 |
 |
| Free slideshow design generated with Smilebox |
11/19/2011
12/15/2010
09/07/2010
Top Ten: What I Like About You, Mexico...No. 10
Historical Buildings
I remember the first time I went to Mexico City. I was like most people, I suppose, in my ignorance of the world beyond my small home town. I knew nothing about Mexico City, how old it was, how it got started, who were the major players in her history. Once there I was stunned by the age of the buildings in the Zocalo. "How did I not know this existed?" was my 20-something naivety. Our first encounter with Mexican history came through the classes offered us in the Spearhead program of Latin America Mission. I was amazed at how long and how hard it was that men and women had fought the battle just to get a constitution in place that would form the backbone of decisions for future generations. What I learned in those classes has stayed with me. It was a good base for helping my children with their Mexican History classes later on. It has also formed my fascination with all the very old buildings you can find in any nook and cranny of the country. I recently visited the towns of Tequisquiapan (again) and the small pueblo of Peña de Bernal. Photographing the outside of a particularly beautiful building, I was called aside by an old man cleaning the floors. Very proudly he explained that this building was one of the first built in the tiny town named after the peña (the unusual rock formation). He himself looked as weathered as the thick-walled building and the small town cathedral nearby, but his delight was evident that he got to participate in the history of his town and its architecture, even if only to help in its upkeep.
Historical Buildings
I remember the first time I went to Mexico City. I was like most people, I suppose, in my ignorance of the world beyond my small home town. I knew nothing about Mexico City, how old it was, how it got started, who were the major players in her history. Once there I was stunned by the age of the buildings in the Zocalo. "How did I not know this existed?" was my 20-something naivety. Our first encounter with Mexican history came through the classes offered us in the Spearhead program of Latin America Mission. I was amazed at how long and how hard it was that men and women had fought the battle just to get a constitution in place that would form the backbone of decisions for future generations. What I learned in those classes has stayed with me. It was a good base for helping my children with their Mexican History classes later on. It has also formed my fascination with all the very old buildings you can find in any nook and cranny of the country. I recently visited the towns of Tequisquiapan (again) and the small pueblo of Peña de Bernal. Photographing the outside of a particularly beautiful building, I was called aside by an old man cleaning the floors. Very proudly he explained that this building was one of the first built in the tiny town named after the peña (the unusual rock formation). He himself looked as weathered as the thick-walled building and the small town cathedral nearby, but his delight was evident that he got to participate in the history of his town and its architecture, even if only to help in its upkeep.
08/23/2010
Spontaneous
We met Jim and Robin when they moved to Mexico City. At that time they lived in the northern neighborhood of Linda Vista near the Polytenicho campus. Our children were young. They lived in a tiny apartment so we tried to get our families together as often as possible for everyone's sanity including ours. We had cook-outs at their apartment and then went to the campus of the university to run wild or ride bikes. We had cook-outs at our house and let the kids run wild in our tiny yard while we visited It was difficult to find time in our busy schedules, but it was always worth the effort though we often complained about having to set up our "play" dates so far in advance. "I have Friday, in two months available." Sorry, I have class then, what about Saturday, in three?" And so it went until the two wives started trying to "practice spontaneity" which we always said with a chuckle. So we would call out of the blue and say, "Are you busy this Saturday?" with only a day or two notice. And sometimes it actually worked. We would call one day in advance or the night before and take our chances that the other was free for at least a couple of hours. Sometimes it worked and we congratulated ourselves on being Spontaneous, or as spontaneous as our lives would allow.
Three weeks ago, while we were celebrating R & D Day (Robin & Donna), we talked again about someday going to Acapulco together thanks to a friend who would lend us their condo. Once again it seemed impossible with all our schedules about to begin in earnest when school was in session again. There was one week, actually five days, when we could do such a thing, but without some reimbursement funds it was not possible to go, so we just sighed, said, "One day," and put it out of our minds. Then on Saturday, they called and said that they were going to receive the funds they needed for the trip. We called. Yes, the apartment was still available, and our long-awaited trip was on. It felt like Christmas! Only two days in advance, we were back in Spontaneous Land and running away for five whole days together.
