Im more than happy to welcome yet another voice in the fight against animal cruelty - the more the better! Mexico is still veeeery far behind what many of us would see as even decent conditions for animals, but, its changing. I have over 4.5 years here, and Ive been involved since day 1. Today, there is quite a large group of people that do all they/we can to make the Governor review, renew and reinforce the law(yes, there IS a law, but no one cares...) regarding animal cruelty. The biggest issue here is the stray dogs and cats, but we are working with this, a LOT. (Must be nice for the local Govt. that we, the people, are doing their job, hehe) Last week we had yet another free spay/neuter clinic, and I think we reached close to 800 dogs and "700 something" cats. Vets from USA, Canada and other parts of Mexico always fly here to help out. The goal is to ban stupid pet shops and backyard breeders to display and encourage impulse purchase of animals. It will take time, but one does what one can, day by day. Hopefully a ban of bullfighting will go through, fairly soon. They are voting on it in Mexico City, to start with. Dont want to hijack the thread completely, so feel free to PM about volunteering/helping out with animals. Cancun and safety: I have not had many issues at all. Mainly cops trying to lure a few pesos from me, but thats pretty much it. Common sense is the way to go: Do NOT do stuff here that you wouldnt do back home. Its sad to see that Mexico suffers so much from corruption, but its also very fascinating to be able to "live the change" - things ARE changing for the better, but not always as fast as we´d like. But, its happening. Be aware when driving here: The Govt takes absolutely NO responsibility if you thrash your tires when hitting a pothole. But, they are quite quick to charge you if you you even scrape a palm tree or such, as its classed as "Federal property" and comes with, at times, fairly high penalties, money-wise... A friend had to fork out 39 000 Pesos for hitting a palm tree in the Hotel Zone. It didnt even brake. Best of luck and let us know when you get here!
Thanks for the replies! I will deft. get in touch with you via PM Rawkus It breaks my heart to see the way they threat animals there, and my Fiance and I would love to help in any way that we could! We were actually trying to research how if we adopt a dog there, what the steps would be to bringing it back to Toronto with us, since we will be down in Jan for a few months but the big move is still a few years away! In regards to safety, I also feel fairly safe in Cancun probably the same amount that I feel here. I feel a lot of it is common sense as well.. don't do anything you wouldn't do normally..very simple, yet solid piece of advice! I get the feel that everyone here has a similar pro/con list, which is good! It also feels great to talk with people that have first hand experience and are in similar situations, so thanks for taking the time to share everyone :icon_biggrin: If anyone has any other advice/concerns please let me know! Have a great day everyone!
mc1234: Flying dogs to Canada is a piece of cake, no worries! We send several each and every month. Sometimes you have to be vary about heat/cold conditions, mainly the heat. You will need to check with the Canadian customs regarding what info they need. Usually its up to date vaccinations etc. Rabies being the most important. Also, its worth throwing in a parasitic test result, as some would have to be treated before leaving Mex. The vets know all about this, and they will guide you through it. Once its time, Ill get you in touch with the ones that deal with this on a daily basis. The "pet passport" also has to have a letter, stating that the animal is healthy enough to travel. This letter has to be in English. Usually we do the letters in English, French and Spanish - that way the cant mess with you, hehe. You will meet TONS of absolutely amazing dogs once you visit the shelter and/or the animal rescue groups. Anything from pure bred Dobermans, to old Mexican "mutts"
I think most of us who have been here for a while could give you a long list of things that make us crazy. On the other hand, we love it or we would leave. Beaches, weather, cheap housing, water, cable, internet & electric (but you have to stay on top of your electric). I have a 2BR, 1 bath apt, on the 2nd floor. My electric bill came yesterday. They are for 2 months. Just over $1,000 Mxn, only the 2nd time it has hit $1,000. I sort of freaked as the weather has been moderate, except for rain, so I have not been blasting the air cond. But the rates change often (normal), both up and down so it is not too bad really. Groceries, especially produce, are less than in the US, BUT, US items are lots more. There are things I wish I could buy here but I can't. Chedraui though is doing a good job of getting a lot of items from the US that I buy. And I keep finding new products all of the time. I can buy apples from Washington State at Costco that are cheaper than the same exact item at Costco in Florida. How can that even be possible, with duties and international freight? But it works for me as I eat a lot