If you know anything about male human physiology and the effects of sudden temperature changes on it, then you can skip this part. If you don’t, then you had better take notes because you are going to need to know this when you expatriate to Mexico?TRUST ME!

You know how in the United States you’ve depended on the faithful fact of having hot and cold water whenever you needed it? All you’ve ever had to do during your entire existence in America (unless you lived with wolves in the forest) is turn on the hot or cold water and it was there. Wonderfully hot or cold and with a powerful stream of water. It rarely failed you. Well, in Mexico it works a little differently.

What we have here is a water tank called a tinaco. This thingee sits on the roof day and night, night and day, and is your source for water. But, wait. This tank, or tinaco, is like a toilet tank. It even has one of those hideous-looking flotation devices in it that acts as a mechanism to shut off the water flow when it reaches a certain level.

This tank fills up with water when the flotation device reaches a low level and stops when it reaches its full level. And it fills back up just as slowly as the slowest toilet tank that you can imagine. This is your house’s supply of water?the tinaco.

However, there is NO water pressure other than gravity from the tinaco to your faucet, toilet, or shower (though there are pressure devices you can install). Consequently, you can have a tiny trickle or a full head of water pressure depending on the level of water in your tinaco.

Now follow me closely, here.

The hot water situation works like this: The hot water tank’s fullness is dependent on the water level in your tinaco. If there is no or low water in the tinaco, there will be no water in your hot water tank to heat up.

This would not be so bad if you lived alone. But, if you have two people in the household trying to take showers, it can be interesting.

If you are a married man, you know who takes the longest showers. When my wife finishes her showering and I jump in, I have exactly sixty seconds to shower before the hot water tank says to the tinaco, Hey! I am running low here. Can you lend a hand?

To which the tinaco responds, Sure, Dude. Give me about three hours.

Sixty seconds, count them, before the hot water shuts down and the genitalia shrinkage begins. Thus, I asked the question about whether you knew the effects of sudden temperature changes on the human MALE body.

Of course, this situation is worsened if someone fills up the water pitcher or uses the toilet. All this sucks up precious water in the tinaco, making showering hazardous to say the least.

I cannot testify to the effects of this on the FEMALE human body but can imagine vividly what it shrinks. But I can’t say it here lest I risk not getting this column published ever again!

Mexico has few bathtubs. I can see why. It would take three years to fill it up with enough hot water in which to bathe! Welcome to Mexico!

Expatriates Doug and Cindi Bower have successfully expatriated to Mexico, learning through trial and error how to do it from the conception of the initial idea to driving up to their new home in another country. Now the potential expatriate can benefit from their more than three years of pre-expat research to their more than two years of actually living in Mexico. The Plain Truth about Living in Mexico answers the potential expatriate’s questions by leading them through the process from the beginning to the end. In this comprehensive guide, you will learn not only how-to expatriate but will learn what to expect, in daily life, before coming to Mexico. BUY BOOK HERE: http://www.universal-publishers.com/book.php?method=ISBN&book=1581124570

What I am talking about here is that all of Guanajuato?s yearly rain, all 20 inches of it, falls from the heavens in a time frame of three to maybe three and half months. This may not seem a big deal but when that much rain falls into a Steppe mountain climate in such a short period of time, we are looking at a potential natural disaster of Biblical proportions.

The city of Guanajuato sits in a large canyon-like ravine nestled in an arid (Steppe) mountain region at an elevation of about 6700 feet. What used to happen was that this rain would flood the region, sweeping away flora, fauna, and a lot of really scared indigenous people (and, to the delight of the indigenous people, a few Spaniards went along for the watery ride).

So, the city government decided to build a maze of tunnels in the hope it would divert the flooding. That idea was a wash–it didn?t work. After more locals ran screaming for their lives during yet another treacherous rainy season, they eventually diverted the river from the downtown area. This, much to the happiness of a multitude of waterlogged people, worked. (The tunnels are now underground thoroughfares for car traffic–more on that later).

