Bio:
Doug Bower is a freelance writer and book author. Some of his writing credits include The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Houston Chronicle, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Associated Content, Transitions Abroad, International Living, Escape Artist, and The Front Porch Syndicat
Doug Bower is a freelance writer and book author. Some of his writing credits include The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Houston Chronicle, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Associated Content, Transitions Abroad, International Living, Escape Artist, and The Front Porch Syndicat
Education/Experience:
high school
high school
Interests:
writing
writing
Motto:
Never Give Up!
Never Give Up!
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Could not learning Spanish as an American Expat in Mexico kill you?
By Expat_2003 | Published 10/16/2007 | Read more »
Companion animals seem to fare worse than working animals. From my very ignorant and subjective Gringo observations, it seems the cows, bulls, goats, sheep, horses, and burros are never seen roaming the streets of this city homeless.
By Expat_2003 | Published 10/11/2007 | Read more »
If you plan to retire to Mexico you need a realistic picture of what to expect.
By Expat_2003 | Published 10/10/2007 | Read more »
Have you ever wondered what some of these slick and mendacious online magazines are leaving out when they tell you all your troubles will be over if you take their "how-to-move-to-Mexico" course (for a small fortune) and maybe even buy some of their listed properties
By Expat_2003 | Published 10/10/2007 | Read more »
When I finished my book, "The Plain Truth about Living in Mexico," I sent queries to a number of publishers. On a lark, I queried McGraw-Hill. To my utter shock and awe, they wanted to look at the completed manuscript.
By Expat_2003 | Published 10/8/2007 | Read more »
More and more retirees are choosing to learn Spanish and doing so by taking a Study in Mexico vacation. This is such a grand idea that I hardly know where to begin
By Expat_2003 | Published 10/5/2007 | Read more »
I love birds. I always have. I had them when I was a child; and, from time to time as an adult, I have bred them in numbers I am too embarrassed to admit
By Expat_2003 | Published 10/5/2007 | Read more »
When we moved to Mexico, the issue that troubled us most was accidentally making some cultural blunder. We were afraid we would do something to offend everyone we met. You can only read so much material on culture.
By Expat_2003 | Published 10/1/2007 | Read more »
If you experience the rare honor of an invitation to someone's home, dress casually but neatly. Men should wear a nice shirt and slacks; women should wear a dress, a skirt and blouse, or a pantsuit.
By Expat_2003 | Published 9/28/2007 | Read more »
Gringo tourists have to be constantly reminded that just because they've secured a new mortgage on the house back home to afford vacationing in Mexico, this does not entitle them to commit all manner of cultural atrocities.
By Expat_2003 | Published 9/28/2007 | Read more »
If you don't speak Spanish well enough, the very first problems you will encounter when trying to deal with Mexican hotels will be when you try making a reservation in an area of Mexico outside the Prime Tourist Locations.
By Expat_2003 | Published 9/28/2007 | Read more »
One thing I notice when I am on the west coast of Mexico is that in restaurants, many of the owners will take dollars if the patron hasn't bothered to change his money into pesos.
By Expat_2003 | Published 9/28/2007 | Read more »
How can voter apathy be fixed?
By Expat_2003 | Published 9/27/2007 | Read more »
From the Olmecs, the Teotihuacans, the Aztecs, the Mixtecs, the Casas Grandes culture, and Mimbres culture to modern day Mexicans, pottery has been a predominate influence in the lives of all Mexicans of all times
By Expat_2003 | Published 9/26/2007 | Read more »
The largest cultural event in Guanajuato is the International Cervantino Festival. It is held for 3 weeks each October. This is a festival that celebrates the arts. Each year, the festival features one of Mexico's 31 states as well as 1 or 2 foreign countries.
By Expat_2003 | Published 9/26/2007 | Read more »
But, the point is, if a Mexican city wants to woo the American, Canadian, Australian, and anyone else who is not fluent in Spanish, then those within the service and tourist industries should get on the bilingual stick and learn some English.
By Expat_2003 | Published 9/26/2007 | Read more »
Let me begin by saying that there's nothing wrong with the hotels in Guanajuato's Historic District, specifically. I've been in all of them when I was researching my new book, A Walk Through Mexico's Crown Jewel.
By Expat_2003 | Published 9/26/2007 | Read more »
Should the CIA be cut some slack and seen as a pawn of political machinations?
