Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico » Culture & Cultural Differences

A Huichol Encounter

Rosana — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 03:36:46 +0000

At this year’s annual Feria del Arte by Lake Chapala, Mexico (near where we live), I was at a booth featuring Huichol art. I started chatting in Spanish with some of the Huichol people there. One woman answered me in English that I immediately recognized had to be her native tongue, and it was.

Susana Valadez is an anthropologist who went to the Huichol region to do fieldwork. She ended up falling in love with one of the Huichol men she met. They married in 1978 and have three children.

As Susana discovered over time, the traditional ways were being encroached on. A fiesty, energetic, deeply caring woman, Susana founded the Huichol Center — that link takes you to its website. It is devoted to cultural preservation in many ways, but Susana also explores integrating non-traditional culture into the Huichol life as appropriate. For example, she has introduced the making of soymilk as an eco-friendly source of badly needed protein.

On her site is a really well-made program about the Center. It runs about 12 minutes. You will enjoy it the most if you press play, then pause and wait two minutes. This will allow the video to load and be played without any breaks or buffering.

We had time to chat a bit. I told her about the earthbag building that my husband Kelly and other local Americans and Canadians are doing at a school right near where we live, where a number of Huichol students are in residence. I also told her that I got a BA in Anthropology from Stanford and started my PhD at Berkeley, also in Anthropology, before the 60s overcame me and I said goodbye to academia.

Talking with her was kind of like talking with someone I could have become. I could imagine my life taking her path!

A funny thing about this blog post: I meant to write it for this blog but had it almost finished at my blog called Simple Green Living before I noticed where I was. (Both blogs are on the Wordpress platform and look virtually identical to work in. That’s my excuse.) Anyway, since that was such an out-of-character “error” for me to make, Iwent ahead and put it up there. And it got some good publicity! Ah, serendipity…

This project of hers does an incredible amount on not that much money. On Susana’s beautifully done website, there is a Paypal button. I clicked and made a small donation, and I encourage you to do the same. (Or a large donation!)

A Huichol Encounter is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

The Mail in Mexico

Rosana — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:33:35 +0000

If you live in Mexico, you probably know most of what I am about to say… please add any advice in the comments! This article is about the joys and sorrows (sorrows, mostly) of using the mail in Mexico. Readers who don’t live here, please remember that surrealism is a strong element of Mexican culture!

Problems with the Mail in Mexico

There are three main problems with having things mailed to you here: it can be very slow, things may disappear en route, and you might get charged duty which can be quite high.

Now some expats have had pretty good luck with the Mexican mail system, but I don’t happen to be one of them. One example: a Christmas card from our daughter reached us just after Easter the first year we were here!

We eventually gave up our post office box in Ajijic.

One reason the mail can be so difficult is that Mexicans don’t use it much. Ordinary Mexicans in our town typically seem to go years between pieces of mail. Cellphones are ubiquitous, they pay their electric bills at the grocery store on the highway, their water bill once a year at City Hall, and I don’t know how they pay their phone bills, since we have never managed to get a regular phone ourselves.

I have heard from some other foreigners here that the mails are improving noticeably.

Fedex and other Delivery Systems

These are here, quite reliable, and priced high enough that you don’t want to order a ton of books from Amazon this way. We have sent and received important papers with Fedex just fine… we didn’t try to have them come to our hard-to-find house, so I don’t know if they do. We used a local Fedex office.

Mailboxes in Texas

Here in the Lake Chapala area, there are some choices that aren’t available in places with few expats. I’m sure this is true in San Miguel de Allende, Puerto Vallarta, and other expat favorite spots. Various companies in our area have arrangements with companies in Texas — I don’t know if they use Mailboxes Etc. or what — and the mail is brought down regularly. I’ve certainly heard complaints about this but by and large it seems to work pretty well.

A Word About Customs

Until the presidential term of Vicente Fox a few years ago, books could come into Mexico duty-free. Then his administration put duty charges on books, but whether or not it will be charged is variable. It’s supposed to be a fairly low rate but I do know someone who absolutely needed a professional book for her online business and she got socked with customs roughly equal to the hundred bucks or so that the book cost.