Today the river is about one block down the steep street from we live. Oh boy! And, there are still flooding issues but not on the scale of yesteryear.

The first year we lived here was bad because many rural regions had serious problems. Although I didn?t hear of any casualties, there were some mudslides which caused houses to fall into big, dreadful-looking holes, never to be seen again.

Last year, a house in the central part of town, perched on a cliff, fell a few stories because the rain-weakened mountainside gave way. No one was hurt, thank God, and true to Mexican form, they rebuilt! These people are survivors. They don?t get FEMA-like funds. They regroup, neighbors and family pitch in, and from the sweat of their brows and the labor of their hands, they rebuild–they survive!

During the off-season, the river is a stream, a trickle, a mere nothing. But, once the rains come, I feel major anxiety attacks. From where we live, we can hear a nonstop horrific roar. It sounds much like the roar we used to hear during the tornado season back in Kansas. It is positively nightmarish.

There is a small bridge leading from our private street over the river and I go into cardiac palpitations every time I have to cross it. It is a rushing of brown, muck- filled water, with the level reaching almost to the bridge. In fact a little way down the street, it often goes over a footbridge, spreading trash and mayhem all over the main street.

I am tempted to ask our landlady if the flooding ever reaches where we live. However, I am too afraid to learn the answer. Egads, what if it did?

The rainy season is 8 weeks away and I am counting the days. Meanwhile, I?ve got to go and get the ark shipshape and ready to go.

Bon Voyage!

Expatriates Doug and Cindi Bower have successfully expatriated to Mexico, learning through trial and error how to do it from the conception of the initial idea to driving up to their new home in another country. Now the potential expatriate can benefit from their more than three years of pre-expat research to their more than two years of actually living in Mexico. The Plain Truth about Living in Mexico answers the potential expatriate’s questions by leading them through the process from the beginning to the end. In this comprehensive guide, you will learn not only how-to expatriate but will learn what to expect, in daily life, before coming to Mexico. BUY BOOK HERE: http://www.universal-publishers.com/book.php?method=ISBN&book=1581124570

I decided to engage these gringos since it is a great way to get ideas for my writing, and what do you know, here I am writing about it. See what I mean?

This lady and her husband, who were traveling with another couple, were from Jackson Hole, Wyoming; a place, I am told, that is popular with American celebrities. So I am thinking at this point, these folks have some bucks. Can you just imagine the real estate prices there if the Hollywood ilk have taken a liking to it? Anyway.

We began talking and my most favorite subject came up: San Miguel de Allende. If you have been following my train of thought in my writing, you will remember that I have this particular interest in that little Colonial Mexican town and how the American gringo population has essentially turned it into an American colony.

You will hear more English spoken there than Spanish. That is a bit on the pathetic side, if you ask me. But no one ever asks me!

So there we were talking and the subject of Mexican-Gringo relationships came up. I cannot fathom who first brought that subject up (wink, wink).

I made my point that in San Miguel de Allende there is trouble in River City because the Gringos there, for the most part, refuse to learn Spanish and to associate with the Mexicans. My point to her, which I always try to make in my writing, is there will never be a social link between the two groups, the gringos and the Mexicans, as long as the Americans refuse to learn the language.

The Americans build strip malls and gated communities and associate with their own kind because they won’t learn the language (I don’t even want to know if there are other reasons for their enclave mentality!). Just imagine the level of social interaction that is possible when no one can speak the language?we talking a big zero. What are you going to do, sit there and grunt and fart at each other?

To the Mexicans’ credit, many of the shopkeepers and business people have learned English. But they have told us when we interviewed them, the Americans still will not associate with them. So the Mexicans accept the Americans’ money and smile politely knowing that these Americans will never be their friends. I am not making this up?Mexicans have told us this to our gringo faces!

So, what do you think this woman’s reaction was to my pontificating rhetoric?

So, the Mexicans are not grateful for the money we bring into their community?

