Moving to Mexico

I am going to speak about some questions that are on people’s minds about moving to Mexico. I will talk about Ajijic, Lake Chapala as it is where we moved in 1994.

In Ajijic it is not necessary to speak Spanish as most Mexicans in the area speak some English. There are many residents that have lived here for years without even learning rudimentary Spanish. Our now grown children are fluent in Spanish and my husband and I can certainly get by. For me it was fun to learn a new language and Spanish is a beautiful language and much easier to learn than English. There are many hotels in Ajijic, Lake Chapala from cozy B and B’s to full scale Boutique Hotels offering wonderful rooms, suites and restaurants.

The hospitals in Guadalajara are world class and vary in rates, however, all being very reasonable.

We have many excellent doctors and our family doctor is Dr. Carlos Garcia from Maskaras Clinic and we all have been very happy with him for over 18 years.

We now have many wonderful restaurants from cheap and cheerful local eateries to several fine dining establishments.

There is a choice of several banks in Ajijic and Chapala and some US and Canadian banks are also represented.

Real Estate is a serious business here in Ajijic, Lake Chapala. Some companies are better than others and word of mouth is a good way to select a company that will listen to you and put your needs ahead of their own. Reputation is everything and, fortunately, Kevin Collins, enjoys an excellent reputation and has served the community for over 18 years.

The cultural activies are varied and abundant with live theatre and many local events to enjoy. The Mexicans are a very warm people and expats are always invited to every occasion being it formal or informal. This gives you the opportunity to witness Mexican weddings, baptisms, posadas and fiestas of every description.

The Guadalajara Reporter is a weekly newspaper which lists all the upcoming events in the Lakeside section of the paper.

For some schools are also a consideration and we have good schools in Ajijic as well as Guadalajara which is 45 minutes away and is twice the size of Toronto, Canada.

Our children went to school here and on graduation from high school were accepted into many colleges and universities in the US and Canada.

Moving to any foreign country is a big step and, or course, you have a lot of questions. Most of your questions can be answered on line or by contacting a reputable Real Estate Broker in the area.

For myself, I have enjoyed every minute of every day here in Ajijic, Lake Chapala and every year our infrastruction grows to accommodate our needs.

Also the weather is divine averaging 75 degrees F. with sunshine 90% of the year.

For many that fact alone is all it takes to make the move.

We have a couple of expressions I will share with you. The first is people go to Florida to die but they come here to live. The second one is people come here for the weather but stay for the wonderful Mexican people.