Most medicines are here and cheap but sometimes people need meds from north of the border and if they come by mail or courier, there may be some customs. I don’t know how much.

So What Do We Do?

Living in an area with thousands of expats and snowbirds really helps. We bring things down for each other, and we take tax forms, birthday presents, and other things to be mailed up north when we go.

I for one have been surprised at how easily I have adapted to not having the mails in my everyday life. I *do* miss easy access to Amazon.com and my favorite vitamins and supplements. But with Mexico’s second-largest city nearby, over time we have found sources for many things here.

The Mail in Mexico is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

A Mexican Chain Letter in My Email

Rosana — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:14:22 +0000

Jan. 24, 2009 – Every now and then I get an email from a Mexican man I know who lives in California. The other day I was amused to get this one:

The red text under the picture tells me that I should send the picture to ten people including the one who sent it, and my problems will resolve themselves. Well, I don’t do chain letters, but hey, it will reach more than ten people via the blog!

4 Comments from the old blog:

At January 24, 2009 10:38 AM, 1st Mate said…

Wait a minute… That Virgen de Guadalupe is awfully white! Is that the California version?
At January 24, 2009 1:02 PM, Steve Cotton said…

I suspect she is that pale because the blood just rushed from her face at the thought of blessings coming through email. ;>
At January 24, 2009 1:12 PM, Rosana Hart said…

You guys are BAD! I didn’t say Guadalupe on purpose in the original post. Just asked my cleaning lady, who is a great friend, what she thinks. She said that’s not the Virgin of Guadalupe, because she is so white.
Then she thought she might be the virgin of Medujorge, but doubted it because the clothing wasn’t arranged quite right or something like that. Maybe it’s the virgin of Fatima, she mused.
Imagining that she could keep going with other names, I said, but they are all really the same, right? (in Spanish) and she said yes, just different forms.
At January 28, 2009 12:43 PM, Kadmiel said…

LOL you guys are funny but i have to agree she is kinda pale.. ;)

A Mexican Chain Letter in My Email is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

In the US or in Mexico, Family is Sweet

Rosana — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:18:25 +0000

Nov. 14, 2008 — I’m finally getting back into my regular routines after our trip to California, still savoring all the great connecting and visiting that happened there. Kelly went to a week-long natural building building conference while I made the rounds of family and a few dear old friends. We both started and ended in San Francisco, where our daughter lives, and I was also in Berkeley and Sonoma County, both places where I lived long ago.

Let’s see, in my family, I saw my daughter (step-daughter actually but I call her either one) and her partner, my niece and her three kids with a glimpse of her husband, my sister-in-law, two nephews who are brothers, (one with wife and two daughters, one a new baby), another nephew with a wife I’d never met, two former brothers-in-law, and the new wife of one of these fellows.

Sounds very Mexican, don’t you think? I’m resisting the temptation to draw out a family tree for you, but when I planned out the itinerary, I was aware of how Mexico has affected me. Family is so important here that it has become more important to me too. I also saw five old friends who are like family to me.

We Americans tend to scatter geographically and our family life pays a price. There’s also the matter that many (most? all?) families have dysfunctional aspects. Still, getting older, I find that my family means more to me than it did in the past. I am connected to these people in ways that have such deep roots.

One ex-brother-in-law was newly out of the hospital from a successful cancer surgery. I hadn’t seen him in close to 20 years. Don’t think I’ll wait that long again to go back to my old stomping grounds. In fact, I briefly entertained fantasies of living again in Sebastopol, California. (I used to run the public library there and when I stopped in, both librarians there remembered me. Nice!) But I don’t think I could afford California nowadays.

Back home in San Juan Cosala, I’ve chatted with various Mexican friends. They understand perfectly why I would make a trip that was all about family. (Well, a bit of shopping too, but even that was with family!)

Comments from the old blog:

At November 19, 2008 10:46 AM, Anonymous said…

Hi,i have a question for anyone who can answer it.Im going to be moving to mexico in a month or 2.ill be living in montemoralos with my boyfriend and our son he is 3 months.i want to know can he get his shots in mexico.
At November 19, 2008 2:22 PM, Rosana Hart said…

Mexican babies get their shots so I am sure your little guy can too. They might have a slightly different schedule or exact type of shots used.

