Reasons to Fall in Love with Mexico

The People
Mexican people are known for their warmth, good humor and hospitality. In world surveys about happiness, they regularly come out to be one of the happiest nations. Everyone is always welcome at their fiestas, baptisms, weddings, and a host of other events with family and friends.

The Food
The most well-known Mexican dish is chili con carne which we have never seen on a menu in Mexico. Mexican food is cheap (unless you want to eat at expensive International restaurants), plentiful and astonishing in its variety. Every region has its own cuisine. The food can indeed be hot through the use of many kinds of chiles, but also includes many other tastes and sensations.

Carlos Fuentes claims there r five major gastronomic traditions in the world. French, Italian, Spanish and Mexican.
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Living in Mexico

When you live in Mexico you can truly enjoy the good life.

Just across the border from the U.S. , Mexico is now “closer than ever” – that’s a motto used by the Mexican Tourism Association – and as many expats are choosing to live in Mexico, we couldn’t agree more.

What does that mean exactly? Well, in terms of physical proximity, Mexico is the closes southern neighbor to the U.S. and a NAFTA partner, with all the good roads, high-speed communications, and top notch health care that you’d expect up north. Those who move to Mexico find living and doing business there to be very easy.

Mexico is served by a large number of international airports with regularly scheduled flights from all over the world. But imagine having the option of driving from the U.S. or Canada to explore this magnificent country in your own car, at your own pace. Imagine returning to the U.S. and not having to worry about skyrocketing airfare or – perish the thought – disrupted air service caused by strikes, weather or other delays.

By living in Mexico you will be ble to enjoy its rich culture and customs.

Previous administrations did little in the way of infrastructure improvements, but President Filipe Calderon seems committed to allocating funds for new and expanded road, ports and telecommunications infrastructure. This goes hand in hand with increased privatization, which will allow concessions in the national airport network and the telecommunications sector. The idea is that all of those improvements will further encourage and facilitate commerce.
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Those of you who know me know that I hate to belabor a point but I can’t help, yet again, pointing out one of our greatest asset in Ajijic, Lake Chapala and that is our weather.

Although it may be true that in December and January we may need to put on a sweater or sweatshirt we never have to dig ourselves out of mountains of snow or watch our vehicles be trashed by snow clearing units. Snow is something we see only on television and this winter we have seen a lot of it.

Can you imagine being stuck in an airport and not being able to get to your family and friends for the holidays or waiting on the tarmac for up to 11 hours either because of the snow or gate unavailability? This would particularly trying if you had small children in tow or any children for that matter.

Skiers have been falling off cable cars because of high winds and California has yet again been declared a disaster area because of the flooding and mud slides.

The northeast seems to have an indefinite “blizzard warning” and New York city is up in arms as help is very slow in reaching those in trouble because of the snow and cold.

Airports have been closed all over the US and Europe and this has truly been the holiday travel season from hell.

On the other hand, those of us lucky enough to reside in Ajijic, Lake Chapala have been enjoying a very seasonal December. Yes, it is a little cool at night but the days are still warm and sunny and golf and tennis are still being played daily and the hardier of us are still enjoying our meals and morning coffee overlooking beautiful Lake Chapala on our (more…)

Published in CRA Magazine Inside Winter 2003 Edition

From the depths of the Canadian winter, it is tempting to consider the delights of relocating or retiring to Mexico. Canadian expat and real estate agent Kevin Collins explores one aspect of the dream – buying a house in the idyllic village of Ajijic on Lake Chapala.

Buying Into Mexico
Fifty years ago, the first North American expats settled in the Lake Chapala region of Mexico. Today, the best estimate of the foreign population is between 5,000 and 6,000, about half of whom are Canadian.
I came to Ajijic eight years ago and found what was, for me, an ideal combination of location, people and weather. Ajijic is a small town, with little tourist traffic. However, proximity to cosmopolitan Guadalajara and to the international airport ensure that the town is not isolated. A four-hour drive will take me to the beautiful Pacific Ocean or to one of at least ten historic and charming colonial cities. The people of Ajijic could not be kinder or more tolerant of the expats who share their town: being polite is an art form here. So many Mexicans speak English that it is possible to get along with very little Spanish (mine is limited to the topics of food, beverage and golf), but I know that I have missed a great deal by not taking advantage of the many opportunities to study it properly!

