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Here's one. Anybody know anything about living in Mexico. Besides playing 40k in Texas.

You pay your rent in Pesos. I think. Lots of Mexican food in Mexico, but they just call it food.

Depends where you live I suppose.

Rural areas are mostly safer, although depending on the region, you may need to learn more than Spanish as there are some rural areas that still primarily speak an indigenous tongue. Not a whole lot in the boondocks. Some areas are also full of various rebels, Zapatistas being the most common, who will generally leave you alone if you leave them alone, although kidnapping is not exactly unheard of.

In the major cities, if you cannot completely blend, clothing, language, skin color, etc, you'll probably want to hire a driver or guard. Kidnapping is pretty common and anyone seen as a foreigner is considered a prime target.

It's a lot cheaper than the US, but rent in the capitol or other big cities, especially the nice parts, is pretty high, comparable to rent in Los Angeles or New York. You cannot buy land as a non mexican citizen, you can only lease it up long periods of time. DF is a pretty amazing city with just about everything you could want, but the traffic is insane, a lot of it is unsafe to walk as a foreigner, and it is essentially a big city with twice the flaws and one could argue, twice the advantages.

Cops are crooked as hell and will exhort you often. Keep you money in your shoe and only a twenty in your wallet. Never ever ever go to a police station to pay a ticket or speak to a supervisor.

Stay the hell away from US/Mexico border towns. TJ, Nogales, Ciudad de Juarez, all of them have an equal crime rate to the capitol with a hell of a lot less people, currently in a major drug war, and generally the worst cops in the country.

Resort towns like Cabo or what not are not cheap but safest for foreigners. Hard to get a job though unless you have experience in hospitality and the like. But this is true of Mexico in general, it is damn hard to find a job.

So yah...hope that helps.

you know that's not what the guy on the street said ...

I'm not shy about carrying a knife. Or two or three. Or a sword, if it comes to it.

stupid question but what they do with kidnapp-ees? Ransom?

Tacobake wrote:you know that's not what the guy on the street said ...

I'm not shy about carrying a knife. Or two or three. Or a sword, if it comes to it.

stupid question but what they do with kidnapp-ees? Ransom?

Usually ransom, there are 'express kidnappings' where they drive out around and force you clean out your ATM accounts.

I wouldn't recommend brining a knife to a gun fight, I saw that in a movie once and it was ugly.

for more thorough information than you'll get on a message board you can check out the US State department's consular information page:

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_970.html

These tend to a bit more alarmist than tour books since the embassies are obliged to warn US citizens of all possible hazards but they're pretty reliable.

nice! That's a sweet site.

Maybe Greece then ...

Interesting to see the US version there kyoto

The UK Govt has a similar site, but for UK citizens found here: http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travelling-and-living-overseas/travel-advice-by-country/

and here is mexico: http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travelling-and-living-overseas/travel-advice-by-country/north-central-america/mexico

legoburner wrote:Interesting to see the US version there kyoto

The UK Govt has a similar site, but for UK citizens found here: http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travelling-and-living-overseas/travel-advice-by-country/

and here is mexico: http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travelling-and-living-overseas/travel-advice-by-country/north-central-america/mexico

Thats great. I like this one.... "Do not make flippant remarks about bombs or terrorism, especially when passing through US airports."

I think they were wise to mention about planning carefully for areas where fuel stations might be scarce. I used to drive the East/West length of Kansas once a year...I never let my car get below a half tank of fuel.

Everyone wears sombreros

It's funny, but one of my corporate counterparts lives in Mexico.

The best story I heard about him is this:

Whenever he leaves his home for more than a day, he moves & locks all of his computer / electronics gear into a steel cage. It is not uncommon for him to come home and find uninvited "houseguests".

Personally, with the ongoing war between the drug cartels and the Mexican authorities, I won't be going into Mexico for the foreseeable future.

To be fair that ongoing escalation is predominantly in the border regions.

Its a shame, there are glorious places in Mexico. The people are generally hard working and decent folk. Get off the beaten path (assuming you don't run into the aforementioned drug/criminal element) and they are a gracious hospitable people.

Tacobake wrote:nice! That's a sweet site.

Maybe Greece then ...

Greece is awesome. Go there!

lemurking23 wrote:Zapatistas

They are awsome!



Hell yes!!!