Surviving Mexico

July 28, 2021 · 8:37 am

The Bangura Institute

Today I’d like to introduce you to Roxana Bangura, founder of The Bangura Institute, an organization designed to assist English teachers in Mexico and the United States improve their teaching through linguistic training. Roxana also shares her life in Mexico with her daughter on The Bangura Chronicles. Here’s what she has to say:

Before I moved to Mexico, as providence would have it I was headed to The Gambia where my family is from, but the cousin that was assisting me there died quite suddenly and while we were in mourning I decided to not pursue the move there any longer. I always knew that my daughter needed to be multilingual and Spanish is a global language that is like the unofficial second language of the US so as I was in a Facebook group called Black Americans Living Abroad I came across a sister who sang the praises of Mexico and I was intrigued. As I researched more about Mexico I fell in love and decided to move here sight unseen. I have been in Veracruz these past 4 years

I’ve changed since moving to Mexico. I realized that I am an extreme person who can be quite stubborn and tenacious. Mexico has made me realize that. I moved here without ever visiting. I really knew only Spanglish having grown up in NY as a single mother who is Black. Mexico has shown me that I like my own company. I do not have to fit in. Mexico has also taught me to value myself in unfamiliar spaces and to stick to my ideals/principles while at the same time being aware and appreciative of those that do not share my upbringing history, culture, or mentality.

The idea for The Bangura Institute started as I was working in a school in 2018. I wanted children in the US to have the same opportunities as my child. I saw the need for exchange and professional development programs in my adopted pueblo of Orizaba.

My daughter is a huge part of the motivation for my business. Again being a single parent and not having the resources for an international linguistic education in our area of the US I wanted to be able to provide these same opportunities for other children and Linguistic Educators. I saw a lack of support and frankly respect of English language educators in my pueblo (town) so I developed programs that would raise the profile of their vocation.

I am building a network of Linguistic Educators across Mexico and select school districts in the US. I have partnerships with other institutions of learning and if you count my daughter explaining what I do to nosey vecinos (neighbors) then yes, my family helps too.

The Bangura Institute offers a Linguistic Educator Debate Series (LEDS) as a part of our Professional Development program for our network of Linguistic Educators.The mission of LEDS is to support and encourage Linguistic Educators to expound on a variety of topics to eventually become Subject Matter Experts.The debate series gives Linguistic Educators an opportunity to have discourse on subjects with their peers in a public forum.

As a LEDS participant being a part of an association of linguistic educators affords the following:

•A support network of your peers

•Access to linguistic courses to advance your debate skills

•Continuing education courses on the relevant topics in education

•Public Speaking engagements as a Subject Matter Expert

•Opportunities to debate your fellow linguistic educators across Mexico and the US
You can find out more about The Bangura Institute on Facebook and Instagram and connect with Roxana at any link found here.

Book Launch and Advertising Learning Curve

So this week the ebook version of A Woman’s Guide to Making a Living in Rural Mexico: How to Find A Job and Create the Life You Want will be delivered via international wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet for those that pre-ordered it. Meanwhile, the paperback version is already available. I’ve ordered my author copy and Amazon says it will be here next week. SQUEAL!

Meanwhile, the ARC reviews are starting to trickle in from those women who scored a pre-release copy. Here’s one from Goodreads:

So often women who live in rural Mexico are completely left out of all or not acknowledged to exist in any information you might find online or in facebook groups. This book remedies that! It was very practical and not at all “misty eyed”, but very realistic yet hopeful. It addresses the unique challenges foreigner women who live in rural Mexico face, like bad internet, and acknowledges that often they might be the main source of income for their Mexican family. Great book!

I even briefly held the coveted position of #1 New Release in Mexican Travel until being knocked down a few notches by more recently published books. There’s a lot of competition on Amazon!

Since this is the sixth book in the series A Woman’s Survival Guide to Living in Mexico, I thought I’d try a little advertising this month. Let me tell you, it’s a nerve wracking experience! I completed a course on Kindlepreneur about Amazon Ads and went ahead and made a project targeted ad for the month of July. That means that my book will appear as a recommendation when people are looking at other books that are chart-toppers in Mexican Travel.

I am currently doing an Amazon Ad challenge and so have added a second live ad for the book, this time targeting the category of Mexican Travel rather than individual books. I know, my book is meant for women living in Mexico, not just traveling through, but there isn’t a category for that. Sigh. Maybe someday.

I also thought I’d take a stab at Facebook Ads while I was feeling frisky (or risky). That was a complicated process. Facebook allowed me to target Female Expats Living in Mexico specifically, which means more of my target audience will see my ad in their feed. I know that not every woman living in Mexico needs my particular sort of book, but there’s a better chance that women who do will see it this way. If you’ve seen the ad, I’d love to hear about it!

