Tag: Beads

San Miguel Allende – The Art Scene

Posted in Art, Gardens, Good Food, Malls, Markets, Mexico, StoresTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

I had such a wonderful day with Denise in San Miguel that I have decided to create two posts. This one is about the Art / Antique Scene in this lovely town. Tomorrow I will post pictures throughout the city…watch out there are some wild ones! Now onto the arts….

San Miguel became a haven for artists after the end of WWII. Many US soldiers who had a GI Bill came to the area to study and participate in the arts and in doing so they helped to create an artist haven. Much of this growth was attributed to an American named Stirling Dickinson whose connections allowed returning soldiers to attend Escuela Universitaria de Bellas Artes. Over 6,000 students had applied for admission by January 1948 and the San Miguel slowly made its way from near ghost town to the vibrant place that it is today. In 2008 the city was named as a UNESCO Heritage site and five times Condé Nast Traveler has deemed it “the Best Small City in the World.”

The first place Denise took me to was a consignment store named La Fina that I could have easily roamed through for an entire week. Because San Miguel is such a city of affluent Mexicans and foreigners this shop held treasures beyond belief. I loved the twelve foot high bookcases which towered like skyscrapers along with furniture from all over the world. Take a look….this is my kind of place.

From La Fina we ventured forth to La Aurora which is a former factory repurposed into an art gallery/wine bar/ food haven. The building is magnificent as are the gardens and there is something new to view around every corner. If you love all things artsy this is your place and you might even be able to meet some of the artists as they work in their studios.

From La Aurora we went deeper into town and visited some small galleries as we walked the streets. I love the beaded work (Huichol art) and the intricacy of these pieces is just amazing. I know I would never have the kind of patience it would take to set each bead into place. Same goes with the Mexican Tree of Life Sculptures which are made of clay usually featuring indigenous people and religious themes.

iThere you go a short tour of some of the best places to visit in San Miguel Allende for art/antiques and just plain wonderful finds. The day was memorable and the items I saw just spectacular. I want to go back again today…want to join me?!

The Monks Debate-Sera Monastery, Tibet

Posted in Archaeological Treasures, Architecture, Tibet, UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

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One of the most interesting things I witnessed in Tibet occurred at the Sera Monastery. Sera sits just outside of the city of Lhasa. It is considered to be one of the three great monasteries of the Gelug University Monasteries in the country. Founded in 1419 it was once a huge complex at which over 6,000 monks resided but during the 1959 revolt much of it was destroyed and hundreds of monks were killed.

One of the things that this particular monastery is well-known for is the monk debates. The debates occur between the monks and their teachers with a prescribed set of rules. The defender(student) is asked a question regarding Buddhist philosophy by the teacher. His job is make and defend his argument. Meanwhile, the teachers attempt to trap a student into following the wrong line of the argument by creating places in the argument which can confuse the defender. The students sit on the ground, wrapped in their red robes, while asked question after question for hours. The brain power that has to be used is immense and it drained my few working brain cells rather quickly.

This is a startling place because when a question is asked of the student a loud clap is made with the teacher striking his left palm with that of his right. When the question is answered correctly the teachers brings his right hand to his left palm while sliding it down with a slap. With an incorrect answer the palm goes down and slides into the air near the student encouraging him to try again. And all of this isn’t done in a stagnant manner. The teachers arch, sway, jump and make grand body movements as they question the student in an attempt to rattle him. The noise is incredible with the slapping sounds reverberating against the walls of the courtyard and the gravel crunching under kicking feet.

Here are my favorite pictures of our afternoon spent at Sera. This is one of those times that I think I should upgrade so I could show the video I made of this amazing debate. It was one of those once in a lifetime events that makes you happily question the meaning of life for yourself while being thankful that there is no one intimidating you by the slap of a hand.

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The Monk’s Debate