The museum is named for Gene Byron, a Canadian artist (related by birth to the British Romantic poet Lord Byron), who bought the former silver and gold hacienda in 1962 with her Spanish husband, Virgilio Fernández.

Who was Gene Byron?

Gene Byron was a Renaissance woman — originally a successful Broadway actress and radio performer, she later became a painter. Influenced by Mexico’s muralists, she moved to Mexico in the 1940s, visiting diverse parts of the country like Veracruz, Guerrero, Chiapas, Yucatán, Campeche and Oaxaca. 

In Mexico, she continued to paint, but added design and restoration work to her repertoire. She specialized in mid-century modern design, creating distinctive tin and copper lighting, wall sconces and decorative items, often incorporating hand-painted tiles. Her artwork was exhibited in museums in Houston, San Antonio, Chicago, New York and Mexico City.

Meanwhile, Fernández, born in Morocco, became a Communist at a young age and was working as a nurse in Madrid when the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936. He spent much of the war as a medic on the front lines of Madrid and Guadalajara, Spain, participating in some of the most decisive battles of the Civil War alongside volunteers from across Europe and America. 

How Gene Byron and Virgilio Fernández met

In 1938, Fernández was captured by Nationalist forces and interned in a concentration camp in France. He later escaped and was exiled to Mexico, where, along with over 25,000 other Spanish refugees, he was welcomed. He spent the rest of his life in exile in Mexico.

Fernández studied pediatrics in Monterrey, where he met Byron. They moved to Guanajuato in 1958, buying the former Santa Ana hacienda, which they restored, transforming it into both their home and a gathering place for artists and creatives. 

Byron decorated and furnished the ex-hacienda with many of her own designs. The couple lived there together until she died in 1987. Today, it is still full of her furniture, paintings and even the light fixtures and other metal accessories that she designed. 

Byron’s home becomes a museum

 

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In 1997, Fernández and his second wife, Estela Cordero, decided to convert the house into a museum. This was no small task because the property was an immueble catalogado (listed on Mexico’s historic register) and they had to acquire lengthy permissions for any changes, even minor ones, from INAH, the federal department that protects and preserves Mexico’s archeological and historical structures.

Today, the property encompasses a museum, gardens, a restaurant, a gift shop and the apartment where museum director Estela Cordero now lives, and where she and Fernández lived until he died in 2019. One of the last surviving members of the International Brigades fighting the Spanish Civil War, Fernández passed away in 2019 at age 100.

The museum maintains a permanent collection of Byron’s work but also offers visiting exhibitions, literary presentations, book talks, art workshops and weekly classical music and jazz concerts. With its extensive gardens and courtyard, the museum is also a popular venue for large functions. 

A popular venue for art exhibitions and special events

The restaurant, located on the grounds with a view of trees, offers Mexican cuisine with European influences, and is open from 8:30 to 1 p.m. and then reopens from 2 to 6 p.m. The gift shop sells artisanal products, designs by Gene Byron — such as lamps, mirrors, and ashtrays — and rebozos and other fabrics.

In her role as the museum director, Estela Cordero selects Mexican and international artists to display their work there. Currently, there are shows by the Canadian oil painter and part-time Guanajuato resident Martine Bilodeau, as well as two Spanish artists, Luis González and Miguel Sánchez de San Bernardo. 

Speaking with Cordero, she said she sees several trends in contemporary Mexican art: the fusion of pre-Hispanic and folk art with modern techniques and perspectives; art as a social commentary on cultural issues such as violence, machismo, inequality, migration, gender, feminism and identity; and the mixing of traditional art forms with experimental, immersive techniques like multimedia, digital art, videos and performance art.

Only a 10-minute taxi ride from Guanajuato’s center, the museum is well worth a visit. And while you’re in Marfil, you can enjoy two other local assets: Stroll along the nearby tree-lined Camino Antiguo (Historic Walk) and visit another ex-hacienda, San Gabriel de Barrera, which contains 17 themed gardens. 

Louisa Rogers and her husband Barry Evans divide their lives between Guanajuato and Eureka, on California’s North Coast. Louisa writes articles and essays about expat life, Mexico, travel, physical and psychological health, retirement and spirituality. Her recent articles are available on her website, authory.com/LouisaRogers

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Although Guanajuato is famous for its landscaped squares, colonial architecture, and flower-filled lanes, this same charm and beauty do not extend to its poorer barrios, which can be littered with graffiti and trash. Pardo, a historic neighborhood of crisscrossing alleys on a hill above the Mercado Hidalgo, is not one of the instagrammable areas of the city, so this small plaza came as a delightful surprise to me. Ever since discovering it, I’ve taken locals and visitors to see this urban mini-retreat.

I recently learned that the murals, not only in the plazita but throughout the neighborhood, were part of a project called “Cuatro Vientos” (Four Winds), launched by a local resident and artist during the pandemic. “Cuatro Vientos” is the name of one of the alleys in Pardo.

In response to growing delinquency and crime, the residents had formed a committee to address the issue. The city had responded to their concerns by installing paving stones and benches in the plazita, but robberies continued.

At a “vigilancia” (neighborhood watch) meeting, one of the residents, Guillermo Torres, proposed painting artwork on the walls as a way to improve safety in the neighborhood. He suggested first covering any graffiti and gang propaganda on walls, followed by creating murals. Torres understood intuitively what urban sociologists have proven: that removing graffiti enhances a neighborhood by improving public safety, deterring vandalism, and fostering community pride. And although removing graffiti is an important first step, painting a mural is even better, because it makes the area feel welcoming and walkable.

However, the other residents at the meeting were skeptical. Although they knew Torres as a neighbor, they didn’t know he had worked as an artist throughout his career. Even Torres’ dad thought it was a waste of time and that gang members would soon cover the murals again with graffiti. When Torres asked the group who would be willing to offer their wall for a mural, no one volunteered. But finally one man raised his hand, and a project was born. 

