Best Laid Plans

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Today, Saturday, I went down to the Jardin (town center) at 10:15 a.m. to join a tour called "Saturday Adventure Tours," which is done every Saturday and the topic changes from week to week. Today the tour was supposed to be an "ode to cement," which is a tour of someone's house that is made almost entirely of cement. This includes his polished kitchen counter tops and his 2nd floor office (which also has a big white tub). The 3rd floor terrace has a massive cactus garden. Sounds interesting! And then after the tour, we were supposed to see a horse dressage show on an elegant "Rancho El Encanto." When I arrived at the Jardin this morning, however, there were barricades around it and everyone had to go through a metal detector and have their bags checked before going into the square. Once I got in, there were about 20 other people, all gringos, waiting for the tour. A local man, Jose the volunteer, was there and I talked to him as we waited for the tour coordinators to arrive. He didn't know what all the security was for and didn't know why the coordinators weren't there. Finally, someone called the office and was told the tour was cancelled because the bus couldn't get to the square. At that point, I saw my neighbors, Ron and Artha. (They are in casita #4, while I am in casita #5. More on that later, as there is a story to tell.) The three of us headed off to see if we could find out why the square was blocked off. We noticed alot of police around and Ron asked one of them what was going on. It turns out the President of Mexico(!) is apparently in town - President Felipe Calderón. They said he's here to dedicate the reopening of the San Miguel de Allende museum, which is right there at the Jardin! Wow. Not sure if that's good or bad, as he's not well-liked by the drug lords of Mexico! Anyway, we wandered off and went for a lemonada at the cafe in the monestary at the Templo de la Inmaculada Concepción. Then we went our separate ways and I tried to surreptitiously take a photo of the police. I thought I probably shouldn't try too hard, though, as I didn't want to lose my camera....

Click here to View Photos - then click on Slideshow

After wandering for awhile, I decided to try to find the house where Jennifer will be staying. (Jennifer is my friend from Denver who is coming tomorrow. She'll be staying for a month, with a local Mexican family.) I started out from my house, with my map and her address. I ended up getting a little lost. That's the first time I've felt like I didn't know where I was or felt a little uncomfortable. But I finally asked a man how to find the street I was looking for and he pointed me in the right direction. It took 20 minutes from when I left my house to when I found hers. But I realized when I headed home that it's actually LESS THAN THREE MINUTES AWAY! I'm going to pick her up tomorrow at 10 a.m. and now I'm glad that I "practiced."

Tonight I'm meeting Signe for dinner at the cafe in the Biblioteca (library) at 7 p.m. and then we're going to a play there at 8 p.m. Signe is the woman from New York who I met here on Thursday when I went to hear a talk on Semana Santa. Hopefully this evening will go smoother than this morning's did!

(As for Ron and Artha - they are a very nice couple visiting from Cleveland. They've been here many times and several of their kids are coming to stay here as well, in the various casitas. Ron and Artha's casita is smaller than mine. Theirs has a medium sized kitchen, living room, and bedroom, and a large bathroom. Mine has a large kitchen, medium living room, dining room, and bedroom, and a small bathroom. Because their family is coming, I offered to switch casitas with them so they would have a larger kitchen and a dining room. Hopefully I won't be sorry. But it just seemed logical that they have the larger unit. And the one they're in now is very cute. Plus, I think I'd rather have a larger bathroom and smaller kitchen than vice versa! The swicheroo is happening on Monday.)