Photo Gallery: Dolores Hidalgo: Mexico's Cradle of Independence - September 15, 1810

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Photo gallery: Mexican microeconomics: The Tuesday market in San Miguel de Allende

Like a shimmering mirage that lasts only until your next blink, the Tuesday Market, or tianguis, appears once a week at dawn, assembled upon a vast windswept concrete slab near the parking lot of the San Miguel municipal sports complex. Just as quickly, it evaporates after sunset. Each week, from battered pickups and vans, a hoard of merchant Bedouins conjures up an entire world of itinerant economics from thin air.

Once assembled, the market is screened on the sides with brilliant tarps of red and blue and yellow, putting a bold face on what I used to think when I first arrived was desperation commerce.

But that was never fair. To the locals, retailing is simply divided a few degrees further and more minutely than in the north, reflecting both the scarcity of capital and the intensity of labor at the bottom of the economic pyramid. While a great deal of the merchandise is new, reuse is also an active value.

After I’d lived in San Miguel de Allende for a few years I realized the Tuesday Market was more like the economic heartbeat of the city. My wife dragged me through again and again until I started buying my shirts there for eighty pesos, or superb Oaxaca cheese — usually unavailable anywhere except in Oaxaca — for under two dollars a pound. The shrimp is fresher and half the price of those at the supermarket. The octopus looks like it might reach out and grab your hand as you pass. You can buy fresh chicken breasts boned and pounded to stuff with spinach and cheese and roll up for a quick sauté. There are also skinned frogs, but I always pass on those.

Poles inside support other bright coverings that shelter most of the interior from the sun. Within, long rows of tables display all the tattered goods that won’t support the overhead of a normal store. Racks of used shoes are extremely inexpensive — and cost only slightly more if you need them to match. Piles of worn clothing, bins of carefully pounded out used nails, buckets of screws of mixed sizes. Sets of rusty horseshoes, probably no more than three of a given size. Discontinued money, both in bills and coins, is common. More of the money in México has been devalued than not. The great fortunes of the past can be bought in piles for a few current pesos. Several tables are stacked with CDs and DVDs, all of them bootlegged. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a genuinely issued one for sale here. A tall pegboard displays a dozen new backpacks, as fresh as last year’s hottest trend. And food stalls, offering heaps of stuff that you’d think would reduce any gringo to gastric distress within five minutes, yet tables full of them are happily eating here. Ah, Mexico! Parental discretion advised. A man passes with buckets of garlic hanging from his shoulders, yelling ocho por diez, eight bulbs for ten pesos.

There are literally tools by the ton. Got a plumbing project that needs a quarter acre of wrenches? Imagine loading up 150 square feet of sledge hammers, axes, pry bars, anvils and circular saw blades and hauling them away to be unloaded again the following day in a neighboring town, because the Tuesday Market is only that in San Miguel. It’s the Wednesday Market tomorrow in Celaya or Salamanca.

This is an ancient tradition, reaching back to any time or town in medieval Europe or colonial America when it was relatively safe to travel. Only war or the Plague could shut it down for long. The market fairs on Sundays, the feast day fairs, the harvest markets in the fall — these were all forerunners of the Tuesday Market.

No bricks and mortar stores were required, and little capital. Some faded fabric for sunshade and rainfall, with a few poles to hold it against the sky. The overhead of these nomadic retailers was mainly time, labor, and enough hay to keep the mules and horses going from town to town in barren places.

As I walked through the crowded stalls of the tianguis, it suddenly occurred to me that this absence of capital is a great preserver of old folkways and lifestyles. Of course there is much capital and very great wealth in Mexico — it’s just not widely distributed. Care is taken to keep those piles intact.

I paused before a wall of strawberries like a perfectly scaled medieval fortress. Inside, a woman is held in on three sides by an eighteen-inch bank of berries, all about the same size and all faced in the same direction. Some assembly is required, I thought. She was doing a fabulous business. I couldn’t help buying half a kilo myself for ten pesos — less than a dollar.

The next stall displays three walls of sports jerseys. My eye is caught by the team name most repeated on them, Bimbo. Neither a lifestyle choice nor an epithet, this is the fútbol team sponsored by Mexico’s largest bakery company. It’s our equivalent of Wonder Bread. Teenage American tourists snap these shirts up by the hundreds. The proprietor offers to pull one down in my size. Escritores is my team, the Writers, I said to him, shaking my head as I moved on.

At the far end I found my favorite clothing stall, one where I had once paid eight dollars for a brand new Tommy Bahama silk shirt with all the tags intact. A hundred and twenty bucks in the States, I recall thinking at that moment. I’ve since worn it half a dozen times at public readings and book signings. Seven or eight other shirts from this vendor are also part of my regular wardrobe.

I’ve often said that it’s hard to know exactly what you’re looking at in México. The Tuesday Market is a perfect example. It’s taken my gringo eyes a while to get used to it. It’s a way of living as much as a place, a way of doing business that is intimate and friendly, and above all, personal. And personal is that quality about Mexico that pleases me most.

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Photographs by Bill Begalke

Photo Gallery: San Miguel de Allende: More than a travel destination (Photos by Bill Begalke)

Last year, Conde Nast Traveler listed the colonial city of San Miguel de Allende (SMA) as the 7th best travel destination in the entire world! In my book, it’s NUMBER 1. It’s also more than a travel destination. It’s where I live.

SMA is a small city of about 90,000, located an hour and a quarter from the Leon airport and four hours north of Mexico City by bus. At an elevation of 6,500 feet, it enjoys cool, but not freezing winter weather and moderate, but not hot summer temperatures. After World War II, US veterans discovered San Miguel de Allende and using the GI bill of rights which paid for education of the ex-armed forces personnel, came to study Spanish and art at the Instituto de Allende.

