READERS’ FORUM

You know you have been in San Miguel too long when…Part II
By Jim Blakley

Editor’s Note: In case you missed Jim Blakley’s Part I in April 2007, we will be re-printing it in our Best of round-up issue, December 28, 2007.

The park benches in el Jardín no longer seem incredibly uncomfortable. Lately you’ve been wondering where you could get an exact replica to use for a living room couch. Heck, maybe you could just pry one of those suckers out in the middle of the night.

You fantasize that you could create from memory a fairly accurate map of El Centro including the rapidly changing street names. An actual attempt makes it clear that you should not be allowed to walk the streets unattended.

It seems totally normal for a small city to have 44 separate neighborhoods and most people know their names and boundaries. Your similarly sized city back home has five identified neighborhoods (the north end, east end, west end, south end and downtown—such creativity in naming). You have come to appreciate the relative meaninglessness of telling someone that you live on the south side of town, but the high accuracy of saying that you live in Colonia San Antonio. 

You have thought about picking up a bit of extra money by starting a gringo mariachi band. You are having difficulty finding those special pants in tall and extra-extra large. But, if all of the gringo mariachi band members just wore khaki pants and light-blue shirts, no one would know that you are a band. You would just look like any other six gringo guys standing around chatting.

It is a quandary, so you have held off starting rehearsals. Also, you are unsure of the market for “Best of the Sixties” songs in English. Still, you feel like forging ahead with this money-making opportunity and fantasize about franchising it across Mexico.

Seeing 50 to 100 people in a line-up snaking all the way through a bank and out on to the sidewalk does not seem surprising. You feel like you should join the line, just for the social experience.

The mayor was quoted in an article last spring as saying that there is enough water in San Miguel to last 20 years (as long as the people who buy houses don’t actually live here, or perhaps—although he didn’t specifically say this—don’t flush their toilets). He may be a graduate of the “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” School for Politicians. At age 56 now, you will be 76 when the water might run out—about the average age of death for a male. Cool, I don’t need to worry about it; I probably won’t be around. Don’t worry, be happy! 

The former smirk that you had when people talked about the Super Bonanza food store on Mesones as being “the little store that has just about everything” has been replaced by a zealous attitude and proselytizing actions as you constantly impose this belief on others whether they are interested or not. “Did you know that they actually have pesto?” 

For the past two years, you have read this statement in Atención about the movies at the Teatro Santa Ana in the Biblioteca. “Movie start times may be adjusted depending on the length of the movie.” If they did adjust the time, when you arrived for the 3pm showing, would you be told, “Yeah, we started it an hour ago because it’s a long movie.” You think about mentioning this, but you realize that if you do, you will probably be duped into becoming a volunteer assistant movie planner so you wisely keep silent.

You fantasize about working in a Mexican bank where you could use an ink stamp to go crazy making several stamps on each document. If only you had the chance, you would let loose with that sucker like no one has ever seen before. How about 100 stamps per page—chunk, chunk, chunk, now we’re talking! Let that baby rip.

You wonder if US immigration staff speaks Spanish to their clients, as the staff here helpfully speaks English to the English speakers and treats them with great patience and kindness.

And this breaking news just in! This reporter has obtained a draft copy of the interim report of the ICOMOS (International Council of Monuments and Sites) on the World Heritage Site status of the San Miguel bid. Here is an excerpt: “The visit to San Miguel de Allende went very well. There are many well-preserved colonial buildings, gorgeous streets, and the city has a real heart and soul. However, we have similar colonial cities nearby that are already World Heritage Sites. But, there is one tremendously exciting monument in the city that should be individually declared a World Heritage Site. At the corner of Mesones and Benito Juárez streets there is an old, rusting, dented, tilted gasoline pump circa 1943. What a treasure this artifact is and what vision the city has in keeping it in this original location. No other historical colonial city has maintained this type of site. And, on September 24 the mayor reported that the city is going ahead with its plan for the installation of parking meters. Seeing a 195
0s style parking meter next to this gasoline pump will be absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, we are going to have to tear down that old San Francisco church across the street to create a parking lot for the many visitors who will be coming to the first World Heritage Site gas pump.”

Jim Blakley is jubilado, the delightful Spanish word for retired (from the word jubilation). However, so far this is getting him no respect in San Miguel and minimal interest from women, so he is trying to reinvent himself as a “writer” or “photographer” or anything else that sounds better at a party.






LETTERS

Editor,

I read your Letters to the Editor section each week with interest. My wife and I built a home in San Miguel a couple of years ago after visiting for several years. We visit as often as we can while still working and raising teenagers in the US. I have read both positive and negative letters from both residents and visitors to San Miguel describing their experiences in colonial Mexico. I would like to relate a couple of recent experiences of my own in San Miguel that have had a profound impact on my view of the town and its people.

In early August, I was visiting with my 17 year-old son and his best friend for a week. The two of them were having the time of their lives on the trip. Unfortunately, my son became very ill on the third day of our visit. Seemingly beyond the “turista,” he was running a high fever and was very sick. Late one night I became very concerned with his condition and called a permanent resident friend of mine for help. My friend referred me to a local doctor in town who speaks English. My friend even called the doctor in advance of my call to ensure he was available. This was at 10pm. The doctor was available and took my call. He listened while I described my son’s symptoms and then prescribed three different medications and went over their doses with me. He then said “They’ll be delivered to you within 30 minutes.” I was stunned. “What?” He assured me that the medications would be delivered to my door. Sure enough, 20 minutes later a young man delivered them to my door. Total cost—298 pesos. My son was able to imme
diately begin his recovery and although he didn’t make it all the way back to normal by the time we had to leave, his recovery was well on its way. In the US, we would have either been waiting for hours in an emergency room or scrambling for an appointment with a doctor for the next day. I am so grateful for the service provided for us and my son will not forget the experience.