By Expat_2003 | Published 9/25/2007 | Read more »
My friend's perception of Mexico was it was so utterly corrupt that I could not possibly stand living in it. I might add that the Minuteman Anti-Mexican groups also wrote me scathing emails with point-by-point outlines of how Mexico was the most corrupt nation on earth.
By Expat_2003 | Published 9/24/2007 | Read more »
We wanted to not only see San Luis Potosi, but also take some time to do some much-needed shopping. When we moved to Guanajuato, we wanted to live in a mostly pedestrian town so we would not have to have a car.
By Expat_2003 | Published 9/21/2007 | Read more »
We pulled into San Luis Potosi about 2:00 p.m. after a very pleasant run on one of Mexico's fine bus lines. I love Mexican buses. Mexico did what I am convinced no other country on the earth has ever quite figured out.
By Expat_2003 | Published 9/21/2007 | Read more »
The next morning, we popped up and prepared for a day to explore a place we'd never been before. I had been hearing nothing but good things about this town and my time spent in it would not find any contradictions to those reports.
By Expat_2003 | Published 9/21/2007 | Read more »
The Plaza de Armas is ringed by shops, both big and small, some eateries, and of course, the magnificently grandiose La Catedral.
By Expat_2003 | Published 9/21/2007 | Read more »
A too-often neglected little town in the state of Guanajuato, which is easily accessible from the city of Guanajuato, is Silao.
By Expat_2003 | Published 9/19/2007 | Read more »
I had never been to Tonalá, Jalisco, Mexico, before this week. I had an appointment with the Queen of Tonalá.
By Expat_2003 | Published 9/17/2007 | Read more »
The one thing in the world that never puts me to sleep is the subject of Mexican churches. It's become a passion of mine since moving to Guanajuato, Mexico, and I never tire of visiting the scores of churches in the cities we visit.
By Expat_2003 | Published 9/17/2007 | Read more »
It wasn't to take place for another 25 days. That was the plan anyway. Something had happened. They weren't to take action until December 8th but a spy came on the 13th of September to inform them that they had been betrayed
By Expat_2003 | Published 9/10/2007 | Read more »
When we retreated to a bench to watch the church from which the funeral had expelled us to see a covey of Gringos walking into the church with cameras, short pants, and halter tops.
By Expat_2003 | Published 9/10/2007 | Read more »
On the Dolores Hidalgo map, which you obtain from the tourist's office, depending from which direction you are coming, the Templo de la Tercera Orden.
By Expat_2003 | Published 9/10/2007 | Read more »
I wanted to find some shopping venues that would not have necessitated walking down to "Ceramic Avenue" or "Pottery Lane".
By Expat_2003 | Published 9/10/2007 | Read more »
Hidalgo was a rascal. He was known by his peers as el zorro or the Fox. It turned out that he was not only the father of Mexican independence, the father (priest) of the local Parroquia church, but was the father of two daughters in an illegitimate tryst.
By Expat_2003 | Published 9/10/2007 | Read more »
This morning I wanted to hit first the museum that was actually Miguel Hidalgo's home. It was in this place where the insurgents would meet for their "Literary Meetings" and where the plot of the insurrection would be hatched.
By Expat_2003 | Published 9/10/2007 | Read more »
Just as in the city in which we live, Guanajuato, while sitting in the plaza trying to enjoy the evening you will be hounded almost endlessly for donations to something or another. Usually, young people come up to you with a tin can and a slit...
By Expat_2003 | Published 9/10/2007 | Read more »
We were on a slow bus going apparently nowhere fast. For once we had gotten up at the mutually agreed time. We had gotten ready and arrived at the Guanajuato bus station to head out to Dolores Hidalgo exactly on schedule.
By Expat_2003 | Published 9/10/2007 | Read more »
Perched on a bench in the large square plaza in the center of town. I am on the side of the plaza facing directly in front of The Parish church of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores.
By Expat_2003 | Published 9/7/2007 | Read more »
This was, I suppose, going to be church day for us. So, we finished our ice creams and headed for church number two, Templo Calvario.
By Expat_2003 | Published 9/7/2007 | Read more »
Both Americans and Mexicans have their different cultural ways of calling on someone at home.
By Expat_2003 | Published 8/29/2007 | Read more »
Something we didn't plan on when moving to Mexico, a thing that would have most certainly kept us away from here, was that we are currently being Cyberstalked.
By Expat_2003 | Published 8/20/2007 | Read more »
This time of the year also brings the onslaught of unwanted puppies and kittens
By Expat_2003 | Published 8/17/2007 | Read more »
Some readers think I am opposed to "progress."
