The Big Blue Marble Newsletter: Sample Article

As the traveler who has once been from home is wiser than he who has never left his own doorstep, so a knowledge of one other culture should sharpen our ability to scrutinize more steadily, to appreciate more lovingly, our own.
Margaret Mead

Interview with Judy King:? Living in Mexico

Judy King is the Editor of Mexico Insights, an on-line newsletter (note: there is no hard copy version available) for Americans living in Lake Chapala.

In October 2004, after reading Karen Blue?s book Midlife Mavericks, I decided that I wanted to interview Karen directly. When I tried to get a hold of Karen, I found that Karen was retired and that Judy?now publishes the Living at Lake Chapala newsletter with Christine Potters.?I read her on-line articles and realized that Judy ran the best newsletter for expatriates I?ve seen anywhere and decided to call her up for an interview. In addition to running the newsletter, Judy has been a realtor in Mexico and currently gives weekly seminars for?foreigners thinking about living in Lake Chapala.

Paul: How long have you lived in Mexico?

Judy: I?ve been here for fifteen years.

Paul: What drew you here?

Judy: I like the weather and the people here. Mexicans seem to value people, as individuals, more than we do. They still have more time for each other than we do. When I went home, I met with my friends and after listening for awhile thought to myself ?this is almost the same conversation we had fifteen years ago".

I?m glad I moved here because I have so much more in my life here. I like going to small country villages and learning about local folklore. Every week I try to get out to see the countryside.

I haven?t traveled much around Mexico. I went to the D.F. (Mexico City is called D.F. after its formal political name, the Distrito Federal, which means the Federal District) this month.

Paul: How has Mexico changed in fifteen years?

Judy: Mexicans no longer sit outside on the porch talking to neighbors as much as they used to. We are beginning to see graffiti at the lake. Mexicans seem to spend more time inside watching TV than before.

Paul: Do you think Americans should be prepared for things to be harder than in the USA there?

Judy: I don?t know that some things are that much more difficult than in the US. Have you had to deal with customer service in the US? Fortunately, here we don?t have to deal with things like that. Mexico has changed, too. We can now go shopping easily at Costco and Walmart and have many of the conveniences at home here.

Paul: How is Mexico different from the USA?

Judy:? I have been busy since an article in AARP: The Magazine called ?La vida cheapo? about retiring in Mexico. A lot of people have asked about living here. Many people read the article and thought it would be like moving into a retirement community in the USA.

However, Mexico, even in a place like this with a lot of Americans, always seeps in. A lot of people come here and buy a home after a few days. I am not popular among some of the realtors here because I advise people to rent for at least six months first (Paul?s note: I have read this advice in many books about living abroad). Mexico is more different than it seems at first. In addition, living here is not that much cheaper than the US. Properties are more expensive than where I came?from (Iowa). The cost of things has gone up a lot.

The best advice I can give people is to accept that people do things differently here. Don?t try to get them to be like us. It?ll save you a lot of heartache. When I was remodeling my home, it took me the longest time to accept that I needed to ask the workmen how they?d do things. Once I did, they?d come to me with good, inexpensive solutions. Remember it?s their country; not yours. To us, cobblestone streets are?hard on cars. In Mexico cobblestone streets help drainage, are cheap to construct (since they have cheap materials but require a lot of labor) and help slow down drivers.

Mexicans have a private face. At times they can shut you off. I have a friend here who works in the USA. Every time he comes back, he doesn?t take to me for several weeks. I think because it is hard for him in the USA and I remind him of his time up there. However, I know that with time he?ll start to relax around me. I?d recommend that you read books by Victor Villasenor about Mexico. He explains this part of Mexican life well.

Paul: What about learning Spanish?

Judy: I wrote an article about that for the newsletter. I found it hard to learn Spanish. I have learned that you can communicate by using nouns and then later I added the basic?infinitives of verbs (in English the infinitive is ?to+ verb? like ?to see? ?to go?, etc. The infinitive of the verb to see in Spanish is ver).

Paul: How about medical care there?

Judy: I know this is a concern of a lot of people. I have written several articles about this for my newsletter. Many Americans here are very happy with the medical care. Doctors here make house calls. They stop you on the street and ask you how you are doing. If you go to the hospital, you get more care from the nurses than in the states.

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