Well, slap my face and call me Sally, but isn’t that the typical American solution? How big a Freudian slip was that? Let us throw money at the poor misguided third-world savages so they will be properly thankful!

My God in Heaven, is it any wonder why the rest of the world is a little, how shall I say this, pissed off at America?

Mexicans want your friendship not your money! Money cannot but love, loyalty, faithfulness, or friendship. But apparently, a great number of Americans think that it can. Just look at what this lady’s response was! Sheesh!

Our experience has been this: because we have attempted to learn their language and culture, we are invited into their lives and homes.

Mexicans see through this let us throw money and watch them grovel in thankfulness fa?ade. It will never buy their love and friendship.

I told all of this, I really did, to this woman’s face. Her husband, maybe sensing the imminent explosion, sprang into action and dragged his red-faced wife off to go to some more gringo activities like throwing money at these poor misguided third-world savages.

Sigh.

Expatriates Doug and Cindi Bower have successfully expatriated to Mexico, learning through trial and error how to do it from the conception of the initial idea to driving up to their new home in another country. Now the potential expatriate can benefit from their more than three years of pre-expat research to their more than two years of actually living in Mexico. The Plain Truth about Living in Mexico answers the potential expatriate’s questions by leading them through the process from the beginning to the end. In this comprehensive guide, you will learn not only how-to expatriate but will learn what to expect, in daily life, before coming to Mexico. BUY BOOK HERE: http://www.universal-publishers.com/book.php?method=ISBN&book=1581124570

What I am talking about is a lack of public rage in the general population. It is the rage that you see all too often in the United States. You know what I am talking about.

You cannot walk through a mall, a supermarket, an airport (especially an airport), a restaurant, or a public place of any sort without hearing Americans who are mad about something and who are cursing like sailors. My mother was proficient at turning the air blue and embarrassing even the toughest construction workers with her proclivity for profanity.

You cannot go anywhere in America without hearing,

?Well, I?ll be damned.?

?Son-of-a-b?.

?You mother fer?.

?F you!?

First, I must say that I have yet to see the rage behavior in Mexicans that would precipitate a string of profanity and second, I?ve yet to hear one word of profanity uttered in public. That isn?t to say it never happens, it is just that it is almost nonexistent!

Americans will cuss at the drop of a hat and sometimes for no apparent reason at all! We were in San Miguel de Allende taking care of some business when we decided to hit one of their fine restaurants. A group of Americans came in after us and soon the profanity was flowing. I swear, their entire vocabulary consisted of the following,

?Well sht!?

?I don?t give a sht about that!?

?All I told him was sht on you!?

Americans wonder why we have such a bad reputation in other countries.

Here is another form of rage behavior you will not see often in Mexico. Children pitching fits in public and hitting their parents. There is not a general absence of this behavior but an almost total absence.

I was once in a grocery store in Lawrence, Kansas, when I saw a little girl of about 10 asking her mother for something that the mother denied her. The girl, in a blind fury, began hitting her mother in the stomach. I am sure if she had been tall enough she would have smacked her mother in the face. Nevertheless, she repeatedly pummeled her mother in the stomach while screeching at her. The mother did nothing but take the abuse.

I have told countless Mexican friends of this incident. They said one would never see this behavior in Mexico in a million years. From what I?ve observed, I think they are correct in their evaluation.

One has to wonder why there is such a difference between Mexico and America. You did not always see this acting out in America. I can remember children (I was one of them) who would never even think of hitting their parents much less do it.

The reason: Perhaps it is that America long ago abandoned the Judeo-Christian ethic governing family and communal relationships. Mexico has not. If success is based on results then look at the result that has occurred in family and community relationships from the secularization of America.

Religion, the place from which we learn morality, is all but absent from the American public life. In Mexico, it is very much present. You think that is a clue?

One of the many attractions Guanajuato held for my wife and I was the lack of public rage. No one shooting each other the finger (or shooting anything else) over driving mishaps, no arguments in the streets, no fit-pitching children slugging their parents. Ambulance and police sirens are rarely heard.

