Like - Dislike ?

[colleen]

Like:
1. Lovely city. Beautiful views from nearly anywhere.
2. Not overrun w/ gringos.
3. You can have friendships with Mexicans and learn about the culture.
4. There are lots of activities for all sorts of interests, but since I don't care about concerts, it's OK not to attend.
5. Growing number of interesting restaurants (tho I seldom go out to eat)
6. Usually at a corner the cars go uno x uno, letting one from each side take a turn.
7. Groups to get involved with. Groups that help animals, women, young people with scholarships.

Dislike:
(if I didn't drive I probably would have fewer things to dislike)
1. Incredibly inconsiderate drivers who just stop when they want to have a conversation with someone on the sidewalk. Couldn't care less about anyone else.
2. And they park wherever they want to. Near my house they sort of pull over and then the rest of us have to figure it out.
3. Finding out a couple of years down the road, how your "good friend" took advantage of you when you thought that's just the price of whatever it was. Remember, the gringos have all the $, so therefore it's completely OK to overcharge them or take advantage of them. On a smaller scale, the taxis do it all the time.
4. That same "good friend" saying "I couldn't help myself". So then it's OK. But he'll never pay you back.
5. This should be in bold and all caps - The total disregard for time. It's NOT OK that they say 9:00 and arrive at 10:30. For everyone who is so nonchalant about the appointment, there's someone on the other side waiting and waiting.
6. And don't tell me what you think I want to hear. I want to get the real answer. If you tell me YES 3 times and make me keep coming back just to get a NO as the final answer, that's not what I want to hear. If the answer will ultimately be NO, tell me the first time before I am inconvenienced to that extent.

Alot of my experiences are different from someone who lives here, walks to Centro to have a meal, goes for a swim and goes home to read. I have a business, Donkey Jote, an English language bookstore. I have gone thru the migracion system for years and am "inmigrado". I have to deal with govmt offices for the business and with other businesses. Some good experiences, such as my accountant - nobody came to pick up my info. When I realized it, I called. I found out they just paid my taxes for me, on time. They knew I'd pay them. What nice people.

We didn't move here to save $. When we bought the house we didn't even plan to move here. But now that we are here full time (for the last 10 yrs) we realize we couldn't go back to the US unless we lived in a trailer park. But everyone is different. That's something to like here in Gto.

---

Oh, damn. How could I forget to "dislike" graffiti? If they can have so little of it in San Miguel, why can't they (or why won't they) do something about it here?