Weather

One of the things which attracted us to the city of Guanajuato, and indeed Central Mexico, was, and I know this sounds cliche, The Weather.

It has been a wonderful weather ride here in Mexico's Crown Jewel with the Eternal Springtime one reads of in the guidebooks. It is consistently warm, fair weather that makes life far more enjoyable than where we came from in the States, Kansas City, where the icy winters can freeze the power lines cause you to go without heat for two weeks, or longer, at a time. We definitely do not miss that.

As I write these words, it is 10/21/2012, 4:30pm, and it is a warm Sunday afternoon and very much like Springtime outside. Believe it or not, I am running a fan in my room right now.

The Guanajuato weather is not always as agreeable as it is this afternoon. Though having the nickname, Eternal Springtime, it can get nasty with flash-flood rains, freezing-cold January days, and humidity enough to straighten anyone's hair in the rainy season. But, it all seems to me to be short-lived when the weather becomes a little contrary.

Afterall, Eternal Springtime has to has to take a vacation sometime.

Siamese Update

We got the cat, who was in an uncharacteristically laid-back mode (go figure), to the vet for his rabies shot. He will get his other vaccinations (respiratory stuff) in six months.

The cat, Nicolae,  for some reason, known only to him, cooperated and is now happy as cane be killing small mammals, murdering songbirds, and breaking and entering neighbor's homes and stealing children's toys and bringing them home to us.

All is well once again on the cat front.

Guanajuato, Mex -- Your Tax Dollars

This blog is cheerfully and merrily dedicated to all those Gringos who are on their way to live in Mexico. It is written with the motive that those who are coming here would really evaluate if this is what they want to do.

Let me share a story with you all. It is true. The names, dates, and other personal info has all be changed to protect the innocent.

If you are retiring here know that the American government does not trust direct deposit into Mexican banks. If you get Social Security and want it deposited into a Mexican bank, this can be done. But, here is how it works.

What SSA does is transfer it to the bank of the American Embassy in Mexico City. From there it is sent to your Mexican bank account. For example, your $1,200.00 US dollars is sent to the Embassy's bank where it is converted to Mexican pesos then transferred to your Mexican bank account.

Well, I can hear you pontificate, I have my Social Security deposited to my bank account in the States.

Well...I respond...the US Feds will eventually figure out that you do not really live in the States and will snatch your account right out from underneath you.

For real, I am not joking. Unless you live in the States, and they will verify this, you have to have a Mexican Bank account and will have your American bank account seized. You have to live FULL TIME in the States to maintain your American Bank account. If you put your daughter's address, or whoever, down as your place of residence, and someone's American phone number, they will check this out.

LET ME REITERATE: Unless you have a American address and phone number where you reside full time, they will close your account and seize your money.

So, if you cannot find a nefarious way around this, you will have to have a Mexican Bank account--you will have no choice.

Now, let's say you get your SSDI or SSI payment on the third of the month. According to the SSA Rules, when your payment date falls on a Saturday or Sunday, that is the third of the month falls on a weekend day, then you should be paid on the Friday before your payment date. Get that? If you get your check on the third and the third falls on a Sunday, then you'll be paid on the first which would be a Friday.

Got that?

Well...in Mexico this doesn't work that way.

If your payment date falls on the third of the month and the third is on a Saturday or Sunday, you will not get paid on the first which would be a Friday. You will get paid sometime that following week and when exactly is anyone's guess.

I mean this most sincerely. The Mexican nationals who work at the Social Security Office in the American Embassy do not get that the SSA office sends your payment on the first if your normal payment date falls on a weekend.

Now that I think of it, this applies to whatever dates: If you normally get your check on a certain date that falls on a weekend you should get your payment on the Friday before.

THESE ARE THE RULES ONLY THE MEXICANS RUNNING THE SHOW IN MEXICO CITY AT THE EMBASSY DO NOT KNOW OR UNDERSTAND THIS.

Did you hear my screeching alright?

Right now, even as I speak, there is couple who have no money for rent, no money for life sustaining medications, no money for food, no money for anything because the SSA Office in Mexico City is illegally holding this couple's money.

Here's what Mexican truly do not get by a true democracy. A government within a real democracy is that the government is WE THE PEOPLE. The Mexican nationals employed by the Embassy do not work for the Embassy or a group of politicians, or a governmental entity.

They work for WE THE PEOPLE and when on Embassy grounds, they are on American soil and therefore work for WE THE PEOPLE!

The man on SSDI, Social Security Disability, called the SSA Office. The Mexican national male laughed at him repeatedly and especially so when told of this man's illnesses and that without at least four of his medications he could die.

THE MEXICAN NATIONAL LAUGHED AT HIM!

So, that, among many things, is what you are up against if you plan on moving to Mexico.

Now...if you are asking yourself just how this applies to you if you never move to Mexico, let me elaborate.

If you are an American citizen and are reading this, know that a portion of your taxes, your hard earned income taken from your pay each week, goes to support not only the American Embassy, but the Social Security Office within the American Embassy that has Mexican nationals as their incompetent and unwilling-to-help your fellow Americans as employees. They are allowed to neglect their jobs for Religious Holidays causing your fellow Americans to suffer from lack of money to pay their bills and access health care.

If you want to express how you feel about how your taxes are being wasted with these SSA Mexican nationals click here to send an email:

Send SSA an Email -- Juarez
Send SSA an Email -- Guadalajara
Send SSA an Email -- MEXICO CITY (Hit this one if choosing just one)

Why not send your feelings to all three addresses to see if you get a response?

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Guanajuato, Mex -- Winds of Change

The immigration procedures for Mexico are changing. There's a lot of confusion out there as to what is going to happen. I have an "insider" friend who said not even the officials at the immigration office knows what to expect or is going on. Figures.

Here is an article that sounds good but in the end, who really knows?

Mexico Simplifies Visa Procedures.

If there's anything I have learned in living in this country for so many years, it is that nothing is ever as it seems and the Twilight Zone Effect will also come into effect.

