Sunday Morning 6/5/2022: A Very Colorful Week

There is an abundance of beautiful, happy color in San Miguel de Allende.

One of the upsides of staying in a location for more than a few days is that we don’t feel compelled to be out and doing something every single day. This past week was mostly another hot one, and with the heat and altitude still having their way with me I spent a good portion of the week indoors with a book. We did get out though: Brett did a small bit of grocery shopping on Tuesday and we went out to brunch on Friday morning followed by some more food shopping. Last Monday we wanted to go out for lunch, but the restaurant we chose was closed and we ended up stopping instead at a lovely little six-table cafe and enjoying a nice lunch there. We discovered a couple of interesting little food shops on that outing that we plan to revisit.

On Wednesday evening there was a nice breeze and the temperature had cooled down enough that we walked into Centro. We used a “back road” and were treated to several colorful murals along the way as well as beautiful houses, flags, and a churchyard with the setting sun bouncing off of them. The Parroquia was absolutely glowing in the setting sun when we arrived, so we sat in the nearby park to look at it for a while, enjoying ice cream cones and listening to mariachi playing. When the sun was no longer visible we headed for home, and met the Senior Nomads on the way back! It was a lovely evening and we’re looking forward to doing it again.

Scenes from our Wednesday evening walk to Centro. I loved how the last of day’s sun hit different buildings along our walk and made them or parts of them glow. The big vine covered house in the upper right corner is my new dream house.

I’m still adjusting to the dry air and altitude, although it’s getting better. In Hawaii I never needed body lotion, for example, because of the humidity. Here I slather myself in it every day and my skin still feels dry (the humidity level here has been around 25%; the lowest it ever got in Hawaii was something like 65%). One of my eyes has been affected by the dryness and I occasionally have had to add drops. I’m going through lip balm like crazy and drink water like a fish. On the plus side, everything dries quickly, and produce and bakery goods don’t get moldy in a couple of days like they did in Hawaii. And, my hair doesn’t frizz! I know there are people who love this climate, who thrive in it, but may not be one of those people, and a lower altitude and a bit of humidity might suit me better. I may change my mind by the time we leave, but this is where I am three weeks in. Otherwise, I grow more enchanted with San Miguel de Allende every day and am very glad we decided to come and spend some time here.

This morning I am thinking about:

• What we accomplished this past week: 1) I made some pretty darn good refried beans with the beans I cooked on Sunday, and don’t know if I can ever use any from a can again. 2) For the first time in around three years, I read an actual book (left in the apartment by a previous guest) versus reading from my Kindle. The small print was difficult for my eyes at the beginning but eventually they adjusted. The book, The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House by Kate Anderson Brower, was a great mix of personal stories from the White House staff as well as some White House history. 3) I downloaded another book from the library when I finished, although that ended up requiring a late night call to Amazon customer service. Amazon had locked my account because of the VPN we use when traveling, and I had to go through some pretty rigorous questioning before they agreed to unlock the account.

• What we’re looking forward to this coming week: 1) We’re getting together with the Senior Nomads on Wednesday! We’ll be meeting at our apartment and then walking over to a wonderful nearby restaurant (Luna de Queso/Moon of Cheese) for lunch. 2) I have two books that should come off of hold from the library by the end of this week, but thankfully have a new book to read in the meantime. 2) We’re of course looking forward to exploring more in SMA – we plan to visit a toy museum this coming week – and hopefully we’ll finally get to eat brunch at Lavanda this coming Friday (they were closed for vacation this past Friday).

• The ways we saved: 1) Spending this past week was kept to a minimum: we bought only a few groceries, ate one lunch out, and enjoyed our regular Friday brunch. I love that we can afford to eat out here without breaking the bank. 2) May turned out to be a very expensive month for us – between all the moving and traveling, road food, hotels, rental cars, YaYu’s graduation, a family reunion and everything else, at one point our daily spending average was up to $73 – yikes! We’re looking forward to seeing how low we can get it in June.

• Good things that happened: 1) YaYu successfully started her new job and moved into her new apartment – on the same day – this past week and all is going well. I feel such relief and satisfaction that all our children have been launched and are doing well. 2) We almost literally bumped into the Senior Nomads on Wednesday evening – we were walking home, they were coming around a corner! So happy to see them again and be getting together again. 3) Seeing so many murals in different styles on our Wednesday walk was a very unexpected good thing!

Murals and paintings spotted along our Wednesday evening walk.

Could we possibly live here? is a question that has started popping up recently. The cost of living is very inviting, the climate not so much, although so far we’ve only experienced what everyone says is the worst month of the year. We have commitments coming up that make the question purely academic at this point, but it is fun to think about from time to time and San Miguel de Allende could definitely be a contender for a future location to settle. I think if an apartment was available in this complex, with its great location and lovely neighbors, we’d be far more likely to vote yes and maybe even jump at the chance.

It’s wonderful nonetheless to know we still have nearly two full months to spend here. In spite of my slow adaptation, we are getting out more, and the hot weather does feel like it’s going to break soon. We are having a wonderful time, and we haven’t even begun to take advantage of all that’s on tap here. We’re looking forward to next week, all that we already know about but also the potential for new and unexpected good things as well. I hope everyone had an enjoyable week, with loads of good things happening, and that you’re looking for to this coming week as much as we are.

“Choose peace, joy, hope, and positivity” – Gurdeep Pandhur