Hi wkelley,

We are also planning our move to QRO at the end of June/first of July. I have gotten very little response from this forum specifically about the area, but I did visit earlier this month. I really liked it a lot! I crammed in quite a bit for a one full day visit, but it was worth it. Any reservations I had about moving there are now gone. I looked at both schools you mentioned; however, JFK was on holiday the Friday I was there, so I was only able to look at it from the outside and the guard was nice to give me an information packet. I think we are going to go with ISQ mainly because my son swims and they have swimming whereas JFK does not. ISQ is also a little cheaper, but that is not a main factor for us - just wanted you to be aware.

I also visited about 5 houses in Jurica and Juriquilla - both areas I am interested in renting a house. The houses were a bit above our budget, sadly, because they were absolutely beautiful and I fell in love. I really did not want to come back home! So when we get down there this time, I will have to look within our budget

I stumbled across a wonderful realtor while I was at the hotel in Juriquilla (her sister really - she overheard me asking the front desk clerk about realtors and she mentioned her sister! Very serendipitous) If you would like her name and email, feel free to message me and I will be happy to share with you. She is both Mexican and USA citizen and lived in the US for many years - San Antonio as a matter of fact, just down the road from me. What a small world! Actually, almost everyone I spoke with had friends and/or family somewhere in the US - usually Texas or Florida. lol She made time for me that Friday evening since I was on such a tight schedule and rearranged her plans to show me the houses. Her children all went to JFK and she loved it - they are all grown now, but she spoke very highly of JFK. She said nothing wrong with ISQ, but she had more experience with the other.

I also squeezed in a road trip to San Miguel de Allende to see if I would prefer it there, but, alas, I like QRO better. SMdA is a beautiful, delightful city, but I liked the bigger city and I just happened to have a drunk American walk up to me at noon and ask me if I knew where his house is because he lost it. Ha! Driving and parking was also a nightmare and I really like driving myself since I have a busy schedule with my son.

Anyway, I digress! Maybe we can meet up in QRO when you get moved and settled in. We have a 9-year old son, so it would be nice if he had a friend to help make the transition easier (and for me too!)

Good luck and keep me posted,
Shelley

 

Shelly,

Thanks for the reply and the great info! Sounds like you had a good visit to QRO. My wife is from the area and so we've been visiting for many years. We love SMA and as you noticed, there are a lot of Americans. We'll be in the area about the same time you are. We'll drop you a note to see how the move-in is going! I'll drop you a PM to get that realtor info from you.

Best Wishes,

Scott

 

I have been living in Mexico for almost two years now (Chichi Suarez, Yucatan) and my family and I are considering a move to Queretaro in the near future and would be happy to share our experience with you.

I retired from the Army in 2014, hit me with a PM and we can shoot the crap.

 

It would be helpful if you also shared your experiences living in the Yucatan with the rest of us on the open forum.

 

Can do. Which is the open forum?

 

This is the open forum, as opposed to communicating with individual forum members via PM's.

 

Rakkasan,
I don't see where I can send you a PM. I'm about a year out from retiring out of Ft. Leavenworth. We are heading down this summer to do some exploring in Queretaro...check out schools, neighborhoods etc. How do you like Yukatan? I've been looking at rental prices on-line in the QRO area and I'm a bit surprised in the prices. We'll keep looking around. We may look toward San Miguel as well.
v/r
Scott

 

Rakkasan,
I don't see where I can send you a PM.
Scott

Once Rakkasan has made 5 posts, you can send him a PM. Just click on his username and the drop-down menu will make it clear what to do.

 

wkelley,

Sounds good.

 

As well, I'll shoot ya a PM with comms and hopefully we can link up when you arrive and have a few cold ones.

 

Veterans Organizations

Any veteran posts in Queretaro? What is airport code? I am retired AF and planning a vacation down there. Thanks, Jim

 

Hello, Can you provide me with the name of the American Realtor you met at the hotel? Currently looking to establish contact with someone who knows the Queretaro area well.

Thanks

 

Hi Heidi,

As soon as you are able, send me a PM and I will be more than happy to share the information I have with you

Good luck,
Shelley

 

trying to! apparently I have to make several posts before I can PM...grrrrr

 

I have to make 5 posts before I can PM???

 

Yup. That's the rule for everyone.

 

I don't even see where I can PM you directly?

 

If you click on a person's name at the top of one of their messages, you will get a drop down menu. One of the options on the list is to send them a Personal Message.

 

sorry for the random posts I am making - trying to get enough posts so that I can PM!!!!!

 

Hi Heidi,

I can't send you a PM yet! As soon as I see the drop down by your name appear, I will send you the info. Maybe you can respond to me one more time

Shelley

 

Hello, yes I tried that but the option is not there for me yet I have made over 5 posts I think??

