The Goat Banquet

Last Sunday Wings and I financed a goat banquet at Fortino's house in one of the poorest neighborhoods in town, colonia aldolfo lópez mateos. I shot snippets of video throughout the affair. We had a ball.

I must add that Wings, Fortino, Luis, and Hadin did not drink all 36 of those 1.2 liter bottles of beer (43.2 liters total) by themselves. After Wings and the family and I ate, friends and neighbors dropped by over the course of the remainder of the afternoon to assist in that endeavor. I certainly was not well enough acquainted with them to shoot video of them.

Should you wish to see still photos of the Alan's birthday party that Fred and I financed last June along with more background on all of this, you can find that here.

Interim Report

In a desperate effort to demonstrate that Wings and I are not total jackoffs as we meander through the city, I offer this little video of our church visits. I am stalling while I edit the video of the goat banquet that we attended at Fortino's house yesterday.

The following is a video of a brisk walk through the market uptown, mercado ignacio ramírez, culminating with Wings' corn on the cob.

And for what its worth, this is the Chamber of Commerce's video put together to promote San Miguel de Allende. It is a full fifteen minutes long and soon becomes a snoozer. However, the footage of San Miguel taken from a balloon in the first five minutes is spectacular, I think.

The Gigolo

Wings and I had to take it easy this afternoon--Saturday afternoon-- and rest in preparation for the killing of the goat first thing in the morning at Fortino's "house." Video to follow. The goat will then be cooked over an open fire, as I understand it.

The following video is a leisurely one, eight minutes and change long. It is not of general interest. However, those who know Wings and me might nevertheless be interested in following us around the streets of San Miguel on a Saturday afternoon.

Wings Amid Nature

Wings is a hedonist. Many of us already know that. Of course he has loved the food and drink and other product of the countryside here. This was no surprise. However, we have also indulged ourselves in other activities. He has enjoyed visiting Fortino's family with me in the poorest neighborhood in town, colonia adolfo lopéz mateos. We drove into the countryside today for a leisurely visit to a little remote pueblo, La Huerta, at the bottom of a rather picturesque canyon, the subject of today's video. Most worthy of note, Wings did the tour of the botanical garden, El Charco del Ingenio, with me. I was delighted to find that he thoroughly enjoyed it.

Wings Over México: Week One

It has been exactly one week since Wings and I touched down at the little international airport in Leon and then took the shuttle here to San Miguel de Allende. I had emailed Hans, one of my landlords, in advance to pull the camper trailer out of storage and place it in its old spot here at the tennis complex. Scott has been living since then in that camper trailer across the way from my apartment and in between Courts Two and Three. It has worked out well for him.

Click on any of the photos below for a larger version.

Wings Over México

In two and a half years of living in Mexico, I have never had a visitor from Iowa until yesterday. I would never have dreamed that my first visitor from home would be Scott Wingert. However, Scott took the plunge. Yesterday, he flew back with me after my visit to Iowa for my mother's ninetieth birthday party.

We took off from the Eastern Iowa Airport yesterday at 6:00 a.m. We landed in Leon, Mexico, at noon after changing planes in Dallas. An hour's shuttle ride, and we were here in San Miguel de Allende. The Wing Man was exhausted. I am not sure, but that might be attributable to the fact that he pulled an all-nighter before we departed. Just sayin'. In any event a siesta on my patio was required before we went out for our first foray together into the town.

A Brilliant Idea

I had a brilliant idea this afternoon! It had to do with our geopolitical situation. It occurred to me, as these things most often do, in circumstances that I probably ought to replicate more often as a public service given the lightening flashes of brilliance so often generated by those very circumstances.

Back Where I Belong Again

At this point I have completely given myself over to my own fascination with the old mining town of Mineral de Pozos, which is a little over an hour's drive from my home here. It is something akin to Oscar Wilde's adage that the best way to deal with temptation is to yield to it. By my count this is the sixth time that I have put up photos of either the town or the abandoned mining complexes in the vicinity.