Category Archive

Not only do walls have to be filled with Art but shelves need to be filled with books. The Three guidebooks that started the Awakening in San Miguel are not enough to fill a shelf.  So Gangs have created as part of Getting Fully Acted a series of books to help members delve deeper into Gang Rituals.  These books range from simple books on each Gang to explanations of Art.

These books are sold in a secret book shop on Jesus.

To see more details you must click on the picture twice. The first click brings up the picture and the second click enlarges it. When the picture is open use the sliding sidebars at the bottom and right side to reveal all the book details. You will be surprised to see all that has been written.

My Mexican Friend Jennifer Rose in a comment below has started the list of essential books for a home in Mexico. Here is the first to buy..

Carlos Castenda believed that if you didn’t like your history or that it was holding you back then you should change it and make up one that would create the kind of person you want to be. This philosophy a been incorporated in San Miguel by Gangs as one of the requirements for Gang membership. Who doesn’t want to be in a gang made up of former chefs, artists and tycoons. “I was in retail” won’t get many people to join a gang but “I was a buyer” will. So the first step in joining a gang is figuring out who you use be.

The following is the story of one successful gang member and who she became.

Mary Thompson moved to San Miguel in 2001 from Fresno California, with her husband (whose name and story is irrelevant). Mary had worked in an insurance office completing forms. When she moved to San Miguel, finding a gang was difficult. Her uneventful life prevented her from joining the Spiritual Gang. So she took a few art courses and after a tumble from a hall rug, joined the Rug Gang. At her interview about her LBSMA (Life Before San Miguel) she was truthful and was told her past life wouldn’t do and to dig deep and make it more interesting. Her eureka moment came the next Friday when she was going through her recipe box. In her LBSMA, she had submitted a recipe for Tuna Caserole to her Church newsletter back home. “That makes me a reporter, she thought”. So she reinvented herself and started to write investigative REPORTS for Atención.

She now has Scrap Book of her hard hitting stories

• Finding Cheap Transportation and/or a Ride to Leon Airport
• Where to buy Poker Chips in San Miguel
• Wednesday Lunch Group meeting El Buen Cafe
• Eggs Benedict at Café Monet
• Dog Cowboy - Won’t Someone Please make Another Happy Ending for a Doggie?*
• Water That Comes in Bags
• Why Buy Starbucks when there is Cheaper Coffee
• Foster Homes for Cockapoos
• FM3, FM2 and other Stations on your Radio

Mary doesn’t like to report on anything unpleasant or Mexican. She is at every art opening with her notepad (that she made herself) and finds everything “Fabulous”.

Creating Your Past

This is an exerpt from a Gang Manual to help people invent themselves. Use it to decode people’s history.

How to find your past career.

• If you once made a tuna fish sandwich back home, then in SMA you were a souschef.
• If you once wrote something for your church bulletin back home, then in SMA you were a reporter.
• If you once used fresh thyme and/or rosemary back home, then in SMA you were a chef.
• If you have ever owned two houses (doesn’t have to be at the same time) back home, then in SMA you were a real estate mogul.
• If you ever once hand addressed Christmas card back home, then in SMA you were a calligrapher.
• If you ever once gave directions to someone on the street back home, then in SMA you were an air traffic controller.
• If you acted in any junior school play back home, then in SMA you were an actor.
• If you ever once painted an outside door back home, then in SMA you were an artists
• If you ever hemmed your husband’s pants back home then in SMA you were a designer

* for more on the story join the Civil List

Often joining a Gang, wearing a rug, collecting Mexican friends,or doing a good works is not enough to banish the feeling that you are a foreigner and a long way from home. So gangs have created portals throughout San Miguel to connect gang members to home. There are many portals and each has its own name such as La Conexion, Solutions, Border Crossings .

When you enter a Portal the first thing you are given is a new address such as this

Missy Silverthorn
PMB# 223
220 N. Zapata Hwy. #11
Laredo, TX 78043

Friends back home can now write you and not have to worry about using those funny little accents ó ì etc. that distort vowels and make them seem unnatural.

