Yesterday, we introduced ourself to a young family who just moved to Mexico. The dad/husband is a Nissan employee that doesn't work with David. In any other situation, we wouldn't go out of our way to say hi, but we're in a very small group! This family just got here a few weeks ago, and just moved into a small condo. I wanted to offer some suggestions on getting to know the city and finding friends for the mom & her kids.
They wanted to complain. A lot.
They are only here for 14 months, so they didn't get a truck, just 2 boxes. They pulled their daughter out of kidnergarten Jan 1 to move to Toluca and live all together in a small hotel room. They waited 2 weeks for a car, 2 months for a house, and still haven't found a home.
This sounds really sad, at first. But then, you think.
It is unfathomable that they could have sold their house in Livonia, MI. So it's still there. They could have let Nico start work Jan 1, living in a small hotel room, and moved the rest of the family down March 1, after a house and a car had been secured. And the daughter is in preschool. It's not like she's missing intense fingerpainting.
Oh, did I mention - the family refuses to take even one spanish lesson. They barely can say "hola".
So they're miserable. Duh.
Then, we went to a lecture by an Australian woman who started the website expatwomen.com while living in Mexico City a few years ago. She wanted to encourage women to get out of their house and create their own job opportunities while they're living abroad.
Everyone there was very surprised that I work.
Everyone there was very surprised that we both speak Spanish.
Everyone there was very surprised that Dave came with me.
Everyone there was very surprised that we live in Metepec, rather than DF.
Everyone there was very surprised that we actually like Mexico.
The woman who gave the lecture said we were the most well-adjusted expat couple she'd met in a long time.
Why? Why do women follow their husbands to a country they don't like or don't understand? Why do women give up their careers and their identity to sit at home watching TV for months? Why is it so unusual to demand happiness and then work to get it?
Maybe it's bc we know that Christ has a plan for us, and that HE wants us to be here. Maybe it's bc God led me to this school and this job. Maybe it's bc our Christian faith taught us to be equal partners in this marriage.
But i had no idea that so many women were choosing to be miserable.
2 comments:
Hello, you are probably not living in Metepec anymore, but i would appreciate if you told me more about it. We are from UK and my husband got a job offer in Toluca, so i was wondering if Metepec the best place to choose to live that is near? is it a safe place? can we walk to town, pubs or to a restaurant at night without having to watch our backs? where is the closest nicest place to live in this area?
I would really appreciate your reply. Rgds, Sara
We are no longer living in Mexico. I liked Toluca/ Metepec quite a bit, because I'm from a small town in the US, not from a big city. Mexico City (DF) is HUGE, as you know. Many ex-pats, especially those with children, who work in Toluca choose to live in Santa Fe, a rich upper-middle class suburb of DF. This is a bilingual area with lots of international feel, and is theoretically commutable both to Toluca & the American School in DF (about 45-60 minutes to each). BUT, we found that from the eastern side of Toluca/ Metepec it is only about 45-60 minutes via "cuota" (toll road) to the American school.
We loved Metepec. It is a small town, where we walked around quite a bit. We chose to live in the "centro historico" so that we could walk around downtown. The downtown is small, but has shops, bars, churches, schools, etc. I found it to be a safe community. Metepec & Toluca are much safer than most of DF, but the Santa Fe and Reforma neighborhoods of DF are quite safe. Santa Fe has lots of things, but isn't walkable.
We spoke Spanish, and learned MUCH more while we were there, so we really liked the accessibility of Metepec - a small shopping mall and a walkable downtown, as well as a hospital and MUCH less traffic than DF.
The only downer is that there aren't many english-speaking expats in the Metepec area. There are some, but there are official expat groups in DF.
If you can swing it, I highly recommend a pre-move visit to check out the feel of downtown Toluca, downtown Metepec, DF, and Santa Fe/ Reforma. You will know what area feels right.
Also, most expats are renting, so if you have to move without a visit first, try to negotiate a 3-month trial rental, and then you will have time to move once you're there & have some idea of what you're looking for.
Good Luck!
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