Saint Michael Festival at school... by Jacob (7 years old)

Everyday at school is a normal day, then one day we get a note to bring home. It said, "Bring a bowl, a spoon and a cup". I said, "Why?" And Miss Wendy said because it was going to be the St. Michael festival. I didn't know who St Michael was...then....we began to practice our play. The 5th graders began by playing a song on the flute, and then we (the 2nd grade) sang a little song that went like this:

By a dark and peaceful wood,
a quiet little village stood
where people labored all the day
for winter was not far away

Then the teachers sang a verse, but I don't know what it was. Then the dragon came out and said, "Bring me a maid to eat" (the dragon was a great big dragon head with all the 7th graders under a blanket for the body) I forget the next part, but in little bit the dragon ran away. Then they bring out the maid (it was my sister's friend in 4th grade, Estrella). Then St. Michael comes out. Then St. George comes out. And St. Michael gives St. George the sword. And then St. Michael goes away, and St. George slowly goes to the maid to save her. Then the dragon comes out and they start fighting. Then the dragon opens his mouth to breathe fire, and St. George places the flat part of his sword onto the dragon's tongue and he tames the dragon and takes it away. Then we sang the same song again.

Today was the REAL play. Everyone was dressed up in a costume. My class was dressed like farmers and villagers. All morning we made soup in a huge pot over a real fire outside, and the 4th grade baked bread. The parents came before lunch and the whole school did the play. We played games. We walked on ropes holding onto other ropes, we balanced on boards (with ditches of COLD water on both sides that you would fall into if you didn't balance), and we jumped over the FIRE, and climbed up the diagonal bars and jumped off onto a mat from really high up. We had vegetable soup (that all the kids made) and the parents had all brought desserts. Daddy made apple mess and Mommy made key lime pie. They were both really good.


The play was fun, and it was a fun day. I like my school and I like my friends.

Jacob

Easy... and Not So Easy

Easy:
-Taking garbage out - 5 minute walk to the garbage truck parked up the street. Take it anytime between 7pm and 5am-ish.
-The weather - 80s during the day and 60s at night.
-Supplemental grocery run - there are little tiendas all over the place open all different hours to pick up milk, eggs, bacon, cereal, etc.
-Making gringo friends - they hang out at the school bus stop for 10 minutes at drop off and pick up.
-Getting a stranger to say "Hola" or "Buenas tardes" and smile, too.

Not so easy:
-Watching your children struggle with a new language and listening to their heartfelt frustrations.
-Keeping your car clean - cobblestone streets and some dirt roads means you can write 'wash me' on 90% of the vehicles here.
-Getting most of what the pharmacist or shopkeeper or schoolteacher says, but missing that 1 or 2 key words that hold the essence of the message.
-Making Mexican friends - after "hi" and "how are you?", the conversations start getting tougher.
-Getting breakfast tacos - ya'd think they abound. But not a one! We are thinking of opening a Taco Shack down here at the bus stop.

More to come....

Forced to Slow Down

San Miguel doesn’t ask you to slow down. It requires it. There are a few strategies that the town employs to ensure this happens:

Colors – San Miguel is full of vibrant color that steals your eyes. The streets are bookended with plastered cement covered with blues, oranges, pinks, maroons and greens. If it is not a plastered wall, it is a crumbling stone wall that holds up the climbing bunganvilla of vibrant pink and purple. Other tiny yellow blooms and giant red ones vie for your attention. In the morning I am always struck by the sky blue sky that looks like God literally stole that color out of every Crayola box and melted them right across the canvas.

Walking – San Miguel is a walking town. The cobblestone streets wreak havoc on a suspension system. And the traffic in this “city without a streetlight” (advertised this way, but there are a couple that I’ve seen) literally means you can get out of the cab and make better progress on many days. So, you walk most places. Of course, that slows you down. So it takes you a bit longer to get anywhere.

Driving – So, you do have to get in the car sometimes. I’ve made two trips to Queretaro to the Honda dealership (guess why!). 2/3’s of the trip is a two lane highway that then joins a four lane divided highway. On the first trip, an overturned truck on the 4 lane highway had traffic slowed to a crawl. It took 30 minutes to get around it. On the second trip, I had about 10km left on the two lane road when I found myself behind a wide load, as in, the trailer took up both of the two lanes. That means lead trucks were ahead of the trailer stopping traffic in the opposite direction and follower trucks were behind the trailer keeping us from passing. So what do you do? You slow down. You realize that you get there when you get there.

There are obviously many advantages to slowing down. I'll let you respond with your favorite in your comments. One of my favorites down here is that people don't mind when you are late. In fact, they get it. They understand. It's Mexican time.

And then, you get it, too.