In the 1970s, drawn by the city’s colonial charm and ideal climate, retirees from Canada and the United States began moving to SMA in great numbers. Today, young people still come to San Miguel de Allende to study Spanish and art. Retirees are still attracted to this charming city. It’s estimated that there are at least 2,000 expats living here. Some people claim the great number of north-of-the border residents have turned the city into a gringo compound. But it is clearly a Mexican city. On weekends the local population is joined by Mexicans from all the nearly states to feast in the many restaurants, to shop and to enjoy the ambiance.

The living is easy in San Miguel. Unemployed Mexicans are anxious to be household workers. There are excellent markets, including several that import items which we gringos find it difficult to live without – such as organic foods, Haagen Daaz sorbet and horseradish, to name but a few. There is even a farmer in the area who grows organic vegetables, and a courier who goes to Texas every few weeks to shop in the health food stores and oriental markets for some of us.

It’s also very easy for newcomers to fit into the community. The Mexicans are friendly and welcoming. The foreigners, in turn, work to make the city a better place for themselves and for the indigenous population. The Biblioteca, the second largest bilingual library in Mexico, was founded by expatriates and is operated primarily by a volunteer staff. It has a computer center used in the morning by foreigners and in the afternoon by Mexican children. It also houses a gift shop, restaurant and a new theater for plays, lectures, and a variety of programs.

San Miguel is a cultural wonderland. In August there is a world-class chamber music festival, in the winter a jazz festival, and music and dance performances in between. There are endless art galleries and probably the best craft shops in Mexico with quality crafts from every area of the country.

Acknowledging the substantial income derived from foreign tourists and residents, the federal, state and city governments work together to make the city a desirable place to live. There are enough police on the streets to safely walk home after dark. A million-and-a half dollars are being spent to bury utility cables under the cobble stone streets – electrical, telephone, television and fiber optic. Buildings and shop signs in the historic area of the city must meet federal standards.

Every Tuesday a large outdoor weekly market attracts many vendors from the surrounding countryside. The first week in February growers from all over the area bring foliage and flowering plants to a large park. That’s the time we renew our gardens.

Buses and cars are inspected for emission pollution, but enforcement is not yet effective. City bus rides cost about 25 cents, and taxis are less than $1.25 per ride, so there is really no need to own a vehicle in SMA. Long distance buses go to neighboring cities, with transfer points to all of Mexico. Inexpensive local car services will take you on tours to nearby fascinating destinations. I find it cheaper to hire a car and driver for the day to go on out-of-town trips. It takes much more money to buy a car, maintain it and pay for insurance and gasoline Yet, many residents, accustomed to driving themselves about, are reluctant to shed their wheels. Therefore, traffic around the center of the city is oppressive and will only be mitigated when vehicles are prohibited. There is talk about doing this, but not in the immediate future.

After wintering in the community for three years, I bought a small house in 1997 within easy walking distance of the city center. Once I had purchased and remodeled my home, it didn’t take me long to fit into the community. Information about things to do and the meeting dates of dozens of organizations are listed in two English language newspapers. Atencion San Miguel is published weekly and costs five pesos. Subscription for U.S. and Canada are US$80 per year from:
Bibliotheca Publica de San Miguel de Allende,
Insurgentes 25,
San Miguel de Allende,
GTO 37700, Mexico.

The second publication, El Independiente, features articles on travel, art, culture and current events, and for which I write regularly, is published biweekly and also costs five pesos. An international subscription is $US 45 per year. Its address is:
Calzada de la Presa 53,
San Miguel de Allende,
GTO 37700,
Mexico.

From these two publications you will find listings of groups concerned with, for example, social welfare, ecology, and anthropology. Also announcements of concerts, art exhibits, and other cultural events are described.

We have several movie showings, and many video rental shops; tours to surrounding areas, Spanish classes and an endless number of people who will help keep your body in good condition. We need some of those as the cobblestone streets in the city are treacherous and it is important to watch where you walk.

The Audubon group was my immediate choice for community involvement. Although its main focus is birds, the US Audubon Society, of which the SMA organization is an affiliate, has become involved in environmental and population issues. Increased population in this part of Mexico has destroyed bird habitats. Country folk have decimated the forests by using wood for heat and leaves for animal fodder. The Rio Laja river that flows through half of the state of Guanajuato no longer pauses on its rush to a far distant lake. There is nothing to slow it down since there has been so much silting from the farms and mining of sand and gravel from the river bed. Thus the birds that migrate from Canada through the United States and Mexico to their winter homes in South America have lost their feeding spots and resting places.

In spite of the many organizations and activities that are similar to those in the States, there are many strange and typically Mexican customs that I had to learn and adjust to. For instance, at six in the morning a man passes my house beating a metal bar. He is announcing the arrival of the garbage truck, with a collector who stands on top of the refuse, leans over the side and grabs your bags. In anticipation of this event, I stored my sacks in the garden that nests between my kitchen and bedroom. The first night, I slept fitfully waiting for this event, climbed out of bed, rushed to the garden, picked up the bags, and heard the door slam and lock behind me. I was trapped in my garden! I picked up a rock, crashed it through the glass, opened the door and rushed to the street. The truck had passed. The next day after reviewing several alternatives, I hired two men: a handyman to do odd jobs around the house and deliver the garbage t o a truck that arrives at another street at a later hour, and a glass worker to replace the broken pane. Since then, the truck arrives at 7 am and I’m prepared for it. However, I am now composting my food scraps to nourish my plants, so I don’t have to meet the truck every time I hear the clanging metal bar.

