Archive for July, 2008
We’re preparing a newsletter for next week, and learning a lot more about San Miguel de Allende in the process. It’s long been popular enough with the expat community but a lot of talk is being generated lately about San Miguel’s place in the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites.
San Miguel has long been the haunt of some prolific bloggers, creative thinkers, writers, artists and film-makers. But the most comprehensive post about that news was from Mexico Premier. including a nice list of the other 27 UNESCO sites in Mexico.
The UNESCO site itself describes the Inscription of The Protective town of San Miguel and the Sanctuary of Jesús Nazareno de Atotonilco this way:
The fortified town, first established in the 16th century to protect the Royal Route inland, reached its apogee in the 18th century when many of its outstanding religious and civic buildings were built in the style of the Mexican Baroque. Some of these buildings are masterpieces of the style that evolved in the transition from Baroque to neoclassical. Situated 14 km from the town, the Jesuit sanctuary, also dating from the 18th century, is one of the finest examples of Baroque art and architecture in the New Spain. It consists of a large church, and several smaller chapels, all decorated with oil paintings by Rodriguez Juárez and mural paintings by Miguel Antonio Martínez de Pocasangre. Because of its location, San Miguel de Allende acted as a melting pot where Spaniards, Creoles and Amerindians exchanged cultural influences while the Sanctuary of Jesús Nazareno de Atotonilco constitutes an exceptional example of the exchange between European and Latin American cultures. Its architecture and interior decoration testify to the influence of Saint Ignacio de Loyola’s doctrine.
Here’s a link to some very nice photos of both locations, also from UNESCO. There’s even more here, as part of the Flickr Churches of Mexico Photo Pool.
Lastly but well-worthy of mention is this humorous take at San Miguel Gangs on all UNESCO sites, a comparison of San Miguel with Tallinn Estonia, another new UNESCO inductee. Though they may be dead serious. (It’s definitely one of the best blogs I’ve read this week!) Humor from San Miguel Ex-pats remains a rather precious commodity, check their newsgroups if you don’t believe me. Note that word “Civil” in the title and proceed with caution.
July 31st, 2008
If you want a quizzical dilemna, something to really ponder this week or this weekend… and this is written with the understanding that we really do have Generation X readers… (and plenty of boomers who remember the Shaggs,) then consider this video… 
The image at right links to the source at Current.com. But I was turned onto this video by Jeremy Schwartz post at his Austin American Statesmen blog Uncovering Mexico. It’s always an exciting way to get news about Mexico from a Gringo source. The video is from independent journalist iongrillo.
Schwartz links to another Mexico City / LA based blogger, Daniel Hernandez, who has chronicled the Emo-events of the past few months in Mexico - and who is featured in the Video. His chronicle began here if you are interested in piecing the whole story back together in some detail.
The shocking and disturbing part of the video, in this blogger’s mind, is the images of the supposed “punk-rockers” shouting “Puto-Puto-Puto” - as if that is some sort of insult in the first place. The thing to ponder is - is there really something to the odd prevalence of those Nazi t-shirts that you can occasionally find in certain puestos in Mexico City? Is there more than a whiff of intolerance in Mexico’s otherwise impeccable tolerance for difference and otherness and just plain oddity ?
Maybe the lesson of the day should be - just love your local emos. There’s always going to be some oddity in life that rubs us the wrong way. And why not just accept it? What’s really disturbing is people getting bent because of someone else’s hairstyle.
July 23rd, 2008
Via USA Today, the new mini-passport is almost here. They cost half as much as the regular thing and if that cumbersome old size was too much for you, this one fits right in your wallet! The old one was always - …next to my wallet!
The U.S. State Department has begun producing new passport cards to be used by residents who re-enter the U.S. by land or sea from Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean. Here’s a rundown on how and where to get them.
Cost: $45 for adults; $35 for minors; $20 for all passport holders.
Process time: About four weeks.
Renewal time: 10 years for adults, five years for those under 18.
Where to get them: There are 9,300 places nationwide, which you can search by ZIP code at iafdb.travel.state.gov.
For more information: Go to travel.state.gov/passport.
You’ll still need the big one for air-travel, though delays in processing are reportedly much less than before.
July 21st, 2008
Who loves Mexican doggies more than Expats? (H/T to Cristina in Livtopia Customer Service). Heather at HeatherinParadise took it a step further with an online campaign to raise money for the lost and stranded in Mexico’s Playa del Carmen.
I can’t say enough about the impact Andy and Jen [of Peanut Pet Shelter] are making in Playa del Carmen. Their no-kill shelter is the first of its kind here. In the one year of the shelter’s existence, Andy and Jen have managed to rescue, heal, and rehome hundreds of stray dogs and cats who would have otherwise lived out their sad, bleak, and short lives with no one to love or care for them. One thing that I will never get used to, living here, is the stray animal situation.