By Expat_2003 | Published 8/15/2007 | Read more »
I have the very worst luck with getting wrong-number phone calls, no matter what country I live in. Believe me, when we moved to Mexico, the problem didn't get any better.
By Expat_2003 | Published 8/14/2007 | Read more »
It is very interesting to note how someone responds to what I've written about Gringolandia and its inhabitants, Gringolandians.
By Expat_2003 | Published 8/13/2007 | Read more »
The literature that exists in book form and especially in online newsletters and magazines presents to the "Move-To-Mexico Wannebee" Mexico as an Image and not Mexico as it Really Is.
By Expat_2003 | Published 8/9/2007 | Read more »
The Gringolandia infection is spreading.
By Expat_2003 | Published 8/9/2007 | Read more »
A couple of years ago, an American lady came to Guanajuato to learn Spanish. She enrolled in one of the most expensive schools in town.
By Expat_2003 | Published 8/3/2007 | Read more »
The chief problem for most Americans who want to learn Spanish but who don't succeed is the Affective Factor.
By Expat_2003 | Published 8/2/2007 | Read more »
Sometimes I marvel at how my wife and I arrived in Guanajuato, Mexico, with so little Spanish and with so few cultural skills.
By Expat_2003 | Published 8/1/2007 | Read more »
I cannot begin to imagine what life must be like in isolated little enclaves where the inhabitants have only one another for socializing.
By Expat_2003 | Published 8/1/2007 | Read more »
Do Mexican Bus and Cab Drivers pose a danger?
By Expat_2003 | Published 8/1/2007 | Read more »
Though a conservative, I read liberal points of view. I do so for two reasons. One, their views help me refine my own.
By Expat_2003 | Published 8/1/2007 | Read more »
I've noticed lately the tourists that make their way to central Mexico (Guanajuato) tend to be either the loosey-goosey backpackers or the tourist elite who tend to have a lot of experience in coming to strange and new places.
By Expat_2003 | Published 7/30/2007 | Read more »
Most folks, when they set out to study a new language, begin by enrolling in Spanish I at their local Junior College.
By Expat_2003 | Published 7/30/2007 | Read more »
If you haven't been following my articles plastered all over the Internet, what I've been writing about with much alacrity is how life for the American expat in Mexico basically falls into two classifications.
By Expat_2003 | Published 7/30/2007 | Read more »
One of the chief complaints of students, young or old, who seek to learn Spanish is that what they hear is "machine gun Spanish.
By Expat_2003 | Published 7/29/2007 | Read more »
Exactly how the brain stores language, spoken and understood speech, has not exactly been known.
By Expat_2003 | Published 7/27/2007 | Read more »
I've been wondering lately about the word "terrorism" and its various definitions.
By Expat_2003 | Published 7/26/2007 | Read more »
Passive listening would be the direct opposite of how we are taught to approach the learning of math, history, or science.
By Expat_2003 | Published 7/26/2007 | Read more »
Spoken fluency in a second language is not learned but acquired.
By Expat_2003 | Published 7/25/2007 | Read more »
The place most worth considering where instruction in how to learn a second language abounds just might surprise you.
By Expat_2003 | Published 7/20/2007 | Read more »
Let me first say that whether or not I am actually insane could be debated
By Expat_2003 | Published 7/18/2007 | Read more »
Without the language, your social involvement is severely limited to only those who speak English.
By Expat_2003 | Published 7/18/2007 | Read more »
Maybe the most important aspect of Stephen Krashen's theories of second language acquisition is The Input Hypothesis.
By Expat_2003 | Published 7/17/2007 | Read more »
My wife and I met with a woman a few years ago when she was contemplating moving to Guanajuato.
By Expat_2003 | Published 7/14/2007 | Read more »
Dr. Krashen explains that this idea, The Monitor Hypothesis, shows how language learning (grammar) affects language acquisition.
By Expat_2003 | Published 7/10/2007 | Read more »
Georgi Lozanov, a Bulgarian psychologist, introduced what he undoubtedly thought an original and brilliant premise:
By Expat_2003 | Published 7/8/2007 | Read more »
Let me say right off the bat if you find this article entertaining, you really must come back and look at the "reader's comments" that will undoubtedly follow in the next few days.
By Expat_2003 | Published 7/7/2007 | Read more »
When I was setting up an interview with a Mexican friend, he asked what I wanted to discuss.
