Cost of Living (Continued)

I am putting this photo of our pink bouganbilia bush as the first photo on this entry because I am so proud of it.  Our bouganbilia had been healthy but without many blossoms.  Shortly before Pixie left she suggested that our problem might be that they were getting too much water.  Since she's been gone, I've been abandoning my "if a little water is good, more is better" philosophy, especially with the bouganbilia.  You can see the results!  Here are some other photos of the garden as it looks today:

The winter months of December and January are somewhat dormant, but now, in late February, I am seeing that the plants are growing more and blooming.  A big project we've been working on is to plant a vine wall of "copa del oro" in the space on the west side of our terrace to block the setting sun which can make it too hot to sit out on the terrace during the late afternoon.  Our plan is to have the vines block the sun with an attractive wall of plants.  I was hoping to have it ready for the hottest months of April and May, but it looks as though it may take a bit longer:

In my last post, I discussed food shopping.  Today I will explore some other costs of living here, using specific dollar amounts, as estimated from the peso conversion.  Keep in mind that the conversion was 10:1 and is now aobut 14.5:1, so we are getting about 40% more pesos for the dollar.  I don't know how long this will continue, but for now, it give us more buying power.  

The cost of owning a home here is very inexpensive compared to our house in Maine.  This year's property taxes were 950 pesos ($64) and our yearly water bill 2400 pesos ($163).  We have no heating system, and our electric bill, if we keep it under 500 kwh per two month period, we get a cheap rate.  We've converted to fluorescent bulbs, unplug our microwave and TV at night, and generally try to conserve.  We've been doing well.  Our last bill showed a usage of 366 kwh for November and December, so the bill was 547 pesos or ($37).  Our latest telephone bill, which includes calling here in Mexico plus our DSL internet connection (to which our Vonage phone is connected) was 479 pesos ($35.50).  We pay our monthlyVonage bill ($30)  via our credit card which gives us unlimited calling to the United States.  We generally fill our propane tank (dryer, stove, and hot water) once every 2.5-3 months for 1200 pesos ($81).  We change our water filters for the purification system every six weeks at a cost of 360 pesos ($25). So as you can see, the utilities are not expensive.  Of course, those who have bigger houses, with pools, pay a much higher rate for electricity, as much as $250-300USD per month.  

Maintenance on homes is required and usually consists of sealing the roof every 2-3 years, periodic repair of salitrate (a salt decay) on the walls and subsequent repainting.  Labor is not expensive, so maintenance is not a big expense.   We have a maid come about 4 hours, one day a week, and we pay her 200 pesos ($14) plus bus fare (12 pesos).  Our gardener comes for a couple of hours just to weed and cut the grass for 100 pesos ($7).  

Eating out at restaurants is very reasonable.  Breakfast is very cheap, usually costing about 60 pesos for a full breakfast ($4).  Dinner entrees at most restaurants range from 70 pesos ($4.70) to 120 pesos ($8.00). Beer is about $1.5o while wine can be $2.50 a glass, and margaritas are cheap at about $3.00 or less (all in USD).  People tip between 10 and 15%. I like to buy roasted chickens, which are very popular here.  For about 80 pesos ($5.40) you can get a delicious roasted chicken including tortillas, salsa, and roasted potatoes.  Here is where we buy roasted chicken.  It's called the happy chicken, although I doubt that's true! 

Transportation is not expensive.  Most people in Mexico cannot afford cars, and buses are readily available.  I can stand on the main drag, about a block from our house, and take a bus just about anywhere.  It costs 6 pesos to ride into Ajijic or Chapala, and 35 pesos into Guadalajara.  Here is a typical commuter bus.  

Driving is similar in expense to the US.  Gas, which is sold only through Pemex stations, the national oil company, has remained steady at about 72 pesos per litre (about $1.90) per gallon.  There is no self-serve here.  Attendants fill your tank and sometimes wash your windows for a tip.  Here is what all Pemex station look like:

Tires are expensive here, with a large tire for our RAV-4 costing at least $100USD each.  Mechanical work is fairly reasonable, although it costs me about $50USD for an oil change because the 5w20 oil is rare here and needs to be imported from the US.  There is a Toyota dealer in Guadalajara, and I've heard prices are similar to the US.  We have a small problem with the rear end of our Toyota, and I'll wait till we go to the US this summer and get it looked at by a US Toyota dealer, since the warranty is not honored here.  

