Ultra Caballo Blanco 2014

Two years ago this month I signed up for what was then the Copper Canyon Ultra Marathon. The event changed my life by introducing me to a remarkable group of athletes, the Raramuri, who are tucked away in a remote piece of Mexico. I went there not having any idea of what to expect, and I came home with a mind filled with new images, ideas, and pleasing memories.
Now after two years and hundreds of miles run I'm heading back. I still consider myself a novice runner, and I have to admit that after I clicked that register button I thought...I hope it's not so hot this time. But then I remembered all of the great people I met who were helpful and generous with their advise. And   I remember the incredible piece of earth were this takes place, and I relax a bit, and I think...okay this is good.
If any of you are looking for a unique event, then meet me in the bottom of the Copper Canyon, March, 2nd, for the Ultra Maraton Caballo Blanco. Bring fun, your best laugh, and an open heart, you won't be disappointed.

 

Shoulder Season

Wait. What? Cold, cloudy, gray, and ugly. It's not Winter yet and Fall is gone, all the colors spent, raked, bagged, and left at the curb for the garbage man. Cheered up yet? I am. We call this a shoulder season, because you can't ski yet, but the days are too cold for a picnic in the hills - shoulder season is code language for cold shitty weather... okay, yep I need a run.

Guanajuato International Film Festival

I've had a number of emails asking about travel to Guanajuato, mostly questions about cost, and what's it like to travel there.
The first thing I looked up was air fares. I tried plugging in dates for next years Guanajuato International Film Festival that starts off in San Miguel and ends in Guanajuato. I choose this event for a couple of reasons. First this is an event that I've wanting to experience, and as it is an international event, it attracts people from all over the world. Second it starts off in San Miguel, which for the Mexico new comer is a pretty easy transition. And last, it ends up in Guanajuato. Where San Miguel has a large expat community that has greatly influenced how the city feels, Guanajuato does not. Yes people from many countries live in GTO; my favorite sushi place is there, but it is a Mexican town, a little rough around the edges.
The GIFF was to far out in the future to get ticket prices for, so instead I plugged in dates from the end of January to the middle of March and came up with the following numbers. Price is round trip single person.
Reno, Nv to Leon, Mx (this is the airport you would fly into for both GTO, or SM)
1 stop $750-890
2 stops 629-890
San Jose, Ca to Leon
1 stop $430-750
2 stops 430-640
Calgary, Canada to Leon
1 stop $750-850
2 stops 700-950
Saint Louis, Missouri to Leon
1 stop $607-860
2 stops 607-670
London to Leon
2 stops $1288-1600

After ticket prices I looked for home rentals on the site VRBO in the city of San Miguel and came up with some really interesting places that range greatly in price, and location.
I found 2 bedrooms, with 2 baths for $125 a night, and a 3 bedroom, 3.5 baths place for $120 a night.
I also found some larger nicer places that have 3-4 bedrooms, 3-4 baths and go between $150-300 a night. Pretty much all of them come with a maid.
As far as the cost for the IFF. From what I can gather all of the movies are free, there is something about getting a wriest band that you pick-up, but I've heard the people at theater door will not even be checking for that.
Then there is food. In GTO I would expect to pay 9 US dollars to 20 USD for a really good dinner, a meal that would cost you another 10 USD in Reno. For me, once I get to GTO, I spend about 30 USD a day, if I eat out every meal. Of course buying food at the market and cooking at home is much cheaper, and then there's the experience factor of shopping. From what I can see San Miguel is similar in restaurant prices to GTO, though I have limited experience there, but again if you have a kitchen you can save greatly by shopping and cooking for yourself.
The one area that could cost you a bit of money is shopping for gifts. Hand made crafts are everywhere, and made from a variety of materials - wood, stone, metal, and glass. So much of it is beautiful, and reasonably priced, that you end up wanting it all, and then you have to pay for an extra bag going home. No matter because the same item would be three times as much, if you could find it, in the states.
Lastly concerning traveling to this part of the world. It's safe. I've been traveling to Mexico for the last twenty-five years, and besides a couple of jerky taxi drivers, I've had nothing but great experiences. The people are helpful and friendly, especially if you try to communicate, speak, to them in Spanish.
Looking back up the page I've noticed that I neglected to put in the dates for the GIFF 2014. Though I seem to remember seeing that it started July 25th I can't find that date again, and the web site for the 2014 event hasn't been posted yet. But here is a link to the 2013 event so you can get an idea of what it's all about. http://www.giff.mx/?lang=en
I hope this helps you out. Let me know what you think.

What's next for me...the Rodeo Beach 50k, December, 14th.

