Chimamanda Adichie, a Nigerian novelist tells how a “single story” can blind us to reality. Watch her speech at http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html. She even talks about her own encounter with Mexico and about her false impressions, quickly shattered once she got there.

We must all be as honest as she is.

Jane (wife) and I have lived in Queensland Australia for the last 25years – we are dual Anglo/Australians. I ‘retired’ from 30yrs in the travel business sometime ago, but Jane has been trying to retire from her VP position … for about 2 years – they keep enticing her to stay! She has finally put her foot down….

We are both well travelled and have lived in a few countries over the years, but my years in travel have shown me not to rely on “travel guides” to give comprehensive information about any country. I realise that all travel brochures and guides are trying hard to ‘sell’ their destination, rather than accurately describe it. So, obviously, all must be seen as sweetness and light. Australia is a prime example of this.

It is seen as “un-Australian” to make derogatory remarks about anything Aussie. The glass-jawed populace get quite hysterical if you hold up a mirror to their shortcomings, and retaliate with venom, (it’s unlikely Harry Connick will be invited back soon!). So to write a book about the realities-of-life, in any country, is indeed quite brave – but totally necessary reading for anyone contemplating an extended residency in said country, to be enlightened beyond the ‘spin’.

I was gladdened, therefore, to find your expose’ on the realities of life in Mexico.

Jane was delighted with All of the insights you provided (I am still absorbing and cross referring all your info at a more leisurely pace) especially regarding medical insurance, bringing a vehicle into the country (we plan to fly into Houston, buy a car there, and drive down) and your experiences with banking and other utility bureaucracies.

Fortunately, we are in a position of retiring fairly comfortably, so we plan to travel all over Mexico, and not necessarily end up in one place. San Miguel de Allende will do nicely, for a few months at least, as an introductory base to explore from.

You may, indeed, use any of my comments/name in your referencing, if you consider them worthy of inclusion.

Kindest regards,
–Graham Papworth, Australia

Graham,

Thank you very much for granting permission to use your comments on my web site.

I was surprised at how “shallow” the available information about Mexico was when we were planning our move in 2001. It was so fluffy it was useless to me when I was adjusting to Mexico. I finally had to write the book I needed–and all the credit for the depth of the book goes to my husband, of course. Whenever I thought I had it all figured out, he always had more to say on a topic!

Congratulations on beginning a comfortable retirement! Mexico is going to be a great place to be–especially since you are experienced travelers.

Kindest Regards,
Julia C Taylor

Children in Mexico have immunization scars on their arms that look like the ones the boomers have. When I would get together with other moms and toddlers, some of their children would have the recently-made red welt on their arms.  In contrast, our son was born in Mexico, has a full regimen of shots and does NOT have that scar — ultimately not for cosmetic reasons, but for immunity and health reasons.

I don’t know much about vaccines, but I know that they can be made from live, killed, or modified versions of the disease causing agent. Since I had already grown to deeply distrust IMSS and the national medical system in Mexico due to some bad experiences, I found a private pediatrician in our town that was well-thought of and famous for not giving lots of prescriptions and medicines, especially antibiotics, which tend to be frighteningly overused in Mexico.

You see, seeing that scar on childrens’ arms had gotten me to thinking.  My parents had that scar, but I didn’t. I wondered if it was because we no longer vaccinated for that in the US. I could imagine three different reasons for discontinuing a particular vaccine. Reason number one might have been that whichever disease it protected against was so uncommon it was considered “eradicated.”  Reason number two might have been that a new vaccine had been developed. Reason number three might have been that the vaccine was later determined to cause more risk than benefit. The pediatrician I found helped us to make informed decisions about which vaccines were right for our son.

It has been a couple of years since we did our son’s vaccination series and I am not a doctor, nor a medical professional, so double check all of this info for yourself.  If memory serves, that scar is caused by the tuberculosis vaccine. Our doctor told us that the vaccine does not produce immunity and is only useful to help protect people in high risk situations, such as children who live with a family member who has active tuberculosis. Since no one in our family had tuberculosis, we did not give him that vaccine. Our doctor said that having it can even cause a false positive test for the disease.  Another vaccine I was worried about was the polio vaccine. I don’t remember as many details about that one, but by conversing with this doctor I felt safe giving the vaccine we gave.  Not that everything from the US is better, but this doctor administered the same vaccines that are given in the US. This had the added advantage for us, that if we were to return to the US (where no one seems to know one thing about Mexico), the schools would be satisfied with the shots our son had had.

