The Accidental Immigrant

Book Synopsis: The Accidental Immigrant is the story of a middle-aged American woman who travels south of the border to recuperate from multiple traumas, only to discover that her entire net worth is $181.00 dollars. Although she has traveled widely, she has never been to Mexico; although she is multilingual, she knows only two Spanish words. With no home to return to, she decides to stay-relying on her wits, the barter system, divine intervention, and the kindness of strangers. The product of a six-year private girls' school, she learned to bend the rules without incurring punishment; a fearless traveler during the Cold War pre-terrorism days, she aided people in the Eastern Bloc by temporarily changing her identity. Jobs dropped into her lap, either because she was athletic or because she was good with languages, especially her own. This mini-memoir chronicles the author's adventures in Mexico over the last twenty years, with glimpses into a past that define her character and personality. With degrees in news-editorial journalism, international relations, mass communication, and cross-cultural sociology, she is well-equipped to share her insights into Mexican life and culture. And because her second husband wanted to become a Mexican citizen, she helped him study for a test whose questions changed every four months, turning her into a treasure trove of trivia, until his sudden death drove her from San Miguel de Allende to heal in the sun, sand, and sea on the Pacific Coast. Inevitably, people will ask her where she is from, as well as when and why she moved to Mexico. Her stock reply: "It's a really long story. I'm a United States citizen but a Mexican in my heart. I arrived on a tourist visa early in 2002, with no plans to stay. Since I never actually moved here, I call myself 'The Accidental Immigrant.'"

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