After three weeks of experiencing life in this central region of Mexico, it becomes apparent that the people of San Miguel love a good celebration!! Only the barest of excuses is required to host a fiesta. The area is well known for it’s host of festivals that can easily reach 30 a year and those are just the main festivals!! Bev and I are rarely sure exactly what is being celebrated … the drumming and singing often start in the early morning and conclude with fireworks late at night! We relish and savour this joyful ambiance of a celebratory people …. I was in a shop one afternoon recently, when I heard singing and the music of a mariachi band building up out in the street. I took a peek outside just as a mob of people marched by, carrying a casket high over their heads ….. they were heading to a burial ground nearby, singing and celebrating a life!! Amazing …. it would appear from birth to death, the Mexicans sing and celebrate! A few days prior, I took a local bus and yes ….. there he was, guitar in hand, an entertainer, singing on the bus as I chugged along 🙂

Posting a few pictures of our meanderings and explorations … Bev’s husband Dave joined us this past week … we enjoyed a walk to the Canyon de la Vergen Pyramids nearby, and exploring the colonial city of Guanajuato, home of Mexico’s artist extraordinaire, Diego Rivera, life partner of Mexico’s other celebrated artist, Frida Kahlo. What a tumultuous love affair this multi talented pair of artists had, both in and out of marriage …. lives full of Mexican temper, vim and vigour!!

Met up with a lively group of Canadian ladies one afternoon to explore Delores Hidalgo region, birthplace of Mexican Independence. Jan at 91 was the oldest of us but could easily pass for someone twenty years her junior on attitude alone! I surmised her philosophy to be something along the lines of “get out there and live your life, laugh lots and don’t complain :)” …… nothing less, nothing more! …. Well, alrighty then Jan, will do!!

Mexico’s first indigenous President, Benito Juarez was credited with the declaration of independence for Mexico but it was apparently Father Hidalgo and Ignacio Allende who really got the rebellion underway and were crucial in this uprising to rid the country of European dominance! All hold hero status in this country … with good reason! Love learning as I explore!