With its endless holy days, holidays, festivals and happenings, San Miguel de Allende is a popular vacation destination for Mexicans and foreigners. There are fiestas and celebrations at Easter, Christmas, Saint Patrick Day and Independence Day. There are numerous days honoring mothers, the dead, saints, builders and masons, taxi drivers, the constitution and patriots, And let’s not forget the running of the bulls when hundreds of youth from all over Mexico descend on the square to see if they can outrun these raging animals. On this day, in late September, I stay in my house and let the doctors, Red Cross workers and Emergency Medical Technicians deal with the eight score wounded. Many of these occasions are accompanied by exploding fire crackers and night time fireworks that echo through the city. Since September has so many festivals I now plan to travel during that month to the US or other hemispheres.

My sleep is sometimes interrupted by loud explosions. Mourners explode firecrackers to inform the angels that their dearly departed are on their way to heaven and should be welcomed. Fireworks frequently announce the union of a bride and groom in a nearby church or to entertain families and friends at a neighborhood birthday party. Mariachi bands that congregate in and around the Jardin offer their services. If they are not hired on the spot they roam from restaurant to restaurant hoping that diners will not only applaud them, but will give them tips.

Restaurants serve meals that are varied, delicious and inexpensive often in delightful surroundings , and often to the accompaniment of excellent guitarists. I have so many favorite dining places, it is difficult to list them all. The Bouganvilla is around the corner from me. Ole-Ole serves great fajitas. El Tomato is a good vegetarian restaurant. Casa Blanca has good food , including my favorite, chocolate mousse, and a gorgeous view of the city. It’s hardly fair to name only these as there are so many that are equally good and where you can get a fine meal from US$ 4 to $10. I’m anxiously awaiting the opening of a new Chinese restaurant in my neighborhood.

There are many places to stay, from upscale hotels like the Puertacita Boutique Hotel, the Villa Jacaranda, the Posada de San Francisco (at the center square), the modestly priced Quinta Loreto, and many bed and breakfasts. To get detailed information you can order the very reliable The Insider’s Guide to San Miguel from Archie Dean at 1900 Fox Drive, Suite 84, Box 178. McAllen Tx 78504-4119 for $14. It lists hotels, bed and breakfasts, apartments and most everything else you might want to know, including the bull fights (which I won’t discuss).

Medical care is often a concern of people with an eye to moving to Mexico. There are many well trained physicians and hospitals nearby, one of which in nearby Queretero, Hospital San Jose, will transfer you to Houston if you need sophisticated care.

If you are 62 years old there are inexpensive air fares valid for travel between the U.S, Mexico, Canada, Hawaii, Alaska and the Caribbean. These come in books of four trips a year and are offered by Continental and United Airlines, as well as others.

In the next installment, I will explore other aspects of this wonderful city.

With Photographs by Bill Begalke

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Yesterday. . .

On the night of September 15, 1810, Miguel Hidalgo y Costillo, the 57-year-old parish priest of Dolores, and Ignacio Allende learned that their plans for insurrection against Spain had been discovered. They decided to act immediately and soon after dawn the next morning, September 16, Padre Hidalgo delivered his now famous Grito (Cry for Freedom) from the Parroquia of Dolores. This was the beginning of Mexico’s struggle for freedom from Spanish rule which was to drag on until 1824 and take some 600,000 lives.

Dolores of that time was a poor, largely Indian village, but the ragged army of Hidalgo and Allende marched from here to San Miguel, then to Celaya and Salamanca until finally, having grown to a force of some 20,000 men, they had their first real confrontation with royalist troops in Guanajuato.

Hidalgo was captured after a final defeat in Guadalajara, then executed and beheaded on July 30, 1811. His head, along with those of Allende, Aldama and Jimenez, hung from one of the corners of the building in Guanajuato where that first battle had taken place.

Today…

As befits its place in the history of Mexico’s fight for independence, visitors to the city are greeted at the outskirts by a colossal statue (left) of the major heros of that fight.

Today, Dolores Hidalgo is justly well known as a center for the design and fabrication of the popular Talavera ceramic pieces. Small factories and ceramic shops line the streets of Dolores Hidalgo.

The ceramics industry of Dolores Hidalgo is yet another of the legacies left to his people by Padre Hidalgo, for it was he who started the tradition of making ceramics in this area.Other than its outstanding Talavera ceramics, there is one other thing for which Dolores Hidalgo is locally famous today – ice cream.

Ice cream stands abound on all four corners of the main plaza and, in what seems to be a local tradition, each tries to outdo the other in their offerings of unusual flavors. Aside from the usual and more mundane flavors such as vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and pecan, how about something a bit less common, like avocado ice cream? No? Then try some corn ice cream. And if that doesn’t appeal to you, how does fried pork skin ice cream strike you? Still no? Oh, maybe you’re in the mood to imbibe at the same time as you eat your ice cream, then perhaps some tequila ice cream or, another popular fermented drink, pulque appeals to you. But the final word in unusual flavors, it would seem, must be shrimp ice cream. That’s right, shrimp ice cream.

• Return to Colonial Cities Tour Index Page

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• | Guanajuato | Queretaro | San Miguel de Allende |

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San Miguel de Allende — Cradle of Mexican Independence

Yesterday. . .
Founded in 1542 by Fray Juan de San Miguel, a Franciscan monk, San Miguel de Allende retains a rich colonial charm with its cobblestone streets and beautiful Spanish colonial mansions, many of which have been restored to their former splendor. It’s a protected national monument; all new construction must conform to the colonial archictecture.

To put things into historical perspective, in the 1770s, when Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was little more than a frontier outpost with twenty log cabins, San Miguel de Allende already had a population of over 30,000, fattened by the rich gold and silver trade. Not even Boston with 16,000 or New York City and its 25,000 were as big. In the United States only Philadelphia of the time rivaled San Miguel de Allende in size. Today, San Miguel has some 80,000 inhabitants while those other cities have… well, grown a bit larger.