Torres grew up in the barrio, and still lives there, along with his parents and several siblings. He was drawing by the age of four. As an adult, he taught elementary school for two years, but spent most of his career working as a textbook illustrator. He developed mural experience when teachers would ask him to paint murals on their classroom walls. 

Not long after Torres retired, COVID-19 hit. Painting murals in the barrio allowed him to get out of the house. In nine months between 2020 and 2021, working most days from 8:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Torres created murals on 14 walls in the neighborhood. 

“The Cuatro Vientos Project rose from the need to improve the urban environment and to use art as a tool to deter crime,” Torres told me. “It made the artwork accessible to people from all social backgrounds, allowing them to appreciate it and feel a sense of ownership and belonging.”

Partnering with the families to decide what to paint on their walls, he established three criteria: A mural either had to describe the name and history of an alley; illustrate significant people who had lived or currently live in the neighborhood; or depict a film that had been staged near the barrio or in the city. One of the murals, for example, shows wrestlers from the 1972 film, “The Mummies of Guanajuato.”  

In another vibrant mural, “Submission eagle warrior, dancing woman,” a young woman is dancing, while a jaguar warrior bends submissively behind her. Torres told me that the families living in this house had been dancers for more than a century.

A third mural depicts a mule loaded with firewood, with two black-skinned children on the ground next to it. Neighbors explained to Torres that several families had historically sold firewood and charcoal brought down from the hills by donkeys and mules. The muleteers dropped the loads on the ground where the children played, causing the kids’ clothes and skin to be covered in soot. 

Torres volunteered all his services, including his materials. Because he didn’t want to put financial pressure on his neighbors, he never put out a donation basket, but contributions grew anyway, bit by bit. He spent about 9,500 pesos on the project, of which about 7,000 pesos came back in donations from locals and tourists. 

Since the mural project began, safety has improved dramatically. The city provides security patrols in all 14 alleys, along with 24 security cameras. Neighbors report any suspicious activity through a WhatsApp group. Little graffiti can be seen on the alley walls. 

Torres now offers occasional tours to interested visitors, continues to paint and teaches art to seniors in different parts of the city.

He is grateful that the project not only reduced crime but helped his neighbors appreciate art. Even his dad changed his mind. “He’d walk around and hear neighbors’ positive comments,” Torres said, smiling. “And then he’d say, ‘My son painted that!’”

Today, five years after the project began, Pardo remains a model of urban renewal. 

Louisa Rogers and her husband Barry Evans divide their lives between Guanajuato and Eureka, on California’s North Coast. Louisa writes articles and essays about expat life, Mexico, travel, physical and psychological health, retirement and spirituality. Her recent articles are available on her website, authory.com/LouisaRogers

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After President Donald Trump was inaugurated in January, he declared a border emergency in order to prevent anyone from entering the United States illegally. There is no way of knowing exactly how many people would have crossed the border if it had remained open, but according to the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), U.S. Border Patrol previously encountered unauthorized migrants attempting to cross it thousands of times a day.

I know plenty of people in the U.S. who are fiercely anti-immigration and want a strong U.S. border policy. As an acquaintance said on Facebook in February 2024, “We need a border to keep out all those terrorists from Mexico.” 

I suppose we need a border policy, though it’s hard for me to see exactly why. Who crosses our borders? On the northern border, Canadians like their country and have no desire to relocate to the U.S., except those who move to the Sunbelt as part-time snowbirds. 

As for the southern border, many of the people who want to cross it are hardworking Latinos willing to do low-paid, backbreaking labor, sometimes in over 100-degree temperatures. They’re well-known culturally for loving their families, being deeply religious, and respecting authority. They want to become legal.

But there’s no way they can complete the laborious paperwork necessary to get even a temporary visa while in their own countries before either starving — due to food shortages and hunger in Venezuela — or being shot or kidnapped by gangs — in El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras. 

I’d love those Americans who rage at the idea of foreigners “stealing” our jobs to feel what it’s like to pick strawberries for a season. I know I don’t want to do that, and I bet they don’t either. But picking strawberries for a couple of months just might change their vote.

Research from the nonprofit organization Women for Women International shows that most people forced to flee their country for political or economic reasons would much prefer to stay in their own country if it were safe and economically viable. The common U.S. fantasy that immigrants want what we have is not only misguided but arrogant.

Sure, people want the freedoms and the salaries available to Americans, but they don’t want the mass shootings, homelessness, fentanyl addiction, racism or any of the other ills that afflict American society. Like most U.S. citizens do — but, tragically, not enough of our legislators — they simply want the chance to earn a living and enjoy a peaceful life. 

Ironically, six months after Trump closed the border, a Gallup poll showed that Americans’ views of immigration have swung dramatically upward in the last year. Seventy-nine percent of American adults now think immigration is good for the country, and the number of Americans who want immigration reduced dropped from 55 to 30 percent since 2024. These shifts reverse a four-year trend of growing concern that the U.S. was admitting far too many migrants.

Meanwhile, Mexico — a Catholic country famous for its machismo — recently elected a Jewish woman as its president, something the U.S. has yet to achieve on either count. But more importantly, she is everything Trump is not: measured, rational, and analytic. A former climate scientist, Sheinbaum’s statesmanship and calm rhetoric remind me of Germany’s former chancellor, Angela Merkel.

According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), if refugees in Mexico are afraid of returning to their country, they can apply for protection. The process is free and confidential. Mexico also provides options for those seeking asylum or facing humanitarian crises, with permits granted for victims of crime, unaccompanied minors, or those with pending asylum claims. 

Mexico was lauded in March for its dignified treatment of refugees, with the United Nations describing a joint Mexico-U.N. resettlement program as “an example of assimilation and solidarity” toward emigrants.