Here are some other places we frequent: (Clockwise, from top left) the Mexican post office where we get our mail, la pescaderia (seafood store), OXXO (equivalent to a 7-11), and a hardware store.  

In general, you can live on very little or spend a lot here.  Medical care can be expensive, but much cheaper than the US.  The difference here is that we usually pay out of pocket for everything.  Some drugs are generic and cheap, others very expensive.  Pixie had surgery which cost about $2500 total.  We are cancelling our private major medical coverage which costs us $3300 a year (with a $2000USD deductable, per event), but the cost is skyrocketing, and we will rely, for serious problems, on IMSS, the Medical Social Service medical coverage which cost us about $500USD per year and includes everything.  We've heard both good and bad things about IMSS, but it is what we can afford.  Electronic items, like computers, are more expensive here.  And, of course, many items we would have no trouble finding, may not be avaialble here.  (recent examples: magnifying glass,  turkey baster).  We live easily on a modest pension here, and we manage to save money for travel back to the states.  But we have to watch our money carefully sometimes near the end of the month.  We could live cheaper if we had to, and lots of our friends live in more luxurious style.  Many also live on much less.  

Finally, a word about the drug violence in Mexico.  Several of my friends and family members have expressed concern about US media reports of a huge increase in drug violence here.  This is true, but misleading.  There were thousands murdered in Mexico last year, and the trend is continuing this year.  The vast majority are drug reprisal killings against rival drug gangs, police, journalists, and politicians.  President Calderon has declared war on the drug gangs, and the spike in violence is a direct result of his efforts.  Most of the violence is in the three northern Mexico states, but there have been some killings in Jalisco (the state we live in) and in Michoacan (the next state).   I reported a few weeks ago that there was a drug killing in Riberas where we live, but that turned out to be a jealous boyfriend killing.  As far as I know there has been no drug violence in this area.  People here feel safe and secure.  We do not drive much at night, and we take security seriously, as you would in many areas of the US, but we do not feel in any danger.  Living in a foreign country, particularly one with problems like Mexico, is always a risk.  But, to those of us here, at this point at least, the advantages far outweigh the risks.  I suppose it could change.  I think the Mexican people were willing to give Calderon a chance, but many here are alarmed at the increase in violence.  The PRI may take a different tack if they are elected.  The REAL problem, of course, is drug demand in the US.  To me, we may be at the point where we need to look at the problem like we did prohibition and legalize drugs.  I doubt enforcement efforts will ever work when there is so much profit to be made.  We'll see.  But don't worry about us; we're safe.  

 

Cost of Living

Maggie found a squirrel in our small woodpile and spent the rest of the day trying to dig and root in the woodpile to try to find it.  She ended up with this dirty face.  Just when I think she is starting to have human emotions, I am disabused of the notion by her very "dog" behavior!  

I receved some feedback from people suggesting that the everyday activities were sufficiently interesting for many of you who do not live in Mexico that more detail on this subject is warranted.  So I thought I'd discuss shopping for food, etc. today.  One of the appeals of living here is obviously the cost of living.  I highly doubt we'd have been able to retire at our ages, and not have to work, if we'd stayed in the United States.  Right now, because of the worldwide economic crisis, the Mexican peso has slipped from about 10 pesos to the dollar to about 14.5 pesos to the US dollar.   This obviously helps us, for the time being, but seriously hurts Mexico, a country which is reliant on imports from the US which are now more expensive.  This is triggering inflation here, and I suspect it will continue.  