The thing most people notice first in San Miguel is The Parroquia (right), the pseudogothic church in the heart of San Miguel de Allende.

Legend has it that the architect of the facade (added in 1888) of the church had never seen a gothic church and had to take his ideas from picture postcards of the gothic cathedrals of Europe. Apparently not much of a draftsman, he drew pictures of his concept in the dirt in front of the church to show his workmen what he envisioned.

In the tombs beneath the main altar of the church are the remains of former bishops of the church and many dignitaries who once lived in San Miguel, including a former President of the Republic of Mexico. The tombs are open to the public just one day of the year, November 2, Día de los Muertos – The Day of the Dead.

Today. . .
San Miguel de Allende is a Mecca for the arts, with two major art institutes, numerous galleries and too many artists-in-residence to count. Attracted by this atmosphere, there’s a sizable foreign community, lending a cosmopolitan flavor to its activities.

Despite all that, it’s still quiet and tranquil. Try to imagine a town of 80,000 without one single traffic light. Got the picture? That’s San Miguel!

Plaza Civica

The guy on the horse there in the middle of the plaza is Ignacio Allende (this is San Miguel de Allende, remember?). He looks rather bellicose, but he ended up losing his head – literally; his head, along with those of Padre Hidalgo, Aldama and Jimenez, hung in cages on each the four corners of a building in Guanajuato from about 1811 until 1824 when Mexico finally gained its independence. The white building in the background was a school in the 1700’s and several of the leaders of the insurrection against Spain went to school there (including both Allende and Aldama). The church (seen just in front of the horse) was the chapel for the school at that time; it’s now the Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Salud – the Church of Our Lady of Health.

El Oratorio de San Felipe Neri

Right next door to the Plaza Civica is yet another of San Miguel’s many interesting churches, El Oratorio. It’s truly remarkable, primarily for what’s inside – La Santa Casa de Loreto, a chapel with beautifully ornate, gilded walls.

A Mexican casa can best be described as a flower garden surrounded by a house, as is evident in this composite photo of the interior patio of one of the many georgeous colonial homes in the center of San Miguel. This house is located at Calle Reloj #23, a block from the main jardin of San Miguel.

Continue Your Virtual Visit to: Dolores Hidalgo | Guanajuato | Queretaro |

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Three friends and I headed out of Ajijic for a three-day getaway. Our ultimate destination was León, but we traveled the back roads and visited some delightful villages and cities. The area northeast of Guadalajara is called Los Altos de Jalisco, which encompasses a zone of expansive high plateau plains. The panoramic views of the cerulean blue skies dotted lavishly with white cumulus clouds reminds me of big sky country in Montana.

This time of year, when the hills and mountains are so green, it is such a pleasure driving and enjoying the scenery. We took the cuota or toll road (highways 80 and 45) for part of the time. The rest of the trip we chose the libre (free) road.

We passed through Zapotlanejo, the doorway to the high plateau region, without stopping. I’d been there a couple times. It’s the wholesale district for clothing.

Heading into Tepatitlán, a city of 120,000 people, we parked and walked around the two central squares, peeking discretely into the Church of San Antonio while a funeral was in progress. Tepatitlán is a gracious town with two large squares in el centro. We ate a quick lunch and discovered that, besides being an important agricultural and cattle breeding center, much of the employment is in making bedspreads, and quilts. The town is known for the beauty, grace and good nature of its women and the fine bearing of its men. It is a town with many banks, nice new cars and obviously more middle-class Mexicans than you see in Ajijic and Chapala. You can definitely see a Spanish influence in the arches and beautiful frescos.

We drove quickly through the small village of Valle de Guadalupe. It was about 2 p.m. and the entire town seemed to be enjoying siesta. We had wanted to see some of the important archeological objects in the Municipal Palace, but it was closed. The village was originally a coach stop for travelers between Mexico City and Guadalajara.

Leaving the quota road, we headed about twelve miles south to San Miguel de Alto to see the “most beautiful town in Jalisco.” This town of 50,000 is mostly pink because of the pink limestone used on its facades, benches, arches, churches and in the main square of San Miguel. Some of the stonework on the buildings is fascinating. We felt from the stares of the few locals not on siesta, that foreigner women were rarely seen in the town. The town was lovely and clean, but I think there are far more beautiful towns in Mexico.

At about 4 p.m., we headed west towards León, passing briefly through San Julián, a town of 20,000 and 2,015 meters high. It reminded me of the tropics with its towering palm trees dividing the main road. Believed to have the most beautiful women in Mexico, it is said that even today, women are carried away by handsome charros to be taken in marriage. We were disappointed not to see the famed Christmas spheres for sale alongside the road, but perhaps here they took later siestas.

On to León, a city of about 1 million residents. I’d been there twice before and had enjoyed it. Compared to Guadalajara, besides being much smaller, it’s much cleaner — both the air and the streets. Street sweepers augment the work of the shopkeepers and homeowners who scrub the streets with buckets of soap and water each morning. We stayed at Hotel León, located conveniently in the center of town. The rooms were large and adequate. A beautiful restaurant entices many customers all hours of the day. An elevator operator managed the old-fashioned elevators with wrought iron doors that opened and closed at his beck and call.

Two marvelous large squares in León’s central plaza are edged with large trees precisely manicured in conical shapes. Outdoor restaurants and cafes dot the plaza and many blocks of pedestrian shopping is available free of traffic. León is the leather capital of Mexico. At an altitude of about 6,000 feet, it’s a little cooler in the winter than Guadalajara. Driving is civilized. I found my way around with few problems.