The U.S. also has a tradition of providing refuge to those fleeing persecution, war and violence. The U.S. Refugee Act of 1980 created a process for admitting and resettling refugees, including setting annual ceilings and providing pathways for resettlement both from abroad and asylum claims within the U.S.

However, the law doesn’t guarantee a specific number of refugees that will be admitted, and the Trump administration has drastically reduced admissions.

Clearly, Mexico cares about refugees. Its policies aren’t perfect. How could they be, with the country wedged tightly between certain dangerous Central American countries and the aggressive U.S.? But Mexico’s current policies are a lot more humanitarian than ours.

Without the agricultural labor that refugees provide in the U.S., Americans will have less selection in foods and will experience higher prices. As citizen frustration intensifies, my hope is that enough of us in the U.S. will wake up in time to change our national direction. ¡Ojala! Maybe then we’ll allow more refugees in, grateful that they are willing to do the hard, sweaty work that no one else wants to do. 

For me, that time can’t come soon enough.

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That book is just as relevant today — and, best of all, it’s a fun read. Borrowing from Keenan’s theme, here are some words and phrases that not only will help you sound convincing in Spanish but that are easy to learn and will build your confidence.

Starter phrases that give you time to think

When beginning to speak in Spanish, it’s helpful to take a moment to collect your thoughts. These “starter” words and idioms offer that opportunity.

Pues: This is the English word “well” when it is used to express hesitation or uncertainty. Mexicans often use “pues” as an opening response to stall for time when they’re not sure what to say. 

So, for example, “Pues, no estoy seguro” means “Well, I’m not sure.”

Entonces: Similar to “pues,” this connecting word is used the way in English we use “so” or “then.” 

For example, “Entonces, ¿qué vamos a hacer?” is “So, what are we going to do?”

A ver: “Let’s see.” 

So, for example, “A ver, voy a ver si puedo cambiar mi horario” means “Let’s see, I’m going to see if I can change my schedule.”

Es que or Lo que pasa es que: “The thing is…”  

So, for example, if someone asks you “¿Por qué no quieres ir a la playa?” (“Why don’t you want to go to the beach?”) you can answer, “Es que tengo que trabajar” or ”Lo que pasa es que tengo que trabajar.” These both mean “The thing is, I have to work.” 

Fíjate or fíjate que: “Look” or “Pay attention” A word for emphasis that means “to look” or “to pay attention to.”

My neighbor starts just about every sentence with this! “Fíjate que no puedo comer cacahuates porque soy alérgico,” which means, “Look, I can’t eat peanuts because I’m allergic to them.” Or, “Fíjate, no puedo ir a la fiesta porque voy a estar ocupada” means “Look, I can’t go to the party because I’m busy.”

¿Qué onda? and ¿Qué tal?:  “What’s up?” or “How’s it going?”

As in English, note that these two phrases are fine for everyday interactions, but they’re pretty casual, so you might not want to use them in formal situations.

Mira and Oye: “Hey, look,” and “Hey, listen.”

These two are meant to get someone’s attention. So, for example: “Oye, la pelicula empieza a las 7:20, no a las 7:45” means “Hey, listen, the movie starts at 7:20, not 7:45.”

Filler words: Not just for native speakers!

Este: This is Mexico’s “um.” Not that I recommend using a crutch word, but if you’re going to use one, better the Spanish version! 

So, for example, “Este…no sé qué pasó con tu cartera” means “Um…I’m not sure what happened to your wallet.”

Es decir: “That is” or “that is to say.” 

For example, “Voy a ir a la fiesta, es decir, al menos que mi hermana tenga otra crisis” means “I’m going to the party — that is, unless my sister has another crisis.”

O sea: “In other words.” Just like in English, it rephrases or clarifies a point. 

So, for example, “No puedo ir al concierto, o sea, tengo que vender mi boleto” means “I can’t go to the concert; in other words, I have to sell my ticket.”

Como: “Like.” Used similarly to English. 

So, for example, “Es como una fusión de japonés y mexicana” means “It’s like a fusion of Japanese and Mexican.”

Bueno: “Good” or “O.K.” This word is sometimes used to softly direct a change in the conversation or to start a new thought. 

For example, “Bueno, hablando de eso” means “O.K., speaking of that…” 

“Bueno” is also used when answering the phone, which surprises English speakers, who assume the response would be “hola.”

Phrases to respond to what someone is saying

Órale: “O.K.,” “right, “sure,” or “Let’s go!” It’s a word that can express agreement or excitement. I’ll never forget our Mexican architect talking on the phone. Every response he offered was “orale.” For example, “¡Órale, vamos a la playa!” means “Sure, let’s go to the beach!”

Así es: “Yes, that’s right.” A phrase used to acknowledge that something is true. “La biblioteca está en el centro?” “Así es.”

The meaning of “así es” can depend on the context. In some cases, it might mean instead, “That’s the way it is,” or, philosophically, “Así es la vida” — “that’s life.”

¿En serio?: “Really?” or “Seriously?” A simple phrase expressing surprise or asking for confirmation about something someone just said.

No te preocupes: “Don’t worry about it.” 

Phrases to express surprise, delight and more

¡Hijole!: “Wow!” Or “Oh no!” 

The aforementioned “orale” can also be used this way to express impressed surprise.

¡No me digas!: A direct translation of “You don’t say!” that expresses surprise and disbelief at unexpected news. 

¡Qué padre! or Qué chido!: “Awesome!” or “Cool!” Be aware, though, “chido” is more of a younger generational term. Think millennials and Gen Z.

Ni modo: “Oh well” or “Whatever.” A way of expressing acceptance or resignation. For example, if you miss the bus, you might say, “Ni modo, ya se fue” (“Oh well, it already left.”) 

