Energy Shifting: From Benito Juarez to El Jardin

One of the things I have loved about our time in San Miguel de Allende is the sky. More than half of the days we have been here feature an incredible deep blue sky. We can’t see a hint of a cloud, so blue it looks as if you could plunge into it and there would be substance. On those days you know it is going to feel hot, the sun penetrates everything intensely. It also means there is likely no perceptible wind. And, usually it lasts all day.

Yesterday was a blue sky day. We walked to Benito Juarez Park, our place of calm and peace. It is fairly large, so that even though there are many people there it is easy to find an area of calm. When we go we always notice many people jogging, stretching, and doing all sorts of calisthenics. Basketball is really popular here also. The courts are always in use and there must be leagues because it is common to see refereed games being played. There are vendors selling jewelry, food and art.

We often sit, there are a lot of benches , and watch the world in motion. Other times we wander through the paths that separate different types of plant life. A lot of the plant life throughout the park is similar, there is no grass however.  Some of the gardens are specialized. There are areas for herbs, cacti and pollinators. There quite a few sculptures, some subtle and easy to overlook, others stand out. One of my favorites is the rotary club donation. See pictures below it features the words, “May Peace on earth prevail” in six languages: sign language, braille, Spanish, English and two indigenous dialects. I meant to show each language, but I think I got a duplicate, sorry.

Quite a contrast from the park to the square in the center of town. This post refers to January 2nd. I walked to the square, El Jardin, at about 8 in the morning so I could see what it looked like after a night of celebration that included a huge performance stage in front of the church, lots of lights, a large soundboard area and huge amounts of fireworks and firecrackers. It was amazing! Stage, equipment, gone. At 8 in the morning there were crews on every side of the square, 4 separate blocks, cleaning. Water trucks were spraying the streets as workers walked around behind them scattering soap while dozens of others swept and scrubbed the streets with brooms. A conservative estimate would be 50 workers, but it easily could have been 100. It was impressive to me.

Speaking of the firecrackers, at midnight the most unbelievable display of noise I ever heard occurred. All over the city from the outlying areas in, the quantity of explosions increased (they had been happening all evening). There are two main firecracker sounds here, the string of them that goes off repetitively until finished, and the M-80s that are similar to a gun shot. There was absolutely no empty space as explosions on every side of town blended together in a relentless cacophony that lasted a full hour. It truly was an hour and when it stopped it stopped quite abruptly, and then it was a quieter night than normal (understand that there are no nights devoid of firecrackers here). There was a weird beauty to it that I am likely incapable of explaining. I do not understand how people even afford to do this.

Now, back to the theme of energy shifting. From the park we walked back to El Jardin at about one in the afternoon. All the mornings activity was gone, replaced by the typical parroquia activity of hundreds of people sitting and milling around the square, taking each others picture, eating ice cream. It was as if nothing had happened the night before.

One of the things I enjoy here is having the option of experiencing the serene energy of Benito Juarez, but also the invigorating energy of El Jardin. The energies are uniquely different from each other, but also different from what I experience in Spokane. In Spokane you can easily get the calm energy by going out into nature, that is a great but different kind of calm that can be had here. I have not experienced the unique blend of calm and activity of Benito Juarez Park at any urban park in Spokane. And, in Spokane I never feel the energy of hundreds of people gathering in an environment of casual ease El Jardin exudes. That is why we want to travel, to experience the difference cultural environments produce.