What We Do Here-- Living in Guanajuato,Mexico

I was recently asked by Armando Cypress, the manager of our local Internet service provider, if I would be willing to prepare some website pages that described some of the things Americans were doing in Guanajuato. Armando wants to prepare a new website about Guanajuato, one that revealed the beauty and charm of this place, and he wants to include the contribution from the expatriate community.

There are times when I worry that time is slipping by and those of us who are retired here are really not doing much beyond enjoying life in Mexico. For Armando’s website, I didn’t think chronicling the very nice social life of parties organized at the drop of a sombrero; get-togethers for concerts, and meals out with friends; and the little trips to interesting spots we frequently take would be appropriate. Armando’s request prompted me to reflect a bit on some of the things we are doing with Mexicans that may have some redeeming qualities. I suppose one might call it “Beneficial Interactions of Americans and Mexicans in Guanajuato,” but that sounds too much like a sociology term paper. I’ll opt for “What We Do Here.” I think the best way of describing this is to introduce you to some of the folks who live here and describe what they are doing.

Jack Moore, Dolores Rylee, and the Orphanage at Salamanca

This couple has lived in Guanajuato for over ten years. Originally from Oakland, California, they are intrepid world travelers who call Guanajuato their home. On their several trips to California each year they always manage to bring back a van full of items for the orphanage, La Ciudad de los Niños, and its 245 children in nearby Salamanca. Jack and Dolores bring back bedding, sheets, pillows, typewriters, toilet articles, kitchenware, school supplies, toys, and one time they even brought an organ. Even with a letter from Padre Pedro, the founder and head of the orphanage, Jack and Dolores sometimes encounter problems at the border in bringing items into Mexico. The importation of used clothing, for example, is prohibited I believe, as a measure for protecting the Mexican clothing industry. On one occasion, Jack had to drive to several different entry points before he found an agreeable customs agent who would permit them to bring in their cargo.

Phil Contreras and Immigration Briefings

At one time in his career Phil Contreras was a high-powered legal counsel for a large multinational firm based in Cleveland. He later gave it all up to practice poverty law in Texas. His practice in San Marcos, just outside of Austin, was largely devoted to helping poor people, most often Mexican immigrants who got in trouble with the law. The stories about some of the people Phil defended and the injustices they endured sound like they should have been scripted for a movie. (I would cast it with Sal Mineo as the persecuted defendant, Rosie Perez as the outraged wife, Cher as his mom, and Sean Connery playing the part of Phil Contreras.)

Phil and his wife Jan moved to Guanajuato less than a year ago. They rented a shell of a house in the area of the ex-Hacienda Duran and worked out an arrangement with the owner that the Contreras would redo the interior, the work to be paid out of future rents. Jan ribs Phil that he, the ex-big-time corporate lawyer, made the agreement with the owner on a handshake. Phil is the type of person who is genuinely interested in people and is an excellent observer and listener. If you speak a little Spanish, there is no better place to do that than in the Jardin de la Union, that very amiable place in the heart of town. There are a number of shoeshine men who work in the Jardin, and over time Phil came to know an old shoeshine fellow named Chon who has been shining shoes for fifty-seven years in the same place. Chon is a warehouse of information about Guanajuato and Mexico. When Francisco Labastida, the ruling party’s candidate for President of Mexico, came on a campaign visit, Chon remembered him from when he was a student at the Juarez prep school here. On that visit, Chon and Labastida had their picture taken together. People probably wondered who’s that guy next to Chon. Chon knows the lawyers, judges, politicos, and just about everybody in town. Phil got interested in Chon’s story and is writing a book about this old man and his recollections.

The State of Guanajuato, while not first, is about third among Mexican states in the percentage of population that has immigrated to the U.S. both legally and illegally. The source of this exodus is not so much from cities such as Guanajuato and Leon, but more often from poor rural outlying villages. These are the kind of people Phil defended back in San Marcos. One day Phil got an idea that if he could talk to the young folk who were planning to go north, he could help them stay out of trouble. Not just advise about the law, but some practical advice could be useful. “Don’t stay out after midnight,” was one admonition “It is too easy to get picked up by an overzealous policeman.”