Moral: You have to just wait and see.

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Guanajuato, Mexico - TV Mexican Style

Plan on getting cable or satellite if you are moving to Guanajuato or any where in the country. I do not have cable or satellite. I have the regular "rabbit ears" TV that draws in the one local channel and all the national channels signals.

Mexican TV programming is strange to say the least. In reality, if I were to try to use one word to describe it, Mexican TV programs are its commercials. It is not comprised of the telenovelas and/or the dubbed American programs like Criminal Minds, The Big-Bang Theory, Smallville, etc... What it is are commercials that takes breaks for two to three minutes of shows.

Confusing? You bet and you cannot begin to grasp this, trust me.

For example, I will try and watch The Big-Bang Theory to see what Sheldon is up to in this week's episode. The program is in Spanish so I have to listen extra carefully since the Sheldon character can talk fast. Two minutes into the opening of the show, they go to a commercial. When I say, "to a commercial" what I mean is 35-50 commercials.

This is what it is like with any and all so-called TV programming in Mexico. They break away in the most inopportune times, sometimes in the middle of a fight scene and dialog, and show so many commercials that no human being on this planet can possibly remember what was happening in the show before they broke away. You would have to be an android to keep up.

There have been times when I forgot what show I was watching because there were so many commercials.

The only exceptions I have seen are when they are showing a soccer game. They break away to commercials during time outs and come back before play resumes.

It so figures.

In American TV they usually break way to commercials at the end of a scene in the program. In Mexican TV they have no sense whatsoever what constitutes a scene. They will break away when the actor takes her next breathe reciting her dialog. I mean this. You should see it. They will do this as a punch is being thrown in a tremendous fight scene before the actor's fist hits the bad guy's jaw, show ten minutes of commercials, then when they return you can even find an entirely different TV show on when the show you were watching still had 15-30 minutes to go.

In the middle of a fist being thrown, give me a break!

And, as if that isn't mind numbing, you can never, in a million years, count on a show coming on when it is advertise to come on.

I was waiting for TERMINATOR 3 to come one on Sunday night. It was advertised to begin at 7:00 P.M. and this ad telling the start time appeared at each "commercial break."

Bah!

As seven o'clock rolled around they kept showing "Law and Order" which they began at a quarter to seven. Terminator 3 began at 8:15 P.M.

Then...then...then all through the Terminator 3 program, at each "commercial break" they would show the ad for the Terminator 3 movie saying that it will begin at 7:00 P.M. when the show had already started.

At the end of the movie, well into the next movie, they kept showing the seven o'clock start time for Terminator 3.

This is how it is here. I've been told that cable is sometimes worse and the shows never start on time and often are not the show advertised at all.

Solution: Get satellite dish and draw in American TV shows from America.

###

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Click On This Link Reach The ROCKET SPANISH Website!

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Guanajuato, Mexico - The New GTOLIST

If you don't have a lot to do and are interested in touching basis with Guanajuato Expats check out this site: www.gtolist.com which is, I must admit, pretty slick. If the site's cool splash page is any indication of how successful the site will be, it will do very well.

What it is, is a forum. The setup is smart and snappy. It has a broad range of categories to which you can post. Or, if you are the lurker type, you can just read.

Forums can be informative, fun, and relaxing. They can also be a battle ground of disagreement, verbal donnybrooks, and sometimes participants resorting to even threatening you. Of course, that's why most have moderators.

I suppose some think that name calling at the very least and threats of physical harm at the very worst can be disguised under the umbrella of "Freedom of Speech." I could be wrong, though.

I used to be a network moderator for the Internet Relay Chat. There were times when on this live chat format that I had to ban users from the network. They would become so abusive that the chat room owner(s) would ask me to ban them.

I can't wait to see how this new www.gtolist.com works out. I wish it the best. It looks like it is far more interesting than the other gto_list.

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Resources

1. THE PLAIN TRUTH ABOUT LIVING IN MEXICO
2. A WALK THROUGH MEXICO'S CROWN JEWEL - A Guanajuato Travelogue
3. ROCKET SPANISH
4. LEARNING SPANISH LIKE CRAZY

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Guanajuato, Mexico - Arrogant Americans Need Not Apply

I can hear the screaming coming from the other side of the world. I have readers there, you know. Thailand comes to mind, if you must know.

I didn't say that, "Arrogant Americans." Someone else did and when they did it raised all sorts of hell.

An information technology staffing firm based in Rolling Meadows, Ill., posted an advertisement for a technical writer that warned that an "arrogant American" would not flourish in the position. "Exelon is looking to provide these proposals to Chinese businesses, so someone who is respectful and understands Chinese culture is preferred. An arrogant American will not work well in this role," the listing read. - SOURCE

Of course, the ad firm took it down as soon as the threats of lawsuits began flying faster than geese during hunting season. Such hues and cries of, "offensive and inappropriate" and "Exelon is deeply committed to diversity and inclusion" were heard. Viva USA, an information technology consulting firm took the ad down. They shouldn't have.

Americans are now the "we can do no wrong" crowd and don't you dare saying otherwise. If you do, we will sue your buttock based on the profound legal precedent of "hurt feelings."

Actually they will quote the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as the basis of suing you, but let's face it, they will come after you based on how tight that knot in their panties got twisted.

There is a reason why the ad originally read as it did. Americans come across to the rest of the world as an arrogant lot. It just has to be the "I am American hear me roar" attitude that it perceived as sour grapes by the rest of the world. It is "The American way or it's the highway" also tastes a little bitter to the rest of humanity.

In Mexico, you have to take a really long time developing relationships with Mexicans before you can discuss American arrogance with them. They don't want to offend and when they are assured they won't offend you, the info flows like water.

The Mexican also hates American arrogance.

Learn Spanish, take a few years to develop a trusting relationship, and they will most certainly tell you so.

