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1 minute ago, pappysmarket said:

Excellent post gringal! Everyone arrives with rose colored glasses, the only difference is the strength of the tint.

I would not say "everyone." I have met newcomers who hit the ground complaining. They all were part of a couple where the other partner was the driving force in making the move. In some cases the dissenting partner acclimates and begins to enjoy themselves. But others continue to bitterly complain about the hellhole in which they are forced to live until the partner surrenders and they return NOB. Mexico is not for everyone.

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1 minute ago, Xena said:

I would not say "everyone." I have met newcomers who hit the ground complaining. They all were part of a couple where the other partner was the driving force in making the move. In some cases the dissenting partner acclimates and begins to enjoy themselves. But others continue to bitterly complain about the hellhole in which they are forced to live until the partner surrenders and they return NOB. Mexico is not for everyone.

Another point well taken. MOST seem to have the glasses but as you say, a few do arrive with a gun to their head.

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A real estate agent once told me, it is the wife that wants to come to Mexico and then it is the wife that wants to leave Mexico.  Or as they say in Texas, "if momma ain´t happy then no one is happy."  If the day comes when my wife wants to leave Mexico, well, I am going to miss her.  

Happiness is a choice for most people, but at times there are circumstances in one´s life like health issues that make a happy face a struggle, so I try to take complainers with a grain of salt since I do not know their perspective. 

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And since we don't always know their perspective, it may help elevate the conversation by not labeling those we disagree with as "complainers" a word with quite negative semantic connotation.

Why not just state you disagree with the opinion/comment and leave off the labels altogether?

 

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3 minutes ago, Mainecoons said:

And since we don't always know their perspective, it may help elevate the conversation by not labeling those we disagree with as "complainers" a word with quite negative semantic connotation.

Why not just state you disagree with the opinion/comment and leave off the labels altogether?

 

Well I don't know about you but I know people that I disagree with but are certainly not complainers. Then there are indeed a few who are just pure complainers. If you don't know any consider yourself lucky.

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I certainly agree with many of the posters here.  You shouldn't make a decision whether to live in Mexico or anywhere else for that matter , after visiting for just a few days.  Stay  for a few months, A few times perhaps , then Make the decision. This way you can check out the different areas.  

I loved the reference of ' rose colored' glasses and the strength of the tint. 

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complaining is part of life. the trick is to find others who agree w/the complaints. :) then you are on the same page. one mans meat is another mans poison. if something is bothersome, try to do it another way if possible. how many expats complain about walmart but they keep going back? i feel sorry for people who cannot move & tortured by blasting music. that is a real problem for health. theres a difference between minor things & major. btw, mexicans complain & are critical too. 

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10 minutes ago, pappysmarket said:

Well I don't know about you but I know people that I disagree with but are certainly not complainers. Then there are indeed a few who are just pure complainers. If you don't know any consider yourself lucky.

My comment stands.  Labeling people one only knows through venues like this with semantically negative words does not improve the level of discourse.

Too often the labeling seems to be a substitute for offering a reasoned and friendly rebuttal.

When we have people reporting they won't post here because "people are nasty" that's a clear heads up improvement is needed.

What I notice is that these labels are applied in a very personal and selective manner and political intolerance is very much a part of that practice.  

Myself and the other primary moderator are aware of this and are taking a hard line going forward on dealing with uncivility.  The Board's sponsors are insisting on it.

Some memberships may not survive the experience.

 

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31 minutes ago, gringal said:

Newbies tend to be so overjoyed about moving to Mexico that they embrace the warts along with the beauty spots.  They can't help it; comes with the territory. Then, after a few falls on the cobblestones and a few stonewallings by the various officials; maybe a few scams and such, they settle into the reality of enjoying the good stuff and doing a Mexican shrug about the rest.  They also get more realistic, which is always a good thing.  They see that the government here allows even more corruption and abuse of authority than in the place they came from.  The U.S. could certainly use some reform, but it's not all bad.  There are people enjoying values that go way past love of money, and that's important to happiness anywhere.

I also have a comment about the somewhat negative attitude about people who move to Mexico "for financial reasons".  Of course they do; far more than will admit it, and their numbers will increase as the cost of living in the U.S. reduces people to poverty in their old age.  Hopefully, they will be adaptable, accept the warts with humor and/or patience, "bloom where they are planted" and contribute something of value to their adopted country.

