Well, it is days into the new year, and here I am just working through the final days of last year. The funny thing is, that I have had a hard time trasiting between living in Ecuador and living in this small town in Mexico. Granted that I was sick the first week I was here, but since then I have spent most of my time irritated by the things that are different here.
I think I have finally let got of how life was in the Andes and am making inroads into enjoying what is special about Guanajuato. I think what helped me over the bump was to book my place to stay, and my flights to, the next country. More on that later. Now I will just catch up on my initial impression of this town, since I now have a limit to the time I have here.
I was surprised on Christmas day that many of the stores were open and most of the street vendors were in their normal places. I did not go into the Mercado Hidalgo to see how active it was. I had really gone out to have a long walk, expecting that the sidewalks wouldn’t be so crowded, and I could walk at full speed. I was, of course, wrong.
I had seen on Google Maps that there was a park, Jardin El Cantador, which looked large enough to walk in, off in another part of town, which I hadn’t been to. I set Google maps to take me there, and found my way through the throngs of Christmas day shoppers. I did see some new things I found visually interesting, on my way.
I found a couple of bars, with old fashioned bar doors. I wonder if these doors were a compromise between semi privacy and ventilation.
When I took this photo of the frog bar doors, I didn’t understand the import of the images. It turns out that The name Guanajuato comes from Purépecha “Quanax huato,” which means “hilly place of frogs”.
I found it rather disconcerting that the normally friendly police were tricked out with high powered arms, riot gear, and face masks. Seeing this, made me edgy. I figured that if the police were expecting trouble I would just as soon not continue on to the park, and headed back home.
The next day, I headed out to make another attempt to find the Jardin El Cantador. Surprisingly more shops and vendors were closed on the day after Christmas.
The path towards the park became less touristy the further I went. The buildings were in more disrepair and the church doors were closed. I was very disappointed when I came to the park and found that it had been so taken over by vendors, that it was hard at first to realize it was indeed the park.
The center of the park, which was free of vendors, showed that when it was first built it must have been a lovely place for families from the surrounding area to spend lazy afternoons.
On December 27, I decided that it was about time that I did my wash, so I stayed home. It was a nice day in. The next day, I did grocery shopping and cooking.
The view from the terrace of my building. 
This is where the washer and dryer are at. 
Looking down the staircase to the alley leading to the building. 
Now I know why I hear dogs barking in the night so close to my bedroom window. Roof dogs next door. 
Another view of from the terrace. 
The next day, after shopping, I made chicken tacos with mole sauce.
I agree Sam terrible shame about the park. Perhaps it’s some sort of global trend problems with parks😉🖖
I don’t know, the parks in Cuenca were very nice. I am going walking to another park today. We will see if it measures up 🙂