The first night we stopped at a downtown pub for a margarita and asked the waiter for a restaurant recommendation. We had a yen for Argentinean food and he knew of several such restaurants in León. He called and made reservations at the Argentilia, located on Avenida Campestre. It boasted a combination of Argentinean and Italian cuisine, nd is owned by Swiss people. The food was delicioso. The four of us shared a whole flank steak, grilled to perfection and helped ourselves to a magnificent antipasto and salad bar. The restaurant was fairly empty when we got there at 8 p.m., but by 10 p.m. when we left, most tables were filled.

The next day we split up. Linda and I (the shoppers) went to the shoe district where hundreds of permanent booths and buildings offer shoes, purses, jackets, saddles, belts and other leather goods at extraordinary prices. I bought some Christmas presents, we each bought a pair of shoes, then we lunched at a nearby Chinese restaurant before meeting up with our other two friends about 4 p.m.

There was a celebration in the plaza to raise money for the elderly. Several different groups provided live music and many booths run by volunteers offered various handicrafts for sale. We listened to the music awhile, enjoying a cappuccino each.

Afterwards, we decided to drive around and see some of the neighborhoods of León. At the outskirts of the city, many beautiful suburbs adorned the hillsides with fantastic views of León, lying serenely in the valley. We inadvertently bumped into Plaza Mayor, a large shopping center with Sam’s, Office Depot, Penny’s and a multitude of other stores.

Finally, as tummies began to grumble, we settled on dinner at Ma Come No on Lopez Mateos, Ote., which is the same as one of my favorite Guadalajara restaurants. Unfortunately, the salad bar didn’t compare and they charged an additional 38 pesos for it. In Guadalajara each meal is accompanied by the free salad bar.

Ah well, the waiter was delightful. He enjoyed practicing his English with us. After a day of walking and shopping, at least two of us were pretty tired. Back at the hotel, an excellent combo was playing. The piano player, backed up with a guitar and drums and accompanied by an excellent singer, provided us with an hour or two of Latino music — a perfect end to a perfect day.

In the morning at a nearby breakfast place, we watched thousands of people march by in various matching t-shirts. As near as I could tell, it was a religious celebration having to do with catechism. They sang and chanted and marched to music. Later, on a drive to pick up a few last minute leather items before returning home, we saw that the procession covered the sidewalk and part of the street, maybe ten abreast, for as far as we could see. I wish I had a better understanding of what was going on, but I appreciated everyone being on foot, because the traffic was practically non-existent.

Finally, on the way home, we detoured through Lagos de Moreno. The name is translated as “The Lakes of Moreno.” We strolled through a large tianguis near the center. A former Mexican president had declared the downtown area a national monument. The Templo del Calvario sits above the square and was inspired by the Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. We missed the Hacienda de la Cantera, where famous charros of the Pedrero family breed quarter horses, buffaloes, and game-cocks. Perhaps another time.

I like taking off on two to four day jaunts. There’s always so much to see and enjoy. I’ve decided León is a place I could definitely live. It has an airport, major hospitals, Sams and Office Depot! The weather is nice, the city is clean and the people are friendly. Maybe in another few years, I’ll be ready for another move.

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I recently returned from a wonderful trip down memory lane. My 40th high school reunion near San Jose, California allowed me to reconnect with friends I hadn’t seen in 40 years. The reunion was held where my new grandson lives, and besides getting reacquainted with Tyler, I spent 3 days with life-long friends tramping through the Gold Country.

What was interesting for me was that so few of my school friends had ventured past their home state. I was the only one living in a foreign country, and their incredulity truly amazed me. “Are you hiding from the IRS?” someone asked, tongue only slightly in cheek.

“You went there alone?” Another schoolmate asked. She, of course, had been married to the same guy since high school, and although they had wandered as far south as Southern California, she had never worked outside the home and her little world has been very protected…and predictable.

“I’ve lived alone since my children left home,” I replied, with a brief glimpse into the chasm of skepticism that separated us. “If I didn’t make decisions alone, didn’t go places alone, and didn’t design my life alone, I would never live my life. If I waited until someone was willing to share my life with me, life would just pass me by.”

Many of my classmates were looking at retiring from the one job they’d had all their lives. I remember listening to a speaker at a conference saying, “Kids graduating today will have, on average, six different careers in their lives.” I nudged the person sitting next to me and said, “I’m on my seventh one now. What’s the big deal?”

It took me reconnecting with kids I’d gone to school with for 12 years to see how different our choices had been. Mingling here in Ajijic with both full-time and part-time residents, I’m surrounded by people who have made similar choices to mine. We chose adventure over lethargy; we decided on lives of comfort over those filled with stress; we created lives of learning instead of becoming couch potatoes. Here, I’m the norm.

At Lakeside, most folks have lived lives full of travel and had multiple careers. They have taken paths less traveled and speak excitedly about the recent lecture series presented by a local PhD covering the history of India. Dinner conversation is lively, punctuated with anecdotes from Peace Corps volunteers who had served the people of New Guinea or developers who had created low-income housing for the poor in South Africa.

In a pre-reunion get together at the local hotel, I observed the interactions, trying to see if the same cliques from high school gravitated towards each other. They did. Like our times at school dances, the guys (several now bald, with beards and paunches) gravitated to one side of the room, while the ladies congregated on the other side. It was interesting to note that so many of the married folks left their spouses at home. I think that was a great idea. It must be very boring for husbands and wives who don’t know any of the friends.

I can’t count how many of my classmates said, “I’d love to come and visit you.” I told them my door was always open. It’ll be interesting to see if anyone actually does come down.

