So the best part of living in Mexico is having access to American popular culture
censored:ty popular culture, no less)?
Getting Better All the Time
- Thread starter vantexan
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So the best part of living in Mexico is having access to American popular culture
censored:ty popular culture, no less)?No
No, the best part of Mexico for an American with limited Spanish is to live decently for a reasonable amount. Familiar things make the culture shock easier. The metro area of Guadalajara is over 4 million and the traffic looks like a kicked over ant hill. My cab drove through vast stretches of hard core industrial zones and poor colonias. I could spend my pension with my own very nice apartment in a secure neighborhood, eating at nice restaurants, talking to locals who speak good English. I could choose to get a very basic apartment in a working class neighborhood where no one speaks English and everything is rough around the edges. And just coping with basics would be difficult daily. I'm choosing something in between. I ride the bus, which anyone with wealth here just doesn't do. And before you say big deal the busses are packed like sardines, aisles full of standing people. Saw a mom and her small son standing on stairs by front door yesterday. And driver had door open! Rule of thumb: things here for something comparable to the States cost about half as much. Live on $1000 a month in the States? At most $500 here and you'd be doing better than a lot of people. Live on $8000 a month in the States? $4000 a month will buy a very nice lifestyle here. There are plenty of people here with money. Just a lot more without.So the best part of living in Mexico is having access to American popular culture
I'm pretty good at dodging the machine gun turrets. It's the grenade launchers I worry about. They just drop out of the sky. Our bus driver got hit the other day. Had to push him out of the way and drive the bus around the burning debris. Still beats working at FedEx!
olroadbeech
Happy Verified UPSer
I love Mexico. The people down there are a lot friendlier than in the states. I like travelling to the poor sections. the bars are fabulous. We had steak and beers for less than 10 dollars.
Most of the people we met would give you the shirt off their backs to help you.
I never thought of ourselves as tourists. we don't act like them. just exploring out of curiosity. and we did not spend hardly any time with gringos. we liked hanging out with the locals.
if we ever considered leasing a place we would do it in a regular neighborhood and not one those americano gated communities. lame.
Most of the people we met would give you the shirt off their backs to help you.
I never thought of ourselves as tourists. we don't act like them. just exploring out of curiosity. and we did not spend hardly any time with gringos. we liked hanging out with the locals.
if we ever considered leasing a place we would do it in a regular neighborhood and not one those americano gated communities. lame.
Most people in gated communities are wealthy Mexicans. And they have walls and 24/7 security for a reason. Burglary is not just a possibility but a fact of life here. I feel perfectly safe walking around, riding the bus, etc. But if I had a house full of stuff here, the kind of stuff you take for granted in the States, I would have the kind of security that would look like overkill in the States. Not talking about multimillionaires, but solid middle class people who worked hard for what they have and want to keep it. Mexico has it's issues, but the kind of stuff some here mention is mostly happening to people mixed up in the drug trade. It's not a war zone, but it's not Disneyland either. I'm sitting in a Carl's Jr right now surrounded by people looking at their smartphones. A soundtrack is playing mostly American music in English. It just feels normal here. I can go a short distance from here and it looks like Beirut. Not bombed out, but worn out, dilapidated, rebar everywhere. Reality in a developing nation.
Not that I've seen! Currently sitting in a Chili's.
Dude, I know we have had our differences, but in all seriousness I'm going to give you some heartfelt advice: if you want a chance at keeping your diabetes in check, STOP EATING AT CHAIN RESTAURANTS! For goodness sake, you are always bragging about the amazing food in Mexico, and yet every time you post you're in some chain restaurant.
Who says I don't eat at Mexican restaurants? One I wanted to eat at wasn't open yet, wanted to get online. By the way everyone here is Mexican and the menu looks nothing like an American Chili's. Why are you so concerned with controlling others?
Regardless of the cuisine, chain restaurant "food" is designed for longevity - meaning salt, sugar, fat.
I'm just giving sound advice; every dietitian on the face of the planet would agree.
In fairness to Guadalajara rode the bus all the way to downtown the other day. Took an hour and 20 minutes. This city is huge, and there's so much more to it than what I had explored so far. I've barely scratched the surface. Walked around downtown for an hour, saw a lot of hip people that would fit in easily in NYC. Very urban, and I only covered a small portion. Got back on the bus and headed home. Oh, talked to bus driver who lived 20 years in San Jose, CA. Still has house, ex-wife, and kid there. He got caught with a lot of money he couldn't explain the origins of and spent 3 years in a Federal prison, then deported. Never a dull moment here!