The shots were expensive — hundreds of U.S. dollars, but I never regretted a single cent. An unplanned benefit of taking our son to this pediatrician when he was healthy was that, when our son was ill, we could call our pediatrician at any time day or night and he would help us without making us bring our son in.  This doctor, like many in Mexico, still serves the parents directly and the relationship with the doctor has been soothing to our nerves. Imagine the difference between heading out to the emergency room at 2:00 am with a baby who is throwing up bile and calling the pediatrician who knows him, getting told over the phone what to buy at the 24 hour pharmacy, and giving it to the child 30 minutes later. Of course, this same sleepy pediatrician didn’t just give us a medicine’s name over the phone and hang up. We talked about the symptoms, then he told us warning signs that might indicate more sever problems, and he followed up.

I was also impressed by his use of lab tests, rather than simple symptoms. One time, this saved our son from being unnecessarily medicated. One time I saw blood in his stool. A friend’s baby had just been diagnosed with amoebas (from blood in his stool) and was taking harsh medicine for it. My doctor ordered lab tests of the stool sample and it turned out to be an extremely acidic stomach. The doctor quickly figured out that I’d recently added Oreos back into my diet! Since I was nursing, the Oreos were effecting my son. That was a simple, safe fix and my son was spared a regimen of harsh medications.

Another friend’s daughter was always on antibiotics for this and that. In contrast, our son never needed them. Our pediatrician always found ways to help him to heal quickly and naturally. He is a standard M.D., not naturopathic, it’s just that he is very smart about how he does things.

When you live in Mexico, see if you can find a pediatrician in your town with a strong reputation. Even if you are “retired in Mexico” and don’t need a pediatrician, I think these anecdotes can give you some ideas of what to look for for yourselves!

*** THIS BLOG POST WAS NOT WRITTEN BY A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL. DO NOT MAKE ANY DECISIONS BASED ON THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HERE. FIND A DOCTOR AND ASK HIM/HER FOR GUIDANCE.***

I also want to say right up front, that my experiences in Mexico cannot be compared to those that I might have had in the US. I’ve only been pregnant once and I was nowhere near the US during this experience. Despite being quite “American” in lots of ways, I know nothing about pregnancy and delivery in the US.

What I learned in Mexico is that a lot of women who say they want a natural childbirth experience end up with caesarean deliveries. The more I learned about the situation, the more I came to view childbearing as a feminist issue. It appears that when childbirth is guided by women, with men in active support roles, births tended to be bonding, positive experiences for family units. On the other hand, when the birth process is in the hands of doctors, it becomes a medical procedure and women’s physical strength and emotional experience is negated.

It’s too bad we aren’t in Europe. There are some places in Europe where the labour and delivery wards are designed to make women and their partners comfortable and to assist in a relaxed, natural delivery. They have cushions of different sizes, areas for stretching and hanging, accessible warm water showers, and dedicated staff. There are even beautiful water delivery options! Alas, that is not for us, but we can still have great labour experiences, if we take charge of our own options and surround ourselves with caring, knowledgeable people.

To find a doctor who is committed to natural childbirth, ask people about their doctors and delivery experiences. You have to compare stories. There were some doctors in our town who were well thought of, but most of the women that I talked to about their deliveries had caesareans…. Ask doctors what percentage of their deliveries are natural. WHO says that 20% of deliveries should end in caesarean. If the doctor says 80% of his/her deliveries are caesareans, you have not yet found your doctor.

In our town, La Lega de La Leche was a good source of information on local doctors and their tendencies, but there isn’t a group in every town. Another good source of information was our pre-natal class. We attended free trial sessions of two different classes to see which one we preferred. The one we chose really stood out to us. The instructor included the partners (mostly fathers, but other “coaches” were also made completely welcome. The instructor’s objective was to give the mother full support during labour and delivery), rather than focusing only on the women – she even had a special form for fathers to complete while registering.

By learning the stages of labour and pre-labour you and your partner are better prepared to set yourselves up for success and have a natural delivery – even with a caesarean liking doctor. This class also included a small percentage of partners who chose home delivery. We were not considering delivering our baby at home, but that showed that it was a community of people who were dedicated to natural childbirth.