Shopping for food in the Lake Chapala area offers many choices.  If you want to get the same products you were used to buying in the US, there is Super Lake, a grocery store which specializes in importing goods for the gringos.  We buy a few luxuries there, including good tea, but we usually buy Mexican products for much cheaper:

  

One good thing about Super Lake is that it is a hangout for Americans and Canadians, and they provide a bulletin board where you can find rentals, items for sale, Spanish lessons, or just about anything else:

At the other end of the spectrum, we have the weekly outdoor market, or Tianguis (Monday in Chapala, Wednesday in Ajijic, and Thursday in Jocotepec) which features just about everything from produce, to street food, to medicinal herbs, fresh yogurt, flowers, pirated films, clothing, crafts, bread, fish, meat, plants, electronic parts, and much more.  We always buy our produce, yogurt, honey, flowers, and movies at the tianguis.  We have our favorite vendors, of course, who treat us well.  Here are some photos: 

We also have the opportunity to shop at large department-style stores, Wal Mart or Soriana, which are very Mexican and do not cater to foreigners.  So what you might normally think you'd easily find at Wal Mart in the US, you will not likely find at this one.  I do not prefer shopping at these stores.  

Neighborhoods all have small stores, or tiendas, which sell Abarrotes, which means supplies.  Here you can buy one egg, or one cigarette, or beer, or produce, soap, etc.  They are like mom and pop stores, and the family generally lives in the back.  I frequent the one about a block from our house, where I generally buy milk, charcoal, eggs, soap, bottled water, and other household goods.  Here's a photo: 

Now, how much do things cost?  Here is a list of some sample prices.  I have converted them to pounds (from kilos) and to dollars (from pesos):  

Milk  $1.50 2 liters

Eggs  $1.20 / doz

Yogurt $1.40/liter

Chicken (whole) $.90/ lb. 

Pork Chops $1.80/ lb

Steak, tenderloin $3.50/ lb

Tomatoes $.25/ lb

Bananas  $ .10/lb

Avacados $ 1.05/ lb. 

Carrots $ .30/lb

Limes $.50/lb

Oranges $.25/lb

Strawberries (now, in season) $.45/lb

Fresh corn tortillas $.30/ lb

Beans (precooked) $.40/ lb

Sugar $.60/lb

Dish soap (Mexican brand) $.25

Dish Soap (US brand) $1.50

Charcoal (small bag, enough for four grillings) $1.50

Tea (Mexican, not good) $1.20/80 bags

Coffee (Veracruz, from street vendor) $1.35/ lb 

Good British tea ($4.00/ 80 bags...but worth it!)

Tequila...ranges from $3.00-$120 per liter.  Good, aged reposado is about $14

Wine...Chilean table wine $3.50-7.00

Beer...Corona 6-pack $3.50

Dog food (Pedigree) 5lb bag..$2.20

Beggin strips, Maggie's favorite treat (imported) $4.00

Pixie is still in the US with her family.  Maggie and I are eating very cheaply.  

Next time I will continue to discuss other aspects of the cost of living here.  In the meantime, Happy Valentine's Day!  In Mexico this day is called Dia de Amor y Amistad, Day of Love and Friendship, a bit more broad-based.   

The Truth About Mexico

Here is our friend Teo, the only Mexican member of our Unitarian Universalist Fellowship.  He is the weaver who makes beautiful tapetas, or tapestries, which I have highlighted on this blog before.  He is a very sweet, gentle and kind man who represents, to me, what I love most about Mexico: its people.  Teo lived and worked as an agricultural worker in California for many years, traveling back and forth between Ajijic and California each year.  The work was back breaking and sometimes humiliating.  Once he found his life partner, Janice Kimball, an expat artist from Detroit, she convinced Teo that he could make a living with his amazing weavings.  They now live in Ajijic and own a joint Aztec Studio, where Janice sells her paintings, they sell tapetas designed by Janice and made by Teo, and now Teo's son, Francisco, also makes more modern tapetas which he sells as well.  They are a beautiful family making their living with their art and add so much to this Mexican-Gringo community.  This photo of Teo was taken a couple of weeks ago when Pixie and I hosted a pot luck lunch for our Fellowship in our back yard.  

