Focus on Mexico Blog

By Tere Ruiz

Mexican Time

Ever since I moved down to the Lake Chapala area, I have discovered many things that Mexicans normally do without noticing how annoying they can be to people from other cultures. One of the things that I believe surprises, or maybe I should say, annoys people from other countries and even Mexicans at some point, is the Mexican Time.

Listening to people who come to the Lake Chapala area from other countries and their experience with the locals, I have realized that I have dealt with the same things they complain about regarding Mexican Time, for all my life as well have all the people who live in this country.  Maybe we Mexicans are so used to dealing with the Mexican Time issues that most of the time, we don’t really pay much attention or think it is a big deal. 

Mexican Ways?

All over the world, people have their own way of being.  This depends on the different environments, culture, preferences, values and beliefs.  What works for Mexicans may not work for everybody, and Mexican Time is a big example.

by Karen McConnaughey

I know I mention Jose, our gardener, and his wife Vicki (our housekeeper) a lot, but to me they embody everything that is good and fine and wonderful about living in the Lake Chapala area of Mexico. They take care of us…yes, because we pay them, but also because they care about us. I don’t know how the discussion started, but one time Vicki and I were having a conversation about a neighbor of theirs. Vicki talked about how this woman had no children and she was seriously ill, and that Vicki would help her out by getting groceries, cleaning her house or making her food among other things. She was relating it not because she wanted me to know how good she was, but just in a matter of fact way of that’s what neighbors do here…they take care of one another. I was a little overcome by her story and later came up and slipped $200 pesos into her apron pocket and just said, “para su vecina” (for your neighbor), and started to walk away. “Senora Karen,” Vicki said. I turned and she hugged me and said, in Spanish, that before she met us she had never known any Norte Americanos very well. She wanted me to know that she loved us and she would never leave us. She would be with us forever. Needless to say, we both had tears in our eyes at the end of that conversation.

Vicki and Jose take care of us in so many ways. They’re always afraid we’re being taken advantage of. Once we had some workmen here who Vicki thought took much too long and did not do a good job. After they left, she said that whenever we needed anything, we should ask her. If Jose couldn’t do it, they would find someone good for us to use.

So now when we need something done, we ask them and, for the most part, Jose has been able to help us. For instance, Jose painted almost the entire inside of our house, repairing walls and ceilings at the same time. In some cases, he had to chip out the cement and go down to the brick. Then he put in chicken wire to enforce the wall, re-cemented the area and repainted it. He did all of this for around $300 USD. And, honestly, we tried to pay him more, but he wouldn’t hear of it.

My husband, Joel, and I were at one of our favorite restaurants celebrating our 17th wedding anniversary last month when we saw a mom being tugged by her toddler son all over the restaurant. She looked exhausted. Joel, very nostalgically, told her, "Enjoy it. These times won't last."

We should know. We have four teenagers (well Noah is 12...almost a teen) and we are so gratified by who they are all becoming.

I just realized that our family of six will span four countries in less than a week. My daughter, Kaelyn, is in Honduras on a missions trip working at an orphanage this summer. Joel and Noah are leaving for Colorado soon to see Grandpa for his birthday and Lily and Maya will be going to Canada next week. I get to stay here in Mexico and hold down the fort.

 Lily and Maya earned the money themselves to go to Canada and made this video:

 By Tere Ruiz

Father’s Day is coming and I believe it is a good time for reflection, gratitude, honoring and healing.  Whether we have good memories or bad memories about our parents and our childhood, whether our parents lived long or didn’t, whether there were times when they gave us headaches, I am sure there were also times in which they gave us joy, love and also, I am sure that they were proud of their children.

So let me tell you about my father… gee, I loved that man!  I really did.  I don’t even know why I loved him so madly.  I don’t mean that he didn’t deserve it -although I do think that everyone deserves to be loved- still, I can tell you that since I recall, I loved my daddy!

 by Karen McConnaughey

I do a lot of reading on the ‘net and ran into an article recently about retiring. The article opened by saying, “If уου′re a Boomer or fast approaching retirement age but уου′re far behind in retirement savings, don’t give up. You саח still pull together a retirement that уου саn enjoy. With perseverance, planning, and sacrifice, уου сan retire in relative comfort even with a late start.”

Oh Lordy…okay, so what if I don’t want to do any of that? So what if I want to retire now and enjoy my relative youth before I drop dead at my desk? How can I do that?

I know…I know…you’re the ant and I’m the grasshopper. It’s true. And, if you’re not familiar with that one…it’s the fable about a grasshopper who has spent the warm months singing away while the ant has worked hard to store up food for winter. And even though I knew the moral of the story was that we should be like the ants, industrious, conscientious, and hard-working, ready for winter and any other hardships that may come, my sympathies were always entirely with the grasshopper. So…yes…you’re back there slaving away, while I’m retired and enjoying the sunshine in Lake Chapala, Mexico. You’re working to get your retirement income up to what exactly? How much do you think it will take for you to be truly happy? Bill and I retired on his social security pension alone of $1500. Remember, money doesn’t buy happiness. Yes it takes some to get bу, but not as much as уου might have thought. Believe me, $1500 and a house in Mexico spelled HAPPINESS for the both of us…in capital letters!