Michael Kent Smith

In Guanajuato

August 7th, 2008

I arrived without incident and my flights were all on time, which is amazing during the summer travel season. I got settled into the house of Lucila Castillo who runs a kind of guest house. She’s the mother of one of my former Spanish teachers and also helped me to get my first gig here in Guanajuato. Her house definitely has “una buena vibra” - a good vibe and there are always good people staying there. I had to give an impromptu concert my first evening here because my friend Chuck Umsted had stayed in the house the previous week and told one of the other boarders that she should stay an extra day in Guanajuato to hear me play. She was a young energetic Korean woman and she convinced me to do a little mini-concert, telling me that she had delayed her departure one day just to hear me play. How could I refuse? Chuck was also kind enough to leave some beer in the refrigerator and we all sat around sipping a cold one afterwards. All in all, a mellow way to spend my first night in town.
It’s nice to walk around the downtown area and see the concert posters in the windows and doors of local businesses. Last time I played here the posters didn’t come out until the day before the concert. This time they’re up the weekend before, so hopefully they’ll do their job of bringing folks to the show. The museum did save me a couple copies so I’ll be glad to have those in my collection. It really is a nice poster. Unfortunately, it looks like Armando has a commitment with his own group “Los Tiempos Pasados” on Thursday evening and won’t be able to play, so I’ll be playing solo. I’m heading to his house tonight to do some playing just for fun which will be a blast but it would have been great to have him be part of the concert.