Mexican Independence Day, Patzcuaro and Farewell for now from Mexico

This will be my last blog entry from Mexico for the time being anyway.  I'm not sure yet if I will continue the blog once we return to Chicago on Saturday, nor am I sure when we are returning to Mexico.  The last six months have been wonderful but it's time to go on to some other projects now.  We will reopen the art gallery in late October and we have a lot of work to do to get that going again.   I'm going to open two more Etsy stores and stock the apron shop for Christmas.  I want to reorganize the house in Chicago and set up my own writing/crafts room as well as get rid of tons of junk.  So until I decide what to do with the blog, I'll leave you with our trip to Patzcuaro last weekend with Arturo's Uncle Arturo and Aunt Maria Elena.  Despite the relentless rain we had a great time!

A church had dozens of these hand-embroidered banners.

Uncle Arturo and Aunt Maria Elena on a boat ride through the rain.

The rain stopped long enough for the Independence Day Parade

Citlali enjoying the parade.

The horses were my favorites!

This horse was dancing but the photo doesn't capture it well.  

And one last one - at least for now - from our bedroom window.  Talk to you later!

Los Remedios - National Park and the Virgen

Close to our home, nestled in the mountains, you will find Los Remedios National Park.  This is still a gorgeous setting despite all the houses sprouting all over the mountains.  It is the place where a colonial church was built on a spot where the Spanish supposedly fought the Aztecs in the 1500s, and perhaps more importantly, it is the residence of the Virgen of Los Remedios.  This Virgen is a small statute of the Virgen Mary that is believed to have been brought to Mexico by the Spanish Conquistadores in the 1500s.  It was kept in the Mexico City Cathedral until the outbreak of the War of Independence.  At that time the Spanish moved it to its current location and proclaimed her the "guardian of the Spanish Army."  This move was done to counter Miguel Hidalgo's use of the Virgen of Guadalupe as the symbol of the movement for independence.  We know how that turned out.

We went there yesterday with my mother-in-law and here are some of the photos:

The Archangel Michael at the entrance

Here is the Virgen of Los Remedios

Arturo and my mother-in-law in the patio

There are walls filled with these "retablos'

Have a great weekend!
Naomi

Slowly learning

At times it's hard to believe that we are already two thirds of the way through our six months here in Mexico. It was hard for me to leave Chicago back in March - much more difficult than it was to leave in January, 2012.  Maybe it was because I knew from past experience that I would miss my family, friends and familiar haunts.  As well as Thai food, Chicago pizza and the Athenian Room.  Mostly I was just being a big baby because Mexico is a beautiful country and I'm perfectly happy here.  There are days when I get lonely but who doesn't?   We have family and friends here in Mexico and we have spent many happy days with them.  I miss them when I'm in Chicago.  All in all I am very fortunate and I'm well aware of that.

So what is the point of this post you may be asking?  I'm not really sure other than to say that I'm learning to enjoy life day by day and that actually is a hard lesson for me to master.  I was so accustomed to fast paced, crazy days at work, then running home to start my second job - all the time frustrated because I didn't have time to do the things I longed to do or more time to spend with my family and friends.  Then all of a sudden I have that time and I have to admit that it has taken me almost two years to get used to that.  Sounds insane I know.  But I'm getting there and part of that journey has taught me to sometimes just sit still and look at the scenery.  To watch a bird hopping around our garden. To literally listen to the birds sing.  I don't feel so guilty over "wasting time" doing those simple things because in the end, maybe they are more important for the soul than worrying about finishing the next article I'm working on.  Being here in Mexico has helped me learn those little lessons.  Like I said before, Mexico is a beautiful country.

Here are a few more pictures from Patzcuaro, el "Pueblo Magico" and the surrounding area.

The house of the "once patios" - eleven courtyards

Zirahuen

Patzcuaro through a courtyard

Zirahuen

The church in Cuanajo

Our street at night

I can't remember which lake this is.

You know this little guy

So, the point of this post is to take each day for the blessing it is.  And although this is a non sequiter, pay it forward!

Have a great weekend!

Patzcuaro

We got back Sunday night after spending ten days in Patzcuaro.  During that time we hosted the opening reception for the "Viajeros" or the butterfly exhibit, and spent time with old and new friends traveling through the countryside and in Patzcuaro.  It is the rainy season in Patzcuaro so the surrounding area was a beautiful canvas of green.  When we were there in April it hadn't rained for awhile, it was hot and things were looking brown and dusty.  Now it is the cool, rainy and gorgeous.

This is the Estribu - the top of a mountain where you look down into the valley.  

 The people in the above photo are sitting on the edge of land with their legs dangling over hundreds of feet of nothing.  I got close to the ledge but not quite that close.

Part of the monastery in Tzintzuntzan

This was taken one night from our roof after a rainstorm.  The sun came out briefly and looked like this:

It almost looks like heaven opened up.

For the butterfly exhibit we had an author from Chicago in attendance, Victor Cortes; a musician who used to live in Chicago, Benjamin Anaya; and Elvira Arrellano, an activist for immigrants' rights to keep families together.  A number of Americans from Patzcuaro and Morelia came by and I had a good time speaking in English for most of the night.  I have realized that days will go by without me speaking in English unless I Skype with one of my daughters.  Or talk to the dogs in English.  I've been doing that a lot lately.

