why Mexico?

[Rodrigo84]

Except for a brief period of time in California, I have grown up here.

My cousin, an American, used to live down here for a few years and came down purely to get job experience to advance his career...it has indeed helped him since he returned and his Spanish is even better than it was before.

[excelent3]

I visited Chapala, Ajijic, last March, flew into Guadalajara. Yes, the weather in as good as it gets, best in the world. I never saw a cloud in 2 weeks. There are many ex-pats there. I was the youngest of all of them at 53 years old. I found the town to be interesting, but certainly not enough for me to do as a very healthy, active male. I enjoy riding my bike, canoeing, skiing, swimming, etc and there just not much going on there in those categories. Mostly what i saw were alot of very senior citizens kicking back, and sitting around reading, dining or shopping. Not for me. The town is very cramped. But for some people it is no doubt paradise. I did enjoy the ocean beach towns of Barra De Navidad, Melaque, and Tenacatita....so much so next time, I will just go straight to the ocean. I can see why many love Lago Chapala, as you really do not need to know much Spanish, and it's very close proximity to the big city to fly in and out of. The people there were wonderful, warm and gracious. I was most impressed with the people, and this another big reason to go there. My 2 cents.

[pedro]

i live in chapala and i play volleyball 3 times a week and some of my friends additionally play baseball twice a week. our age ranges[including mexicans are 20 somethings to 70 somethings. you can rent kayaks to go on the lake or buy yourself a canoe. there are a zillion people bycycling around here even competatively. i swim in the lake and there are plenty of public pools here too.lots of tennis and football[soccer]. melaque is only a 4 1/2 hour drive. a coupla weeks ago 29 of us v-ballers and partners went to pv to an all inclusive where we played on the beach and in the pool every day.
i also ride a 53bsa chopper and belong to a mexican motorcycle club. i am 65 going on 18. i played hockey for 51 years and just simply changed sports when i moved here but one of these days will get up to guad and skate in one of the 2 ice rinks there when i'm not too busy lounging around doing nothing.
are you sure you came here?

[excelent3]

I was there for one week, the ocean for the other. Maybe if was to hang out with you Pedro I would have been better informed. I cannot image on riding bike on the roads in and around Ajijic, this would be a death sentence. There are few shoulders. Do you wear a wet suit when you swim? The lake is not exactly clean by any means, more like a drainage pond for storm water. But more power to you! Good to know there is hockey there, my favorite sport ( Live in Madison, Wi, home of UW Wisconsin) Two years ago both men and womens teams won NCAA titles here. Anyway, I swim laps 3-4 times per week, one absolute requirement would be to have nice full size pool or aquatic center. Do you know of any in Guadalajara or Zapopan? I would be leaning towards that area for business reasons. If you do not, do you know how I could find this out?

[pedro]

there is a bike path from chapala to jocotepec on the carreterra[17k distance] and guadalajara/zapopan and burbs has a pop. of 6.5 million. you can bet there will be more aquatic centres there than in that small burg madison where my brother got his mba and did the colour commentary fer the u of w hockey team as well as being a scout fer the van. canucks. there is only kids hockey in guad.
the pan/am games are in guad and chapala in 2011.
the gringo ghetto of ajijic is not the only town around here[the lake] and definately not the biggest.
i don't even ride my chopper into that town with it's bad roads. ya shoulda stayed in chapala where all the action is including several night clubs-but ya might be too old fer that.
use that fine puter tool google ta find the sports venues in guad and no i ain't never worn no wetsuit ta swim anywhere. never seen one on the huge # o' families that swim in the lake at the chapala beach every weekend either. the lake polution is an overblown gringo myth. it ain't no drainage ditch; it's the largest inland lake in mexico. sure there's polution in some spots. are the great lakes polution free?

[excelent3]

YOu must have played defense in hockey. I did visit Chapala and enjoyed the feel of that town much better, nice open BLVD going to the lake, and park.
I played with Mark (olympic team) and Peter Johnson, who's father Badger Bob put hockey on the map here. My high school coach is the UW goalie coach...Bill Howard.

I'd swim in Green Bay or Lake Michigan any day before I would jump into Chapala. At least you can see the bottom at 20 ft. I scuba, and i can tell you the water clarity in the Great Lakes is excellent. Door County is hard to beat for summer recreation. It's like comparing apples to walnuts.

Have a good day!

[pedro]

jaja! summer recreation! i moved here 'cause i kin be outdoors all year round. me and my biker friends in alberta joke about the moto season there being only 2 weeks. here its 52.
ya, i played right defense, 'cause i is always right.