GUANAJUATO MEXICO - Mexico's Greatest Colonial City.
Welcome to my homepage I intend to offer you lots of free content as well as sources that you can use to aid you in your expatriation adventure to our Guanajuato neighbors South of the Border. I will have much to say about Learning Spanish since this is the Portal to the culture and the key to preserving it. You have to learn the language if you are to have any hope for getting along well in this country's GREATEST COLONIAL CITY. I also will provide the reader with ample resources that I hope will make their transition to The Highlands a little easier. This site will deal primarily with specific expat issues and resources for Guanajuato, Mexico. WEBSITE AUDIENCE: More than 360,000 Americans expatriate somewhere in the world each year. Most of them end up in Mexico. Currently, there are books, web sites, and newsletters that cover how to expatriate to Mexico in the most general terms. However, because of sky-high real estate prices in all the areas where Americans and Canadians have traditionally chosen to expatriate, people are now looking at central Mexico where prices are still affordable. No how-to guide exists for moving to towns in Central Mexico, other than for San Miguel de Allende. This experience is vastly different from moving to and living in the traditional gringo enclaves of Puerto Vallarta, San Miguel de Allende, and others. My website and bookd provides that guide.
ABOUT THE WEBSITE AND ITS NEED: I feel there is no online publication available anywhere that covers the material I do. I provide a unique, first-hand account showing the life of the expatriate to Central Mexico. There is a need for the information I give in this book. Long-time expats in other areas of Mexico are now considering moving to central Mexico since they are being priced out of the housing markets in towns such as San Miguel de Allende and Puerto Vallarta. Also, the cost of living in the traditional American expat enclaves has increased, making it difficult for the expat to maintain his or her current lifestyle. Potential expats are rapidly learning about central Mexico and are moving here but are clueless as to what they face. I get numerous e-mails asking me about the “American Sectors” here in Guanajuato--nothing like that exists. Professionals in America who want to retire here express utter shock that Spanish is the dominant language. I wish I were making that up!
SOMETHING UNIQUE: This website will go beyond the soft-soaping and beyond the song and dance other “expatriation” guides resort to in their prose. Most books, ebooks, and online sites on the market that deal with expatriation issues do not mention the difficulties one will encounter when moving to Mexico. Because of my ability in the language, I am able to ferret out the nuances, good and bad, sadly missing in all of the current Mexico expatriation guides. I present my discoveries through a travelogue and memoir style of writing. Most of all I will present why the fabled and infamous San Miguel de Allende is not all the press about the place makes it out to be. I offer an eye-witness from San Miguel itself!
Book Credits: The Plain Truth about Living in Mexico CAN I LIVE AND WORK IN MÉXICO?: A Guide to Living and Teaching ESL in México You Can Learn Spanish No Matter Your Age or Disposition
BOOK REVIEWS: Former Vice President for News and Information with National Public Radio (NPR), Bruce Drake, reviewed Guanajuato, Mexico: Your Expat, Study Abroad, and Vacation Survival Manual in the Land of Frogs and The Plain Truth about Living in Mexico:
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 Guanajuato 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. (And which also, because of the huge ex-pat community, far more expensive). But to each his own. While I don't have a lot in common with many of the ex-pats and retirees, having made a lot of friends in San Miguel, I am comfortable there.
I should add that as I contemplate in the back of my mind moving there, I scanned some of the key advice chapters into my computer (such as the most painless way to get a resident's visa) and sent them to friends in San Miguel, who told me they were right on the money.
So, if this is the kind of information you are looking for, buy this book as well as the Bowers' book, The Plain Truth about Living in Mexico."
Enjoy!
Print: $10.06 Download: $6.25 About 85% of the total content of this website can be conveniently purchased in this small guide to help the traveler to Mexico know what to enjoy when arriving in this obscure but significant Colonial Mexican Town. What you learn in this site can be taken with you to Guanajuato, as a guide, in book form.
CONTENTS: Introduction -1- The Seasons -2- The Basics about Guanajuato -3- What You Should See in Guanajuato -4- Hotels in Guanajuato -5- Restaurants in Guanajuato -6- History of Guanajuato -7- The “Historic Center” of Guanajuato -8- The Museums of Guanajuato -9- The Artists and Galleries in Guanajuato -10- Shopping in Guanajuato -11- The Indigenous People of Guanajuato -12- Side Trips Outside Guanajuato -13- The Performing Arts of Guanajuato -14- The Fiestas and Festivals of Guanajuato -15- The University of Guanajuato -16- The Language of Guanajuato -17- The Quality of Life in Guanajuato -18- Helpful Hints for Guanajuato -19- The Nightlife of Guanajuato -20- The Things We Love about Guanajuato -21- The Things We Hate about Guanajuato -22- Long-Term Vacation Housing in Guanajuato
ENJOY GUANAJUATO! is available in ebook and print formats..  FREE 6-Day Spanish Course!
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Living in central Mexico is nothing like living the Gringolandias or Gringo Gulches of San Miguel de Allende or Puerto Vallarta. Unlike San Miguel de Allende or Puerto Vallarta, there isn’t a huge gringo community here that acts as a support buffer for “newbies.” Nor is English as widely spoken as it is in other areas where expats live. I spell out the differences between living in Guanajuato and living in other areas where expats have traditionally congregated. I offer a survival manual for the potential expat.
A Strong Recommendation for the Bowers Book on Guanajuato, September 8, 2006
Reviewer: Bruce Drake (Washington, DC)—“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 cliché) "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. 
I propose my new website will meet, in an even deeper sense, the need for…” that ring of authenticity and is squarely aimed at the (for lack of a better cliché) "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…”—Bruce Drake NPR News
Enjoy Guanajuato!