A strong indication of a doctor’s commitment to natural childbirth is if they charge the same no matter what kind of birth it is. The doctor I most preferred in our town was known to be committed to natural childbirth and she had only one fee – no matter which way the delivery occurred. Doctors who charge more for a caesarean are more likely to deliver that way. It’s a racket, really. They show you two prices, one for natural childbirth and one for caesarean. They tell you that there is “no reason” you shouldn’t have a natural delivery. You like the lower cost of the natural delivery, so you feel like you are getting a deal. What you don’t know is that by delivering caesarean, not only do they earn more money the process is more under their control. They don’t have to wait around for natural processes to unfold. They don’t have to put in the hours of helping you relax, walk around, sit in a hot shower, etc, etc.

On the flip side, just by not doing these things, they make it more likely that you won’t be able to deliver naturally. (This is really a key point that first-time moms rarely take into consideration – and doctors bank on it – literally.) Before we had our son, we heard lots of stories from other moms and I observed that even when parents were clear with their doctors that they “wanted” a natural childbirth there would always be “something” and they’d end up with a caesarean (and convinced that they needed it, so don’t let that be an indicator for you).

I think it’s important to mention that at first our pre-natal class appeared to be overly expensive given our earnings and our usual spending habits in Mexico. I asked my husband to attend the free trial visit to the class before I would even tell him how much it would cost! In the end, we both thought it was worth every peso. I was shocked when my husband – who normally won’t even spring for pollo rostizado if we can make scrambled eggs at home, said so to his family and friends. It was lovely to hear him telling his BROTHER all about the stages of labour and how to help his wife during delivery. Both of us strongly advise first time parents to take a pre-natal class together (called clase psicoprofilactico in Spanish) – and the more committed to couples and to natural childbirth the better. This class got us started on the path of parenthood as a united pair. Friends and family commented on how we were unusually relaxed as newbie parents. Not to mention that we had a dream delivery with our son, that is a sacred memory to both of us.

Here is the kind of story you are looking for when you are researching doctors. One of my friends delivered her baby before I did and she chose the same doctor I preferred. She told me that during transition (that’s when it hurts the most and most women end up getting an epidural, even if they didn’t “plan” one in their original birth plan) she asked for an epidural and the doctor told her, she would not give one because the baby would be born before it could even take effect. In the moment, my friend felt angry. After delivery she said she wanted to give the doctor a big kiss and hug for saying, “no.” She and her baby were both more alert and ready to begin nursing than they would have been if she had gotten an epidural – not to mention that an epidural would have greatly slowed the process down, reduced my friend’s experience of the actual delivery, and introduced unnecessary risk. She had her next two babies with this same doctor.

Maybe you can turn this into a question for doctors you are “interviewing.” Something like, is there ever a point during labour that you would refuse a mother pain relief?

In my case, the first doctor we went with was highly recommended by a friend, so I was convinced that he was just the greatest gynaecologist in the world. Luckily for us, he chose to blatantly lie to us so that he could begin to steer us toward a caesarean. If he had been less bold, he might have kept us as clients. As it turns out, we had already started our prenatal class and when I told the teacher what my doctor had told us, she told me to get a second opinion. When I got the second opinion, his lie was exposed and we never went to see him again.

The short of it is that I had asked my doctor about a condition I thought I might have. He used that little bit of fear that I had to tell me that I needed a caesarean. He even had my husband look at my cervix through a special instrument so he could “see” how much I needed a caesarean. When I got the second opinion I was told that my cervix was completely normal and healthy looking. This other doctor probably knew that to any regular guy, like my husband, a normal cervix looks terrible. He literally banked on freaking my husband out. This is so unethical it makes my stomach ache! It is also not that uncommon. In a different context, I heard our prenatal class instructor say that doctors commonly manipulate the fathers into pushing for the caesareans by scaring them about the “consequences” of not getting one. This is why it is so important that each expectant mother have a birth coach that attends the classes with her and can support her during labour.

You might also ask around and see if there are any professionally trained midwives or doulas in your town. Una “partera” can mean a lot of things in Mexico, so do your research well, but there is potential there for a lovely delivery experience. Even if you talk to a midwife or doula, but don’t choose to deliver with her, she will likely know which doctors in town are committed to childbirth, which ones ‘ride the fence’ and which ones have earned the nickname “Dr. C-Section.”

Once you find the right person, it will be lovely.

I’m so very glad I delivered in Mexico because our family had a beautiful natural birth and my husband was involved in every stage. He was my hero all of the way through, providing pain relief with acupressure, coaching, encouraging, and caring for me. He will never forget seeing his son born. Also, Mexico is a wonderful place to have little children.