Enjoy your new life! You probably know how much Mexicans love babies!
At November 24, 2008 6:33 AM, 1st Mate said…

Your post made me just a little homesick for northern California; I lived most of my life there, in Marin, Sonoma and Mendocino Counties. My son’s still in Petaluma. But I don’t think I could afford to live there anymore either. Nice to visit, though.

In the US or in Mexico, Family is Sweet is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

I Meet a Young Black American Man Who Loves Mexico

Rosana — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:22:04 +0000

Oct. 19, 2008 – Yesterday I had an interesting conversation with a young black man who has traveled all over Mexico and loves the country and its people. He speaks some Spanish, I don’t know how much.

This topic has come up now and then here, as I have received email queries from black Americans who wondered if they would encounter racism if traveling in Mexico.

So I was eager to ask this guy that question.

Kelly and I are in California right now, and yesterday we went to an art show in San Francisco, in a huge building where dozens of artists work. This fellow — never did learn his name — was sitting in the studio of a young woman my stepdaughter knows slightly. We all chatted a while, and Kelly mentioned that we live in Mexico.

This guy said he’d been in Guadalajara and some other places, and that his favorite place in all of Mexico was Oaxaca.

I told him that people had sometimes asked me on my blog about racism in Mexico.

“Racism? Of course I’ve run into here a lot, but I never did there.”

He said something about his speaking Spanish helping. I also noticed that he had bright eyes and a buoyant spirit… hmm, kind of like a lot of Mexicans I know. But it gave me the feeling that he’s someone people would naturally like.

So just a little tidbit more to add to the discussion of racism and Mexico.

By the way, we’re hearing a lot of Spanish in San Francisco. We’re staying near the Mission district and have walked down there for dinner and various things. It’s interesting to me that I feel more at home in the Mission than I did last time I was here, four years ago. I imagine it’s due to traveling around Mexico, and of course living there, in the intervening years.

Another errand yesterday took us into Mervyn’s, which was a great experience in multi-cultural people-watching. The store was packed, as pre-bankruptcy sales are underway. I waited a long time in a line to buy some all-cotton underwear, something I haven’t seen much in Mexico.

I heard the woman in front of me arguing with her kids about not buying the toys they were waving under her nose. The kids spoke English and Spanish to their mother. The woman spoke Spanish to them. So when she told them to go ask their father, and they took off, I said in Spanish, “And he’ll say no too, right?”

She laughed and we agreed that kids were kids everywhere, though actually I see much less of this kind of behavior in Mexico. Turns out she is from Guanajuato and her husband is from the US. They take the kids to Mexico every year to see her parents.

We chatted for quite a while, great fun. I was almost sorry when we got to the front of the line.

I Meet a Young Black American Man Who Loves Mexico is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

Mexican Fireworks

Rosana — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 14:34:56 +0000

Aug 3, 2008 – Fireworks are a way of life here in Mexico. Most of them are the really noisy kind, but sometimes there are displays that are quite beautiful.

In June, our town of San Juan Cosala and all other towns with San Juan in their names celebrated the saint’s day for Saint John the Baptist. This was preceded by nearly two weeks of loud fireworks, often late at night or very early in the morning. We foreigners tend to grumble to each other about all the racket, and I even know Mexicans who don’t like the noise. For myself, I found it easier to accept the noise when I learned that the traditional purpose is said to be getting God’s attention. Hey, I work on that myself, though way more quietly!

Kelly went down to the plaza on the night of the pretty fireworks and got some photos. I combined some of them here:

This design is on t-shirts, sweatshirts, etc., at my Cafepress store. This is a nifty website, where you can sign up for an account at no charge (or a modest charge if you use, as I do, the premium account) and upload your photos or artwork. They can be put on several dozen different items such a various t-shirts (including an organic cotton one), sweatshirts, note cards, etc., which you or others can then buy. They are quickly manufactured when someone orders them. Very cool… I have been using this for other websites of mine, but plan to add a bunch of Mexican t-shirts over time!

