Lady Bug Circus

20 Tin Birds and Counting

Seeing all these birds together is so fun. There are 20 so far and there needs to be 30. The little show of my tin work opens on Saturday and I am rushing to get everything ready for it. Nothing like having the wolf at the door to get things done. I will also have 5 or 6 tin collages, whew!

Almost finished with Guanajuato photos...

ETN Buses are the best and well worth the little extra you pay.There are big roomy seats, a very nice rest room, head sets for the movies and curtains. The lunches they provide aren't so great. A ham and cheese sandwich with a packet of chili sauce and your choice of beverage, no cookie.

I

                                                                                          

I love this fire escape.

This creek runs past the Don Quixote school and I came across it on the way to where Sedora was staying.

There are Internet "cafes" about every 4 blocks or less in some areas of town. 3 or 4 pesos buys you a half hour or so.

The Jardine from above. I am wondering if I stop looking at my photographs of Guanajuato if this deep longing will subside, I hope.

Just a Few More Photographs of Guanajuato

It's still so hard to be home because I am wanting to be back in Guanajuato.

My sister, uncharacteristically, hamming it up for the camera.

      

Silver Jewelry in Guanajuato

There are lots of places to buy silver jewelry in Guanajuato. Just about every shop has some, there are women in the Jardine who walk around with open boxes full and tables set up in alleys. One shop in particular was my all time favorite. The sad thing is, if a fellow student hadn't mentioned it to my sister, I may have missed it all together.                            

Meet Gabriel Anaya Barba, the artist and shop keeper of Corazon De Plata (Silver Heart). He makes and sells beautiful silver jewelry and also sells some of what his friends and his teacher make. It is all original and quite irresistible. He moved to his new location 4 months ago from Valencia.

My last evening in Guanajuato I spent time in Gabriel's shop getting to know him a little. He showed me the tools he uses to make his jewelry. They are pieces of cars that he has modified to make the perfect tools. He then showed me how they work and gave me a flat silver bird to remember him by. I then showed him my tin snips and cut up some tin and showed him how I make a bird. Gabriel doesn't speak English and of course my limited Spanish doesn't include the vocabulary I needed for talking about tools. So drawings seemed to work in this case and I wish I had taken a photograph of them.

The bracelets on the glass shelf are made with pieces of broken talavera ( Mexican ceramic plates) and come in a variety of colors. Now that is excellent recycling.

                                                                               

My photographs just don't do the jewelry justice.   I hope when you go to Guanajuato that you will look up Gabriel and see the jewelry for yourself.   

His shop is across the street and a tad south of the stairs to the University.  Actual address is,     Lascurain de Retana No. 2       Col.Centro C.P. 36000     Guanajuato, Gto. Mexico                                 (Frenta al Templo de la Compania) ph.119.5597     His shop maybe called the Silver Heart but Gabriel has a heart of gold. 

See updated post  about Corazon De Plata on October 11,2008                                                    

A Few Tips about Guanajuato...

Use your ATM card to get money. ATMs are well placed about the city. You can go on line to find out exactly where they are. If you do bring USA dollars make sure they are pristine. Mexican banks won't take them if they are torn or have any marks or writing on them. I went to 4 different banks and ended up bringing unchangeable ones home.

Be prepared to see skinny dogs roaming about. This is one we named Tippy. My sister bought large bags of dog food and made up zip lock bags of it to carry in her purse. We saw Tippy just about every day in the Jardine. She would wag her tail and give a grateful glance up at my sister while she was chowing down. There is a volunteer organization (Amigos de las Animales)for working with the dogs, making cash donations for spaying and neutering, adopting or escorting the adoptive ones home to the States. If you are interested in more information and want to read their monthly news letter click here. See photos of Cullon Whites experience with volunteering( here ) for Amigos de las Animales. He is an amazing young man who is on the trip of a life time and blogging about every step of the way.

Always negotiate the fare with the taxi driver before entering the cab. The one time we didn't we were over charged. They are plentiful and very reasonable for the most part. The buses stop running in the late evening, exactly what time I don't know. It was 11:30pm when Sedora and I waited at a bus stop for a long time before a car full of guys informed us that the buses had stopped for the evening, now we understood why all the cabs were slowing down and looking at us.