REAL ESTATE REALITIES

To provide stability against the fluctuating Peso, houses here are priced in U.S. dollars. More that 95 per cent of home sales are cash deals. Occasionally owners are willing to take back some financing for a year or two but this is unusual and any problems can be tied up in the local court system. While there is a misconception that you cannot obtain a direct deed in Mexico, this is only true of areas close to a border or the ocean. Establishing clear title is handled by a specialized lawyer or notary appointed by the government to deal with all real estate transactions. While remarkably few problems arise, you may wish to get references from recent clients.

Since there are no disclosure laws to speak of, make sure your agent informs you of any problems with the physical structure of the home you are considering. While this sounds very scary, the truth is that there aren’t that many major problems with the homes here, and repairs are relatively inexpensive. Closing costs, which are the responsibility of the buyer, are largely based on the fiscal evaluation that the municipality puts on the property. You must sign an application as a foreigner buying property under the laws of Mexico (this costs approximately $430 (U.S.) for each person buying the property). Other costs include the notary fees and the taxes, which are 2 per cent of the fiscal evaluation. Generally speaking, if you are using a reputable realtor and a good notary, the buying process should be quite painless and straightforward. Because of the region’s popularity with expats, housing prices have risen in recent years. Land in the prime areas is limited because there is a fairly narrow strip that runs along the lakeshore and up the hillside above Lake Chapala where you can purchase and build. Above this land is “Ejido” property, set aside for the use of the indigenous population. Most stories about foreigners having problems with their property in Mexico involve people illegally selling Ejido land. While housing prices may be steeper than you expected, property taxes are rarely over $200 (U.S.) a year and domestic help averages around $2 (U.S.) an hour. Few people bother with air conditioning or heating (other than ceiling fans and a fireplace), and utilities are much less expensive than in Canada or the U.S. Combine these benefits with the tax advantages of living abroad and you’ll agree with a client of mine who said, “I’m not wealthy but I always wanted to live like a rich person, and I can do that here.”

LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION

People here will say with great conviction that wherever they live is the best place to be. Many people initially look for property in the old village of Ajijic, but later realize that they are unlikely to find lake views in the village, and it can be noisy at times. While newcomers tend to harbour the romantic notion that they can walk everywhere, most people find they do need a car. Areas such as La Floresta and Villa Nova are walkable to the village but quieter, with wide streets and good quality homes. Up the hill there are more gated communities with wonderful views, and it’s a little quieter (Mexico can be a noisy place: dogs, roosters and music are everywhere, but you do get used to it after a while!). The Racquet Club has wonderful views, nice common pool area and lots of tennis activities, but it is a 10- to 12-minute drive from town. That does not sound like much but your world shrinks here and it is too far out for some people. You get more for your money outside the prime areas, but resale becomes a real issue if you get too far out. The exception to this rule might be the Chapala Country Club area, which has a nine-hole golf course and a good social scene. However, it may be too far away from the amenities of Ajijic for non-golfers. No two homes in Ajijic are alike. The houses are as eclectic as the people who choose to settle here, and while that makes living here fun, it takes some getting used to. Even the best neighbourhoods will have a series of wonderful houses and then a cornfield in the middle of everything. The local custom of building houses behind walls enhances privacy and security, and maximizes utilization of space.

RESEARCH

The best way to begin gathering information about the Lake Chapala region is to get on the Internet, starting with . While common sense would suggest renting for a season to two before buying, it can be difficult to find a long-term rental; most people use their homes here for at least half the year. It is hard (but not impossible) to find a decent rental from American Thanksgiving through Easter. The only slow period is from Easter till the middle of June, when people from Texas, Arizona and Florida arrive to escape the heat during the summer months. An excellent accommodation base for a fact-finding mission to Ajijic is La Nueva Posada, a small, charming hotel located in the village of Ajijic right on the shore of Lake Chapala (e-mail: ). It is owned and operated by the Eager family, Canadians who have been here since 1975. The Eagers are a good source of information on any number of subjects. You might want to book early because they have only 19 rooms and four garden suites (the latter with kitchens and living rooms). As someone once said, ”People buy with their hearts and then justify it with logic.” So if you fall in love with a place, don’t fight it. You don’t have to make a hasty decision, but remember, paralysis through analysis could keep you from moving anywhere! Meanwhile, “Hasta lo mas pronto posible!” (Spanish phrase for “See you real soon, eh!”).

The Mexico They Never Left

by Roger Toll, former Editor of Mexico City News (Delta Sky Magazine, February 2006)

Near Guadalajara, the lakeside town of Ajijic has proven irresistible to many Americans. Here’s why.

If the cherished ideals of human unity and harmony between cultures remain hard to achieve, maybe we’d best look to a basic biological concept for a solution. Symbiosis, the dictionary says, is the life association of two dissimilar organisms for mutual benefit. I thought of this on a recent visit to Ajijic (pronounced “ah-HEE-heek”), the prettiest of several towns laced together by a two-lane highway running along the northwest shore of Mexico’s largest lake, Chapala, 45 minutes south of Guadalajara. It is midsummer, the rainy season, where the air is soft and the surrounding mountains turn an exuberant tropical green. The setting is bucolic, Old World, with a rustic church and peaceful plaza, and a gazebo waiting for a band to arrive. Cobblestone streets slow traffic to a genteel crawl, and people come and go, murmuring a polite “buenos dias” as they amble by.

It is a scene replicated in thousands of towns throughout Mexico. But in one way, Ajijic and its lakeside neighbours–Jocotopec, San Juan Cosala, San Antonio Tlayacapan, Chapala–stand alone, not only in Mexico, but in the world. For they are home to the largest population of Americans and Canadians living outside their own countries. This being Mexico, no one is quite sure how many foreigners there are, nor does anyone seem to know the total population of these lakeside towns. But guesses place the foreigners at about 10,000 during the high season of winter, amid a total population of 60,000.

Ever since Americans began migrating to Ajijic in the 1950s, detractors have said it’s where old gringos go to die. Granted, most of the foreigners are retired, though more and more younger people have made the move after corporations began offering early retirement. Reduced incomes become a lot more elastic in the Latin American economy, and the lakeside’s perfect, spring-like weather, with average temperatures ranging between 67 and 78 degrees Fahrenheit (19-26 Celsius) year-round, seems like a dream to long-suffering veterans of harsh winters or sizzling summers. Comfortable, stylish homes, even Spanish Colonial gems, are half the price of their equivalents back home, and employing a full-time gardener and a maid or cook is no longer an unjustifiable luxury. Labor, goods, and restaurant meals are impressively inexpensive. Life is comfortable and relaxed, and there’s little cause to hurry anywhere.

“I’m on the younger side of the expatriate curve here,” says Kevin Collins, a wry, 49-year-old former advertising executive from Toronto who moved here a decade ago. “But the average age of foreigners is coming down pretty quickly, probably around early 60s by now.” We meet over drinks in the sprawling garden of La Nueva Posada, the town’s best hotel, whose bedraggled charm is reminiscent of a setting in a Graham Greene novel. Collins, who moved to Ajijic with his wife and two children, has lowered his golf handicap to 6 after years of playing three times a week at the nearby nine-hole golf club. He has also become the area’s top real estate agent.

“People get fantastic medical attention in Guadalajara, which is probably why we have so many older gringos tottering down the cobblestone streets here,” Collins says. “Any other place, they wouldn’t get such good attention for so little money.” Besides, he says, the elderly can be well cared for in their own homes because help is so readily available, loyal and inexpensive. “Mexicans are very warm and caring by nature,” Collins adds, “and they value and respect the elderly.”

Retirees often find they are rejuvenated by the prevailing live-and-let-live attitude of Mexican culture. Foreigners give themselves permission to go a little eccentric–what the British call “going native”–painting their walls in bright Mexican pinks and yellows, for example, or wearing arty, bohemian clothes that might have been frowned on when they were dressing for their neighbors back home. One senses a zest, a youthful spirit won back after years of tending to corporate or family imperatives, a feeling of being freed by distance to become what their fantasy dictates. Some take to playing roles in a string of theater productions, while others start painting. (D.H. Lawrence lived and wrote in the Lakeside towns in the 1920s–just one milestone in Ajijic’s thriving art scene.) The entrepreneurial Norte-americanos open shops and restaurants as ways of keeping busy in the relaxed small-town ambience.

Walking along cobblestone Constitucion Street early one evening, I encounter two seventy-somethings in colorful dresses and long gray-blond hair who pull up to a curb on a cherry red ATV like two 18-year-olds. “Come on in,” they say as they stride into Tom’s Bar. “There are some fun people who come here, and they serve great sandwiches.” Tom’s is a small dive that has blossomed into a popular American and Canadian watering hole. Due to a satellite hook-up and a new television, it is the place to watch weekend games in the robust company of expats. I sit at the bar beside Fred, a 48-year-old building contractor who was passing through town and decided to stay. He’s been in Ajijic now for 17 years.

Many foreigners, armed with a social conscience and strong community action skills that they’ve imported along with their cars, throw themselves into the long list of organizations that have helped make Ajijic one of the most communally active towns in Mexico. “With all the charity and fund-raising events, the foreign community has launched a lot of programs that support crippled and orphaned children, old people, scholarship and health programs, and so much more,” says Teresa Kendrick, author of Mexico’s Lake Chapala and Ajijic: The Insiders Guide. Kendrick came from Austin, Texas, to Guadalajara on vacation 11 years ago, and stayed for a spell. Three years after that, at age 42, she moved to Ajijic, where she had found her Eden. “Take stray animals,” she says. “When I got here, there was an abject neglect of dogs and cats. Now we have an excellent pound, and animal-care groups train kids in school to care for animals. It’s common to see well-fed dogs with collars and leashes out walking with families. It’s been a really positive change.”

Gringo retirement dollars have had a huge impact, and the Mexican population appreciates the economic benefits, even if at times it means putting up with some angry or impatient Northerners who haven’t yet acculturated to the slower pace of life and different norms of behavior. “Unfortunately, we always get some rude foreigners with nasty tempers,” says Kendrick. “They want everything now and in the way it’s done in the States, so they don’t really fit in here.” But most people, she says, blossom in the warmth of the community and learn to adjust their expectations.

Ajijic’s mayor, Ricardo Gonzalez, believes communication between the two communities is ‘very beautiful because each side respects the other.” Foreigners, he says, have improved the area’s education, environment and health, especially in the area of nutrition, and have led efforts to clean up the town. “We have lived here for many generations so we don’t change too fast but we are learning many useful things from them that improve our lives,” he says. According to the mayor, people don’t feel envy towards the foreigners’ relative wealth, because that money flows into the economy. “We have full employment, and our salaries our higher than elsewhere in Mexico,” he says.

“The foreigners seem to like our Mexican traditions, and we appreciate that,” Gonzalez adds. For instance, even though it is an unusual customs for Northerners, the community still celebrates the Dia de los Muertos, he points out, rather than Halloween. “Both our groups are benefiting from living together and exchanging our cultural ways. So, yes, I think the foreigners are learning a lot from us as well.”

Article reproduced as it appeared in Delta’s Sky Magazine (February 2006) — written by Sky contributing editor Roger Toll, who lives in Park City, Utah, is the former editor of Mexico City News.

Many of us hail from colder climates where the sun’s UV rays are not as strong or as dangerous as they are here in Ajijic, Lake Chapala.