Being pragmatic, I don’t expect to become rich and famous any time soon, even with a bit of paid advertising. There’s quite a learning curve to book marketing after all. So after I’ve worked a bit more on this aspect, I’m aiming to get back to writing the next book which I hope to have out by the end of the year. Maybe I’ll even do some Christmas ads–whoot! The sky’s the limit! At least today! We’ll see how I feel when it comes time to pay for the ads.

Inspiring Women Writers in Mexico–Kate Evans

Whether someone has changed because of moving to Mexico or whether the change occurs that inspires the move, there is no doubt that Mexico is pivotal in many women writers’ lives. Today I hope you enjoy a brief look into Kate Evans life and times.

I’m from California. I live a nomadic life, while spending several months a year at our house in Mexico. My husband Dave and I left jobs and home eight years ago to travel and live home-free. A year in, we bought the casita near Cerritos Beach in Baja California Sur…sight unseen. My sister lived next door and told us about the place being for sale. We intuited we’d love the area—and we were right.

Whenever we return to Baja and are driving down the bumpy dirt road to our place, a sense of peace sweeps over me. Mexico has taught me to relax with what the moment brings. I love Mexico’s rich culture, history, and beauty (both natural and human-made). We’ve driven up and down Baja several times, and I find the desert/sea combination unique and awe-inspiring. I’ve also very much enjoyed Oaxaca, Mexico City, and Tepoztlán. Mexico is a huge country that I want to explore more.

Two months into living nomadically, I had a seizure and discovered I had a brain tumor. As I write about in my memoir Call It Wonder: An Odyssey of Love, Sex, Spirit and Travel, this challenge set into motion a life transformation. It also reinforced how grateful I was to be living the life I love

I’ve faced other challenges, including another major surgery two years ago, falling in love with and marrying a woman midlife, then dealing with a brutal divorce after 15 years together, and losing my beloved parents to prolonged illnesses. These are not singular to me. We all face challenges, change, and loss. “Overcoming” means allowing life’s lessons to help my heart grow. And, truly, life is transformation.

The love and support of friends and family keeps me going. Also, reading has always helped me understand how others live this life, make it through tough times, and keep their creativity alive. I’m proud of how many lives I touched in all my years of teaching. I’m also proud that my memoir won the Bisexual Book Award. But honestly what I’m most proud of is that I’ve learned to make friends with myself.

We explore wherever we are. For instance, right now we’re spending six weeks on Kauai and have been snorkeling, hiking, biking, going to farmer’s markets, spending time with friends who are vacationing or live here—and tomorrow we’re taking a boat to the Na Pali coast. We also do the usual things, such as cook, clean, read (we’re book addicts), listen to music, do yoga, surf the internet, take walks, play cards and Yahtzee, zoom with or call friends. I play the ukulele, watch about an hour of YouTube videos in Spanish most every day, and listen to guided meditations. I also work as a writing coach and book editor, and of course I do my own writing.

Our discovery of housesitting has helped make our life slow travel possible because we live for free in wonderful places all over the world. I write about this on my blog here: Living the Journey: Housesitting All Over the World (beingandwriting.blogspot.com)

I retired early (at age 50) from teaching with a small pension but more importantly lifelong medical benefits. My husband is retired and draws social security. When we’re not at our casita, we rent it out. We keep our eyes open for opportunities. For instance, we lived in China for a year, where I taught at a university. I led a writing retreat in Thailand and have developed online creative writing courses. As a writing coach and book editor, I help people write their stories (www.kateevanswriter.com). I’ve also published a number of books (several are available on Audible as well), including:

For the May Queen, a coming-of age novel about a young woman going away to college
Complementary Colors, a novel about a straight woman who falls in love with another woman
Call It Wonder, my aforementioned memoir
Two books of poems and a book about teaching
And most recently, I co-wrote with Mary Janelle Melvin Revolutionary Kiss, a historical romance that takes place during the French Revolution (under the pen name Mary-Kate Summers).

I would consider a defining moment in my life when I read Harriet the Spy as a girl. That set into motion my desire to write, to travel, to be a strong girl, and to live unconventionally. I’m currently working on a book about our house sitting adventures.

Also, after retiring from nursing, my mom became a writer. I remembered reading one of her books in manuscript form, a historical romance taking place during Gold Rush California. After she died of dementia, I figured it was lost. But last year my sister found it in a box! My mom hadn’t spoken the last year of her life, so it was quite moving to see her intelligence and humor come alive again on the page. The book has good bones but needs reworking, so I’m also working on that and will publish it under both of our names.

I plan on meeting these goals by writing one word at a time.

Surviving Mexico

The Bangura Institute

Share this:

Book Launch and Advertising Learning Curve

Share this:

Inspiring Women Writers in Mexico–Kate Evans

Share this: