The Night Before

Ofrenda at the library.

To say that the town was getting excited today was a bit of an understatement. The children were all decked out in their Day of the Dead costumes and were hustling about the main square getting ready for the weekend. We walked around and did a bit of shopping.

Evening rolled around and we walked to the park where we heard there was going to be a gathering which would symbolize the welcoming of the weekend and celebrations. There were quite a few gringos there and a few Mexicans. They held a bit of a prayer ceremony and had some fire dancers perform.  It was interesting but looked like an event put on by gringos for gringos using some of the indigenous peoples rituals as the basis to start their weekend. To me it felt forced and not real natural.

Young boy in his best Day of Dead costume. 

After a bit we walked up to the main square and watched people. The first night of celebrating was fun to see and we are looking forward to the rest of our stay.

Stainless steel wires with the sun reflecting off them.

Ofrenda at the entrance to the park.

Large gringo Ofrenda at park. 

Blessing the Ofrenda. 

Fire dance.

Ladies of the Dead.

A New Part of Town

We walked to a different part of San Miguel today and I got some very good shots. Linda got two pairs of San Miguel Shoes, which are to die for.

It's a bull market, RUN!

Man's worst nightmare. Shopping for shoes.

Jacob could fix this one up, with my help, of course.

Day of the Dead dog walking.

Great bar entry.

I found an easier Mexico history lesson.

A Lot of History in a Walking Tour

Corner of the Allende House with a statue of Ignacio Allende.

San Miguel history in short. First there were the natives and then Cortes came into the picture with a Spanish conquest, somewhere around 1521. San Miguel was established by Fray San Juan, but the water source for the town dried up; later the town was moved  to where it is today near some water springs. This period of Mexico was called New Spain and it lasted from 1521-1821. There was prosperity in San Miguel and those Spanish born in Mexico, the Creole families, wanted to be able to have the same stature as the Spanish born in Spain. So in 1810 the start of the War of Independence happened. This lasted from 1810 to 1821. In 1910 to about 1920 they had the “La Revolution.” 

You toss in the war where France tried to keep control of Mexico but got their butts kicked and a few more prestigious battles and there you have it, Mexico's history!

Our walking tour of the old San Miguel area was very good and we learned quite a bit about the history of this area and Mexico in general.  The tour was to be about 2 and a half hours but ended up about three hours long.  We were hungry when we finished thus the last photo in the gallery below lets you know where we ended our down town visit.

Inside the Parish Church ( La Parroquia) of San Miguel.

One of the priests painted murals throughout the church; very bad murals. 

This crucifix weighs 8 kilos and is made of corn husks. 

Above you can see a doorway to one of the many churches. We were told that they are built so that you must look down and step over the frame at the bottom so that you are showing reverence as you enter the church. Interesting!

Sugar candies all created to celebrate the Day of the Dead.

Only reason I took this was because the priest had glasses on.

Mural in the Angela Peralta Theater.

Courtyard of the Centro Cultural with the dome of the Church of the Nuns in the background.

The series of photos below are of the unfinished and recently restored mural by Davíd Alfaro Siqueiros.

Looking from inside the room toward entry. 

Looking from the other corner of the room toward entry.

From entry looking into the room.

Note the floor at very bottom right.

Looking into room at ceiling.

Same painting as above but from opposite direction.

Much needed food after very long history lesson.

El Charco de Ingenio Jardin Botanico

Linda on a snake slide.

These spiders were everywhere in the Jardin.

Mexican Silverspot Butterfly

Note the lizard on the cross.

Vermilion Fly Catcher

Almost walking on water.

A dam once used to feed water to the textile factory.

I can still make her laugh!

Moving Around Town

We are back in San Miguel and exploring the area a bit further.  There was a crafts fair in the park, it was full of real nice local folk crafts. In the streets before entering the park were huge puppets walking in amounts the people on the street.

After the visit to the park Linda walked to the bull ring and took a look around. I met them all in a small restaurant where we ate some lunch. 

San Miguel bull ring.