Archive for January, 2007
Of all the blogs I read all day, the one from Honduras gave me a real laugh today. La Gringa at La Gringa’s Blogicito has a very funny post about “actually speaking Spanish.” It takes a bit more than knowing the words and stringing them togther with a good grammar. Retiring to Mexico, you will quickly see that Spanish speakers, at least those in Latin America love to tie knots around what they are saying, do double-backs and entendres that will make your head spin. My Mexican friends tell me I speak rather ridiculously in Spanish. Undoubtedly that is true. Read La Gringa’s post though for a hysterical example illustrating the difference.
January 30th, 2007
They’re not quite done yet. Carnival number 7 kicked off today from So Baby Boomer. Again a lot of fun from a lot of different angles. Like, uh, carbon footprints?
Too far out there? Personally, I always think blogging about money and banking is sort of gross, but maybe that’s just cause I keep falling onto blogs written by kids who work in lower Manhattan and live in Hoboken, nothing wrong with those things - but it’s not the kind of banking I want to talk about. That said, as funny as parts of the Boomers Carnival is, they also put together terrifically useful bits of advice, like this straight-up talk from Rearview Mirror, and from man-o-pause, who links to a couple of excellent articles. One in Mensight magazine, and another at Lifesignature.com. I’m talking to people all the time who are making major decisions about changing careers late in life, many of them because they have retired. Of course, I’m still talking about that job opportunities button up above, but both articles add useful insight to what is not so much a scary process, as it is a process we just don’t seem to have time to think about. Some things become so easily clear when we, or someone else makes a simple checklist.
By way of transparency, I’ll admit it. I write a lot of this blog for my mom, who is going to retire soon. She is computer savvy, but I think that she thinks blogs are just about politics and personal ranting by teenagers. I, myself, am almost a baby-boomer, just a few few years shy so my concerns are not with, well, Bon Jovi. I spend a lot of time not just talking to people about moving to Mexico and Panama and other countries, but also about blogging. Blogging is sort of the online equivalent to moving to Mexico, right ? Well, sort of… the point is, the Booming Bloggers are having a carnival every week or so because life is good, and worth living and worth blogging about. There are probably blogs out there for depressed people, but I haven’t read those. When I am reading adults talking honestly about life and living and everything that involves, it’s frankly useful. It might even be… inspiring.
January 29th, 2007
Go read Susan’s take on Mexican food, shopping and eating. A lot of people ask me too, if I don’t get tired of eating Mexican every single day, and the simple answer is: I had no idea that Sesame Seeds have a flavor. North of the border they are just used to make things look good. The taste has been genetically engineered right out of them. Similar with tomatoes, though to the north you can get an idea what the flavor is supposed to be. Here they are almost as strong in flavor as onions and not something one can give up easily once they are experienced.
Mexican food is a universe, it is not like the menu at your local Mexican restaurant. Better Mexican restaurants north of the border cater to one regional cuisine, each as diverse as the dozens of others.
But, as I have been busy lately, I’ve also taken more and more to eating the busy Mexican way, that is, standing up at a stand in the street. Antojitos is the Mexican word for this type of quick, satisfying food. Don’t get me wrong, Mexicans are more likely to condemn this practice than we might be, (it’s often an affront to the decent manners of eating) but it is also something that takes practice, and some key identifiers to avoid the worst of Moctezuma’s Revenge. I distinctly remember being hesitant in typing these words a few months ago:
Of course, you’ll want to try lots of new foods, and you will. Road-side or street-side stands are everywhere, but they are easy to avoid. After a month or so, you might feel up to going-local, eating anything and everything, but starting out cautiously will go a long way toward preventing general upset.
So these are a few things you can do if you want to stop avoiding all that wonderful stuff being prepared along the sidewalks of your new town.
- Bring a Mexican - they know the good places, and they have a lot of experience with bad food, and avoiding it. Still, Mexican people eat outside all the time. There are plenty of times you’ll walk past these places and regret not being a bit more courageous. Your Mexican friends will know Antojitos better than any of us ever will.
- In addition to watching for cleanliness, watch for places where families, or women are feeding their kids. They know perfectly well (better than I do) what’s getting chopped up and their kids are as sensitive and as fussy as we are. Go for the crowded place. Choose the lunch everyone else is choosing.
- It might be good to start with “jugos y liquidos.” Jumex and Boing and Del Valle are decent supermarket brands, but you can not get good fresh squeezed juice like those available on Mexican streets in a supermarket. The bigger and better juguerias will be in the local mercado, and they will be happy to serve you fruits cut to your specification, with cereal or yogurt or whatever you like.
