Focus on Mexico Blog

By Kristina Morgan

Those of you who have read my past articles have read about the bromide here, a mineral in the volcanic basin of the lake that evaporates into the air. I call it our Happy Gas. But unless you live here you may not know about what I call the Hot Babe Fairy Dust, a phenomenon that occurs at Lake Chapala.

I feel like living in the Lake Chapala area has kind of taken me back in time. There’s the obvious fact that it is like stepping back 50-70 years here regarding the pace, culture and values but that really isn’t what I mean.

I’m turning 39 on March 8th but I look younger than I did when we moved back here in 2002. I feel younger now than I did when I lived in Colorado and I was in my late 20s and early 30s. I’m not the only one. Many of the people I talk to have had the same experience. Some people have chalked it up to this being a retirement area so there are always people older than us. I don’t think that’s it though. Because there are many young people who live here with their families, working or as entrepreneurs in businesses, or they have an internet business that allows them to work anywhere, or they are in the small percentage of people who came into money or retired very early.

Here’s what I think: Mexican men love women. And I think that’s the secret to our youthfulness as women. I’ll get to what makes the men who come here feel younger in a bit.

In a recent blog, I talked about Bill’s and my journey to Lake Chapala. I also talked a little about journaling. Throughout my life, I have always seen journaling as one of the easiest and most powerful ways for me to make sense of what was going on in my life. By getting my thoughts out of my head and putting them down in writing, I find I gain more clarity and feel I’m able to make better decisions because of my journaling.

After my divorce I started writing updates to friends and family about what was going on at that moment in my life. I think it was such a confusing time that I needed perspective to make sense of it, and email made it so convenient to share those thoughts with people I loved. I went through several years, one right after another, of my brother dying, my mother dying, a hysterectomy, my dog of 12 years dying and then the loss of my job. Through all of this I wrote in my journal or sent emails to try to make sense of all the jumble and confusion I had going on in my brain. 

After moving to Mexico, I saw journaling as a way to explain my new way of life to myself and others. It was so exciting, confusing and wonderful and a little bit intimidating all at the same time that I had to put it down on paper. In fact, it’s been said that journaling is one of the best ways to get over even mild culture shock when moving to a foreign country.

by Kristina Morgan

It still amazes me how much the people talk about why they moved to Lake Chapala. I think it’s a topic in just about every conversation I have ever had since moving to Mexico in 1993. Most of us are still thankful that we found this wonderful community and even though it is well-established it is still very open and very friendly to newcomers. Despite the simple, peaceful life we lead here at Lake Chapala with the second best climate in the world, the low cost of living and safety, I still get a lot of emails asking me about crime here from people wondering if we’re all just nuts to be living south of the border in a "dangerous place."

According to UN statistics, you're 3 times more likely to be a victim of crime in the U.S. than you are in Mexico.

Recent FBI statistics paint the picture even more clearly... The murder rate (per 100,000 people) in Baltimore is 43.3... in Washington DC it is 29.1... and in Detroit 47.3... But in Mexico, the murder rate again is just a third of that... about 13...

 By Tere Ruiz

All the people who live in Lake Chapala have different kinds of beliefs, ages, culture and background. This is such a cosmopolitan place to live in. In Lake Chapala you may have friends of all ages, either locals or foreigners, who come from big cities or small villages, who’ve had education to the highest levels or who haven’t, and everyone comes from different countries. All of these people had experiences unique to just them. Some experienced war; others the birth of modern technology. Most let their experiences shape them; a few may have missed the entire flavor of an experience.

All the people here are very different and yet the same in their attitude of caring and sharing.

I just got an update from one of our Focus alumni talking about some of her experiences since moving to the Lake Chapala area. It made me reminisce about my own move six years ago and how I coped with it. It’s been a very interesting and wonderful journey.

First of all, I had never lived anywhere but Kansas City, MO…I was born there and lived there for almost 59 years. I lived in the last house I owned for 27 years. Obviously, I tend to root where I’m planted. Then I met Bill in April 2002. As our relationship progressed, one day he asked me if I wanted to move to Mexico. Dead silence for 30 seconds, as I assessed my gut feeling about this question…“Will it be okay that he is the only one you know?... “Can you learn to speak Spanish?”…“Will we be able to live on his social security?”…so many questions raced through my mind, but there were no butterflies or queasy feelings in my tummy, so I said, “Okay.” And, that was it.