New to this website. Looking to retire to Lake Chapala and need coaching

I am afraid of a drunken elephant running me over now

Gordy is hearing all the horror stories possible from his friends and family from NoB already. How many of us moved here without about 200 well wishers warning us we would be beheaded and robbed after we were sold a time share if we set one toe in Mexico?

*needs therapy for when the circus is in town again now*

CanuckBob wrote:I am too lazy to re-read all 4 pages but I don't think anyone was called "cowardly" were they?

Well I did and no. Now can someone tell me how to log off, Thank You.

CanuckBob wrote:

sambrit10 wrote:

slainte39 wrote:For the folks that see the elephant in the room.
How much hand wringing, nail biting, wailing, etc. do the rest of us have to do to make you happy.
"just because something hasn't happened to you, doesn't mean it won't"...what a way to live a life.
NO THANK YOU
Hope you don't consider this being "flamed"

No, I don't consider this being flamed. And I don't want to get off topic from the original intention of the post, but...
You don't have to do anything at all to make me happy. Not your responsibility.
But anyone who didn't do at least some hand wringing over this terrible tragedy doesn't strike me as quite human. And it's too soon for me to shrug it off. Those who lost children will have to live with this forever.
I like to think I'm looking at the situation somewhat realistically ... the elephant IS there, no matter that I wish it wasn't ... and choosing to act in the way appropriate for me, which will probably be to return to Lakeside.
Live your life how you want and I'll do the same.
I just wanted GordyM to know the full situation before investing in a trip south. He is now free to choose for himself, but at least he's fully informed.

IMO, "Handwringing" usually occurs when one is worried about their own or their loved ones personal safety or situation. I have done zero handwringing. At this point I am not worried in the least for my personal safety and have not changed any plans or conducted myself any differently. Could this change for me? Sure it could, but not at the moment.

I do however feel horrible and very sad for the Mexican community who this has affected greatly. If I could somehow help them I most certainly would but at this point it is not our fight. The bad guys have made that clear on a few occasions. Most recently when they released the gringo they grabbed by accident. Us gringos have not been included in the cross-hairs (yet) and I hope it remains that way.

Canuck Bob: Everyone is entitled to an opinion. My opinion is that yours sucks! I don't find it so easy to set myself apart from this community. Those were my children whose dismembered bodies were found along the highway. It is my fight.

Gordie,
Have you lived in any other countries? Why are you considering moving to Mexico? If this will be your first expat experience you'll need more advice. I met a guy last week who said, on his first day ever in Mexico, that he had sold everything and was never going back. Less than a week later he had changed his mind. This was a sad and expensive experience.
Lu

Smartalex wrote:

CanuckBob wrote:

sambrit10 wrote:

slainte39 wrote:For the folks that see the elephant in the room.
How much hand wringing, nail biting, wailing, etc. do the rest of us have to do to make you happy.
"just because something hasn't happened to you, doesn't mean it won't"...what a way to live a life.
NO THANK YOU
Hope you don't consider this being "flamed"

No, I don't consider this being flamed. And I don't want to get off topic from the original intention of the post, but...
You don't have to do anything at all to make me happy. Not your responsibility.
But anyone who didn't do at least some hand wringing over this terrible tragedy doesn't strike me as quite human. And it's too soon for me to shrug it off. Those who lost children will have to live with this forever.
I like to think I'm looking at the situation somewhat realistically ... the elephant IS there, no matter that I wish it wasn't ... and choosing to act in the way appropriate for me, which will probably be to return to Lakeside.
Live your life how you want and I'll do the same.
I just wanted GordyM to know the full situation before investing in a trip south. He is now free to choose for himself, but at least he's fully informed.

IMO, "Handwringing" usually occurs when one is worried about their own or their loved ones personal safety or situation. I have done zero handwringing. At this point I am not worried in the least for my personal safety and have not changed any plans or conducted myself any differently. Could this change for me? Sure it could, but not at the moment.

I do however feel horrible and very sad for the Mexican community who this has affected greatly. If I could somehow help them I most certainly would but at this point it is not our fight. The bad guys have made that clear on a few occasions. Most recently when they released the gringo they grabbed by accident. Us gringos have not been included in the cross-hairs (yet) and I hope it remains that way.

