Paradise, La mission, Baja, Mexico

By Tony Brogdon and Marcia Gershenbaum

Is it safe to live in Baja, Mexico? Is it practical? What standard of living can I expect?

These are questions that many American baby-boomers ask themselves when planning to retire or visit in Mexico. They have been convinced by the negative media reports about the reported “violence” here and believe that it is simply not safe to cross the border. Most of these people have only been to the border towns like Tijuana or Juarez and believe that is Mexico. They are unaware that just a few miles further souths there are literally a paradise on earth. Those of us “gringos” who have discovered it and decided to move down here can’t believe what we have found. We have decided to make Mexico our home and would never want to live anywhere else! We are apart of over 1 million Americans living in Mexico.

We live in a small community about 40 miles south of the U S border called La Mission. La Mission is on the coast just about halfway between Rosarito and Ensenada. It is nestled between two huge canyons that support a beautiful river and lagoon. The lagoon runs into the Pacific Ocean under a scenic highway bridge next to a public beach. Nearly all the homes and condos here have spectacular views of both the ocean and mountains. It reminds us of how the Del Mar area of San Diego probably looked about 50 years ago. The biggest difference, besides a lack of freeway traffic, is how affordable it is to live here! Rents and mortgages are about one-third of the cost in the US!

We started this day by going to one of the local restaurants and having our favorite heuvos rancheros, rice, and beans; a delicious breakfast for only $5.00 including coffee. Next we went to the local produce market and purchased 2 dozen fresh eggs, a bag of fresh oranges, fresh tomatoes, and fresh bananas. The total cost was $6.00. Next we filled up the car and, since the government here controls gas prices, we usually spend at least a dollar less per gallon than our friends and family in the US. Not only do we pay less, but we still receive the service gas stations used to provide when we were young, they clean our windows and check the oil! Housing costs and utilities are also much less expensive, about 1/3 of the cost for similar housing in California. The weather is almost always a beautiful 60-70 degrees and being nestled between the ocean and the mountains we will spend the rest of our day enjoying the sound of the surf and beauty of the canyon and river. Later on today there is a folk-dancing festival and rodeo in our little town; Tony will enjoy taking pictures of the activities and the people here!

Tony have been traveling to Mexico from the US for 30 years and made the decision to move here full time nearly one year ago. If I had known what a wonderful place to live in the true since of the word it is, I would have made the move long ago. Both the 30 years traveling here and the experience of living here has been amazing positive. The people are amazing, very hospitable and kind, and there are also 30,000 Americans living in the Rosarito area. These are like-minded people who are here for the same reasons we are, because of the beauty, the freedoms, and the more reasonable cost of living.

In all the time we have spent in Mexico, we have never witnessed a crime of any sort. Instead I have experienced a warm welcome from both my fellow American residents here as well as the Mexican people whose families have lived here for centuries. Tony has found that this is not only a great place to retire, but to open a new business as well. Tony has started a new business called Ground Floor Technology with his partner William Yu. They consult with foreign investors interested in opening new businesses here in Baja. There are many excellent business opportunities here but one of most promising is servicing the growing senior population in regard to health care both in the US and here in Mexico. Many people are unaware that Baja, Mexico is currently the largest center for Alternative medicine and research in the world! When people come from other countries to be treated here it is called Medical Tourism. This industry is booming worldwide due to breakthroughs in technologies such as Stem Cell and other forms of treatment and medical services, Baja is uniquely capable and strategically located to accommodate these growing industries.

Having not only adequate medical care and affordable health care is an important component of living in Baja. Both office visits and prescriptions are much less expensive here than in the US. In addition, our social life has never been so active. In addition to all the wonderful people we have met here, many community activities exist. There is such a local artist community, a local Theatre Guild presenting fantastic theatre due to the actors who have retired in the area, music concerts, golf resorts, and a constant variety of festivals and rodeos. For the sportsman Baja has some of the best fishing in the world, bicycle and off road racing, and we even have our own sand dunes for those who enjoy riding quads and motocross bikes. There are many wonderful restaurants on the ocean serving world-class food, live entertainment, and at very reasonable prices. If you miss living in the US, both north and south less than 30 minutes away are familiar places you may be surprised to see in Mexico such as Super Wall Mart, Costco, Home Depot, first run movies at local movie theatres, Applebee’s, TJ Fridays, Mc Donald’s, Burger King, KFC, Subway, 99 cent stores, and modern shopping malls..

