Our last days in San Miguel were lovely. It included a holiday and two days off for Larry, so we got to play. Our good friends, Carrie and Max, came down to spend the holiday with their family here, and they were gracious enough to fold us into the bunch. (Carrie and I worked together many years ago at the Federal Reserve Bank and have remained friends for decades.) Carrie’s sister, Christie, and her husband, Adrian, welcomed us like family and treated us to the best street tacos in town (Taco Alex) and included us in their huge American Thanksgiving feast. We also had the pleasure of hosting Carrie, Max, Christie, and Adrian for dinner at our rental. We love hosting and haven’t done a lot of it since covid. Overall it was a success, although we did not take altitude into account when baking the dessert, so while it tasted amazing, it wasn’t a pretty as it ought to have been.

Overall, our month in San Miguel was an incredible experience. I spent the entire month studying and practicing my Spanish. While I am nowhere near fluent, I can say confidently that I am making great progress. I put myself out there in the real world and spoke as often as possible with people. While my on-the-fly speaking is not great it is actually something more than nothing. My real-time comprehension has also really improved, and reading and writing both are showing great progress. I am still very shy and slow (especially on verb conjugations), but I am respecting the process of this intensive class and I recognize that it will take years. I am enjoying language acquisition more than ever, and I do plan to keep it up as part of my daily practices.

While the weekly updates here captured a lot of the things in SMA that caught my attention, I’m going to add a few random things here in no particular order or with much discourse, so they aren’t lost to time.

*There are a lot of VW Bugs there, like A LOT. I’m not sure why, but they are everywhere and in various degrees of dilapidation.
*One of the very lovely things that I wish existed in the US is individual mini coat racks that get brought up to each table, so coats and purses are not slung over chairs. It’s classy.
*The one thing I wish Mexico would adopt from the US is comfortable places to sit. In our entire month we never encountered a couch or lounge chair that could be described as soft or comfortable.
* Painting with a broad brush, Mexicans can whistle impressively. Noticeably and impressively. The only time I was not impressed was when a particularly talented whistler both in volume and range of tone took his sweet and melodic time passing under my bedroom window at four in the morning. For him I held a deep hatred until I was able to drift back to sleep. I was told that families actually develop individual whistles that allows them to communicate in a crowd. I didn’t get a chance for a demonstration, but I’m delighted with this little piece of information.
* Early morning/pre-dawn fireworks are more common than you could possibly imagine.
*There are no stop signs or stoplights within the old town. Intersections are often precarious, but ultimately, courtesy wins the day. Plenty of taxis, ubers, and private ride services, all reasonably priced.
*Everyone that we encountered were genuinely nice and kind. That said, it was uncomfortable being followed around in every store and gallery like I was a teen shoplifter. I know that being present to assist in a moment’s notice was the root cause, but it ultimately just made me feel pressure to purchase or leave.
*We only saw one elevator in the whole town.
*I expected a certain amount of woven goods and ceramics but I was unprepared for the sheer volume of metallic art or leaded glass decorations and light fixtures.
*I was unprepared for the volume and preparedness of the militarized police once out of San Miguel.
*Between the Leon airport and SMA there is a small town that has an inordinate amount of decorative reindeer of all sizes made from natural fibers and displayed in volume, curbside. Unadorned when we arrived on November 1st, many of them sported bright red noses on November 29 as we left.
*San Miguel is a destination for foreign visitors and expats, but it’s also a big destination for Mexicans from all over the country. It’s a favorite wedding and quinceañera spot as evidenced by the multitude of taffeta and smiles we encountered most Fridays and Saturdays. Also, it seems they have their own celebratory version of second line weddings here, which were accented by the giant dancing figures that are part of every celebration and make appearances every evening in the square.
*While there was a lot of fantastic food, we found ourselves at Florios, an Argentinian restaurant three times over the course of the month. Every time our meals were expertly prepared and completely delicious with fantastic service. I wish I could eat there again. And again.
*What I don’t need to eat again for a very long time is another tortilla.