Want To Retire Or Work In Mexico? You'd Better Read This!

Summary: Let me shoot straight from the hip. No fancy introductions to this article, no witty sayings, no clever expressions, no wildly used adjectives. Just plain talk about what you will find if you are planning your retirement in Mexico or if you are coming here to work. You will find two basic groups of expatriates in Mexico. I am speaking experientially about central Mexico, although I do have more than a passing knowledge of other regions in this country through my research. ...

Let me shoot straight from the hip. No fancy introductions to this article, no witty sayings, no clever expressions, no wildly used adjectives. Just plain talk about what you will find if you are planning your retirement in Mexico or if you are coming here to work. You will find two basic groups of expatriates in Mexico. I am speaking experientially about central Mexico, although I do have more than a passing knowledge of other regions in this country through my research. You will also find lots of regional differences in the culture and personalities of the Mexicans in the place you choose to expatriate. The First Group of Gringo Expatriates Traditionally, Gringos have migrated to the Prime Living Locations in Mexico. A Prime Living Location is that which has the most well-defined and well-developed Gringo infrastructure. These are cities that have been forever altered to serve the needs of the Gringos. Everything that happens in that city is no longer for those born and bred there, but for the Gringo. Within these Prime Living Locations, you will find that the Gringos are not integrated into the culture or the language of Mexico. You will find the Gringo living in his own little mainly American enclaves, speaking nothing but English, shopping at the "American" stores, and socializing with other Gringos almost exclusively. To put it into the words of Star Trek the Next Generation: The Americans (the Borg) came sweeping into the lives of the Mexican people (potential drones) with their huge financial resources (their superior technical abilities), bought up these towns (assimilated the locals into the Borg collective), and now the locals live to service the Gringos (Drones: You will be assimilated