Saturday, our last full day in San Miguel

Saturday was our day to experience some of the local attractions. We started the day be going to the local hot springs. I wasn't really sure what to expect, and was so pleased (and relieved) to find that they were amazingly clean and much like a swimming pool (but warm). Although there were some other "gringos" it was also great to see that the locals were also there. Afterward we were given a fantastic tour of the restoration work on the local church.

That evening we were all going to meet for dinner. When we arrived in the jardine there was festival just getting started. The young children were all dressed in their performing uniforms, mariachi bands were playing, the stage was set up, and people were dancing. To me this was the heart and soul of the local community and the memory of everyone celebrating and having a good time will stay with me for a long time.

At the restaurant we had fun laughing and spending one last evening altogether before we had to leave. I cannot believe the week is already over. This has been an experience that will stay with me forever.

Wednesday and Thursday

These two days are a blur in my notes and mixed all together, so I decided to create a single post about some of the events that stood out for me.

First, the we solved the internet access and were finally able to work. I love cataloging!! It is very detailed and there are a clear set of rules to follow. When I get to the bibles it's a little more challenging. It was felt like solving a giant puzzle and there was such a sense of accomplishment when you finished each record. Everyone seemed to work well together, answering each other's questions and making recommendations when needed. Cataloging the German books was a unique challenge since most of them were not in OCLC, but it was a good opportunity to learn something besides copy cataloging.

On one of the days Sarah, Emme, and I went for a walk to find the "supermarket." After giving up we ended up in this little restaurant for lunch. Since it was a little more off the tourist path we had no idea what were ordering, and it somehow felt much more authentic than any other other restaurants. We laughed at their version of ketchup and had a wonderful time.

Wednesday night, most of us went to watch the presidential debate at a local restaurant. I did a similar thing in Thailand years ago. For some reason, watching debates in another country with a group of Americans that travel and have international experiences is always rewarding and feels very patriotic! It, of course, helped that I agreed with most of the people in the room.

Thursday, Julie and I took a taxi to the supermarket. It was very big and felt very American. In many ways it was sad to walk the aisles since you could see how much of our culture has infiltrated theirs. After buying pizza and drinks we headed back to the house. It was wonderful to have the entire group over, including some of the library employees.

Unfortunately, I had homework for another class. In retrospect it would have been better to finish everything for the other classes. When we had down time I wanted to be out exploring or talking to classmates, not reading or doing homework.

Monday in San Miguel

After meeting at the library at 10:00 we were given a quick tour and met a lot of the library staff and volunteers that we would be working with. We were then given the rest of the day to explore the town.

My favorite discovery of the day was the local open air market. Brightly colored flowers were displayed next to butcher shops. When I passed a booth that sold beans and dog food, where they were spilling over and mixing I had to take a picture. Although I wasn't willing to eat here, the smells and sights were delightful. Everyone was very friendly. An elderly woman spent a long time telling me how her family made the blankets she was selling, but the same blankets were for sale at every other booth. I'm sure they thought I was funny as I took pictures of cactus, shoe racks, and bags of food.

I know the hope was that we would start working today, but it was nice to have a day to explore and get to know the local atmosphere.

We finally start working!

Tuesday morning we arrived at the library ready to start working. After dividing into two groups of four, our group went to train with Kathleen. She had created a wonderful "cheat sheet" that told us exactly what fields and subfields the library needed. The training went well, but we had to be patient as each of us took a turn creating the new record. Soon we were ready to get started on our own.

Within minutes we found that a desire to get started doesn't always mean much. I spent most of the afternoon moving from one corner to another trying to get any internet access. When I finally did get access, there was nowhere to plug in the laptop! Even once we were sort of settled, the internet access was so sporadic that it often meant starting over two or three times to finish one record.

Argh! Today was a lesson, not just on being in another country and working with the tools you have, but having a great deal of patience. I'm sure this will happen in real libraries, but at least I would have other ideas of projects to work on. Here, it wasn't my own library so it was very frustrating since I really wanted to be helping them and didn't know what I could do.

Arriving in San Miguel de Allende

Julie and I left Portland bright and early - it was so nice to have a familiar face to start this journey! After meeting the rest of the group in Houston (and being relieved that everyone seemed so friendly) we were finally on our way to San Miguel. After arriving at the Leon airport I was quickly introduced to the friendliness of the Mexican people. They not only found me and gave me a message about Julie's bags, but brought the bags over and helped me carry them through customs. I cannot imagine an airport employee in the U.S. being that helpful.

It wasn't long before we discovered some of the more frustrating aspects of being in Mexico. When our shuttle failed to arrive we were stuck negotiating for a ride. Unfortunately since they knew we had no other options, we were fairly certain we paid more than we should have. However, without Maura's wonderful Spanish it probably would have been even more!

After arriving in San Miguel we checked into our house and got a quick tour. Then, with amazing ease, quickly negotiated where everyone would sleep. I don't think I've ever seen six women get along so well, right away! After meeting everyone for dinner we walked to the center of town, where fireworks were going off. It was a beautiful night and a perfect beginning to our week in San Miguel.