2 Comments from the old blog:

At August 04, 2008 6:07 PM, Rosana Hart said…

Deleting a comment from a Chinese fireworks salesman!
At October 28, 2008 11:30 AM, bordersaside said…

Around here they are constantly shooting off the loud boom kind. They shoot them off as late as 1am sometimes and as early as 6am. I still dont understand it, my husband says the people who shoot them off are celebrating something. But at 6am who wants to celebrate by shooting off loud fireworks. Its funny because he doesn’t even notice them most of the time. I joke with him and tell him that in the old westerns when you see the Mexicans shooting their guns in street that this never really happened but some confused American heard the fire works all the time and thought it was guns. :)

Mexican Fireworks is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

Being an Expat, in France or Mexico

Rosana — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 20:14:44 +0000

May 25, 2008 – The other day, Sam posted a comment on a recent blog entry which got me thinking. It says in part,

I’m a Mexican living in France since 2005, so I really know the feeling of being an expat. Every now and then I wonder if there are foreigners living in Mexico that might be feeling a bit like I do here. A quick google search brought me to your site.

That got me thinking about my years in Europe, mostly in France and Spain, over 40 years ago. (Geez, how does that happen? I won’t dwell on that topic today.)

Ah, France… I was first there as a university student. I loved the country, the food, the architecture, the culture. I wasn’t that wild about the French people, though, as most of the ones I met were pretty aloof.

I actually had better French then than I have Spanish now, but my pronunciation in both languages leaves a lot to be desired. The French were not kind about it. I remember meeting my younger sister at the airport in Paris when she came to spend a vacation with me. We got in a taxi and I told the driver to go to “Huit, Rue de la Harpe.”

“Non, mademoiselle,” he said curtly, “Huit, Rue de la Harpe.”

I thought I’d said that, but evidently my pronunciation of that elusive French u was not acceptable. So much for showing off to my sister how fluent I had become in French! The driver and I repeated the address to each other several more times — I don’t remember if the taxis had meters there and then but if so, I’m sure the the meter was running — before he deigned to drive us to the left-bank hotel at that location.

With that kind of memory of the French contrasting so strongly with the warmth and friendliness of the Mexicans, I’ve been wondering what it’s like to be a Mexican expat in France. I hope Sam comes back and posts something about that.

Also, Sam, I wonder how you feel there. Is it much like how I feel here? Sometimes I love being here and feel blessed beyond measure, sometimes I wonder if I will ever feel really at home here, and sometimes I am achingly homesick for the US — increasingly, I fear, for a US that doesn’t exist in the form I miss. (That, too, is a topic for another day. Or not.)

For some reason, Sam’s comment reminded me of a blog post I did three years ago, when Kelly and I were renting a house in Bernal, Queretaro, and it got me thinking about the time I had rented a house in a small coastal town in southern Spain. It’s one of my better blog posts, I think, so here’s a link to Nerja and Bernal.

I also hope this post today will get comments from some of the various Americans and Canadians who live in Mexico. How would you sum up your feelings?

Comments from the old blog:

At May 25, 2008 2:37 PM, Babs said…

Ha, Your episode with the taxi driver in Paris brings back so many memories………I was there along, knew no French and soon discovered how “isolating” not being able to communicate is and how difficult it must be for immigrants to America. It was a BIG lesson for me. I was there 10 days and probably said 10 words in that time…….But I DO have a similar experience in San Miguel with some of the taxi drivers when I tell them my street is Cuitlahuac (an Aztecan God) and each person it seems has a different way to pronounce it. So it becomes a game for me to see who will and who won’t correct me – I’ve lived on this street for 8 years…….really funny to me.
Homesickness, missing things, not very often any more. I’m so settled in I hesitate to go to the USA very often. NEVER thought I would say that………
At May 25, 2008 2:50 PM, Rosana Hart said…

Babs, I would imagine that few if any of the Mexican taxi drivers correct you with that haughty French superiority!