Are you wondering about security? In the past Mexico was known for corrupt and non-professional law enforcement. Today from Tijuana south, the local police officers are highly trained, highly courteous, and very professional. Their equipment is state of the art and does not resemble the police force of even a few years ago. However, the police in Mexico are interested in catching criminals who are actually harming people in some way and are not really interested in policing people just here to enjoy themselves. Because of this if you use firecrackers, camp on the public beaches, let your dog or horse run free without leases or halters, or choose not to wear your seatbelt it is not likely that you will be ticketed. However, if you bring a gun or drugs into the country you are likely to go to jail. Even if you are speeding or have an accident where someone is injured without car insurance, you will suffer the consequences.

In many ways life in Baja is like living in the United States about 50 years ago. However, the populated areas here still provide the things we have become accustomed to such a high-speed internet, Digital TV, and state of the art cell phone technology. Marcia and I and a number of other Americans here operate their home businesses here by use of Internet phone lines. What we appreciate about living here is most of the basic freedoms are still available to people. Dogs and horses are still allowed on public beaches and it isn’t a requirement that everyone live just like everyone else. If you want to paint your home with bright colors that might not be what is pleasing to your neighbor, you are allowed to do so and the neighbor just has to get over it. That type of living is not for everyone but those of us who live here appreciate the principal of it.

Is it safe to live in Baja, Mexico? Yes in many ways safer than many cities outside Mexico. Is it practical? Yes. The quality of life here is amazing at a very affordable price. What can I expect in Mexico? To live longer and happier than anywhere else in the world. Mexico is considered the # 1 retirement Country for Americans in the world.

http://www.bajainvestment.com/

One Journalist’s View

By Linda Ellerbee


Sometimes I’ve been called a maverick because I don’t always agree
with my colleagues, but then, only dead fish swim with the stream all
the time. The stream here is Mexico .

You would have to be living on another planet to avoid hearing how
dangerous Mexico has become, and, yes, it’s true drug wars have
escalated violence in Mexico , causing collateral damage, a phrase I
hate. Collateral damage is a cheap way of saying that innocent people,
some of them tourists, have been robbed, hurt or killed.

But that’s not the whole story. Neither is this. This is my story.

I’m a journalist who lives in New York City , but has spent
considerable time in Mexico , specifically Puerto Vallarta , for the
last four years. I’m in Vallarta now. And despite what I’m getting
from the U.S. media, the 24-hour news networks in particular, I feel
as safe here as I do at home in New York , possibly safer. I walk the
streets of my Vallarta neighborhood alone day or night. And I don’t
live in a gated community, or any other All-Gringo neighborhood. I
live in Mexico . Among Mexicans. I go where I want (which does not
happen to include bars where prostitution and drugs are the basic
products), and take no more precautions than I would at home in New
York; which is to say I don’t wave money around, I don’t act the Ugly
American, I do keep my eyes open, I’m aware of my surroundings, and I
try not to behave like a fool.

I’ve not always been successful at that last one. One evening a friend
left the house I was renting in Vallarta at that time, and,
unbeknownst to me, did not slam the automatically-locking door on her
way out. Sure enough, less than an hour later a stranger did come into
my house. A burglar? Robber? Kidnapper? Killer? Drug lord?

No, it was a local police officer, the “beat cop” for our
neighborhood, who, on seeing my unlatched door, entered to make sure
everything (including me) was okay. He insisted on walking with me
around the house, opening closets, looking behind doors and, yes, even
under beds, to be certain no one else had wandered in, and that
nothing was missing. He was polite, smart and kind, but before he
left, he lectured me on having not checked to see that my friend had
locked the door behind her. In other words, he told me to use my
common sense.

Do bad things happen here? Of course they do. Bad things happen
everywhere, but the murder rate here is much lower than, say, New
Orleans, and if there are bars on many of the ground floor windows of
houses here, well, the same is true where I live, in Greenwich
Village, which is considered a swell neighborhood — house prices start
at about $4 million (including the bars on the ground floor windows).

There are good reasons thousands of people from the United States are
moving to Mexico every month, and it’s not just the lower cost of
living, a hefty tax break and less snow to shovel. Mexico is a
beautiful country, a special place. The climate varies, but is
plentifully mild, the culture is ancient and revered, the young are
loved unconditionally, the old are respected, and I have yet to hear
anyone mention Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, or Madonna’s attempt to
adopt a second African child, even though, with such a late start, she
cannot possibly begin to keep up with Anglelina Jolie.