Coming "home" to San Miguel

We left San Miguel for a week. Although we saw many loved ones -- friends and family, there was much sadness for us. Keith's Uncle Gene had battled stage 4 lung cancer for 5 months and we lost him last Wednesday night in Houston. His diagnosis last spring was a surprise to everyone.... and the treatment and course was far too quick for us all to grasp. Just days before he was diagnosed, our big Lewis family was gathered around the Passover table, happily making our annual jokes and the brothers and cousins were all ribbing each other as they always do. My children remember Uncle Gene in those times, with his wit, humor, and kindness, as he smiled and laughed with us. In his memory, condolences may be sent to a charity supporting nursing scholarships in Houston called "The Good Samaritan Foundation" at http://gsftx.org/support/

I continued up to Austin, alone, in a rental car to visit some of my closest friends. I loved seeing them... it was just good for my soul. I had lunch with three friends and was able to giggle, laugh, hug and share --- they made me feel as if I had never left!!!.

One of the three is the most happy, funny, caring person you could ever meet. As I saw her, we both knew she was losing her mother to stage 4 pancreatic cancer. I spent a few hours that afternoon with my friend and her young boys, wishing I could give her a piece of me to ease her pain. Mostly, I just witnessed her strength, and missed her terribly. In helping her organize some affairs for her mom, she told me that her mom wished that as a tribute and celebration to her life, she wished for others to consider making a contribution to a children's charity of their choice. Please consider this noble wish, and let me know if you do, and I will pass on the good deed to my friend, as they would very much appreciate knowing the wonderful impacts of their mother's life. Her Mom gracefully passed away earlier today at home, with love of family surrounding her.

I spent the evening with another cherished friend, her husband and two kids just talking, sharing and being. (and, ok, eating!) I didn't want the evening to end. I feel truly lucky to have such wonderful friends who know how to love, laugh, give, receive and live life as it should be lived ---- with happiness and joy.

There were so many other friends, neighbors, colleagues, and relatives that I wished I had the chance to see in my 1 day excursion........ but with such little notice, and such little time, it just wasn't possible.

COMING HOME --- late last night..... the kids were dragging, Keith and I were exhausted. I had been battling a sinus/head/chest cold for the last 2 days in Houston and the kids were definately letting us know that it was 2 hours past their bedtime and they were tired of traveling. After a 2.5 hour flight, immigration, customs, a 1 hour drive, I felt warmly welcomed HOME by the lights of San Miguel. A strange feeling, as this has only been our home for 5 weeks.

All of the Red, White and Green lights are up around the town for the Mexican Independence holiday, fast approaching this weekend. Fireworks had already started lighting up the night as we were driving into town, and they continued all night long, like popcorn in the not-so-distant sky (like 5 blocks away). They are like background music to us now. We made it through the door, dropped the bags, cleaned up the kids and brushed their teeth and popped them in bed, and fell into bed, exhausted. And we were home. In San Miguel. We would be seeing our new friends this weekend we were sure.

I heard the church bells in the distance.... I wistfully thought of my many friendships and how much I missed them. I thought of family, and how far, but yet how close we can be whenever we want. It really is a very small world when we can be so connected through a computer screen, a telephone call, or a plane ride. I know how lucky I really am...

And in case you were wondering.... our car window is REPAIRED!!! No more plastic and tape for us... we have pimped our ride! And the Honda dealership even vacuumed and washed it for us (now we are a little nervous about sticking out again, so we need to go muddy it up!) AND, we have our new camera, so we will have pictures of the Lewis clan up soon enough, we promise. (and not the dancing ones... really!) No more kitchen explosions, or any other notable mishaps... so I think we have settled into a routine.

September is a month of Fiestas in Mexico ---- we will report back!

Mary

Flowers in our Jardin

All these flowers are the work of Miguel, the gardner, and possibly a little help from elsewhere...
Enjoy.

Avenida Allende #30, Colonia San Antonio

Allende North
Originally uploaded by klewistpb

Here's a picture of our street looking south (on the top) and north.

This is our door to the street....


Open the door and viola! A beautiful garden! Casa Rosa is there in the background.


The garden is filled with lime and orange trees, bunganvilla and much more!


The family room is bright and comfy. Can you see our big screen TV there in the middle? TV is not a big activity for our family, except Saturday cartoons. Those turn into a spanish lesson anyway...


Our kitchen! With our spanish microwave and gas oven ----- LOOK OUT!


The kids playroom. Signs on the door tell you to scan your eyes and type in the right code for proper entry. Adults are allowed in, only as guests!


Jessica's bedroom


And the boys room. Hey! Jason forgot to make his bed!


And our bedroom. Hey! I forgot to put my clothes away!

More pictures of our rooftop studios/laundry lines coming soon!

OK, we'll talk to you again soon! Gracias por su visita! Adios!

Dance Lessons

We've decided to get into the culture with dance lessons! Here are some brief clips of all of us.

First, Mary and Keith:


Next, Jessica:


Finally, Jacob and Jason!


We hope you enjoy!