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San Miguel de Allende -- Today is Wednesday, January 07, 2009 12:13 at our loyal server in the USASan Miguel de Allende
(Historical perspective taken from a 1998 AAA guidebook--interesting to see what is the same and what has changed in 2007)
The city is located about 170km south of San Luis Potosi. Driving time is about 2 hours. The city has an elevation of 6,134 feet.
San Miguel de Allende traces its history to the immediate aftermath of the Spanish conquest. As mines began to exploit the rich gold and silver deposits of Mexico's central highland region, mule trains were formed to carry the bounty back to Mexico City. These caravans, however, passed through territory occupied by the Chichimeca Indians, and many a skirmish erupted. The village of San Miguel was founded in 1542 by the Franciscian monk Juan de San Miguel, who established a mission to evangalize the Indians and also to teach European weaving and agricultural techniques.
The settlement prospered, becoming the local market center for surrounding haciendas trading in cattle and textiles. It also went through several name changes, including San Miguel de los Chichimecas and San Miguel el Grande. It was here that the native son Ignacio Allende, along with Father Miquel Hidalgo from the neighboring town of Dolores Hidalgo, planned the initial uprising that led to the 11-year War of Independence. "Allende" was added to the town's name in 1826 to honor the freedom fighter.
San Miguel entered a period of decline following the war. Its opulent churches and mansions fell into decay, and poverty set in as mining operations subsided. But in 1926 -- a century after it became offically at city -- the Maxican government declared San Miguel a national historic monument. Modern contruction was prohibited in the city center to preserve the atmosphere, and the old buildings were restored. Foreigners began moving in during the 1930s, and today there is a well-established permanent community of North American expatriates, augmented by teachers, artists and writers who call San Miguel home for up to 6 months each year.
Away from the carefully preserved downtown section there's an everyday scruffiness, with the drab adobe huts lining dusty streets. San Miguel also has experienced growing pains due to an increased number of tourists. While agricultural exports, particulary vegetables, bring in revenue, the growth in population and industry has put a strain in the available water supply.
Visitors gravitate downtown, where coats of arms are carved over the doorways of houses that formerly belonged to Spanish aristocrats; they prospered from the Zacatecas-Guanajuato-Mexico City silver route that once ran through San Miguel. Inner patios shelter fountains, trees and flowers. Some of these handsome buildings now house commercial banks.
Make your first stop the main plaza, located between calles San Francisca and Correo and commonly referred to as El Jardin. Shaded by Indian laurel trees, it's a great place to relax on a wrought-iron bench, listen to the tolling bells of La Parroquia, the parish church, and observe the local scene. Artists working on their canvases are a common sight in the vicinity of the plaza, and most of the city's attractions are within walking distance. Note: Wear comfortable shoes; the city streets are narrow, steep and cobblestoned.
| Mexican Coke: The 'Real Thing?'
By TOM RAGAN
Sentinel staff writer
WATSONVILLE
It's popping up just about everywhere in Latino communities across the United States: Mexican-made Coca-Cola in those old glass bottles, somewhat of an anomaly in the age of the plastic liter and twist-off cap.
Slightly worn and a bit gritty from all the coming and going, the 12-ounce bottles, which sell for roughly $1.25 a pop, are being bought up and sucked dry at record clips in cities across the country with large Latino populations.
And Mexicans and Mexican-Americans aren't the only ones swigging down the soda bottled south of the border, claiming it tastes different from its American-made counterpart, that its fizz seems to last longer because it's in a glass bottle.
If running diaries on the Web in the form of blogs are any indication, just about everybody who likes the heft of a good old-fashioned soda bottle is looking for the Mexican-made pop in the thousands of ma and pa convenience stores that cater to Latinos.
"Mexican Coke is selling like crazy bro, and I can't keep up," says Rudy Mendoza of El Gordo Taqueria on Main Street. Last week the 20-something Mendoza, Salinas born and bred, was cursing the underground distributor under his breath as the slightly green tinted bottles, with the words "Hecho en Mexico," started to disappear from his refrigerator.
In somewhat of a conundrum, the Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co. has condemned the recent imports across the country as a form of "bootlegging."
But at the same time the company has recognized that it would be remiss if it overlooked the Mexican pop craze, which is why it is now buying Coca-Cola in bottles from Mexico and importing them to Texas and Southern California, two of the largest Mexican markets in the country, according to Mart Martin, a spokesman for Coca-Cola's North American division in Atlanta.
"We believe that the appeal of Mexican Coke is as much about nostalgia as it is about anything," says Martin. "It's like getting a piece of home in a bottle. You can't deny the fact that it's in a tall glass bottle, something you just can't find in most parts of the United States."