By Expat_2003 | Published 7/6/2007 | Read more »
What got me started on an Intercambio jag was learning how Mexicans in the tourist industry on Mexico's Gold Coast learn English and achieve an amazing level of proficiency.
By Expat_2003 | Published 7/6/2007 | Read more »
The tragic event in Eloxochitlan, Mexico, in which a mudslide took too many bus traveler's lives on July 5th, 2007, reminded me...
By Expat_2003 | Published 7/6/2007 | Read more »
A most bizarre philosophy of education called "Discovery Learning," based partly on the educational ideas of Rousseau, Pestalozzi and Dewey, led to The Silent Way Method of Second Language acquisition.
By Expat_2003 | Published 7/6/2007 | Read more »
Living in a Mexican town that is probably the most provincial in the entire country can have many advantages.
By Expat_2003 | Published 7/5/2007 | Read more »
It has been the Prime Living Locations such as the Lake Chapala area, Puerto Vallarta, San Miguel de Allende, Cuernavaca, Mazatlán, and others to which Gringos have been attracted
By Expat_2003 | Published 7/2/2007 | Read more »
This method of second language instruction was a further development or evolution of The Direct Method.
By Expat_2003 | Published 7/2/2007 | Read more »
Most, if not all, Americans who decide to move to Mexico to "get away from it all" seem to do so based on the merits of at least two books.
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/29/2007 | Read more »
We've been holed up in the house pretty much now for two weeks and counting. We venture out between downpours. Such is life in Central Mexico during the rainy season.
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/28/2007 | Read more »
Realizing that The Grammar Translation Method of second language instruction did not work to impart spoken proficiency in the target language, in the late 1800's, The Direct Method surfaced in language instruction.
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/27/2007 | Read more »
The grammar translation method of second language acquisition is virtually the only method used in most language courses taught in classrooms all over the world. It is also known as The Classical Method.
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/26/2007 | Read more »
I've been thinking about this lady in San Miguel de Allende. I don't know her well. I've never met her, actually, but we have corresponded.
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/26/2007 | Read more »
Tell me how anyone would learn what "No manches" or "¿Quién va a hacerlo, Buey?" means in a classroom where you are learning how to conjugate estar and ser?
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/23/2007 | Read more »
The Australian aborigines, who believed their world was sung into existence, have associated a song with every geological item in the wilds of Australia.
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/22/2007 | Read more »
What I am often tempted to say, but I don't, is, "Well I can see that you've amassed a vast Spanish vocabulary using whatever method you use.
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/22/2007 | Read more »
Mnemonic memory training is a memory system that allows you to store information in and recall it from your long-term memory, and, in the case of learning a new language, your speech center.
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/22/2007 | Read more »
You get home from your year abroad in Mexico and starting going through all those home study courses to reinforce your year of Spanish in Mexico
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/22/2007 | Read more »
I was standing outside the walk-in-closet-sized store where my wife loves to shop. It is also the neighborhood gossip center.
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/22/2007 | Read more »
I was in a bus with my wife heading back to Guanajuato from Texas.
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/21/2007 | Read more »
Almost without exception, the private language schools and universities in Mexico use the translation method of Spanish instruction.
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/21/2007 | Read more »
If you are planning what seems to be the "in thing" with more and more middle-class Americans, a study Spanish vacation in Mexico, then there are some things you can do to maximize the experience.
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/21/2007 | Read more »
I asked the question: Why would someone from Chihuahua City speak so disdainfully about the people of Guanajuato?
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/21/2007 | Read more »
When my wife and I first came to Guanajuato, we did a Study Vacation and stayed with a Mexican family. Our experience was wonderful
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/21/2007 | Read more »
Going to the host country of the target language has always taken on a sort of mythical quality.
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/21/2007 | Read more »
If you have successfully completed at least The Learnables and The Pimsleur Spanish, Learning Spanish Like Crazy courses, you are ready for the formal study of Spanish (i.e., grammar).
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/21/2007 | Read more »
There are two additional courses that I recommend.
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/21/2007 | Read more »
What do we know so far
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/20/2007 | Read more »
So just where did this hideous stereotype about adults learning foreign language originate?
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/20/2007 | Read more »
The Horse, as I wrote previously, is spoken fluency
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/20/2007 | Read more »
Think about this very seriously for a moment.
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/20/2007 | Read more »
Yes, there are conversation classes.
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/20/2007 | Read more »
This article is about language learning methods.
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/20/2007 | Read more »
Why should an American learn a foreign language in the 21st century?
