 Author's
note: I was going to write this slowly to help
those of you learning English, but I couldn't do it. My apologies!
Hope you find the time to read this. I wrote it real fast. I had
to.
I moved here before the promotions began for this sleepy lil' town
in Mexico. In fact San Miguel de Allende wasn't on most maps of
Mexico. So I came to this place I had never heard of to visit an
old friend and decided not to leave. Heck - no cars, no schedule,
lots of free time and fun parties with fun people of all ages. Yep
- the no-stress, no appointments, sleep till you wake up lifestyle
was an invigorating change from the fast pace I'd left behind. It
was hard to believe that one block from the Jardin in all directions
luxurious, fully furnished, 2-bedroom apartments were available
for $160 - $180 USD per month. Of course that included all utilities
and a maid every day. Yes, the town was a little rough around the
edges and there were some shady characters disguised as artists
and entrepreneurs. Visitors to San Miguel were mainly travelers,
stragglers, above average bums, free thinking poets and street philosophers.
This was before the neighborhoods of La Lejona Sec.II, Frac. La
Luz, Frac. Insurgentes, Rodriguez and Malanquin. There were no OXXO
convenience stores, Gigante, prison, glorietas, stop lights, Real
de Minas Hotel or Hospital de la Fe. In fact approaching SMA from
Queretaro, the first building you came across was the hotel Villas
del Molino, and that is where the cobblestones started. More 2-
and 4-legged types than 2- and 4-wheeled types used to roam the
streets. Parking was never a problem. You could park anywhere for
free for as long as you liked, including in front of the Parroquia.
Those first few years were absolutely dreamy. And the weather! Even
the rains were a welcome break. The town was growing and changes
were occurring but they were hardly noticeable.
As more and more people came, some made the permanent move to town.
The ex-pat community was still a vibrant entity, almost all were
bilingual and the new citizens were a welcome influx of energy and
talent. Then the travel writers arrived. After them came the list
writers espousing San Miguel as one of the best or top ten places
to live or retire. Then a funny thing happened. A lot of people
read those articles. What happened next was Kafka-esque. People
began arriving in droves and just refused to assimilate.
It was nuts! After ten years of this influx I can honestly say that
opportunists have arrived from everywhere and have virtually ruined
what was once an oasis. These jerks have ruined the economy and
culture and if possible they will attempt to redefine the term "colonial".
The result is this: Prices are out of sight. The retirees that moved
here on a fixed income or pension cannot live here anymore. Neither
can the struggling artists who are more or less responsible for
putting San Miguel on the map. So now we are filling up with companies
whose signage and literature are in English only and there are a
bunch of folks who get irate when confronted with a local who only
speaks Spanish. Those who work are working longer hours or are taking
a second job just to keep pace with the inflation rate. The problem
is there is never enough time after work to get enough sleep, run
errands and grab a bite. I no longer attend parties or take a leisure
hour off in the Jardin. I can't. I'm behind. Everything costs more.
Bills to pay. Run Run Run. Long gone is the laid back lifestyle.
Long gone is the sleepy lil' town in Mexico. Long gone is time to
enjoy what San Miguel is. And what is San Miguel? I mean besides
the most expensive place to live in North America.
I think all those writers who wrote so glowingly of San Miguel should
return and we should make them locate an affordable place to live
and write about what living in San Miguel is truly like. Since that
will never happen, I'll pretend to be one of those writers here,
and write about real San Miguel life. Feel free to copy this last
part and mail it to anyone you know who may be contemplating a move
here:
Welcome to San Miguel de Allende - a hectic mid-sized
city busting at the seams. If action is your forte you've come to
the right place. A retired New Yorker says he left boring Manhattan
for the faster, livelier pace of San Miguel. It seems everybody
is in business attire talking into their cell phones while filling
in their day runners with appointments. For those fatigued by the
altitude, high-octane coffee is conveniently available on every
corner. This insures a smooth dawn to late night workload, which
seems to be the preferred lifestyle. Locals describe it as mashing
the pedal to the metal. Stucco Steve, a local writer, says "Remember
Captain Kirk on the starship Enterprise of the Star Trek series?
He used to tell Scotty - Warp speed ahead! The windshield of the
spacecraft showed twinkling little stars become streaming white
lines flying past the ship as it hurtled through deep space. That's
life in San Miguel in the 3rd millennium".
And I mean it. That's what it feels like. Traveling at the speed
of light all within the city limits of a sleepy lil' Mexican town.
Whoops! I forgot. I'm late. I gotta run...
|
 |
|