Canuck Bob: Everyone is entitled to an opinion. My opinion is that yours sucks! I don't find it so easy to set myself apart from this community. Those were my children whose dismembered bodies were found along the highway. It is my fight.

I respect and understand your opinion too.

Parker wrote:

CanuckBob wrote:I am too lazy to re-read all 4 pages but I don't think anyone was called "cowardly" were they?

Well I did and no. Now can someone tell me how to log off, Thank You.

Click on the new drop down Nav bar and you will find "log out" at the bottom of the list.

@ CanuckBob

You are welcome to lock or close this thread if you like. I have all the info I need.

Gordy

Gordy, this is a pretty free and open board here. You started the topic, but others will continue to be interested and respond. Rarely are topics closed and I cannot think of many topics that are locked. You might be thinking of another board that does that. ;-)

Kind of you to offer, though! And a belated welcome.

Merry

p.s. If you get weary of seeing this topic come up in your inbox, just go to the bottom right of the page and click "Stop watching this topic."

Gordy:

Now that you have experienced the "love fest" about living at Lake Chapala, how about a slightly different point of view?

In our case, we had only experienced the typical resorts of Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo, Baja, etc. prior to visiting Guadalajara and Lake Chapala areas in 1997. After a couple of 1997 trips, we decided to have a townhouse built in a development in the area and it was completed in 1998. We never lived there full time but would make extended visits from our home in Oregon. For reasons not related to any hints of violence or any negatives we saw developing in the Lake Chapala area, we decided to sell our home in 2005 and it sold in 2006.

For us, this decision turned into one of the most positive we have ever made as we were no longer tied to home ownership in one geographic area. Since the sale, we have been able to travel 10's of thousands of miles throughout new areas of Mexico and have come to realize what a phenomenal country that Mexico is! Added to this benefit is that we have met and begin to understand the wonderful people of Mexico along with their history and heritage.

Each of us has differing priorities in life but if you are at all inclined to experience and learn about the entire country, then I would highly recommend that you follow the advice of renting for an extended period and then use the flexibility that it provides to truly experience a wider scope of what Mexico has to offer. There is a couple who live in the Lake Chapala area (Jim & Carole) who have done exactly what I am suggesting and have a blog titled - Jim & Carole's Mexican Adventure:
http://cookjmex.blogspot.com/2007/11/quiet-morning-stroll-through-chapala.html
This blog dates back to 2007 and the documentation of their travels is a very educational experience.

Moving to a new and quite foreign country can be a daunting experience and it can be appealing to slide into that initial comfort zone. Many move to the initial location and rarely venture out for one reason or another. I am embarrassed to admit that our Spanish is still horrible but I can honestly say that we haven't felt intimidated or limited by such a shortcoming. We have independently traveled numerous areas that don't have any type of Gringo density and have never had any problems. Each day tends to be a educational experience and we plan on continuing down that road.

Good luck with your research!

CheenaGringo,

A compelling and well thought out post - thank you. I don't know about GordyM but I found it most useful.

After sorting through 4 pages of opinions and comments, we are down to "cowardly drunken elephants"
The law of diminishing returns.

This is also a good site for information about Living in Lake Chapala: focusonmexico.com. Good luck! We love it here...have been here for 8 years now.

With a publication date of September 2009, this book is the most recent "How to" that I know of. No elephants, but very useful

http://www.amazon.com/Best-How-To-Book-Moving-Mexico/dp/097872867X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338578461&sr=1-1

sandykayak wrote:With a publication date of September 2009, this book is the most recent "How to" that I know of. No elephants, but very useful

http://www.amazon.com/Best-How-To-Book-Moving-Mexico/dp/097872867X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338578461&sr=1-1

NO ELEPHANTS!!! How useful can it be??? (The OP already left, so we can be crazy)

Grizzy wrote:

slainte39 wrote:For the folks that see the elephant in the room.
How much hand wringing, nail biting, wailing, etc. do the rest of us have to do to make you happy.
"just because something hasn't happened to you, doesn't mean it won't"...what a way to live a life.
NO THANK YOU
Hope you don't consider this being "flamed"

I don't buy my clothes at the pollyanna store. I refuse to live in fear. I would not consider living in 90% of the USA as I consider the random everyday violence far far more of a real threat than anything that might happen here. I am not denying the violence that has plagued Mexico and Lakeside recently but I refuse to play into the drama and fear.