We enjoyed the time we had together, drinking coffee every morning and waking up to good talk. We went to the beach, we swam in the pool, we watched the sunsets, we ran through a pouring rain into the theatre for Inception, we went for a ride down the coast and up the coast, walked along a deserted stretch of beach in Barra Vieja and drove up to Pie de la Cuesta for a romantic fish supper beside a huge surf at sundown. It was truly restful and invigorating at the same time, getting to be with our friends. Spontaneous never felt so good!
08/12/2010
Popular Cultures Museum
Last Friday, my friend Robin and I finally got to reschedule our pijamada. She came into the city and we set out to enjoy some of the local color of the neighborhood of Coyoacan. You could say that Coyoacan is the second oldest area in the city, the first being the downtown centro of the city. Coyoacan was the first stage coach stop from the centro to the next city of Cuernavaca, and is where Cortez and his generals chose to build their homes, several of which still exist as private homes, government offices and schools. It is a beautiful historic area of Mexico City with most of the homes and buildings built in the colonial Spanish style. In the more recent past some government officials, including past presidents of Mexico lived in this area. One such home and the one next to it have been converted into the Museum of Popular Cultures (Museo de Culturas Populares). Currently they have produced a show showcasing two of the icons of Mexican culture, the charro (Mexican cowboy) and the China Poblana, a popular female figure from the last century. The photo above is a reproduction of a calendar illustration from the 1940's, painted in a romantized style. I love these old illustrations although I have lived here long enough, seen enough of real life to know that if one really lived in one of these houses you would be living in dire poverty. It's probably why these calendars became so popular at the time and still enchant us with their idealization of Mexican womanhood and life. They take real life and make it beautiful. And I like the more realistic photo made at the same time of a real woman, strong and ready to take on whatever life or her man brought her.
07/22/2010
Universum
Yesterday we were going to the Botanic Garden on the UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autonima de Mexico). My friend, born and bred in the city, had never been there, so I was excited to share the garden with her and her young niece. Daughter Mariann was going to get more shots for her photography project. Arriving on the campus we found all the streets closed. We drove over to another area and found a security booth who confirmed that the campus was closed for a week, but that we could get to the science museum housed on the campus, Universum. This unexpected destination had us feeling giggly and ready for an adventure. The three oldest of us had not been there since our kids were very young and my friend's niece had never been there which made it even more exciting. It meant we could share it with a young person again. The first thing to catch our eye was a huge room-size map of the city. It had educational purposes, one could push buttons to see what the seismic areas of the city are, but we, of course, set about trying to find where our particular streets were located on the map. It was irresitible.
06/07/2010
Just Because...
I just want to look at this photo. I'm too tired to write. I love taking photos out of windows. This one was taken out of one of the windows of the Louvre.
05/28/2010
Painting White
While finishing with my high school painting class this week I was reminded of a photo I took last year in the Musee du O'rsay. It is a detail of a white dress that I took several of as a study in how to paint "white." One of my students had the task of painting white daffodils which reminded me of this photo. It was a year ago May 10 (Mother's Day, in Mexico) that we spent 10 wonderful days in Paris. Sweet memories!
05/15/2010
Worm Factory
I have wanted to try my hand at composting for a very long time. Problem is I live in one of the largest cities in the world. While I feel very blessed to have a small garden (what people in the States call a yard), I didn't want to sacrifice any space for a bin. Enter the Worm Factory. I learned of the concept several years ago, probably on my favorite home and garden channel. I finally got one last Christmas, ordering it while we were visiting in the States. I ordered the five tray unit and then had the choice of 1,000 worms of the type they recommended or 250 of another type (red wriggler, I think). I figured if I was going to care for a bunch of worms in a car on a trip of about a month from Alabama to New Orleans to Houston to Mexico City, I preferred having 250 as opposed to 1,000. Yes, they came in the mail, in a bag in an envelope. Having just done all my shoe shopping for the next two years, I took one of the many shoe boxes I had on hand, punched holes in the top, lined the box with plastic and tin foil, added a few scraps and newspaper, and dumped them in. One worm hotel ready for travel.
