A week has already flown by..

This morning there was a knock at the door and when I peeked through the peephole there was a very elderly and tiny lady selling nopales out of a basket. Currently in season, they are an important green vegetable down here. Basically they are prickly pear cacti..flat round leaves and covered in spines. You see women at the markets cleaning the spines and tough ends off for hours on end ...very labour intensive to say the least. I love these and had not had any yet so bought ten for a total of eighty cents. Seems so little somehow, but then off she went to the next house. You simply have to char them for a few minutes. They taste a bit like green beans but with an acid bite. Having the computer with me this time, I checked out recipes...there are thousands!!!

My friend left this a.m. , and now am on my own for a few days before more company. Time to get on with some serious photography. The Holy Week celebrations continue and the Jardin was something to behold on Saturday and Sunday...packed to the gills with celebrating Mexicans..it was "Carnval". It is said that the Jardin is the living room of San Miguel!.

One of the fun events,which can become trying,!! is the very traditional cracking of the eggs over the heads of friends,family, and occasionally strangers...but wait...The eggs are hollowed out and filled with CONFETTI, and glittery cornstarch. How they do it I do not know but these eggs are sold by the thousands. (see photo)It is also quite a rite of passage among the young teens...lots of dressed up giggly girls and suave young men playing the game!! This was at its height during the evening while waiting for the Parroquia light and sound show.At night,it is lit up and that is spectacular enough, but what was to follow had to be seen to be believed.

Basically, the soaring facade is used as a huge projection screen. To put some context to this, September 4th 2010 was the bicentennial of Mexico's independence from the Spanish. The light show depicted the mix of strong Catholicism that exists within the Mexican culture,followed by the struggle with the insurgents, culminating in the final victory for Mexico.The techno part of this boggles the mind.. The accompanying sound track was very powerful and it was hard not to get caught up in the emotion of this event. As one can imagine the area was ankle deep in confetti etc..but by Monday at 10am,it had pretty well been cleaned up, and Jardin life was back to its regular pace.

The Sunday home tours this week took us to one wayyyyyyy out of town, which wouldn't be my cup of tea,far too isolated,but this gal runs a famous cooking school,does her famous Sunday brunches and has carved out an amazing oasis from NOTHING. It certainly must require a very large workforce is all I can say. The photo shows one of her many dining areas. The second was right downtown behind the Artisan market. The Cross' purchased it as an old rundown 14 room hotel many years ago..the beds were concrete!! Well baby you should see it now!! Caren Cross produced an award winning documentary on their process of choosing San Miguel to live in called Lost and Found in Mexico. She was a first time film maker to boot!!
Tomorrow has got to be an ice cream day..I have resisted but now I'm weak!! I hear one of the cafes at the Jardin has a"to die for" toasted coconut gelato on the menu.