Extranjeros: 1937–2008
By Arturo Morales Tirado
August 29, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

Lecture
Four generations of foreigners in San Miguel
Arturo Morales Tirado
Tue, Sep 2, 1:30pm
Teatro Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
50 pesos

With the passage of seven decades, we have experienced four generations of foreigners and nonnative Mexicans (not born here) in San Miguel de Allende. For convenience, we can group them by decades as postwar, counterculture, consumers and coexisters. They have enriched the cultural diversity of this small cosmopolitan city, unique for its cultural inheritance. These four generations also have reflected historical moments that have affected the planet, the hemisphere, the country and the city.


The postwar influx of foreigners to San Miguel slightly predates the war, beginning 70 years ago with two men who fell in love with San Miguel de Allende and, further, were committed to it. They were US citizen Stirling Dickinson (who died in 1998 in a car crash here) and the Peruvian Felipe Cosío del Pomar. Like many other amazing stories, this saga began with the efforts of extraordinary men. They founded the first summer program of the arts and handicraft school that would give rise to what is today “Bellas Artes.” Their efforts also generated one of the first state laws in America for the protection of a city with unique cultural and natural heritage: Ley de Protección de la ciudad típica de San Miguel de Allende, which dates from 1939, and still is in effect.

Following them in the forties and fifties, the first big wave of foreigners in the twentieth century arrived in San Miguel morally shocked by the drama and tragedy of the Second World War and the birth of the Cold War. San Miguel offered a unique place to live for foreigners, with less than 25.000 inhabitants in those years, a continental climate and historical, cultural and natural heritage preserved by accidents of local history.

In the counterculture of the sixties and seventies, in the context of the search for new forms of expression and coexistence and new social paradigms practiced from Prague to Paris, Kent to Mexico City, San Miguel de Allende was an open city. More than ever, the city begun to produce the new “mestization,” foreigner and Mexican couples. This generation, in a natural way, diluted both cultures, forming many bicultural young people who were open to the world and yet whose multiculturality was rooted in traditions and local identities within the social ethnic wealth of San Miguel.

Consumers followed the end of the idealistic dreams. In the eighties and nineties, with the rise of consumer society and consumerism, San Miguel de Allende saw the arrival of another generation of foreigners, often out of context and evolution of the city.

The fourth generation of foreigners and nonnative Mexicans arriving in San Miguel at the beginning of the twenty-first century have new attitudes. They want to coexist and they make an effort with the local population to be part of this worldwide community, a cosmopolitan personality characteristic of San Miguel nowadays.

In this general characterization of 70 years, four generations have existed together, somehow—sometimes like part of San Miguel, in others in very natural ways and still others without much desire to integrate themselves in local dynamics. This week we approach the subject with greater depth, in a slide presentation, seeking a better coexistence. 

Wrinkles in our souls
By Dr. Jose Valencia

Lecture
The phases of aging
Dr. Jose Valencia
Mon, Sep 1, 3pm
Sala Quetzal
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
Donation 50 pesos

The passage of years and getting old are not necessarily closely related. It is perfectly “normal” to deny different stages of our lives, especially those which cause fear: age and death. But let’s take an upfront look at things; we start getting older from the very first moment after our birth.

Life is an unimaginable succession of biological processes: enzyme functions, cell growth, organ maturation, current functions, later functions, all coordinated to allow us to communicate and achieve goals all through life.

Many people spend much of their time fighting to get instead of to be: huge bank accounts, affluent lifestyle, the best car, the nicest wife/husband, good schools for their children and perfect health. They spend their lives learning how to earn more money and their lives reflect their main goals. Properties are accumulated, but who said owning many houses makes you “owner” of something—what do you carry with you when you die? A moment arrives when people start calling us “sir” or “madam,” our eyes don’t see as well, memory losses are more frequent, our sexual capacities are not the same and conversations with friends focus on high blood pressure, medications to lower cholesterol levels, better cardiologists and medical alternatives. We’re in front of the mirror looking for another wrinkle instead of the pimples “we had just the other day.” Are we getting old? Definitely not! The universe is very wise. Instead of muscle power we have intelligence; we exchange the hyperactivity of youth for patience and wisdom
. Our immaturity as parents is now modified and makes us better children-lovers, especially our grandchildren; we now give real value to a smile and a hug. It’s time to understand that money was made to get the “buyable” things and improve our quality of life, to understand that money is a tool, not a goal.

People become “old ones” when they let somebody else decide for them, when they stop creating and establishing new projects, when they quit dancing, singing or jumping, when they see every sunrise as another buried one, not as a poem, or a day as another opportunity. Getting old is when we let wrinkles appear in our souls.

This lecture has the goal of “awakening the sleeping beauty” inside each one, motivating them to run after their dreams, to establish new challenges for each day and to enjoy every step of life.

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