##

Resources

1. THE PLAIN TRUTH ABOUT LIVING IN MEXICO
2. A WALK THROUGH MEXICO'S CROWN JEWEL - A Guanajuato Travelogue
3. ROCKET SPANISH
4. LEARNING SPANISH LIKE CRAZY

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Guanajuato, Mexico -- Crime Every Place

The State of Guanajuato is third in the nation for highway robberies of tractor-trailer trucks. - Source

Check out NBC's Dateline Report on San Miguel de Allende Kidnappings--CLICK HERE

***


I am a little shocked that chapala.com would carry stories of crime against gringos that could affect real estate sales and touris. Yet this poster, Linda, claims as much in her post. Tourists are crime magnets. It happens all over the world and yet Gringolandians will go through all manner of mental acrobatics to explain it away.

Things are going to get a lot worse before they get worse.

—Lily Tomlin

Source -- Re:Assaults/Weapons was My casita in March

HI Everyone,

Twice this week on chapala.com I read about people being assaulted in broad
daylight, two with guns, with two being injured by the perpetrators. Until
there was blood, noone lifted a hand to help one of the victims. In two of the
attacks, cars were sought; the third was apparently done by someone high on
drugs. Two were in Ajijic area; one in Jocotepec.

Does Lakeside still seem like a safe place to live? Even New York isn't like
this!!! I sure don't want to have to be afraid all the time whether out and
about or in my home! Any wisdom on this? I'm thinking other places in Mexico
might be much better to live in.

Linda

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Resources

1. THE PLAIN TRUTH ABOUT LIVING IN MEXICO
2. A WALK THROUGH MEXICO'S CROWN JEWEL - A Guanajuato Travelogue
3. ROCKET SPANISH
4. LEARNING SPANISH LIKE CRAZY

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Guanajuato, Mexico - A Great Mystery

A "Who's Who of American Writers", Journalist and Author, Fellow and Diplomate of the International Editor's Association, Cy Bolinger read one of my books and here is what he had to say:

Having just finished Cindi and Doug Bower’s book, “Guanajuato, Mexico…” I can sense their depth-ridden, sincere admiration for the city of Guanajuato –coupled with good writing and well described personal reflections. As a published writer and journalist myself, it was refreshing for a change to read truthful ruminations and not “boiler plate” about the country of Mexico and its central area state and city of Guanajuato. So many writers about Mexico, Central America and South America are motivated by the prospects of having their palms greased by crass American developers, “service people” and various hucksters who charge exorbitant fees to weasel American “expat relocation services” and tours. I have experienced a number of popular web-site blogs who sell their lists for gain. I have found many books and articles loaded with outright lies and contradictions, written by so called “experts”, particularly about Mexico and Costa Rica. Finding the truth is a monumental chore. Cindi and Doug Bower are proof that living in another country can be quite rewarding within the boundaries of that country’s language and culture. Also, the Bowers have pointed out how ugly Americans, with their SUVs, trips to gigantic malls and utter crassness are trying to force the supercilious “American dream” on citizens of a country that has an ancient culture of tradition, elegance and values. Bravo Cindi and Doug! - Source

The reason I bring up this little bit of praise from a renown writer and editor is not so that I can receive more accolades. It is to present a great and mind-boggling mystery that though I have written about years ago, I still haven't solved what is to me and what has to be an existential puzzle of mammoth proportions.

Here is a guy who most certainly has the credentials judging a piece of my work as recommendable. The book to which Mr. Bolinger refers to in his review, Guanajuato, Mexico: Your Expat, Study Abroad, and Vacation Survival Manual in the Land of Frogs came out in 2006 with Brownwalker Press. This is a for fee, print-on-demand outfit that, I should add, offered me a traditional contract for this manuscript-this is NOT self-published book.

Another fellow of a not-too-small journalistic stature wrote a review of this book too.

Bruce Drake (Formerly of NPR News) (Washington, DC) wrote this:

Highly Recommend , September 8, 2006

As someone who has visited Mexico several times as I struggle with my study of Spanish, and who is thinking of moving there, I found this book to be far superior to the general run of guides on the expatriate life or retiring in Mexico. Some of the others of this genre just lack the ring of authenticity, or seemed to be aimed at people with a lot of bucks who are headed for a gated community or an expensive house in Cabo San Lucas. But the Bowers' book has that ring of authenticity and is squarely aimed at the (for lack of a better cliche) "average Joe" who is looking for a life that is different and/or better and needs down-to-earth practical advice on how an American can make this transition.

To date myself, the Bowers' reporting reminds me of the usefulness of a Travel Forum I used to frequent on one of the pioneer online services, CompuServe, where I got the best travel ideas and advice ever from the many participants who gave their firsthand reports, and to whom you could pose the kinds of questions that you don't see answered in newspaper travel sections or guidebooks.

The Bowers live in Guanjauato which is not far from where I always visit, which is a too-Americanized well known town that they don't quite approve of, San Miguel de Allende. [...]

So, if this is the kind of information you are looking for, buy this book as well as the Bowers' book on Guanajuato.

And yet, here is a so-called review from someone on Amazon.com about my book:

80% the author hates the US vs. 20% information about living in Mexico,

January 18, 2010

By	Loren K. Maxwell

If you want to see this gomer's entire comment go to Amazon.com.

So, I hate America?

Let me tell you what I wrote and to which these "Doug hates America" naysayers refer.

In THE PLAIN TRUTH ABOUT LIVING IN MEXICO, I refer to American products being advertised on Mexican television and the effect these morally relativistic themed television commercials have on Mexican youth.

One is an ad for a Chevrolet car. It has this guy getting into the driver's side with his date on the passenger side. He takes off with this music playing with lyrics:

"I want to slide up your leg, cause I love the way that you feel..."

The guy, the driver, is actually shown with his hand on his date's scantily clad leg and he is sliding it toward the female's crotch.

Now tell me if I am wrong, but what does that scene have to do with selling and buying a car?
And, would you want your kids to see a commercial like that on the commercial break from Sesame Street or The Powerpuff Girls?

