Job Discussion Forums

Samantha · Joined: 25 Oct 2003 Posts: 2038 Location: Mexican Riviera

Dixie wrote:

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

Is anyone posting/lurking here from Guanajuato? I'm thinking that at the very least (being diplomatic), some places in Mexico are more likely to be how the author describes. For example, San Miguel de Allende has a huge number of American expats, so would inevitably present a different experience than, say, Puebla.

Remember JohnnyT's experiences living in Aguascalientes? They all sounded alien to us here, but I've met JohnnyT and don't believe he's making any of it up.

MELEE · Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 4:54 pm Post subject:

It's not just the places Guy. Different people have different experiences in the same place. My friend MixtecaMike HATED with a passion living in the same town I've been happily living in for ten years. He thought the locals were rude and in turn people treated him like he expected to be treated, which was more towards the badly side than the nicely side.
I'm sure Doug Bower's life in Mexico has been as he's described it, like dixie said, true. But that doesn't make it universal.

Another ex-coworker of mine who also fancies himself a Mexico commentator lived in Guanajuato after living here. He liked Guanajuato a lot better than Huajuapan, but even with a job at the University of Guanajuato he wasn't able to make a living teaching there. Like Oaxaca City, it's charm attracts more English teachers than there is demand for.

TheLongWayHome · Joined: 07 Jun 2006 Posts: 1016 Location: San Luis Piojosi

Samantha · Joined: 25 Oct 2003 Posts: 2038 Location: Mexican Riviera

So what do you suppose he is trying to accomplish by writing a book like this? As far as I know, it's never been a secret that pay is low in Mexico. And I know of no English teachers who came here expecting a life of luxury after reading material designed to entice them.

He prattles on about how this "fantasy" is all caused by hype from people trying to sell things such as tapes, books, placements, etc. What exactly is he trying to do with his spin? He is trying to sell books. Of course he can't write about TESL from the opposite view because he knows so very little about it. Reading some of his e-zine articles gives a little more insight. Is he trying to be a hero and save people from TESL in Mexico? A lot of what he wrote here is fiction. I don't quite get it. This forum does a good job of that as it is! Laughing

http://www.eslteachersboard.com/cgi-bin/latin-america/index.pl?noframes;read=24

sarliz · Joined: 22 Feb 2006 Posts: 198 Location: Jalisco

Hee. The name of this bitter dude's other book is Mexican Living: Blogging it from a Third World Country. Sadly, the link provided just says that the item is not available. I'm putting it on my amazon wish list. Oh wait, I can't access it from my third world apartment. Damn.

cummings93 · Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 4:19 pm Post subject: wow.

I just read the first few pages online. Apart from it being inaccurate it was highly boring. Major Snoozathon. Lastly, concerning the book's content-I live in San Miguel which is ridiculously overpriced as it is and get paid well enough to feed myself and take bus trips out of town on weekends, like to Guanajuato. I am happy.