And then there are the people. Generalization is risky, but— in
general — Mexicans are warm, friendly, generous and welcoming. If you
smile at them, they smile back. If you greet a passing stranger on the
street, they greet you back. If you try to speak even a little
Spanish, they tend to treat you as though you were fluent. Or at least
not an idiot. I have had taxi drivers track me down after leaving my
wallet or cell phone in their cab. I have had someone run out of a
store to catch me because I have overpaid by twenty cents. I have been
introduced to and come to love a people who celebrate a day dedicated
to the dead as a recognition of the cycles of birth and death and
birth — and the 15th birthday of a girl, an important rite in becoming
a woman — with the same joy.

Too much of the noise you’re hearing about how dangerous it is to come
to Mexico is just that — noise. But the media love noise, and too many
journalists currently making it don’t live here. Some have never even
been here. They just like to be photographed at night, standing near a
spotlighted border crossing, pointing across the line to some
imaginary country from hell. It looks good on TV.

Another thing. The U.S. media tend to lump all of Mexico into one big
bad bowl. Talking about drug violence in Mexico without naming a state
or city where this is taking place is rather like looking at the
horror of Katrina and saying, “Damn. Did you know the U.S. is under
water?” or reporting on the shootings at Columbine or the bombing of
the Federal building in Oklahoma City by saying that kids all over the
U.S. are shooting their classmates and all the grownups are blowing up
buildings. The recent rise in violence in Mexico has mostly occurred
in a few states, and especially along the border. It is real, but it
does not describe an entire country.

It would be nice if we could put what’s going on in Mexico in
perspective, geographically and emotionally. It would be nice if we
could remember that, as has been noted more than once, these drug wars
wouldn’t be going on if people in the United States didn’t want the
drugs, or if other people in the United States weren’t selling Mexican
drug lords the guns. Most of all, it would be nice if more people in
the United States actually came to this part of America ( Mexico is
also America , you will recall) to see for themselves what a fine
place Mexico really is, and how good a vacation (or a life) here can
be.

So come on down and get to know your southern neighbors. I think
you’ll like it here. Especially the people.


www.bajainvestment.com

Is Mexico safer than New Orleans?

Posted by Jason Clampet at 3/26/2009

I've been a big fan of Baja California ever since I lived in Los Angeles and began taking frequent trips to the peninsula. I'm not sure, though, how accurate my impressions of the place are now, considering that I spent all of my time there before the uptick in violence that began in 2008. From the recent press reports and the warnings coming from the State Department as well as TV talk-show hosts, you'd think all of Mexico was a death trap waiting to snap shut on you as soon as you cleared customs in Tijuana, Mexico City, Cancun, or Cabo San Lucas.

I got sick of sifting through all the "don't go to Mexico" stories out there, so I emailed Hugo Torres, the mayor of Rosarito, for some perspective. Rosarito, a 20-minute drive from downtown Tijuana, became a hot spot in the early 2000s for southern Californians seeking affordable second homes. It's also a popular weekend spot for college kids and soldiers from the San Diego area.

Torres has a few biases, to say the least: in addition to being mayor, his family has long owned Rosarito's most notable hotel (Sinatra, Orson Welles, and Rita Hayworth were a few of its guests from Hollywood's Golden Age). But he's not an idiot, which is why he's not going to say "come on down, it's safe" if he thinks that'll lead to San Diego surfer getting kidnapped.



"The best way [to know what's going on] is to talk to our frequent visitors or some of the 14,000 expatriates who live here," Mayor Torres emailed me. "They know from first-hand experience that Rosarito is safe and welcoming, perhaps more so than ever."


"The inaccurate perception of insecurity here has greatly reduced tourism. That perception, along with the U.S. economic slump, also has deeply impacted residential building. Together, it has been a tough economic hit. About 5 restaurants closed in this period, so far, one hotel closed for previous problem aggravated by the current crisis. Approximately 1,500 jobs have been lost."

A number of residential developments have been suspended or shut down completely, including a Trump condo tower that would have likely been a debacle with or without the violence and economic slump. Yesterday, Rosarito delayed until August a pro surfing contest that was to be held in April, citing a lack of sponsors and the need to wait until the media frenzy died down.

Torres trusts that will happen soon enough. "In general, the media that know us best and cover us most closely have presented the most accurate portrait. This includes, foremost, the San Diego Union-Triubune and also the Los Angeles Times. Pete Thomas, who writes the "Outposts" blog for the Times, has been excellent. Many of the sensationalized stories are done by reporters who seldom --- and sometimes never --- visit the area."