I suggested in the book that this is America business fostering its moral relativism upon another culture through television.

I mentioned even more examples some of which show kids committing criminal acts and getting by with it, laughing all the while.

And yet, go to my book's pages on Amazon.com and see how many personal attacks I have taken from these moral relativists from America who think I hate America.

I don't hate America.

I hate those claiming to be Americans and yet defend the filth that has taken American kids down a slippery road of moral decay and how through cultural imperialism, American business is trying to do the same thing in Mexico.

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Resources

1. THE PLAIN TRUTH ABOUT LIVING IN MEXICO
2. A WALK THROUGH MEXICO'S CROWN JEWEL - A Guanajuato Travelogue
3. ROCKET SPANISH
4. LEARNING SPANISH LIKE CRAZY

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Guanajuato, Mexico -- Cleaning Up The Act

Rarely do I get to report an improvement in some of the worst things about culture I report on in Mexico. For example, supermarkets.

If you will recall, I reported on how in Supermarkets there seems to be this tendency to "eat first to see if they like it, then maybe buy it." The place where they have the greatest temptation is in the Supermarkets with special displays.

Special displays are where some deli type dishes, cut-up hot dogs floating in the most vilest, hot sauce you can possibly imagine, sits on a table in a metal serving pan. If one wants some, they serve some up, sometimes by themselves, into a plastic container, take it to the deli counter to be weighed, you take it home to poison your family by serving it at dinner.

What happens in reality is that women with their children, college students, and old men walk by the table and scoop up globs of this stuff and eat it like barbaric cave people. (I swear this is true.)

Today, things changed.

There were several specialty tables today. There was the hot dog table with the venomous hot sauce dogs, floating in their industrial strength paint remover, along with other hot dog salads that didn't look half bad.

The metal serving pans were wrapped tighter than Fort Knox to prevent pilfering. Small amounts of the foods were served in little Styrofoam plates and skewed with toothpicks for the public's sampling delight. Not only were the serving pans wrapped up tightly that would have required the would be food thief to be less than subtle to break into, there were burly Mexican men (I assumed employees) standing guard over the whole shebang.

Well, I for one, was thrilled beyond my ability to express myself which is a rarity in itself.

I watched for some minutes several woman who hovered over one hot dog salad dish where the toothpicked samples had run out. They just glared at the employee who would gladly have spooned out a generous dish of the item to take home and feed their hungry brood. But they just stared at him as if they were waiting for him to turn his back for a brief moment to their move.

So, you see, I do not just criticize as some Gringolandians think but observe and report change when I am able to see it hit me in the face, like today.

Guanajuato, Mexico -- Working the Culture #3

Because the average, run-of-the-mill American Gringo comes from a country with little to no international exposure, they tend to regard Mexico, their very, very foreign neighbor, as just another American state.

In interviews I've done with Mexican tour guides, the single most infuriating thing which urks the Mexican more than almost anything else is that the American expects everything in Mexico to be just like America. It is because of this tendency in the minds of Americans that they know so little about Mexicans.

This can and does affect everything in the daily life of the American Gringo expat or tourist.

No matter what it is you will try to do while living in Mexico, you will run into cultural walls that you will want to tear down and when you can't, you will want to be on the next express plane back to America.

A friend told me of an event that he encountered in Guanajuato's El Jardin. He was getting a shoe shine when this Gringo who had been pacing up and town the walkway ripped out his cell phone and phones home to American. His conversation with his American contact went something like this:

"Hello, Sam? I am here to tell you that no one in this @%#*& town speaks a word of English. What am I going to do? I am heading back to the airport and catch the first plane out of here."

You've just got wonder how he made it to Guanajuato in the first place. And, just what did he expect? (Spanish was the language chosen by the Mexicans a long time ago and it seems that they are very happy with that decision...Get over It!)

Look, for the Mexican their right to be different than Americans had been hard earned.

They've had to endure invasion and military occupation by the Spanish, the French, and the United States. And today, they are again invaded by the American Cultural Imperialists in the various Gringolandians popping up all over the country. By comparison, Americans have had it easy.

Americans, because of their financial dominance, tend to run over other's culture. They certainly do not learn Spanish and tend to turn their surroundings into "something more suitable to their American tastes," when moving to Mexico.

All of this weighs heavily on the minds of the Mexican.

In a survey I conducted a few years ago, all but one of those I asked the question, "Do you feel it is a matter of disrespect when the gringo moves to Mexico and refuses to learn Spanish," answered in the affirmative.

If you want to improve your standing in the Mexican town you are considering as a place to live, then learn the language. Resolve to remember at all times that Mexicans will never be direct with you in telling exactly what is on their minds or to tell you "no."

Being direct, remember, is considered an insult, and they won't do it. They do not want to be rude.

You have got to understand the dance steps of the Mexican culture and be willing to dance with the Mexican gardener when need be.

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

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Who Else Wants to Learn to Speak Spanish Confidently and Naturally In Less Than 8 Weeks??
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Guanajuato, Mexico -- Working the Culture #2

To be well on your way to cultural fluency is to recognize the one thing that gets the expat into trouble almost more than anything else. That is, believing the American way is the only way to get anything done.

American culture is the "I-did-it-my-way" culture and this breeds a certain kind of arrogance when the American tries living in Mexico or any other country.

This also breeds a contempt in other cultures regarding America and her people that the American will rarely, if ever, hear it told them explicitly. Being polite to a fault, rarely if ever contentious or confrontational, the Mexican will simply tolerate you in his or her country trying to be pleasing to the Gringolandian.

Because of the endearing Mexican quality of tolerance, the Gringo reports back home to potential expats that the Gringo is loved in Mexico. "They Love Us Here" is believed by the Gringolandian and they will take great offense at someone like me coming along and reporting that the Mexican does not "They Love Us here."