But it's the "same exact product," and Mexican bottlers are buying the ingredients straight from the company, says Martin.
"It's not like they're stirring it up in some backyard," he adds. "Coke is Coke is Coke."
The company, however, rarely elaborates on Coke's ingredients, and the secret formula is actually in a vault in a bank in Atlanta. Instead, the company line all along has been that there is "no perceptible taste difference" between Mexican Coke and the American-made Classic Coke.
As Martin says, "You have to consider the circumstances: the packaging, whether there's ice over it, the temperature, or whether it's in a can or a bottle. But what often happens is people think it tastes different because it comes in a bottle, and that's what we're trying to get our arms around. The 'why?' It could just be psychological."
Yet there is one kicker, and it's a fairly large one: Mexican Coke may contain the same secret syrup, but its sweetener is entirely different.
It's made from sugar cane, not corn syrup.
'The Real Thing'
Latinos are the fastest-growing population segment in the United States, and Mexico accounts for well over half of the roughly 33 million Latinos who live in the country, according to the 2000 census.
Certainly, this is not the first time the Mexican market has flexed its muscle, with an occasional borrowing from U.S. popular culture.
Look closely at the Mexican man wearing that Texas Longhorns cap or the World Series-winning Chicago White Sox hat. There's a chance it came from a market just off the plaza in Any Town, Mexico.
But then there's the real Mexican deal, like tequila, which has anchored many a margarita happy hour; or tacos, as popular as hamburgers, without which there'd be no Taco Bell.
Mexico's a country that's put the popularity of chips and salsa right up there with ketchup and french fries.
And in yet another nod to the lucrative Latino market, Frito-Lay just came out with a "fiery habañero" flavor of Doritos that all but requires a bottle of water during consumption.
It's no secret that the meteoric rise in the Mexican population in the past few decades in the United States has given rise to all products Mexican, which has made its way into the mainstream of the American psyche — from canned jalapeños to cheaper laundry soaps to the corn tortilla.
But taking a brand name like Coca-Cola and undercutting the American-made Coca-Cola distributors on their own turf hasn't gone over well with the largest soft drink supplier in the world, according to Martin.
Although the bottlers in Mexico are authorized and are making the cola above board, it's the non-Coca-Cola distributors — the guys who are wheeling and dealing it in an underground market — that are causing all the problems.
Lawsuits have been filed, but no dispositions as of yet.
"They're trespassing on the territory rights of many U.S. bottlers," said Coke spokesman Martin. "Bringing it into the country is not illegal. But what it does do from the Coca-Cola standpoint is it violates contractual rights that we have with our bottlers. And it has potential trademark right infringements as well."
The controversy has even bubbled to the surface in several blogs.
Ordinary Joes are mixing their thoughts and opinions with the best of the high-browed corporate types who've made careers out of analyzing products that sell and those that don't.
Grant McCracken, a noted anthropologist with a doctorate from the University of Chicago, wrote: "Some consumers now insist that Mexican Coke is a more robust brand than American Coke, not least because it is charged with meanings that American Coke never had, or long ago gave up. In particular, Mexican Coke is charged with a powerful nostalgia, a remembrance of childhood south of the border."
Karina Alejandre, 22, a recently arrived immigrant from Mexico who now cooks at El Gordo Taqueria in Watsonville, remembers her first sip of Coca-Cola.
And guess what?
It didn't even come from a bottle.
"We'd drink from plastic sandwich bags with straws inside," she said in Spanish, an imaginary straw in her hand. "We couldn't leave the store with the bottles."
Since Coca-Cola was founded in the late 1880s as a syrup mixed with carbonated water, it's gone from the soda fountain to the bottle to the aluminum can to the plastic liter.
And now it's back to the bottle, courtesy of Mexico, a country that's usually a few years behind the times, often fashionably retro because of it.
And in the backrooms of some Mexican tiendas in Watsonville, from El Gordo to D'La Colmena, cases upon cases of the Mexican Coke bottles sit, proof that there's a demand, which is causing a stir but saturating a Latino and non-Latino thirst across the country.
As McCracken notes, "The bigger challenge of the Coca-Cola Co. is to admit that even the magnificent corporation that has created and preserved the 'real thing' authenticity must now admit to the possibility that there are many authenticities. This is the lesson of plenitude. This is the lesson of the long tail."
Miguel Perez and Leticia Martinez, Watsonville residents, don't know anything about corporate lessons learned.
They just know what they like.
"When we run out," says Martinez, "I buy the smaller American-made bottles. They cost more, but they're worth it. I love drinking Coke from the bottle."
from www.santacruzsentinel.com | 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.
