June, 1974, León, Guanajuato, México
By Ricardo Merrill
“Where are you going in Mexico?” asked the immigration inspector as I crossed into Mexico at Nuevo Laredo.
“Back to León, Guanajuato,” I answered, and laughingly added, “where they say la vida no vale nada.” He looked at me, nostalgically –pausing a moment—and then said, “You know, that is the place where I wish I could live. That is the real Mexico— and the Mexico that means so much to all of us.” Then he stamped my passport and I continued toward the bus that was leaving for Monterrey and the South.
It is an interesting thing that León, Guanajuato represents that special place close to the heart reserved for Mexicans. Acapulco is beautiful, but it has become international. San Miguel de Allende is nice, but fast becoming a «home and gardens» center for expatriated Americans. México City is one of the great metropolises of the modern world. Taxco, Cuernavaca, Chihuahua, and Mazatlan are all beautiful tourist centers, but León is the place where the inner soul of the Mexican becomes nostalgic. Perhaps it is because life in León is deeply entrenched in history but struggling to meet the demands of the life of today. Maybe it is the “lucha” or struggle that is important to all of us as human beings. People must work for a living, and, in León, people seem to want to work and pride themselves in their work, and this is the quality which very much appeals to my own «Yankee» heart. There are no proverbial peons with big hats sleeping under a cactus in León, Guanajuato, These are the people who work for a living, who are concerned by the limitations of leather imports, who are aware of the rising price of shoes and manufactured goods, and who are more interested in how the world’s football teams are doing than in which Arab people are killing which Jewish people.
I do not mean to imply that there is no interest in international affairs in León. I simply mean that León is “the real deal.” León represents the daily struggle that all of us must go through in order to have those precious moments of rest and relaxation. If you just walk down Madero Street toward the main plaza on any day, you will see young men and women scurrying around, busy as bees as they go about their daily tasks. León has the overtones of a great city –over half a million people– but it is small enough so that one can be aware of what is going on all over the city.
In the days to come, I am going to share with those of you who speak English, my thoughts about León. I live downtown. I teach English to Mexicans at the Institute of international Memorable Learning Experience known as the IMLE language school downtown, right in the heart of the city. My name is Richard «Ricardo en el Corazón de León.” It may sound a little funny, but it is true. And so, until my next article, I hope that you will spend a morning in downtown León and see the wonderful, progressive spirit, which is manifesting itself in the people, deep in the heart of Mexico.
Ricardo Merrill was a teacher, writer and long-time expat living in León and San Miguel de Allende. Father of Patricia and Roberto Merrill, dearly remembered by La Biblioteca Publica, A.C. Community.