The Mexican has definite opinions about the American who invades their country. Whether it is as a tourist, a business man, or to become a member of a Gringolandian, the Mexican regards the American as impatient, having an anger problem, overly contentious, arrogant, confrontational, and anal retentive regarding time.

But, the average American Gringo will never, ever be told this or figure this out. One of the prime reasons is the language. The vast majority of Gringos will remain forever monolingual and never be able to reach a level of social intimacy with Mexicans to learn these innermost feelings.

Here's a tip: Want to win your way into the innermost thoughts of the Mexican? Learn Spanish.

Whether or not the expat wannabe is going to succeed in Guanajuato, or in any country really, is dependent on how they come across to their host nation's members--the locals. How you present yourself will eventually determine how well you end up living in Guanajuato.

Because a Mexican will not openly challenge you, the know-it-all-Gringo, does not mean you've made your case. If you want to get that roof fixed, the car repaired correctly, someone to show up on time, to give you a straight answer then leave your "It's-my-way-or-the-highway" Gringo false superiority at the border.

Like it or not, just because you have money does not mean your way is the only way. All the money in the world will never buy the Mexican's love, devotion, or loyalty.

It never will.

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FREE 6-Day Spanish Course!

Click On This Link Reach The ROCKET SPANISH Website!

Learn Spanish Like A ROCKET With Rocket Spanish!...
Who Else Wants to Learn to Speak Spanish Confidently and Naturally In Less Than 8 Weeks??
... AND take all the frustration, difficulty and headache out of YOUR practice time with this EXPLOSIVE interactive 'learn Spanish' package!

Guanajuato, Mexico -- Fear Mongering?

I have been churning all day over the guy in the Puerto Vallarta area who says it is an absolute lie that Mexico police commit extortion when you have a car accident or pretty much in any sort of dealings with the police.

In that post I made the point that not even the locals, the Mexican nationals, call the police for fear of the extortion factor.

I want to include in this post a quote from a site that you really should check out. I will list the source at the end of the quote:

Name: Joe

November 21, 2009

I was in Cabo San Lucas this past March (2009) and went out for a walk to a sunset point- on a ridge above the Pacific. As I was standing atop the ridge photographing the sunset I noticed two police vehicles drive to where my vehicle was parked, about 1/4 mile down a trail. They had 2 "police" at the vehicle and four others walked up the trail, I met them on the way down. They had drawn guns and told me to put my hands up and they frisked me. I showed them I was simply taking sunset pictures and they proceeded to say they were arresting me for drug possession (I had no drugs). They would not let me leave unless I paid the "fine" on the spot- otherwise I was going to be taken to jail. They told me they wanted my camera- I said "no". I speak a little Spanish (which helps a great deal) so I ended up coughing up $60 to them in an extortion payment. I then chided them for what they were doing and told them I hoped that the dinero would keep them drunk for a couple of days. They laughed but then one of them was upset at me talking back, and he redrew his gun and walked back towards me in my vehicle, asking me if I had "a problem", and I drove away (quickly).

What happened to me was scary, fortunately my wife/kids were not with me, they were downtown having innocent fun. I had some excellent interaction with locals there otherwise, including in remote areas finding hiking routes over the spectacular inland mountains, but the police are evil and corrupt. They are not really police, in civil terms, they are an extortion force and peddle for themselves and their gangs. I love the extraordinary natural environment and the people in Mexico, but, alas, their police and drug gangs are pure evil, it's a spectacular problem and one that will severely effect peace and civil society throughout the Americas for a very long time to come. --SOURCE

Make sure you read this site, "MEXICAN VACATION AWARENESS."

###

ROCKET SPANISH

FREE 6-Day Spanish Course!

Click On This Link Reach The ROCKET SPANISH Website!

Learn Spanish Like A ROCKET With Rocket Spanish!...
Who Else Wants to Learn to Speak Spanish Confidently and Naturally In Less Than 8 Weeks??
... AND take all the frustration, difficulty and headache out of YOUR practice time with this EXPLOSIVE interactive 'learn Spanish' package!

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Guanajuato, Mexico -- Want to Drive?

Here is an expat speaking from 44 years of experience in Mexico about car traffic accidents:

First of all, I have 44 + years in all 31 Mexican states. Some would say I'm a cynic, but I consider myself practical. I have bribed the Federales, state police and the locals. I know what works and the approach to use. The basic line is: "is it possible to pay the fine directly to you?" In a very ignorant and polite manner, of course. Attitude will lead to much more trouble.

Otherwise, they say "they have to take your drivers license until you appear in court." And usually court is a week or two in the future. If you surrender your license, you will either never see it again...OR the next guy with more power
will demand more money. Never surrender your passport or travel documents. More money and hassle, believe me!

Of course, obey the laws and speed limits. But there are rules of the road that we are not used too. If you (God for-bid) have an accident (with injuries, real or not), you are better off to catch a taxi and leave the car there. You're
responsible for ALL costs! Period. And you'll wait in jail until a long list of victims is paid!

Now here is a Fakepats who hasn't a clue what he is talking about regarding traffic accidents in Mexico:

That bit about traffic accidents is simply NOT TRUE. I live in near PV and know a few people here who have been hit including by a bus and they were not jailed, were not reponsible for anything not their fault and suffered no outrageous consequences. So quit the fear mongering and stick to the truth please!

What I have been writing about, how Gringolandia, the Gringo Disneyland, is an illusion and no one better burst their bubble is expressed in that last quote.

So psychologically ingrained is the illusion that they resort to calling someone a name, "Fear Mongerer" rather than have their magical thinking challenged.

This is how the Gringolandians respond in an argument: They call you names.

What is the truth? Do Gringos catch all manner of hell when in a car accident? Do the police take the Gringo for all they can?

No matter what I say, there will be the name callers who rise up and try protecting their illusions, their bubbles, and will call me names for it.

