La Noria de Santo Pantaleón 

Sombrerete, Zacatecas

– A Mining Ghost Town -

 

“If you were an eagle soaring in the restless mountain winds, you would spy a town below, its ruins clinging to the craggy slopes.  You would see old walls, strange, conical formations-and a tiny, orange chapel.  This is an old, ghostly mining town called La Noria de Santo Pantáleon”. 

 

Resting in the notch of a low mountain just to the northwest of Sombrerete is the abandoned, mining ghost town (pueblo fantasma) of La Noria de San Pantaleón.  Well, it’s not quite abandoned, as about 20 families, mostly descendants of the original miners, returned to re-occupy some of the long-deserted casas that once comprised the now tiny community. (The town reached a population of 5000 in the early 20^th century).  The old 16^th century Spanish Colonial gold and silver mining town sets at an altitude of around 8,700 feet (2,684 meters).  The community now consists of scattered casas and tiendas, a church (Templo San Pantaleón) with a convent attached, a tiny chapel, and a few, small civic buildings.  On the nearby mountainside sets the remains of old mining structures, and curious, conical structures long ago deposited by the excavated material from the mines bored into adjacent mountains. (The material was deposited by large containers suspended by cables). The (four) huge conical piles gradually solidified into solid structures that appear like extra-terrestrial creations.  On the top of a nearby ridge is an observation tower built by the local population.  “La Noria”, as it is called, is a curious place with intriguing beauty, and most worthy for exploring, painting, and photographing. 

 

Sketch map of La Noria´s central garden, watercolor by author. 

 

During my visit there with the Director of the Tourism Office, I manage to measure and sketch the centrally located plaza edged by a small church and abandoned structures. Next to the church is a small garden (jardín) with a gazebo (kiosco) in its center.  I quickly concluded that this magical pueblo fantasma deserved a place in this book.  I highly recommend spending time here.  The community is small and very safe. 

 

Vista (watercolor) of La Noria.

Be sure to bring a picnic lunch and plenty of water.  La Noria is about a 20-minute taxi ride from Sombrerete´s historic center.  Because of its high altitude, dress accordingly. 

A Casa in La Noria, oil painting by the author. 

La Noria de Santo Pantaleón will be include in my upcoming book, Painting Mexico: Sombrerete. 

Learning and Speaking Spanish

Learning and Speaking Spanish

As you likely understand, speaking some español is most helpful when visiting or traveling in Mexico, even if your vocabulary is only a few hundred words.  Speaking some español will allow you to eliminate much of the “friction”-frustration and misunderstandings that often accompany travel.  I emphasize the word “some”, as “some” is infinitely better than none.  Besides basic greetings (‘Buenos dias or Buenas tardes” (with a smile)-and basic vocabulary-you will enjoy your travels much more.   An important thing to learn is counting. 

The author (center) with artist, Pino Siciliano (right) and his sculptor friend, Tivoli, Italy, circa 2103.

If just beginning to learn a language, keep in mind that vocabulary is more important than grammar.  The most important thing is to be able to communicate with simple nouns and verbs without worrying about complex grammar linking them together.  People will understand you; that’s the most important thing. Rather than judge your speaking ability, they will appreciate your effort to speak their language; in doing so you are showing them respect.

I speak from experience; Spanish is my fifth functioning language after French, Farsi, Italian and, of course, my native English. I had the required 2-years of French in college, and then taught Landscape Architecture (in French) at the University of Montréal in Québec.  Most importantly, I leaned how to learn a language (Farsi) in the Peace Corps in Iran, attending an in-country program that was intense and immersive, with native instructors. They corrected our accents and made us repeat words, phrases and sentence patterns until perfected.   I then worked for 2-years totally in Farsi-and some Kurdish. I learned that only by speaking, intense repetition and making lots of mistakes along the way, can one learn to speak another language.  This is how a child learns!  In learning how tolearn a language (like the respected Peace Corps method), was I able to refresh my French and then go on to learn Italian and now, Spanish.  

I work at it constantly by always initiating any interaction by speaking Spanish.  If I need to know a word, I look it up beforehand, as having a needhelps to remember a word.  

I also study Spanish constantly with flash cards and Spanish apps on my smart phone.  I make my own flashcards to develop the psycho-motor connection between hand and brain, sounding the words as I write them to strengthen the neural pathways of memory.  I often review the flashcards while walking or enjoying savory juevos rancherosin a café.  I perfect, as best I can, my language skills by using them. 

Spanish Learning Programs   Here are several language programs that I’ve used over the years, the best of dozens of programs and leaning techniques that I have explored.  

Rosetta Stone.  (Spanish Levels 1-5)  Though a relatively expensive program, Rosetta Stone is worth every penny.  The program uses only images to teach you the words (no English or other language are used). Rosetta Stone has five levels, and cycles through graduated learning exercises based on images, constantly changing the format-from recognition, listening to the pronunciation, repeating, reading and writing.  It uses all the senses (seeing, hearing, and writing-typing (psycho-motor learning connections by using the hand, arm and sight). You are constantly drilled with exercises and quizzes. Though relatively expenses, you can repeat lessons as often as you wish.  

“Great Courses” tm: Learning Spanish(2-levels): How to Understand and Speak a New Language by Professor Bill Worden. These courses are on videos, with guidebooks. Each course consists of 30 half-hour lessons presented by a very talented and effective teacher. The courses are excellent for grammar, reading and vocabulary building; they are viewed on-line and come with apps for smartphone use.  www.theGreatCourses.com.  

Yabla Spanish.   This is a fabulous course that consists of about 1600 short videos that cover a huge variety of topics-from the arts through science, travel and tourism, health, culture, grammar, music, drama, etc.  The videos are produced in most Spanish-speaking countries, so you’ll be exposed to a variety of accents in diverse regions. This course is loaded with exercises, quizzes and flashcards to help you to learn quickly and with much fun.    www.Yabla.com 

Transparent Language   In addition, I subscribe to Spanish Word of the Day, a free e-mail service by Transparent Language.com.  This service presents a word, a sentence showing how it’s used, and a button to hear the word spoken. 

The above courses, programs and methods are among the dozens that I have tried over the years.  Naturally, we each have individual preferences for learning, so I urge you to explore and vary the methods to keep learning Spanish fresh, interesting and relevant to your needs at the time.  Adios!

5-13-2019