Of course, I had pictures of my new grandbaby, and one of my high school friends had just had her first grandchild a few weeks before. Others spoke proudly of their great grandchildren. That’s probably the biggest single problem for expats living abroad-being away from their families. I’ll miss my grandson’s first words, his first steps and probably his first little league game. I’m counting on my son to send lots of pictures and to let me share little Tyler’s growing up vicariously through emails.

Living abroad definitely isn’t the “Father Knows Best” and “Donna Reed” lifestyle. We, who choose to be expats, must also choose not to live life through our children. Sometimes these are lonely choices… but only until the next brunch, little theater presentation, or lively game of Mexican Train with friends.

San Miguel de Allende Revisited

I had the opportunity to speak at a recent International Living Travel Writer’s conference in San Miguel de Allende, another lovely colonial town about a five-hour drive from Ajijic. The 35 folks attending, were exploring both the possibility of another career change and to discover a way to travel and get paid for it. About a third of the group was interested in pursuing the possibility of living in Mexico. Most were middle-aged and they came from a wide variety of backgrounds.

I spoke on the last day and talked about how I ended up with a writing career. Those of you who have followed these columns, already know that story. It was interesting to note, though, that in school I had been the high school paper news editor. Funny, isn’t it, how life sometimes comes full circle.

About six months ago, a Lakeside visitor and writer asked me to review the first chapter of her book. I did and during a lively conversation over lunch, she asked me a philosophical question: “If you were guaranteed success, if there was no chance of failure… what would you do?” Think about that one for a minute.

The miracle was that I had been asked that same question a couple of decades ago. The previous answer returned to me like magic. “I’d publish a magazine.” Of course, back then I wasn’t a writer. I had no knowledge of the publishing business and I’ve no idea where the answer came from. My visualization was a glossy, color printed magazine. Yet, here I am today, together with Judy King, publishing an on-line magazine. We’re preparing our first anniversary issue as I write this column.

The message here is: Be careful what you ask for!

We all stayed at a lovely place, La Puertecita Boutique Hotel, located on the outskirts of town. The hotel, with its many different buildings scattered alongside a large hill, afforded us all the chance to get into shape. I’ve never walked up and down so many steps in one day! The setting was lovely, the food delicious, and the service exceptional.

My friend, Hilary, offered to drive to San Miguel with me. It took us exactly five hours, going through Leon and Irapuato; then west towards Queretero and finally, north to San Miguel. We stayed on the toll highway as long as possible.

During the question and answer session, one of the participants asked me to compare San Miguel with Ajijic. My first response was a disclaimer. I’m sure you could ask ten different people that question and get ten different answers. However, I thought you might be interested in my perception.

First, I chose Lakeside because of its better weather and closer proximity to an International Airport. It takes me exactly 30 minutes from my front door to the airport pick up area. From San Miguel, you need to fly out of either Leon or Mexico City, 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 hours away. San Miguel is too cold for me in the winter.

On the other hand, San Miguel is a city as opposed to a village and offers great shopping, restaurants and evening entertainment. Ajijic and Chapala typically close down around 9 p.m., although in the high season with the influx of snowbirds, there are more late-night activities to choose from.

It’s more expensive to live in San Miguel by about 10-15%. And I feel that there is a certain class-consciousness there that’s hard to define. It seems to be more important which neighborhood you live in. I noticed that people dress up more in San Miguel, whereas Lakeside tends to be more casual.

Both areas are filled with local artists, writers and craftspeople. Because San Miguel is larger, they offer more in the way of classes, from intensive Spanish language classes to jewelry making at the famed Art Institute.

I’ve heard folks from San Miguel say about Chapala, that it’s filled with drunken military retirees. Not so. Perhaps decades ago, before the greater population discovered Lakeside, there was some truth to that; but now, the few I’ve ever seen are no more than you’d find in any town.

Fortunately, we don’t all want to live in the same country, town or in the same type of housing. It’s the differences, not the similarities in people which I find makes them interesting.

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Cogan’s Reviews

A Mexico book by Tony Cohan

As novelist and travel writer Tony Cohan says in his narrative about San Miguel de Allende: “My editor wanted me to write about life here in the region where we live. At that time, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato and Querétero ranked a page or two each in the guide books, day stops or overnighters on a tour of the ‘silver cities,’ the subject of an occasional tourist piece in a Sunday travel section, the ‘charming little town hidden away in the Mexican mountains.’ Don’t put a gloss on it, the editor said. Tell what life is really like, the good and the bad. Tell the truth a good fiction writer knows.”

That’s essentially what Cohan has done here in this attractive narrative about the fifteen years he and his artist wife, Masako, have spent in San Miguel.

Here’s Cohan describing their dissatisfaction with life in Los Angeles and the decision to take a look at Mexico, fifteen years ago: “At dinners I listened politely to friends’ conversations about the price of real estate, projects in development, notable recent crimes. After a cultural night out I lay in bed reviewing the drive there and back, the parking experience, where I put my keys – the event itself barely recalled. I left messages on machines; they were returned in kind. Surrounded by art, music, information and food, I saw, heard, thought or tasted little. A series of robberies and killings erupted in our neighborhood: first the Bob’s Big Boy murders, in which the victims were executed; then a robbery at a favorite restaurant two blocks away, the customers mugged and herded into a freezer; then a break-in at the house next door.” And so on…. So when Masako found a glowing Gourmet magazine article on an attractive looking Mexican mountain village called San Miguel, complete with glorious color spreads the couple decided to check it out.

The result is 250 pages of exploration of the town, the area, and particularly the Mexican people. It’s a book that is very much on a par with Frances Mayes’ Under the Tuscan Sun.

It would appear that the San Miguel area hadn’t been discovered by large numbers of American and Canadian retirees back in 1985, when the couple made their first exploratory visit. Cohen makes the comment early on that gringos comprised only two per cent of the population. However, at the end of his narrative – fifteen years later – he says: “Last week I went to a party where there were more gringos than there used to be in the entire town.”