A utopia? Nope. But it comes close, especially if you come from America!

Expatriates Doug and Cindi Bower have successfully expatriated to Mexico, learning through trial and error how to do it from the conception of the initial idea to driving up to their new home in another country. Now the potential expatriate can benefit from their more than three years of pre-expat research to their more than two years of actually living in Mexico. The Plain Truth about Living in Mexico answers the potential expatriate’s questions by leading them through the process from the beginning to the end. In this comprehensive guide, you will learn not only how-to expatriate but will learn what to expect, in daily life, before coming to Mexico. BUY BOOK HERE: http://www.universal-publishers.com/book.php?method=ISBN&book=1581124570

Mexicans love dogs too. If the people of Guanajuato are any indication of all Mexicans, then our south-of-the-border neighbors have a love affair with dogs. They are everywhere here. I don?t know how many exactly but at night, around 9:45 p.m., the canine chorus begins. For a town of about 100,000 people, it would appear from the nightly howl-fest that there is a dog for each person. I don?t think that is true but that is how it seems.

Mexicans keep their dogs on the flat roofs of their houses. I have not a clue why they do this. It could be there are not many grassy yards here so where else are they going to keep them? These are the roof dogs of Mexico. Unfortunately, some Mexicans have a different concept of love for their dogs and keep them in such poor conditions, the average American would rush to the phone to call the 1-800 number for PETA.

When we first moved to Guanajuato, it had a horrible feral dog problem. The streets were full of these poorly conditioned curs running through the streets looking for garbage to eat. However, I am happy to report that the problem has improved in recent days. The city is managing this problem better and the feral dog population, though not perfect, has declined.

This problem in Mexico is often city-specific and is due to lack of funds to deal with these strays. I have been told that some cities manage this problem more efficiently than others do. In some cities, the problem is nonexistent. I believe this is true because, in our travels, we have seen some city streets empty of strays.

An interesting dog-related phenomenon you will see in Guanajuato is that, when you are walking down the street, you will see many Mexicans walking with their heads down. Now and then, they do a little jig or jump about as though they have some neurological issue. What is happening, I soon found out, is that they are trying to avoid what happens in a city where there are few grassy parks or yards for the citizens? dogs to do their daily dirty business. They are trying to avoid dog poop!

This is a problem that vexes the tourists but what are our poor canine pals to do? It isn?t their fault. There are practically no yards in this steppe, mountain desert climate. When the owners take them out in the mornings and evenings, they use the city sidewalks to deposit their poopies.

This can make for an interesting walk. I am happy to report that I have yet to have the privilege of stomping through a precious canine?s little sidewalk gift. My wife, however, has–much to her dismay. Therefore, we have worked out a walking strategy I recommend to all the tourists who perchance come to visit us in Guanajuato.

You must walk in single file. The lead man (or woman) is responsible as the lookout. You must constantly scan at least 6 feet ahead of you, never taking your eyes off the sidewalk. If you see that you are approaching a turd bomb, you need not yell or make a spectacle of yourself. Use your hands to signal that you are approaching danger. If the caca is on the left, use a slashing motion with your left hand and point at least 12-15 inches away from your thigh area. Then, be sure to dance gingerly out of the way so the person following you will have plenty of time to play dodge the doggie bowel movement.

Welcome to Guanajuato! Ya?ll come and see us!

Expatriates Doug and Cindi Bower have successfully expatriated to Mexico, learning through trial and error how to do it from the conception of the initial idea to driving up to their new home in another country. Now the potential expatriate can benefit from their more than three years of pre-expat research to their more than two years of actually living in Mexico. The Plain Truth about Living in Mexico answers the potential expatriate’s questions by leading them through the process from the beginning to the end. In this comprehensive guide, you will learn not only how-to expatriate but will learn what to expect, in daily life, before coming to Mexico. BUY BOOK HERE: http://www.universal-publishers.com/book.php?method=ISBN&book=1581124570

Here is a short list: Dead Horse, Alaska; Monkey’s Eyebrow, Arizona; Why, Arizona; Sopchoppy, Florida; Two Egg, Florida; French Lick, Indiana; Beebeetown, Iowa; Cut Shin, Kentucky; Krypton, Kentucky (I wonder who lives there?); Askew, Mississippi; Bobo, Mississippi; Hot Coffee, Mississippi; Gaysport, Ohio.