No one has the right to an opinion unless they are fluent enough in Spanish to be able to ask the locals about how the police act. Not even the locals, the Mexican nationals, will call the police for almost anything. The police do not have the reputation of Protecting and Serving. When locals have car accidents, they settle it among themselves. They do not call what they have traditionally feared: the police, when there's an accident.

But, the gringo? They call the police because they think Mexico is just like America. That's what you do in America when you wreck the car.

The first account I quoted from an online forum is exactly what takes place when Gringo get in car wrecks.

Want more proof?
Gringo Car Accident in Guanajuato

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

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Guanajuato, Mexico -- The Weather is Nice

The weather has finally decided to behave. For weeks it is been the coldest winter of our expat career with temps at an all time low. Having come from the frozen state of Kansas you would think this would have not bothered us. However, we acclimated to the Guanajuato climate years ago.

In years past, it would be "chilly" for a couple of days in January with Spring coming in February. Very mild winter weather.

This year GTO suffered with the rest of the world this mini-ice age. Some areas in the state of Guanajuato saw snow according to the TV news.

Today it is in the low sixties. We got out for the first time in days and walked to the Super. We messed around for a couple of hours then made our way back via taxi. As I write these words, the front door is open, we opened two windows, and it is nice.

How long this nice change will last I do not know.

Locals, the old-timers, tell me they cannot recall the last it was this bad. We know of a village in the state where some of the houses have sheets for windows and doors. How they survived I have yet to find out.

I will keep you informed.

Stay warm!

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

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Guanajuato, Mexico . Books, Critics, and MORE!

What Americans seem to want is a book that tells them what to do. Not what they want to know, but what to do. I am convinced of this. When I wrote the book, THE PLAIN TRUTH ABOUT LIVING IN MEXICO, what absolutely caught me off guard was the plethora of accusations by Americans that the book was for "the I hate America crowd." These people, did not "get it" at all.

I wrote about what Americans tend to do when they move to Mexico. Under the guise of "retirement" they move to Mexico and ended up hating it. What they did, and this was in the early days of the "South-of-the-Border Exodus to Mexico, was "change what they did not like by conforming it to their American tastes and images.

You see, the vast majority of Americans especially, do not move to Mexico to learn Spanish and absorb and assimilate into the culture. No! They do not! They move here to change culture and in some cases, as in San Miguel de Allende, they have totally changed the culture into something unrecognizable.

I wrote THE PLAIN TRUTH ABOUT LIVING IN MEXICO in an attempt to try and convince Americans not to move here unless they plan on becoming fluent in Spanish, live in the culture, and for all practical purposes, BE MEXICAN WHEN LIVING HERE.

That is not what Americans do.

To support my thesis, an attempt I already know is doomed to fail, I quote from two sources:

1) Sheila Croucher professor of political science at Miami University in Ohio and author, most recently, of Globalization and Belonging: The Politics of Identity in a Changing World, says is her article: THEY LOVE US HERE :

Here are some of this professor’s conclusions about the American gringo population in San Miguel de Allende:

· San Miguel de Allende attracts one of the largest foreign populations in Mexico.

· Most do not learn the local language and reside and socialize within an isolated cultural enclave. These immigrants practice their own cultural traditions and celebrate their national holidays. Grocery stores are stocked with locally unfamiliar products that hail from their homeland.

· American professionals largely work illegally in San Miguel and pay no taxes.

· They typically do not pay their servants the Social Security taxes required by law.

· The illegal businesses run by the American gringo community rips off the local San Miguel de Allende government in excess of more than four million pesos a year in unpaid taxes.

· Some Americans are actually illegal aliens and do not bother with proper documentation.

· Some are even involved in the Illegal Drug Trade and take drugs across the different Mexican state lines.

And...make careful note of this. I have written more than 100 articles mentioning and quoting from Professor Croucher liberally and never once...NOT EVEN ONCE...have the San Miguel de Allende Cultural Imperialist taken me to task over issues. Rather, universally and without exception, I receive the most vile hate mail from the most screwed up lunatics whose email content range from profane name calling to death threats. I might mention for the sake of argument that Guanajuato, where I live, has their share of loony bird Gringos that also have actually sent emails telling me that they want to kill me.

There's got to be at least one gringo in the Cultural Imperialist's Colonies who is not addicted to drugs and alcohol who can engage in a decently constructed argument.

Read Professor's Croucher's article for yourself.

2) Another source which I have used over and over again and to which the SMA Imperialists NEVER are able to make a response worth reading is Why We Left San Miguel de Allende, by Bill Davies/Karen Harding

"We came to San Miguel de Allende in order to experience Mexican culture and Mexican life. Instead, we found ourselves surrounded by the aspects of American culture and American life which we had always managed to avoid in the States, and which we went to Mexico to avoid. In the States, the self-centered, arrogant, entitled, consumerist people--the “Ugly Americans”-- are scattered and have little effect on us. In San Miguel, one can't ignore them--they're concentrated in a small area, twirling and meddling, always in one’s face, always acting so, um, American. Ironically, we saw more of the worst aspects of American behavior and values in SMA than we did in the States. As someone from another part of Mexico once remarked to us, “Oh, yes, San Miguel--that’s the place where the people iron their jeans.”

Read Bill Davies/Karen Harding's entire story here. It is impressive and also supports what I have been trying to do in my writing.

What most Americans tend to do when coming to Mexico is to engage in the practice Cultural Imperialism.

That is what THE PLAIN TRUTH ABOUT LIVING IN AMERICA is all about. That was my motive. And, amazingly my detractors think it is a book for THE I HATE AMERICA CROWD.

You see what I mean about American Gringos?

Guanajuato, Mexico - ¡Se Habla español, solo!

If the Great Gabacho Genie would grant me one wish it would be this:

I WOULD HAVE ALL GRINOS REMOVED FROM THE FACE OF MEXICO (AND ALL SPANISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES) UNLESS THEY HAD, AT A BARE MINIMUM, AN EIGHT-YEAR-OLD'S SPANISH SPEAKING, READING, WRITING FLUENCY LEVEL.