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/20/2007 | Read more »
Foreign language learning is not something that happens overnight;
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/20/2007 | Read more »
It is not an exaggeration to declare that the United States of America could be the only country in the world where one can graduate from high school and even college without taking one course of foreign language study.
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/20/2007 | Read more »
Recently, I read a book written by a Cultural Analyst specializing in Mexican culture.
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/20/2007 | Read more »
There is a great restaurant in town where I love to eat steak.
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/20/2007 | Read more »
You and your business partner have been working your tails off trying to get a bunch of modern, Mexican-style duplexes off the ground.
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/20/2007 | Read more »
To be honest with you, I don't see why more Gringos in Guanajuato aren't getting ripped off when trying to rent, or God forbid, buy a house on their own
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/20/2007 | Read more »
The simple answer is if you are a Gringo, Mexicans perceive you as having riches galore.
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/20/2007 | Read more »
I wish someone had written a more reality-based expatriation guide we could have read during our research phase before moving to Mexico.
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/20/2007 | Read more »
It is always a treat to receive letters from readers who read what I crank out.
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/20/2007 | Read more »
If I had my way, I would require every American to come to Guanajuato for a month or two to engage in a Study Abroad program.
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/20/2007 | Read more »
In my never-ending quest to discover just what to call American gringos who move to Mexico and create Gringolandias (expats, fakepats, colonists?), I offer yet another confusing yet interesting dilemma.
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/20/2007 | Read more »
No amount of denial will make the dual-price system in Mexico go away.
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/20/2007 | Read more »
Depending on where an American chooses to expatriate in Mexico, there is one irrevocable fact of Mexican life and culture that will be immediately apparent.
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/19/2007 | Read more »
Remember reading The Lord of the Flies when you were in high school?
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/19/2007 | Read more »
I would love to be able to tell you that the vast majority of Americans moving to Mexico do so because, to phrase as the quote above, " but rather of people who like Mexico
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/13/2007 | Read more »
Someone Wrote: "It has been documented that the older one gets the more difficult it becomes to learn a foreign language."
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/13/2007 | Read more »
Is it ok to make sweeping generalizations when it comes to discussing cultures?
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/12/2007 | Read more »
You can find some of the world's worst advice in Internet Chat Rooms.
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/8/2007 | Read more »
My most recent brush with death, and there have been many, was with the little green Nissan cab my neighbor, Pancho, drives.
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/7/2007 | Read more »
""...A majority of the Britons described Americans as uncaring, divided by class, awash in violent crime, vulgar, preoccupied with money, ignorant of the outside world, racially divided, uncultured...
By Expat_2003 | Published 6/2/2007 | Read more »
Something that I have to be careful of when I write about my experience as an American expat in Mexico is not to come across in my prose as an expat expert.
By Expat_2003 | Published 5/21/2007 | Read more »
After we had lived in Guanajuato for about two years, we noticed something so strange, so unnerving, so inexplicable that it took another two years before we arrived at a reasonable explanation for a mystery that, frankly, was a little mind-boggling.
By Expat_2003 | Published 5/21/2007 | Read more »
We were understandably excited, even overwhelmed, when we moved to Guanajuato on August 1, 2003. We explored the city until we felt we would drop.
By Expat_2003 | Published 5/21/2007 | Read more »
In the series of columns I've written, to the tune of around 300, and four books during a period of four years, I've attempted to present my observations of what I've experienced living in central Mexico in the city of Guanajuato.
By Expat_2003 | Published 5/21/2007 | Read more »
We just got back from the Mall.
By Expat_2003 | Published 5/13/2007 | Read more »
Since 9/11, I have resisted writing very much about the issue of terrorism. One of the main reasons for my reluctance has been the very salient fact that I can hardly muster enough rational objectivism to do so.
By Expat_2003 | Published 5/9/2007 | Read more »
Recently I read a story about NASA having to come up some sort of procedure for the possibility of astronauts dying while on their way to Mars.
By Expat_2003 | Published 5/4/2007 | Read more »
Since moving to Guanajuato, Mexico, we've lived in four different houses. The first was in a barrio called Puquero.
By Expat_2003 | Published 5/3/2007 | Read more »
There are times when I wonder if Americans knew ahead of time what really to expect in their desire to retire to Mexico they would actually go through with it.
By Expat_2003 | Published 5/3/2007 | Read more »
I could not believe my eyes when I read the following quote on Foxnews.
By Expat_2003 | Published 5/3/2007 | Read more »
I have a general understanding of the gringo communities in some Mexican cities and what's happened there historically and what is currently happening.
