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I need your opinion about this topic ... Thanks

most definitely interested in mexico! i've been living the zona metropolitana of el d.f. for nine months now, and though my husband and i haven't had a lot of time to travel within mexico recently, we're always on the lookout for interesting places, news, discoveries and observations. i've been writing about my experience here at Through the Looking Glass, at
my husband's a working mexican, and i'm not yet a working gringa, so i have plenty of time to jump into the topic of mexico.
a question i've been mulling over recently, in light of the upcoming elections, is this: what is the difference between reporting and influencing politics, if i write about about the presidential race as a non-mexican citizen? though i doubt any voting mexican citizen will ever read my blog, isn't the spirit of reporting to inform, and the idea behind information to help people come to certain conclusions? it's a subtle line, and though nothing of critical importance in my life, still something i've been thinking about.

Hola, Alisa!

I just saw your blog last night, actually, and loved it! I'm going to put it in my Mexico-in-English.com blog when I get a chance.

As for the reporting vs. influencing thing regarding politics, we've been wondering that also. I think everyone who lives here, whether or not they are a Mexican national, is interested in who gets elected and how it is going to affect our lives. As you might see in our blog, we had the chance to do some videotaping of Marcos when he passed through the Yucatan in January. We were a little concerned about that subject then too...but since we were just recording the event, we figured we were okay.

thanks for the ego boost! i've been enjoying your blog today, as well, but hadn't yet gotten to the marcos bit. i'll be checking that out very soon! i think it's important for anyone to record what they can.
and speaking of the yucatan--specifically merida--i spent some time there about fifteen years ago with a teacher and a few good friends. our first two days were spent in merida, and i have particularly fond memories of our time there. it was the first place for me to set foot in mexico, and the perfect place for that to happen. i remember walking to a bank  in the afternoon, and getting caught in an afternoon rain shower. i had never felt warm rain before, and i've never forgotten that incredible experience since.

oh, i wish i could have been here fifteen years ago. i discovered Mexico late in life, i'm afraid. anyway, it is muy tranquilo aqui still... lots of flojera, if you know what i mean.

i hope to spend a little more time with your blog later tonite too :-) fun, isn't it?

hasta pronto...

what took you to merida?

hmmm....here's what we tell everyone.

We were in our mid-40's. before 9-11 we had started a web development business that was dead in the water after 9-11. We couldn't find jobs in our town (San Luis Obispo, CA) (people wouldn't hire us cuz we were too old) and we didn't want to move to LA or San Jose. So we decided if we had to move, we'd make it an adventure. We considered the entire world. We wanted a place that was:

-close to scuba diving in warm water
-warm tropical climate
-a place we would have to learn a second language that was useful
-a place with an Old World feeling, central squares, churches with bells, etc.
-a place where what we did for a living would be valuable and might actually contribute to the world around us
-a place we could afford to live
-a place where we could live more lightly on the planet (consume less)

We considered Bali (love Bali, but it was too far away and there didn't seem to be much point in learning Indonesian), Costa Rica (too many Americans, housing prices seemed too high already). We would have loved to go to Italy, but couldn't afford it...and it was too far away. (We have four children in California....3 grown, 1 living with my husband's ex). So we settled on the Yucatan...and we saw Merida on the map. Had never been there. Looked on the Internet and saw some houses for sale that looked interesting, so we booked a trip. Bought our house on that trip...Merida looked like it had nowhere to go but up. And boy, were we ever right on that, cuz it's been going "up" ever since.  New restaurants are going up, prices are going up, etc etc.

For more detail, you can read our interview on our website:


but I think that gives you some insight, yes?

And you? I know you got married...but how did you happen to marry a Mexican man? And decide to live here?

Good insight! Thanks!
One of my husband's sisters lived for a number of years in my hometown (Raton, New Mexico), teaching Spanish. I was in college in Texas at the time, but she became a very good friend of my parents, and every time I went home during Christmas/ summer breaks, I also spent a lot of time with her and her family. She knew I was studying Spanish, and invited me to her youngest brother's wedding seven years ago. I met my husband during that time, and though I was mostly the mute, smiling friend of his sister (my Spanish classes had very clearly not prepared me well for real life), we still enjoyed each other's company. I didn't think I'd ever see him again--and certainly didn't think anything beyond friendship would ever happen if I did--but after graduating with a masters degree in Spanish in 2003, I found myself with a free summer and a lot of "ganas" to spend that time in Mexico again. So I did, and we met again, and we realized that despite his living in Mexico and my living in New York, a continued relationship was worth a go. A year later, we were married.
He doesn't speak English, so the only practical thing for us to do was to make Mexico City our home together. It's a lot more difficult for chilangos to move successfully to other cities in the republic, so while we're here, we'll likely always live in the Mexico City area. For a number of reasons, though (pollution, traffic, crime, among others), we're pretty sure that our time here isn't indefinite. He'd like to learn English, and we're toying with the idea of moving to New Mexico within the next five years. But our plans are very nebulous, and we're mostly just happy to be together, wherever we may be.

