San Miguel de Allende
Long, long ago in a faraway land called Mexico (you may have heard of it), was a small, insignificant, flat piece of real estate located in the highlands of Central Mexico. Ringed by mountains, this "low region" was founded in 1542 by a lowly and humble Franciscan monk named Juan de San Miguel. This town played an important role as "an important stopover on the Antigua Camino Real, part of the silver route from Zacatecas”. But alas, this role was soon to evaporate as the amount of silver the filthy-rich could squeeze out of the mountains played out. By the 1900's, San Miguel de Allende looked doomed to become a ghost town. What was to become of poor San Miguel de Allende (from here on, it is SMA—I tire from writing out that entire name.), no one knew. Hark. Lo and behold. Someone had the idea to make SMA a national monument in 1926. How this was to save the poor town, I have no idea. What happened next gets a little muddy. Some would say SMA survived until the 1950's because of Mexican tourism. SMA's resort-like qualities, natural beauty and natural hot springs, were the attraction. The creation of The Instituto Allende, An International Institution of Higher Education for the Arts, Crafts, and Spanish, brought a flood of American art students to the town. Eventually, an expatriate community of more than 10,000 followed. Many of these expatriates are rich Americans. One cannot help asking, “What has this gigantic gringo population done to SMA?” A screaming-in-my-face gringo pointed out to me the locals in SMA should appreciate and thank the Americans for all the money that has been thrown at them. What is this? "Look what we've done for you—now kiss our hands and feet?" Is this what my in-my-face, screeching gringo meant? I just don't know. I would attribute what GOOD the gringo population has done for the citizens of SMA as Divine Providence rather than the (un)righteousness of American money. Money may improve a standard of living but it cannot buy friendship or love. And, there is no doubt if the gringos were to vacate the town tomorrow, economic horrors would result. But, I must ask, there has been economic improvement, but at what cost? Standards of living have improved but at the cost of losing a distinctive Mexican identity. I don't think the gringos would say this. The Mexicans, however, do. It is difficult to get the locals to discuss this issue, especially when they instinctively understand what side of their bread gets a healthy application of butter. Those who have talked to me have told me the following bothers them a great deal. I am sure you've heard this from your fellow SMA expats: "I don't have to learn Spanish. All those who come to work for me have to speak English." "Why should I have to learn Spanish when one can live one's entire life here and not have to utter one word of Spanish?" "I have plenty of English-speaking friends. Why should I have to learn Spanish?" Another question those I interviewed asked was, "Why won't the gringos associate with us and why won't they learn our language?" Perhaps another way to phrase this is, "Why do the Americans expect of us, when we expatriate to America, what they are UNWILLING to do themselves when they come here?" You cannot very well associate with someone with whom you cannot communicate, now can you? Think about it.
Don't take offense at this bit of truth. An American academic doing research in San Miguel de Allende and the effect the Gringolandizing of the city said that the town is no longer Mexican, it is not American, but it is something "in between". I agree with this assessment. And, having said this, go visit the town to see for yourself. As a tourist, and it is a nice place to blow a lot of money if that's what you are looking for, you will probably not see much of the effect of how expatriation has changed the the town. The exception will be how it hits your pocket book. The prices for everything in San Miguel de Allende are much higher than in Guanajuato. But, amazingly there are tourists who don't care about prices and if you are one of them then this town is for you. Price wise it would be like visiting one of the resorts in the coastal cities. It has become a gringo resort or Disneyland for the rich. At the top of this page I have included links to find info on lodging, restaurants, and other services that might be of interest. We go to San Miguel to deal with our Visa renewals. When we do, we usual eat in the Mexican sectors. Sounds amusing, doesn't it, to have to talk about the "Mexican Sectors" in a Mexican town? Well, as I said, it isn't Mexican or American but something in between.
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Product Description Print: $12.69 Download (PDF FILE ONLY): $7.44 This book is publicly offered contingent on the reader’s prior understanding that the reader should always independently confirm with other qualified sources the information presented in this text. The author(s) and publisher(s) accept no responsibility of any kind for conclusions or perceptions reached by readers of this book. The perceptions you have and the conclusions you draw from the unique opinions of these authors, are your own and you accept total responsibility for them. Though written in the context of the authors' life in Mexico, this book is absolutely applicable to any potential expat who will be moving to a country where their native tongue is not the dominate language. This book reflects the unique philosophy of expatriation held by the authors.
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SMA did revive as a tourist attraction shortly after World War II, but its sudden population boom was because of American Influence.
San Miguel is the perfect tourist trap.
Sustainable Expatriatism...