By Expat_2003 | Published 5/2/2007 | Read more »
It's almost rainy season here in Guanajuato. You know it's coming when the days start heating up.
By Expat_2003 | Published 5/2/2007 | Read more »
No matter how hard I try, and I've been trying, trust me, I cannot stop thinking about expat issues in the Mexican town in which I live.
By Expat_2003 | Published 5/1/2007 | Read more »
Alex Baldwin's tirade against his minor child needs to be seen for what it is-child abuse.
By Expat_2003 | Published 4/27/2007 | Read more »
About this time of year, I normally start haranguing about tourist season in the little central Mexican town where I live, Guanajuato.
By Expat_2003 | Published 4/27/2007 | Read more »
There is a certain magnetism to a Mexican city that seems to know how to keep its streets clean, its air clear-blue and free of the dreaded brown haze, and make everything in it call out to the tourist to come for a visit.
By Expat_2003 | Published 4/25/2007 | Read more »
Let's pretend that you are going to move to Mexico.
By Expat_2003 | Published 4/25/2007 | Read more »
You do not have to be an expatriate to notice that the young people of Guanajuato are excessively demonstrative in showing public displays of affection.
By Expat_2003 | Published 4/17/2007 | Read more »
México is a magical place. It is truly enchanted. For us, and I am assuming for you too, the appeal of this country is so hypnotic, so magnetic, so enveloping that one can hardly come here without falling under its spell.
By Expat_2003 | Published 4/17/2007 | Read more »
Doesn't anyone realize that unless limitations are established on what Americans can do after they move to Mexico, they will change the cities to which they flock until Mexico is no longer Mexico, but is merely another USA?
By Expat_2003 | Published 4/17/2007 | Read more »
Please Explain Something To Me!
By Expat_2003 | Published 4/6/2007 | Read more »
Savannah Knight and I are having a fight. We are miffed at one another and are going at each other like tongs and hammers.
By Expat_2003 | Published 3/29/2007 | Read more »
Occasionally, we go out to the campo (the Mexican countryside) to visit an artist friend.
By Expat_2003 | Published 3/25/2007 | Read more »
What world do I live in? This was a question recently sent to me by a reader. He was not writing to compliment my writing.
By Expat_2003 | Published 3/23/2007 | Read more »
There have been two times in my life when someone told me I would never be able to accomplish the goals I set out to accomplish.
By Expat_2003 | Published 3/19/2007 | Read more »
Every single person reading these words, whether they know it or not, is a Vendor of Ideas. Each of us possesses a host of ideas on many subjects.
By Expat_2003 | Published 3/8/2007 | Read more »
Associated Content Provider, Sindy Lucas, wrote an honest, heartfelt op-ed piece concerning an op-ed piece by Kenneth Eng.
By Expat_2003 | Published 3/8/2007 | Read more »
The gringos I've encountered through the years I've lived in central Mexico have moved here for many different reasons. I've found people who have moved to Mexico for the good weather
By Expat_2003 | Published 3/8/2007 | Read more »
There are areas of México where the weather is referred to as Eternal Springtime. It is a true statement for a lot of México, especially the Heartland. It could be called Paradise weather.
By Expat_2003 | Published 3/8/2007 | Read more »
As a writer, when you notice something exceedingly strange in the town you've chosen to move to as an American expatriate, should you report what you see?
By Expat_2003 | Published 3/7/2007 | Read more »
Reading readers' review of your prose can send you into the heights of ecstasy or plunge you into the drowning pool of despair.
By Expat_2003 | Published 3/7/2007 | Read more »
There are now a plethora of "how to expatriate to México guides" available for the potential expat.
By Expat_2003 | Published 3/6/2007 | Read more »
Most central Mexicans, at least those I know, have no illusions of being bilingual.
By Expat_2003 | Published 3/6/2007 | Read more »
During the birth pangs of America in Colonial times, the idea of freedom of speech was the definitive rallying cry of the soon-to-be Americans.
By Expat_2003 | Published 3/3/2007 | Read more »
Women: I simply cannot fathom why we men do not understand how much we need them in our lives.
By Expat_2003 | Published 3/2/2007 | Read more »
Experiencing culture shock is very much like getting married. You spend the first year or so in rapturous enjoyment of one another in martial carnal pleasures and intellectual stimulation.