I also applaud the folks who turned Ajijic from a graffiti laden eyesore when I moved here to the much improved present state.  Thank you!:)

 

@Gringal - I think you're right about "newbies." 

I was a newbie in Thailand, newbie in Australia, newbie in Laos, Cambodia & Viet Nam.  Loved most of it on arrival, found more to love...  Not into political coups where the common folk get hurt.  Not even when the media presstitutes call it a "bloodless coup."  Oz' cost of living is ridiculous, like the US, and immigration is even more difficult.  You can't get in if you're retired unless you're "fambly."  I would have stayed in Thailand, but a friend - American school teacher, woke up with her throat cut one day (2 blocks down) thanks to some fanatics of the Thai Rak Thai party...  She had been there 25 years and was beloved, but a few radicals with machetes, ya know...  My son was a big, barrel-chested thing even at 15.  Size 14 shoe - you could say we stood out a bit in Chamtawan village, in the Isaan.  A ladyboy took a liking to him & dumped her Thai boyfriend...  His resulting rage at losing his meal ticket, with us as his target, was enough to get me to leave.

I've lived in Mexico off & on for more than 30 years.  Just new to the Chapala area & enjoying discovering Jalisco.  I have lived in Tampico & Merida back in the 80s, and all over the frontera of Sonora & Chihuahua.

They don't have the pretty tulip trees & birds of paradise like Chapala.

I think it's a big stretch to infer that Mexico's government is somehow more corrupt than the present Illuminati-backed regime in the north.  Those fine fellows have taken "scheming, cheating & lying" & transformed it into a fine art.  No WAY can Mexico's finest ever compete with skullduggery on THAT scale... 

I just can't see the Mexican people going for a banker bailout, either...  Just saying.

Your own words are very revealing:

"I also have a comment about the somewhat negative attitude about people who move to Mexico "for financial reasons".  Of course they do; far more than will admit it, and their numbers will increase as the cost of living in the U.S. reduces people to poverty in their old age."  :huh:

Casually accepted as a statement of FACT.  As if the outcome is to be expected.  WHY should people accept such as a given? 

It would seem to me to make more sense to alter the status quo so that all citizens are cared for.  There's plenty to go around.  And I don't mean pick the pockets of the rich, either.  I'm not a communist.  <_<

But the simple fact that Americans accept these social injustices as "bound to happen" & surrender their own personal autonomy...  Well... I don't understand one thing about that at all. 

Sometimes I think the US is the most enslaved society, particularly because they don't realize they are enslaved, and they have been trained to love their enslavement...  Probably why the US is plummeting in the health statistics these days.  Folks know something is badly wrong but aren't allowing themselves to see it.  So, stress gets internalized & they get sick.  Ergo, exploding rates of cancer, Alzheimer's, etc. (in combination with other factors like adulterated foods & fluoridated water).  I hope they do start putting Lithium in the water in Region III - Mass.  People will still be miserable, but they won't recognize it as such and after awhile it won't matter anymore...

 

when 1 pretends body revolts.jpg

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49 minutes ago, gringal said:

 If you want to touch the warts, get in an auto accident and get hauled off to a Mexican jail....no matter who's at fault, Si?

 

Well, if I do it will be in a bus or taxi...

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21 minutes ago, Mainecoons said:

My comment stands.  Labeling people one only knows through venues like this with semantically negative words does not improve the level of discourse.

Too often the labeling seems to be a substitute for offering a reasoned and friendly rebuttal.

When we have people reporting they won't post here because "people are nasty" that's a clear heads up improvement is needed.

What I notice is that these labels are applied in a very personal and selective manner and political intolerance is very much a part of that practice.  

Myself and the other primary moderator are aware of this and are taking a hard line going forward on dealing with uncivility.  The Board's sponsors are insisting on it.

Some memberships may not survive the experience.

 

 

Well, I'm kinda simple.  I subscribe to the Forrest Gump theory - "Beauty is as beauty does."

Rose-colored glasses?  Sure.  Agree.  But some folks simply choose to see & focus only the positive things in life.  Ugly stuff always raises its head.  But being able to deal with it & put it in the past is a skill.  Dealing with it in an even more positive manner so that it doesn't happen again, & helping others do the same is an art form.

