not sure if this belongs here or not???? my dear friend is moving to mexico in august to start her phd research in anthropology. she has asked me to move with her & we are looking for ANY info at all. she has traveled a good bit, but neither of us have ever lived in another country for any length of time. we have lots of time to prepare at this point, but want to know any of the logistics on what to take/leave. what can be replaced once we arrive? since we're flying in & want to minimize our baggage, do we ship stuff down....sounds expensive! obviously, we need guidance & ANY advice at all is appreciated....thanks friends
i think you can stowe away 2 big bags and carry a couple on each on the plane. that should take care of the essentials. as faaar as everything else...sell the bulk and leave the others with family, and buy the stuff in mexico. you will probibly make a profit doing this
Mexico is way too corrupted and kidnap is the way of life. Costa Rica is much safer plus Columbia is just hop away and dangerus hop "but i pay some alse for the hop".
i think it's all about how you present yerself. like you know if you're going to be in a really bad place wear the raggiest cloths you can find and try best to fit in and such...a good friend of mine hitchhiked alone all the way from cali to the end of baja and scooted down to guatamala with no need for a gun and shit it's been a while now since i've talked to her, probibly in khat man dhu by now
oh but of course there is a big difference between living in a house and living under a tumble weed. you seem to drawl more attention in a house
thanks paintingjames for the advice & vote of confidence! to everyone else.....not all of mexico is "way too corrupted" where we are going is very safe. the sister i am moving with has already spent many weeks there & met lots of kind people. it is nice to know that we will already have a community once we arrive. plus, one of the midwives she'll be researching is married to the former chief of police & they know EVERYONE....that makes me feel safer
a big part of americans presumptions about mexico laies in the fact of their dissallusioned approach to life in general, and so obviously this impression is going to extend outwards to other peoppes and therefore come back at them and they're gonna be like all paraniod sitting there wondering why all these people are giving them strange looks...then they start thinking oh shit maybe their commies!!!!! lol i have worked/lived in situations with some of the most brutal cut throat people you all could ever imagine, and doing some very dangerous work. well they kept me alive, learend a great deal from them and oh man the stories. what i learned is that they are not the brutal cut throat people. a little disallusioned albiet. and inevetivley, that lead to the shocking conclusion who really is the brutal cutthroat people of this Earth .
I lived in Mexico for 6 months, mostly in Xalapa, in the state of Veracruz. Need more info from you. How long are you staying? Where are you going to be living specifically? Are you trying to get an apartment or what? Yes, shipping to Mexico can be costly and it may or may not ever get there. (I did successfully receive and send out some mail to/from the US but never tried a bigger package. I wouldn't ship anything too valuable) Basic things can be found much cheaper in Mexico, such as toiletries etc. and I wouldn't even worry about bringing much of those. (Know how cheap Walmart is? Well Mexico has Walmart too, and Mexican Walmart is like 1/5 the cost of American Walmart. There is also a large Mexican store chain which is basically the Mexican equivalent, called Chedraui)
I know alot of people who travelled extensively and said apart from Meixco city they found it to be safe. Fair enough you could get your bag stolen on a bus, but that could easily happen in a country like the US or any EU country. People pay to much attention to stories. When you visit alot of places that are not supposed to be safe you find out they are actually grand.
what part or state she moving to josai,,, that alone can tell one that has spent much of anytime down there bunches....
we will be living in Cuidad Guzman in the state of Jalisco in southern central Mexico about an hour from Guadalajara we are looking to get a house in Guzman. this seems feesible since the cost of living is much less than we're used to here. also she'll have to get a car (possibly bus) of sorts in order to travel to the more rural areas where the midwives are her research project will last minimum one year i'm thinking shipping is not really an option for us.....i'm sure it's ridicuously expensive. it's good to know that we can easily acquire the essentials
If you buy a vehicle, plan on selling it before you leave, because you can't take it back with you - I don't know the details of importing a vehicle into the U.S., but we took a vehicle from the U.S. into Mexico and had to put down a significant deposit and get it registered in order to make sure we didn't sell it while we were there. I assume it works both ways. At the least you would have to pay import taxes / fees. And in general, since you are doing business and looking at significant purchases Spanish skills will be essential - or at least a trusted translator (you didn't mention if your friend speaks well or not). And as with any business deal, do your research first. It's true that the cost of living / real estate is much, much cheaper there. You might be able to get a sweet deal, just watch out for shady business people and do a thorough inspection of the property / neighborhood first.
we were not planning on taking a vehicle from the states for 2 reasons: (1) the fees you described & (2) the cobblestone is supposed to be so bad for the car. her research will require travelling to some of the more rural areas, where the roads are pretty bad. she's fairly fluent in spanish & she already has some connections, so purchasing a car shouldn't be too much of a problem (i hope)! anyway, thank you so much. i REALLY appreciate all the advice....keep it coming!
josai i only spent bout a week of real time down in mexico.... but lived with a mexican for six years n completely enveloped in mexican life, culture etc,,,, where i went was a few hours further on of where yer headed to...was beautiful n beautiful folks and very rural setting,,,, i loved it n they loved me,,,,, clothes n shoes tend to be the most expensive things ppl need n have to buy there,,, as said most other things,,,, cheap compared to here.... know your exchange rates,,,,, if there is one thing folks will try n skroo ya over in a polite way of course, its with that..... of course, if ya go to rural area,,,, watch the stray donkeys n turkeys wanderin thru "town" and if you drive round at night watch for friggin livestock in roads,,, horses ,cows, donkeys you name it,,,, it is reallly dangerous,,,,
