Mexico lies just south of the United States. Its area is a little smaller than Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and California combined and slightly larger than that of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba combined. Its capital city is Mexico City, one of the five largest cities in the world. This republic is made up of thirty-one states and one federal district.
The scope of this essay is life in the areas of the states of Nuevo León and Chiapas, where we have lived, and the state of San Luis Potosí, where we have visited. Chiapas is a little smaller than South Carolina and a little larger than New Brunswick. San Luis Potosí is a little larger than West Virginia and a little larger than Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island combined. Nuevo León is a little larger than San Luis Potosí, but smaller than Chiapas.
Spanish is the official language. However, the native people speak many languages and dialects. Mexicans who want to advance in their occupations often find that English is an asset. Most Mexicans are very patient with English-speaking people who try to speak Spanish.
The official currency is the peso. Because of its fluctuation, one should check in the financial pages of a newspaper or at a bank to obtain the current exchange rate. Paper currency is common in denominations of 10, 20, 50, and 100 pesos. There are also 200 and 500 bills. In coin, there are 1, 2, 5, 10, and 20 pesos. Also in coin, there are 5, 10, 20, and 50 centavos. One peso is equal to 100 centavos. Since there are no 1-centavo coins and merchants do not like dealing with the smaller denominations, a buyer will often not receive exact change or will be given gum or candy as change to make up for the small denominations. Small stores do not like dealing with paper currency above 50 pesos because they cannot always make change. The use of cash is much more common than the use of cheques and credit cards. However, credit cards are very useful for obtaining cash at automatic teller machines.
Cost of living, for the most part, is much lower than in the U. S. and Canada. The chief exception is in buying or servicing imported products. Labor costs are much less here. Many people lack the luxuries that are considered necessities in the countries to the north. It is a status symbol to own a car. Thus, there are many cars on the streets. Gasoline is purchased from Pemex, a company owned by the federal government. The price is higher than in the U. S., but lower than in Canada. It is much easier to avoid paying tax here. One way is by requiring cash and not giving receipts. The minimum wage is about 25 pesos per day.
Bureaucracy is in evidence in Mexico. In many stores, one person makes the sale, one person is the cashier, and one person gives the customer the item upon receiving the receipt showing that payment has been made. Obtaining permits to live or work in Mexico can be very frustrating, time-consuming, and costly. Sometimes, the whim of a government official may be involved. The process is probably easiest for a retired person with an established foreign income. Visitors holding a valid passport have no problem obtaining thirty days with a tourist card. However, he can obtain up to ninety days when arriving by air and up to six months when arriving by land, but only if requested. Be prepared to be stopped at a police, an army, an immigration, or a customs check-point at places other than at an international border. Not declaring dutiable possessions can cost the tourist a fine of four times the required duty. When talking with any official, it is usually wise to give the impression that he is right regardless of how you feel. Offering bribes to officials can create severe problems.
There are many holidays during the year. They are celebrated with the closure of businesses and the use of fireworks (including the shooting of guns into the air). Some of the most important ones are Easter, Guadalupe Day, Christmas, Labor Day, and Independence Day. We have seen for sale Christmas trees imported from Canada.
Guadalupe Day, December 12, is the celebration of the appearance of the Virgin Mary to an indigenous man in 1531. According to the story, the man was directed to build a church in honor of the virgin. In the 1996 celebration, over 4,000,000 people gathered at the basilica in Mexico City to remember this day. The virgin of Guadalupe is considered to be the queen of Mexico and the empress of Latin America.
Although inconveniences and unpleasant situations have been mentioned throughout this website, our family really likes living in Mexico in general and in Chiapas in particular. So often, only the bad aspects of Mexico are reported in the U. S. and Canada. We have lived in all three of these countries and are aware that there are good and bad aspects in each of them. We have mentioned churches and missionaries. However, we are not affiliated with any church. Since we work for a tourist agency and have friends who are missionaries for the Presbyterian Church, we are quickly learning much about Chiapas and its indigenous people. There is so much more to learn.