If you want to know what can get my goat faster than anything is the Cultural Imperialist Arrogance of a Gabacho making the claim that he or she knows Mexico so well by virtue of the fact she or he has visited Mexico (a tourist, mind you) since 1991 making he or she an expert in Mexico Cultural.

I know these authors who have written books on expatriation issues to Mexico. A woman, Mary Rassmussen, from Minnesota, writes of one of the books of these authors:

If you are part of the "I hate America crowd", this book is for you.

She goes on to say:

He is so obviously biased against America and Americans, I figure this point of view must affect everything he writes about, and therefore I don't trust he has any objectivity.

As for the proof of her arguement that the authors are so obviously biased is:

I have travelled to Mexico many times since 1991, and I have seen an American behave badly once.

This is in reference, I can only assume, to the chapter of one of the author's books that speaks to the horror that has been wrought upon San Miguel de Allende.

To read an excellent article by Sheila Croucher a professor of political science at Miami University in Ohio which speaks to the Gringo disaster Americans wreak upon Mexico click here.

Mary Rassmussen's judgement call is that:

1. Anyone who has bought this book is in the "I HATE AMERICA CROWD."

2. Anyone who is thinking of buying this book in the "I HATE AMERICA CROWD."

3. Anyone who will at anytime in the future buy this book in in the "I HATE AMERICA CROWD."

The things written in THE PLAIN TRUTH ABOUT LIVING IN MEXICO are mild and affectionate compared to Professor Croucher's article.

And for a "slap you in the face" shocking yet honest review of what Americans do when moving to Mexico click here for an article by Bill Davies and Karen Harding, long time residents of San Miguel de Allende--GRINGOLANDIA CAPITAL OF THE WORLD..

Even more deplorable is how Amazon.com allows such comments on their so-called "Reader's Reviews."

Under some Pollyana delusion that all of their "readers" must be granted the opportunity to write "a review" people who have never read the book, maybe partially insane, or whatever, can write the most vile and contemptous things about authors. All authors get it from the least of us to the greatest and yet, Amazon.com feeds into a device (a forum structure) that more often than not brings out the very worst in people.

Yahoo had to learn that the hard way. They used to let unfettered comments flow from Americans with an internet connection to make comments on the news. It devolved into anarchy and Yahoo finally took off this nonsense!

If you are interested in sharing your feelings with Amazon.com on this issue you can do so by clicking here.

The point is that as long as the American, and it mostly Americans, come to Mexico for retirement and refuse to become fluent in Spanish, then culture is forever beyong their grasp. Language, learning Spanish, is the portal to the culture and apart from that portal, you can never in a million years begine to know culture no matter how many times you've visited Mexico.

And that, dear Mary Rassmussen, from Minnesota, is written about you!

Guanajuato: Twilight Zone Strikes Again

Here I am. I haven't added a blog for almost an eternity and thought I would take the time this morning to get back into the blogging groove.

This month has been a total drag. I haven't had the energy to do anything at all, much less write, and feel ashamed of myself for that.

I did uncover some hard evidence that the Gabachos in Guanajuato have every intention to recreate another San Miguel de Allende here in Guanajuato. I suspected this years ago but never had anything substantial other than anecdotal evidence. I read a few days ago, on a Guanajuato forum, an outline of things these "Cultural Imperialists" want to get going here. They want another San Miguel and, I believe, are setting out to make Guanajuato into that imagine. A bilingual Mexican asked the question, and rightfully so, just what these people are going to do to get Mexicans involved in their re- engineering of Guanajuato's Mexican culture. I think she was being sarcastic.

Truly, Americans simply do not get it.

Another thing Americans simply do not get and I believe will never get, is that language is the key to the door of culture.

Why on earth would an American who really expatriated to any country and not learn the language I cannot begin to fathom. But it us what they do routinely.

My wife get scores of emails each month from Expat Wannabees who are selling hearth and home to move to Guanajuato and they don't speak a word of Spanish.

How do they do it?

They are coming in droves with not a thought in their willy-nilly heads that they will drive up the cost of living beyond imagination. To put it in the words of my pal, Roberto, "When they see the gabacho coming, they see American dollars, and the prices go up!"

Nor do they know that to get along in Guanajuato, that is, have a real life here, you have to know Spanish! Either they don't know it or they refuse to believe it.

San Miguel de Allende, according to one fakepat, is like living on a cruise ship with lots and lots of events--in English--scheduled. You never get bored.

In Guanajuato you have to live in the culture. That is, you have to be able to interact with the Mexicans in order to say you have a real life. Guanajuato is a thriving society only it is entirely in Spanish. The locals do not live to serve the gabacho.

A gringo in SMA wrote me once and said that for generations Mexican parents have taught their young in San Miguel that their existence is to serve the Americans. And, said this gringo, if they didn't like it they were welcome to live elsewhere.

The unmitigated arrogance!

The Twilight Zone moment I wanted to write about is that while there are some Americans who try to learn Spanish, most fail. They fail because they attempt to learn speech as though it was an academic pursuit.

It isn't!

Rather than engage in the process of second language acquisition and develop spoken fluency first, they take grammar courses. They learn something about the language but cannot speak enough to go to a Spanish only doctor when they are sick.

In becoming fluent in any language it is a "cart before the horse" issue. One leads to the other.

But, no matter how much I preach this in the highways and byways of Expat life, no one listens.

And, they remain monolingual.

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Check Out My New Travelogue and the Free Offer


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GUANAJUATO - Escamoles (ant eggs) and other Mexican delicacies

By

Cindi Bower

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The other day as I was flipping through the six channels we are able to receive in Guanajuato without cable, I saw an announcement for an upcoming cooking show on the educational channel. As I'm interested in Mexican cuisine and love watching cooking shows, I made a point to tune in. Was I in for a surprise! The subject of that day's program was "Insectos y salsas" (insects and sauces).

