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Posted in Retire in Mexico

Dear Friends and Family.

I apologize for my tardiness in this post.  I have been working seriously on  learning this world of internet marketing.  As you can see from the new page links on this site, I am developing many additional areas of interest.  As a result I have found little time to update our personal  web page.  To fill the gap I am posting below an interesting article I found about life in Mexico.  It is certainly food for thought.  I think Mr. Bower and I may be kindred spirits on some things. He also rants about expats hiding in their secluded enclaves in other articles.

Living in Mexico – The Effects of Tourism
By Douglas Bower

Have you ever wondered if mass tourism actually spoils the very thing it comes to observe in a foreign country? I’ve been wondering this a lot lately. Does the onslaught of tourists flooding into a particular place to enjoy what that place has to offer end up becoming the source of that place’s ruination?

This is both confusing and, of course, a bit hypocritical of me, a travel writer, to even suggest. It has, however, been on my mind.

More than once, I’ve met or corresponded with those who have visited my adopted home of Guanajuato because of the articles my wife and I write. Based on our first two books, one couple attributes their moving to Guanajuato to us. So, in a very real sense I am a source of this problem. I am drawing people here. Hypocrisy?

Massive tourism can put a strain in the infrastructure of any place. Basic services such as water gets stretched to the max. Water, something Americans take for granted, is not as renewable a resource in Guanajuato as it is in most places in the States.

Guanajuato is a mountain desert with a Steppe Climate. It is dependent on the annual rainfall (or lack thereof) to refresh and replenish its reservoirs. The current problem is the last two rainy seasons have not been “up to snuff.” The rains have been sadly lacking and now we’re in trouble.

The influx of tourism this year is making it worse. It seems the tourists just keep coming and coming. This is a good thing for the merchants but how will the city keep the water flowing? Normally, the city implements water rationing measures.

The city cuts off the water supply to certain residential areas throughout the city in hopes of conserving water. Rationing in the neighborhoods is even more severe when the tourists come in hordes, straining the system in the hotels and hostels. The city officials cut water off from the residents so the tourists can bathe and flush the toilets.

The priority here seems a bit a skewed. Are not the city services meant for those who support these services by paying their taxes? I mean, who should come first, the tourists or the citizens of Guanajuato?

One of my wife’s private ESL students told her a horrifying example of how this water shortage works:

1. They have to take sponge baths with their bottled drinking water that they heat on the stove.

2. They have to find a friend or family member somewhere outside the neighborhood with running water to take a weekly shower.

3. Her husband and son have to walk to a public water source to fill buckets with water to flush the toilet.

This goes on while water for the tourists flows freely. I can guarantee you the tourists don’t have to go in search of water to go potty or to sponge out their pits.

It would be lovely if there were a steady and renewable supply of water all the time for everyone. There isn’t! And it seems to me that those who live here, who raise their families here, should have priority.

The main problem is the tourism season for most Americans and Canadians is June through August. That is our rainy season, and if the rains don’t come-there is no water.

Would the tourist season suffer? Maybe. But, the tourists would then be able to have an opportunity to see first hand how real Mexicans in Central Mexico are often forced to live.

THE PLAIN TRUTH ABOUT LIVING IN MEXICO

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Douglas_Bower
http://EzineArticles.com/?Living-in-Mexico—The-Effects-of-Tourism&id=256800

Posted in Retire in Mexico

Retire in Mexico, What’s the Pull Factors? Here Are 6 Irresistible Ones For You
By Cecelia Yap

Why do you think so many people want to retire in Mexico?

It must have many, many irresistible “pull” factors for people wanting to flock there in droves.

Let’s see what are these “pull” factors and whether you buy into them and want to join the crowd as well, I mean, to retire in Mexico.

1. Short Distance From The US

Distance wise, Mexico is near. You can drive to Mexico. Save you some money on the air ticket. It’s convenient and cheap for you to cross border, should you want to visit your family in the US or they to visit you.

2. Low Cost Of Living

Mexico is a steal of a place for affordable living as you pay almost half (sometimes even more than half) of what you pay in the US for housing, food, transportation, entertainment, utilities and health care.

Feel the desire to splurge a bit? You can hire daily domestic help to take care of the mundane household chores for a low, low fee per hour. See, the low cost of living allows you to splurge on luxuries that otherwise could be steep in the US……

3. A Food Haven

You get an abundant of fresh fruits and vegetables all year round and they taste great because of their freshness. The freshness is because Mexican farmers pick their produce at the peak and sell them in the market the very next day, unlike the practice where farmers pick their produce green and let them ripen in transit.

As for food, the melding of cultures contributes greatly to the melding of foods and food preparation. Mexican cuisine is enhanced by an incredible array of fresh fruits and vegetables. Herbs like cilantro, thyme, marjoram and the pungent epazote and spices like cinnamon, clove, anise and cumin frequently flavor your pot too.

The food almost certainly contains good ingredients and Mexicans are gifted cooks and seem to know how to give a dish that extra zing to make it special. They can take a simple salsa Mexicana to new heights with a touch of cilantro and lime, while a complex mole sauce always tastes heavenly thanks to over 30 carefully-chosen herbs and spices thrown in and left to slowly simmer in the pot.

Yummy, yummy, yummy Mexican food…

4. Rich Culture

Mexico is rich with history and steeped in culture since it has a more pronounced culture than any other countries in Latin America (with the exception of Brazil and Argentina).

The culture reflects the complexity of Mexico’s history through the blending of pre-Hispanic Meso-American civilizations and the culture of Spain, imported during the Spanish colonization of Mexico, which lasted for more than 300 years. Hence the Spanish influence and heritage are deep and rooted here.

You’ll enjoy this richness of history and culture and experience the splendour of Spanish culture’s unique offing. You’ll have a wonderful time getting acquainted with the beautiful people and local buzz in terms of literature, arts, music, dance and songs.

5. Good Infrastructure

Mexico is modern, with better highways than many parts of Latin America and an excellent telephone and Internet infrastructure that connects you pronto with the rest of the world. This level of infrastructure would be important to you if you don’t want to be “inconvenienced by inconveniences”, so to speak.

6. Plenty Of Socializing And Entertainment

If you love to socialize and entertain, Mexico is the best place for you to make friends and get merry. Here, eating out is an important form of entertainment.

The Mexicans have turned Mexico and their cities into world-class sources of art and entertainment for virtually every taste.

Whether you’re into modern art museums, avant-garde theater, gallery exhibitions, cult cinema, mariachi bands, dancing to every kind of music from salsa to techno, or just a great corner cantina, you’ll find some parts of the country dedicated to that particular form of expression.

Any urge to do salsa dancing? Cabaret? Singing? No problem at all.

Does retire in Mexico sounds exciting to you? Welcome on board, mate!

Due to her strong yearning to retire early in life, Cecelia Yap has been researching on the subject of retirement. She has found the most “viral” way to grow her retirement nest egg and you too can do what she does, here: http://www.perfect-body-toning.com/my-passion.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cecelia_Yap
http://EzineArticles.com/?Retire-in-Mexico,-Whats-the-Pull-Factors?-Here-Are-6-Irresistible-Ones-For-You&id=1231629

Posted in Retire in Mexico