The Secret Life of San Miguel
The fantasy is false, at least for me.
There’s this idea that when you move somewhere new, you reinvent yourself.After almost a year living full time in San Miguel de Allende, I haven’t changed. But I have reinvented my life and the people in it. And I love it.No one here knows who I was or what I did in my former life and really, they don’t care. People rarely ask. It feels strange talking about the past because San Miguel is a place of presence. Plus no one’s trying to hustle you.Last week my dear friend here Klaudia came over for lunch. We talked about what makes death beautiful, especially in Mexico. She had just helped support two close friends through dying. Then we talked about how to contribute our superpowers to uplift San Miguel and have fun doing it.
That’s the side of Mexico I wish more people could experience.
Not just visiting San Miguel. Being invited into it.Another example: this month Jorge took me on an adventure to a winery where we sat in the barrel room of Cava Garambullo for a wine talk and tasting. The winemakers, a biologist and chemist couple, taught us about “noble rot” in wine making and blew my mind.
Afterwards we sat outside in the garden eating incredible bread, cured meats and local cheeses surrounded by passionate young Mexican intellectuals asking questions about science, farming, fermentation, and life. I thought: How amazing is my life?!? What I also love is not only being invited in, but being trusted enough to help these entrepreneurs survive and thrive. Recently the owner of an underground Asian pop up restaurant called me.(There’s a diverse culinary scene here!) Jorge and I had become regulars and started bringing small groups of friends. She added us to her secret WhatsApp group where she posts the menu each day. But May and June are slow season in San Miguel. The snowbirds leave. Many locals travel. Small businesses struggle.She asked if I could help her brainstorm ways to survive the summer. I learned that years ago she and her Japanese husband travelled the world and owned a catering company in the United States cooking international comfort food.
Later in the U.S. she became a caregiver for the elderly and began studying nutrition and cooking for people with specific medical conditions and health needs.So together we brainstormed ways to connect her with older expats here looking for health-specific personalized meals. I designed a flyer for her. The next day I visited a friend who, heartbreakingly, had just learned she and her wife were both diagnosed with serious illnesses and needed someone to cook specialized meals for them.The cook I met with lives around the corner from them. I shared the flyer and made the match.These are the moments that matter. I left feeling grateful. Not because I “networked.” But because I could help.
One of my favorite examples of life reimagined here is my friend Michael Solof.Back in the United States he studied culinary arts, curated a pop culture and comic museum, loved photography, the Beatles, and slight of hand magic.He moved to San Miguel six years ago in his mid 50s and slowly built a new life centered around creativity, photography, food, and community. Now he teaches people how to use their iPhones to take beautiful photos around San Miguel. But my favorite thing he created is the Adventure Hounds Culinary Gatherings.Because he wanted to meet people and try new restaurants, he started organizing weekly chef table dinners where strangers gather around long tables and leave as friends by the end of the night. That’s San Miguel.