Like other Mexico boosters, Torres pushes the cartel-on-cartel violence story line. "The violence we have had has been primarily between rival factions of a drug cartels as more pressure is brought upon them; our visitors are not targeted nor is the typical resident affected. However, the inaccurate perception of insecurity here has greatly reduced tourism."

A vast majority -- over 90% by just about any count -- of those that have been killed in Tijuana and other cities are related to the drug trade in one way or another. It's also true that the violence is so concentrated in certain cities that there is rarely spillover into nearby towns, let alone other states. Baja California Sur, which takes up the southern half of the peninsula and includes La Paz and the Los Cabos area, had one drug-related murder this year, making the area safer than just about any city in the United States. Torres and others have pointed out that New Orleans, which almost everyone in the travel industry encourages people to visit, ranked third in 2008 for the most murders per capita in the world -- just between Cape Town, South Africa and Moscow, Russia.

That doesn't mean people shouldn't be careful when traveleing there. "We'd give pretty much the same advice that works for travelers anywhere," Torres says. "Stay in the popular tourist and business areas and avoid ones where things like drug dealing and prostitution occur. That won't be hard to do."


Photo credit:
Guadalupe Valley vineyards
Photo by jasoncedit

Gustavo Torres
www.bajainvestment.com

College Project Focuses On Media Accuracy in The Coverage of Rosarito Beach, Mexico

By Ron Raposa

A public affairs class from Boston’s prestigious Emerson College for the second year will focus on conveying an accurate picture of this tourist city and dispelling misleading U.S. media reports.

The RediscoveRosarito project is that of a graduate class in public affairs led by Emerson College professor Gregory Payne, whose family also has a home in the tourist and vacation city 30 miles south of San Diego.

Payne originated the idea for the project in international public affairs after seeing some U.S. media reports that presented a picture of Rosarito far removed from the city that he had known for years and to which he is a frequent visitor.
“One of our major objectives it to ensure that the stories and narratives are backed with facts and not sensationalized solely to get the attention of the public,” Payne said.

“Last year and this year, we see the mediated reality at odds with the facts. Rosarito is a safe and secure city for tourists to visit and expatriates to move to and enjoy the Baja Mexican lifestyle.”
He cited a recent segment on ABC World News Tonight as an example of misleading coverage.

“Mexico under the leadership of President Felipe Calderon is conducting a serious battle against drug cartels. But despite what some media reports have indicated, regular residents and visitors to Baja California are not the targets.”
Rosarito Mayor Hugo Torres said he was very appreciative of the work of Payne and his class, 10 of whose members visited Rosarito when the project was launched. He said that inaccurate perceptions had badly damaged the city’s tourism-based economy.

“It’s gratifying to have such a prestigious U.S. college as Emerson advocating for us and helping our story be told in a fair and balanced way,” Torres said. “With our new tourist police force and other steps, Rosarito with its population of 14,000 expatiates is safer and more welcoming than ever.”

Emerson students this year will continue the bi-lingual RediscoveRosarito website, the second Rosarito Student Film Festival, and a media ethics project - rosaritofactcheck - dedicated to making sure the media’s message is fair and accurate.
The results of this media audit will be presented at the National Communication Association`s Annual Convention in Chicago this November and at the International Academy of Business Disciplines Annual Convention in Los Angeles, Spring, 2010.

Results of the audit will also be submitted to Media Ethics, a scholarly publication on the role of ethics and the media, as well as to local news affiliates in California and Mexico, Payne said.
Emerson students also are working on a collaborative project with students from Southern California colleges dedicated to promoting Rosarito as a great place for spring break and weekend trips.
A public relations campaign will be developed to promote this effort by the class at Emerson, founded in 1880 as the only school devoted exclusively to communication,

RE/MAX Baja Realty
www.remax-baja.com

Going for the green

Going for the green
Tiger Woods backs residential golf resort planned for Baja, but potential effect on the environment brings out critics
By Jose Luis Jiménez
STAFF WRITER
2:00 a.m. February 8, 2009