By Expat_2003 | Published 3/1/2007 | Read more »
I am pleased to announce that because of the existence of free writing venues and content providers, and the kind tolerance of its editorial staff, I have been noticed by a travel guide publisher.
By Expat_2003 | Published 3/1/2007 | Read more »
The appeal of México is immediate. Whether it is the long, warm sandy beaches of Puerto Vallarta with its marvelous nightlife and eco-jungle tours...
By Expat_2003 | Published 3/1/2007 | Read more »
Unless you come from a part of the United States, such as Arizona, New Mexico, or anywhere in the southwest where the scorpion reigns, you probably have no idea one of the lovely things with which you will have to deal when moving to Mexico is The Scorpion!
By Expat_2003 | Published 2/28/2007 | Read more »
Stereotypes. As soon as this word is uttered or seen in print or the idea is implied, almost 100% of the politically correct crowd's hackles go up and they are ready for a fight.
By Expat_2003 | Published 2/26/2007 | Read more »
This is a recurring and frequent theme in my column writing and books. It amazes me that Americans make such a monumental effort to move to Mexico and then never learn Spanish.
By Expat_2003 | Published 2/26/2007 | Read more »
Writing can be such fun. It can take you to places you have never visited. It can provide outlets for emotions, especially confusion, that nothing else can provide. It can also keep driving you to want to learn more and then report what you've found.
By Expat_2003 | Published 2/23/2007 | Read more »
Since moving to Mexico, I have been struggling with something I never, in my wildest imaginings, thought would be an issue in living in Mexico.
By Expat_2003 | Published 2/15/2007 | Read more »
I've been trying, of late, to put into words just what I've learned about living in Mexico for the past four years that is significant enough to share with my readers. There is so much.
By Expat_2003 | Published 2/8/2007 | Read more »
Tell me if you've ever heard this:"Did you know that "95 percent of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens?" Or that "75 percent of people on the Most Wanted List in Los Angeles are illegal aliens"?
By Expat_2003 | Published 2/2/2007 | Read more »
Years ago when my wife and I pulled up roots in America and moved to Guanajuato, Mexico, I began telling everyone who would listen that San Miguel de Allende was well on its way to Guanajuato.
By Expat_2003 | Published 1/31/2007 | Read more »
Americans never understand their responsibility in the Mexican Immigration to the U.S. debacle. They will blame everyone under the sun, and then some, rather than look inward to themselves as major contributors to the problem.
By Expat_2003 | Published 1/30/2007 | Read more »
For the past three and a half years, I've been waiting for a restaurant to come along that would prove, once and for all, that Guanajuato, Mexico, does not lack fine cuisine.
By Expat_2003 | Published 1/26/2007 | Read more »
Gentrification is "the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces earlier, usually poorer, residents" (Webster's).
Gentrification is occurring in Guanajuato.
By Expat_2003 | Published 1/24/2007 | Read more »
Finally, some of our American expat friends are beginning to wake up to the ranting and raving I've been doing about living in Guanajuato.
By Expat_2003 | Published 1/11/2007 | Read more »
When my wife and I moved to Guanajuato, Mexico as forty-something American expats, we had a list of reasons for doing so. The list has been growing incrementally since moving here.
By Expat_2003 | Published 1/9/2007 | Read more »
In central Mexico, San Miguel de Allende is virtually the only place where you will find English spoken so massively that you will not have to learn how to say two words in this beautiful language.
By Expat_2003 | Published 12/28/2006 | Read more »
Here I am. It is the middle of the night. I sit here, in the dark corner of the bedroom with just the light of the computer screen to illuminate the keyboard. But, I don't need lights.
By Expat_2003 | Published 12/22/2006 | Read more »
One of the most repugnant stereotypes about the Mexican people is that they are those dirty Mexicans. I find this a statement worth vomiting over or at least slapping soundly the person who says it.
By Expat_2003 | Published 12/21/2006 | Read more »
A basic service Americans have traditionally loved to hate and one about which they complain most vociferously is the telephone. Americans have scorned the phone company for years and yet few would think of living without it.
By Expat_2003 | Published 12/21/2006 | Read more »
We intended to arrive in Guanajuato much sooner than we did. After two years of agonizing over the decision, we finally thought we were ready to make an exploratory trip to Guanajuato, the capital of the state of Guanajuato.
By Expat_2003 | Published 12/21/2006 | Read more »
Madonna's music: I could care less about it. Madonna's stage and video acts: Nope! I do not like her music, although she is a talented singer and dancer. I loved her in Evita. But her popular stuff, I would never spend a dime on it.
