Living in Mexico or the U.S.: My Top Five Lists

This list would be different depending on my mood of the moment, but with that caveat, here we go... your list, or anyone else's, would no doubt be different. Here are my top five favorite things about living in Mexico, where I do, near Lake Chapala:

1. The glorious climate. Oh, how we gloated all winter, even as we wore warm clothes to keep warm here! We are grateful every day for the pleasures of the weather, even as it's hitting the upper 80s now.

2. What the glorious climate makes possible: year-round gardening (definitely better now than in the winter), and pleasant outdoor walking or water aerobics year-round. I'm distinctly healthier and a bit slimmer because of this.

3. The warmth and graciousness of the Mexican people. I've blogged a lot about this. We've made some wonderful Mexican friends here. It helps that we speak the language some, and it helps that we live in a more Mexican town too.

4. Well, I gotta admit that wherever I am, good high-speed internet in my home really matters to me! Here we have it. (Yes, we would in the U.S. too but this IS one of my favorite things about my life here.)

5. A lot of things are contending for this last spot, but I guess I'll go with the lower costs of life here, in most ways: medical and dental care, groceries (except imported goodies and nutritional supplements, and we buy plenty of both), property taxes and most other costs related to our home, lots of very nice restaurants where we spend well under $20 US total for two good meals, and so on.

Oops, didn't squeeze in the natural beauty or... oh well, onward!

My top five favorite things about living in the United States are:

1. Easier access to my family and dear friends. We do have the Verizon North American plans cellphone down here, and lots of other expats are very happy with Vonage and Skype and so on, so we do talk with our loved ones in the U.S. a lot here, but still I gotta give this one to the U.S. I know people who have lived here and left because of this, or who are snowbirds so they can watch the grandkids grow up.

2. Generally more sedate traffic, in wider lanes, with fewer unexpected pedestrians, livestock, dogs, etc. This is a personal one for me, but I do like driving much better up north.

3. The shopping. Amazon! All-organic cotton clothes! Lots of other speciality items that are hard to find here! I'm not really that big of a shopper but I do appreciate that abundance of choice there. Yes, I could buy things and have them shipped but generally I tend not to want to deal with the duty and the uncertainty. When people we know are coming down, we load them up!

4. Ability (albeit expensive) to eat organically and know it. Here, a lot of the produce at the local markets *might* be organic -- and when we find bugs in it, we rejoice -- but we don't know it. Heaven only knows what we are eating with our chicken, eggs, dairy, meat, fish, etc. (We're expanding our vegetable garden here in Mexico to improve this here.)

5. Being in my own culture. Yes, the U.S. has its problems (to make a major understatement) but still it's MY country. I miss seeing more younger Americans too, since around here I am one of the younger foreigners!

We do expect to go to the U.S. for a while this summer, so I will be able to have my cake and eat it too.