Ándale: “Come on!” or “Hurry up!” depending on context. It can also be used to encourage someone to keep going, like if you’re watching competitive cyclists and want to say something supportive to cheer them on.

Saying goodbye 

Nos vemos: “See you around.” As in English, you can use this if there’s an expectation that you’ll see the person again.     

Qué te vaya bien: Literally, “I hope things go well for you,” but frequently used as a positive way of leave-taking. “Qué le vaya bien” is the usted version.

Cuidate or Cuidese: A command to take care of yourself, but it is a warm way to say goodbye. The first form is used for people with whom you would use “tu.” The second form is the “usted” conjugation.

¡Suerte!: This is the word “luck,” but it means “good luck.”

A few other miscellaneous terms

¿Mande?: “Excuse me?” Or “Perdón?” This is a polite way of asking someone to repeat themselves. Saying “¿Qué?” (What?) for this purpose can be considered abrupt and slightly rude by some Mexicans. 

No hay de qué and con gusto: These both mean “you’re welcome” and are alternatives to the more familiar “de nada.” Mexicans will also sometimes shorten “no hay de que” to just “de que.” The first has the feel of “Oh, it was nothing,” and the second is more like “My pleasure.”  

Aguas!: “Careful!” or “Watch out!”  

So, as you can see, many of these examples are simple one or two-word phrases, easily interjected here and there in any conversation. Getting into the habit of using some when you’re chatting will not only build your confidence but also help you relax and have fun, which is the whole point of living in Mexico for most of us, ¿órale?

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Long before I knew about home exchanges, I used to like staying in a friend’s home, with or without them. When I was with them, they were good company; alone, I felt a sneaky kind of freedom, as if I had been given permission to be an intruder.

If you like hosting friends, you may be a candidate for home exchanges. My husband Barry and I joined homeexchange.com about 15 years ago and have since enjoyed house swaps in the Czech Republic, France, Ireland, Germany, Colombia and Ecuador, as well as in San Francisco, Portland, New Orleans and Breckenridge, Colorado. 

We would have exchanged homes in Mexico too, but so far, most people we’ve approached want to swap for only two or three days, and we prefer a week or more.

Home exchanges are only one way to stay for free when you’re traveling; another popular option is housesitting, and in this article, I’ll discuss both.

Home exchanges

For about US $230 a year — the average membership fee for most home exchange organizations — you can take advantage of three types of swaps: simultaneous, nonsimultaneous and point exchanges. The point system means you can accumulate points to use for a future home exchange.

Home exchanges require preparation. You need to decide how to handle such issues as: 

Guest information: We have a detailed guestbook providing information about Wi-Fi, contact and emergency numbers, utilities, how to use our solar-heated shower, garbage, neighbors, the cleaning schedule and nearby food stores, restaurants and transportation.

Home maintenance: Who will make sure the house is ready for guests? Our Mexican cleaner puts out fresh towels and leaves a welcoming bottle of wine on the kitchen table.

Use of amenities: Will you allow guests to use your car, bicycles etc.?

Private storage area: If you have personal belongings, valuables or foodstuffs in the house, you’ll need to put them away in a secure storage area. We feel annoyed when we stay in homes where the owners leave us no space to put our stuff.

We’ve found being proactive pays off. For example, since Barry’s British family has a reunion in England every two years, we reach out to home exchangers somewhere relatively close to enjoy a mini-vacation in a new area.

We love the personal connection woven into many home exchanges. In Brittany, for example, we had gotten off the train from Paris and were on our bikes when it started to rain. Our hosts drove 30 miles and picked us up! Meanwhile, in Prague, we enjoyed not only the couple whose home we rented but also their neighbors. A year later, the neighbors visited us in Guanajuato.

Be sure to carefully vet not just the home but the neighborhood where you exchange before committing. We were excited when a couple from Colombia invited us to stay at their home in Medellín. We knew they lived in the suburbs but didn’t realize how gated, bland and empty their neighborhood was. The only upside was that we’d hire an Uber driver daily, and our rides became a highlight of the day. The drivers were eager to share their stories and tell us how much had improved since Medellín’s infamous drug cartel era. 

Housesitting

Everyone we know in Mexico who housesits does so through the home and petsitting organizations House Sit Mexico or Trusted Housesitters. With these platforms, just as with home exchanges, you pay an annual fee: US $79 for House Sit Mexico and starting at $129 for Trusted Housesitters. 

One Guanajuato couple we know has housesat so many times in Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, that they have become friends with several owners and now housesit informally, rather than pay a membership fee. They also housesit regularly in San Miguel de Allende and Vancouver, British Columbia, where they lived before moving to Mexico. Another woman we know — currently housesitting in Costa Rica — lives in Tepotzlán, Morelos, and usually stays at homes in different parts of Mexico.

Everyone agrees it’s important to ask the owners a lot of questions before making the decision to housesit. Find out how much time is required to take care of any animals the house may have, so you know how much freedom you’ll have to come and go during the day.  If you don’t want to drive the owners’ car, ask if the neighborhood is walkable and near public transportation, or be willing to take taxis.

It’s crucial to ask about the weather. “Our hardest housesit was at a home on the Nayarit coast in June,” says Rachel, a Canadian. “The home was near the jungle with no air conditioning. Lots of mosquitoes, and the humidity was grueling! It was a long three weeks!”

Rachel also points out that housesitting as a couple is easier because if there’s a problem, one can get help while the other stays with the animals. 

So take your pick. Whether you choose home exchange, housesitting or both, each is not only a bargain, but you get to know a new area and will probably make new friends along the way.

Louisa Rogers and her husband Barry Evans divide their lives between Guanajuato and Eureka, on California’s North Coast. Louisa writes articles and essays about expat life, Mexico, travel, physical and psychological health, retirement and spirituality. Her recent articles are available on her website, authory.com/LouisaRogers

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We belong to a home-exchange organization, and an American who owns a condo in Cuenca had stayed at our Guanajuato city home a year ago while we were in California. Now, it was our turn to stay in his home.