Not only can you receive mail you can also send mail and not have deal with the local Post Office that is called for some strange reason Correo in San Miguel, where they don’t speak English.

Look at the joy on this woman’s face when she learns at Border Crossings that she can mail her first letter and not have to struggle in Spanish

High members of Gangs spend many evenings filling the mail boxes at the portals with letters from home so that new gang members will not feel disconnected from home.

Many portals provide internet service and phones.

But they are also places where a gang member can have mailed to them Stuff They Can’t Get Here such as Sandwich Spread and Fluffer Nutter and pickles

Portals are excellent places for Tourists to meet locals and perhaps get a pickle.

*Special Thanks to Jennifer Rose for the concept who has her own take on this activity

The John Frum Gang

The John Frum Gang, a.k.a. The Cargo Cult. Like the natives of Vanuatu, San Miguelenses gather at Solutions, La Conexion and other mail forwarding services awaiting the latest news and merchandise ordered online from the Old Country. Just as they fear entrusting their precious mail to the Mexican postal service, they are reluctant to venture out onto the local economy to explore the availability of and buy wares which can be purchased through a trusted coyote who schleps goods all the way from Texas.

When imported merchandise, stuff like white Worcestershire sauce and canned Italian tomatoes, finds its way into the local emporium, news travels fast. The appearance of Rice-a-Roni, cheddar cheese, or Hires root beer at a local store harkens like the rapture, and the natives charge into the store with the same enthusiasm that offers of free sex and drugs bore for these folks in their salad days.

Expats in San Miguel can be divided into two groups - the Tourists and the Gang Members. Each group is easily identifiable. The Tourist will be holding a guide book and a camera. The Gang Member will be holding a parasol or a dog or a pamphlet and wearing something found around the house. But what is more interesting is the metamorphisis from the Tourist State to the Gang State. It quite amazing to think that someone can change from

How does this happen? What force begins the change. The cause is the Guide Book and a Movie.

Guidebooks are crutches for Tourists. Travel is about SEEING the most you can in the least amount of time. The Guidebook tells you what to see and the camera records it. Tourists arrive and start to follow the advice of one of these guidebooks.

They start with looking at a quaint little church here, eating at an authentic restaurant there, taking pictures of doors or door knockers or window or flower boxes, finding a Mexican Artisan, buying an original piece of Talverna pottery or a silver bracelet, stumbling on a cobblestone or two and then the AWAKENING happens. At that moment the Tourist knows who they are or are FOUND. A quick trip to the Bienes Raices, an application to a Gang, hiring a maid and voila they are locals.

These books are published by Gang Members as part of the GRI (Gang Recruitment Initiative) that was created as the first step in increasing the English speaking population of San Miguel until it is the 51st state and can be annexed like Texas was.

A newer strategy was the developed by Caren Cross of a movie. She called it Lost and Found In San MIguel. This movie was created for those tourists who don’t have time to read Guidebooks. It is a visual seduction of Tourists. By the end of the movie they are AWAKENED and FOUND. Here is a review of the Movie on Staring at Strangers

The success of the San Miguel Guidebook Strategy to Gang Recruitments has spawned other parts of Mexico to use the same technique to snare their own gang members.

Once the Gang member is settled in San Miguel then the guide book is put away and used only for guests. Gang members now use Atención to guide their activities. This local newspaper tells everyone what to do and where to go.

Gangs recognize that part of the psyche of individuals who uproot themselves to a foreign land is the craving for safe yet interesting foreign experiences. These experiences form the basis of the repetoire of stories that are told in the Jardin or Back Home. The Gangs in San Miguel, therefore, have a requirement that each gang member must make at least one Mexican Friend so they can begin to build their Repetoire of Stories. There is a relationship between the amount of Stories you have and how immersed you have become in your adopted land.

Gang members are instructed to befriend their maid and gardener first and to refer to them using the term Mexican Friend . A typical sentence would be “Oh but my Mexican Friend Maria told me yesterday.” The term Mexican Friend is like Don and Dona in Spanish or Mr., Mrs., and Ms. in English but genderless. These Mexican Friends are now the proof to those back home that you are living in a foreign country and have changed.

