La Canada de la Virgen

We continue to enjoy this beautiful and most relaxing little town. Every day begins with cold, crisp mornings and gradually drifts into the warm, sunny days that are characteristic of the high desert...which this is. Rita found the local soccer fields and usually goes running around them in the morning. I found a local fitness club that I walk down to about 3 times per week to hit the treadmill. After that it's a leisurely walk into town to have a coffee in the Jardin, and then begins the search for a place to have lunch. There are scores of them around - usually with inviting little gardens, bougainvillea covering the surrounding walls, and usually a water fountain tinkling in the middle of the courtyard. With the dollar trading at upwards of 14 to 1 to the peso it's pretty cheap too. We can usually wrap up a complete lunch for the two of us, including wine, for less than $20. It's almost cheaper to go out than it is to stay in.



A view of the Jardin all dressed up for Christmas.




And another. These balloon guys are a common sight around all of the little squares and plazas, but I never see anyone buying anything from them.


This is our little friend Isabel, who sat down next to us one afternoon and started a sales pitch (in Spanish) trying to get us to buy one of her embroideries. She was so entertaining to talk to that we broke down and bought one as a souvenir. She drove a hard bargain...and carefully counted the money after I made the exchange.

La Canada de la Virgen

Our excursion for the week was a short trip out of town to a local historic site that was just excavated and opened to the public as a tourist attraction this year. Called Canada de la Virgen after the river that lies close by, it apparently is one of several pyramids in Central Mexico that were built by the Otomi people who inhabited this area from around 700 AD to the present day...their ancestors are still here in the nearby villages. Our guide for the tour was one of the archeologists who assisted in the excavations, so his knowledge about both the site and the area's history was extensive. He was also an enthusiastic tour guide, which made for a very enjoyable day trip from SMA.



The main entrance looking up the steps towards the high altar. The archeological evidence shows that they performed human sacrifice here, apparently tossing the bodies (and heads) down these steps once the victim had served his or her purpose.



Around the back of the main pyramid. Apparently the site was completely buried before they started the dig. All that was visible was a huge mound of earth on the broad plateau. What was buried here wasn't a complete mystery, however. There was a long oral tradition among the local indigenous people of what lay beneath. Our guide was one of the people tasked with collecting the old stories from the residents, including many that were told in the Otomi language...now almost extinct. Must have been fascinating work.




Another view of the entrance, oriented so that the sun rises in the notch at the top on the morning of the summer solstice, marking the beginning of the planting season.



The view from the top. There was actually a small settlement here, not just the pyramid. Several hundred people lived here year round to oversee and maintain the site.


Random Thoughts

The cost of living here is extremely cheap by US standards. The big expense is a place to stay, and options run from some truly palatial estates costing upwards of $10K per month to more simple, local style, efficiency units for those on a budget. The place where we had Christmas dinner was located in a little posada near the market, and had one bedroom apartments complete with kitchens for $500 per month. Groceries are pretty cheap too. Our average weekly trip to the local MEGA Supermarket costs us barely $100 for a week's worth of food.

It's a very pedestrian-friendly town. Vehicle traffic crawls along thanks to the narrow streets, punctuated every block or so with speed bumps (unmarked) to guarantee that speeds of 10 mph are rarely exceeded. On weekends and Dias de Fiesta they close off the area around the Parroquia and the Jardin completely...which makes it even nicer to be on foot. Only detractors to being a pedestrian are the cobblestones, which in some areas are very old, widely spaced, and polished smooth from centuries of use. Easy to turn an ankle if you're not careful, and we're told that when it rains (in May) the streets and sidewalks get as slippery as ice. The other negative is that they apparently don't believe in emission controls down here, so buses and autos spew a toxic cocktail of exhaust as they pass. The high walls along the street effectively create a canyon effect, trapping the fumes and making walks along some of the busy streets a thoroughly unpleasant experience.

I've noticed that drivers are pretty courteous to each other here. There are no stop signs on the narrow streets so local etiquette is to come to a stop as you approach any intersection, then yield the right of way to whoever (apparently) got there first. Hardly ever hear any horns, and pedestrians always (and cheerfully) have the right of way...even if crossing a busy street in the middle of the block, which seems to be the norm. At any rate, no one seems to get too excited behind the wheel. I've seen things that would probably get you shot at in Los Angeles greeted with a friendly wave here. Pretty mellow all-in-all.

They do love their fiestas here in Mexico and apparently SMA gets the award for biggest party town in the country. Hardly a week (or weekend) goes by when there isn't some sort of celebration, religious or civic, always punctuated by all of the churches ringing their bells at all hours (and for no apparent reason), fireworks and loud music flooding the town from temporary stages erected in front of the Jardin. Thank goodness for soft ear plugs.

Maybe it's the impact of the large expat community that lives here most of the year, but along with the myriad festivals there are numerous concerts, musical shows, plays and generally artsy things to do here in SMA. You could literally go out to something every night of the week if you wanted to. Standard price seems to be about $100 pesos...or about $7 US. Our latest night out was to attend a Christmas program in a little theater around the corner from us. The price was right (this one was free) and turned out to be a recital of classical Christmas music performed by a small group.


This was the soprano for the evening's program. She was nervous as hell at the beginning of the show - must have been her first public performance.

Next week we've signed up for a trip to the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary about 3 hours from here. Looking forward to it.