I’m always curious about other international cities in which U.S. citizens retire. What would it be like had we chosen this town or that one instead of Guanajuato? Cuenca — along with Cusco, Peru and Medellín, Colombia, to name a couple of other South American cities — is a frequent retiree choice. In fact, Cuenca is so popular with expats that I thought it might be Ecuador’s answer to Mexico’s popular San Miguel de Allende.

Barry and I are so smitten with Guanajuato, though, that it’s hard to find other cities that come close. We love the friendly, warmhearted Mexican people.  We love color, and Guanajuato is the most vibrant city we’ve ever seen, with houses of every color imaginable — turquoise, magenta, orange and on and on.

The city’s pedestrianized areas, with much of the traffic underground, are ideal for us. Plus, the winding streets force the aboveground traffic to go slowly.

We can hike right from our front door, but when we want to range further afield, we love the fact that we can take a plush bus to other nearby beautiful cities like Querétaro, San Luis Potosí and Aguascalientes within half a day. Similarly, we can fly to Puerto Vallarta or Cancun, where we can visit Maya ruins dotted around the Yucatán Peninsula, in an hour.

Sixth, León’s international airport can fly us direct to Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Chicago, Los Angeles and  Tijuana, among other cities. It’s hard to top that! 

Our first hint that Cuenca might not be like San Miguel de Allende was just getting there. We flew from Mexico City overnight to Quito, Ecuador’s capital, where we stayed for a few days, and then flew directly to Cuenca. Quito is a long way from the United States or Canada, and Cuenca is even more remote.

Unfortunately, Cuenca didn’t meet our expectations, although we enjoyed a couple of its assets: a river with tree-lined paths on both sides, and the city’s hot springs, one of my favorites in the world, with pools of different temperatures and a eucalyptus-flavored steam room. 

Still, Cuenca, with a population of over 600,000, is much larger and busier than we realized. Drivers honked a lot, while buses seemed to careen down the city’s narrow streets, their fenders veering into the sidewalks, making even me — famous for my casual attitude towards oncoming traffic — shudder with anxiety.

Nor is Cuenca’s chronic rain like Mexico’s “monsoon” season, where a huge violent thunderstorm will last for a couple of hours and then clear the air. Cuenca’s spring weather is more like the U.S. Pacific Northwest: persistently damp and chilly.  

Ecuador is one of four Latin American countries that Barry and I have visited in the last ten years. The others were Panama, Colombia and Peru. 

Panama 

A small and easily navigable country, Panama has many hillside towns which, though charming, are too small or too far from an international airport to work for me. Boquete, for example, a popular coffee town in the north of the country, is seven hours from Panama City.  Also, as lovers of ruins, we were disappointed that the only archaeological sites we saw were right in Panama City.

Finally, Panama is heavily influenced by U.S. culture due to the construction of the Panama Canal; we want to live in a culture that feels significantly different from the United States.

Colombia

Colombia is our favorite of the four Latin American countries we’ve visited, and Medellín is the city we’d probably have picked if we’d moved. It’s a fascinating city with a once-traumatic history and creative, award-winning transit solutions to isolated, marginalized communities high in the hills around the city. We liked Medellín, but had to take taxis and Ubers everywhere, whereas we much prefer to walk as we can in Guanajuato. 

We were charmed by the Pueblos Patrimonios (Heritage Towns), Colombia’s equivalent to Mexico’s Pueblos Mágicos, especially the nearby coffee towns of Jardín and Jerico, part of the state of Antioquia. But with a population of 2.4 million, Medellín is way too big and sprawling for us.

Perú

Our trip for my nephew’s wedding was not our first time in Peru. In 1985, Lima was a much smaller city, but today, its exhausting traffic makes that of Mexico City look like a small town.

Because we hiked the four-day Inca trail to Machu Picchu in the 1980s, we decided to forego Cusco and the nearby Sacred Valley region this time around. As my nephew’s father-in-law said to me, “Don’t worry about going to Machu Picchu if you’ve already been. The only thing that has changed there since 1985 is the number of tourists.” Indeed, my sisters said the crowds were overwhelming. 

If we’d moved to Peru, we might have picked Cusco to live, but my sisters told us that the traffic there is also horrendous. Plus, there’s the issue of flights to Lima. Several flights my family members had booked were delayed or cancelled outright, making connections very tenuous.

For Barry and me, the other Latin American countries we’ve seen, interesting as they are, simply don’t meet our criteria.  Still, I recommend that any foreign resident living in Mexico and interested in Latin America visit; it’s a much faster hop from Mexico City to any of these South and Central American capitals than from the U.S.

As Mexico News Daily readers know, Mexico has it all. Kind-hearted people, culture, archaeology, access — you name it. I’m forever grateful we found a home for ourselves in this magical country.

Louisa Rogers and her husband Barry Evans divide their lives between Guanajuato and Eureka, on California’s North Coast. Louisa writes articles and essays about expat life, Mexico, travel, physical and psychological health, retirement and spirituality. Her recent articles are available on her website, authory.com/LouisaRogers

The post I’ve seen Latin America, but Mexico’s still my favorite country for retirement appeared first on Mexico News Daily

Each morning, I lie in bed for a few moments, looking out at the Guanajuato night. Then I slip silently out of bed, careful not to wake my beloved. The early morning, my solo sanctuary, is my favorite time of the day, and not to be disturbed by anyone other than birds.

Downstairs, I turn on the coffee, then settle into my comfy armchair in our sala to read inspiring literature, listen to Spanish podcasts and write in my journal.

