A Lifetime to Get Here

San Miguel de Allende

By: Cynthia Claus

Narrated by: Cynthia Claus

A Lifetime to Get Here: San Miguel de Allende, the first in a series of two, was created from the author’s almost-daily blogs about visiting San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, for increasing amounts of time and in different seasons, spanning winter 2009 to the conclusion of 2012. The culmination of those years was the sale of her house in her fourth-generation hometown of Philadelphia and her permanent settlement in Mexico. It is a unique combination of travel memoir, how-to guide for the first-time visitor, the occasional lesson in Mexican history or culture, a Spanish grammar lesson or two, an answer to Stateside friends’ questions of “What do you do in Mexico?”, as well as honest, introspective reactions to what the older American author experiences as she navigates this unknown territory on her own.

©2020 Cynthia Claus (P)2021 Cynthia Claus

Both useful and entertaining

A personal story as well as an informal guide to navigating San Miguel De Allende and understanding some of its history. One doesn't have to travel to Mexico to enjoy the book, though if you do go to San Miguel it will enhance the experience.

The story would have been better without Claudias left slanted politics, interjected throughout

Claudia's book was really interesting listen. As I am a very big fan of San Miguel De Allende myself and I've traveled there often. I miss it and thought it would be fun to hear somebody's else's experiences.
Yes, it is an autobiography so she included her personal feelings, but they were too many blanket liberal leaning blanket statements and it read more like a teenage diary than necessary.
The low points were the whining about climate change & SMaa running out of water, a season of no rain, being blamed on climate change, whereas seasons of not enough rain or historically recorded and are often times, followed by seasons of way too much rain, etc. plus her adoration of Obama.
So much virtue signaling every few chapters was off putting & exhausting but it was punctuated by many fun anecdotes about life in Mexico.

Not what I expected

The author spends too much time talking down about former presidents and Republicans in general. I thought this was a book about fulfilling a dream to become an expat, and how to follow in her footsteps….but it’s not. There are other, much better expat stories out there, that leave the politics out.