And

[Enlarge] Morelia’s principal cathedral as I return from the Mercado Independencia - about five blocks away. You can still see the decorations for Independence Day.

Its early on a Thursday morning in Morelia. Hispanic TV (hTV) is playing a mix of interviews and music the background. It will switch to all music shortly. The music they play feels good. It is melodic and passionate with a mix of artists I have heard and some new ones. With all the disasters on the news right now—between Rita and Katrina—it is a welcome change.

I got back from Philadelphia on Sunday night. The trip to there was a 16-hour ordeal. Continental has dropped some of its midweek flights from Morelia to the US in the wake of rising fuel prices. Because we had to leave on Thursday, that meant we had to fly to Mexico City to catch an international flight. Because we were transferring from national to international and between lines—it also meant we would have to be mated up with our luggage at each of the three stops of Mexico City, Houston and Philadelphia. The flights in Mexico and to Houston were fine. Ordinary. But when we got to Houston, tropical storm Ophelia was grinding slowly along the East coast and snarling air traffic across the region. Our wait for the flight to Philadelphia stretched over 5 hours. When we finally got on the plane, there was another hour delay as we waited for the airline to find enough people to fill all the seats. That hour delay was in a crowded, cramped airplane with an air conditioning unit that was unable to keep up with Houston’s heat and humidity. We breathed a sigh of relief when we pulled out of the gate. Our hopes were squashed however when we learned we would sit on the taxiway until a weather hold was lifted—for another hour. By the time we got to Philly we were exhausted, needless to say.

[Enlarge] One of several beautiful parks along the aqueduct that leads into colonial Morelia.

During the meetings, we stayed at the Lowes hotel in downtown Philadelphia. The building is a historic skyscraper in Art Nouveau style. The chain has done much to keep the style, but unfortunately the service left a great deal to be desired. We had to bring our own meeting coordinator in from New Jersey to deal with all the short falls so we could get our meetings together. I did get over to Ludwigs, my favorite pub in Philly, a couple of times, but all the issues in the trip marred the experience. Fortunately, the last night we switched to the Marriot Residence hotel across the street and down a block. In comparison, the service and style of the Marriot was a world away. The rooms are like a one bedroom apartment with areas for kitchen, living room and bedroom. A good breakfast is included and on many weeknights there are “manager’s receptions” with a light dinner spread that includes beer and wine. At $145 a night, right across from the historic town hall, it is a bargain.

The flight back to Morelia had only one stop with a little more than an hour layover. It was uneventful, and that is a good thing. Thank goodness for MP3 players and podcasts, I had an escape that I took full advantage of during this trip.

We’ve been very busy this week as we continue to prepare for the phased rollout of the medical education project we are working on. I’m going to take Friday off and spend the weekend in Morelia with my friend from San Miguel de Allende. In San Miguel, it is the weekend for the running of the bulls and all the locals flee the city to avoid the rowdy crowds that always accompany the popular event. It will be nice to spend some time in Morelia over the weekend for a change. I have been here off and on for a year and I have had very little time to experience this beautiful city. I have needed to explore what is available here for some time, so I have also been preparing for the weekend by taking a little time at lunch to go a few places I have wanted to go and see what is available. The fotos from those explorations decorate this post.

On a closing note, I am now chasing a foto of the humming birds here. Jacaranda trees with their bright, orange flowers are a common sight on the streets and they seem to be the favorite nectar provider for the local humming birds. What is interesting is that quite often a humming bird will stake out a particular tree as his own foraging ground and protect it at all cost from the incursion of other birds. Just yesterday, as I was walking to back to the hotel after work, I heard an irritated bird cry several times. The humming bird that has taken ownership of the largest Jacaranda in the jardin behind the hotel was harassing a robin-sized bird sitting in a pine tree 10 feet away. It was too close for the determined humming bird. I hope to catch one of these little fighters in a calm moment, but the outlook is not good.

wp:thumb src=”2005-09-20-2.jpg” cap=”More flowers from the jardin behind the Las Americas Hotel. What can I say? With so many disasters in the news, we all need more flowers in our lives.”—> ->

Getting

[Enlarge] These large butterflys are a highlight in this season. They are easy to mistake for a bat from a distance. Closeup, their distintive markings are quite interesting. The blue at the lower end of the wing makes them appear almost rocket-propelled.

I’m back in the hotel, early in the morning before work, after spending the weekend at home in Cueramaro. CNN is droning on about the aftermath of Katrina and the complex dance of government officials as they try to put their intentions and actions in the best light. I don’t want to make light of the scope of the problem, but there is only so much of the story a person can absorb. I have changed to the national news on Televisa. The news is at least more balanced, even if it is not necessarily more hopeful. There is still a world outside the Gulf region and it is good to keep that in perspective as much as possible.

The foto that opens this post is of a butterfly (or possibly a moth but since the antenna are not feathery—I believe it is a butterfly) that is common during this time of year. They are large—about 5 or 6 inches from wing tip to tip. They are a dark color, so I often mistake them for a bat or bird initially. I have been trying to get a foto of one for a week or so with no success. I have never seen one sitting before this one. It is obviously a bit beat up and near the end, but the false eyes and subtle patterns are beautiful when you get a chance to examine one. I found this one laying on the pavers in the jardin in Cueramaro.