I’m beginning to understand hesitating to go to the US… we may not this year, still undecided.
At May 26, 2008 7:44 AM, sam said…

what it’s like to be a Mexican expat in France???
Well I really find it difficult to explain so much in a few lines. French people are so cold and distant that it took me almost 2 years to really get to make _REAL_ local friends.
As you point out, the French can be very pedantic about their language and they care lots about the way you express yourself…
But even now that my French is pretty good, cultural differneces still shock me sometimes… you know, all those little details that sum up and that are so important at the end of the day.

Exactly as you do, I have ups and downs: sometimes I really feel great here; sometimes I feel like I miss everyone and everything back home so much…
The tacos at the end of a wild night of party. The smell of the mango trees in the backyard of my grandma’s garden. The guacamole of fresh collected avocados. The music and the colors in the streets…

With time I have come to the conclusion that I miss Mexico less often, but also more intensely each time.

Well well this comment is getting too long. I must say that reading you makes me feel like I’m not alone. Someone at the other side of the atlantic is struggling adapting to a differnt culture and at the same time enjoying the magic of discovering so many new people and things!

Keep posting :)
At May 26, 2008 3:09 PM, Rosana Hart said…

Sam, you definitely are not alone. You and I share a lot, as we have written, and just think of all the people all over the world who experience similar things, for example, Filipinos in Saudi Arabia!
At May 28, 2008 12:32 PM, Rosana Hart said…

Sam… if you come back here… I must say I’m curious how a Mexican ended up an expat in France. How did that happen? Are there many Mexicans in France?

Rosana
At June 06, 2008 8:21 AM, peter said…

our 2nd anniversary is coming up on july 15. my wife yvonne has been back to alberta twice. and i have gone back “nunce”.
unfortunately i may be going up there in july because of the twinnings and worker programmes i helped set up for the chapala gummint.
i left toronto in ‘78 fer western canada and travelled back mostly fer business but visited with friends and family when i did so.
i don’t feel the need to leave chapala even fer a nano second.
we’ve had plenty of friends and family visit us here.
i am more than happy not being in the land of social engineering and a zillion laws.

pedro

Being an Expat, in France or Mexico is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

Some Christmas Thoughts in Mexico

Rosana — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 16:32:05 +0000

Today is a day of celebration of one of the world’s greatest messages. As Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus, what this means is both universal and unique for each person.

To me, the essence of Christianity is the universal message to love our neighbors as ourselves — a message rooted in Judaism and shared with all the great religions and ethical teachings.

It’s a lovely phrase and an enormous challenge. When Kelly and I wrote our wedding vows long ago, we promised to respect each other’s needs and wishes as equal to our own. We’ve kept that as a goal, though of course we have often done otherwise. Very often.

If it’s as challenging as it’s been with one beloved person, how well have I done at loving my neighbors, some of whom I don’t even like? Nowhere near 100%, that’s for sure… so forgiveness is mighty welcome. How will I express this love in the future? I’ve been reflecting on this.

And that’s where Mexico comes in. It’s my home. My neighbors are mostly Mexicans — people of a different culture, people of different economic levels, people who speak a different language — and often way too rapidly for me to get all they are saying! But many of my North American English-speaking neighbors also come from very different backgrounds than Kelly and I do.

Diversity like this means I encounter people regularly who see life very differently than I do, and so I am always trying to respect everybody’s right to their own viewpoints, choices, and lives… even when I don’t agree with them!

Beyond that, I celebrate what I see around me. It’s easy to celebrate the stunning beauty of Lake Chapala, the kindness and spontaneous warmth so characteristic of Mexicans, the climate here, and much more. Other things do present a challenge. I’ll keep working on it, in my life and here in my blog. Jesus left us a lot of good advice about how to work on it. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Some Christmas Thoughts in Mexico is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

Mexico Through the Ears of our 20-Something Friend

Rosana — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 21:44:20 +0000

Today’s post comes from our friend Peter, age 24, who has been living with us for about a week. He sent this out to friends and gave me permission to use it here.

