Guanajuato, Mexico -- Changes

I find it strange and a little bit comforting how making a move can improve the quality of your life in sometimes considerable ways.

I've gotten in verbal donnybrooks with gringos who tell me that geographical cures never work. I had no idea then, and have no idea now, where someone gets that line of reasoning but the expats, at least some of them, tend to go along that line of "mis"-reasoning.

We moved December 31, 2009 from an area of Guanajuato called Pastita. Without a doubt, I do not believe I would ever recommend this barrio to anyone. The reasons are many but one in particular is the filthy river.

For some reason, whereas the rest of the world understands that a trash can or dumpster is for throwing your garbage, the good people of Pastita think the river is for throwing their garbage into it. The reason I know this is because my wife and I witnessed them doing so for the past seven years. We got to know the regulars by sight and actually got to know where in Pastita they lived.

The consequences has been horrific.

There is nothing but death in the river. Not even mutant fish live there. And, even with the once or twice a year well-advertised "Let's-Clean-Up-The-River" Campaign, it is not twenty-four hours before huge amounts of trash are seen floating about.

Now….mind you that the Gringos in the fair city of Guanajuato tell their friends and love ones that I am a liar. For writing about this and among other things I am called The Most Hated Gringo in All of Mexico and even the WORLD.

So, if you would dare to want to test whether what I say is true or not try this simple test: MOVE TO PASTITA.

Move there during the hot months and take a leisurely stroll down the river walk in Pastita and take a deep breath. Smell the air. Look in the river. Try sitting along the river and watch to see who it is throwing their trash into the river with trash dumpsters not ten feet away from them.

Where we live now, it is clean, no toxic air to breathe in, and the car traffic is all but nonexistent. And the noise pollution is almost zero.

I would say a change in geography did us a world of good.

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A Walk Through Mexico's Crown Jewel: A Guanajuato Travelogue CLICK HERE

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