Everyone has to find their own comfort level and feel safe where they live. But those of us who are realists, who know what is going on around us and do not run around screaming the sky is falling get a bit tired of the snide comments by folks who are afraid and who assume if everyone is not freaking out then we either don't know what is going on or have our heads in the sand.

I GET IT. I do not ignore the elephant in the room. I dance around it.

I repeat my observation that those people who didn't go out at night, or drive across lakeside, never mind to Guad or other places in the past do not do so now and assume no one does because they do not know. It is so much more titillating to spread the rumours about doom and gloom, curfews and schools closing (neither of which happened despite whoever's cousins sisters drivers maids hairdresser swears it did).

The media has made huge sensational headlines about how unsafe Mexico is for years. It moves around and it hit this area. It is tragic and sad. I refuse to let fear stop me from living. I do what I do and I feel safe. Your perception can be different and you are entitled to it. Do not speak for everyone else and assume we are dumb, naive or wrong.

Must be great to know everything. So, if no one changed their habits of going out at night, why did most of the area end up pretty much deserted after dark for a couple of weeks there? That fact was well known. The restaurants, clubs, even just people on the street, suddenly not there any more. Just a weird coincidence? Or perhaps many chose to change their habits. Any who did would not want to announce it, as they risk being 'flamed' for real by those who don't want to hear about it.

I, for one, have changed my habits and do not drive after dark now, I make sure I am safely at home before then every night. They may not be targeting foreigners but they have been known to shoot off semi-automatic weapons and throw live grenades, and often without being too particular who gets hit. Why take chances? So please, "Do not speak for everyone else and assume we are dumb, naive or wrong!"

slainte39 wrote:NO ELEPHANTS!!! How useful can it be??? (The OP already left, so we can be crazy)

I've not seen any elephants. [begin understatement]I feel that it is safe to say that we speak freely about whatever may be bothering us here. [end understatement]

Merry

My gardener's son's school in Ajijic was closed for several days. I know because when I asked her why the kid wasn't in school, she told me.

Mainecoons wrote:My gardener's son's school in Ajijic was closed for several days. I know because when I asked her why the kid wasn't in school, she told me.

I was told by Ajijic residents that attendance at Ajijic schools was at the parents' OPTION for several days. Not that the schools were closed. Other towns did close their schools completely, Jocotepec and San Juan Cosala - not sure about Chapala.

Merry

merry wrote:

slainte39 wrote:NO ELEPHANTS!!! How useful can it be??? (The OP already left, so we can be crazy)

I've not seen any elephants. [begin understatement]I feel that it is safe to say that we speak freely about whatever may be bothering us here. [end understatement]

Merry

Not even "pink" ones? I would be glad to share mine but I never know when he is coming

Lu,

This will be the first foreign country I will visit to see if I enjoy making this my home.

Why Mexico? For the most part it is 3 things, (1) The cost of living (2) The nice weather year round (3) A new adventure in life

Now I need to start looking for a place to rent.

Thanks,
Gordy

Luisa wrote:Gordie,
Have you lived in any other countries? Why are you considering moving to Mexico? If this will be your first expat experience you'll need more advice. I met a guy last week who said, on his first day ever in Mexico, that he had sold everything and was never going back. Less than a week later he had changed his mind. This was a sad and expensive experience.
Lu

I left this thread for a bit..... but I am back. You have to be tough to live through a Minnesota winter so, this forum doesn't scare me at all.

slainte39 wrote: (The OP already left, so we can be crazy)

Where can I find a nice one bedroom with a kitchen for a month or two?

Thanks,
Gordy

Check out the villas at La Nueva Posada.

GordyM wrote:Where can I find a nice one bedroom with a kitchen for a month or two?

Thanks,
Gordy

If the Casita next door to me is empty, you could rent that at $ 450 a month, much cheaper and nicer than any B & B. It is empty now. What dates are you coming?

There are members on this board that have rentals that may be able to help.

OR

www.vrbo.com

OR

Or just google "rental in Chapala" for a large list of rental agents.