Imagine. You’ve just struck up a conversation with someone and have been talking for about five minutes about a town that you both happen to love to visit.  Your American self is about ready to say goodbye and never see that person again. Why would you? You might just comment later to your partner what a nice conversation you had, but that’ll be it. Suddenly, the Mexican person says, “Give me your phone number.”  You freak. You wonder if they’re a stalker or something.

They wonder what they said wrong. After all, they just let you know that they though you were a worthwhile acquaintance and would like to keep in touch. They think you are really being a snoot not to give your number.

Once you get used to this way of connecting with people, it’s really fun. In Mexico you just make friends first and let the relationship work itself out. Some people you never hear from again. Others you do.  As you find common ground or mutually beneficial skills, items, acquaintances, etc. then you develop a favor relationship. Once you get used to it, this is a really great way to be.

When you live in Mexico you can shed your suspicion and isolation and really have a great sense of community.  It’s also a great way to help make yourself safe when you live in Mexico.

Back to Cultural Differences

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By Patricia Patton © Patricia Patton 2009

I took my three boys to Papalote Cuernavaca, the new children’s museum, the other day, and it was amazing. The staff was so friendly and helpful, and the exhibits were able to captivate a preschooler, an eight year old, and an 11 year old (as well as their mother!) There was an impressive range of activities, from a climbing room filled with tires suspended from the ceiling and spiderweb-like cords criss-crossing every which way to a giant iPod you can climb inside to quiet and inviting corners filled with good books. There was an ongoing game that had my boys traveling back and forth throughout the museum, treasure-hunt style, and a traveling exhibit featuring amazing puppets as well as a workshop where you could make your own puppet. One of my boys’ favorite rooms was focused on architecture, with enormous images of famous buildings, ancient and modern, projected on the wall, and more legos than any child could hope for available to construct amazing structures. They also loved the giant piano you could play with your feet, an enormous Simon game built into a wall, and a real bed of nails that the older two were able to lie down on (with lots of supervision by museum staff and helpers, of course).

The whole place, inside and out, is decorated with fun murals and art, some of which is obviously professional and some of which was created by kids. Even the bathrooms have cute pictures painted on the walls (as well as child-friendly stools to help my four year old reach the sinks). There are special workshops and activities daily (some of which are listed on the website), although we didn’t have a chance to participate in any of those.

The museum has a self-service baggage check with lockers to stash your bags. The lockers are free; you only have to present some form of ID at the welcome desk to get a key. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day of the week except Mondays. Admission is only $35 pesos (currently about $3 American) per person. Babies under 6 months get in for free, but everyone else needs a paid ticket. We spent about two and a half hours there, which seemed just about perfect. It was enough time to see almost everything, linger over our favorites, and still leave before my preschooler got over-tired and had a meltdown. The museum is located in the former Muros modern art museum building, right across the parking lot from Costco and Mega. As the museum is still new, our taxi driver hadn’t heard of it, but once I gave him those landmarks, he took us there without a problem.

We’re here in Cuernavaca for another few weeks, and I am positive we will be making a return trip before we leave town.

A Few Additional Notes from the Author of Mexico: The Trick is Living Here

“Papalote” is Spanish for “Kite”

Parking or Getting There by Bus

Don’t worry about parking, because there is plenty available. To get to the museum, enter the parking lot from any of the three Mega Commercial/Costco entrances. The museum is to the left of the California restaurant as you face it from the parking lot. There are a plethora of buses that will get you to the three entrances including any routes that say Plaza (for Plaza Cuernavaca, the mall almost directly across the street from one of the parking lot entrances) on them, as well as the 2 and 7 that say Tunel (enter near the grocery store named “Mega”), and the 18 (enter near the hospital).

Some History: How Community Activists Helped Create this Musuem

Before it was taken over by Papalote, this musuem was called Muros (or “Walls” in Spanish). The musuem was a community success story because it was first conceived as a kind of olive branch. It is situated to one side of a large grocery store/parking lot complex developed on the site of what had previously been the Casino de la Selva. Casino de la Selva (Jungle Casino) was a distinctive entertainment location at the heart of today’s Cuernavaca since the 1930s. It was surrounded by tall walls and had fallen into severe disrepair over the years since its closing. For many years, only trespassers saw the grounds inside the walls, but the thick tree canopy on the property was obvious to all who passed by. When construction began on the property, many Cuernavacan’s were outraged that two huge grocery stores, a restaurant, and extensive parking lot would replace the Casino and its trees. Long, intense protests were staged to try to stop the development and suggestions were made that the property would better serve the community as a park. In the end, the grocery store chain was allowed to develop the site, but the idea of the community center was generated as a way to try to respond to the community outcry.