Generally, those of us blessed with iron stomachs don’t like to be the only ones left not laid out on the floor, moaning with a stomach ache. So we still recommend starting out with bottled water and everything peeled and, especially in the beginning, relying a bit more on the packaged foods. Adjusting takes some time, and it is always good to remember the stories of our Mexican friends who tell tales of going to the United States or Canada, and being sick as dogs for three days. Those stories are not at all un-common. So remember, we’re all in this together.
January 28th, 2007
Some of you will remember my previous tip on using Firefox to make reading and surfing the internet a lot easier. Well, the programmers working on revamping the pages of MexRetire.com and the other Livtopia sites took my cue and are integrating the same kind of technology into all the sites they’re currently working on. On each of the new pages you’re now able to bump up the text size using those two little letter “A”s in the upper-right hand corner. They’re building a new home for MexLiving.com that should be up and running in the next few days, with the same little feature. Luckily, this though, is just the beginning of good things we are rolling out.
January 28th, 2007
How many blogs do I read that have some problem either with spam in the comments or with the various solutions we use to try to fend it off. I’ve heard of difficulties from a couple of readers now… so I’ve removed the offending spamware and lets hope that some of you who have tried to comment in the past will return. I get a big kick out of hearing from people, as does perhaps any blogger. Is it that I am so used to having commerce mixed in as such a natural friendly part of life here that I just don’t understand the spam mentality?
Anyway, here’s hoping we see more of you around in the near future.
January 26th, 2007
Here’s a good post that spells out a really good way of looking at retirement, at least I thought so. I feel like I spend a lot of time hooting and hollering for people to bag it all and buy a house or a condo in Panama or Mexico or in some of the other countries we are looking at. But to do so realistically we really are asking people to make a serious commitment and it’s not something anybody does lightly. As RC asks in his post, would you take a vacation without making the necessary plans to do so?
A financial advisor can do a much better job in forecasting what it will take to get you where you want if you have established a game plan. If the numbers don’t support your plans then you can adjust your plans until you have a working solution.
I happen to think that housing and living expenses in Mexico or Panama, being as low as they are, often constitute the perfect “adjustment.” And RC’s other post from today, about environment, really falls into our expertise. Your environment really should be at the top of your considerations, not only for later during retirement, but for now when you are trying to think about it. That said a vacation and a look around Mexico or Panama’s beautiful open spaces might really allow you to bring some of the good life back home.
January 25th, 2007
Just passing this along… as part of our photography run-down, sort of a barhop and photoswap in Guadalajara this coming weekend. Seems from Gwyn’s post the event is conducted mostly in Spanish (?)
In addition to the blogroll that I keep saying is in the works, we are also going to be featuring the best of the Flickr (and similar) photo collections we keep coming across. The photo above is from (and copyrighted by) Gwyn’s excellent Mexican Flickr Photostream. Maybe it is just my anglo-mundo eyes, but Mexico looks better and better in the more and many photographs I keep coming across. That’s another contagious response that crops up in people moving to Mexico, and even those just visiting. We’re in the process of updating and re-working many of the photos on MexRetire.com right now, too. And gathering photos to which we have proper rights and can use legally has been a real challenge.
Watch for more, and if you have a Flickr photostream, let us know. We are happy to feature more in the future.
January 24th, 2007
Well we mentioned it earlier but today is the day you definitely want your passport if you are flying in or out of the US. A few things bug me about it, but Billie from San Miguel has a nice take on it that we hadn’t even thought about. It simply makes staying in touch with family and friends a little more expensive and a little more troublesome. It seems like a bit of a step backward, but we wish the best to everyone traveling anywhere, and we hope you’ll remember your passport in time, before you fly or buy tickets.
January 23rd, 2007
This is maybe a little off the beaten track around here, but I have just had a terrific evening making my way through the Blogging Boomers carnival that has been really picking up speed since the beginning of the year all over the blogosphere.
It actually started way back before Christmas, as “a weekly roundup (also known as a ‘carnival’) of the top stories on the top blogs dedicated to baby boomer interests.” But since then the writing and the posting and the whackiness have gotten increasingly fun. I happen to think that Blogging Boomers Carnival #6 was the best yet - especially with the inclusion of Boomer Chronicles’ The Cookbook that Wouldn’t Die and Baby Boomer Celebrities asked about their “To Do Before You Die” Lists.
