GTO Gringos, Bats, Classes-(An all in one blog) :)

After classes yesterday, we headed toward El Centro. We had intentions of coming back in time to see the Span. movie with Eng. subtitles which was being shown at the school. However, we ran into Solomon (remember the Jewish CA. hippie-with the long, silver braid). Anyway, it was another example of how sometimes the most pleasurable evenings can be unexpected around here.

Prior to running into Solomon, we first encountered another "Gringo" who appeared to be close to 80. He was walking alone by himself and stopped to talk. Unlike San Miguel, it is not uncommon here to be stopped, because there are so few Gringos that the local ones are curious/wanting to check it out, when they see some new Gringos in town. The man who stopped to talk is managing a bed and breakfast here and living there. Anyway, we had a nice conversation with him. He had lived in Tyler, TX. at one time.

Then, we ran into Solomon sitting on one of the iron benches around El Centro. He was also visiting with this same man (Carl) and another "Gringo." We enjoyed visiting with all three of them. All of them have made their home here for many years. While we were visiting Michelle Phillips walked by, you know the Michelle Phillips, singer with the Mamas and Poppas and mother of McKenzie. Apparently Michelle's sister lives here and Michelle owns a house here as well. The men knew them both but respected Michelle's desire for privacy. Therefore, we only saw them walk by. They say they are friends with them, but only when they want to stop and talk.

That's seems to be close to all of the Gringos we know who are living here. The mindset of these folks is very different from those in San Miguel. Here, they enjoy being absorbed in the Mexican culture. They are living in the midst of the people, not in gated communites, as if they are on extended vacation. Most of them seem to have learned Spanish. They don't want Guanajuato to have American chain stores, restaurants, etc...Infact, they like to keep this place as it is. As mentioned previously there are about 300 Gringos here as compared to the over 20,000 in San Miguel.

Most of the people here other than Michelle Phillips and her sister, of course, seem to be of much more modest means than those in San Miguel, and were very friendly. We enjoyed hearing about their favorite reasonably priced restaurants and meeting the local Mexican people they knew. We seem to fit into this mindset. We love Guanajuato and want to enjoy it here ourselves, but selfishly we do hope that it doesn't become another San Miguel. We are afraid it is just a matter of time....But, even so, it is a lovely place with lots of charm/lots to do. Que sera sera....After leaving the three amigos, we went to a new restaurant they had reccomended. Later, we ended up going to Zilch with Solomon and had a great visit. That is a place we will have to return to on a night when they have a jazz group. Many members of the fantastic Univ. of GTO symphony here are regular entertainers. The univ. is on break for a month.

Early this am., while sitting on the patio, we saw some MX. bats flying/circling the sky, (you know like the ones under the bridge in Austin). It was really neat seeing them. I thought it would concern me, but they weren't bothering us. It was actually a pretty cool thing to see. After all, guess we are their visitors, right? :)

This week I am taking dancing with Curtis (our first actual class was today), writing, cinema, Mexican muralists, and a private class. Our dance class was actually fun for both of us! We surprised ourselves. Today's lesson was the Merengue. We have decided that we will continue to take private dance classes while here. (see "Deal with the Devil," :) on Curtis's blog. :) I will also take a conversation class, Latin literature, and a private lesson each week. Hasta Luego, Joy