Back Home

Ethan and Anna-Marie's Roof Top

     I'm not going to dwell on the funk I feel whenever I return from Mexico, but it takes me a week or two to get readjusted to a world without color, and noise. In Mexico all of your senses are used to their fullest. Standing on the roof at my friends home, looking out across the city I see homes that are painted bright yellow, red, aqua marine, and purple. Government buildings are painted deep red, or gold, as are the half dozen churches. Could you imagine the shit you'd catch if you painted your house purple and bright gold. Your neighbors would freak, you'd get nasty phone calls in the middle of the night, and your dog might go missing. Then there's the noise. One night during Cervantino I lay in bed, it's maybe 1:00 am, and the air is thick with music. From up the street I can hear house music coming from a disco. From across the canyon a live band is playing at another club, and from parts unknown I can make out a mariachi band blasting away. And below, or mixed into this like jalapeño peppers in the salsa, is the sounds of people coming and going, cheering for the music, or their laughter amongst friends. I lay there in bed knowing full well that I won't be sleeping that night, but some how it doesn't matter, it's Mexico

Storm Troopers

Sunday in Guanajuato

Callejone (little street)

Guanajuato

When ever I travel I always say before I leave "I wonder who I'll meet" and with out exception I always meet someone worth mention. On this trip I met three people who fit the category.

First there is Eric and Christina Miranda. Eric has a restaurant on the corner of Positos and Juan Valle, and Christina has an art gallery/store, also on Positos...this is in the city of Guanajuato. But their passion is their tour business. Sitting with Eric in his restaurant his enthusiasm for his tour and travel company is real. He proudly shows me the many YouTube videos of groups he has lead to places all over Mexico. But the thing that really gets him going are the school groups that he takes on camping trips. So if any of you get interested, and I hope you do, here is a link to his company.

                                                   http://mundomexico.mx

But the person who takes the award this trip for being so very cool is a woman who I met while waiting for my flight in the Leon airport.

I love to travel. I love to see new museums, and to wander around the streets of a city I've never been to before. But sometimes I think that these chance, random encounters are the thing I like the most.

I believe she said her name was Verna, and that she was from Minnesota. She had only ever been to Cancun, and had just spent the last seven days in San Miguel de Allende at a conference. Verna struck up a conversation with me about the round drum cymbal bag I was carrying, and it just went from there. It was like as though she was just looking for someone to tell her story to, about all the wonderful things she had seen and her enthusiasm for all of it. I let her go on about the beauty of San Miguel, and the wonderful restaurants she had eaten at. She showed me the videos she shot in a school class room getting kids to say in English, because she spoke no spanish, that they would go to college. Finally she took a breath and asked me what I was doing there, and I told her about Guanajuato, and the Cervantino festival. I could see at once what was happening. In seven days her perceptions of Mexico had been completely changed. She asked me question like "wait, what's the name of this festival?"and "it's been going on for 41 years?"

San Miguel de Allende

Verna if you read this I have to tell you that if I never get any friends to travel down here with me it won't matter because you got it. The noise, and smells, and wild colors weren't an annoyance, they were the texture, the things to remember. You traveled to Mexico and felt the warmth, and hospitality, and it does my heart good to know that. I hope our paths cross again.

More about Cervantino

Cervantino is a three week international performing arts festival held in the month of October. Each year it is hosted by a different country, this year, 2013, it is Uruguay, and the beautiful city of Puebla, which is south east of Mexico City. 

The festival has something for everyone, from classical ballet, to electronic music and light shows held in the tunnels below the city. Spend a week here and you could see a jazz show one night, listen to an orchestra in the beautiful Templo de la Compania another night, and take in a play yet another night. Mix in all of the street performances that start up around noon in the many plazas and you have a week of entertainment gluttony.

I arrived in Guanajuato October 22nd and the festival was in it’s last week; this year it went from Oct, 9 to Oct, 27th. My friends home is just three hundred feet from the Explanada de la Alhondiga which is one of the most historical buildings in Guanajuato and serves as an out door venue for many of the music shows. Air fare down here, and a new laptop to start this blog with meant that I was looking for the free shows, and the Alhondiga is just the place. I saw Tony Allen, an afro music band from Nigeria and France, who I really liked, on Thursday night for free. Then Saturday night I caught Zap Mama who has the strongest, most playful, and sexy voice that I have heard, also for free. But what stuck me the most was the sense of place. Here I was rockin out to a woman from the Republic of Congo, with a Mexican audience, on the steps of a building that was built between 1797, and 1809. It’s a wonderful feeling, a blend of old world, youth, and internationalism, it is a feeling of being in the world rather then from a country. 

A little fare warning. During Cervantino, Guanajuato fills to the rim with visitors, so get a room before you arrive, and once you get here go buy tickets for the shows you want to see, popular shows sell out fast. Also, Guanajuato is normally noisy, but during Cervantino this place just roars, so if your looking for quiet, sedate, I’m going on vacation to relax, well this isn’t it. But if your into city wide parties with thousands of new friends then come on down. Besides Cervantino, Guanajuato also hosts an international film festival, and from what I can find it is scheduled for July 25 to August 3rd of 2014. 

As I write this the city, just out side my window, is getting ready for Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead...more later, Mexico is calling.