Off I go to Mexico, part 1

[edgeee]

thanks mickisue1, that's good advice.
one reason i like the lake chapala area is the abundance of the LCS in the forum.

[edgeee]

having learned a lot this past week, i have a different view now.
in my situation, one option seems to be a logical next step, if it is an option.
the CELEP is noted here, tho the link isn't currently working.
the problem is with their website so it may be temporary.

but i don't really want that anyway, since i'm looking to visit lakeside.
so i wonder if GDL has something similar to CELEP. i could take a 2-4 week spanish class, if offered,
longer if i have to. next spring i may be able to swing that, but i need more info to decide.
so, i'm guessing that such a thing is available, and 30-60 days of classes would give me a good grounding in espanol.
at the same time, it would allow me to live close to lakeside so i could visit there.
i would fly or bus to GDL from US.
therefore, any info on availability, costs, links, etc. would help.
also anything similar in Ajijic/Chapala by chance would be even better.

[TundraGreen]

Originally Posted by edgeee

having learned a lot this past week, i have a different view now.
in my situation, one option seems to be a logical next step, if it is an option.
the CELEP is noted here, tho the link isn't currently working.
the problem is with their website so it may be temporary.

but i don't really want that anyway, since i'm looking to visit lakeside.
so i wonder if GDL has something similar to CELEP. i could take a 2-4 week spanish class, if offered,
longer if i have to. next spring i may be able to swing that, but i need more info to decide.
so, i'm guessing that such a thing is available, and 30-60 days of classes would give me a good grounding in espanol.
at the same time, it would allow me to live close to lakeside so i could visit there.
i would fly or bus to GDL from US.
therefore, any info on availability, costs, links, etc. would help.
also anything similar in Ajijic/Chapala by chance would be even better.

There are a lot of choices for Spanish language classes in Guadalajara:
ICI - Instituto Comunicación International,
IMAC,
CEPE - Centro Educación para Extranjeros,
Guadalajara Language Center,
Instituto Cultural Mexicano Norteamericano
plus a score of others.

I have taken classes at ICI (Spanish and German) and at Instituto Cultural (Spanish). Instituto Cultural is partially supported by the US Consulate in Guadalajara. CEPE is part of the University of Guadalajara.

A couple of years ago I surveyed a lot of them getting pricing information. The prices vary quite a bit depending on the school. I think ICI is one of the least expensive with group rates as low as around $30 pesos/hour for monthly rates on classes that meet several days a week. The Cultural Institute seems to charge a lot more for Spanish classes than they do for other languages. I have the impression, based on very little, that CEPE might have very good classes. Maybe that is just my bias in favor of universities. However, CEPE is not cheap. I had a friend who taught Chinese there.

[Isla Verde]

Originally Posted by TundraGreen

CEPE is part of the University of Guadalajara.

I have the impression, based on very little, that CEPE might have very good classes. Maybe that is just my bias in favor of universities. However, CEPE is not cheap. I had a friend who taught Chinese there.

I don't know anything about the CEPE in Guadalajara, but the one in Mexico City has an excellent reputation. Edgeee should keep in mind that you get what you pay for, so in the end, CEPE might be a better investment than some of the cheaper schools.

[TundraGreen]

Originally Posted by Isla Verde

I don't know anything about the CEPE in Guadalajara, but the one in Mexico City has an excellent reputation. Edgeee should keep in mind that you get what you pay for, so in the end, CEPE might be a better investment than some of the cheaper schools.

I am not sure the "you get what you pay for" applies to language training. In my experience, it depends entirely on the individual teacher and I have had good and bad experiences with different teachers at the same school. To give specific examples, I took a Spanish class at ICI that was great and a German class that was terrible (it was all in Spanish, I learned more Spanish than German in that class, and ICI is owned by a German). But the Spanish class at ICI was way better than another Spanish class I took at Instituto Cultural that cost more than twice as much. I took classes from three or four different teachers at Olé in Querétaro and some were good and some not so good.

PS
With all the classes I have taken, you would think I would be fluent, but it comes very slowly.