Hello Julia
My name is Joseph. I am a Canadian presently teaching Conversational English in China. I have been teaching Conversational and Business English here for almost five years, children, teenagers, college students and adults. Although I don’t have a univercity or college degree I do have a TESOL Certificate, five years teaching experiance and many letters of recommendation from former and present employers.

I heard that as of this September all children in school must be taught English. I would like to obtain a teaching job in San Felipe Baja Mexico. I vacationed there for three winters and would love to return there to teach. I like it because it is a quiet little fishing village and the people are wonderufl. I loved the mexican people and believe I could pick the language up again after being there for a month or so.

Is it possabe to get a legal teaching job without a univercity or college degree?

Is there any other advice you can give me.

It’s a great leap of faith leaving everthing behind in China to return to Mexico but I would gladly be willing to try. If nothing comes of it I could always return to China.

I look forward to your reply.
Sincerly,
Joseph

Answer:

Hello Joseph,

It sounds like you have some solid experience, but the answer to your question is both ‘yes’ and ‘no.’

It is possible to work as an English teacher in Mexico without a college degree–especially with experience and a TESOL certificate, BUT, probably not in the public school system.

To work in the public schools, you would have to get permission from SEP, the federal education “ministry.” They generally require college degrees, though, it would be worth asking the local SEP authorities, just to find out what they would tell you. SEP has had to increase the English classes they provide to students and they may have some leeway in how they go about meeting that need. They may be able to credit your TESOL and years of experience. You would have to go in to see them in person. I don’t know if there is a local office right in San Felipe.

Private schools, on the other hand, also hire English instructors and have more flexibility in setting their hiring criteria, BUT there don’t appear to be any of those in San Felipe.

It appears that the smartest thing to do would be to go on a fact-finding visit to San Felipe, and possibly to other areas of interest, just in case you find that there aren’t enough opportunities for you right in that area.

For some general information about getting ready to teach English in Mexico, you can click on the “Articles” link on my web site and read any of the related articles that interest you [http://www.home-sweet-mexico.com/expatriate-author-articles.html]. Also, if you are serious about moving to Mexico, my book Mexico: The Trick is Living Here might be helpful to you.

I hope that this answer has been of some help to you.

Sincerely, Julia Taylor
Author of Mexico: The Trick is Living Here and creator of www.home-sweet-mexico.com

With her permission, here is a little of what she had to say about the book in her email to me:

I have to say it helped me in so many ways.

I loved the section on culture and it helped me to not feel like such a dummy when I read some of your stories about you and others you know.

Thank you so much for your book. …[A]fter reading it, I feel so privileged that you let me read it.

Again I can’t thank you enough or explain how much this has helped me to cope.

Amanda

I’m so glad to know that other people find my book as useful as I thought it would be when I was writing it!

You can read Hernandez’ review of Mexico: The Trick is Living Here on her blog and you can get your own copy of the guide on how adjust to life in Mexico here on my web site.

I love your book.

I am hoping to move to Cuernavaca in about 2 1/2 years…..jajajajajaj….but who is counting…jajajajaja

I couldn’t resist and I wrote him back asking what it was that he liked most about the book.

He answered:

Oh wow….what I loved were the stories you told about Cuernavaca.  Since I lived in Cuernavaca for two weeks with a Mexican family and have visited a lot of the sites that you talk about….your stories really came to life…..the sights, the sounds, the smells……Wowwwwwwwww

Thanks again!
Allen

He has very kindly given me permission to post his words on my blog.

The thanks go to you, Allen.

I was in this other group of silently suffering people. I felt like this person, who wrote me in October 2008 with a story that brought back memories:

We have been together for 4 years.  I always thought that if things got serious enough for us (i.e. getting married) that we would ‘figure out’ a way to get him documented to be in the U.S.  Well, the past year or so has been eye opening to say the least.  He has always told me that it is ‘not that easy’ for him to become documented just by us getting married, but I never understood this – as in, if he is my husband, HOW can the gov’t tell me he can’t be here with me?!

–Christina

Christina had been told that her boyfriend would have to be out of the U.S. for up to 2 years and that his petition to live in the U.S. might not be approved. If the petition is approved, she is lucky – though she was feeling anything but lucky when she heard that news. She is facing losing a job she loved, moving to a country where she is concerned about being able to continue in her career and having to work long hours and Saturdays, being far away from family and friends, the cost of paying for a lawyer, etc.