Just who thinks these up? Apparently, in the U.S., there is a process by which cities get their names.

Any geographic feature, like a mountain, hill, river, stream, wash, summit, spring can be named. Places like unincorporated towns or villages can be named, but more formal places like cities and counties get their names through political processes.

There is an actual process, with a formal proposal, that you have to go through if you want to be the person to name a city or county. There are rules. Anyone can do it. An individual, a group, a club can suggest a name. You can even get a booklet with all the rules so you won’t go wrong in this process.

Check out this site,geonames.usgs.gov/pppdgn.html, and it will tell you everything you need to name a place, including the use of diacritical marks?whatever in God’s name those are. In Guanajuato, Mexico, it was a lot easier.

Sometime in the 1500′s a group of Indians called the Tarascan came along and found this hunk of real estate that they decided to call, Guanaxuato (later became Guanajuato) which means hill of frogs.

They did not have to submit a form, stand in a line, talk to a committee, mail some documents, or wait for an act of Congress. They just said?well, that’s just it. What did they say exactly? There are actual two versions of the naming of Guanajuato that exist and I am not sure (and no one else is either) which one is correct.

One version says that the Tarascans looked at the mountains and said, Wow, man! That mountain peak looks like a toad! The other version goes like this, Whoa! What is this crap? Only a bunch of toads could live in a dump like this! Which one is correct I have not the slightest idea and neither does any Mexican I have asked. I do intend on asking a Tarascan the next time I see one.

Nevertheless, this leads me to the point of this story. I have been looking at these mountains for two years now and to the best of my ability, all I see is a mountain that looks like a giant buttock sitting outside my living room window. There it is with two butt cheeks and a crack!

Where are the frogs suppose to be?

I have looked high and low. I have looked up and down and there are no frog-like mountain structures! And, yet, this whole town’s theme is based on the City of Frogs appellation given it by the Tarascans. I don’t get it!

What is even a bigger mystery is that no one seems to know the answer to this. I have asked as many Mexicans as I can and I get the same two versions of the naming of Guanajuato. Don’t they write this stuff down?

I think this could have been solved if the Tarascans had been required to submit a form, stand in a line, meet with a committee, give a speech, submit some documents, and then wait on an act of the Tarascan equivalent of Congress!

You know a record would have been kept somewhere.

Expatriates Doug and Cindi Bower have successfully expatriated to Mexico, learning through trial and error how to do it from the conception of the initial idea to driving up to their new home in another country. Now the potential expatriate can benefit from their more than three years of pre-expat research to their more than two years of actually living in Mexico. The Plain Truth about Living in Mexico answers the potential expatriate’s questions by leading them through the process from the beginning to the end. In this comprehensive guide, you will learn not only how-to expatriate but will learn what to expect, in daily life, before coming to Mexico. BUY BOOK HERE: http://www.universal-publishers.com/book.php?method=ISBN&book=1581124570

My God in heaven, never has there been such a hideously inefficient and unreliable mail service than in Mexico. Certainly, nowhere else on earth can have anything approximating the horror you encounter when trying to send and receive mail in Mexico! Can there?

Here is what you are up against when sending mail to the United States from Mexico:

1) Never send a package of any sort containing anything and expect it to reach its destination.

2) Never send a contract, a check, a money order, or anything of value to the U.S. via first class mail. NEVER!

3) Expect that a regular first class mail letter will reach the U.S. in about 2-3 weeks (but only if it is predestined by God to get there).

