CELEBRATIONS

CELEBRATIONS

SMA (San Miguel de Allende) is a town of celebrations, parades, Indian dancers, religious statues, fireworks, Mariachi’s  and church bells. Just about any weekend in SMA one can find a reason that includes all of these celebratory announcements. 

The celebration usually takes place around the Jardin, or town center.  The park contains wrought iron benches, laurel  trees and on any given night Mariachi’s in traditional form fitting Eisenhower style jackets with silver and gold thread and silver buttons decorating the pants. The band instrumentation may consist of guitars, violins and trumpets as they create the musical ambiance that is indicative of town squares throughout Mexico. This historic center is surrounded by buildings from the 17^th and 18^th centuries and the Jardin area, as is most of San Miguel has been declared a Enesco World Heritage Site. 

The17th century La Parroquia church fronts the expansive park and parade area and it’s massive sanctuary hosts weekday and Sunday services_, special events and weddings. A small crypt under the alter contains the remains of passed bishops, dignitaries and a former president of Mexico. Viewing to the public is available one day year on November 2, on the special holiday of “The Day Of The Dead.”

One evening Lorelei and I had dinner at the newly opened and highly touted, Thai Restaurant just off the Jardin. Coming from the Midwest, we have been raised on a staple of authentic Thai food and saw this as an opportunity to reflect on our past as we indulged in our well-loved cuisine. The service was great, the ambiance romantic, but the food… well,  Let me say that I didn’t see one Asian cook in the restaurant and the Pad Thai had a distinct salsa taste.  

As we are walking through the Jardin, we heard the sound of a brass band led by a drum section playing in a quasi-Mexican/Dixieland style.  As they came out of the Parroquia church we got caught up in the wedding party celebration and found ourselves dancing down the street led by a flower laden burrow, and two, 15 foot dancing puppets called Mojigangas. These huge puppets were dressed in bride and groom costumes followed by the real bride and groom, then family, friends, on lookers and the 12 piece Mexican/Dixieland style brass band.  Everyone’s dancing and the tequila is flowing. What a wedding celebration.

 

Click links below to see photos of other celebrations.

1. Feast of St Michaels and Blessings of the Cowboys and Horses

2. Day of The Dead Oldest cemetary, Crypt, Dancers, Costumes.

The Markets of San Miguel

Going to the Market

San Miguel doesn’t have 7-11’s with its distinctive logo, window signage, gas pumps, organized shelves, coolers, pop machines and candy displays. Instead, in our corner of the world we have home-grown, mom-pop grocery stores called a Tienga. Most Tienga have a few square feet of display space bulging with the basic food groups derived by the needs of the neighborhood families. Others are larger with fresh produce brought in from nearby farms on a regular basis and displayed in bulk in bins and shelves. In our neighborhood it’s not unusual to see  a small table in the doorway of a home with cupcakes, fruit juices, jello’s and  a few other goodies that were made by mom. |
Usually the only signage above the door in a Tienga might be a Pepsi-Cola or a fruit drink sign and a there might  be a light bulb hanging above the door… if any.  The interior is often dimly lit to conserve electricity and food goods are stacked in every possible shelf space. The basic food groups are represented but in smaller quantity than we see in the bigger stores… fruit, vegetables, canned goods, cereals, a limited dairy, a tray of baked goods and white bread, but plenty of pop, fruit drinks, and candy. Gotta have the sugar. The term “convenience store” definitely applies to these stores.

Outdoor markets are very popular and fulfill a shopping and convenience need in the various colonia. The outdoor markets take place along the main street and usually consist of a couple of fresh vegetable and fruit stalls, families selling “mom-made” homemade tamales, tacos, and chicken ,  used clothes and garage sale items from tires to furniture.

The big outdoor market is the Tuesday market or La Placita. It’s a flea market and swap meet of outdoor stalls selling everything imaginable from food, used and new clothing, shoes, carpets, electronics, power and hand tools, pirated DVDs and CDs, homeopathic supplements,  12 kinds of beans, 16 different chilies, song birds in cages, meat, seafood, automotive goods from batteries to used cars to trucks. It’s an overload of sights, smells, sounds, and non-tourista commerce. It’s the market to go to every Tuesday.

The Mercado de Artesanías is and enclosed market that extends for several blocks where one finds vendor stalls of fresh food and flowers, sit down cafes, Talavera pottery, handmade jewelry, tapestries, tin lamps, hand woven rugs, clothing, leather goods, Mexican art and paintings...all under one rood. 

What fun it is to go shopping in these markets… they add to the uniqueness and experience of living, or visiting this beautiful Mexican town.

Click Here to see market photos  View the photos in slide show.