Another day and more in San Miguel de Allende

Four years after first coming to SMA, I remain amazed at the place. Not a one night, a one week or even one month stand but an ongoing love affair that grows ever more intense.

After wearying months of taking care of business in the US, I returned to SMA, already dreading the time when I would leave and resume unpleasant duties for a few more months.

This time I arrived with a friend, a former colleague. with whom I have to traveled to more countries than with anyone else. She and I organized travel and culture classes for an education program at a college we both loved. We’ve disciplined an errant alcoholic student in Paris, explored Poland’s salt mines, floated down the Tonle Sap River in Cambodia, and now, bumped along on an old bus in central Mexico.

So much to show her. Too little time and energy.

I wanted her to have nearly every single experience I had here in the last four years. But I knew she wanted to explore on her own. After a couple of days orientation, seasoned traveler and adventurer that she is, she discovered new places and people I had not seen. Afternoons often closed with a happy hour drink but mostly, they closed with us sharing our life experiences, learning more about one another, our joys and fears, filling in gaps in our lives. Despite a generation between us, we shared many commonalities. Her nearly sliding off a too well oiled massage table in India only fueled more laugher of remembrances sobered by our recurring thoughts of staying at the Mumbai Four…