django heads home

Guest blog from Django (photo captions from Michelle, though)!   

Michelle has asked me to write a post, which I'm happy to do. She suggested that I just imagine I'm writing an email to friends or family.  Of course I'm still a little anxious about it so I'm combining that piece of advice with another that I've used for public speaking and now I'm imagining that I'm writing to friends and family who are naked. 

After returning to Guanajuato from our successful excursion to San Miguel de Allende, we decided to give the kids a break and take it easy at home. I made a brief trip to the Mega but other than that it was very relaxing. In retrospect we should have taken advantage of that day as both Lucas and I got sick that night. The next day we were flat on our backs and completely useless, unable to leave the house. Needless to say, besides a quick trip to the Mega by Michelle for some children’s Pepto, this day was completely shot...though Lucas and Zeiva did get to watch a movie, a rare treat for them, and they probably consider it a fantastic day despite all the sickness.

By Saturday, Lucas had started to recover and I had started a course of cipro so even though Michelle was now feeling ill, we decided to search out an adventure. We wanted to go to a dam just outside of town called Presa de la Olla. We got there by walking down the hill, past El Pípila and down to El Jardín de la Union, and descending a staircase to a bus stop in one of the tunnels that run underneath the city. The bus route was quite scenic, winding past houses, through tunnels and then though a neighborhood that appeared to largely be government buildings (more on them later). There was enough going on that it took our minds off of our respective ailments.

the kids' first bus stop in the tunnels - this is just about 30 steps
down below one of the main plazas smack in the middle of town

Michelle had told me that the dam was a destination for the locals and I had expected a crowd around a fairly large reservoir. These expectations weren't realized as there were only a couple people wandering around a very small pond.  Crossing the road away from the dam we came across a family playing soccer – Lucas was drawn in and asked if he could join. I am constantly impressed at how proficient at Spanish he has become and how willing he is to speak with anyone he comes in contact with. This summer has definitely been fantastic for his Spanish skills. Once again Lucas proved that 'la idioma de futbol es universal' (soccer is the universal language). He was also obviously feeling much better. Exploring further we came across a second dam – Presa de San Renovato – upstream of the first with sculptures of a crocodilian and a snake with mosaic tiles along their back.

 

Presa de la Olla

Lucas found a family playing soccer and of course joined right in.
When we had to go, they were all yelling, "adios, Lucas!"

enormous mosaic crocodile - maybe 25 feet long?

also hard to tell how huge this snake is,
winding its way down the long slope -
the head is about the size of an armchair

Presa de San Renovato - dry, but the surrounding grounds
were much more developed for visiting

Beyond that there was a lovely path leading to a bicicross track (BMX). This area was obviously well cared for and there were signs asking visitors to do the same, including one that showed a red line over a stick figure of someone firing a gun.  We decided to walk in the opposite direction, to a garden below the two dams.  This garden was very nice, offering some shade and a chance to see some of the beautiful government buildings up close. We took the bus back to town to buy a tile mirror that we had our eye on from a previous trip and then on to home. 

the gardens below the dams

i didn't actually get any photos of all the grand government
buildings, but the residences in the area were pretty
impressive as well. i'd heard while researching guanajuato
that this area had some American and other diplomat families.
some homes were very modern (django remarked that this
looked straight out of LA)...

...others quite traditional.

Sunday marked my final day in Guanajuato. We headed into town for my last visit. We bought two tamales (carnitas and mole) as lunch for Michelle and I, and we had packed sandwiches for the kids. However, as we started to unwrap the husks around the tamales, Lucas asked for a bite and ended up eating almost the entire carnitas tamale. I am very impressed with his adaptation to the delicious, spicy food of Mexico. As we walked toward El Jardín de la Union, we came across what appeared to be a youth orchestra performing on the steps of Teatro Juarez. Michelle found out that the kids were part of a government program that put instruments in the hands of disadvantaged youth and taught them to play specific pieces from memory including the very familiar Hallelujah. If the kids stick with it, they progress to learning to read music and more challenging pieces. Lucas and Zeiva, in their usual style, got into the thick of things and enjoyed the music immensely.

the youth orchestra on the steps of Teatro Juarez

after the orchestra finished playing, we wandered across
the street to the neighboring plaza and encountered another
(very loud) band...it was a musical day! we actually
enjoyed them more once we were all the way up
the hill at the El Pipila statue, where they were easily heard at a
more pleasant volume.

One of the biggest disappointments about being sick is that I didn't want to eat any of the amazing food that surrounds you on nearly every street corner. We made up for the lost days a little during the hike back up the hill: we stopped for a snack from street vendors at El Pípila (I was already on antibiotics, viva la Mexico!).  We ordered three quesadillas – one with squash blossoms, one with chicharron prensado (pressed pork meat, different from chicharron which is the ubiquitous fried pig skin sold as a snack), and one with just cheese for Lucas.  They were delicious especially with a generous helping of salsa.

The taxi came at 2:45 pm, which left just enough time for a photo above the casita, some big hugs and a teary farewell. I respect Michelle immensely for spending her summer as a single mother in a foreign country and I am also looking forward to September when our family will be together again. 

adios, papa - we'll see you soon!

i had to throw this photo in, too. with django having brought a load of m&ms with him, our weekend chocolate chip pancake ritual mutated into an elaborate affair where the kids sorted m&ms by color such that each pancake was custom designed. here they are on the kitchen counter picking through the candy for their next round.