I’m being a bad tourist this week, hardly venturing out beyond the high walls of my friend’s house to take in a new culture. Part of the problem is that I’m helping out with the building of a brick wall, which is fun in a gritty sort of way. Another problem is that my Spanish has decayed beyond all recognition. But having been in Mexico for just under a week, I can still report on it a little because one of the most fascinating parts of the country is how noisy it is, and noise doesn’t recognize walls. So imagine sitting on a small patch of turf next to a banana tree – that would be my friend’s front yard. Kick back for 24 hours and you’ll hear all or at least most of this:

* A roving public address system repeating the words ” Zeta GaaaAAAAAS.” That’s the propane truck. Personal vehicles are rare in this lakeside village of 6,000, about an hour south of Guadalajara, so the hydrocarbons come to you.

* Another P.A. system based in the church steeple, this one broadcasting announcements of general interest to the townsfolk. Forget TV and radio. Newspapers haven’t even put the town crier out of business yet. The steeple also, naturally, has a bell.

* Random vendors, also using truck-mounted P.A.s, selling everything from cure-all remedies to bananas. Since you’re sitting next to a banana tree, you can ignore them.

* Ad hoc fireworks displays that focus on noise over visual display. This happened at one in the morning a couple of days ago, and the next day at a more reasonable hour. Apparently, when you get the urge, nothing else will do.

* Bad American pop music. Mariachi music originated in this, the state of Jalisco, but why listen to that when you can give the neighborhood the feel of a dance party in Laguna Beach? When I last traveled here, nearly two years ago, I attempted to get a few Mexican twenty somethings to listen to Bob Dylan. So long as they’re listening to American music, my reasoning went, they may as well listen to good American music. But I see now that my revolution has stalled. Obviously, this means I will have to try again, but this time with my ukulele. (Oddly enough, there is no Spanish word for ukulele, according to three waiters I asked today.)

* A horse, perhaps at three in the morning. It made the same ferocious neighing noise that horses make in cowboy movies when they’ve come upon a cliff and rear up on their hind legs with vigorous disapproval.

* Dogs barking. They will bark well into the night. At what? Who knows? Perhaps they are plotting to overthrow the government.

* Kids playing in the street. Streets are big here. See the part about no cars.

* Roosters.

* Mobile junk dealers. They buy raw materials for recycling. Their P.A. system offers money for such things as copper piping, which my friend Kelly finds hilarious since someone ripped off some of his copper piping once. The hot shower had to wait.

Needless to say sleeping was difficult for a while. But it helps to psychologically surrender to the place in all its grand weirdness. Come to think of it, that’s a pretty good strategy for New Mexico too.

Next week I start a month-long certification course in English teaching. That’s in Guadalajara proper. From there it’s off to somewhere in the Spanish speaking world to put that training to use.

Comments from the old blog:

At October 19, 2007 7:20 PM, Anonymous said…

A 20-something male knows about, and is interested in, Bob Dylan? That’s the most unusual thing I have read in a long time.
At October 19, 2007 7:33 PM, Rosana Hart said…

He is a very unusual fellow. I hope you come back to see this link:

http://www.mexico-with-heart.com/mexico-and-the-us/young-men/
At October 25, 2007 10:34 AM, James said… Good luck with the english teaching, I hope he’ll start his own blog where ever he ends up.

UPDATE: Peter did start his own blog, and it’s at http://www.peterbrice.com — he ended up teaching English in Zamora, Michoacan, which is documented there with his own flair.

Mexico Through the Ears of our 20-Something Friend is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico

Mayan Calendar article

Rosana — Sat, 30 May 2009 19:45:53 +0000

July 13, 2007 — You may have heard something about the prophecies for 2012, coming from the Mayan and other calendars. According to what you read, it will be the end of the world or a transformation. I just read a fascinating article by a Guatemalan anthropologist at

http://www.trans4mind.com/counterpoint/barrios.shtml

in which he explains the authentic Mayan point of view, which is that it can be a time of transformation. I found it fascinating. Considering that the calendar predicted Cortes’ coming to the day, I do pay some attention! I found the comments at the end of the article, about how to live in a more harmonious way, to be a good reminder. Mastering the breath is mentioned and coincidentally I have been working a lot with my breath lately, ever since a cardiologist in Ajijic told me my heart is great but my breath is not!

Mayan Calendar article is a post from: Mexico with Heart - Living, Traveling, and Retiring in Mexico