Anyway, back to the butterfly exhibit:

Victor Cortes and Gilda Solis

More on Patzcuaro later.  They are soon coming to tear up my patio to lay a new tile so I have to get some things ready.

Tepotzotlan

For the life of me I can't get the accent marks to work on my computer - there should be an accent mark over the "a" in Tepotzotlan.  Anyway, yesterday we went to the town or small city of Tepotzotlan which is about 45 minutes from Mexico City.  Forty five minutes providing there is not a downpour on your way home which floods the highway and stops traffic.  Which happened to us on the way home, but that's the way it goes during rainy season in Mexico City.  I keep digressing.

Tepotzotlan is one of Mexico's "Pueblos Magicos" or Magic Towns.  Tepotzotlan was an important center during the Aztecs' reign and then it became a major educational center during the colonial period when the Jesuits established the College of San Francisco Javier.  This was an important religious, educational and cultural center from 1580-1914.  After the Jesuits were expelled from Mexico, the Catholic Church took it over, and then in 1964 the Mexican government took the convent/monastery, educational center and the church, restored them and turned all of it into a museum.  This museum named Museo del Virreinato (Museum of the Colonial Period), occupies the former monastery, educational center and church, and houses one of the largest collections of liturgical and religious art, as well as many other artifacts, from the colonial period.

These paintings line the hallways and are all religious themes.

One of the patios

I took this picture in one of the smaller chapels.

I cheated - I didn't take this picture because the church was closed.  Impressive.

It takes a minimum of 90 minutes, going at a brisk pace and not dawdling, to go through the convent, its gardens, patios and to take in all the artwork.  You could easily spend hours there.  I lost Arturo after 10 minutes as I'm a dawdler, but so is my brother-in-law Alfonso, so we went at our own pace.  Much later we found Arturo and his mom, somewhat bored, waiting for us.  Arturo made the major mistake of asking us if we saw the library (which we had somehow missed), so off Alfonso and I went for another 45 minute tour of the library and the third floor which we had previously skipped.  The third floor has the history of the nuns and their portraits.  I didn't know that a nun could get her "crown" only if she or her family could raise enough money to pay for it.  During the colonial period that cost was about $3000 so it was mostly the nuns from the wealthy families who were crowned.  The picture at the bottom shows one of the lucky ones.

The library

Part of the pharmacy

After Alfonso and I were dragged from the museum, we strolled through all the outdoor vendors' stands where I mostly bought and ate candy.  We had lunch/dinner at a buffet, and as we were getting ready to leave we witnessed a run away bull - there are ranches surrounding the town - run free in the parking lot before being wrestled to the ground by some cowboys who appeared out of nowhere on horseback.  Unfortunately a couple of people walking in the parking lot were injured.  Hopefully not badly.  Then we drove home until we had to stop driving because of the flooded highway.  All in all, not counting the bull incident, it was a good day.

This isn't the bull that escaped but it is the largest bulls I've seen.

My mother-in-law and Alfonso

Citlali and Poukie had to stay home so no pictures of them.

Snapshots of daily life in Mexico

I have discovered that where ever you live, you will establish daily routines and life moves forward on a more or less well carved out path.  So it is with our life in Mexico.  Many may think "how boring", but to me it is often a comfort.  That isn't to say that I'm constantly at home doing the same old things though - we do go out all the time.  It's just that there are certain things that I can count on happening everyday and I like that.  Things like walking the dogs at more or less established times, eating our main meal at 3 p.m., watching TV while knitting or sewing at night with the dogs snoozing with us, and then reading until late at night as I don't have to get up at 5:30 a.m. anymore.

And I love the time I spend up in my little hideaway office.  Usually the dogs are with me, each one napping in his or her appointed spot.  Dogs sleep a lot.

Poukie's spot

 I work on my book - or what I hope will one day be a book - and I keep up with emails, news, etc.  I feel connected to my old life but at the same time, I'm very aware that my life today is nothing like it was two years ago.  Last night I dreamt that it was my last week at work and I had so much to pack up and to finish.  I woke up and I've been awake since 4 a.m.

Citlali's perch

One of our jaunts yesterday was to Polanco.  We didn't take the dogs this time because Citlali has an infection on her front paw and she can't walk much.  Poukie had the same thing just a month ago.  Strange.  Then, since Wednesdays are half price movie days, we went to see the Mexican movie "Nostros los Nobles."  It's a comedy about an extremely wealthy widower trying to raise three kids who have turned out to be lazy, spoiled, young adults.  He comes up with a plan to turn them into decent human beings.  I recommend this movie!

To finish up, Arturo has finished burying what was left of the tree trunk, including all the roots, in the back yard.  Now he is going to fill it in with stones I think.

 This final picture is from our upstairs balcony.  There has been a lot of pollution in Mexico City these last few days so it is hazy.  You can barely make out one of the mountains in the background.  We had heavy rains last night but we need a lot more to disperse the pollution.  I'm not sure where it is "dispersed" to but I'm sure it doesn't just disappear.