Payback from having Mexican Friends is almost immediate with the first invitation to the maid’s brother-in-law’s kid’s baptism, or the gardener’s granddaughter’s baby shower. Attending with an expensive gift, will results in the building of the Repetoire of Stoires. Non gang members in the Jardin with no Mexican Friends are in awe of anyone who “Really knows about this place”.

A touching payback comes when your Mexican Friend or neighbor (referred to as My Mexican Neighbors or My Poor Mexican Neighbours) knocks at your door with gift of a plate of tortillas. Now the routine for friendly exchanges has begun and you will reciprocate with an small appliance or lawn furniture bought at Costco.

The ultimate payback comes when you are being asked to be madrino or padrino by your new Mexican Friends that you have only known for 5 days. Now you are part of their family and near the top of the ladder of those who have become part of the community.

Making friends is a win win situation for all. For Mexicans a small investment such as a plate of tortillas or asking them to be a madrino or padrino leads to overgifting and $. For the expat a gift leads to a Mexican Friend and the start of a vast repetoire of stories about them. Everyone wins.

Thanks to Jennifer Rose for the concept and details on this Gang Activity that seems to exist outside of San Miguel

San Miguel would be truly Heaven if everyone spoke English. Then it would be like living in the US or Canada but on cobblestone streets and having help. Gangs understand the frustration faced by new members who can’t be understood but tell them soon Gangs members will outnumber the Mexicans in town in five years and be able force them to take speak English. In the meantime some members of the Doing Good Works Gang are doing their part to make San Miguel unilingual by teaching locals how to speak English.

As gap to bridge the time until English is the official language of San Miguel Gang members receive a small manual of Spanish expressions to guide them in San Miguel. It is produced in its entirety below.

MINIMAL SPANISH FOR GANGS

Gracias - means thank you. When ever someone says something to you in Spanish simply smile and reply Gracias and quickly walk away.

Si and No - Si is Yes and No is No. Depending on your mood that day, you can go through most of your day responding Si or No to anything asked you in Spanish but remember to say Gracias before you walk away.

Cuanto Cuesta plus a handheld calculator - When you find stuff you want to buy, say Cuanto cuesta and hand them your calculator. They will type in a number indicating the price of the item. But remember prices aren’t fixed in San MIguel (except for Art and Warren Hardy Language Classes) so be prepared to spend at least two more hours passing the calculator back and forth until you get that “Special Price”.

Banos - means toilets. If nature calls simply say the word banos and have a pained look on your face. Failing that go into any expensive hotel where the restrooms say Men and Women. However if the doors don’t have pictures of men and women on them but only Spanish words then I you are in for an adventure. M sometimes is where women go. But as many a gang mama has found, in San Miguel, using the wrong washroom can work to your advantage. If you are a cowboy then use this sign to guide you to cowboy things.

Finger Pointing - Just point at what you want and use your fingers or hand held calculator to tell them how many.

What to do if a Restaurant doesn’t have an English menu. This is a sign that tells you that the food won’t be like home so leave quickly but don’t forget to say in a loud voice as you go out the door “They aren’t going to get much business with that attitude.” Just so they know who runs San Miguel.

Where do they speak English

1. All Real Estate Agents speak English. If you want a guide for the day, pretend you just arrived in town and want to buy a house. Ask the agent to show you around town so you have a sense of what is there. Then ask him or her to take you to some good shops and when you are there have them help buy a few things but say they are for your house. You might have to look at houses but always say after seing it “Too small.”
2. All staff in Art galleries speak English. So if you need something, pop into a gallery, look at few pictures and say “Interesting” and then ask the staff about how you could get what you need.
3. Everyone in the Jardin speaks English so they can guide you to whatever you want to buy.
4. Go the Biblioteca. They have a program that matches you to a Spanish speaker who wants to speak English. Once matched then voila you have your own San Miguel Guide. They work for nothing and all you have to give them is a few expression in English.