 

I believe it sometimes takes a little time for the system to authorize PMs after you have made 5 posts. Living in Mexico teaches one to be pacient. It is useful in a lot of places, including here.

 

LOL Unfortunately I won't be the one moving to Mexico - I am only coordinating the relocation of one of our employees AND preparing everything for a business start-up

 

That sounds like my idea of a nightmare. You get to deal with all the bureaucracy of Mexico without the benefits of living here.

 

Heidi,

I was finally able to send you a PM with the info. Let me know if you need anything else!

Best of luck,
Shelley

 

Hello!
This is a follow-up to my original post. We are finishing up a 2 week vacation/fact finding mission to the QRO area and I wanted to share a few of my observations. Thanks to the info I gained from the Expat Forum we visited the following schools: JFK, ISQ, Colegio Suizo, Wexford, and Colegio Celta. The prestigious International Baccelaureate program is offered at JFK, Colegio Suizo, and Colegio Celta so these schools are our front runners. Colegio Suizo is unique in that it provides a quadra-lingual program: Spanish, German, English, and French phased in over several years. Most offer a variety of after school programs but only Suizo, ISQ, & Celta offer swimming. The Instituto Cumbres looks like a very good Catholic school but we aren't looking for a religious based program.

Queretaro is a very nice city with a beautiful downtown. It's grown like crazy in the last few years so you'll notice lots of new housing developments. We saw houses in Jurica(older suburb with wide leafy streets) and Juriquilla (newer with many new gated communities).

A couple intersting things happend to us on our trip. First, while in the Sancho Panza bookstore in downtown QRO we started talking to the owners and come to find out thier daughter graduated from Indiana Univ like I did. So we had a very nice conversation with the owners and later recieved a nice email from thier daughter. The 2nd remarkable thing is that we bumped into a circle of older gentlemen speaking in German in the Italian Coffee Co. by the arches to Campestre de Jurica. We sat down and talked with them for a few minutes and learned there is a German Community in QRO. It just so happened that we were looking at rental homes today one of them was owned by a German couple that lived next door. Unfortunately they weren't home or we would have said hello.

So all in all... a great trip. We have plenty of information to mull over and to make our decision.
As most people know...the Mexicans are a very warm and welcoming people. I was surprised on this trip how many fluent English speakers we came across.

Prudent precautions are still in order for traveling in/through Mexico. Travel only in daylight hours using Cuota (toll roads) and watch out for the speed bumps...Topes! After hitting one to quickly we caused some minor damage to our rental car which we were able to repair with minimal time and money. Additionally, a good road map(Guia Roji)and a new GPS helped us navigate both in/around QRO and to the beach in Manzanillo. Despite both of these...we still got lost a few times but as we've learned...it's all part of the process! We actually ran across a few of the schools we wanted to see...while looking for other locations!

Happy Travels!

 

Hi Scott (wkelley),

Thanks for the great update. We are here in QRO now and have looked at houses for a couple of days. We have made our pick so now it's just the paperwork. As for the school, I think we are going to go with JFK. As you've experienced, everyone here has been so nice and helpful to us too. We're really enjoying getting to know the city and exploring. Good luck to you and your family

Shelley

 

Anyone still in Queretaro? I have lived in Mexico for 6 months now and the only expats I have come across are through work. I just moved to Queretaro and would love to touch base with some people who have been in town for a while.

 

TravellingTiko,

I am a Canadian that moved to Queretaro June 8th, 2016. I currently rent a home in La Joya and am looking to meet expats for conversation etc. My son lives with me. My ex and his wife live here also. The ex has been here 6 yrs. do you know of any expat groups that get together on a regular basis here in QRT?

Judy

 

Hi Judy,

You have been in Queretaro longer than I have. I moved to Mexico in May but have moved a few times since. I have only been in this city for a few weeks. I know that there are expat groups based out of Mexico city but they travel to surrounding towns often.

TT

 

Hello,
We are planning on moving to QRO this coming summer. It looks like there is an active expat group and you can find thier website here: incq

Best of Luck!

 

We are moving to Queretaro this summer as well. We lived in Guanajuato for 5 years between 2009 & 2014 and I never paid much attention to the expat community there since I had many Mexican friends and my wife is Mexican and doesn't speak much English. Then, in the last year there I started to get to know some of the local expats and it was very rewarding. I decided I was a fool for ignoring them previously.

I don't want to make the same mistake in Queretaro, so I am glad to see that there is a group there and I will seek them out. Wkelley, perhaps our paths will cross as newbie expats in Queretaro!

Thanks and best of luck to you.