http://www.isnare.com/?s=author&a=Douglas+Bower Travel Douglas Bower Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=340499&ca=Travel Though the Worldwide Economic Crisis seems to have the world in a tizzy of worry and despair, Gringos are still coming to Mexico. I remember last year at this time unprecedented numbers of Gringos were walking the streets of my adopted Mexican home of Guanajuato. The city of Guanajuato, that bears t... Travel Douglas Bower Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=340501&ca=Travel From my vantage point I could see everything. Sitting in a small sidewalk café with the very original name, El Café (The Café), I was working on my third cup of Nescafe while watching Mexicans walking by like someone was chasing them. Of the many Twilight Zone events I've had while living in Guanaju... Travel Douglas Bower Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=340502&ca=Travel Arriving at Guanajuato's Templo de la Compañía is always a strange experience. It's a church connected to the former Jesuit seminary, which is now the University of Guanajuato. It sits on one corner of an intersection diagonally across from the main Post Office and faces the Casa del Agua hotel. I s... Travel Douglas Bower Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=340503&ca=Travel In the middle of the night when the bombing (Day of the Dead fireworks) began and I was startled awake by my three-foot, straight-up jump out of bed, I suddenly remembered I had forgotten to write my annual article about this year's Guanajuato Tourist Season! In case you don't know, I have been writ... World Affairs Douglas Bower Thu, 22 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=340506&ca=World+Affairs I've come to believe in recent years that living in Mexico , and for a variety of reasons, is as close as you can get to living in The Twilight Zone. The reasons for this are not all Mexican, I have to say from the beginning. Some are, maybe even most, but it is most certainly like living in another... Travel Douglas Bower Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=268845&ca=Travel I thought I would write another article about a subject that's been near and dear to my heart since the wife and I moved to Central Mexico. We are here in the Colonial City of Guanajuato, where we've lived for more than five years and counting. It has been interesting to say the least. If you are on... Travel Douglas Bower Mon, 12 May 2008 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=251989&ca=Travel The very first thing you should consider once you've made your mind up as to where you are going to live overseas might surprise you. The many letters we receive from potential expats always begin with the theme of cost of living. While important, most who contact us in our adopted home of Guanajuat... Education Douglas Bower Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=248430&ca=Education If you've been following my articles on Second Language Acquisition, you know I've made a big deal about seeking to comprehend the language you've chosen to learn before trying to speak or produce in the language. I've used the imagery of a horse-drawn cart to illustrate the question of which comes... Self Help Douglas Bower Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=99186&ca=Self+Help The other day I typed in "Language Schools" into Google and came up with a whopping 95 million hits. After popping my eyes back into my head, I wondered just how many public schools, junior colleges, and universities are offering second language learning opportunities in the United States. That must... Education Douglas Bower Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0800 http://www.isnare.com/?aid=244912&ca=Education Introduction In the 1990's when I was contemplating learning Spanish, I was told repeatedly by well-meaning friends that if I really wanted to learn Spanish I would have to live in a country in which Spanish was the dominate spoken tongue. If you Google "Spanish Immersion," you will get 1,790,000 hi...