Lost and Found in Mexico

Lost and Found in Mexico now showing in New Zealand

caren — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 18:49:52 +0000

A few years ago a cable company in New Zealand bought the rights to show LOST and FOUND in MEXICO. And now I’m told it is being broadcast. It’s such fun to hear from people in New Zealand who are affected by the film and who want to come and check out San Miguel de Allende.

Retiring in Mexico

caren — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 14:39:47 +0000

CBS Sunday Morning recently had a segment on retirees moving to Ashville, North Carolina. Essentially the retirees had been professionals and found themselves involved in activities that were intellectually stimulating in this North Carolina community. In Ashville they found like-minded people. Furthermore, the community has a “university” of sorts in which the retired teach courses to the other retirees. Everything from languages to grant writing to physics was being offered.

I couldn’t help but think of San Miguel as I was watching the retirees in Ashville. The places are worlds apart. One is in progressive America, in the South, in green, lush mountains. The other is situated in the desert of dirt-poor Mexico. But the similarities are striking.

The expats in San Miguel de Allende (many of whom are not of retirement age, but left the U.S. 10 or 15 years prior to “retirement”) are intellectually involved in learning or in giving service, just as those in Ashville. The are alive and vibrant. Many are studying Spanish or history or poetry or bridge. It is pretty impressive to me to see 80 year old students studying Spanish.

The other impression that always impresses me in San Miguel is how many expats spend inordinate amounts of time helping improve the lives of the Mexicans. When I asked about this and whether these “do gooders” had always been involved in helping, the answer was a resounding “no.” However, in Mexico they felt more generous and felt moved to help. And they told me that they were helping because they knew that their help was going directly to another person. There was nothing in between them and the recipient.

One charitable group builds houses for the homeless. The cost is $6000 US and the donations for the construction come from expats. The group does all the building themselves. Another group dedicates itself to promoting college education to women. It chooses young women in high school, aiding them financially and emotionally. Anther group supports day care centers for the children of single mothers. There are a total of over 35 charitable groups run by enthusiastic expats with years of experience and wisdom.

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, like Ashville, North Carolina, is brimming over with thoughtful, vital expats who haven’t opted out of life.

San Miguel de Allende cited as great place to create art!

caren — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 16:44:46 +0000

MSNBC today revealed a list of the great art cities. This list was compiled by Sherman’s Travel.

Number 8 is San Miguel de Allende. Here is an excerpt:

8. San Miguel de Allende
Unlike the other cities on this list, San Miguel de Allende, a beautiful colonial town set in the mountains outside of Mexico City, isn’t renowned for its art collections per se, but rather, as a stellar place to create art itself. In fact, New York magazine described it as “the closest thing Mexico has to Florence” – an apt comparison, as the town’s unusual light has helped transform it from a colonial backwater into an upscale, world-renowned art colony. The place is particularly popular with North Americans, many of whom visit for the art classes alone (many of which are downright inexpensive or even free). Indeed, painting, jewelry-making, sculpture, and ceramics, among various others crafts, are taught at terrific schools here; one of the most reputable is the Instituto Allende (www.instituto-allende.edu.mx), which occupies an atmospheric cloister loaded with murals and stone work. When you’re not in your studio, spend time browsing the dozen-plus galleries that line the compact town’s colorful streets.

Martha Stewart was in town.

caren — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:35:03 +0000

And I did a double take when I saw her!
It appears that she loved San Miguel, both the food and the beauty.

Her photos of our town are here:

http://www.themarthablog.com/2010/12/el-mercado-in-san-miguel-de-allende.html

1 Of course, I wanted to tour the local market. Meredith and Tom Brokaw went with me and they loved it, too.

Bringing tears to my eyes….

caren — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 22:10:31 +0000

The annual Chamber Music Festival is now in full swing in San Miguel. Chamber groups from all over the globe arrive here each August and we locals are treated to a wonderful music-filled two weeks.

Yesterday the Synergy Brass Quintet gave us a little mid-day Sunday treat. They paraded in the streets of town with lots of citizens bopping along behind them! They started off with “When the Saints Come Marching Home.”

It’s these moments in life when I experience great human spirit that always brings tears to my eyes!

Synergy Quintet leads the way to the jardin!

