For 40 years, Ashland, Oregon has nurtured a Mexico love connection. It involves the entire city of Guanajuato.

The two have a sister city relationship that goes beyond the usual trade delegations and annual festivals.

Since 1969 and the beginning of a university exchange, the city of 20,000 in southern Oregon and the colonial mining center in Mexico’s highlands have shared links between their universities, theater programs and government services.

The depth of the commitment is obvious when you realize the relationship has led to 79 marriages, swine flu and drug scares notwithstanding.

Guanajuato university students study business administration and teaching programs in Ashland while practicing English. Ashland students go the Guanajuato to study literature and language.

“This is the kind of program that gets past the media hype to reveal the real relationship between Mexico and the U.S.” says Glynna Prentice, editor of Mexico Insider, a monthly online magazine devoted to the expat experience in Mexico. “When real people deal with each other in a positive way, none of the swine flu and drug war hysteria gets in the way.

“There are stories like this all over Mexico,” Prentice said. “You just need to look past the hype.”