But there are some very serious and even heartfelt posts included also. If you’re new here, or especially if you are new to the blogosphere, the Booming Bloggers Carnival is an excellent way to get a comprehensive introduction to some of the best people working it, and doing what I think blogs are best at; addressing niche audiences, and correcting mass media. How “niche” is baby boomer? Well, you’ll have to answer that.
Carnivals were hosted on the in-between weeks at:
True - It’s a lot of reading, but it’s also a terrific way to get to know some of the people writing on what is otherwise a relatively under-served market. At the end of all this carnival-ing, I feel a little like this is the first time I actually heard boomers really booming.
January 22nd, 2007
This is the post where I am trying to highlight some of the terrific writing, reporting and just good old blogging that we’ve seen over the past week. This is also a sort of preview of some of the highlights of our forthcoming official blogroll of the best in our ever widening field. Retirement, owning a second home, or just moving to Mexico is one of the most exciting things people can do, and that spirit shows in all of the writing I want to re-present for you below.
First of all, Brenda and Roy it seems, are learning that beautiful Guaymas can get pretty chilly. Though last week started off with a fantastic video of the orca whales swimming in the sea, subsequent posts have concentrated on the January temperatures dipping down into what sounds like sleeping weather to me. Brenda deserves kudos for seriously making those of us enjoying the sun in more southerly locations, still feel like we are next to the heater and just watching the clouds and drizzle outside. The word is “reassuring.”
Similarly, John at Viva Veracruz is getting some of the less sunny weather on the other side of Mexico. That’s been enough to inspire the words:
Living in Mexico is a real life novella. Not a fictional narrative but a real life drama about sunlight and darkness, and birth and death, blood and drunkenness, love, anguish, honor, passion, fear and stupidity, but fueled on by an inexhaustible hunger for life.
And you thought blogging about life here would just be about Mexican health insurance and a new enchillada restaurant ?
Yucatan Living has been covering some of otherwise little known aspects of the painting world in Mérida. Little known at least in the English speaking world, the Working Gringos started with last weekend’s impressive essay on Mérida painter, Alberto Castillo. This is as good as blogosphere first-hand researching gets.
But they topped that with a later post on Mexico’s ubiquitous rotulo painting, the hand-painted advertisements and anuncios that strike visiting foreigners with the brilliant colors and, dare-I-say, approachability that you only get from hand painted signs. Literally every available surface is a canvas for the Mexican rotulo painter. The working gringos discover what we probably suspected, that these painters have their hands in just about every kind of painting imaginable. The painting at left, originally by famed Mexican painter Jesús Enrique Helguera, is being re-worked by the sign painters visited by the authors. (Photo by Working Gringos)
Still more about painting, but also on the RV front, literally, RVers Mimmi and Jonna get a new mural painted on theirs. As easy and simple as getting someone to change the battery in your watch, the post is as much about making a new pal, a common feeling that comes with a lot of Mexican business transactions.
And another RVer, Gary from On the Road with Gary posted a few more of his always insightful observations from the RV. Doing some housework and remodeling, capturing a live iguana, and the sort of observations on Mexico that should make his blog famous. That is, if fame were bestowed on the good, honest people who come to Mexico seeking more of the same.
January 21st, 2007
I’ve just updated the Help Wanted Page above, after talking to our sales director. We are writing and re-writing the requirements and duties but essentially they are looking for people to assist visiting folks who want to buy or rent houses in Mexico or just learn about a given area. That includes all the Featured Locations and yes, even a bunch of the locations we have yet to add. It’s a great opportunity for people looking to supplement a retirement income with some good commissions on real estate sales, plus there are also opportunities to earn while promoting the business listings section of MexRetire.com
It could really be one job or two, depending on the size of the area and the motivation of the agent. You might need to meet a few people a week at the airport and assist them for an hour or two. And you might make up for slow time making sure local business people are aware of our business listings section. In a larger market, like Guadalajara, two positions could be nearly full time, or could be split between a couple of agents.
With MexRetire.com’s experience getting visas and paperwork done, it should be no problem to have everything above board and running smoothly. Read the posting above carefully if you’re interested. We’re looking to talk to some more of the great people finding new life and opportunity in Mexico.
January 19th, 2007
Panama’s healthcare system is world-famous for being among the most advanced and forward looking. Healthcare services and overall affordability is one of the main reasons that retirees look to Panama as a place to live and enjoy life, and Panama receives visitors from all over the world for procedures that are simply too expensive or otherwise unavailable elsewhere.
“Estimates of the ex-pat community here in Panama vary from 20,000 to 50,000, but that number could be dwarfed in the years ahead with two innovative “outsourcing” approaches to retiree health care.”
