Book excerpt: SAN MIGUEL de ALLENDE: A PLACE IN THE HEART Expatriates Find Themselves in Mexico What if you could reinvent yourself at any age? You don%u2019t have to go back to school, and it doesn%u2019t require a religious conversion. Many people--hundreds of thousands--have used nothing more than geography and an open mind to bring it off. What do the terms Living Abroad, Living in Mexico, and Expatriate really mean? If you think it might be time to take a harder look, use this book to explore the possibilities of an exciting new life in Mexico. Live their experiences as 32 people confess why they left the United States and reveal how their new life is more fulfilling than they ever dreamed. The author gives you an intimate glimpse into the lives of people who have lived in San Miguel de Allende for as little as 18 days and as long as 50 years. They talk candidly about why they came, what obstacles they found in their path, how it changed their lives. What were the unexpected benefits? Does it work for everyone? What happens when it doesn%u2019t? How else would you meet these people? This book is like sitting down for a heart-to-heart conversation with people who made it happen. %u201CAn attentive and richly interesting series of interviews with North Americans who have made lives for themselves in another country, another town.%u201D -Tony Cohan, author of On Mexican Time and Mexican Days, other books and numerous articles. %u201CSan Miguel de Allende: A Place in the Heart is entertaining, enlightening, and informative. Like the legendary Studs Terkel, John Scherber lets his subjects speak for themselves and adds reflections where needed.%u201D -Wayne Greenhaw, winner of the 2006 Harper Lee Award, author of My Heart is in the Earth, and more than a dozen other books.