Pixie left for Maine yesterday and arrived safely in Gray, Maine at the home of her sister, Liana.  She reports that she had to pay $8.00 for a lousy sandwich on Delta Airlines and arrived to mucho snow in Maine, but moderate temperatures in the 30's.  She will be in Maine for an indeterminite period, and I will be fending for myself for awhile.   

The title of this entry came from my reaction to some very bad publicity Mexico has been receiving the last few weeks, which I believe is unwarranted.  The LA Times 

reported a week or two ago that Drug Czar Barry McAfferty, among others, has warned that Mexico may become a failed state, similar to Afghanistan and Pakistan.  This analyis is based on three trends.  The Narco Gangs are proliferating, especially in the northern Mexican states near the US border, and over 5000 people were murdered last year in drug-related violence.  Although President Calderon hascommited Mexican troops  and federal police to fight this problem, these efforts seem to be increasing the violence.  Second, the oil reserves owned here by Pemex, the national oil company, are diminishing which, combined with lower oil prices, will decrease revenue substantially for Mexico in the next decade.  Finally, the economic recession in the US is drastically dimishing remittances from the US, a significant source of Mexican income.  All this is true.  Nevertheless, Mexico remains a vibrant democracy which demonstrated in 2006 that it could handle a close presidential election without violence.  I see evidence of government efforts to fight corruption and rebuild Mexico's infrastructure every day.  I am now able to read, with reasonable accuracy, Mexican newspapers which report political and cultural events regularly.  Mexico has problems; there is violence; and the future will be economically challenging.  Nevertheless, those of us who are living here by choice, as foreign nationals feel safe and secure here.  The US certainly struggles with violence and economic insecurity as well.  But in this culture, where people are used to surviving, despite long odds, there is an expectation that they will survive this too.  The peso is falling (as of today, 14.2 pesos to the dollar down from about 10.00), trade with the US is diminishing, and NAFTA continues to raise  the prices of tortillas and other corn and bean products here.  But the people are resiliant.    The less you have, the less problem is caused by an economic downturn.  

I received an email from one of the readers of this blog about a comment I made suggesting that I feel as though I may be running out of things to write about.  He suggested that I should continue to write about what it's like to simply live here, even something as simple as a trip to the grocery store, which, he said, would be interesting to him, because he does not live here.    Well, it may be a bit repetitive, but I will try to follow his advice.  So, in coming posts, I will revisit things like prices, availability of products, and healthcare here in Jalisco.  I just read in the local newspaper that Jalisco has the most number of scorpion stings in all of Mexico; the good news is I have yet to become a statistic!

We have sent for our South Dakota license plates.  Why, you may ask, did I do such a thing?  Because...our Maine plates have long ago expired.  We cannot register our car here becuase we did not buy it here.  (Don't ask, I do not know why.)  The only state which, apparently, will grant auto registration to non-residents is South Dakota.  (When we first got here I was astounded at how many people had migrated here from South Dakota,of all places!)   So, since we are planning a road trip back to Maine next summer, we have sent for our SD plates.  The total cost: only $63 USD.  Beats Maine!  So soon we'll be sporting Mount Rushmore on our car.  

I've been invited over for dinner tonight by our next door neighbors from Montreal, Ron and Pat. They are great friends and the best neighbors.  They have a key to our house and keep an eye on things when we are gone.  Ron taught me how to spray for scorpions and chlorinate the ajibe (undergrouond water tank).  Here's a photo of Ron and his dog, and Maggie's friend, Layla: 

  

I'll end this post with a photo I recently took of a marvelous mural painted of the goddess of the lake byJesus Lopez Vega, a local artist, at the Ajijic Cultural Center:

Taking the Bad with the Good

(Photo by our friend, Carol Bowman)

As I write this, Pixie is preparing to return to Maine at the end of January to be with her mother who is ill.  She will be staying with her sister in Gray.  We don't know how long she'll be there, but I will be staying in Mexico.  Not ideal, but as Pixie says, "You gotta do what you gotta do."

