What I Don’t Like

I’ve written a great deal about aspects of living in Mexico, that I find wonderful or interesting. However, in the spirit of providing a balanced report, it is only proper that I also describe the things that are not so great. Some of these are specific to living in Mexico. Others relate to the difference between city and country life.

Litter

It baffles me how little respect so many can have for the environment. This is probably my biggest peeve. Garbage service is free (although I’m not sure that it is provided to the people out in the campo) yet vacant lots and roadsides are strewn with debris. Most of it non-biodegradable plastic and glass bottles and snack wrappers. A favorite place to through trash seems to be rivers and creeks. Recycling has yet to arrive and it is so desperately needed.

Service Failure

If you are unable to provide a service, or merely unwilling for whatever reason (maybe the job is too small), tell me. I’ll find someone else. Apparently it is rude to tell someone “no” in this culture. It is more acceptable to say “yes” and then never follow-through or show up. Also, if you can’t make an appointment or are going to be late, CALL. Don’t just show up some other day or time and expect me to be available.

Driving

In town is not bad. Even though one may need to drive up on the sidewalk and fold in a mirror in order to pass another vehicle on a narrow cobblestone street, no one is going very fast so it is not that bad. However, surprise potholes on highways are scary. So is a lane being resurfaced that is several inches lower than the other lane and there are no warning signs. Slow moving trucks can make you slam on your brakes when you round a curve and then worry that someone is going to hit you from behind; because if you’re not a slow moving truck, you’re probably moving well above the speed limit. For a people who are known for being “laid back”, why are they in such a hurry when they get behind the wheel of a car?

Water Issues

A quarter inch line is not sufficient to supply water to four properties. If a hose is turned on in one part of the yard, turning another on will completely eliminate the pressure from both. Sprinklers will not operate. My workers, gardener and maid are competing for water. I just leave the property and think, “Let them work it out together.”

And the water is so full of lime that it stains the sinks, toilets and fountains. I went out and bought these fancy designer sinks with special surfaces that can only be cleaned with mild or neutral cleaners. As a result, our sinks look dirty all the time. To scrub the lime off would be to remove the special patina. (The next time I will only buy regular white porcelain sinks and chrome fixtures that can be scrubbed with the scrubby side of a sponge or soft steel wool.)

Cost for Certain Comforts

Decent clothes, electronics and comfortable furniture are imported, therefore subject to import tax and nearly twice as expensive here. We wait to buy these things when we go to the states or have them made. (Being patient and having things made can save one a bundle.)

Electricity

Or a lack thereof. The electric company here is rumored to be bankrupt. Solar is prohibitively expensive (because the materials are imported). We’re paying nearly $300 USD per month in electric bills for a two person home. (We are not negligent energy users.) And after a big storm (or for no apparent reason) we can be days with a brown-out or a complete blackout. This complaint is not unique to us. There have been protests at the electric company offices. How can a poor Mexican family be expected to pay these prices?

There are other issues but they exist in the states as well. Maybe just a little more so here. Poverty, animal abuse or population control issues, smog (not so much in San Miguel but in the big cities), dry dusty summers and petty crime.

I miss central heat two months of the year. I miss wood construction of homes (they are how I was raised and seem warmer to me).

Preferring not to end on a negative note, I’ll reiterate some of the things that I love:

I love being able to afford a maid and gardener.

I love waking up to blue skies and temperatures above 70 degrees Fahrenheit 300 days of the year.

I love the family culture.

I love good, cheap Mexican food.

I love paying $10 for a haircut and $45 for a massage.

I love living in a big open space and wild flowers during the rainy season.

I love not having a mortgage or paying rent.

I love low property taxes (i.e., $300 USD a year).

I love not working.

I love my friends and “alternative family” that I’ve met here, as well as the diversity that this town offers.