You know, a lot of people from D.F. are moving to Merida. It's true... the Yucatecans think they are rude and move too fast. But they all seem to do well here, not the least because I think they really appreciate how quiet and safe it is here. And really, there's no pollution. There are smelly buses and that sort of thing, but a constant breeze that blows it all away (probably to hang over the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico....{sigh}). Who knows where we will ALL be in the next five years, huh? After you do it the first time, it's hard not to heed the call of another adventure :-)

On another note, I LOOOOOVE Raton, New Mexico. I spent two very quiet and very alone days there by myself on a road trip I took through the Southwest once. It was heavenly. I was a single working mother at the time, and cherished my alone time. I ate at a restaurant in a little house that had a different book about Frida Kahlo on every table, and slept in a B&B around the corner. I walked up and down the streets of houses from another era, watched the crows, enjoyed the trees. I don't know...it was a very lovely place for me. I don't think I said three words to anyone in two days. Raton will always have a special little corner in my heart :-)

it's encouraging to know that chilangos stand a chance in other parts! i also love being reminded that the air is clean in many places, too.
but i'm AMAZED that not only you've passed through raton, but that you spent a little time there as well. i loved growing up there, and still love to return--visiting my parents and friends whose vacation time coincides with mine. unfortunately, the restaurant you spoke of is no longer there, but the b&b is. since the coal mine closed, economic times have been very hard. but that little town, hugged by mesas and foothills of the rockies, will always be wonderful to me.
a good friend of mine grew up on a large ranch called vermejo, on the other side of the mine. the winding road from raton to vermejo is an incredible stretch for spotting elk, and the occasional bear or mountain lion.
viva el road trip!
speaking of road trips, when patricio and i drove to texas for thanksgiving last year, the road trip was highlighted by chassis drivers all along the cuota highway to laredo. have you seen them?

chassis drivers? you mean, like horses and buggies? i haven't seen them along the cuotas...but we have 'calesas' here, fancy horse and buggy rides that go up and down Paseo de Montejo just like in the old days of the henequen boom at the turn of the last century. que romantico!

i *always* love a roadtrip through the Southwest. some of my fondest memories are of places through there, either alone or with my almost-grown daughter or with my husband (or former boyfriends :-)0! I miss the mountains sooo much. We have a lot here in the Yucatan, but that is one thing we *dont* have. (so we have a little cottage in Patzcuaro...our place in the mountains. but we have been so busy we havent been there in six months....aargh!)

for lack of a better term, i call them chassis drivers. but instead of a horse and buggy, what they drive are semi-truck chassis, plain and simple. they attach a wooden box to the steering end, perch themselves on top of it, strap on a pair of goggles, and drive the chassis down the highway. i've never seen anything like it: a cross between a motorcyclist and a daredevil delivery man.

Nah, Canada is alright with me.

Hi there!  I am new to the ´ó¿§¸£ÀûÓ°Ôº, but must say this could be a valuable place to find information about Mexico, and how it is living and working there

Me living in Mexico was just a coincident... I wanted a year off from the old hamster wheel I call work, so i convinced my boss to let me go, and even got a girlfriend 4 months before departure, she needed little convincing, and Mexico was our destination!

We first lived in Guanajuato where we studied Spanish and explored the areas around for 4 months before we went to Isla Mujeres just outside Cancun.. And just fell in love with the place!

Are there many from Cancun/Isla Mujeres active on the blog? If so, please give a shout, would love to know anything worth knowing about living in Mexico..

HELLO!!I WANT TO TEACH ENGLISH IN MEXICO SOON ! and im looking for places available in there so i can apply and start maybe a housing search ( kind of a soft opening / dry run ) and its going to happen as soon as 6 months and im going to receive some job placement assistance from the certifying school and i also speak 3 languages and some more is just half baked for now and looking to hear from anyone that has information about this line of work or just to say hi and tell me how is it over there !!!

If you are interested in Merida, here is a list of all the language schools here:



All the schools that teach Spanish to foreigners also teach English to locals.