This time of day was known as matins or vigil in ancient Christianity. The Tzeltal, an Indigenous people who live in the Chiapas highlands, view the predawn darkness as a holy time, when the veil between the human and supernatural worlds thins. I feel I’m in a private, intimate world all my own. I sometimes remember my sister saying that when she nursed her firstborn at this gentle time, she felt like a doe with her fawn.

When people ask me why I get up so early, I explain that it’s not my choice so much as my innate biorhythm. A person’s sleep schedule preference is closely tied to their circadian rhythms, the natural physical process that follows a similar cycle every 24 hours. I used to worry that I wasn’t getting enough quality REM rest, but my sleep pattern doesn’t affect my energy level during the day, especially because Barry and I have a lie-down on our sofa almost every afternoon.

Barry and I divide our lives between the city of Guanajuato and Eureka, California, and I wake at the same time in both places. But in California — which is part of an early-rising culture — I wake Barry around 4:15 a.m., whereas in Guanajuato, at 6:30 a.m. because the cafe he likes doesn’t open til 7:30 a.m. 

In both towns, we take a stroll around the neighborhood, then I drop him off at the cafe, where he’ll stay for an hour, while I return home.

When we’re traveling, we sleep in, but not much by other people’s standards. Last March, for example, Barry and I stayed at a small hotel in Tepotzlán, near Mexico City. We loved the hotel — other than the breakfast time.

The meal wasn’t served til 8:30 a.m. Clearly a challenge! To fill the waiting time, we went on an early morning walk every morning. Not a bad choice — it was calm and cool at that hour — though I’d have liked the option to have good coffee first. My solution was to carry a portable hot water immerser, a plastic mug and instant coffee — a shabby substitute for the real thing, but así es. 

After returning from our walk, we’d have liked nothing better than to enjoy a dip in the pool, but no such luck, as the staff didn’t remove the pool cover til 10 a.m., and there was no way to sneak under it. Believe me, I considered it.

It turns out, not only do individuals have biorhythms, but so do cultures. According to the World Population Review, countries like Switzerland, Australia and Germany are examples of early-morning cultures, while Mediterranean, southern European and Latin American countries tend to have night owl patterns. 

A nation’s location influences its culture, with countries closer to the equator (like some in Latin America) having more natural light throughout the day and a tendency to be more active at night. There are exceptions, though. 

One is Colombia, the world’s earliest-rising country, where households often start their day around 4 a.m., although, according to El País, that doesn’t make them more productive. The second earliest-rising country is Indonesia (6:55 a.m.), while Mexicans, along with the Japanese, rise at 7:09 a.m. Americans get up at 7:25 a.m.

Weather contributes too. In the ’80s, when Barry and I lived in the Pacific Northwest, I steeled myself to get up early to write before I went to work, dreading it because it was so cold. To save money, we didn’t turn the heat on til; later in the day. 

As for shopping, in Guanajuato, the only stores that open at 8 a.m. are La Comer supermarket, Waldo’s (Mexico’s Dollar Store), and another supermarket, Bodega Aurora, which I avoid, as it’s owned by Walmart. But I love my walk to La Comer. 

It takes me about 15 minutes through one of the city’s tunnels to reach the supermarket, which is calm and uncrowded at that hour. I wish more Mexican stores would open that early. ¡Ojalá! Many of the stalls in the Hidalgo Mercado aren’t even open at noon. And the department store La Marina doesn’t open til 11 a.m. The nerve!

I also wish the weekly Guanajuato symphony would start earlier. It used to begin at 8:30 p.m., past my bedtime, but at least it now starts half an hour earlier.

Still, I feel fortunate to be a natural early riser, perky even at 3 a.m. Some studies show that people who wake earlier are less likely to develop depression, anxiety and other mood disorders, probably because early risers have more access to daylight, a natural mood booster. 

Biorhythmically challenged as I am in Mexico, my unending fascination with its ancient culture, coupled with the country’s many beauties and friendly people, more than make up for later opening hours. Whatever time shops open, it is an honor and a privilege to live here.

Louisa Rogers and her husband Barry Evans divide their lives between Guanajuato and Eureka, on California’s North Coast. Louisa writes articles and essays about expat life, Mexico, travel, physical and psychological health, retirement and spirituality. Her recent articles are on her website, https://authory.com/LouisaRogers

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Several obstacles lie in the way, the main one being age. Barry’s 82, I’m 73, and as my mother-in-law used to say, “You’re not getting any younger.” 

What is a Pueblo Mágico?

The Pueblos Mágicos program, launched in 2001, promotes tourism in towns that offer natural beauty, cultural richness, history, archaeology, cuisine and the arts. Mexico’s federal Ministry of Tourism (Sectur) — in charge of permitting a town to don the moniker — is raising the bar this year for obtaining and maintaining Pueblo Mágico status, with upgraded standards set to take effect this year.

I’m happy to hear this, because we were disappointed by a couple of the towns, unclear why they deserved the designation.

We live in the city of Guanajuato, which is surrounded by the states of Querétaro, Jalisco, San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas, and Michoacán, so we’ve been to many pueblos mágicos in these states. Every January for years, before my father died, we’d visit him in the U.S. and fly back to a different city in Mexico.

In this way we were able to easily explore other more distant pueblos mágicos, like the coffee towns of Coatepec and Xico in the state of Veracruz. Here are a few of our favorites:

Valle de Bravo 

Valle de Bravo is a town built around an artificial lake, about 2 1/2 hours by bus from Mexico City, with a generous plaza and red terracotta-roofed whitewashed houses. It has a café ingeniously located right in the middle of a traffic circle, every window showing a different view — of virtually no traffic.

On the weekend, Valle gets busy with wealthy escapees from Mexico City who have second homes there, but during the week it’s tranquil.

The town offers plenty to do, from walking around the lake and kayaking to visiting the monarch butterflies and climbing the nontechnical Nevada de Toluca and hiking around its volcanic lake.