Phil has been on local television. He has also made visits arranged by a state agency that assists migrants, out to villages to talk to groups. The information he has to offer is something that virtually no one else here could provide.

Phil and Jan have been helping the Village of Nueve Valle de Moreno, a rural and very poor village in the mountains not far from Guanajuato. To learn more and see pictures that explain the Nuevo Valle de Moreno Project: http://www.geocities.com/chasm1928/moreno1/morenohomepage.html

Marvin and Cynthia Bates Helping University Students Learn English

Marv and Cynthia hail from Ventura, California, where they have a beautiful home right on the ocean, as well as their beautiful home here in Guanajuato. For a number of years they have been leading a group of Americans who come to Mexico to meet university students and practice conversational English with them. In addition, the Bates themselves also meet on a regular basis with a group of university students. This is something that Carole and I did for a trimester and loved it, except for climbing the 204 steps up to the language center. You would think the University would reserve this top floor for the athletic, dance, or aeronautical engineering, department.

Bob and Connie Hawkin’s English Language Classroom for Kids

Bob and Connie are from Charleston, S.C., where Bob served as editor of the local newspaper and Connie was the food editor. The Hawkins were able to find and buy a historic and very interesting house facing a plaza in the center of town. Built by a Spaniard, the house has a unique fireplace with a circular staircase to the second floor that winds around and rims the large chimney. Chances are, you’ve never seen anything like it before, nor have I. The Hawkins have taken a great interest in neighboring children who come to their door to see if their Scottie dog, Carmen, can come out and play. The Hawkins conduct a little school in their home to teach the children English. On a return to the United States, Connie took one of the kids back with her for a visit. One day, we met one of Connie’s little friends, Corrine, who is about eight years old and is learning English at the Hawkins. She speaks English with a southern accent, and when you ask her, “How is Corrine?” she is apt to reply, “Ah’m Fhi’an.”

The SPA, La Sociedad Protectora de Animales

Carol and Joan Summers, California artists, came to Mexico about twenty years ago looking for Mexican art objects to furnish a home they were building in California. While in Guanajuato, they heard about a 400-year-old house, part of the Ex-Hacienda la Trinidad, that was for sale. The house was something of a ruin but had great possibilities. They fell in love with the place and bought it on impulse. Before I ever came to Mexico, I saw pictures of the ex-hacienda in books on traditional Mexican houses. The Carol and Joan renovated the house and eventually turned it into a bed and breakfast of unique charm: La Casa de Espíritus Alegres, House of Happy Spirits, regarded as one of the best B&Bs in Mexico. While developing and running the inn, Joan was instrumental in the formation of an animal protection organization for the city. She organized art auctions to raise money for the Sociedad Protectora de Animales (SPA).

Joan died two years ago, and a memorial fund was established in her name to help the animals of Guanajuato. So much needs to be done that it is difficult to know where to begin. Sandra Ward, Joan’s sister, who now lives in Guanajuato and administers the fund, asked me to serve with her as a trustee of the fund. It is through Sandra that I got involved in the SPA. The third trustee is another local resident, Joan Romero. Joan is a remarkable woman. An American who came to Guanajuato as a college student more than 40 years ago and married a Mexican; she was widowed at a young age. Nevertheless, she raised a family of high achievers, including the recent rector of the University of Guanajuato, who is the current governor of the State.

I think the biggest problem we face with respect to animals here is one of attitude. There are Mexicans who love their dogs. You see them with their pets, invariably purebred, groomed to the teeth. out for a stroll. But for a large number of owners the dog is valued only for its ability to guard the owners’ property. If the owners grow tired of the dog, they may turn it out onto the street and let it forage for itself. This results in one of the saddest and sorriest sights to be seen on the streets of this otherwise attractive town: homeless, starving, diseased dogs that nevertheless reproduce at an alarming rate.