As of today, I think I will begin cutting Americans some slack, especially
American expats in Mexico, regarding The Ugly American Syndrome. My visit to
the bank today convinced me that maybe I’ve been too harsh and need to
lighten up a bit. I think my readers (the chiders and condemners) in San Miguel
de Allende might breathe a collective sigh of relief over this announcement.
What happened is something that should not have surprised or shocked me. I
guess I simply have reached the end of my expat rope—at least today. When
I get my quarterly royalty checks from my book publishers, I take them to my
Mexican bank and deposit them. Because they are drawn on a foreign account in
the States, there is understandably a hold on these checks.
I get that and it doesn’t bother me one bit.
But here is what I’ve been told ever since I began depositing royalty
checks into this account:
“There will be a two-week hold on this check.”
At the end of two weeks, the wife and I go off to the ATM to check the balance
and the funds are not there. We go back to the bank. The bank officer tells us:
“Oh, there is always a three-week hold on foreign checks.”
We wait another week, go to the ATM, and the funds aren’t there. So,
we go again to the bank.
“Oh, there is a 22-day hold on all foreign checks.”
The next day, we go to the ATM and the funds are not there. We go into the
bank:
“There must be some mistake. There is always a 25-day hold on all foreign
checks.”
We wait three more days and go to the ATM to check things out. There are no
funds. We drag ourselves into the bank with the wife trying to talk me out of
murdering someone.
“Oh my, my! There is always a 30-day hold on all foreign checks.”
In Mexico, as I have written before, nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing,
is as it seems. Nothing will work with any degree of logic or reason known to
the rest of the world. Here two weeks can mean pretty much any amount of time.
In Guanajuato, Mexico, two weeks means many things. It can mean three weeks,
twenty-two days, twenty-five days, or thirty days. And let me tell you, each
bank employee will tell you something different each time you make a deposit.
They will look you straight in the eye and tell you whatever comes to their minds,
whether it is the truth or not.
What I do not get is just why no bank employee knows how anything works! This
brings me to a conversation with an American expat who has lived in Mexico much
longer than I have. She said once that what Mexico needs is a Business Manager.
These people need a Business Manager in everything that has to do with anything
to show them how things work. This is because in all aspects of life, at least
in Guanajuato, no one who does anything that has to do with something knows just
how it is suppose to work.
Trying to do banking in Guanajuato is not the only thing that doesn’t
work. I would love to tell you that this is so but I would be lying.
Once we tried going to the movies. The theater manager was at a party and
was having too good of a time to show up with the keys to the box office to sell
tickets. She sent word that someone was welcome to come and get the keys and
sell tickets, otherwise we would all have to wait.
Can you begin to imagine what would have happened in America when this movie
theater manager finally showed up? She or he would have been lynched by the crowd.
Here is the really bad thing. This sort of “Qué Será,
Será, whatever will be, will be…” service is vastly tolerated
all over this country. The Mexican nationals, at least from my observation, seem
to tolerate a level of service from providers that Americans and Europeans would
not tolerate for a second!
Only those who have spent time internationally seem to be perturbed by those
of their fellow countrymen who settle for or offer this, “The future’s
not ours to see, Qué Será, Será…” service.
Well, the next time I see some American tourist or expat acting out The Ugly
American Syndrome, I am going to march up to them, pat them on the back, and
tell them, “I feel your pain, Bubba!”
by Douglas Bower
Article Source: EzineArticles.com | 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. If the rest of central Mexico looks
interesting then you are going to have to get bilingual and learn to speak Spanish.
What happened in San Miguel is beginning to happen where my wife and I have
lived since 2003. Gentrification is happening at such a high rate of speed that
I see Guanajuato turning into an other San Miguel in less than five years. The
locals are beginning to sense the handwriting on the wall and are scrambling
to hire Mexicans that are bilingual to accommodate the Americans and other English
only speakers who are moving into Guanajuato.
This is how it began in San Miguel de Allende. When the word got out that
it was cheap to live in beautiful San Miguel de Allende, the Americans swarmed
in like locusts. They ran up the prices of everything you can imagine. And soon,
the locals became bilingual. They had to in order to offer their services to
the Gringo population that now numbers in the tens of thousands. That’s
why you can go to San Miguel and live perfectly well (that is if you are Bill
Gates rich) and never have a problem with the language.
That’s happening now in Guanajuato.
There are real estate agencies that are scrambling to hire bilinguals. There
is also a fellow, with a website, who will, for a price, negotiate anything and
everything for you since he is bilingual. If you do not speak a word of Spanish
(a tragedy) and want to move to Guanajuato (an even bigger tragedy) then this
guy is your man and he will take care of all of your Spanish needs.