I opened a bank account in Mexico at HSBC this past weekend. It is something I have needed to do for a long time. Now that I have an FM3, I have access to services that visitors can’t use. HSBC is a European bank with offices around the world and more opening in the US all the time. Our banker in Cueramaro, Cristhian, was a great help in getting things done. The bank has all the services I need, including Internet banking, provides a Visa debit card immediately, has branches all over the country, and is open until 7 in the evenings even on Saturday. It works out well, because there are branches near our home in Cueramaro and my office in Morelia. Our banker in Cueramaro speaks English well and is very aware of what I needed to get things set up. A nice change from some of the banks I have used other places.

This week will be tied up with preparation before I go to Philadelphia on Thursday. We are rolling out our medical education product for the first time and we are tying up a lot of loose ends. It is good to get this product in the field after a year of development between the application and the content it carries. Unfortunately though, this trip will come right across the fiestas of Mexico’s Independence Day so I will miss the many events that happen in this period. I hope to be able to take a couple of days in the following week to make up for it. We will just have to see. There is a lot I would like to know more about here in Morelia. There just isn’t time in a normal weekday.

I will close this short post with a foto of the Zapata statue on the highway coming into Cueramaro. It was erected not too long ago, as the road to and from Irapuato was upgraded where it enters our city. It is always touching to come home after a long week. Cueramaro sits near a couple of hills in a rolling valley. In the evening, when I am coming in, I can see the lights of the city against the hills glowing in the distance for a long way off. There are lots of smaller towns and clusters of houses across the valley but Cueramaro glows in the distance, beckoning us on as we bounce along the two-lane highway from where it cuts off the main artery from Irapuato. It might seem silly, but I always feel a little lighter when I first see the glow of our town on the horizon.

wp:thumb src=”2005-09-10-6.jpg” cap=”Zapata leads the charge on a pedestal at the entrance to Cueramaro from Irapuato. A fitting foto as we near Mexico’s Independence Day.”—> ->

Of

[Enlarge] Sometimes beauty nearly trips you. A flower I walked by quite by accident in the jardin behind the Las Americas hotel. Something for the victims of the disaster in the Gulf region.

I’m back in Morelia, stealing a few minutes in the early morning. I’ve been back for a week now. The weather this time of year is alternatively rainy and sunny—neither hot or cold. We get the spill over from the tropical storms during the summer and some days it gets pretty heavy, although I have only seen one day where it was really heavy and that was just before I left more than a month ago. There is an area on the South side of Morelia that is prone to flooding and they did get hit last week. Like Sacramento, Morelia sits at the point where two rivers come together and in another similarity, the area below the join is historically a flood plain.

Of course, our flooding here is nothing like the problems in New Orleans and Mississippi. I see stories on that tragedy everywhere, on local, national and international news reports. It is sad to get the constant stories and it is shaking to realize the wide reach of this disaster. There are people here who have loved ones in the region affected by Katrina. The seeming inability of the US to quickly get the situation under control and the impact on the US economy are also concerns here. In many ways, the Mexican economy rides the waves that flow from the US. It should also be said that Mexico is directly involved in aiding people in the region. From news reports here I am aware that at least three “mobile consulates” have been set up in the Gulf area to help Mexicans affected by the disaster take care of their problems and to help them reach families back home. There is at least one company of Mexican Marines that arrived on a ship and anchored in New Orleans, complete with the requisite helicopter and medical supplies, to give aid to any victims they can. In the scope of this disaster, it is a small thing, but it gives a great deal of comfort to people here to know the Mexican government is doing whatever it can.

Last weekend, I got to go home to Cueramaro. I won’t be able to be in Mexico for Independence Day this year—I have to go to Philadelphia for a meeting right across the “fiesta” period at the end of next week. Everyone was asking me my plans and if I would be home during the fiestas. It is one of the biggest periods of national holidays in the year and really has no equivalent in the US. The family seems to be doing well although everybody has a complaint about the rainy season. If you can’t change the weather, you can at least complain about it. Of course, the rainy season does bring green to the hills and valleys of the Bajio, it is one of the most beautiful times of the year here. There are little wildflowers everywhere, the parks are green and lush, and the markets are over-flowing with fresh produce of all sorts.

[Enlarge] Morning at the Sunday mercado in Cueramaro. The fruits and vegetables overload the boxes and bags that make their way to the seller’s stalls.

I’m in the position of adding fotos pretty randomly to my gallery right now. I can highlight certain events and places, but during weeks like this, there are just drips of little additions, some of which I highlight by mixing with my writing, but most of which just find their way into an appropriate subsection of the gallery unnoted. You will find, if you are interested, the galleries give their last updated date—so if you have an idea the last time you wandered through, you will know if there is anything new. I have heard from family and friends the new weblog layout seems to be showing up pretty well in most browsers and that is good because I don’t have a lot of time to spend on it right now. We’re getting ready for a major release next week and we are heads down busy everyday.

I’ll close today with a foto of the cathedral in Cueramaro. The flag seller in front of the church is a common sight all over Mexico right now as Independence Day approaches. I bought a bandera to hang in the window behind the balcony upstairs. Because of travel, it will be the only thing I can do this year. Not a problem really though, I’ve got a feeling there will be many other years and fiestas to enjoy…

wp:thumb src=”2005-09-04-5.jpg” cap=”In a scene from now or anytime in at least the last 50 years, a peddler of banderas for the Indpendence Days fiestas stands in front of the Cathedral in Cueramaro as families rush to and from the Sunday mercado.”—> ->