Why get used to it? LWOB salutes Heather’s efforts to raise money for the shelter and all the thoughtful posts, pictures and information about the animals and the situation on the ground in Playa del Carmen. The photo above is from the slideshow of all the dogs being helped at the shelter.
In just a few days they’ve topped US$1000 for the dogs, and we’d like to see donations go over US$2000. Each of the entries here has a link to the paypal account where you can donate $10 or $20 to help them out too. And here’s the post that started the ball rolling.
Feeling indifferent? - just watch the slideshow!
July 17th, 2008
Not your typical photo of Panama. It’s one of 524 in Allan Hawkins’ truly stunning Panama Photos collection (at Kodak so you need to log-in there to see them all).
Getting a grip on how and what is Panama is not so easy on the internet. We hear complaints all the time about the hype and the property speculation hysteria.
This photo collection isn’t glossed over, and even just a few of the images gives you a great idea about Panama, right down to the occasional peeling paint, rusted fixtures and things you can appreciate for some intrinsic aesthetic and historical value, but that you’ll never see in the glossy marketing brochures. You’ll also get a feel for the tremendous progress that Panama is making in terms of construction and development.
I’ve already shared this collection in a bunch of other areas around the internet but I think LWOB readers should take a careful look if you’re considering moving to Panama and you haven’t been there. I went through almost all 524 photos in an hour.
In my ramblings I also found this nice online History of Central America that some readers might want to leaf through. I’ve only been dabbling in the section on the history of Panama but already I’ve turned up lots of interesting data.
July 15th, 2008
We’re just now getting the ball rolling on our new Facebook Group and already we’ve got lot’s to show for it. Whether you’re interested in Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Dominican Republic or some of the other places we’re just introducing…
Livtopia is passing more and more information through our Facebook group, including updates to our ever growing calendar of events and we’d like to see you there.
In addition to all the fun you already have on Facebook, now you’ll find an increasing number of Livtopians.
July 13th, 2008
I’ve spent the better part of the weekend already - fixing up a page for Ventanas al Cielo, one of our new developments in San Miguel de Allende.
People have been hollering for some sort of new homes or a development in San Miguel de Allende pretty much since we started MexRetire.com better than 3 years ago. You can see the page itself and learn more about it here but i am still working on a place to put all of the construction specifications - something we don’t always even get.
I’d love to hear from anyone who has an idea of where and how to best present the following information. I will post a new post when I figure this one out.
These are the specifications for all the units being built at the Ventanas al Cielo site:
FOUNDATION: The foundation is designed based on continuous and insulated foot block, using steel reinforcements and concrete filled block grading to level. The grading that is in contact with the garden fillers is water-proofed.
MEZZANINE AND FLAT ROOF SLABS: The slabs are made of polystyrene foam and concrete arch ribs, reinforced by plate girders.
WALLS: They are made of 12X20X40 cm plain concrete blocks firmly placed and enclosed by roof slabs and head frames. Some walls will be made of adobe with rustic space between two moldings, including clay pebbles, as it is indicated in the project.
FINISHING: The floors in social areas can be chosen from 40×40 sand color “cantera” stone, honing finish chocolate marble, and travertine finish marble. The bedrooms will have the option of continuing with the overall house floor, or chocolate color laminated floor boards. The bathrooms will have honing chocolate travertine marble. The terraces will have 40×40 clay floor tiles. The washbasin plates and the vessel sinks will be made of travertine marble. The outside walls will be flattened with plastered painted sand cement. The interior walls and ceilings will be covered with plaster and finished with two coats of paint. The houses will be divided by dense vegetation (hedges). There are several steel pillars with rust-proof treatment covered with polyurethane supporting beams and pergolas. There are waterproof decks and some of them will have clay tiles simulating old tiles; the flat ones are used as terraces. Several waterproof flower boxes are included with water outlets. The wooden beams will be made of pinewood covered with burnt oil and will be used outdoors in the pergola zone and under the eaves of the tile decks. In the interior, they will be under the ceiling in the living room, the same as in the covered terraces. Some concrete enclosures will be substituted by wooden beams to highlight some important elements of the façade, as indicated in the drawings.
FRAMES AND WINDOWS: There are metallic utility door frames anchored to the walls with tubular shapes, rust-resisting base and enamel paint. Window frames will be optional, of wrought iron or aluminum according to the architectural design with transparent 6mm-thick glass. Mosquito screens will be made of sun-resistant fiber glass material. Partition screens are made of 3” aluminum with mosquito screens. Some windows will be manufactured with double glass. There will be tempered glass screens in the bathrooms.