Heaven appears to be wherever you buy real estate. In San Miguel the realization you are in heaven takes about one week. By the end of the first week of your visit to San Miguel you have bought real estate.

Why does it only take a week San Miguel to know you are in Heaven. The answer is obvious - The Gangs. They only need a weak (sic) or a pair of Combat Cocktail Sandals or a Good Deed or a Guidebook to convince TOURISTS they are in Heaven and get them into a Bienes Raices. It is sort of like the Moonies used to be.

But there are competing heavens in Mexico - Pátzcuaro, Mazatlan, Ajijic, Corazon de Durazno, Morelia , anywhere in Michoacan, Chapala Tzurumutaro (only 4 gringos), Zirahuen, Erongaricuaro Merida, the whole Yucatan, even Belize (outside of Mexico) AND (the list of Heavens will grow). In fact many of the competing heavens believe that San Miguel is Hell. “I wouldn’t want to live THERE. It isn’t authentic enough for me.”

So you can divide Mexico into two Heavens camps - San Miguel de Allende and All Places That Aren’t San MIguel de Allende. The logic changes depending where you have bought real estate. If you live in Pátzcuaro then the world is Pátzcuaro and All Places That Aren’t Pátzcuaro. It is a bit like home teams e.g. Boston and the Red Sox.

So does it take longer than a week to find Heaven in Pátzcuaro or Mazatlan? For those of you outside of Heaven please leave a comment to tell us about Heaven where you live.

However there is envy in All Places That Aren’t San MIguel de Allende that it only takes a week for people to buy a house and hence raise the value of your own property. Many in those places do not talk kindly of San Miquel de Allende. Perhaps they don’t have Gangs or the Gangs are not as well organized or they have found another purpose for their lives.

If you hear the words “Let’s meet for drinks at Happy Hour at Harry’s or Mama Mia’s or some other Centro Bar”, be prepared for your world to disassemble.

Too much alcohol and age are a dangerous combination. Imagine your grandmother stumbling drunk through the Jardin. Imagine your great uncle feeling frisky with one of the waitresses. Imagine the power gang members have when a senior citizen is in his or her cups and vulnerable.

Those Gangs that can’t recruit members with Gang Colors, or with creative clothing, or with promises of no more loneliness use Happy Hour to make your theirs.

The following is a Review of San Miguel from Trip Advisor

We enjoyed going to Lefty and Poncho on Mesones 99 for coffee and desert. (No Visa)I am sure there are others but we really enjoyed eating at Tio Lucas on Mesones 103. The T bone steak was fantastic, happy hour 5-8, Music at 9, they speak English and take Visa. Romanos, on Hernandez Macias 93, was a great Italian resturant, upstairs, outback or inside. Food was more than enough. Happy hour all day, No Visa. Agave on Mesones 80 was another great place to eat. Happy hour, music and Visa. A great place for snacks in the afternoon was the Library (Biblioteca Publica) on Insurgentes. Buy the newspaper there, the Attencion, it has a schedule of what is going on for the week. Paper comes out on Friday. Snack bar, bathrooms, gift shop, movies, and tours, the Library is a nice place to spend some time and rest.

After Happy Hour you might find yourself waking up some morning wearing nothing but a bedspread and a new purpose in life.

While in San Miguel, a lady from Bayfield, Ontario, kept telling me to look at THEIR feet. I didn’t because I thought she had a shoe fetish and didn’t want to start that conversation. Besides as a man,  the purpose of a shoe is to gets you from A to B. Little did I know until the comment on the Blog from Emily about the San Miguel Cocktail Combat Sandal.

A quick search of the internet led me to a source that confirms their existence and actually sells them. I then had to go back through my pictures and lo and behold there they were.

Further research revealed that The San Miguel Shoe was the creation of Santiago Gallardo Muniz, who created the shoes so that rich art patrons in San MIguel would not fall on the cobblestone streets and be unable to buy their daily art dose while they recovered. His wife Martha was behind his discovery.

