Blogs from San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico, North America - page 3

Gotta confess. There was nothing dangerous about it. Mostly, it felt like cheating. We were armchair builders, watching our Mexican house happen in photos, two borders and 5000 kilometres away from us. All summer long, we sat in a double armchair up north, supervising complicated instalments as if they were easy, destroying and reconstructing like we were gods. But let me back up. I was the one who, after a year of looking, found the spot. Stumbling onto it, I felt goose bumps rise on the back of my neck. The house was tall and dilapidated, with a magnificent jungle in the backyard, the kind that holds promise. There was nothing redeemable about the house itself and it didn’t take much persuading to have it torn down. But the land was something else. A double lot ... read more

In a world distracted by beheadings and Ebola, a surfeit of horrors, who can concern themselves with the disappearance of forty-three young men from a rural teachers’ college in Ayotizinapa, a small town in Mexico’s Guerrero province? Forty-three Mexican mothers, for starters. Fast-forwarding to the alleged conclusion, the nation’s Attorney General claims that the students were abducted by police by order of the local mayor, then turned over to a gang that killed them and burned their bodies before throwing their remains into a river. Some say that the government is getting ahead of itself in order to end the protests and get the public to stop demanding answers. The Arab Spring, after all, was born by one man’s brave protest and self-immolation in Tunisia. His youthful refusal to accept the status quo sparked a revolution ... read more

===English version below=== Onze eerste Mexicaanse huisoppas opdracht is in San Miguel de Allende. Iedereen lijkt het te kennen, wil er zijn, zou er graag willen wonen. We lijken wel de laatste twee mensen die er nog nooit van gehoord hebben. Veel Amerikanen hebben het wel al ontdekt. 15% van de bevolking zijn buitenlanders. Het blijkt inderdaad een zeer speciale stad te zijn. Unesco werelderfgoed met heel veel kunstenaars, koloniale gebouwen, vele goede restaurants, hotels en culturele evenementen. We vragen ons af of de Mexicaanse charme op termijn niet verloren zal gaan wanneer nog meer buitenlanders de binnenstad bevolken ? Het weer voelt overdag aan als een mooie lentedag. 's Morgens en 's avonds kan het fris worden. Wij zijn hier om op 3 honden en een kanarie te passen. De kanarie en de waakhond Maggie ... read more

From San Miguel with love Neuf heures et des poussières de "char"ça use plus que les souliers,ça use les nerfs,mais bon tu penses à autre chose,tu regarde le décor,pas trop tout de même parce que "bobonne" a l'oeil.....laisse faire les vaches,t'en a déjà vu non,et regarde devant je te raconterai ce que t'as manqué.Sypatique tout même,j'aurai droit à un compte rendu photos un peu plus tard,c'est à se demander si un chauffeur n'aurait pas mieux fait l'affaire.La route de PV à Guadalajara c'est la montagne au début et de l'autoroute par la suite,celle de Guadalajara à Guanajuato encore de l'autoroute,mais là ou ça devient intéressant pour les sportifs c'est de Guanajuato à San Miguel;90 km de lacets à 5000 pieds d'altitude sans garde-fous bourrés de mexicains téméraires pour qui un dépassement à l'aveugle procure une dose ... read more

We put our coats on for the first time in more than a year today. We had enjoyed great weather in San Miguel for the last month when last night it turned windy and cold for the first time in the month that we have spent here. Suddenly about 2 AM our terrace door blew open and a cold wind passed through the house. The windows rattled and a ghostly sound filled the night. We awoke this morning to blustery skies and a light drizzle for the first time since our arrival. We have spent a good portion of our time in the last few weeks just walking around the streets of San Miguel’s Centro area. During our journey we have normally not gone more than a couple of days without getting into the car and ... read more