Covid 19 situation now?

[DonJuane]

@wmeleney That would be correct. To me all the reasons one comes to Mexico have been negated as they are for US citizens in their country who just want to go out and have a little fun. I don't want to tell you what to do but I normally travel all over the country (Mexico) using both GTO and SMdA as my home base but for me there's nothing that makes me think traveling right now would be worth it. Mexico is all about the people, the restaurants and the coffee shops, stores, etc. and if you have to go out "all masked up" I'd just as soon stay home if not going out to gather food to bring home. It's like having sex in a hazmat suit. It depends on how bad you need it but good luck to you if you can find fun all dressed up like that.

[wmeleney]

Thank you all so much for adding to this conversation/consultation. It’s a little too late here in the Seattle area for me to read everything you have so thoughtfully offered. Tomorrow or Tuesday I’ll be able to post something equally thought-full. More voices welcome.

[roberb7]

The # of deaths in Guanajuato Capital remains at 44 today.

[wmeleney]

Thanks again to you all. I have been on a path of trying to become an American expat somewhere in the world and have found that I feel most at home in Spanish speaking countries, so my three visits to GTO have not been, in my own mind at least, as a tourist but as a visitor who plans to become a resident.

All of the cautions you have offered have been paramount in my thinking and I am particularly affected by the comment regarding my presence being a possible threat to all of the beautiful people of GTO. I am mostly at home here outside of Seattle and am daily reminded of the line from Joni Mitchell “readin’ the news and it all looks bad, they won’t give peace a chance, that was just a dream some of us had”.

I am also aware of my obligation to be completely self-funded and the risks i will thereby incur. I have an American friend who owns a two unit house and he has offered one of those as “home”, so even if not required to do so, I will self-quarantine for 2 weeks if I come. I also have two Mexican friends who both work at the university and they have both offered restrained optimism. So, is it better for me to be reading, writing, studying Spanish alone in GTO or doing the same here with the addition of my anxiety about the rapidly deteriorating political state here and how unsafe the US may become for progressives like me if (I fear when) Trump is re-elected and the republicans hold the Senate? And on the other hand, am I better staying here and more actively fighting a losing battle. I remain uncertain?

If I come, i will fly direct LAX-BJX or DFW-BJX, and i do have a little worry about flying. Two flights, 4 hours on the bus, and two cab or Uber rides each way was fine enough last November but I won’t do it now.

I really appreciate your participation in this consultation. I will check this thread daily until I have made a decision, which must be soon. Again, thank you all

[DonJuane]

I don't see any secure way to get down here unless you buy a really cheap van with a mattress and portapotty in it, then you can quarantine in one of the area RV "parks" or camping locations and then move to your friend's house when you are safe to do so. Still there's issues with public bathrooms and do you want to suit-up and spray down every public bathroom along the road and including your 2 weeks quarantined at a RV/camper place? Still I maintain that GTO is less safe than other Mexican cities and that can be proven alone by the need of commuting via callejon everywhere you go and it not providing for the recommended safe distance apart. I have been actually walking down the center of the road a lot when there are too many people on the sidewalks here and I am probably more likely to get hit by a car than get the Covid but the world itself remains a scary place. I'd personally maroon myself in Chapala or San Miguel with wide open streets to walk until something changes but again where you stay and your chances of catching this crap are going to be related to how often you come in contact with someone who might be a carrier. Renting anywhere there are only narrow passageways leading to your residence and anywhere you try to shop for when there are no super-near food markets and then you'll need to travel weekly or more often via public transport, so this should be if not, a serious consideration.

And try to think it through without too much emotion. If you plan to tour when you arrive, sit on park benches, etc. you are out of my league safety-wise and I'd say you are own your own. Sort of like playing Russian Roulete. It's everyone's own life to gamble, however. I'm sure everyone's actions are justifiable and each one of us admires the decisions we make on an infinitely continuous basis, regardless of how irrational they may prove to be. I've taken a few chances (eating in a large non-roofed arena this past weekend for my first meal out since March 1, so I took a chance and yes it was with my life. I have discovered the psychological aspect of being confined for six months without any freedom to even "walk the prison yard" can be detrimental to even the strongest of mental make-ups. So I'm into the first round of Russian Roulette myself to put myself in the ring of irrationality. But carry me away in an iron lung or straight jacket, it's something we've all got to deal with on a personal level.

