San Miguel de Allende, GTO, Mexico

I need to write some enrties in this blog!!

Tonight is Halloween and a part of the Dia de los Muertos celebration. This is such a big thing here in Mexico. I have been about the center of town since about 5:30 pm and just needed to get to bed, as it is now 10:30 pm (or rather 11:30 if didn't move my clock back for daylight savings time). I wish that I had a camera, but my three were taken in two bags last month shortly after we arrived here and I have yet to get any replacement camera. Therefore, I will try to describe the scene verbally, particularly for those of my followers not at all familier with Mexican culture. I cheated and found some images on the internet that represent some tiny bit of what I saw :(

To begin with, El Dia de los Muertos has its roots in the beliefs and rituals of the Aztecs, one of the major indiginous peoples who lived in central Mexico over 500 years ago. The Aztecs believed that dead relatives returned home once a year to seek nurishment and community. Basically, Dia de los Muertos is set aside to remember those who have died. The custom is to invite the deceased to come home on this day to visit the living, so an altar is created and certain items used in it's construction, each item playing a significant part in the whole structure. There are marigold flowers - the floral carpet leads the souls back home and the marigold is believed to carry the smell of death, incense of copal (a woody aroma) helps lead to lead the departed to the Ofrenda or offering, candles also provide a guiding light for the soulsphotos or images of the deceased give the dead a feeling of being back home again, and there are objects that the deceased liked, salt is displayed to remind us of the basic elements that we will all return some day, foods, alcoholic beverages and candies (sugar skull and catrina figures remininding us of life's fragility) are placed to feed the dead - it is believed that the spirit receives nurishment from the smells and then the food is shared by the family, and then there are hundreds of paper sheets that have cutouts of skeletons, flowers, birds, and coffins and they are hung overhead or on the backgrounds.

So these altars are in many of the stores, homes, and public places around town (actually all over Mexico). On the public square (El Jardin) there are altars for many of the national heroes and figures. These are larger altars are manned by people dressed as the hero or as guardians. Each of these larger altars is layed out on the pavement in a 12 x 12 square and images are created using corn and other grains, beans, etc. The images are them edged with yellow marigolds.

The next thing are the catrina dolls and costumes. When the dead return they return in thier finest clothes, but they are only a skeleton. Therefore, a popular costume for this day (and halloween is a big costume day here) are the catrina costumes - most of the catrina women wear a long dark colored dress (often of Victorian vintage) with large brimmed hats sporting feathers and stuff. As you recall these represent the dead, so the face is painted white in the image of a skull (black for eye sockets and teeth showing) the arms are often white with bones drawn on them. The men typically are dressed in tuxedos or black suits and a white skull face is used, as well. These catrina characters will parade into the square amid clamorous music and pomp and then mill around the crowds in the square. A large majority of the people with costumes will have their faces painted. Usually it will be one side of the face with the white skull and the other side normal. There will be other costume, as well.

Then there are the costumes of the indiginous people dressed in the garb of the Aztecs with incredible feather headdresses - today feathers are predominately pheasant, peacock, and other domesticated foul, but originally the feathers were from some of the spectacular birds of the region. The rest of the attire is a mix of leather and colorful woven fabrics. Then there are the indiginous tribes of northern Mexico, particularly the Apaches, and their garb is quite different. They are clad in animal skins, skulls, and horns and eagle feathers. Their dances are more primative than the dances of the Aztecs. In both cases there are sounds eminating from these groups that are immitating sounds of nature: flutes and whistles and drums and rattles and horns and clay vases - all used to create so many different sounds in an erie kind of way. Around their ankles are large wraps that have attached dozens of large seed pods that create a rattling sound when they walk. This part of the square is in front of the parroquia or main parrish church of the community. Mingling all around the square until midnight are children in costumes and bags begging for candys and treats (So now I know why the hispanic trick-r-treaters in our neighborhood come around so late). It is quite a festive scene.

Of course the square is also full of mariachi bands playing to anyone willing to toss some coins their way. So from one side of the square are mariachis and on the other side is the indiginous sounds, and on another are the sounds of contemporay music form a nearby bar and the sound of children. A constant change is focus.

The square is also adorned with cutout papers of every color imaginable. The whole sight and sound was an overload to the senses.

After I had enough of the festivities I headed to Joseph's place to listen to Bob Livinston play a solo set or two of progressive country and then to jamb with a great local blues band for the rest of his second set. Great, fun musical entertainment!

After a long time away

I must get back to my blog entries - I am so sorry for being so distant. I made it home to Houston from the Kingdom, but was there only a few days before I headed out for Mexico; San Miguel de Allende, to be precise. Anyway, Houston was a whirlwind of activities (haircut, credit unions, etc), but while there I realized just how much there is to do there, to get things back in order. That old house is just too much for a single woman, Carolyn, to manage well. When I get back there for a long visit I will have a ton of projects to get into (just on the outside). I do love that old house, though.