These shoes identify you as someone from San Miguel and there even seems to be a cult founded by this woman who made this comment

When I wear mine it is not uncommon for women to stop me and ask me where I got them

When I found this quote then I knew why they wear them. I had forgotten about women and shoes. Shoes are the portal to the soul. They are recruitment tools. Look at my feet and you are mine. Women will do anything to wear comfortable shoes that look good - even join a gang.

Another clue was the word Combat - a gang term if I ever heard one.

In fact there are newer shoes that make fighting even easier.

Early maps of the world put dragons to indicate unexplored parts of the world. They were warnings that no one knew what lay beyond the known edges of the world. There are dragons all around San Miguel. There places up the hill such as Atascadero that can only be reached by donkey or a Mercedes. There are places in the campo such as Los Frailes that are rumored to be US refugee centres. There are places called Gated Communities and it is not clear if the gates are to keep people out or keep people in.

The average visitor to San Miguel never goes near the places marked with Dragons but spends their day in the Jardín, sitting and looking and waiting.

This picture show the front of the Jardín where you can sit and not look at Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts. It is here that the Gangs come and go.

What Happens in the Jardin

Life begins in San Miguel on Friday. This the is day Atención comes out and lays out the activities for the week. Atención is published by the Atención Gang. It tells Gang members What to do and Where to Go. A typical day involves walking the dog, then a cafe, then a good sit on a bench. Then some talk about real estate or how terrible it is that Starbucks opened.

For the rest of the day until evening members of each Gang does their own thing such as setting up tables to spread the word, or suggesting other places in Mexico to live, capturing a Love Slave, buying books, shopping, making Mexican Friends, being busy, buying art, taking art classes or what ever mission the Gang Mamas have set for the day.

The evenings are devoted to ART - a play, a muscial performance, a reading, a musical comedy, a lecture. Here is an excerpt from May 9 Atención describing the merriment that is going to happen after that first cocktail.

Lamine Thiam dazzles at Café concert
By Kennedy Poyser May 9, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

Concert
African Music Night
Lamine Thiam
Wed, May 14, 7pm
Café Santa Ana
Biblioteca Pública
Reloj 50A
100 pesos, incl. first cocktail

Workshop
Africana Danza
Mon–Fri, May 12–16, 8–9:30pm
El Sindicato
Recreo 4
044 (415) 119-3402

Concert-goers at the San Miguel event are warned that Thiam is still just as persuasive. Probably everyone in the Café will be dancing within the first 30 minutes, and never mind if they’ve never given the least thought to West African rhythm. It’s irresistible.

Imagine all the fun you would have. Life in San Miguel is one art adverture after another until you go to bed fully arted out.

Every Friday a little newspaper is published in San Miguel called Atencion.

It is sold on the street, at the Biblioteca and in various location in town. But look carefully at what is in it as it gives powerful clues to who really runs San Miguel and the Gangs. Gangs in San Miguel need direction. Left to their own devices they congregate in groups in the Jardin and chatter about Real Estate

But once the Atención is out then they know what to do for the next week. The purpose of the Atencion is to tell people what to do and where to go. Look carefully at the words under Que Pasa. Atencion runs the Matrix of San Miguel. This is not a conspiracy theory but the truth.

The week is laid out for gangs. Almost every minute of the day is planned by the Atención. Every evening has one or more “ARTY” events like a play, singsong or poetry reading. Without Atención there would be nothing to do in San MIguel. But wait there is even more. The last part of the paper is full of REAL ESTATE listings. Real Estate is the Holy Grail of all Gangs except those on Social Security.

It all began with the Aztec God Tlaloc.

Tlaloc was an important deity of rain and fertility of the Aztec mythology. Aztec people were living in Mexico during the fifteenth and sixteenth century. Tlaloc was pictured as a man wearing a net of clouds, a crown of heron feathers, foam sandals and carrying rattles to make thunder. Tlaloc brought on great wrath upon the Aztec people. He often used his lightning bolts to make the people sick. It is said that he had four different jugs of water in his possession. When he emptied the first one, it brought life to plants. The second would cause blight, the third brought on frost, and the fourth would bring total destruction by allowing foreigners to buy real estate in Mexico.