I lost a friend on New Year's Eve.  His name was Terry Hogan.  He was an interesting man who I met in the Ajijic Writers' Group.  He was Irish. He's been a fisherman, a woodsman, a car mechanic, and he lived on a Greek Island for awhile.  He lived around the other side of the lake and loved Mexico.  He was very kind and encouraged me with my poetry. We gathered in Jocotepec for a celebration of his life last week, and I was able to learn more about the rich life he had led.  It was sad, but I was glad to have known him.  I wrote a poem about the fact that I am meeting interesting people here, but towards the end of their lives.  I find myself wondering what they were like when they were younger.  Here it is:

Meeting You at Twilight  

 

I am glad to have come across you

Even as the sun sets over the western shore

For you are a beacon to light my way

As I head into my dusk.

 

Where I feel unsure, you step deliberately

Where I am new, you show me your scars.

You are not like those I do not want to become

Who die slowly every day.

You live in the sun and bask in the heat.

 

How did you get to this twilight today?

What were you like at noon?

I can only guess.

Were you always walking in front?

Were you like me?

What have you lost in the dark afternoon?

 

Would that I could walk with you

For just one day in the sun

To look into your face

To see what you feared

And see what you loved

When the sun cast no shadows

On your fresh life.

 

For now I do not have

Long hours to walk with you,

I know as the sun drops over the trees

That darkness will descend

For you, and for me,

And I am glad to have

Seen you smile and heard your voice

In the evening light. 

We visited a friend's home last week, and she has decorated it with beautiful Mexican art.  I thought I'd post some photos.  Her name is Bebe.  She is from California, has liv ed in Mexico for almost 20 years, and has become a Mexican citizen.  She poses below with her life-sized Katrna: 

Here are some photos I took around her very Mexican home:

 

Lakeside is more crowded these days as the snowbirds have arrived, mostly from Canada, to escape the cold and snow.  Walmart is open and busy, new businesses are opening, and the peso is still weak against the American dollar.  The drug wars, which are mostly up around the border, touched lakeside last week when a couple of young Mexican men were shot and killed on the Carreterra, the main road through all the north shore towns, a couple of blocks from our house, in the middle of the night, a likely drug-related execution.  But, of course, this kind of thing happens all the time in American cities.  But, sadly, it can happen here too.  

We are all awaiting the historic inauguration of Barack Obama on Tuesday.  Mexicans and Canadians alike are intrigued at the prospect of this new kind of American president.  I'll end this entry with a poem I wrote about Obama which appears in this month's Ojo del Lago:

Barack

(Upon Your Election, November 2008)

Barack

You have reached

Deep into the

Unspeakable shame

Of a people

And pulled out the strands

Which transcend hate.

And now you stand

Above the raw wound

Grasping the fragile tissue

Of redemption.

 

And we are waiting.

We can see,

Like Plato’s shadows

Insubstantial fragments

Of truth

On which we reflect

Our hopes

Cast unfairly onto you,

So beautiful

And wise

Beyond your years,

So it’s easy

To think we see

A great man

Emerging

Before

Our jaded eyes.

 

 

Barack,

As you once stood

And wept

Over your black

Father’s grave,

You now stand

Over a land

Cast in many colors

Which has lost its way

Amid the glut

Of excess

And loud cries

Of tribal hate.

 

Barack,

Will you help us

Save modernity

From itself?

Can we live up

To the hope

Of your black brothers

And white sisters

Who want

To see

Abraham and Franklin

In your

Honey brown face?

 

Barack,

Can you help us

See ourselves anew,

Not as God’s children

Chosen to rule

The earth,

But as citizens

Of the world

Who can think

And reason

And love

And share

And survive

Ourselves?

 

Barack,

I do not know

Your destiny

Nor ours.

But your kind eyes

Reflect the hopes

We have

For the children

Who will inherit

What we

Have wrought. 

Feliz Año Nuevo!

We have returned from the chilly north with New Year's Greetings from our beautiful grandaughter, Isabelle!  Who could resist this face?   Here's another delightful image of her I took while we waited for our daughter, Wendy, to arrive at the Indianapolis Airport.  