At any rate, the trip to San Miguel de Allende, was uneventful. The flight on Continental was delayed about 30 minutes so that the pilot could arrive to fly us :) Once to Leon it was an hour taxi ride to SMA. The driver was a student in architecture (4th year), so he was able to tell a lot about the architecture and the land, as well. He talked the whole way to SMA - which was great! The hotel was the Mirasol -I recommend it - on the edge of the Centro - our friends, the Hickey's told us about it. Stayed at the Mirasol for two nights and tthen moved to an studio apartment in Colonia San Antonio. It was marginable. Paid up until the 17th of October, at which point am heading for a B&B for a few nights, while I look for another short term rental on a studio apartment. Don't know when I will be heading back to the KSA, but I expect sometime in November or early December. I'll be here until it is time to go. Carolyn, on the other hand, is staying in Texas.

Weather here is beautiful - daily highs in the 70's and nightime lows in the upper 40's (although the last couple of nights have been in the low 40's). Days usually start off a little cloudy, but clear off by noon and the rest of the day is sunny. This is the Central Highlands of Mexico. About 5000 feet above sea level. The habitat is largely semi arid with numerous mountain ranges amid a series of flat valleys or plains. This is the bread basket of Mexico - lots of agricultural activities all around this part of Mexico. On the tops of the taller mountains ranges the habitat changes to a conifer forest (small conifers). The valley and plateau are a scruby savanah with numerous different grasses, cacti, and low trees, mostly of the acacia family (mesquite, huisatche, pepper tree, etc.). The density of the brush is greatest along the arroyas (creek beds) and up on the hillsides away from human development. Some of the scenery is quite beautiful and pastoral - wish I had a camera to capture the scenes.

So far my naturalist observations have been from the rooftop of this apartment into the neighborhood, a local park not too far from here, and several walks across some undeveloped fields to the Mega Store on the edge of town about a mile from the apartment; or from the bus on my way to Mexico City. Most of my observations have been focused on bird life - my only sightings of any other wildlife was a six-lined race runner lizard (or something akin to it) - no mammals or other reptiles/amphibians of any kind :(, and some of the native flora mentioned above. So here is a liost of my avian sightings so far: Flycatchers - Great Western Flycatcher, Great Eastern Flycatcher, Kissadee, Vermillion Flycatcher, Gray Flycatcher, and several yet to be identified; himmingbirds - Broad-billed and Rufous are the only two that I have positively identified, but there are many others, particularly the females, that are difficult to separate; doves - White-wing, Inca, and Common Ground Doves; Orioles - Altimira and Bullock's; Curved-bill Thrasher; Tanagers; Barn Swallows; several unidentified swifts and swallows or martins; wrens - Cactus and Benwick's; various inidentified field sparrows and warblers; Pine Siskin; Great-tailed Grackles; Yellow Capped Woodpeckers; Indigo Bunting (caged in a restaurant - sad); egrets - Snowy, Cattle, and American Egrets; unspecified Cormorants; White Pelican; Black Vulture; Raven; Cowbirds; unspecified Grebes and Ducks (too far off to see clearly); Grooved-bill Anis; and the typical human hanger-ons - House Sparrows, House Finches, Feral Pigeons, and Starlings. Interestingly, I have spotted no raptors.

I would like to get out into the countryside - up some of the creek beds and nearby lake and up to some higher elevations on the nearby mountains in the conifer forests; and a nearby ecological preserve. Better yet, I would like to travel down into Oaxaca and Chiapas for some of the true tropical and jungle birds found there. Then there is the Yucatan Peninsula and the Caribbean Coast and the Pacific Coast for seabirds, waders and other passserines. If I stay until January I will most definitely make one or more of those side trips. The busses here are fantastic.

Heading home

This is my last day here in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for a while. I leave here and hope that my contract is negotiated to my liking, so that I can come back to work on this project. Nothing is certain until I sign the cantract. I anticipate about a month for the date that this current contract ends (27 September). In the meantime, I am looking forward to some quality time with my family, particularly, Carolyn. I will surely miss the people that I leave behind here, but I trust that I will be back, so this will be a brief interlude. If, though, I can't return, then I will be saddened by the separation from these good folks. Oh, have I had an interesting time here. There are so many things that I have availed myself to. Diving, fishing, birding, art, line dancing, natural history, architecture, writing, parties, etc. and etc. Through these activities I have made so many really good friends. Fortunately, things like Facebook, blogging and such make these separations more manageable and tolerable.

My plane leaves out of Bahrain at 11:20 tonight and I stil have a lot of things to attend to, so goodbye for now.

Gillian's home

Gillian Perrott, a very good friend here in Saudi Arabia, was full of Irish hospitality when Carolyn and vacationed there in July. She was so kind as to let us use her Saab to get around. To have such friends is wonderful and for that I did the two pencil drawings of her home there in Kinsale, County Cork. Gillian is a very independent and skillful person, tall and quite attractive, and very personable. Carolyn and I are so grateful to be her friend, and in return I drew these two drawings for her. She was astounded when I presented them to her, but they were a simple way for me reciprocate. The drawings are on 9" x 12" drawing paper using graphite pencils. Cheers - Gillian and thank you.