So behind the running joke in San Miguel that you come on a holiday to San Miguel and within a week have purchased a home there - is the God Tlaloc. He works in strange way. This sign has again been translated by a Level 1 Warren Hardy graduate

There are temples to Tlaloc called them Bienes Raices signs. Since he is such a powerful god in San Miguel he has many temples. Here are some signs that can point you to him.

To disguise their real purpose Bienes Raices are often combined with other business opportunities such as Real Estate and Ice Cream, or Real Estate and Jewelry or Real Estate and Salsa Dancing or Real Estate and Knives.

But Tlaloc is a clever God and knows the heart of all foreigners. This statement found on a real estate site reveals why foreigners really buy real estate.

Your investment is secure, because the properties increase their value a minimum of 20 % every year. Real Estate in San Miguel is a Real Solid business!

Who can resist the lure of San Miguel, safe in the knowledge that you can’t lose.

CLOTHING AND GANGS

She stays in the doorway. Her friend is in the store buying her new gang clothes. Decisions, decisions, decisions. Should she join a gang or should she keep her old identity? She doesn’t know who she is anymore. She was a small town accountant back in the States but who will she be here? Will she be an actress or a sculptress? Will she have been the mistress of a famous shoe maker or Don Knotts? Will she tell people she has to avoid Doc Severinsen in the Jardin? Oh which gang? Is she a rug girl, a false boy girl, a classic girl? Does she have the flair to wear a tablecloth? Can she get a love slave? Life is hard for the newly arrived.

WHERE TO BUY GANG CLOTHES

Several people have asked where do Gang members get their clothes. Often they are hanging just in front of you. This wall hanging was used very successfully by this gang member.

Other Gang members see something fetching hanging on a door or shop door and know it is for them

DOWNSIDES TO WEARING HOUSEHOLD ITEMS

It is not always easy for Gang members. This poor gang member was wrapping herself in a chair throw when her love slave started to escape. As she ran to catch him the open weave of the chair throw got caught on a door knob and he got out the door. Since she can’t leave the house without wearing her gang outfit she tied it loosely around her hips and began to run after the escaping love slave. But he has a good head start. Again another gang member has experienced the downside of open weave.

HELP IDENTIFY THIS GANG

There is an interesting short film by Caren Cross called Lost and Found in San Miguel . I had a tough time figuring out in the film who was Lost and who was Found. I wasn’t sure if the Lost part happened before they came or after them came to San Miguel and even more confused about what they had Found. As I looked around to find what they had found my blog was formed. The Found have found a sense of belonging that manifests itself in what I call joining a Gang - a gang you can’t find at home. Each gang has its colors and dress code and unique behaviors.

Some gangs are easy to identify but this gang member has me puzzled. I see a bag (but everyone has a bag). I see a table cloth. I see a Mexican blusa. I see little dolls sewn on the blusa. But I don’t see the theme. I don’t get this gang. Maybe she is Mexican but that answer seems to obvious. HELP

CONTEST

This is the latest contest about Gang Apparel

Love Slaves

Gangs are not just about ART but also about LOVE. Women come to San Miguel to find LOVE. But there aren’t enough men to go around to provide the LOVE. So some women fall in love with San Miguel

I just LOVE it here in San Miguel.
San Miguel is so special to me.
There is such magic here.

San Miguel becomes their LOVER and their Muse. There is a book with that title.

But not all women are content to simply fall in love with San Miguel.  They want more. They want what they had back home.  Enter the gangs.  When a woman joins a gang she is given a new purpose - being a Gang Mama. A Gang Mama’ssole purpose is to capture and control a love slave.

A Love Slave has so many purposes

• asset holders
• bridge partners
• beasts of burden
• bill payers
• place holders
• wallets
• fetchers
• drivers
• and so many more.