Nearby are also two spiritual centers of different types: About 45 minutes from town is a Tibetan Buddhist temple, said to be the tallest in the Western Hemisphere. We arrived in the middle of seemingly nowhere to find a huge white stupa with brightly-colored Tibetan prayer flags, an intricate awning, and a golden Buddha. Another spiritual structure on the edge of Valle is Marantha, a 1970s Carmelite sanctuary, with three chapels and stained glass windows. Its serene grounds include landscaped gardens, fountains, benches, and religious sculptures. 

Jalpan

The town is the gateway to the Sierra Gorda, a mountainous area a few hours from the city of Querétaro. Picturesque Jalpan is built around a plaza and home to one of the five Franciscan missions built in the 17th century. The intricate and detailed mission is well worth a visit, but there’s much more to do around Jalpan, like visiting the other missions and the nearby Tancama ruins, which are among the most important pre-Hispanic settlements in the Sierra Gorda. Occupied between 200 and 900 C.E., the ruins are situated in a beautiful setting at the base of the Cerro Grande mountain. 

Puente de Dios, the “Bridge of God,” is a beautiful two-mile walk along a riverbank, crossing the river several times on small wooden bridges. It leads to a limestone grotto and three waterfalls that flow down from the roof of a cave. The current from the three waterfalls is so powerful that thick floating ropes have been installed to help anchor swimmers. 

Cuetzalan

A sleepy remote village about two and a half hours from Puebla, Cuetzalan is famous for its weekly market and the Nahua people, who still wear native dress. On weekends, voladores climb a 100-foot pole in the central plaza, tie themselves with ropes, and spiral down, twirling around the pole. One remains on the top of the pole, unanchored, dancing and playing a flute and drum, before he also spirals gracefully down. The spiraling is a ritual ceremony that began in pre-Hispanic times and has since been incorporated into Mexican Catholicism. 

Near the village are waterfalls, natural pools, caves, woods, opportunities for ziplining, and a ruin. An American missionary couple we met told us we were the first foreign tourists they’d seen in two years. Indeed, I felt very far away from the modern world there.

San Sebastián del Oeste

A 17th-century mining town, the village is perched high in the Sierra Madre mountains at 1,400m (4,600 ft), about 45 minutes from Puerto Vallarta. With its old colonial church, restored haciendas, and cobblestone streets, San Sebastián is often cited as a prime example of well-preserved colonial architecture in Latin America. 

When Barry and I joined the local vaqueros in their cowboy hats sitting on the porch of the old historic hotel, I felt like I was in another century. We drank raicilla, the spirit cultivated locally from the agave plant, as we watched the festivities at the Saturday market below.

One of the reasons I like all these pueblos mágicos so much is that we saw almost no other tourists — Mexican or foreign. This is probably because we visited the towns midweek and because they’re either unknown, especially to foreigners, or not easily accessible. 

Now that I’ve described them, I have a strong urge to return. But didn’t I just say our goal was to visit every pueblo mágico? We should be going to new ones, not revisiting ones I’ve seen. So many pueblos mágicos, so little time! This is what I call a delicious dilemma.

Louisa Rogers and her husband Barry Evans divide their lives between Guanajuato and Eureka, on California’s North Coast. Louisa writes articles and essays about expat life, Mexico, travel, physical and psychological health, retirement and spirituality. Her recent articles are on her website, https://authory.com/LouisaRogers

The post Countdown: Our goal to visit every Pueblo Mágico appeared first on Mexico News Daily

Take crime, for instance. Given the cartel violence in Mexico, I would have expected Mexico to be far more dangerous than the U.S. And in certain areas, it is, but not everywhere. Miami is more dangerous than Mexico City. According to the website Howsafeismexico.com, Mexico City’s homicide rate is 9 per 100,000, while Miami’s is 15 per 100,000.

I’m not alone in believing some of the stereotypes. According to 2024 data from the Pew Research Center, 60% of Americans have an unfavorable view of Mexico. If you’ve made the same mistakes I did, here are six facts about Mexico that may surprise you.

1. Guns

Mexico has only two gun stores in the entire country, both on military bases, issuing fewer than 50 gun permits a year. Unfortunately, there are still plenty of arms in the country, because every year, more than 200,000 guns are smuggled into Mexico from the U.S., many of them ending up used by drug cartels. 

Ironically, the flow of weapons southbound is empowering the same organizations that smuggle drugs north across the U.S. border.

2. Mexican higher education 

Some universities in Mexico are world-class. In 2024, the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) ranked 93rd of 1,300 universities in the world, according to the journal Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). In Latin America, it ranked second that year only to the University of São Paulo in Brazil, which ranked 85th. 

Meanwhile, for the last eight years, the Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico’s MIT, has been ranked in the top 200 out of 1,673 prestigious universities in the world.

While public university students in Mexico have to pay for add-ons like housing, food, textbooks, and their actual diplomas, tuition itself is free; in fact, the Mexican constitution forbids public universities from charging tuition. Wouldn’t debt-ridden graduates in the U.S. dream of that?

Not only that, but the Mexican government is very generous with becas, or scholarships. Several of our Spanish teachers spent a couple of semesters studying in Europe or the U.S., fully paid for by the Mexican government.

3. Mexico’s economy

The 10th largest country in the world, Mexico has an economy ranked in the top 15 globally, according to the World Bank, which classifies Mexico as an “upper middle income economy,” along with such countries as Turkey, Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Colombia. 

Unfortunately, while Mexico has a large and relatively diverse economy, it also has growing income inequality.

4. Attitudes towards gay and reproductive rights 

Mexico supported gay rights long before the U.S., decriminalizing sodomy in 1871, 124 years before the U.S. in 2003. Mexico City was the first Latin American city to legalize same-sex marriage in 2010, and same-sex marriage is now legal in all 32 states of Mexico.