PADI Certification

Over the past three weeks I have been working on my PADI certification. Completed my final dive and final exam last weekend in Halfmoon Bay, where the water on the bottom of the dive area was 21 feet and the water temp on the bottom was 97 degrees F. The surface water temp was 107 degrees F!!! A hot bath. The dive site is a buoyed off section of the beach about the size of a football field or two. The bottom has a collection of junk items to make the otherwise featureless sandy mud bottom interesting. Junk items include old toilets, old oil drums, concrete blocks, old tires, several old derelict pleasure boats, etc. Water visibility was around 4 feet. Not the best diving place, but good enough to complete the open water dives. On my last dive, with Nicole as my diving partner, I was constantly dealing with hamstring cramps in both legs, so I was using a lot of air and stopping to stretch my hamstrings. Did see a nice big grouper under one of the boats on the bottom, but couldn't get Nicole to come over fast enough to see it. Once on shore and with all the equipment rinsed off and loaded into the vehicle I was totally exhuasted. When I got home I took off all my clothes and crashed on the bed for a short nap before heading back out to the Aramco Beach for Julian's birthday party with Nicole and Claudia. Nice night on the beach. So I am now certified as a recreational scuba diver. Frankly, I have been diving quite a bit (up to 120 feet on wrecks in the Atlantic off Delaware), but was never certified, as it wasn't required back then (in the Dark Ages), so this was like a refresher course.

The day before we all went down to the same place (The Halfmoon Bay Yacht Club - HBYC) to see how Claudia and Fraser were doing on Claudia's newly purchased Sunfish repairs. That work lasted until dark (Nic and Julian sailed until dark) and so we had a cook out there on the beach. Lots of easing down from the weeks work.

On Saturday I had a nice fun dinner at Tandoori with Nicole and some of her fellow nurses. I was able to surprize her with the gift of the Widgeon drawing for her birthday. Such a wonderful gleem in her eyes when she opened it up. Those reactions always make me feel so good when I am able to give a gift that I have created and it is appreciated so much by the person you give it to. The first image is the graphite pencil study and the second image is the pen & ink drawing that was the gift. I am planning on a watercolor painting, as well. That I will keep for myself.

The next couple of nights as a party and an Iftar dinner and getting Nicole's budgie to my room while she is on repat back home to Scotland.

Nicole's Punk Party (4oth B'day Bash)

Nicole does things up big for her major birthdays and her 40th birthday bash at the Diplomat Hotel in Bahrain was no exception. Dress code for the party (a brunch on the last weekend before Ramadan) was Punk. I decked out as Richard Hell, the founder of the Punk movement. The brunch itself was a huge party and we were a big group there. I drove over with Lawrence and Dan, stopping on the way for a couple of beers and a swim at the Dilman Club there in Bahrain. Once at the party we found Nic's tables and setted in. I promptly headed for the food - several plates of good seafood (lobster, crab, shrimp, clams suishi, etc.). With that taken care of my next task was to tatoo many of the women in our party. Lisa asked me to come prepared to do so. I knew that these girls had to work the next day in the hospital, so I found some washable markers and started to work. Fun for all. Nic was having a blast - good for her!! Dan, Lawrence and I headed back home around 4:00 pm to avoid the anticipated traffic on the causeway going back into Saudi Arabia. Had to stop by Ric's for some eats and another couple of beers and then headed out. The causeway was a nightmare - 3 1/2 hours on the causeway!!! Those damned girls stayed over night, since they did not have to work the next day - bummer for us - great for them! Some of the girls had their usual hangovers the next day - what's new? At any rate, we all had a great time - Thanks, Nicole, for a great party!

Health

I recently reviewed with my physician my medical records from the Aramco hospital and Saad hospital in Khobar. I had a rather complete examination and the results are excellent. All my scores are just where my doctors want them to be. Even had a Cardio stress test and that went the limit and it was all normal. I thank God for my excellent health and just hope that it continues along this path. I do lead a somewhat active life. I try to watch my food intake. I should drink more liquids here (according to my good friends Nicole and Jillian and am trying to follow their suggestions). I get a good night's sleep usually (about 6 hours). Ride my bike a good bit around this compound. Walk a good bit (I have a reputation around here regarding my walking - "Beware", they say, "Richard will wear you out if you try to walk with him! He walks fast and far.") I get a good workout on Wednesday nights in the Country Rocks line dance sessions. Nicole frequently tells me to slow down - "you are not in your twenties anymore", but it is hard to slow down - there is just so much to see and do. I should spend time in the weight room working on my upper body. I hate to be around my son, John, with his well built body :( I have my weight standing at around 155 lbs., which is just near my running weight (150 lbs.) when I was in college. People constantly guess my age as about 15 - 20 years younger, so I must be doing something right. That has been my problem all along in my younger years when I was asked for my ID in bars well past the years that most everyone worried about it. So far life is good, thank the good Lord.