My favorite week in San Miguel de Allende..

caren — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 18:21:14 +0000

After 12 years of living in San Miguel, I can safely say that my favorite week each year is in July when Expresion en Corto presents films in various locations for four solid days!

Next Friday it starts and I’m already busy laying out my personal schedule of films. I’ll be running from theatre to theatre, making sure that I get to see my top picks. And the town will be jumping as film directors and producers from all over the world will be in attendance.

If anyone is planning to come to San Miguel, you are in for a treat! After the four days here, the film festival moves to Guanajuato and all of the films are shown again with lots of fun activities surrounding the films.

Changing the subject here, TRAVEL and LEISURE just came out with its 2010 list of Best Cities. San Miguel de Allende is number four, between Florence and Rome. Too bad that many tourists are afraid to come here now because of their perception that all of Mexico is dangerous. The border is where there is danger! We are eight hours south of Texas.

Fear in living in Mexico? I think not!

caren — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 16:30:09 +0000

I used to be such a push-over. I believed what I read in the paper and what the news on TV reported. Now, finally, at this ripe old age, I am learning not to trust.

The Dateline two-hour “special” was the icing on the cake for me. Dateline only wanted to get an audience and scare them. They didn’t ask the important questions. Nor did the kidnap victim offer why he, particularly, would have been singled out as a victim.

Today I see that AOL offered advice for people traveling to Mexico. For San Miguel, this is what they say:

“In terms of San Miguel, folks should not stray outside Centro, not walk alone at night, avoid activities such as symphonies in Queretaro, and most significantly avoid the Locos parade and the large gatherings at the Fiestas Patrias?”

Who are these people that write such inaccuracies? Have they ever been to this town? I admit there is one neighborhood that might be a little dicey in San Miguel, but it is unlikely that a tourist would wander into that part. To say not to walk out of the center part of town is a joke! One would miss the heart of San Miguel. One wouldn’t see where the locals live and how they live. People live much of their lives outside on the streets. That is the life of Mexican towns. This is where you see living, loving, partaking in what life has to offer.

As to the other advice from AOL, it is all hogwash.

I’m learning. When I made my film it was because I wanted to understand if the changes I felt by becoming an expat were unique to me, or did others feel the same way. Now I am learning even more than I knew when I made the film. I now see how entrenched the U.S. is in making people feel frightened.

http://news.travel.aol.com/2010/03/31/how-safe-is-mexico?ncid=AOLCOMMtravdynlprim0890

Is San Miguel dangerous?

caren — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 20:48:36 +0000

I was a news junkie. Then I moved to Mexico eleven years ago and pretty much stopped watching the news on TV. (I still read the paper, usually the NYT online.)

When we lived in the states I started every morning switching back and forth between Good Morning America and The Today Show. I watched 20/20 and Dateline. (Both shows had more integrity 11 years ago!)

I’ve been MUCH happier without the barrage of hyped up, fear-inducing information.

However, I could not resist watching Dateline last week when I heard that it was going to do a 2-hour special on the kidnapping that took place in San Miguel de Allende two years ago.

Once again, fear seemed to be the main objective of the show. What happened to the victim and his family is horrendous. Absolutely horrendous. I live here and it scared ME. So, Dateline did a wonderful job if the purpose is to get a reaction.

The sad part is that the program left out details and the result is that people are canceling their vacations to San Miguel. They now believe that San Miguel is a very dangerous place. Dateline neglected to indicate the details of why this victim might have been chosen.

I am not privy to all of the details of this horrendous experience, but I believe that no American or Canadian has ever been kidnapped.

There is a story beneath this story.

Unfortunately Dateline wanted to be sensational rather than balanced.

Who does this hurt? San Miguel’s primary income comes from the tourist industry. Hotels, tour guides, restaurants and art galleries are all suffering.

The Dateline piece made me remember why I no longer listen to new on TV.

What will it take for you to change your life?

caren — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:31:03 +0000

I keep reading about how hard it is in the U.S. to keep ahead of the game financially and emotionally. How people are struggling and frightened.

I also know first- hand how hard it is to look at things from a different viewpoint. And, how hard it is to change your routine.

During the 3 1/2 yrs. that I was making the documentary film, I had to conceptualize exactly WHY I was obsessed with making the film. And what I came up with was this: “I was killing myself and you don’t have to.”