The city government operates a perrera, a truck for picking up the strays, which are then taken to the nearby city of León for euthanizing. When Guanajuato city officials are asked if they would help support the SPA, the response invariably is that they need to spend their limited resources on people, especially children, rather than on animals. Now there is a certain logic in that, at least on the surface, for the human needs are great. But helping animals, through immunizations, sterilization, and increasing awareness of the importance of taking responsibility for domestic animals, would benefit everyone. In some colonias vicious dogs have attacked children. Rabies and other communicable diseases that can infect humans continue to be a problem in Mexico. I have seen some of the figures on the amount of fecal matter that an uncontrolled dog population leaves on the streets, and it’s a, well, you could say it’s a real pile. Homeless dogs forage in garbage bags that are put out for collection, strewing the garbage about the streets. Although the city’s trash-collection crews do an excellent job of keeping the streets of El Centro clean, outlying areas don't receive the same kind of care. The city also supports its art museums and provides a rich offering of music and dance festivals throughout the year. Its current slogan is the “The Magic of Guanajuato.” City officials don’t withhold support from these programs “because they have to support programs for children.” My point is that a small amount of money for animal protection would add to the livability of the city, a cause that should be possible without sacrificing the kids.

Sandra’s interest in this area focuses on action programs for the animals. She has personally rescued a number of dogs and cats and placed them with families. (Our dog Samantha is one of those dogs. She is still high-spirited but is settling down and has turned out to be a fine dog.) Sandra has also developed a program in which money from the Joan Summers Memorial fund and money that she has raised goes for deep subsidies for the sterilization of dogs and cats of owners who can’t afford these operations. Local veterinarians involved in the sterilization program volunteer their services for such cases. From this start she organized with the help of both Mexicans and Americans, Los Amigos de Animales.

The American artists here have contributed their work for art auctions, and others have donated items for a recent rummage sale. Ward Mould, a retired ophthalmologist who for years worked with a government service agency to provide free eye examinations to Mexicans, has been a solid contributor of funds for the SPA, as have others.

San Miguel, another colonial city nearby with an expatriate population much larger than Guanajuato, has a fine SPA with good facilities and an active program, but that program is largely American-run and American-financed..

Susan Coffer Jones and Free Therapeutic Massages for Mexicans

The first time I met Susan, who is not one of the retirees here but is still working, I asked her how she happened to end up in Mexico. She said that when she was a little girl, her parents came to Mexico every year and she knew as a youngster that some day she would live here. Susan is knowledgeable in alternative medicine and gives therapeutic massages. I only heard about this quite by accident, but she provides free massages to the people who attend the church near where she lives.

Dolores Rylee and the American Library

Now housed in Guanajuato’s La Casa de Cultura, the English-language library organized by Dolores Rylee and operated on a self-serve, honor-system basis, serves the American, Canadian, and English residents but is open to Mexicans interested in English-language reading materials. Dolores and her husband, Jack and Gary Henderson and his wife, Laleen, sort the books, catalog, and shelve them. I built a few book shelves for the library.

The Rainbow Connection: Helping Women and Children

The Rainbow Connection or La Coneccion Arcoiris is an organization composed of both American and Mexican women. The group raises money to help women by supporting a women’s shelter and children by helping the orphanage and rural schools. They also support a juvenile offenders program. Arcoiris raises funds by such things as holding bake sales and children’s musical programs.

These are probably not all the things going on here, just some things I am aware of. Most of the folks mentioned here are doing these projects quietly and without any fanfare. I suspect they would be embarrassed by much mention of their work. I believe what they do largely comes from a desire to be of some help.

Ouch!

In the previous article, I mentioned that Marv and Cynthia Bates have been meeting with a group of University students so that they can practice English with native English speakers. One of the things you have to do for these classes is to come up with some topic suitable for the students to discuss. One time when Carole and I had the class we said we wanted the students to debate which University was better, the University of Guanajuato or the University of Queretero. We divided up the class. A lively and spirited debate ensued, but one girl who had been put in the Queretero group could not bring herself to speak in favor of this school being better than Guanajuato.

Recently, I was talking with the Bates about their last class before returning to California and they mentioned that they asked the class to tell them their impressions of Americans. The students quickly agreed that the Americans were very friendly and generous, although they thought that their friendliness didn’t always last very long. The Mexican students, who generally wear blue jeans, spotlessly clean, went on to say that the Americans weren’t very clean; they wore the same shirt and pants for several days in a row. Well, come on; many of us are traveling tourists that don't know where to find a laundry.