[ptrichmondmike]

Thanks ed -- many of us still in the planning stages need to think about all the things you've mentioned. My move will be much simpler than yours -- a couple of suitcases and my laptop bag, no car, no books or anything bulky or heavy. I've put nearly 1,000 books on my Kindle, so will give away all the hard copies I presently own. My one concern is for my DVD collection, which is large and with many classics and beloved favorites -- I guess those will have to be shipped separately, which I'll need to look into at some point. Everything else I own -- extra clothes (including a very classy Italian tux which I doubt I'll ever need again), kitchen stuff, furniture, TV and music systems, tchotchkes, whatever -- will be given away or tossed. This won't be traumatic -- I'm not at all attached to most stuff and periodically clean house thoroughly just to find daylight amidst the things we gringos love to accumulate.

I'm curious what others think about your plan to spend $500-700/month rent on a $1,500 income. I also will have about $1,500/month of SS income, unless I decide to take up my present employer's offer to pay me for remote contract grant-writing, which would add another $1,000/month. I haven't decided about that yet, as I am a very lazy boy and really don't want to work one second past retirement (my favorite non-English expression is the Italian saying "Dolce far niente," the sweetness of utter indolence. I don't have even a tiny drop of The Protestant Ethic.)

In my researches, $500-700 will rent an extremely comfortable residence almost anywhere in Mexico except for the ghastly tourist beach resorts, especially so for a single person. Beautiful, fully furnished, often with a garden, and with the fees for things like wireless internet and a maid built in. Given a $1,500/month base income, I have been assuming that $400 was my top price, and that $300 would still get me much, much more than I pay for here in the Bay Area at multiples of that amount.

I'm curious -- if you spend 40+% of your income on rent, can you still get by fairly easily on a remaining $800/month?

[TundraGreen]

Originally Posted by ptrichmondmike

...I'm curious -- if you spend 40+% of your income on rent, can you still get by fairly easily on a remaining $800/month?

I think it depends on your life style. If you have no car, live within the lower electricity allotments, eat most meals at home, then $800/month would be generous and allow some travel, some meals out, occasional movies or shows. If you want to eat in restaurants all or most of the time, hang out in bars at night, run an air conditioner, like to buy the latest styles in designer clothes or any one of lots of other expensive habits, then maybe not so easy.

As one point of comparison, the US Peace Corps gives its volunteers about $800/month for all of their expenses including rent. They manage to live very comfortably on this including travel. Some live in shared spaces but many have their own apartment. None have cars since Peace Corps prohibits them. Some are broke at the end of every month, many manage to save money. None of the volunteers I have met feel that it is particularly onerous to live on the allotment, nor do they live an especially deprived life style. Incidentally, they are not all young by any means. I started in Mexico this way and had three score and plus years when I was in the Peace Corps.

[jasavak]

The working people in the Mexican interior pay around $1500 pesos ($110 per month) for a basic 2 bed , 1 bath in an average area . Personally , I would be willing to pay 4000 pesos ($300) for a bit more exclusiveness . Of course , I have heard gringos pay as much as 4000 pesos for tiny 1 bedrooms in more expensive areas like Mexico City or beach resorts .

[cisco]

I've been living in Guadalajara for almost 17 yrs. I'm the only american in the colonia. Married 13 yrs to a very nice mexican lady.

Best thing for you to do is to go to Chapala. Most of the local mexicans speak some form of english. There are americans a-plenty there so you should have no problems there.
You can find a furnished place to live for around $300-$400. Go to the real estate agency and they will be glad to help. The American Legion has a bulletin board you can check out.
You can get by ok on $1500 a month.

When you get here everything will kind of fall in place.

[cisco]

Originally Posted by jasavak

The working people in the Mexican interior pay around $1500 pesos ($110 per month) for a basic 2 bed , 1 bath in an average area . Personally , I would be willing to pay 4000 pesos ($300) for a bit more exclusiveness . Of course , I have heard gringos pay as much as 4000 pesos for tiny 1 bedrooms in more expensive areas like Mexico City or beach resorts .

I pay 3500 pesos for the basic 2bd mexican rowhouse in GDL. It's around 700 sq ft. Today the peso was 13.19 so I'm pay ing $265 a month.
You're not going to get much better for $300.