Just recently, on another visit, I inadvertently dropped my prescription glasses (in a case) in a taxi cab that dropped me off at our home. I realized immediately that I had lost them and where, but it was too late to catch up with the cab. Facing the prospect of only having dark sunglasses for the rest of my trip, I was in a panic. I returned to the taxi stand area near the Jardín where I had picked up the taxi to see if I could locate him or get help somehow. All of the drivers I spoke to attempted to help me but the reality was that I had little hope without the cab’s number. However, one driver recommended Radio San Miguel. Having no knowledge of what this service was I went to the office to inquire. For 75 pesos, I could have an announcement made over the local radio station about my glasses. The woman working there told me that the process frequently works. Of course I offered a reward; the glasses would cost me several hundred dollars to replace. The reward was 200 pesos. The next day at 1pm, I received a call from the radio station telling me that they had my glasses. Again, I was stunned. I went to pick them up and was told that a local Mexican woman had found them in the cab and when the driver said they weren’t his, she held on to them and listened to the radio broadcast that night, turning them in first thing the next morning.

My wife and I love this town. Yes, it has its issues. Every place we know of does, but experiences like these endear the town, its people and its culture to us. We consider ourselves very fortunate to have the opportunity to learn about the Mexican ways and customs and look forward to many more experiences to come.

Bob George
Danville, CA

Editor,

If there has ever been an open and shut case for impeachment, we have it today. Throughout US history, nothing compares to the high crimes of this administration. Bush and Cheney have undermined much of the constitutional structure of government, weakened civil liberties, abrogated international treaties, deliberately deceived the public to take the nation into an illegal war of aggression, engaged in torture, willfully violated the law and brazenly refused to execute other laws not to their liking. And that isn’t even to mention unimpeachable offenses such as alienating the United States from world opinion, breeding many more terrorists, saddling future generations with astronomical debt, etc. The damage this administration has done to the republic may well take a generation to repair. Impeachment would be a clear and forceful repudiation of their legacy—the first step in regaining our republic.

But recovery will also require that we amend or repeal many of this administration’s laws that were passed by a servile Congress. The right of habeus corpus will have to be restored, as well as the presumption of innocence by those accused of crimes. The Patriot Act and the Military Commissions Act should be repealed. Warrantless wiretapping and electronic spying on us will have to end. The arrogant practice of signing statements must end, as it violates the Constitutional separation of powers by assuming a legislative function. So too the use of torture, extraordinary rendition, the system of secret prisons, and the extra-legal concentration camp at Guantanamo Bay must end. The US should reaffirm the Geneva Convention, the Nuremberg principles and subscribe to the International Court of Criminal Justice. The doctrine of preemption must be repudiated and the US must reaffirm its commitment to the principles of the United Nations Charter. The checks and balance of powers between the branches of government must be restored and the dangerous theory of the Unitary Executive must be repudiated, as what it is in reality is a theory of an Imperial Presidency.

We need to begin now to develop a strategy to restore our Constitutional Republic and the respect with which it was once regarded in the eyes of mankind. Impeachment is the first step in that process.

Cliff DuRand
Research Associate, Center for Global Justice

Editor,

I very much appreciated Jim Karger’s article on the comparative cost of living in San Miguel de Allende, and look forward to his next installment.

Perhaps he can tell us where to get tomatoes for 31 cents (a pound, presumably). Last time I checked in Mega, they were 22 pesos a kilo, which equates to US$1 per pound.

Bill Gallacher

Editor,

The members of Saint Nicholas Church in Flower Mound, Texas discovered San Miguel de Allende and the Santa Julia Orphanage last year and since then has been contributing financial support to these children, working in close cooperation with Patronato Pro Ninos, which supervises the program for us.

Saint Nicholas Church, a member of the Anglican Communion, was founded as a mission church in 1998. St. Nicks, the name the members affectionately call their church, is not a large church, but has a large heart.

When Bishop Stanton gave the church the name of St. Nicholas, he stressed one of the qualities of Saint Nicholas was his generosity in supporting the poor, especially children. He became known as the patron saint of children. The members of our church committed themselves to follow that example and agreed that ten percent of their income would go to help the less fortunate.

We may be 1500 miles away, but the members of Saint Nicholas feel that we are now part of your San Miguel community. In the short time our church has been in existence, we have made financial contributions to various organizations, and including San Miguel’s children among them is a source of great pleasure for us.

Dennis Raisinger

Editor,

I must apologize because last Saturday when I looked at Atención, I did not see my press release about the reforestation event. I said in an interview on the local Channel 4 that Atención did not help us publicize the event because in three people we could not find the note. It is only later in the day, when a lady came with the paper saying that she found the news there, that I realized I made a “Gaffe.” Please excuse me.

Silvia Bernardini



Editor’s Note: Although I appreciate the apology, I would prefer if the community would refrain from making undue public criticism of the newspaper without reading its complete content.