Monday – Week 3: As near as I can tell, the national holiday for Benito Juarez (see photo above), is like a Monday holiday in the U.S. The banks, government offices, and some businesses are closed, but otherwise it is business as usual. Our maid has the day off, so Mary Ann has been in with-drawl, not having her laundry done for two more days. Ah, the lazy life south of the border. Like at home, the holiday is on a Monday, but President Juarez’s actual birthday is on Wednesday, March 21. A short information piece from Wikipedia follows, so you will know a bit about the importance of Benito Juarez.
Benito Pablo Juárez García (March 21, 1806 – July 18, 1872) was a Zapotec Amerindian who served five terms (1858–1861), (1861–1865), (1865–1867), (1867–1871), and (1871–1872), as President of Mexico. For resisting the French occupation, overthrowing the Empire, and restoring the Republic, as well as his efforts to modernize the country, Juárez is often regarded as Mexico’s greatest and most beloved leader. He is the only full-blooded indigenous national to serve as President of Mexico.
In our walk today to the centro we discovered that although a holiday, it is business as usual. Maybe it was even busier with all the natives out and about who have the day off work. We restocked our pastries as the bakeries were closed on Sunday. We walked on down behind the Artesania market along Loretto Street, and found several shops to Mary Ann’s distinct liking. We seem to have taken an interest in pewter, thus the purchase of a nice inexpensive serving tray just could not be passed by.
I probably should mention that no walk is without photo opportunities. With a digital camera it is so easy to take a lot of photos, eliminate the bad ones and save the good ones to your computer. Sort of buried in one of last weeks postings, was the website to our picasa effort of approximately 75 photos. If you did not check them out, be sure to do so. We actually now have hundreds of photos, and eventually will try to select the best for viewing. You can view the website as a slide show by clicking one of the options. The internet website Is:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mawarren.chelan/SanMiguelAllende2007
Dinner this evening was down our hill at a restaurant between us and the Jardin. It was the El Pegaso. It was a nice neighborhood bistro. Mary Ann had chicken enchiladas and I had a smoked salmon with cream cheese bagel. We both had tortilla soup as a starter. I might mention that we try to have one meal a day at a restaurant. We have been trying to discover favorites so we can have a good selection when our guests arrive. On and off throughout the evening there were fireworks above the city in celebration of the birthday of Benito Juarez.
Quirky Living Note: On our walk to dinner, at one of the intersections near the centro, there was a scarecrow man hung in effigy high above the street. There was no identification on him and he did not particularly resemble anyone we knew. Human nature being what it is, the Americans walking by all assumed it was President Bush, and I can only presume the Mexicans thought it was President Calderon.
Benito Pablo Juárez García (March 21, 1806 – July 18, 1872) was a Zapotec Amerindian who served five terms (1858–1861), (1861–1865), (1865–1867), (1867–1871), and (1871–1872), as President of Mexico. For resisting the French occupation, overthrowing the Empire, and restoring the Republic, as well as his efforts to modernize the country, Juárez is often regarded as Mexico’s greatest and most beloved leader. He is the only full-blooded indigenous national to serve as President of Mexico.
In our walk today to the centro we discovered that although a holiday, it is business as usual. Maybe it was even busier with all the natives out and about who have the day off work. We restocked our pastries as the bakeries were closed on Sunday. We walked on down behind the Artesania market along Loretto Street, and found several shops to Mary Ann’s distinct liking. We seem to have taken an interest in pewter, thus the purchase of a nice inexpensive serving tray just could not be passed by.
I probably should mention that no walk is without photo opportunities. With a digital camera it is so easy to take a lot of photos, eliminate the bad ones and save the good ones to your computer. Sort of buried in one of last weeks postings, was the website to our picasa effort of approximately 75 photos. If you did not check them out, be sure to do so. We actually now have hundreds of photos, and eventually will try to select the best for viewing. You can view the website as a slide show by clicking one of the options. The internet website Is:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mawarren.chelan/SanMiguelAllende2007
Dinner this evening was down our hill at a restaurant between us and the Jardin. It was the El Pegaso. It was a nice neighborhood bistro. Mary Ann had chicken enchiladas and I had a smoked salmon with cream cheese bagel. We both had tortilla soup as a starter. I might mention that we try to have one meal a day at a restaurant. We have been trying to discover favorites so we can have a good selection when our guests arrive. On and off throughout the evening there were fireworks above the city in celebration of the birthday of Benito Juarez.
Quirky Living Note: On our walk to dinner, at one of the intersections near the centro, there was a scarecrow man hung in effigy high above the street. There was no identification on him and he did not particularly resemble anyone we knew. Human nature being what it is, the Americans walking by all assumed it was President Bush, and I can only presume the Mexicans thought it was President Calderon.
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