Rock outcroppings frame the view toward Islas de Todos Santos in the Pacific Ocean; sea lions play in the clear blue water; caves shelter the shells left by indigenous people who roamed the area hundreds of years ago.
Even as worldwide economic troubles continue to mount, the property near Ensenada is expected to join the development trend this summer as work begins to transform it into a golf course designed by Tiger Woods. Punta Brava, the developers say, will be breathtaking.
But unless you have at least $3 million to buy an estate home site or a villa, don't bother calling for a tee time when the ultra-private course opens, scheduled for 2011. Only homeowners and their guests will be allowed to play it.
Some real estate experts question the wisdom of developing a high-priced golf club in the midst of a slumping global economy. It is also in an area known more for spring breakers and retired U.S. expats than as an exclusive tourist destination. In addition, a high level of violent crime in Mexico, mainly fueled by drug gangs, has made headlines in the United States and across the world.
Local environmentalists also are concerned about the potential damage that could be done to the coastal environment by the introduction of non-native grass and the chemicals needed to keep it green.
Texas-based developer Brady Oman pledges nothing will reach the ocean, except for a few errant golf shots. In a recent interview, Oman said the company is committed to keeping the $100 million project as environmentally friendly as possible.
He also said the development is fully financed, thanks to the deep pockets of Red McCombs, who co-founded media giant Clear Channel Communications.
And he expects well-to-do golf lovers will be lining up to purchase property so they can play on only the third course designed by Woods. Developers say that with water on three sides and a 1,200-foot peak at the entry to the project, the location is secure.
“We are really confident because of the site, the team of developers and the proximity to Southern California,” Oman said. “The site is a once-in-a-lifetime site.”
Oman, who has developed golf-and-housing projects in Texas, started scouting the peninsula several years ago. Another member of the development team found the site in 2006, near the famous La Bufadora sea geyser and about 10 miles west of Highway 1, the main north-south route in Baja California. An Ensenada family that planned to use the 300 acres for retreats sold the property and got a five-acre estate on the site.
Next was getting the partners on board. Woods visited the site in 2007, committed to the development and stopped by again after his dramatic U.S. Open win at Torrey Pines last summer.
With Woods on board, Oman said it was easy to get McCombs to back the deal. After the announcement of the project at a Beverly Hills hotel in October, a sales office was opened in downtown San Diego. A helicopter is available to fly potential buyers to the property, where the par-70 golf course is staked out, along with the locations of the clubhouse, spa and an ocean club with a pool.
So far, 12 people have committed to purchasing at the development, including Woods himself. A total of 40 estate home sites and 100 villas will be sold. Owners will have the opportunity to hosts guests at 20 of the villas; the exact arrangements are being worked out, according to the developers.
Approximately 750 people will be employed during the construction phase, with 200 permanent jobs afterward. Potable water will be provided by a desalination plant, and irrigation water will drain into retention ponds, which will then be recycled through a treatment plant, Oman said.
“Nothing goes into the ocean,” Oman said.
While local environmentalists applaud the steps taken to lessen the environmental impacts, the immediate surroundings will be affected, said Juan Manuel Rodríguez, who heads the department of urban and environmental studies at Colegio de la Frontera Norte, or COLEF, a Tijuana-area think tank.
Manuel, who attended the public hearing for the project last month before Mexico's environmental agency, cited three areas of concern.
The first is the adverse impact that earth moving and grading would have on the animals and plants that inhabit the site and nearby waters. Next, the area is a “dry coastal zone,” and introducing lots of water and chemicals would change the indigenous vegetation.
Lastly, dumping the highly concentrated salt residue produced by desalination plants into the ocean could harm the sea plants and creatures near the outfall.
“Little by little, the grass on the golf course will invade the indigenous coastal vegetation,” Manuel said. “What the people of Ensenada want is that the beautiful coastal views and access to the surrounding waters be preserved.”
The development along northern Baja California's Pacific coast is turning it into an extension of urban Southern California, said Horacio de la Cueva, a specialist in biological conservation with CICESE, a scientific think tank near Ensenada.
“One of the things Baja California has to offer is natural beauty. And many people are willing to pay to enjoy that experience,” he said.
Golf courses are not environmentally friendly, but instead “green asphalt,” de la Cueva said.
“Once they destroy the landscape, it will never return.”
With only 120 properties for sale, the developers have little inventory to sell compared with other golf course developments. But high prices, comparable to ocean-view properties in La Jolla, could make it a difficult sale in what many economists call a worldwide recession that may last for years, said Leonard Baron, a lecturer at SDSU's business school.
The local real estate expert also questions the location near Ensenada, which is not known as a world-class tourist spot, like Cabo San Lucas to the south. Recent headlines about violence in Mexico also may make people question whether it is a wise investment.
There is also the larger issue of buying property in a foreign country and being subject to its laws.
“You're trying to create a place for people to go to that they wouldn't traditionally go to,” Baron said. “Do I want to live in such a remote area? What is the long-term viability? Those may be questions potential buyers are asking.”
Oman said the property title is clear and title insurance will be offered through a U.S. company.
Further, the Mexican government has adopted reforms to real estate laws to avoid the nightmare scenarios some Americans have experienced in the region, said Oscar Escobedo, Baja California's tourism secretary.
In 2000, more than 200 U.S. citizens at Punta Banda, which is a few miles from the Punta Brava site, were evicted after being caught in the middle of a coastal property dispute between a communal landholding group and private owners. They were forcibly removed from their homes when the land was restored to the private landowners.
The secretary said he is well aware of the tough economic climate. He noted that 18 developments between Tijuana and Ensenada have been halted for financial reasons.
But Escobedo said he is confident Punta Brava, which is expected to be permitted within a few weeks, will succeed and bring a new class of high-end tourism to the region as owners invite friends and business partners to play golf. He said he believes the current crime wave, which his office has blamed for as much as a 70 percent drop in visitors across the Mexican state, will pass and that tourism will rebound. “This golf course has the potential of putting Baja California on the map as a worldwide golf destination,” Escobedo said in an interview. “I don't see the current violence having a long-term impact. This is not the first time, nor the last, that Mexico goes through a crisis.”