The couple have remained – spending several months of each year there – since 1985, first staying in the Ambos Mundos hotel and finally deciding to sell their home in California. Eventually, however they bought an old house, an experience which takes up a good chunk of the story. The house they started with is described thus: “…ravaged walls, floor rot, broken panes of glass, strands of electrical wire hanging loose like Christmas decorations. It’s like coming upon the ruined hull of a once-great ship.” It would appear from the narrative that that’s still their address.

I should point out, however, that if you’re looking for a ‘bricks and mortar’ account of house restoration, you won’t find it here. It’s not Cohan’s style. Rather, he has a philosophical approach to all of the work that obviously had to be done and which must have gone on for some considerable time. “Each week we work in the house a little less, live in it a little more. We try to remember we have time: that time is in fact the whole idea. We war with gringo compulsions to fall ‘under the lash of completion….’ We bought the house not to renovate it but to live in it: an end in itself, a site of pleasure and revelation. We have no plans to sell it. It’s paid for in full. Let’s grow into the place, let it speak to us…..”

There actually aren’t a lot of gringos in this book. Most of Cohan’s acquaintances seem to be Mexicans. He obviously enjoys their company and has some interesting observations to make about them.

“Mexicans tend to present a serious demeanor until the least zone of safety is established: then laughter, wit and jokes pour forth. This beguiling blend of wit and dignity makes them generally nice to be around. People who dance with skeletons and skulls, have a Day of the Locos, endure an abysmal government with scornful laughter, are dark absurdists.”

He also makes an interesting observation that, as a rule, Mexicans don’t care for views. Rooftops are for dogs and refuse. And gringos, too, I might add. In Ajijic, where we live, the gringos place high value on a good view, and there are some very good ones. But Mexicans seem to prefer walls and enclosures, which becomes quite obvious when you stroll around this Lakeshore area.

If I’ve quoted a lot from this book it’s because I find Cohan a quotable writer. I also enjoyed his upbeat approach to life.

In my humble O: If you have any interest at all in Mexico, this is one you should read.

On Mexican Time: A New Life in San Miguel
By Tony Cohan

Broadway Books 1999

Available from Amazon Books: Paperback and Hardcover

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Cogan’s Reviews

I started to read this book expecting to hate it. However, I’m not going to end up saying I read it, and then loved it. Despite some pretty obvious problems, it was a bit better than I expected. The good thing about “Mexico” is that Michener has done enormous research in order to write it. The problem is that he hasn’t left out one single thing that he learned along the way. I have never read a book that is so stuffed full of information and where such an unwieldy plot has been devised in order to try and turn it into a novel.

I suppose when you get that famous and prolific, editors and publishers don’t have the nerve to edit you, or tell you you’re overdoing it. In any event, after wading through 646 pages of “Mexico”, I guarantee you’ll never catch this reader picking up “Alaska”, or “Poland”, or “Space”, even though, in fairness, there are some very interesting passages in “Mexico”.

Michener, in my humble opinion, has set himself an impossible task with this novel. He wants to cover 1,500 years of Mexican history, from every point of view – Indian, Spanish and American. So he has created a man, Norman Clay, who has Indian, Spanish and American blood in his family’s past. Norman is a photo-journalist with a U.S. magazine who is sent to Mexico to write about bullfighting. In the process he explores his family’s history. He’s still connected with the leading family in the town that he visits. This connection allows him entry into everything and anything. The town, by the way, is called Toledo but is really Guanajuato. God knows why Michener felt he had to change it. Anyway, the actual telling of all of this is so clumsy and awkward it simply doesn’t work. There’s a complete absence of any kind of smoothly flowing narrative.

It’s interesting to note that Michener wrote this novel in the ‘sixties, but it wasn’t published until 1992. I think the fact that he put it aside for thirty years tells us something about the author’s own attitude to the manuscript. What Michener has done in this book, is simply, to tell a bunch of stories: some set in Spain 500 years ago; some set in Mexico more than a thousand years ago; some set in present day Mexico; some set in Revolutionary America. Each has a common thread. One of Norman’s ancestors is a player in each story. As Norman has Indian, Spanish and American ancestors, this allows Michener to manipulate the slender threads that hold all of this together. At the same time, however, he seemingly can’t resist stuffing all his research into each of these narratives. It just doesn’t work.

The loose format however, does allow Michener to deliver opinions on a number of subjects. He tells us about human sacrifice practised by the Aztecs but reminds us, in some detail, that the Spanish Inquisition was no less gruesome. He gives us lengthy dissertations on Spanish poets and the Spanish preoccupation with death, as well as the American love of violence. He gives us a dissertation on how big money has affected both American basketball vs bullfighting. “In basketball nothing is honest,” a Mexican critic says. “Everything has been corrupted from the university president down to the home of the high school player. In bullfighting every human element has been corrupted. The difference is, the bull remains honest….”

At least a third of the book is concerned with bullfighting. The author knows a lot about that too, and wants to tell us everything. The descriptions of bullfights often seem interminable. I’ve never been to a bullfight. I’ve been checking lately and few of my friends here have been to bull fights. I never hear or read about bullfights. They’re just not really part of my consciousness of Mexico. Yet Michener obviously sees them as an integral and important part of the Mexican scene, as some sort of metaphor for the Mexican character.

“In Mexico they don’t regard bullfighting as a sport. It’s an art,” one character says. And another remarks: “I bought a book the other day that was supposed to be about bullfighting, but the outsider would have thought it was an essay on religion.”

Much of the research is interesting. But, as I said earlier, it just doesn’t all hang together as a single cohesive narrative.