Where we come from, Toronto, Canada, if we got two weeks of sun in the summer of any given year it was deemed a meteorological miracle and sun block was not always high on our list of vital personal care products.

When we holidayed in Mexico, of course, we loaded up on suitable sun screen products (30 SPF or higher) and diligently slathered ourselves from head to foot before we set a foot out the door.

We seem to be a little more lackadaisical about this necessary part of our daily rituals now that we live in, what is arguably, the best and sunniest climate in the world.

We think that if there is a cloud cover we are safe but this is actually not the case. You are still exposed to dangerous UV rays through the clouds and most fair skinned people will turn red in as little as 30 minutes in the sun even on a cloudy sky.

Also as we age it is vital to check yourself regularly for any changes in moles even if you have had them for years. You can go online to find out what you are looking for such (more…)

The Rainy Season in Lake Chapala, Mexico is almost upon us. Many people have reported that they have already heard the rainbirds, which herald that the Rainy Season is about six weeks off, but I heard them myself for the first time last night.

The rainbirds are not really birds at all but large insects who rub their hind legs together which make the wonderful sound to let us know the most beautiful season of the year is about to begin.

Many snowbirds have not experienced the wonder of the Rainy Season as they are usually here from after US Thanksgiving in November to just before Easter in April.

The Rainy Season is June 15th to October 15th and it is our favorite season of all the amazing seasons here in Lake Chapala, Mexico.

Usually April and May are our hottest and driest months and many residents choose to travel in May to avoid the heat. This year, however, April was a beautiful month weather-wise and the heat only started this year in early May.

The anticipation of the Rainy Season is very exciting. Earlier this week we did see lightening and heard claps of thunder and there was a sprinkling of rain. It is a wonderful feeling to know soon we will be experiencing dramatic thunder storms on a daily basis and the whole landscape changes.

Although it usually only rains at night during the Rainy Season, sheets of rain will fall and you can see the storms coming across Lake Chapala with ribbons of lightening and probably (more…)

Weather is seldom talked about in Ajijic, Lake Chapala as we have arguably the best climate in the world and, therefore, is not a topic of conversation.

99% of the time our weather is 75 degrees and sunny. Even the during the rainy season (June 15-October 15) it usually only rains at night and is still warm and sunny during the day.

Now, it would appear, people are talking about nothing else and with good reason. December 2009 was unseasonably warm but January 2010 was cool and gray and February, so far, is worse.

The fact that it has rained three days straight without letup is unheard of in our 15 years in Ajijic, Lake Chapala. There is even talk of snow which strikes fear into the hearts of many.

Many businesses are suffering from the prolonged rain as people are hunkering down in their homes trying to (more…)

A few weeks ago there was a 6.1 earthquake in Port Au Price in Haiti which is one of the poorest countries in the world. Normally, when disaster strikes there are neighboring communities that can pitch in but such is not the case here. Everyone is very poor and thousands of people were killed. Thousands more left homeless, hungry and desperate for news of their family and friends.

Help poured in from many countries and, of course, the US, but it took some time to coordinate the immediate needs and the best way to access the airport to get aid to the people.

Food, water, blankets were vital and shelter and protection for the children left without parents.

Medical attention was crucial and workers to help find any survivors and dig them out of wherever they were trapped. They had neither the manpower nor the equipment necessary for such a mammoth undertaking.

CNN’s Dr. Sanja Gupta has been there from the outset and has joined other medical teams in providing whatever help they could to those who needed it but the numbers were overwhelming.

Aid organizations have been trying to organize who was going to what and (more…)

Here we are in October already. Summer and the rainy seasons are behind us and now we are preparing for Canadian Thanksgiving (October 12th), Halloween (October 31st), The Day of the Dead (November 2nd) and US Thanksgiving (November 27th).

All of these holidays bring their special joys and traditions.

As Ajijic, Lake Chapala has a large Canadian and American population it only makes sense that both Thanksgiving Days are celebrated. Most restaurants offer Thanksgiving dinner specials for both Canadians and Americans. A listing for these dinners and their locations you might wish to consult the (more…)