That was five months ago and I just harvested my first tray of worm compost. Normally it doesn't take so long, I don't think, but because I ordered a small amount of worms, it did. Doesn't seem to matter that I got the "wrong" kind of worms either. They've done their business, so to speak.
So many people have wanted to know how this project has gone that I thought I'd write up what I've learned so far and post some pics for those who might want to try their hand at this form of composting.
First, is the organic matter and what is and is not good for the worms and the composter. I have been separating my organic and inorganic waste for a while. I started that when it was reported that we must do so or be fined by...I don't know who. The original idea was that the city was going to get new dump trucks, green dump trucks with two separate spaces for the trash they collect. I've seen one or two of them, but not in my neighborhood and if I had to guess I'd say you could probably count the number that actually
exist on two hands and maybe a foot. "Ni modo" ("Oh well") as they say here, once I got started separating it I actually liked keeping the stinky stuff in a smaller container that can be put out more regularly. ALL that to say, I have two organic bins now, one for the stuff you can't give the worms and one for the other. What you can't give them has more to do with the resulting smell than the fact that they can't eat it. If it can be ground up, they can eat it. But, for the smell factor, you don't put onions, dairy products and meat in the worm factory. I do put vegetable peelings, egg shells, coffee grounds with the filters, the extra dirty leaves of cabbage and lettuce, tea bags (with the staples removed), etc. Now, worms have tiny little brains so you have to grind up the food scraps before giving it to them. Then they can move through the organic matter easily and take in what they need and give out what you want.
Here's the page in the little booklet they send with the factory explaining the layers you put in what is called a "working tray" which is basically one ready for the worms to crawl into. And here is another big plus. Most households these days have shredders for junk mail and all the other stuff we shred to prevent people from stealing our identity. The resulting shredded paper is a necessary ingredient to the worm factory. Think of it! It is mighty satisfying to be able to give my junk mail to the worms. They like to hang out in the paper layer like a cushy little worm apartment. And for me it's like a little bit of revenge on the senders of said mail.
Revenge is sweet!
"When the bottom tray is ready for the garden, you place the tray on the top and remove the lid. Stir the compost several times a day. The remaining worms, which do not appreciate light, will move down into the tray below." Well, that's what the books says, but my first experience with this was different. Raking the compost, a little at a time and removing it to a bowl, I found worms that could be gently placed back in the bin on a part I had cleared away so they could easily go down through one of the cleared holes to a bin below. I was happy to find the worms had been doing more than eating and pooping as there were baby worms that I hope will grow to be big worms and eat more and produce more...compost and baby worms.
04/28/2010
Happy Birthday to Me
Today I am celebrating fifty-seven years of life. I decided last night that I would use this day as a time to review all the things God has done in my life starting with the day I was born to Allene and Buddy Dannelly. My entrance into the world apparently started off with a bang as the doctor who was attending my mother had been on duty for a couple of days straight with no sleep. My mother got almost to the end of her labor and the doctor thought he could prolong it and grab some sleep at the same time, so he gave her something that was supposed to stop the process. The nurse, knowing this was not supposed to be done told her family waiting outside that she was so sorry but the baby would probably be born with lots of problems as a result of what the doctor had done. So when they went outside to tell my dad that I had been born, he fainted! Now as a child growing up the only version of this that I got was that the nurse had gone outside, told my dad I was born, and he fainted flat out on the ground! Several years ago I got the "rest of the story.' My parents spent several months waiting for the terrible results of the doctor's actions which never materialized. So, I have a lot to be thankful for today and am going to spend this day remembering all the things He has done in me, through me, and for me.
Recent Comments