I knew that grasshoppers (chapulines), ants (hormigas) and ant eggs (escamoles) were just of few of the more exotic foods eaten by the Aztecs and Mayans from my research into Mexican cuisine. Before moving to Mexico six years ago, I happened to catch Anthony Bourdain's show, "A Cook's Tour," on the Food Channel. One of the episodes featured a trip to a restaurant in Tlaxcala where he tried escamoles and gusanos de maguey (worms that burrow into the maguey cactus).

Of the escamoles, he said, “They’re perfectly good, with a slightly aromatic, woody background, almost fungal.” (http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/2000s/2001/08/kitchen_cowboy). His driver, Martin, said the worms give men lots of power with the women and taste “Very special. They fry the worms golden brown and when you first bite in it’s crispy, like pork skin. Then you chew and…” (http://www.gourmet.com/magazine/2000s/2001/08/kitchen_cowboy).

A Mexican friend here in Guanajuato was telling me about a trip he and his family made to Mexico City. One of the foods they sampled were chapulines colorados, red grasshoppers. His five-year-old son described how they pinched the heads off, then chomped down the body, legs and all. He and his father claimed they were delicious, but his mother and sister could not bring themselves to try them. His sister said she wanted to vomit when she saw her brother and father eating grasshoppers with evident delight. They all drew the line at gusanos, though.

These descriptions did not make me want to sample any of these "delicacies," but I was interested in watching the show just to see how they were prepared. Also, I wanted to watch the cook sample the finished products so I could watch her face to see if she really enjoyed eating worms and bugs as appetizers. Alas, she merely presented the final results, but did not pop any into her mouth.

First, the chef demonstrated how to make various salsas…pico de gallo, verde, roja and guacamole. All looked simple to make and looked delicious. I'll be sharing recipes for these salsas in future Blog postings.

Then, she moved on to the protein part of the appetizers. She went to the local market to buy the gusanos and chapulines. However, the escamoles required a trip to a field of cactus plants with the farmer. He looked for ants, followed a line of them back to the nest at the base of a cactus plant, and dug up about two cups of ant eggs. After he stood up with his prize, he was covered with ants, which I've read viciously sting whoever or whatever disturbs the nest. He didn't act like the ants bothered him, though.

Back at the studio, the cook washed the dirt off the escamoles. She commented that sometimes one finds a few larvae mixed in with the eggs. Don't discard them, she said, as they are high in protein and quite delicious. Yeah, right I thought! Yuck!

She melted some butter in a skillet, added some chopped garlic, and cooked it until it was brown. She added the escamoles to the skillet and cooked for about a minute. She added a little epazote (a common herb used in Mexican cooking) and allowed the mixture to cool a bit. To serve, she spread some guacamole on a small, crisp corn tortilla about the size of Ritz cracker and topped it with a spoonful of the escamoles.

The gusanos de maguey and the chapulines colorados were fried in oil (in separate skillets) with a little chopped parsley until they were browned. The cook drained them on paper towels to remove the excess oil. She spread pico de gallo on one crispy tortilla round and topped it with a few of the fried gusanos. On another tortilla round, she spread a little salsa verde and topped it with a few fried chapulines.

To me, it was a waste of tortillas and salsa to top the appetizers with worms, ant eggs (and larvae!) and grasshoppers, but that's just me. Many people love these delicacies and rave about how wonderful they are.

I'll take their word for it, but no insect or worm or ant egg will ever enter my mouth by my hand. I'll eat grass or flowers or leaves first (of course, only after being carefully examined for creepy crawlies!).

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

In GTO and In My Right Mind?

Ok, so I was in a bit of a temper when I wrote my last blog entry. I didn't really mean (or did I?) that all of Mexico is a Third World Country. In some ways it is very much a developing country but I would be hard pressed to say just how so, so don't ask.

The water is back on, the Internet people, after four months and thousands of complaints, finally showed up and fixed my online connection, and here I am writing once again of my unfailing love of living in Mexico.

I was talking to my dentist's wife (they are right across the callejon from us) about our water and internet woes and her response was to shrug her shoulders and say, "This is Mexico. What do you expect?" -- From the mouth of a Mexicana, I hope you take note.

We were in the Mega Super Store the other day. The roof was leaking from the rain. I might add that this has been happening, the rain leaks, from the very first rainy season this relatively new store found itself encountering. I want to also make the observation that these roof leaks seem to the very same ones from two years ago. I know this because you can see the round outline of the plastic garbage cans they put under the leaks the first time. Mexican craftsmanship, what can I say?

And, if you are wondering why they haven't fixed the very same "old" roof leaks that began two years ago, all I can do is echo the words of our Mexican neighbor, "This is Mexico. What do you expect?"

We are in the process of trying to cut costs here in Guanajuato. The prices for Gringos are rising at an unstoppable rate. Though there exists a worldwide financial crisis, Guanajuato vendors of everything from donuts to renting or buying a place to live, don't seem to think this applies to the Gabacho.

I don't what it is, exactly. I don't know if it is the unsophistication of this area of Provincial Mexico in which the locals think "Untold Riches Abounding" when they see the Gringo walking down the street or what?

Whatever it is, prices for a rental are insane!

Just the other day I read two descriptions of relatively small houses in GTO that were renting for $750 - $1,250 a month -- and that was in dollars and NOT pesos.

Gringos will pay it so why not? The thing is that it makes it virtually impossible for the rest of us to live.

There are places in central Mexico where three to four bedroom houses, unfurnished, rent for $70.00 dollars a month. I have no intention of telling you where that is because I wouldn't want to wish a San Miguelian Invasion on these towns. And besides, you would have to be fairly fluent in Spanish to live in these towns and we all know that for the majority of Gringos that is never going to happen.

Anyway, I feel a soapbox session coming on me so I'd best go!

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Don't forget to check out my new book, A WALK THROUGH MEXICO'S CROWN JEWEL: A GUANAJUATO TRAVELOGUE, on Amazon.com