As you can probably tell, I spent most of the time in Indiana taking pictures of Isabelle.  She spoke her first words while we were there ("Dada" to Eric's delight), and she seems, at nine months, to be on the verge of sprouting teeth and trying to walk.  We enjoyed doting on her, but we also had a family reunion of sorts, with Wendy and Cassie joining us for Christmas.  We also had the privelege of becoming reacclimated to the cold; wind chills were measuring -15F for the firstr day or so after we arrived.  As I sit typing this on the terrace back in Mexico, it doesn't seem so bad.  What we lacked in warm days we made up for with lots of warm memories.  Here is a photo of the kids with us (except Crystal, in this photo):

Eric and Crystal, like us, are diehard Unitarian Universalists.  UU's have a tradition of celebrating Christmas with very ecumenical services, sometimes a bit irreverent.  Theirs was no exception. As parents of a new baby, they were chosen to play the Holy Family in the pagent.  I never pictured Eric as the Joseph type, but he looked the part: 

Here are a few more photos of our Indiana visit, posted especially for Dad and Joy, including one of my soon-to-be 91 year old Aunt Alice, her son Rod, and Eric with Isabelle:

So now we're home in Mexico, and life is returning to normal. We are celebrating New Years with a quiet dinner with friends, and looking forward to 2009 with anticipation. We were at the Tianguis (market) this morning and noticed how the Lakeside area is much more crowded now. The snowbirds have arrived in force. The traffic is much slower, and we see many unfamiliar faces.

Our favorite vegetable and fruit vendors, Carmen and Aaron were glad to see us, and we found good looking mandarinas (tangerines), piňas(pineapples), and peras (pears) this week. Pixie found some three foot sparklers to shoot off, and uvas (grapes) for tonight. The Mexican custom is to eat 12 grapes at midnight for good luck. The other interesting custom is to wear red underwear on New Year's Eve for good luck. I don't know about Pixie but I'm wearing mine!

I have enrolled in a new advanced conversational Spanish class which starts at the end of the month. Pixie has found a teacher she loves from El Salvador who is teaching an introductory course at her home. She has been in this class for a couple of months and she is using Spanish more and is no longer as intimidated by learning a new language. We are able to practice everyday. I noticed on the plane that I could understand the Spanish announcements better than I used to. Poco a poco!

To all the loyal readers of Maine To Mexico, feliz año nuevo (happy new year)!

Feliz Navidad!

The holiday rush is in full swing in Mexico, as everyone is rushing around Christmas shopping, attending traditional Posadas and Christmas parties, and making travel plans to join their families for the holidays.  Above is our beautiful, pointsettia which has bloomed in time for the season.  We have been fighting some type of fungus on it, as you can see, but it is still representative of the large pointsettias trees which grow prolifically here.   

I have a few photos to share of the St. Andreas fiesta in Ajijic.  It lasts for 10 days or so every November in honor of Ajijics patron saint: Andrew.  Virtually the entire town shows up for the evening festivities.  Here are some evening shots of the plaza during the celebration:

Fireworks are a big part of the celbration, which are difficult to photograph, but I have included these two which consisted of a movable display.  Here is an angel which moved among the crowd, spewing sparks:

Below is a very lucky kid who was selected, at random, to wear the fire-spewing shark and run through the crowd for a once-in-a-lifetime experience:

Last night we invited our friends Carol and Ernie over for dinner.  Carol is fellow member of the Ajijic Writers' Group and administers the English language instruction program which offers free English instruction to over 300 Mexicans this year.  This is the program which provides the class that I teach, which I have written about before.  She does a wonderful job keeping a bunch of eccentric gringos in line, more or less.  And Ernie....well, just look at him!  He's an interesting character; you can tell this just by looking at the twinkle in his eye! 

   

We will be leaving to visit our son Eric, his wife Crystal, and grandaughter, Isabelle, in Muncie, Indiana next week.  Our daughters Wendy and Cassie will be joining us, so we'll have the entire family together for Christmas.  This will be the last blog entry until after we return December 29.  

Feliz Navitas a toto nuestros amigos y nuestra familia!