On Mexican Time : A New Life in San Miguel

by Tony Cohan

Release Date: 09 January, 2001

Edition: Paperback

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Written from the heart.

I REALLY liked this book very much. I read a lot of travel books, but I liked this more than any other I have read for a long time. It left the "Provences' and 'Tuscanys' for dead. The reason is this.......Tony Cohan manages to show the sense of excitement in finding a new place that you really love so much that you can't get enough of it. I too have a place like this, though mine is not in Mexico, it's in Indonesia. And unfortunately I don't have a way to live there all the time. But this book made to want to go San Miguel de Allende (and, yes, I have been to Mexico) and it reminded me of how I felt when I found my special place in Indonesia. It also reminded me of the things I've done there and the characters I've met, and of learning Indonesian & the satisfaction when yet another cultural mystery is unravelled.

Entertaining, insightful, rich

Tony Cohan brings most of your senses into play with his descriptions of life in and around San Miguel de Allende - smells, tastes, colors, the changes of the seasons, and so on. There's also a cast of local characters that seemingly changes as often as the seasons, and a fairly significant chunk of the book is devoted to their experiences in buying, renovating and adding on to an aged, practically falling-down hacienda, with the inevitable experiences with various workers, handymen, etc.

If you're already interested in Mexico, and particularly San Miguel de Allende, this is probably a good choice. If you're squeamish about reading about getting 'turista' or killing scorpions, this is too 'bohemian' for you. :^)