As for abortion, in 2021, Mexico’s Supreme Court decriminalized abortion nationwide, that is, no one can be imprisoned for having an abortion. Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling, however, abortion is still considered a criminal offense in 18 states where state legislatures have been slow to decriminalize it.

5. Average age and gender of top government leaders 

Age was clearly an issue in the last U.S. presidential election. If Americans prefer younger candidates, they should move to Mexico! At 62, Mexico’s President, Claudia Sheinbaum, is 16 years younger than President Donald Trump, who is 78.

The same holds true in the Mexican legislature. The average age in Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies is 48 years old (six years younger than their counterparts in the U.S. House of Representatives). Meanwhile, the average age of Mexican senators is 54 — a full 10 years younger than the average age of U.S. senators, which is 64.3. 

As for gender, more than 50 percent of the seats in the Mexican Congress are held by women, one of only six countries in the world holding that status. This places Mexico among the world’s leaders in gender equality in politics. In the U.S., only 28%, or 155 women, serve in the House and Senate.

6. Immigration 

While I wasn’t surprised that the largest immigration group in Mexico is U.S. citizens, I didn’t expect the second largest to be Guatemalans. Other large immigrant groups include people from the Spanish-speaking world — Venezuela, Colombia, Honduras, Cuba, Spain, El Salvador and Argentina. 

Over 2.5 million people of African descent, who came to Mexico as slaves, live primarily in the coastal areas of Veracruz, Oaxaca, and Guerrero. Another million people of Chinese descent live mainly in Mexicali and Mexico City, while about 9,000 Koreans live in Mexico City. 

Mexico has one of the largest Lebanese diasporas in the Americas, somewhere between 400,000 and 700,000 people, living primarily in Mexico City, Monterrey and Guadalajara. They began arriving in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, seeking economic opportunities and fleeing religious persecution. Well-known Mexicans of Lebanese descent include business magnate Carlos Slim and actress Salma Hayek.

As these facts attest, Mexico not only is endowed with rich traditions, cuisine, art and music but also is a forward-thinking, diverse, increasingly egalitarian and progressive nation.

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Here are some of the things I miss about Mexico when I’m in Eureka:

The ease of speaking Spanish

Of course, I can speak Spanish in California, where 40% of the state’s residents define themselves as Latino. Plus, in Eureka, we live minutes away from a Mexican restaurant whose waiters are mostly native Spanish speakers. But speaking Spanish is just not as automatic for me in the English-language culture of Eureka. I rarely think about it, unlike in Mexico, where Spanish is almost as natural to me as English because it’s so easy. 

In Guanajuato, I walk down our street and start talking to a neighbor or chat with the guy who runs the mini-grocery three minutes from our home.

The friendliness of strangers 

The warmheartedness of the Mexican people inspires me. Friendliness is contagious; when I’m in Guanajuato, I become friendlier, too. 

In California, I try to remember to greet people I pass, but it’s more of an effort. I’m afraid I revert to my American persona — focused and goal-oriented, with things to get done. Or so I tell myself!

An abundance of pedestrian areas

Guanajuato is very walking-friendly, but it isn’t alone in that way. Many Mexican towns we’ve visited have extensive pedestrian areas, especially in their historic centers and tourist areas. They offer plazas, benches, landscaping, arches, arcades, narrow walkways, interesting architecture and public art.

Because the streets are so inviting, they’re full of people, which fosters a sense of community and is another reason why Mexicans are so friendly. The U.S. is far more car-centric than Mexico, where folks are likely to walk or use public transportation.  

Eureka’s winters are damp and chilly, but in the summer, the city hosts a popular car-free Friday night market with vendors, music, food, open shops and hordes of people. It’s what Guanajuato looks like every day of the year! 

An ineffable sense of spirit

Mexico maintains a separation between church and state like the U.S. does, but the gulf between the secular and the spiritual does not seem as wide.

Whereas in the U.S., faith tends to be practiced privately, Mexicans often express their spirituality in a very open, public and unembarrassed way. Their exuberance used to seem weird to me. But I’ve come to appreciate the way people unabashedly chant, sing, kneel, crawl or cross themselves when they pass a church and stroll around town with ashes on their foreheads on Ash Wednesday. 

One afternoon many years ago, Barry and I were sitting in a church on a hill in the city of Zacatecas. As we sat quietly, a mother and daughter in front of us spontaneously broke into song. I was transfixed, and a shiver ran through me. I can’t imagine crawling on my knees across a church floor, but I’m deeply moved in the presence of faith, even when it is not my own.

Accessible hiking with incredible views

Guanajuato is one of the few cities I’ve been to where you can leave the center on foot and be hiking within 20 minutes. The fact that you don’t need to get in a car, take a bus, or even ride a bicycle to reach a trail is one of the city’s greatest gifts. On top of that, you don’t even have to walk very far before you’re rewarded with spectacular views of the city’s colorful striated layers of houses and the surrounding hills.

Once or twice a week, Barry and I take advantage of this opportunity. 

Mexican ruins

After years of living with a man who loves the magic and mystery of ancient archeological sites, I’ve gradually become a fan of ruins, too. I’m not a collector of facts; I read the history and data displayed, but I don’t retain the information. But I love ruins, and Mexican ones in particular. 

The ancient sites here in the land of the Maya, the Aztec and the Olmec offer a unique kind of enchantment because they harmonize so beautifully with the surrounding landscape. Although they were built by humans, they feel as natural to me as trees and flowers.

A few years ago, Barry and I visited Las Ranas, a small archeological site in the state of Querétaro. I wandered around, mulling on what stories lay embedded between the layered stones, while a dreamlike sense of timelessness came over me. I felt a sense of place 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 never tire of it. Wherever I am, Mexico is always in my heart.

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