A few moments ago I read an article by a Paul Alan on the internet. I cannot say it better, so I am simply reprinting it here:

Priorities are powerful forces … assuming you’ve got them in the right order. And keeping them there requires continual monitoring.

So what are your priorities?

Most of us – myself included – get batted around like a pinball from one activity to the next. Our days are spent finishing up that urgent project at work for which the boss is breathing down our necks … seeing to the needs of our kids … phoning parents to check how they are … dashing to the shops to pick up a last-minute birthday present.

We go to bed exhausted, only to get up tomorrow and do it all over again. Lives spent scuttling from one weekend to the next, firefighting whatever today’s most pressing need happens to be.

But what about that life you’d really like to be leading? The one you keep nestled somewhere close to your heart?

We all have one, don’t we? That ‘if I won the Lottery …’ vision of how things would be in a perfect world. Where you’d like to live. How you’d like to spend your time. And with whom. The long-term dream.

Making that vision reality though takes consistent action, and time. Progressive, daily steps. And to do anything on a daily basis means prioritising.

It’s something with which I still struggle. But by persevering it’s starting to pay off. In fact I’m feeling pretty good, for I’ve finally finished revising and proofing the print version of my book on the pros and cons of moving abroad. It is now with the printer, the last step before public release next week!

It’s not been easy mind.

As with so many other people around the world, it’s been a tough 18 months.

The financial crisis has forced me to scramble for work like never before. And outside of the long work hours are my commitments as a husband and father.

As a result, it’s not always easy to find time to do the ‘non-urgent’ writing I really want, the books and screenplays that one day I hope will be my full-time occupation.

I realized though that unless I made the time, prioritized the writing in my day, it would never get done. And my dreams of being an author would go the same way.

It’s the same in all aspects of life. We all have to find time to pursue our dreams, whatever they are.

If you want to learn the piano it’s never going to happen unless you sit at the keyboard on a regular basis – preferably every day – and hammer out the notes.

How are you ever going to get your golf handicap down if you don’t go to the driving range, or get out on the course?

Ditto moving abroad. There may never be a great time to up-sticks. There are always other financial pressures, kids about to change schools, new job promotions in the offing. Valid obstacles that keep you from taking action, from grabbing that life you want.

But that’s the choice you must make. You have to seize the moment – take the requisite steps, however small, and make progress. Without it, your life will never become what you want it to be.

News Reporting in the U.S.

caren — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 22:58:34 +0000

I just finished reading Barbara Kingsolver’s new novel, The Lacuna. Some of the book is set during the McCarthy era in the 50′s and although I knew about that era, I wasn’t fully aware of how pervasive the “watching” was of people whose thinking was anywhere towards the left.

It strikes me that there is a parallel between the 50′s and what is happening now in the U.S. Our freedoms are being denied once again. In addition to the law, the press sensationalizes the news and makes grand sweeping strokes. Sensationalism seems to be the modus operandi.

So, I’d like to make a point about danger in Mexico. Most of Mexico is SAFE. When tourists are planning their trip to San Miguel de Allende, they often get shocked reactions from their friends. “What, are you crazy? Mexico? You’ll get killed!”

Now word is out that NBC is planning an expose about Mexico and how dangerous it is. Mexico is a big country. There are some dangerous places, especially near the borders. Would you not go to L.A. because east L.A. is dangerous? How about Chicago? New York? Yet people are frightened by all of Mexico.

Here is an email I just read from a friend:

“We surely cannot stop NBC or anyone for that matter, from reporting harshly about SMA and Mexico. What we might need to do instead, is for those of us who live in the USA part-time to perhaps collect some statistics which make SMA look ‘rosey’ as many of us feel it is – or get together and start a site: WHAT I LOVE ABOUT SMA

So, here is mine: With so much turmoil in the world I love the fact that it is still peaceful here. Total strangers unite in a place where you are NOT A STRANGER within an hours time. Where you learn to embrace the real things in life and learn to share that wonderful ‘Ah SMA’ feeling with everyone you meet. You participate in culture and creativity, in nature and humanity! We live pretty much ‘as one’ – all of us who have been privileged to find this place. And the love for it is very binding”

Jackie Brummund