To be honest, you have a better chance of success in sending a harmless and innocuous letter via first class from Mexico to the U.S. than from the U.S. to Mexico.

Here is what you are up against when sending mail to Mexico from America: hahahahahaha! Mail? What’s that?

That is what I was told when I tried to send some books from America to Mexico before we moved here. I was trying to send myself some books I thought I would need and the U.S. Postal guy laughed and told me there was a less than 50% chance of success in sending a package from the U.S. to Mexico.

He was right!

If you have anything of value to receive from the U.S., do not send it via regular mail. The chances of it arriving are low to non-existent! For some reason, surely known only to God, mail coming into Mexico from America rarely?if ever?gets here.

My experience has been that I am still waiting on four letters from my bank that were mailed more than 4 months ago. See what I mean?

The mail is so horrible that American businesses have sprung up to combat this problem. It used to be that expats got their mail muled to them by others coming and going from America. If you had a letter or package to send, then someone going to America would carry it with them and mail it inside the United States. The same was true if you were going to receive something from America. Someone coming back to Mexico would transport it for you?terribly slow and inefficient.

Now, there are services that work like this:

Some people use the services of MailBoxes, Etc. and for approximately $40. US per month, people are given an address in the US to which their mail is delivered and it is then sent by the company to the lakeside area. This usually takes and extra day or two than regular US mail. For those who have magazine subscriptions, foreign delivery is often much more costly, so Mail Boxes, Etc. does work well for this. However, it has been noted that MailBoxes Etc. has a limit on the number of items that can be received without extra charge so that has to be checked if a person is interested in this service.

Another great site is Access USA at myus.com. This one looks first-class and my wife and I are considering using it for our needs.

Don’t try to figure this all out. You cannot–your head will explode–and you will never get an answer as to why mail is so bad in Mexico. It is one of those things you just have to accept.

Give up and adapt. Resistance is futile!

Expatriates Doug and Cindi Bower have successfully expatriated to Mexico, learning through trial and error how to do it from the conception of the initial idea to driving up to their new home in another country. Now the potential expatriate can benefit from their more than three years of pre-expat research to their more than two years of actually living in Mexico. The Plain Truth about Living in Mexico answers the potential expatriate’s questions by leading them through the process from the beginning to the end. In this comprehensive guide, you will learn not only how-to expatriate but will learn what to expect, in daily life, before coming to Mexico. BUY BOOK HERE: http://www.universal-publishers.com/book.php?method=ISBN&book=1581124570

If you know anything about male human physiology and the effects of sudden temperature changes on it, then you can skip this part. If you don’t, then you had better take notes because you are going to need to know this when you expatriate to Mexico?TRUST ME!

You know how in the United States you’ve depended on the faithful fact of having hot and cold water whenever you needed it? All you’ve ever had to do during your entire existence in America (unless you lived with wolves in the forest) is turn on the hot or cold water and it was there. Wonderfully hot or cold and with a powerful stream of water. It rarely failed you. Well, in Mexico it works a little differently.

What we have here is a water tank called a tinaco. This thingee sits on the roof day and night, night and day, and is your source for water. But, wait. This tank, or tinaco, is like a toilet tank. It even has one of those hideous-looking flotation devices in it that acts as a mechanism to shut off the water flow when it reaches a certain level.

This tank fills up with water when the flotation device reaches a low level and stops when it reaches its full level. And it fills back up just as slowly as the slowest toilet tank that you can imagine. This is your house’s supply of water?the tinaco.

However, there is NO water pressure other than gravity from the tinaco to your faucet, toilet, or shower (though there are pressure devices you can install). Consequently, you can have a tiny trickle or a full head of water pressure depending on the level of water in your tinaco.

Now follow me closely, here.

The hot water situation works like this: The hot water tank’s fullness is dependent on the water level in your tinaco. If there is no or low water in the tinaco, there will be no water in your hot water tank to heat up.

This would not be so bad if you lived alone. But, if you have two people in the household trying to take showers, it can be interesting.

