January 24, 2006 — This morning I subscribed to the back issues at mexico-insights.com, home of an online magazine called Living at Lake Chapala. I highly recommend it for anyone who is considering living in the region (as we are), but I also think that much in it would be useful for people thinking of living anywhere in Mexico. There quite a few articles each month, with photos.

I signed up because I’d noticed several articles relating to selecting and buying real estate, and Kelly and I have been doing some looking. As an ex-librarian and lifelong information junkie, I couldn’t resist. Paying was easy, through an online shopping cart. Some hours later I received my username and password via email, sooner than the shopping cart message had promised.

I had planned to get some work done this evening, but that fell by the wayside as I read and read and read. The first real estate article I read could be worth the whole $24.95 price of access to the archives. (It was in the August 2004 issue and outlined all the steps in closing on a Mexican house, something I had wondered about and not found clearly described elsewhere on the internet.) Then I read about local veterinarians… holiday customs… mouth-watering recipes with stories related to the food… a school for the deaf… organic gardening in the area… the Xoloitzquintli or Mexican hairless dog… and more.

There are some 700 articles in the archives, so I have the same delicious feeling of anticipation that I have when I come home from a library with an armful of books. If we end up living in the region, I’m sure I’ll also subscribe and get the current issues hot off the (electronic) press.