I list him for you as a matter of courtesy. I do not know him.
All I know is that he offers this service:
Want to Buy a House in Guanajuato City?
Don’t have any ideas how to approach and deal directly with Mexican
People?
Afraid of being "abused" because you are not familiar with Mexican
and Guanajuato Business Culture, Laws, Locations, Neighborhoods, and Language?
Don't worry!, we have the solution for you by offering:
REAL ESTATE CONSULTANCY
(We are NOT a Real Estate Agency, We work FOR You) Our Services Include:
· Arrangement of appointments, directly with Owners.
· Visits to the properties.
· Simultaneous Interview Translation (English to Spanish and Spanish
to English). You can ask about anything that concerns you.
· Assessment on area or neighborhood growth potential, accessibility,
communications and services. · Assistance in value assessment.
· Price Negotiation assistance and advice.
· Information concerning repair and remodel.
· Advise on Security and Safety issues in relation to locations.
· Services for coordinating purchase and the legal process.
Price:
Free initial interview (10 to 15 minutes). $15 US Dollars per hour, a partial
hour counts as an hour, cut off on a daily basis. $15 US Dollars per week to
local phone calling to coordinate appointments and search properties. Taxi fees
when necessary. (From $3 to $6 US Dollars one way trip).
Payments must be made on Fridays.
We accept U.S. Dollars, Euros and Travelers Checks, no personal checks nor
credit cards.
Special rates apply for written translation and other services, please ask.
Contact: Hugo Rodriguez. / Phone: 73 22383 (Within Guanajuato City) 011 52
473 73 22383 (From The U.S. & Canada) (+) 52 473 73 22383 (From Other Countries)
English, French and Spanish Spoken.
We accept U.S. Dollars, Euros and Travelers Checks, no personal Checks nor
Credit Cards.
I imagine more and more of these services coming up in the weeks and months
ahead. I was told recently that the list of gringos waiting for properties is
longer than the available supply. It is sad. What will happen is the same identical
thing that happened to San Miguel de Allende. The culture will be transformed
by most rich monolingual Gringos who cannot, because they want not, to learn
Spanish.
The wife and I are looking for a place where Gringos would fear to tread as
a new home.
It ought to be very interesting.
by Douglas Bower
Article Source: EzineArticles.com | IGLESIA DE LA CONCEPCION. It was begun in the mid-17th century and financed partially through the support of the Canal familiy, who figured prominently in the town's ealy history. The domed roof, one of the largest in Mexico, wsa not completed until 1891. Supported by elegant Corinthian columns, it is believed to be the work of La Parroquia architect Zeferino Gutierrez.
IGLESIA DE SAN FRANCISCO. Build in the late 18th century, it is thought to be the work of Eduardo Tresguerras, who contributed to the design of many churches in central Mexico. Construction was financed through donations from wealthy families and the proceeds from bullfights. The intricate stone carvings gracing the exterior are a fine example of the ornate Churriguerreque style. The high-ceilinged interior contains statues, paintings and more carved stone. La Parroquia. The many-steepled church towers over the plaza and dominates the city. It was originally built in the late 17th century in a plain Fanciscan style, but 2 centuries later an Indian architect, Zeferino Gutierres, gave the church an imposing facelift. With no formal training, he added the tower and Gothic-style facade of pink-hued sandstone, supposedly using postcard pictures of French Gothic cathedrals as his inspiration. Inside, neoclassic stone altars have replaced earlier gilded wood ones. A statue of St. Michael the Archangel, namesake of both town and church (its official name is Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel), adorns the main altar. Chapels are located to the side and behind the main altar. The original bell, also referered to as St. Michael and cast in 1732, begins ringing early in the morning to summon parishioners; La Parroquia is still an active house of worship.
MUSEO CASA DE ALLENDE. The birthplace of Ignacio Allende now houses a historical museum. A plaque hanging ove the front door reads, "Here was born the one who was famous". Allende was one of the few early leaders of the War of Independence with actual military training. Together, he and Father Miguel Hidalgo organized a ragtag army and plotted strategies for overthrowing Spanish rule. Museum exhibits chronicle the region's history abd Allende's role in the struggle for freedom.
ORATORIO DE SAN FELIPE NERI. It was build by San Miguel's Indian population in the early 18th century. The original structure's facade of pink stone is still visible at the church's eastern end, along with a figure of Nuestra Senora de Soledad (Our Lady of Solitude). The southern exterior is newer and incorporates a baroque style. The church is notable fir its many domes in different shapes. The adjoining chapel, Santa Casa de Loreto, is behind the church. A grating blocks the chapel entrance, although its gilded altars can still be seen.
Text from "AAA Mexico Travelbook 1998" | |
