Mexico in my heart: What Guanajuato gives me that California can’t

My hubby and I disagreement our lives betwixt the metropolis of Guanajuato, wherever we’ve owned a location since 2005, and Eureka, California, wherever we rent an apartment. Although we thrive connected this lifestyle, determination are things I miss portion successful each place. In Guanajuato, I miss clouds, greenery, entree to h2o and my paddleboard. 

Here are immoderate of the things I miss astir Mexico erstwhile I’m successful Eureka:

Louisa Rogers and her hubby disagreement their beingness betwixt Eureka, California, and the assemblage metropolis of Guanajuato successful cardinal Mexico. (Jorge Gardner/Unsplash)

The easiness of speaking Spanish

Of course, I can speak Spanish successful California, wherever 40% of the state’s residents specify themselves arsenic Latino. Plus, successful Eureka, we unrecorded minutes distant from a Mexican edifice whose waiters are mostly autochthonal Spanish speakers. But speaking Spanish is conscionable not arsenic automatic for maine successful the English-language civilization of Eureka. I seldom deliberation astir it, dissimilar successful Mexico, wherever Spanish is astir arsenic earthy to maine arsenic English due to the fact that it’s truthful easy. 

In Guanajuato, I locomotion down our thoroughfare and commencement talking to a neighbour oregon chat with the feline who runs the mini-grocery 3 minutes from our home.

The friendliness of strangers 

The warmheartedness of the Mexican radical inspires me. Friendliness is contagious; erstwhile I’m successful Guanajuato, I go friendlier, too. 

In California, I effort to retrieve to greet radical I pass, but it’s much of an effort. I’m acrophobic I revert to my American persona — focused and goal-oriented, with things to get done. Or truthful I archer myself!

Most Mexican municipalities person a pedestrian-only downtown area, adjacent Mexico’s overcrowded capital, wherever abstraction is astatine a premium. These areas successful each assemblage are simultaneously marketplace, societal gathering spot and adjacent playground for residents of each ages. (Edgar Negrete Lira/Cuartoscuro)

An abundance of pedestrian areas

Guanajuato is precise walking-friendly, but it isn’t unsocial successful that way. Many Mexican towns we’ve visited person extended pedestrian areas, particularly successful their historical centers and tourer areas. They connection plazas, benches, landscaping, arches, arcades, constrictive walkways, absorbing architecture and nationalist art.

Because the streets are truthful inviting, they’re afloat of people, which fosters a consciousness of assemblage and is different crushed wherefore Mexicans are truthful friendly. The U.S. is acold much car-centric than Mexico, wherever folks are apt to locomotion oregon usage nationalist transportation.  

Eureka’s winters are damp and chilly, but successful the summer, the metropolis hosts a fashionable car-free Friday nighttime marketplace with vendors, music, food, unfastened shops and hordes of people. It’s what Guanajuato looks similar each time of the year! 

An ineffable consciousness of spirit

Mexico maintains a separation betwixt religion and authorities similar the U.S. does, but the gulf betwixt the secular and the spiritual does not look arsenic wide.

Whereas successful the U.S., religion tends to beryllium practiced privately, Mexicans often explicit their spirituality successful a precise open, nationalist and unembarrassed way. Their exuberance utilized to look weird to me. But I’ve travel to admit the mode radical unabashedly chant, sing, kneel, crawl oregon transverse themselves erstwhile they walk a religion and stroll astir municipality with ashes connected their foreheads connected Ash Wednesday. 

One day galore years ago, Barry and I were sitting successful a religion connected a elevation successful the metropolis of Zacatecas. As we sat quietly, a parent and girl successful beforehand of america spontaneously broke into song. I was transfixed, and a shiver ran done me. I can’t ideate crawling connected my knees crossed a religion floor, but I’m profoundly moved successful the beingness of faith, adjacent erstwhile it is not my own.

Accessible hiking with unthinkable views

Guanajuato is 1 of the fewer cities I’ve been to wherever you tin permission the halfway connected ft and beryllium hiking wrong 20 minutes. The information that you don’t request to get successful a car, instrumentality a bus, oregon adjacent thrust a bicycle to scope a way is 1 of the city’s top gifts. On apical of that, you don’t adjacent person to locomotion precise acold earlier you’re rewarded with spectacular views of the city’s colorful striated layers of houses and the surrounding hills.

Once oregon doubly a week, Barry and I instrumentality vantage of this opportunity. 

The writer wandering astir Las Ranas, the remains of a prehistoric metropolis successful the Sierra Gorda portion of Querétaro state. (Louisa Rogers)

Mexican ruins

After years of surviving with a antheral who loves the magic and enigma of past archeological sites, I’ve gradually go a instrumentality of ruins, too. I’m not a collector of facts; I work the past and information displayed, but I don’t clasp the information. But I emotion ruins, and Mexican ones successful particular. 

The past sites present successful the onshore of the Maya, the Aztec and the Olmec connection a unsocial benignant of enchantment due to the fact that they harmonize truthful beautifully with the surrounding landscape. Although they were built by humans, they consciousness arsenic earthy to maine arsenic trees and flowers.

A fewer years ago, Barry and I visited Las Ranas, a tiny archeological tract successful the authorities of Querétaro. I wandered around, mulling connected what stories laic embedded betwixt the layered stones, portion a dreamlike consciousness of timelessness came implicit me. I felt a consciousness of spot greater than the sum of its crumbling rocky parts. 

What a country! Mexico, a rich, sensory collage of tangled history, colors, flavors, dreams. I’ll ne'er tyre of it. Wherever I am, Mexico is ever successful my heart.