was no playground yet; there were no toilets, no park benches, no picnic area, and no dry level paths as we know them, no sprinkler system, in fact none of the many improvements that have been made in the last twelve years by Amigos del Parque.

Williams told Garcia that she would take the job if Bob Haas and the Audubon Society would help her out with Juarez Park. At that time the park was a wild place that had been virtually abandoned for years for lack of funds and the political will to clean it up. With the help of Audubon she raised the funds to embark on a massive and costly reconstruction of this once lovely colonial park.

Shortly after this Los Amigos del Parque Juarez was formed to take over the job of restoring Juarez Park to its original beauty. Amigos consisted of Williams and Haas plus Mark Shulman, Maria Kline, Brigitta Van de Vegte, and later Ricardo Gonzalez. They had much help building the playground from Cesar Arias, Emilio Gonzalez and Raul Hernandez. We showed up every year at the Candelaria Plant Sale to beg for pesos to continue our work. Over the years nearly US$80,000 was raised and spent on the beautification of Juarez Park.

Now most of the Amigos are getting too old and tired to carry on the work needed to keep the park really nice. Arturo Morales presently head of Ecology does a good job with the resources he has and we have a good crew of gardeners working there. The Garden Club is fixing the drinking fountain so the children will have clean drinking water. But things break and need constant maintenance and supervision. We need some new Amigos (it helps if you live near the park) to carry on this important work.

If you would like to get involved in community service as an Amigo del Parque contact Haas (tel. +52 415 152-0804) or Arturo Morales (tel. +52 415 152-2544).

Thank you, Bob Haas for this interesting article. We hope that the many members of this community who like to jog around the park or walk their pets there will volunteer and keep up the good work! Next year is the 100th anniversary of this park.

How Can I Leave?

By Lee Asheroff

After 22 years of having San Miguel de Allende in my life, it seemed time to leave. At 87 my husband felt that it was sensible to sell our home and perhaps take a condo in Florida. I was horrified. How can I leave Paradise to go back permanently to the "real world"?

This year, while the Northeast has been through a cold July and a terribly wet and stormy August, we have enjoyed an especially beautiful summer here in our Mexican retreat.

Not one night has passed without our needing one or two blankets and we only missed one day of golf because of rain (the secret to golf in San Miguel's summer time is to play in the cool morning and go home to rest in the rainy afternoon). This summer the rain seems to have skipped July and now in August the dark clouds build after four and sometimes pass over and sometimes give us our much welcome rain. Most evenings the stars return after the rain and the whole world seems washed clean and fresh.

From our terrace in the evening we can sit and watch the lightning playing over the mountains in the distance, a light show only nature can produce. On clear nights we watch Mars, the brightest star in the sky, and what a beautiful star-filled sky it is.

The contrast between summer and winter is striking. Mountains and fields are now green, flowers bloom profusely, white fluffy clouds are seen in the blue sky. Winter skies are blue and clear, the mountains and fields are brown, there is no rain but flowers bloom just as profusely when they are watered. And that special Mexican light that brings artists to this part of Mexico, that is here all year.

Add to the natural beauty of the surroundings the charm of our little town. Sit in the Jard�n in the late afternoon and watch the young people socializing, the children playing... all the business of a Mexican town. Then add the fun of the American community: plays, play readings, concert, cyber cafes, restaurants and all the volunteer work to help those in need, a typical American response. I no longer hear talk of Florida in my house... for we know in our hearts that we cannot leave San Miguel de Allende. Once you pay us a visit San Miguel calls you back again and again.

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