If you do get sick (none of the people we met did, but my sister and I sure did) you may want to try what I learned from a gray pony tail guy with blue eyes that hangs out around the Jardine.  5 drops of iodine in a liter of water. I drank it and was better quickly, my sister didn't and she wasn't. Be sure to check this out with your doctor before you go.

I loved this place. They sold vegetables and caskets. Remember to always approach people with a greeting like good morning or good afternoon before you launch into your request for information. A warm smile and being polite goes a long way.

Next, where to get the best silver jewelry.

Hosteria del Frayle

The Hosteria Del Frayle is where we moved to after 2 weeks of school. We wanted to be near the night life of the Jardine. Our room was great and we were warned by the staff that it would be noisy and didn't we want a quieter room? Well it was noisy, but fun. There was a Karaoke bar across the street that was open all night. It was a nice change from barking dogs though.

The guide books would lead you to believe that there are 5 or 6 worthwhile hotels in Guanajuato, but the truth is there are 100s of places to bed down. From Hostels to B&Bs to apartments and houses for rent.

Even more Dia de Muertos

So one night Sedora and I jump on a bus that we thought would get us near the University. Upon seeing a traffic jam the driver turns and heads down a tunnel. We weren't sure where we were headed. There are 8 tunnels in Guanajuato and they are long and dark and often intersect with other tunnels.When we got off the bus I was completely lost. Sedora had a handle on it and knew what direction to go and we turned a corner to find trick or treaters and a market place set up to sell wreaths for the graves.

The next day Steph and I went to the cemetery.      

It was a little awkward , wanting to photograph the event while being respectful of the families that were there.   

   

          

There was music playing that sounded like it came from an organ grinder, children were playing and throwing rocks, a mass was being held at a small chapel, some people were sitting alone and some were crying .             

More Dia De Muertos

Not all decorations throughout town were what I thought of as traditional. I wasn't sure if this was part of the holiday or not until I noticed it was taken down a day or two after.

 

These are the stairs to the University. Along the sides were boxes that were lite up with candles on the inside to show the x-rays of bones.

Six or seven girls were working on this. One of the ingredients they used looks like fruit loops cereal.

Painted posters of original art were all over town.

This is flat, but looks 3D, huh?

More to come...

Guanajuato, dia de muertos

The first signs of the pending holiday were the vendors in the plaza and Mercado. Sugar skulls and so much more. Winnie the pooh characters and Sponge Bob Square Pants were very popular too. I bought some cardboard caskets from this couple. They were very sweet but didn't seem to understand my Spanish. Later it was explained to me, by one of the instructors at school, that they either just didn't like people from the States (I did run into this on occasion, can't blame them at all) or that they were indigenous people who didn't speak Spanish. Apparently there are a lot of them who come into town to sell their wares.

Then little by little I started noticing small decorations here and there.

Then full blown alters in business and hotel lobbies.

This one was made for Frieda Calo at Academia Falcon.There was a lecture about Dia De Muertos.It has the 9 levels.

The school asked the students to make an alter of their own, so I did. I tried to use as much recycled material as possible, cutting up a sandwich container as a stand for skull shapes that were cut out of plastic plates and decorated with nail polish, paper flowers out of cookie wrappers and a cross covered with the insides of chip bags. I was able to print 2 photos of my parents off my blog and add them to the mix.

More about Dia de Muertos tomorrow.

Guanajuato

The large Mercado is about a 20 minute walk from the school or a 15 minute bus ride (4 pesos or 2 pesos with your student ID) as the streets are narrow and speed bumps are plentiful. Bus stops aren't always marked so look for people who look like they are waiting for a bus. When you board tell the driver where you want to go and he will tell you when to get off.Walking or riding the bus are both very enjoyable.

Guanajuato is so visually exciting everywhere you look there is something to see.

Don Quixote language school if I remember correctly.

A funeral procession. The loved ones walk behind the hearse all the way to up the hill to the cemetery.

Plazas with defunct fountains are everywhere. This one happened to be working. The vendors in the background were selling sugar skulls and other fun items for Dia de Muertos.

Diego Rivera was born in Guanajuato and the house he lived in is a museum. The day I thought to go it was closed. All over town are images of Diego and Frieda. This one is in the middle of the Mercado and may have only been up for the holiday. I love that Frieda is holding a cigarette. She looks pretty pissed off too. Must have been something Diego did. 

    

There's so much to see and enjoy. Even the ice cream novelty guys are interesting. More tomorrow.