Hola de San Miguel!

Karen, Lena, Bernice, and I arrived at our beautiful casa Saturday evening in time to enjoy a dinner al fresco and walk around the jardin. There was an amazing light show projected on the huge church, the Parroquia, just for us and a few thousand other people. It is to commemorate the 200th birthday of Mexico´s independence. Then we slept soundly till about 8 a.m. and set out. We had a good breakfast--I had wanted to try ¨divorced eggs¨ since seeing them on the menu last year. Scrambled eggs separated by frijoles, with green sauce on one and red on the other.

Then we walked to the library and joined about 60 others to tour some local homes. Many of the houses have lots of steps, and our legs will be in shape soon.

Our lovely casa is amazing, and this morning we squeezed our own juice from oranges from the tree in the courtyard, along with eggs, ham, and cheese. Maria, our maid, came today and was able to answer a few of our questions. I reminded her that I was here a year ago, along with my spouse, Panchito, who insisted on saying ¨Buenos Noches¨ even early in the morning. She remembered him.

We have walked and shopped most of the day, and will soon be ready for a siesta. Shopped at an interesting Women´s Cooperative and had a demonstration on how natural elements, such as bugs from the cactus plant, are used as dyes. The woman is from Oaxaca, is fluent in English, and is a gifted artest.

Jean will join us later, as she is flying into Leon around 3 p.m. and it takes about 2 hours to get through immigration, customs, and then travel here. We may go to a concert at the Library tonight.

Each day has been beautiful, and we anticipate lots of fun and adventure. Also, we have had many opportunities to laugh . . . as well as to be grateful for so many blessings. We all love Mexico and the people we have met. Except for a group of obnoxious American men who loudly berated American politics, the President, etc., all while obviously enjoying the benefits of Social Security, Medicare, and more. We got up and moved.

Bernice has a toe that is healing from a break, and we are strolling, enjoying the views. With all this walking we are hoping to lose weight. But with so many restaurants, ice cream, etc., it will be a challenge!

More soon.

Hasta Luego,

Gayle