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[GringoCArlos]

Hi, I am new to this forum, but have lived and worked in Mexico for almost 2 years now. I live in a Mexican town north of Mexico City (I have only encountered one American, and no other foreign nationals since coming here).

Still trying to adapt to some of the changes of living in Mexico, and the biggest (maybe the only change) is living without mail/magazines/packages from the US, but that's a price I have been willing to pay.

I have lived in Latin America for 8 years now, and am fluent in Spanish. Hearing of "gringo enclaves" is a somewhat new idea to me.

[Martin Pierce]

I"m also new to this forum, and am interested in a less gringo area of Mexico to retire than Chapala. I'm lucky enough to still have a teenage daughter at home, so that will be interesting. We expect to be able to have her do high school in Mexico either bilingual school or long distance on the internet through our home town in the Pacific Northwest. We are ready for the change but have another two years from June to decide for sure.. We loved our experiences in GDL, Tlaquepaque, Colima and Manzanillo. not so much at Chapala. Best wishes on your new adventures~! MP

[pedro]

i wouldn't write off chapala so quickly if i had a daughter still in school.
i have some friends here who's daughter just turned fifteen and they came here when she was 12. she's absolutely thriving with primarily mexican kids as friends and goes to a great school. in canada she was in french immursion and is now pretty well tri-lingual[as an old fart,i wish my espanol was even 1/4 as good as hers] and at the top of her class here.
they rent an acreage right on the lake and have 3 donkeys and assorted cats and dogs.
one can live here and never hobnob with gringos if that is your choice.
yes,ajijic is a gringo ghetto but there are other places around the lake with a lesser presence[sic].

[teadust]

Welcome to the forum GringoCarlos and Martin Pierce.

Carlos - how was the mail/magazines/packages from the U.S. service in the other Latin America places you lived for 6 years?

Martin - fellow Pacific Northwesterner here - given the places in Mexico you've already experienced, what are your requisites besides "less gringo area than Chapala"? How close to quality hospitals, larger shopping choices, beaches, cultural activities, airport, etc., do you wish to be? What kind of climate appeals the most to you?

I know many expats desire NOT to live amidst large populations of other epxats; however depending on your grasp of the Spanish language, access to such a group can be a good support network initially for assistance with a lot of "every day living" tasks from licenses, paperwork, local laws, local businesses, the ins and outs of adapting to a new country, town and neighborhood as you get to know where everything is and get to know the community. As Pedro mentioned you can find places to live at "Lakeside" and not feel immersed in expats, and still have access to that network should it be helpful, especially during the transition period.

There are places in Mexico that have existing "gringo enclaves" and others that have relatively few, if any, Americans or Canadians and of course in the latter, rents and real estate prices will be lower, but you may or may not find that the infrastructure of services is not what you require.

It's great that you've already gone to several places to experience those locations - what other places are on your list to check out? Cuernevaca? Puebla? Merida? Todos Santos? Queretaro? Jalapa?


Cheers-
Katie

[Martin Pierce]

with the 12 year old in tow, we need to be American enough that she can feel not alienated and be able to make friends whether American or Mexican or whatever. this will be the hard part. My only requirements are to be within a reasonable drive of an airport a reasonable flight from family near Seattle. I thought Lakeside would be it, and then I thought Colima would be it. and also the weather, but anything south of Portland is an improvement on Seattle/Tacoma, WA. My wife is leaning toward the beach, I'm more inclined to the highlands. the recent 100+ heat of GDL with the air and water problems put me off a little. we'd like to be near the center of a town, that was the biggest draw of Tlaquepaque. we can walk to market on a daily basis, not having to report to work. in fact we look forward to that kind of life, we even hope to have chickens. I don't want to be near D. F. - I don't think I'd be very welcome there. Guanajuato and Leon' appealsto me, but aren't as flight convenient as Manzanillo and Barra.
Nice to have your responses and input, thanks to all. M Pierce, Tacoma, WA

[pedro]

colima is hot,hot,hot for 4-6 months same goes fer the pacific beaches.
i have 2 friends that live in melaque. one from florida who loves the heat but his power costs $600/mth because of ac. the other came from seattle and during the hot season he travels the cooler interior to get away from it. my electric bill runs between $35-43 cdn per 2 months even thogh the per kwh rate here is about 4 times higher than alberta.without ac and heating ya just don't use a lot of electricity.
chapala's weather does not relate to guad at all. it boasts the most temperate climate in the world along with a place in kenya.
we walk everywhere here in chapala.we don't have no chickens because our courtyard is only big enough for our 3 dogs plus one of 'em is a retired bird dog so chickens wouldn't last a nano second.

[RVGRINGO]

Pedro is absolutely right; you would probably do well to give Chapala further consideration. It is a complete small city on the lakeside with everything within walking distance. Both we and Pedro live in downtown Chapala. Our previous experience was a few years in Ajijic, which is more of a 'boutique village' and more heavily populated with expats. Chapala is also the 'county seat' and the center of government for the larger 'municipalidad'. There is excellent bus service along the north shore of the lake and that would make your choice of private schools easily available to your child if you didn't wish to drive twice daily. There is also a bus station in Chapala with service to Guadalajara every 30 minutes during the day. Parque Cristiania offers green space, pools, lakefront, picnic areas and shells for musical events, etc. and there is a museum/cultural center nearby.
I will also advise against the coast or any of the lowland cities. The oppressive heat and humidity are intolerable for those brought up in the north. On the other hand, they are so close that they are readily accessible for a quick getaway to the beach in the winter months. Many Lakeside residents take advantage of 'shoulder season' rates for a few days in Manzanillo, Melaque, Barra de Navidad, etc.; all half a day away by car.
The only difficulty in choosing Chapala will be the fact that it will take longer to find a home. Realtors seem to focus on Ajijic and/or the newest crop of subdivisions along the highway. We prefer, by far, living in town in a more normal environment without the complications of 'homeowners associations' and 'group-think.' In spite of being 'downtown' and within three blocks of everything, we have a large yard with gardens and a small pool. We and three dogs are quite comfortable but we did kick out the chickens when we moved in. Chapala is very popular with weekenders from Guadalajara and any house you choose should have a garage; on street parking can get pretty tight, especially at fiesta times.

[GringoCArlos]

Teadust, in the 2 other countries I have lived in, mail service from the US was fast and relatively cheap. Packages - 2 or 3 days after they arrived in Miami. Normal correspondence - 2-5 days after arriving in Miami.

Cost was about the same in both countries at about US$2.50 to $3.00 a pound.

and NOTHING ever "disappeared".

[Martin Pierce]

How's the heat been near the lake these last few weeks? Our paper says you're seeing 100 F. in GDL and more. that's hot.
teadust - My list is getting shorter, but I will take the advice of many and look for renting to start with.. I will give Mazatlan and Guanajuato a good look. Manzanillo is right up there in the short list (including Barra) and as far as summers, that would be the time to return home to watch grandkids -pocketbook permitting... I will give the Chapala supporters some credit, I need to do more research. Interesting what you say about the cost of electricity. I guess that's balanced with the cost of property taxes.... but you can't buy sunshine around here at any price. I'm hoping our equity will hold up long enough for us to make our move. mp

[RVGRINGO]

High temps are about 86F now in Chapala. You are looking at Guadalajara, which is often 10 degrees warmer, or more. If you are looking at Chapala's temps, they are computer generated and not at all accurate. Go to Chapala.com and look for a local weather report from one of the local expats who has a home station in Ajijic.