Holiday Inn Morelia

... film festival was underway, but only later did I find out that Quentin Tarantino, one of my favourite directors, was also there that night to unveil his WWII epic "Inglourious Basterds". We stayed to watch an impressive firework display before returning to the bus to commence the festivities.

By the time we had driven up into the mountains and started drinking it was about midnight, but after a few drinks the tiredness ebbed and we began to get into the party spirit ...

... so I´ll be able to join in! (By the way, it was free - as is everything here!)

Tonight I´m going to hear the state orchestra of Michoacán playing Sibelius and Wagner - also free! We in the US and UK could do with taking a leaf out of Mexico´s book on the availability of the arts to the public!

Tomorrow, off to a volcano - Paricutin. Hope to have more pictures later - I´ve borrowed a camera from my family.

Love to all. Waiting for lots of replies!

... now a museum (pictures attached!) and the classrooms and refectory are still used for conferences. Reminded me of Haileybury! The cells where the monks lived had windows which catch the afternoon sun. The windows each had a built-in bench on the left side so they could use the natural light when they were working. Too bad for the left-handed monks! Also visited the church and town square.

Tupátaro - small adobe church with Romanesque arches ...

... me what sounded like jello she was really offering me "hielo" which is ice. I finally figured out today that jello is "gelatina." Ohhhh!)

This is a bit dull because there´s nothing really exciting happening! The organ recital that was supposed to be on last night was cancelled, but no one seems to know why. I did go to see two Chekhov one-act comedies yesterday instead. I found the scripts online and read them before I went, which was good because it was ...

Wow - I spent a whole weekend speaking NO English! How fun! On Saturday Martha's brother and his family arrived from Aguascalientes for the weekend. We all went to a birthday party for Martha´s niece at Martha's sister's house. We ate and chatted and ate...and I even tried some tequila, which was okay. On Sunday I had a lazy morning, and entertained myself in the afternoon by walking around the town center being cultural. I wandered into several of the MANY churches ...

... street to street and what amazed me the most is that
the vendors were not annoying as they normally are in markets. They
were not trying to screw you over. They sat and talked with their
friends and let you look at their stuff. You could leave when you
wanted without having them trying to sell you anything. I bought some
nice sunglasses for $2.50 and some earrings for $0.40. I loved ...

Morelia, state capital of the smallest state (also Morelia), was yet another pretty colonial city, with nice plazas, parks, churches, walkways and even an aqueduct. It's chief attraction was being the starting point for trips to see the Monarch butterflies - our tour stopped en route in the gold mining town of Tlalpujahua, yet another well kept colonial gem and we also got a very long boring tour of the mine ...

... up - I'd encountered him previously in Zacatecas - and we went out for a bite to eat. It was becoming a routine: the five blocks, slightly uphill, to the zocalo; the passage under the arcades behind the cathedral; the wide, open Plaza de Valladolid with its ornate fountain; round the side of the church of San Francisco and into the commercial centre. I found the locksmith wrestling with my lock. He was scruffy and unshaven. The scent of sweat filled his booth. Again he ...

... on a fait 45 minutes de voitures pour rien, enfin pour qu'il nous montre les différents clubs de la ville, tous plus glauques les uns que les autres. On a fini par atterrir dans un bar où l'on pouvait jouer au billard... Le type a fini par partir (il avait entrepris de nous coller toute la soirée et entre temps il avait essayé de tripoter une fille d'Israël) et on est rentré ext ...

... but we came up with a great solution for it. we are going to put a piece of fabric on the ceiling droops down between each rafter. I think it will look very cool. I am going to try to attach some pictures so that you all can see what it first looked like and soon (hopefully) I will attach pictures of the finished project. Once it is finished I will have a place for you all to stay so I hope you are making plans to come visit! See you soon, Andy