A Tip of the Sombrero to…Mexico

Friday, Sept. 12, 2008
Author: Suzan Haskins


Top dog. The big Kahuna. The hot tamale. Mexico has once again grabbed the golden ring and sits in the No. 1 spot on International Living’s Global Retirement Index.

I’m not surprised, of course. I’ve been extolling Mexico’s comforts and charms for some time.

And I’m not alone. More Americans and Canadian who have retired abroad have chosen Mexico…over every other country in the world.

Depending on where they settle, many are drawn by the incomparable weather, gorgeous scenery, and inexpensive lifestyle. Prices of everything are roughly one-third what they are in the U.S. and Canada. Housing styles range from basic to luxurious, and all are affordable on most retiree budgets.

But it’s more than that, of course. Mexico is like a giant pot of delicious stew—there’s a lot brewing and there’s something for almost everyone. Modern and traditional, rich and poor, pagan and pious, sweet and sour.

Sure, Mexico has its problems. Every place does. But the allure of its charms will cause you to ignore its blemishes. There are countless reasons for the attraction…many people are drawn by the low cost of living, but they stay because they fall in love with the colorful setting and the laidback lifestyle—and the Mexican people.

Mexicans, in general, are gentle, kind, soft spoken, and excruciatingly polite. They greet everyone with a hug or, for women, a kiss on the cheek. You rarely see children misbehaving or hear them crying. Even the dogs are friendly.

Mexicans are service oriented. Not in the terms of what “service” means to you, probably, but in the sense that they take pleasure in doing things for other people. The guy on the bicycle who parks in the middle of the block to sharpen knives, the young man who peddles cups of sweet corn or creamy custards from house to house, the policeman who stops traffic so you can cross the street, the woman who sells flowers in the little shop around the corner…it’s always service with a smile and a heartfelt thank you in Mexico.

If you need something, you can get it. Simple as that. You can go to a modern shopping mall. Or better, you can go to a local artisan. The pride of craftsmanship is alive and well here. Men pass the skills of carpentry, glass-blowing, upholstering, wood-carving, and a host of other traditional trades on to their sons. Mothers teach their daughters the art of cooking, sewing, weaving, pottery, and other time-honored crafts.

Three and four generations of family members often live under the same roof, in fact. They share meals and chores, happiness and sorrow. The elderly are honored for their contributions and their wisdom. Many Mexican families aren’t well off financially (although there’s a growing middle class), but they’re happy.

Workers often play their music as loudly as possible and sing at the top of their lungs. Mexico is not a quiet place, mind you. It’s a place where dilapidated Volkswagen bugs with loudspeakers blare the news of the political party they support or the products they’re selling to all within earshot. A place where fireworks go off at all hours of the night and day…set off by schools and churches for reasons apparent only to their members…or for no reason at all.

Mexico is a time warp where no one is in a rush and what doesn’t get accomplished today “might” get done tomorrow. Expats quickly learn that the word “mañana” is actually a euphemism for “whenever.” Instead, we’ve learned not too worry so much about “things” that “need to be done.” We shrug, take a seat, and put our feet up…

I can’t think of a better way…or a better place…to watch the world go by.

Regards,

Suzan Haskins
Your Latin America Insider, International Living

GUSTAVO TORRES
www.remax-baja.com
1-866-588-2252