But with all this aside, and while I understand the anxiety of anyone living in Trumplandia, even if all out civil war breaks out I still think you would be on the same near playing field getting to the border as you would while perhaps dealing with the sporadic highway robbery that is going on now in Mexico. World's not safe anywhere and you need to weigh every aspect of your decision. Another thing is you might re-examine your mind's vision of Guanajuato and try to evaluate if you might be building your expectations too high for a single "place" that may be your own imagined utopia. Now while I love GTO to the point of mostly calling it home these days, there are so many places in Mexico I would buy a second home and establish another residency, I can't count them all. And if you want to add to that, there are also places in Honduras and Guatemala. So don't restrict your dreams to one particular "theme" and realize that the brochure that remains in your head regarding GTO can re-form into other cities and ideas of perfection. In fact if you're just escaping Trumplandia, why not check out some other places on the way south. Try Zacatecas, Guadalajara proper, Chapala, Aguacalientes (quite metropolitan actually with it's on HEB and Costco) or check out Morelia or Patzcuaro. Or the entire coast on both shores is swarming with not only mosquitoes but rental options as well. If it's the narrow callejones and their similarity to old Europe that is driving you to come here, they will still be here when this crisis expires and you could move this way then after living a while in a safer zone that's south of the border out out side of the re-enactment of "Idiocracy" (2006). You might use the time until the virus fades then to explore the mostly unknown areas, perhaps somewhere the rent is low and there's a veggie market on one end of your street and a carneceria on the other end. Maybe shop for a place with a window or rooftop and set out a lawn chair and watch life pass until "living" returns to earth.

Otherwise if anyone believes that GTO is all that is magic and life in Mexico and there's nothing to match it, it is my opinion they haven't been "out" enough. There's tons of magic cities in Mexico. Also there's tons of stuff that will eventually irritate you about any city you locate to. I've touched on some here before but get pelted with verbal rocks by going that route and while I'm now taking a break from ridicule, all I'll say is you will discover those shortcomings soon enough and without my help. But until that time, I say don't put all your eggs in one basket.

[jesm]

I have advised both our daughters, Arizona and Alabama, to prepare their homes and lives for wide scale violence across most locations in the USA should, as we hope, Trump is defeated. It may reach civil war scale as his highly armed supporters take all actions necessary to change that outcome. I believe that totally. The fate of the nation may fall on the decision of the military to defend the Constitution, or Trump.
So, with that possibility factored in, I suggest you be here on Nov. 3rd. Both locations carry Covid risk, but the threat of shoot outs in the street over political issues is not as likely here.
This advice is especially keen if, as my girls, you are a known progressive with a Biden/Harris bumper sticker on your cars.
Buen viaje y bienvenidos.

[DonJuane]

Well that's inevitable and simply a product of evolution.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTMybQuRZ6E

[roberb7]

If I come, i will fly direct LAX-BJX or DFW-BJX,

Why not go to San Diego by some means (Amtrak will do), take a taxi to the border, then take a cheap non-stop flight from Tijuana to BJX?

[roberb7]

45 deaths of COVID-19 in Guanajuato Capital today.

[roberb7]

So, with that possibility factored in, I suggest you be here on Nov. 3rd.

Anybody who knows me will tell you that I am not a fearmonger. However, I agree with this. The evidence that there will be organized efforts to disrupt the US election with violence is plain to see. Read an article by Greg Palast about it just a half hour ago.

Try Zacatecas, Guadalajara proper, Chapala, Aguacalientes (quite metropolitan actually with it's on HEB and Costco) or check out Morelia or Patzcuaro.

I would add Durango to this list. Interesting city, only three hours from the ocean, very affordable, and one of the safest places in Mexico. Main drawback is, very few extranjeros there (how good is your Spanish?) and, for some unexplained reason, tourism from outside Mexico dropped off to zero about three years ago.

Agree that Aguascalientes has some things going for it. The rap against it is heavy traffic.

Patzcuaro is another Guanajuato or SMA. If you're checking it out, you may as well take a look at Uruapan, too.