By Expat_2003 | Published 12/21/2006 | Read more »
Have you ever been in that mental state where you want to go back to bed, pull the covers over your head, because you have that overwhelming feeling that, "WE ARE DOOMED?"
By Expat_2003 | Published 12/21/2006 | Read more »
Americans living in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico either do not understand, do not want to understand, or are in simple denial regarding the effect they've had on this Central Mexican Colonial Town.
By Expat_2003 | Published 12/21/2006 | Read more »
The appeal of México is immediate.
By Expat_2003 | Published 12/21/2006 | Read more »
I've really only had two friends in my life. Now, before you deem this too pathetic for words, let me define terms.
By Expat_2003 | Published 12/21/2006 | Read more »
I've written quite a bit about The Ugly American Syndrome. In my columns, print and online magazines, and in every book I've written, I've mentioned this topic. I get a lot of mail from readers, either praising and agreeing with me or chiding and condemning me.
By Expat_2003 | Published 12/21/2006 | Read more »
My wife belongs to an Internet group where there was a recent blowup over the insane expectation Americans have about foreigners who visit America's shores.
By Expat_2003 | Published 12/21/2006 | Read more »
I am miffed. I am sitting in my casita (little house) in Guanajuato moaning and groaning about something over which I have no possible control. I feel like swooning to the bed and uttering vile curses, but, as my wife often reminds me, "What good would that do?"
By Expat_2003 | Published 12/21/2006 | Read more »
The largest coping issues are not really with Mexico and her people. It is with other gringos. I certainly was not prepared for what awaited us in Mexico in the form of other American expatriates.
By Expat_2003 | Published 12/17/2006 | Read more »
Once again, in a country touted as a “Christian Nation” where a majority of the people identify themselves as Christians and where tradition certainly attests to the veracity of this claim, an individual has forced the majority to bend to his will.
By Expat_2003 | Published 12/17/2006 | Read more »
In a column I wrote in August 2005, entitled, Kidnapping Americans in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, I said this about the American press and their coverage of the events then taking place in the border city:
By Expat_2003 | Published 12/17/2006 | Read more »
If someone asked me what I would recommend as the most important preparation for expatriating to Mexico, it would be Learn Spanish. You would think this is obvious, right?
By Expat_2003 | Published 12/17/2006 | Read more »
In this age, in this country, public sentiment is everything. With it, nothing can fail; against it, nothing can succeed. Whoever molds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes, or pronounces judicial decisions. -Abraham Lincoln
By Expat_2003 | Published 12/17/2006 | Read more »
What if, after repeated failures in trying to learn a foreign language, you read the following in a magazine:
By Expat_2003 | Published 12/17/2006 | Read more »
In the Colonias or Barrios of Guanajuato, gringos can be found in almost any of them. I am constantly asked how many gringos live in Guanajuato and the answer is, ¿Quién Sabe? No one knows.
By Expat_2003 | Published 12/17/2006 | Read more »
If someone asked me what I would recommend as the most important preparation for expatriating to Mexico it would be, Learn Spanish. You would think this is obvious, right?
By Expat_2003 | Published 10/28/2006 | Read more »
If one is not a writer, an artist, or an ESL teacher, just what does an expat find to do all day when he moves to Mexico? You would be amazed at just how often I am asked that question.
By Expat_2003 | Published 8/11/2006 | Read more »
Something too few tourists will ask before coming to Guanajuato, Mexico, for a visit is, "Can I use my ATM and credit card for everything or anything?"
By Expat_2003 | Published 4/7/2006 | Read more »
You would not think that mentioning Other Gringos in an Expat Survival Guide would be necessary but after I am through you will write to thank me. It is necessary and we struggle with this on a daily basis.
By Expat_2003 | Published 4/7/2006 | Read more »
Though I have written a lot on the issue of expatriation to Mexico, one of the most common questions from the "younger crowd" is, "Can I find work?".
By Expat_2003 | Published 3/31/2006 | Read more »
If you want to communicate from Mexico to anywhere else in the world, do not use the Postal Service.
By Expat_2003 | Published 3/31/2006 | Read more »
A typical day in the life of an American expat living in Mexico will include trying to find drinking water. You might be surprised by this but...
By Expat_2003 | Published 3/29/2006 | Read more »
The Spanish you learn in a classroom in the United States or Mexico WILL NOT be the Spanish you hear in the streets of Mexico!
By Expat_2003 | Published 3/29/2006 | Read more »
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