DOORS AND PANELS: The main and interior doors have a banack frame. In the middle, it will have 19 mm tri-ply wood veneered with fine wood. The aluminum door panels have a key for the main door and buttons for the interior ones. They are all well-known brands.
FURNITURE AND FIXTURES: The bathroom furniture is white and the fixtures are metallic, made by prestigious manufacturers. The toilet seat is made of plastic. Washbasins are made from various types of marble. The utility patio has a white cement washtub on block light walls and a deep sink, as well as a tub as preparation for hydro pneumatic installation. It has two fireplaces, one outdoors and one outdoors, both on the ground floor. It will have an imported kitchen made of solid wood covered with marble with grease-proof protective coating and will be provided with the following appliances: dishwasher, stove with oven and in the laundry room there will be washing machine and a dryer. Some bedrooms will have wooden closets.
SIDEWALKS AND ACCESS: Pavement marks for vehicle and pedestrian access will be made of concrete, in adopasto and circular shape, respectively.
WATERPROOFING: A cold water-based waterproofing system is used, starting with a priming sealer coat, successive coats of asphalt emulsion and polyester reinforced membrane and finishing it with aluminum bitumen paint.
FENCES: There are common dividing walls between neighboring houses made of hedges or block, apparent finishing with tucked-in small space with a minimum height of 1.80 m.
INSTALLATIONS: Cold and hot water installations are made of ½” hydraulic PVC tubing. Sanitary installations are made of 2” and 4” tic PVC tubing and connections. The minimum slope for the network is 2%. House gas installation is made using a ½” diameter type “L” copper pipeline, feeding a boiler, store and gas cylinder or stationary tank. The electrical installation is 110v single-phased, with a 4-circuit capacity load center, with THW cable of the following Numbers: 10, 12 y 14. Cable ducts are ½” PVC polyduct, drowned in walls. The fixtures, bone or white color light switches, contacts and covers are made of plastic and from prestigious manufacturers. For the flying buttress outlet, two 4” porcelain block sockets will be placed, set with 1 ½” screws. It will have a C.F.E. outdoor house connection on a fence beside the public sidewalk area.
July 12th, 2008
A really nice meditation on the Rio Grande River and the border from Beatriz Terrazas in today’s Washington Post. Perhaps it’s even too fitting for a blog called Living Without Borders, nevertheless, this will give you a taste.
But what some people fail to understand […] is that for us the river wasn’t a barrier. An inconvenience, perhaps, when we had to cross the international bridge to visit our abuelas and primos or wait in long lines of chugging, overheated cars on the way back to our American lives. But the river was our connection, a witness to our attempts at straddling two cultures — to the fact that we could learn U.S. history in school during the week and spend Saturday nights celebrating weddings al otro lado. To the struggles of navigating two languages, two collective histories, and finding that with the passage of time, we were completely at home in neither one nor the other.
At home in neither one nor the other… crossing that border is something you won’t ever forget.
Read the whole story here.
July 7th, 2008
The AP Photo above is from this fascinating story on CNN.com about the playing of the Aztec whistles of death. You must view the slide show that accompanies the story to hear these haunting recordings.
For years, many archaeologists who uncovered ancient noisemakers dismissed them as toys. Museums relegated them to warehouses. But while most studies and exhibits of ancient cultures focus on how they looked, Velazquez said the noisemakers provide a rare glimpse into how they sounded.
More for the archeology and pre-history lovers out there, it’s a surprise that ancient and pre-Columbian history isn’t making more headway in our list of Top Ten Reasons to Move to Mexico this year T-Shirt Contest!
July 2nd, 2008
Our Discovery Weekend in Riviera Maya, Mexico just got a lot more exciting. The residences at Playa Mujeres Resort have been added to the agenda in time for our July 26, 27 28 event and we hope you’ll join us to see them.
This is about as immense a nature reserve and housing tract as you can hope for. Just north of Cancún’s busy and popular tourist hub, it is shaping up to be one of the finer investment and vacations sites in Mexico. And with better than 2700 feet of pure white-sand beachfront, it may be what you’ve been hoping for in a Mayan Riviera retreat.
And Playa Mujeres (click the map to enlarge) has been designated as a Greg Norman Signature Course, which means the legendendary golfer designed it himself. With 36 unforgettable holes of championship Golf, it will almost certainly emerge as one to the top golf destinations in the world. In 2007, it was already awarded one of the ten best golf courses in all of Mexico.
Please let us know what you’re number one reason is for moving to Mexico is this year! We’re still holding out on our free
Livtopia T-Shirt contest for the perfect reason to do it this year.
Just leave your reason in the comments section here.
July 2nd, 2008