Surprisingly, despite hundreds of pages devoted to bullfighting, Michener has almost nothing to say about the actual country that we all see right under our noses. In all those chapters about Aztec architects and Spanish conquerers and American adventurers and bullfighters and miners and missionaries and lovers, it’s as though one was reading about a Mexico that belonged only in history. There’s very little here about the country and the people as they are today. I’m told Michener knew and loved Mexico, but he writes as though his knowledge came only from books. It almost comes as a physical shock to read, on page 394, a small outburst, as follows:

“This was rural Mexico, almost as impoverished and ignored as the worst of what I had seen when reporting on Haiti. It infuriated me to know that the Mexican political party that had run the nation for most of this century had called itself something like the People’s Revolutionary Party and had loudly preached social justice for all, winning election after election on that windy promise, but when installed, had proved itself to be a callous oligarchy. A small group of buddies had passed the presidency from one to another, each coming into office with modest means and leaving after six years with hundreds of millions, usually hidden in Swiss banks. The so-called revolutionaries stole the country blind, allowing or even forcing the peasants to sink deeper and deeper into abject poverty. Few nations had been ruled so cynically, which was why so many peasants wanted to escape to the good jobs, houses and food in the United States.”

Michener goes on for a few more paragraphs in that vein – but that’s essentially it. Anyway, if you want to learn something about Mexico, this really isn’t the best place to start.

Verdict: An interesting failure.

Mexico
By James Michener

1992

Available from Amazon Books: Paperback -|- Hardcover -|- Audio Cassette

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Cogan’s Reviews

Here’s a guidebook with a very definite difference. It doesn’t just set out in the usual way to give you a rundown on the community and make suggestions on what to do and where to go. Rather, Joseph Harmes, has put together a rather incredible list of ‘bests’ – some 126 pages of them in fact – to be found in San Miguel de Allende.

These range, alphabetically, from Best Art Displays to where to find the Best Yogurt. In between you can mull over several hundred “bests”, from Best Views to Best Dance Classes; from Best Tennis Courts to Best Places to Take Out-of-Towners; from Best Parks to Best Hidden Attractions; from Best Tortillas to Best Ways to Avoid Travellers Diarrhea… and so on.

I should add that those 126 pages of Bests include, as you mighty expect, 26 pages devoted to dining out, such as best pizza, best pozole, best restaurants when someone else is paying, best street food, best breakfasts, best late night dining – some 118 categories in all. And there are a further 75 categories devoted to drinks and libations, just in case you’re keen on tracking down the perfect margarita or locating the Best Happy Hour in town.

Shoppers are also very well catered to. Here you’ll find a long list of categories such as best T-shirt shops, best gift shops, best greeting cards, best jewelry, best glassware, best lingerie, and so on. It sounds like a shopper’s paradise. There are some forty pages devoted to Shops and Services.

Author Harmes, a former journalist with Time, Newsweek and People, is now a fulltime resident of San Miguel. He makes a couple of claims in his introduction. First, he has personally visited every one of the hundreds of listings in his book. Second, all his information is up-to-date and accurate up to November 2004.

An interesting feature of this unique guide is that it is completely bilingual. Read the book in English or turn it over 180 degrees and – presto! – you’re reading the complete Spanish version. And – oh, yes – it’s nicely illustrated with color and black-and-white photos.

The author describes San Miguel as “the most prosperous town of its size anywhere in Mexico, in most part because of the tens of millions of dollars pumped into it by visitors and foreign residents and this wealth’s multiplier effect on the local economy.” When I look at the pace at which the Lake Chapala area is growing and the copious real estate ads and the hordes of snowbirds and tourists who come here every winter, plus all the construction that is going on, I wonder about the accuracy of Harmes’ claim. However, there’s no need to argue about it: both locations are obviously prospering.

Harmes gives his mission statement as follows: “Visitors stay in San Miguel a short period of time. This get-to-the-point book accelerates the learning curve by directing them to the best of the best in order to make the most of a brief, or even a long-term visit.” And he’s done a first-rate job of carrying out his mission. Indeed, I would imagine that even long term residents would find items they didn’t know about beforehand.

You’ll come across many pages of Holidays and Events with each one fully described for the entire year, including each of the Saints’ Days, National Holidays and copious other festivals and excuses to launch firecrackers. Some 75 festivals and holidays are celebrated annually. Harmes also manages to cover quite a bit of history and culture in his discussion of these events and other aspects of the town. He hasn’t just produced a book of lists. There’s a lot of interesting background material woven throughout his “Bests”.

I said earlier that this is a guidebook with a difference, and one of those differences is that Joseph Harmes isn’t just dealing in straightforward information. He also takes an entertaining and playful approach to a lot of the things he’s telling us. Thus we get “bests” like Best Bathrooms for a Quickie, Best Grafitti, Best Sex Toys, Best Haunted House, Best Places to Dump a Body, and so on. And how about Best Reason to Pet, Thank & Kiss a Dog? I liked Best Place to Escape Foreigners – Three miles in any direction from El Jardin.

And he’s not above being critical either. But he couches his criticisms in “best” terms, such as the Best Eyesores – namely, high voltage lines, and by identifying a few buildings that don’t enhance the look of the place.

By a happy coincidence, my wife and I plan on a ten-day visit to San Miguel in March. Already we’re looking forward to dropping in on several of the places mentioned in Joseph Harmes’ book. I’m sure we’ll have a better visit because of it.

In my humble O: This one’s a winner. And it comes with its own Spanish version, too. If you have any thought of visiting San Miguel sometime in the near future, you’d be crazy if you didn’t pick up a copy before you leave home.

The Best of San Miguel de Allende
By Joseph Harmes

Available from Amazon Books: Paperback

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