If you are a married man, you know who takes the longest showers. When my wife finishes her showering and I jump in, I have exactly sixty seconds to shower before the hot water tank says to the tinaco, Hey! I am running low here. Can you lend a hand?

To which the tinaco responds, Sure, Dude. Give me about three hours.

Sixty seconds, count them, before the hot water shuts down and the genitalia shrinkage begins. Thus, I asked the question about whether you knew the effects of sudden temperature changes on the human MALE body.

Of course, this situation is worsened if someone fills up the water pitcher or uses the toilet. All this sucks up precious water in the tinaco, making showering hazardous to say the least.

I cannot testify to the effects of this on the FEMALE human body but can imagine vividly what it shrinks. But I can’t say it here lest I risk not getting this column published ever again!

Mexico has few bathtubs. I can see why. It would take three years to fill it up with enough hot water in which to bathe! Welcome to Mexico!

Expatriates Doug and Cindi Bower have successfully expatriated to Mexico, learning through trial and error how to do it from the conception of the initial idea to driving up to their new home in another country. Now the potential expatriate can benefit from their more than three years of pre-expat research to their more than two years of actually living in Mexico. The Plain Truth about Living in Mexico answers the potential expatriate’s questions by leading them through the process from the beginning to the end. In this comprehensive guide, you will learn not only how-to expatriate but will learn what to expect, in daily life, before coming to Mexico. BUY BOOK HERE: http://www.universal-publishers.com/book.php?method=ISBN&book=1581124570

Soon after moving to Guanajuato, Mexico, my wife and I began meeting other American expats who moved from America to a town called San Miguel de Allende, and then to Guanajuato. Their reasons for jumping from one Mexican town to another were so astounding that we had to check this out for ourselves.

What our new fellow-expats told us is that San Miguel de Allende was a town full of spoiled, rich Americans who not only treated the locals worse than subservients (the word slaves also comes quickly to mind) but also were transforming the culture into something not Mexican.

Therefore, off we went for three days of fun-filled intensive note-taking research. Little did we know how quickly events would begin to unfold.

The first day of sitting in their main plaza (El Jardin), we saw a beggar approach this older, country club-dressed woman for a handout. The old lady simply came unglued! She began screeching as chickens do when a weasel has invaded the hen house?clucking loudly and flapping her arms wildly. She screamed obscenities at this beggar and demanded the beggar fork over his pesos to her! Not only that, but she chased the beggar through the plaza and down the block. She returned, laughing triumphantly that she had found a new method of dealing with street beggars.

A woman walks into a bank and begins screaming, I know someone speaks English here and I want to talk to them right now!

Another woman refuses to get out of a cab until the driver accepts dollars instead of pesos. They summoned the police.

Recently we went to San Miguel for some visa business where we saw another older, rich-looking American woman, roll up a newspaper she had just purchased and begin hitting a man who had begged a peso. She hit this man as if he was a street cur and screamed at him to get away from her.

We saw an American woman lecturing a Mexican woman on her choice of breakfast food for her child. She conducted the lecture in English (of course). I suppose the woman thought, as many American tourists commonly do, that all Mexicans are bilingual.

The town still looks Mexican. There are Mexican festivals, foods, clothes, and crafts. However, what has changed is that more than 10,000 gringos have infected it with a way of life that is not Mexican.

There are million-dollar homes that no average Mexican could ever hope to afford. There are gated communities. These are American enclaves designed to keep out–you take a guess. The Lords of the Manor apparently want some section of society kept at bay. Only about 6% of the Mexican population makes $60,000 or more a year. Take one wild guess who these real estate agencies target in their advertisements!

My observations are this: Americans do not know how to behave in someone else’s culture. One does not act the way one can in one’s own home when the guest of a gracious host. Americans act abroad the same way they do at home?badly! They do not know how to be good guests.