There’s a good article by Coley Hudgins at TCS Daily on what it might mean if US Retirees could use Medicare in countries like Panama, Mexico or Costa Rica. As Medicare is hit with its first wave of Baby Boom retirees, any number of solutions to the problem of too many retirees are being looked at, and this one frankly seems to make a lot of sense. Just like its cheaper for us to go and have a procedure done in Panama, well, it’s cheaper for Medicare too.
Of course, as the article notes, there does need to be a system of accreditation that guarantees institutional service is trustworthy and of the standard that Medicare expects But the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations actually already does a fair amount of accrediting and issuing standards internationally so that infrastructure, one could assume, already exists. It would just need to be adjusted for Medicare. The benefit to adhering to such standards, for Panama, Mexico and other places, could be immeasurable, and would come in the form of more retirees seeking good healthcare, and Medicare reimbursements.
January 19th, 2007
OK, this time we got a nice top ten list from the folks at Panama Real Estate Blog, but most important, check out the fabulous flash header on top of their page. Their list of why Panama is The Place to retire is as follows:
1. Cost of Living
2. Tropical Beauty/ Lifestyle
3. Real Estate Timing/ Investment
4. No Hurricanes or major destructive earthquakes
5. Great Weather
6. Political Stability and Low Crime Rate
7. Location…Location
8. International Class Healthcare
9. Panama has a 1st not 3rd World infrastructure
10. Panama “Welcomes and Wants You�
Couldn’t have put it more succinctly! Watch here for a lot more Panama news in the next few weeks.
Photo is copyrighted and from the Flickr Photostream of Young in Panama, posted with thanks and many compliments.
January 17th, 2007
This past year was a very good year for Mexico’s tequila industry according to this article in Hispanic Business.com (via the German Press Agency). Exports were at record levels, 140 million liters, a 19.65 percent increase over 2005. And lots of the spirit stays home too. Readers here, and those interested in retiring to Mexico generally, will probably find themselves confronted with Mexico’s national liquor so it is best to read up a little on what your getting yourself into, especially if you spend a birthday here, or any other opportunity for your Mexican friends to demand a toast.
Dowd’s Spirit Notebook has a nice run-down, not only on the flooded marketplace, but on lots of finer
points on enjoying some of the top tequilas too. Dowd’s favorite is the Don Eduardo pictured at right. The company that distills it, Don Pedro Sánchez de Tagle, the marquis of Altamira, began producing tequilas around the year 1600.
For a bit more in depth look at the 400 year history of Tequila in Mexico, and some recipes, this recent article in Wine X magazine may help the curious to be a little more discerning. According to the article, agave plants like those in the photo above:
[…] mature at about 10 years old and normally measure about 60-70 centimetres around the base. When harvested, the spiky leaves are chopped away from the core of the plant. The “pina” as it is then called, looks like a giant green pineapple and is cooked to convert the starch to sugar. It is then shredded and pulped to extract the sugary juice. This juice is fermented twice in pot stills. It emerges from the stills the second time at the relatively low proof of 110 (vodka is distilled at 190 proof). That means that when the spirit is adjusted to the requisite alcohol level, less water is needed and the character of the spirit is not diminished. Tequila bottled straight from the stills is called white or silver tequila. Gold tequilas or anejos are aged in wood for one to three years but sometimes up to seven.
If the Wine X article doesn’t satisfy you, then the full 14 pages of In search of the Blue Agave, compiled and edited by Ian Chadwick is our final recommendation. This the comprehensive online guide to the world of Tequila, including a fascinating look at the ancestral Aztec drinks from which Tequila evolved and at the Mexican region of the same name. Chadwick’s regional guide offers plenty of links to agencies and sights of interest for those visiting the area, and for those whose passion for Tequila is less easily cooled.
January 15th, 2007
Cheers to John from Mexico Woods, one of the best conceived blogs we’ve seen. And we do read a lot of blog in preparation for our forthcoming blogroll of Mexico Retirement Blogs, and there are more than a few.
John usually hails (and writes) from San Miguel de Allende. But blogging from his current trip to Yucatan is really well worth reading if you’re thinking of making a trip to the peninsula. John’s style is quite a bit better than mere tourist advice and veers into good solid travel writing mixed with the relaxed attitude of the permanent resident of Mexico. Plenty of photos make the blog a nice addition to your blogroll. That relaxed attitude sometimes gives way, nicely, to the documentarist’s impulse, such as in yesterday’s quite excellent post on Mexico’s tricicletas.
Photo is copyrighted, John Wood 2006.
January 15th, 2007
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