Single Men who used to be someone in the U.S. are lost in San Miguel and open to being captured and controlled.   Promise them clean underwear and cooked meals and they are yours.  They may offer token resistence at first but eventually the lure of the Gang Mama can’t be refused. They walk with their heads down following the MRS and waiting for instructions.

Capturing a Love Slave

Capturing love slaves is a major gang activity in San Miguel. Gang members work in pairs. Gangs are always on the look out for unattached males. Here two gang members search the Jardin for a love slave.

Soon one gang member moves ahead of the Potential Love Slave and the other walks behind him. Notice how members from two different gangs work together to share a Love Slave. Men are scarce so sharing is the only option.

Using their womanly ways they entice him to be their Love Slave with promises of cooking and clean underwear. For a minute the Love Slave may try to escape.

But the lure of cooked meals and clean underwear is too much and he falls into step behind his Gang Mamas.

As soon as they are captured they are put to working by the gangs. This man has been indentured as a bag boy.

This man simply holds a burro and a horse waiting for his Gang Mama to come back

That is why gay men are so popular in San Miguel. They can still think and talk for themselves.

Read about a Love Slave Rebellion

Read how one woman found a business opportunity to capture love slaves

Read how the Shaman Gang uses power animals to capture love slaves

Dogs are power animals in San Miguel. They provide wisdom and power. The Shaman gang uses power animals to capture Love Slaves.

Dogs serve many uses in San Miguel besides being Power Animals. Look at those puppies in the picture to get an idea.

There appears to be an direct relationship between the wisdom of the owner and the size of the dog.

Below is a chart showing some variations in the size of dogs.

Appetizer dogs are often eaten by larger dogs.

Gangs tread a careful path between good works and bad works. Some gangs are philanthropic. Some are downright mean. It is often hard to tell the difference between shoplifting and shopping.

Gangs of San Miguel de Allende are CREATIVE as they have taken art courses at Bellas Artes and the Instituto. Today’s contest is called “Where would you wear this”.

Sharon is holding something discovered in the Butterfly Sanctuary god knows where. No butterflies where killed in its production nor were they disturbed. So put on your beret and start to think where you would wear it. Is it a hat? Is it a necklace? Is it a belt buckle? Could it be a pair of shoes? The winner of this contests gets to have dinner with two live men. So put your comments below and your email address.

This contest is not open to tourists.

No one wants to be alone in San Miguel.

Several sociological studies of expats and gangs in San Miguel have shown that being alone can be dangerous. Groups provide constant chatter to drown out individual thoughts. San Miguel organizes groups to do all sort of things - Photography tours, walking tours, art classes, language classes, excursions into people’s homes, help the poor tours, help the poor tours even if they don’t want it tours, butterfly tours, movies etc. etc. It is endless.

Here is a video of them at work  Hear the word CHARITY but note they wear sunglasses.  The man in the shorts is being sold a timeshare that doesn’t exist.

As the article below indicates, wanna be gang members try to get acceptance into gangs by committing small crimes. This is a wanna be. She is wearing no distinguishing gang regalia. She is thinking about stealing this car and turning it into a gang car (below) to get they approval and entrance into one of the Gangs of San Miguel.

Clean underwear and cooked meals often don’t compensate for having to listen to endless chatter. This man is begging a group of older Mexican women to look after him. If they take him it will be a win win for him. Clean underwear, cooked meals and not able to understand a word they say. The problem - they haven’t a clue what he is saying.

Here is a list of some of the gang activities in San Miguel

Find Gang Apparel

Own Dogs

Shop

Steal

Raise MONEY for GOOD WORKS

Help people become Volunteers

Dress to match their Cars

Capture Love Slaves

Control the Police

Have their portrait done by an ARTIST

New Strategy

Never let it be said that the Gangs of San Miguel are without ingenuity. Sandra Grove, while building her home on Recreo, stumbled upon an opportunity. Too many Love Slaves had slipped through her hands and when the contractor was installing palm trees in her yard she had her Eureka moment. Scoop up the Love Slave, hence the Sandra Grove Manlift business.

Grove Manlift
152 8992
Open 24 hours
Let us Scoop You a Man