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!

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.

Mariposas (Butterflies) Exhibition in Patzcuaro

If you are in the neighborhood of Patzcuaro, Michoacan, Mexico next Saturday, July 13th, stop on by for an exhibition of Mariposas:

On Saturday, July 13, 2013 at 5 p.m., the Museo de las Comunidades Mexicanas en el Extranjero, located at Calle Lloreda #50, Patzcuaro, invites you to attend “Viajeras”, a traveling art exhibition of Mexican Painters.  The show will exhibit 75 Mexican artists and 75 mixed medium butterflies they have created.  Elvira Arrellano, President of the United Latino Family, and symbol of the Mexican families living abroad, will open the exhibition.  Victor Cortes, an author born in Michoacan, will also be present.  Victor lives in Chicago, IL and he will share his most recent book “El Sabor del Desden,” a novel based on the reality of the immigrants who risk everything to arrive at the “promised” land.  In addition, Benjamin Anaya Gonzalez, originally from Mexico City and who immigrated to the United States, will accompany us.  Benjamin is a musician, poet and writer and he has organized many cultural and artistic events. 

The Mexican Painters are interpreting the project “Mariposas Migrantes”, a mural that the artist Hector Duarte created in his birthplace, Caurio de Guadalupe, Michoacan.  Hector’s creation consists of hundreds of butterflies, created by artists of all different nationalities and which has been installed throughout the town.  It symbolizes the men and women who have immigrated north in search of a better future for themselves and their families.  The exhibit “Viajeras” has 75 of these gorgeous butterflies created by 75 talented artists.  This show started out in Chicago, traveled to Mexico D.F., and then to Michoacan.  It’s final destination will be Caurio de Guadalupe, Michoacan.

It should be a lot of fun! 

Have a great weekend!

Randomness

I have no idea why but today is one of those days when it's hard to focus or feel attached to my surroundings.  I usually have these days following a productive day - which yesterday was.  So today I plan to just go with my mood and post some random photos.  And maybe a thought or two.

First, I have a request from my daughter, Diana, who wants to see some pictures of our dogs - maybe she thinks we lost them.  But not to worry - they are treated like royalty around here.

Citlali's favorite perch is Diana's and Laura's old crib,which I filled with blankets, etc. and then covered with fabric, that now resides in my new "office" in the second bedroom upstairs.  Yes, the decor needs some work, but for the moment it functions and it is all mine.  And Citlali's.

Poukie's spot is on the floor of my office.  Luckily, he is a resilient little guy and he makes the best of whatever scraps Citlali leaves for him.

Now I want you to see the beautiful bougainvillea that I pass by every morning while walking the dogs down our street.  It's dry season in Mexico City right now and this is when the bougainvillea is even more vibrant than during the rainy season.  It's always been one of my favorite shrubs - unfortunately it doesn't exactly thrive in Chicago.

Remember the pyramids the other day?  The ones in Ihuatzio, Michoacan?  That's where I took this photo of a pretty cute horse.  Or a good looking horse rather.  One of the things I love about Patzcuaro is that every day I see people from the nearby ranches on horseback going down our street, right alongside the cars.  They are simply part of the daily life there.

And finally, these two photos from one of the plazas and outdoor markets in Patzcuaro.  The little boy was chattering away to himself while he played with his toys on the bench.  His parents were next to him selling seafood at a food stand.  In the other photo, I watched the couple for a few minutes while she bargained over buying some dishes.  After awhile her husband got bored and walked away but she persisted until she got the price that was right.  Like husbands everywhere, he just shook his head when she gave him the bag to carry.

Since this is a random sort of day, I'll leave you with this rather long quote:

"Most of the time - 99 percent of the time- you just don't know how and why the threads are looped together, and that's okay.  Do a good thing and something bad happens.  Do a bad thing and something good happens.  Do nothing and everything explodes.

And very, very rarely - by some miracle of chance and coincidence, butterflies beating their wings just so and all the threads hanging together for a minute - you get the chance to do the right thing."

Lauren Oliver

Bye for now,

Naomi

Back from Patzcuaro, Michoacan

We arrived back in Mexico City late Friday after spending more than two weeks in Patzcuaro, Michoacan.  We don't have internet in the house there so I haven't posted for awhile.  It's strange but through the years when I knew that someday we would again live in Mexico, I always swore that I would never again live in a large city like Mexico City.  Instead I had this idea in my head that I wanted to reside in a small, colonial town and that's why we bought the house in Patzcuaro and Arturo spent several years fixing it up.  Then I discovered that when we are in Patzcuaro, I enjoy myself but I find that I start to miss Mexico City.  Seems like I can't make up my mind.  However, I think the problem is that I haven't let myself settle down and start a life in Patzcuaro.  Were I to do so, I'm pretty sure that I would be just fine.  And we would add the internet!

We had a great time though and spent several days with some good friends from the U.S. who live in Patzcuaro as well as going places and enjoying the town and surrounding area with friends from Mexico City who now live there.  It's a beautiful colonial town with a large plaza that is one of the largest in all of Mexico.  These pictures are the best I could do.

 
We went to a pyramid site one day last week that dates back to around 900 A.D.  What is left is the town plaza where they conducted business, had their markets, etc.

I took a few pictures of our house - the one that Arturo pretty much rebuilt over a span of about five years.  It is the old colonial style with a patio in the center and the rooms surround that patio.  We haven't filled the patio with plants yet because we don't spend enough time there and they probably wouldn't survive our absences during the dry season.  It's a house that has plenty of room so if you are looking for a vacation spot in a place where you can just relax and enjoy old Mexico let me know!

There are a lot more photos and more rooms but I'm not going to bore you today with all of them.  Instead, I'll leave you with one of the surrounding landscape.  It is dry season there so everything is not as green as it will be in a couple of months but it truly is a beautiful state.