Sunday, August 13, 2006

Summer in San Miguel de Allende

The big change here in summer has little to do with the weather, which remains much the same year round. Nights are cooler in December thru February and at this time of year (April thru July) there is sometimes rain in the afternoons or evenings. I remark to myself almost every day that this has to be one of the nicest climates I have ever known.

The main difference that summer brings is more tourists. By and large they are quite the best kind. The majority are families and older couples or singles from DF (Mexico City – Distrito Federal), Guadalahara, Queretero and elsewhere in Mexico. Of course there are the “Chilangos” (young, wealthy and arrogant week-enders from Mexico City), which the Sanmiguelenses love to hate. But the “Chilangos”, (many with family homes here), come here on weekends to party all year round so are a constant of the night scene and not just a summer phenomenon. There are also lots of folks (again a lot of families and older folks) from Canada and US – mainly from southern US (Texas, Tennessee, New Mexico, California and Florida) escaping the heat. Many come to set their kids up in various classes at the cultural centers around town or just allow them to suck up a bit of culture from the wide variety of activities that are a constant in SMA.

This town is growing like a bad weed. Some figures were released recently that make my own estimates seem a bit sad. I had said that I discounted the idea that there were up to 5,000 gringos here believing that it was closer to 300 and thinking the 5,000 figure came largely from phone lists that included a ton of folks that come for only a few weeks. According to city officials about 7,000 foreigners have permanent residency in SMA with the total population at any one time in the order of 10,000. In a city of 80,000 proper and with suburban barrios of an additional 60,000, that makes the gringo population in the order of 5% – 8 %. To satisfy the demand, not one but two new supermarkets are being built on the edge of town. The need to run off to Queretero or Celaya for decent grocery shopping will certainly become less apparent.

Furthermore, the US Govt estimates(no one knows) that some 1.8 million Americans are currently living in Mexico. With around 50 million set to retire over the course of the next five years it is a good bet some more will end up in this country. In which case if you are looking for a spot you better hurry. Mexican blogs are beginning to blog cyberspace. Just in SMA one can read the following (in addition to this one of course):
http://www.fallinginlovewithsanmiguel.com/index.html
http://mysanmiguelblog.blogspot.com/
http://franschiavo.com/sma/
http://www.elconsejo.com/
http://www.infosma.com/
http://www.sanmiguelauthors.com/new/index.php
http://adventuresandtravelinmexico.com/The_Heart_of_Mexico/S
an_Miguel_de_Allende/tabid/110/Default.aspx
http://www.billiemercer.blogspot.com/

And if you wish to explore Mexico even further here is a
more complete list:
http://rollybrook.com/blogs.htm

The Mexican elections are still not over. The Elections Tribunal has until September 6 to pronounce a winner. The leftist, Obrador, is still claiming fraud and that he is the legitimate heir. To show his strength he continues to organize large crowds of protesters into the central square in Mexico City every weekend. Filipe Calderon meanwhile, is resolutely forming his transition team. With only a 0.5% lead however, he will have trouble claiming a complete victory and will have to be quick on his feet to govern effectively should he retain his slim advantage and become President.

I am planning some projects over the course of the next few weeks/months. Of course I still have this fantasy that I can change the façade a bit and give the whole front a much-needed face-lift including a paint job. That however is in the hands of the City fathers, as any façade changes in “Centro” require rigorous approval in order to maintain the “colonial” look. But it has been six months now and still my contractor claims they have not approved. In the meantime, (and in anticipation of eventual approval), I am going to build a permanent staircase from my second floor balcony to the roof. I also plan to install a solar water heating system on the roof. That is very much in the planning process at present but what I long for is something simple with no moving parts. The climate here should be ideal. We will see and I will post progress.

Meanwhile I am getting to know a fairly eclectic group of folks, most of who claim permanent residence. They typically meet in el Jardin and hang out in a variety of places over lunch and some music and cultural events. I have worked my kitchen a bit but winter is a better time for dinner parties. I have also found a new swimming hole for the Gregster. It is up the canyon that forms the spillway for the old dam below the botanic gardens. It makes for a reasonably strenuous hike of about an hour to the water holes but worth it to see the pleasure the hound gets from a little swim.

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