"When we have people reporting they won't post here because "people are nasty" that's a clear heads up improvement is needed.

What I notice is that these labels are applied in a very personal and selective manner and political intolerance is very much a part of that practice.  

Myself and the other primary moderator are aware of this and are taking a hard line going forward on dealing with uncivility.  The Board's sponsors are insisting on it."

Good on ya, Maincoons!

I rarely participate on here because it generally really brings me down.  Not that people have been mean to me, personally, but the way they seem to be hating on each other all the time.  As a person who has worked in statistics, it is easy for me to see patterns, etc. & routines.  Until this week, I mostly lurked & learned.

I find it remarkable that other forums exist with sometimes 14,000 members online at a single time, and yet none of this wrangling takes place there.  I wish I could buy everyone a more comfy pair of shoes or something.

Being new to the area (not new to Mexico), I thought this forum would serve as a time-saving resource for sourcing things I want to make myself more comfortable.  I was not expecting all this neg back-and-forth.

Matters not to me if y'all clean it up & decide to get along...  And I won't be missed when I just pull up & leave...  But I WILL be smiling, whatever direction I'm going, & always looking for something new to enjoy, appreciating the good things that cross my path.

Of these two, I prefer the expression on Uncle Bob's face.  :D

 

hedges2 (1).jpg

Marley - Love the life you live.jpg

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46 minutes ago, pappysmarket said:

I heard someone once say that brevity is the soul of wit.

Shakespeare, Hamlet, second act.  

Quote

Polonius says, “Since brevity is the soul of wit / And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes, I will be brief…”

https://literarydevices.net/brevity-is-the-soul-of-wit/

"Loquacious" OTOH refers to spoken communication, not written.

:D

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In the summer of 1966 I came to Guadalajara to attend the University of Guadalajara.  I lived with a Mexican family.  I had already traveled and lived in countries other than my country of origin, the USA.  I had enjoyed my stay in those places but when I arrived in Mexico I suddenly found the place I wanted to be.  I was home.

I returned to the US, married and raised a family but never lost sight of where I wanted to be.  Thirty-four years later after the children were grown and on their own and  I had visited many more countries, I had not changed  my mind.  I wanted to finally go home.  It was time.  I ended my career, put the house up for sale and 10 weeks later I was here. That was seventeen years ago.  I have never been sorry.  Nine years ago I became a citizen by naturalization, I have no Mexican blood in my veins

The changes in seventeen years is incredible.  It is very different from when I arrived..  I love Mexico warts and all.

 

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31 minutes ago, El Cartero said:

So Pappy does it follow that loquaciousness is the soul of witless?

MC has technically answered your question but I get your drift

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jabonera- your praise about the 3rd world: if the US is so bad & enslaving, why do millions pf people want to live there? thailand is what it is, so is africa. people risk their lives to live in european cultures. they walk across deserts, climb fences & drown. ask them why they want to "be enslaved"? they can give you some insight. these can be archaic dangerous uncilivized cultures. for you its an adventure. for the people trapped there, its reality. mexico is a 2nd world country. the small back water towns are 3rd world. what is your point? cant understand the self rightious post. i like to keep things real. unfortunalty the world is not a PBS special. 

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9 minutes ago, bmh said:

Yes gringal you know what I mean  . Justice here is enough to make you drop your lenses real fast in case you still had some..:D and some people want to criticize the States,,,

Yeah and being "just a passenger" may not keep you out of jail if you're a witness, verdad?

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I have lived here at the lake for almost 12 years now....I made ONE trip back to the USA...just returned lat September...I am so glad to be home in Mexico and vow not to return to the USA again. I so respect the values of the Mexican people as friends and family come first...NOT your job title or your financial status (although there are some Ex-pats  who hold onto those values)...I want to be with happy, positive people...no drama... But since returning to Mexico after my visit NOB, I found that 5 friends had died and some had returned to Canada or USA...so there went my Mexican Train group and my Tuesday luncheon group...I've been back since Sept 30 with no transportation, handicapped (I walk very little and use a walker...I've had no visitors except delivery people...and my faithful housekeeper of 11 years. Where does one go to meet positive friendly people????

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