Does this sound familiar? It does to me, except that I was even less lucky. My then boyfriend fell under section 212(a)(9)(C)(I) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which “renders inadmissible those aliens who were previously unlawfully present in the United States for an aggregate period of more than one year who enter or attempt to re-enter the United States without being admitted [as in: he had gone home to visit his family and come back the only way he could]. These aliens are permanently inadmissible, however, after they have been outside the United States for at least 10 years [emphasis mine], they may seek consent to reapply for admission from the Attorney General” (source: http://www.shusterman.com/aos-up.html) Back then (it was 2001), we were some of the first people to fall under that section of the Act, which came into effect in 1997.

We were among the first, but I knew that we couldn’t be the only ones going through an enforced move to Mexico, so I set out to write my book and create this web site to help others like us.  About 8 years later, through this web site, I suddenly began to get lots of emails from other people (mostly women) who are moving/have had to move to Mexico to either wait for approval of their spouses’ visa, like Christina, or to wait out the same 10 year bar we were under.

Meanwhile, to reach a broader audience with this web site, I had researched and addressed the needs of those who want to retire in Mexico – really, of anyone who might want to live in Mexico on a budget or tackle culture shock and cultural integration as part of their move to Mexico — but, spouses of “aliens,” at its heart, this site and, especially my book, are for YOU.

I know you probably feel like you have no money now that you have to move to another country where you will suddenly be earning a tenth of what you do now, but I encourage you to buy my book for yourself. You don’t have to go through this alone. My husband and I have already done it and I wrote down everything that I needed to know and had to learn the hard way. YOU DON’T NEED TO LEARN THE HARD WAY. There are many details in my book that I don’t put up on my web site for free. I promise you won’t be sorry.

Amanda Hernandez is another person forced to live in Mexico and I asked her to read my book and write a review from that perspective–and she liked it! You can read her review of Mexico: The Trick is Living Here on her blog. In fact, she liked the book right from the start. She hadn’t finished the review yet, but she’d already recommended to two people that they buy my book.  The book can really save you trouble (and money) in the long run. For example, in reading her blog for December 15, 2008, she mentions confusion with apostilles for documents. In my book I tell you what apostilles are, how to get them, and which documents should be done before you move. This will save you the kind of stress and costs that come from having these details come up as last-minutes surprises, like they did for me and for Amanda. The apostilles actually provide a good example of this. The cost of the book, $19.95 (USD), is roughly what you would spend on courier services for getting apostilles done from Mexico, not to mention the cost of international phone calls, the return courier fee, and the difficulty of paying for the apostille from outside your home state.  Buying the book will save you time and money in the long run — not to mention stress.

Take it from people who have been through it, it’s helpful to get the information you need ahead of time. Here’s an excerpt of an email that I received from Stephanie Bolton Olvera, who is now safely back in the U.S. with her husband, but who recognized the usefulness of the information I provide.

Dear Julia -

I came across your website tonight and thought it was absolutely wonderful. I’m 25 years old and lived in Mexico a couple of years ago. My husband is originally from Mexico and while we were trying to figure out his U.S. residency – he lived in Mexico and I was able to join him for a while. … I’m glad you touched on all of the emotions one feels while leaving in a foreign country. When I moved to Mexico – I had never done a load of laundry – boy, was I surprised when I had to wash clothes by hand! I kicked the habit of drinking a daily Dr. Pepper (because I couldn’t find one in the town I lived in) and I learned to speak Spanish.

I can’t say that I LOVED living in Mexico – I was quite lonely and homesick but it is an experience I wouldn’t trade for the world. My eyes were opened to a new world and a different way of living.

My husband is a realtor who helps U.S. Americans & Canadians relocate to Mexico – I’m going to pass this along to his clients and if you don’t mind I’ll put the link to your site in his monthly newsletter.

I also participate on an immigration website and I think your site would be such a valuable tool to the families on that site who relocate to Mexico.

Best wishes on your e-book and your life in Mexico.

–Stephanie Bolton Olvera

I know, part of what makes people willing to enter into relationships with people of another culture is a natural sense of adventure, but you don’t have to move to Mexico blind. You can treat yourself to a guide book that will help you plan for and adjust to living in Mexico. If I don’t convince you, let Amanda, Stephanie, Christina, and the others convince you.