That is not to say that a lack of decorum is a uniquely American trait. It’s just that Americans seem less subtle about their rudeness. Of course, we are all familiar with the term ugly American?. The characterization has earned us a special brand of resentment around the world. ? Armstrong Williams

Amen, Armstrong! Amen!

Expatriates Doug and Cindi Bower have successfully expatriated to Mexico, learning through trial and error how to do it from the conception of the initial idea to driving up to their new home in another country. Now the potential expatriate can benefit from their more than three years of pre-expat research to their more than two years of actually living in Mexico. The Plain Truth about Living in Mexico answers the potential expatriate’s questions by leading them through the process from the beginning to the end. In this comprehensive guide, you will learn not only how-to expatriate but will learn what to expect, in daily life, before coming to Mexico. BUY BOOK HERE: http://www.universal-publishers.com/book.php?method=ISBN&book=1581124570

Soon after moving to Guanajuato, Mexico, my wife and I began meeting other American expats who moved from America to a town called San Miguel de Allende, and then to Guanajuato. Their reasons for jumping from one Mexican town to another were so astounding that we had to check this out for ourselves.

What our new fellow-expats told us is that San Miguel de Allende was a town full of spoiled, rich Americans who not only treated the locals worse than subservients (the word slaves also comes quickly to mind) but also were transforming the culture into something not Mexican.

Therefore, off we went for three days of fun-filled intensive note-taking research. Little did we know how quickly events would begin to unfold.

The first day of sitting in their main plaza (El Jardin), we saw a beggar approach this older, country club-dressed woman for a handout. The old lady simply came unglued! She began screeching as chickens do when a weasel has invaded the hen house?clucking loudly and flapping her arms wildly. She screamed obscenities at this beggar and demanded the beggar fork over his pesos to her! Not only that, but she chased the beggar through the plaza and down the block. She returned, laughing triumphantly that she had found a new method of dealing with street beggars.

A woman walks into a bank and begins screaming, I know someone speaks English here and I want to talk to them right now!

Another woman refuses to get out of a cab until the driver accepts dollars instead of pesos. They summoned the police.

Recently we went to San Miguel for some visa business where we saw another older, rich-looking American woman, roll up a newspaper she had just purchased and begin hitting a man who had begged a peso. She hit this man as if he was a street cur and screamed at him to get away from her.

We saw an American woman lecturing a Mexican woman on her choice of breakfast food for her child. She conducted the lecture in English (of course). I suppose the woman thought, as many American tourists commonly do, that all Mexicans are bilingual.

The town still looks Mexican. There are Mexican festivals, foods, clothes, and crafts. However, what has changed is that more than 10,000 gringos have infected it with a way of life that is not Mexican.

There are million-dollar homes that no average Mexican could ever hope to afford. There are gated communities. These are American enclaves designed to keep out–you take a guess. The Lords of the Manor apparently want some section of society kept at bay. Only about 6% of the Mexican population makes $60,000 or more a year. Take one wild guess who these real estate agencies target in their advertisements!

My observations are this: Americans do not know how to behave in someone else’s culture. One does not act the way one can in one’s own home when the guest of a gracious host. Americans act abroad the same way they do at home?badly! They do not know how to be good guests.

That is not to say that a lack of decorum is a uniquely American trait. It’s just that Americans seem less subtle about their rudeness. Of course, we are all familiar with the term ugly American?. The characterization has earned us a special brand of resentment around the world. ? Armstrong Williams

Amen, Armstrong! Amen!

Expatriates Doug and Cindi Bower have successfully expatriated to Mexico, learning through trial and error how to do it from the conception of the initial idea to driving up to their new home in another country. Now the potential expatriate can benefit from their more than three years of pre-expat research to their more than two years of actually living in Mexico. The Plain Truth about Living in Mexico answers the potential expatriate’s questions by leading them through the process from the beginning to the end. In this comprehensive guide, you will learn not only how-to expatriate but will learn what to expect, in daily life, before coming to Mexico. BUY BOOK HERE: http://www.universal-publishers.com/book.php?method=ISBN&book=1581124570