of apples. LOL Health care - For me it is excellent. I had some serious stuff go wrong a couple of years ago and I am more than pleased with general medicine, my dentist, eye doc, dermatologist and any other service I have had to use. The care is far more personal than in the US. One example is that I needed some chemo (& more) but a single chemo visit/process takes almost 4 hours, from the time I walk in the door till I walk out. My doc was in the room with me for every single moment of every single dose, along with a nurse. Same for radiation which was 5 days a week for two months. Every single minute he was there. Never, never, never would this happen in the big business of medicine in the US. My doctors are now my friends. And, thank God, I am healthy as I can be. Drives me crazy: Drivers in general - Run red lights, to the point of stopping for the light & when it is safe to run it, off they go. Turn any direction from any lane. Tons of vehicles do not have functioning brake lights and one always seems to be in front of me and slamming on the brakes. No one seems able to park between the lines in a parking lot. I could go on and on. Bill Paying - It is not as simple as putting a check in the mail as no one uses the postal service. You have to go somewhere to pay the bills. Cutting in lines - Everywhere there is a line, there are cutters. Comes with the turf. Pedestrians - Just the culture but people cut right in front of you rather than walking past and then changing their course. Makes no sense to me. I am a big guy and make them pay. It is easy to act distracted and crash into someone as they walk in front of you and then say "sorry". Or give them a dirty look. And I am not talking about little old ladies either. Talking in Movies - Why is this necessary? Complete conversations and/or commentary the entire time. The adults are worse than the kids. Whistles - the guys in the parking lots, especially in parking garages, who "assist" drivers in getting out of the space, working for tips. They just blow blow blow on those damn whistles. It's not like there is a signal that one toot means back up and two means stop. It is such an irritating noise. Schools - I don't have kids in school but it seems like everyone who can, has their child in private school. There must be a reason why there are soooo many private schools. Potholes - They are everywhere and when they get fixed, they don't stay fixed. And many are deep enough to do some serious damage to a car. Exchanging Money - Now they think everyone is a drug dealer/money launderer. People who are retirees or make money in the states can get the Rentista type of INM status. So you cannot legally work here. You must prove income/assets in order to get a Rentista FM2 or FM3. It is a total pain now as the banks limit how many dollars you can exchange, some don't even allow it unless you have an account there, Santander only lets you deposit dollars for the first six months after opening it, Banamex charges you an extra $.60 Mxn on their own internet published rates. There are legal solutions of course but they can be cumbersome, compared to just two years ago. Walmart used to accept $50 bills and you got your change and your purchase at the highest (best) rate in town. Now they don't want to give you your change in pesos and they have a policy that they themselves don't even understand so there goes buying $100 or $200 or whatever, in pesos, paying with a $50 US and getting some pesos that way. It is just far more cumbersome to work within the system that assumes everyone with a dollar is laundering it. I think most of these irritants are cultural so we just have to adjust and go with the flow. I now can drive like a taxi driver, take all the parking space I want, crash lines when I am in a hurry, return phone calls in the movie, and dodge the potholes. Life is great. All in all though it is a great place to live.
Rawkus: Thank you soo much for the info ..I have been told by people who have tried to bring a dog from another country that it is nearly impossible, which didn't seem quite right to me. I looked up the rules, and I thought it was fairly easy if you followed them properly, I will be sending you a PM in the very near future to discuss that further with you! TJ: Haha, if these are your problems with Cancun, then life, like you said, must be pretty good. I have experienced all the things you said, so it gave me a good laugh.. I remember one time me and my Fiance were waiting for a document from this lady we needed, well she told us she was around the corner and would be there in 5 mins... she came a week later! LOL That was my first time dealing with this firsthand, I couldn't understand what was taking so long! Needless to say, my Fiance had a good chuckle.. I have learned a lot since then. I am happy that I am a patient person (for the most part, lol!) by nature, little things don't usually bother me, which I think is necessary if you want to move anywhere in Latin America really.. So you guys have been really awesome and this has turned into an interesting thread! I have another question and I am hoping you guys could give me some insight! I am a recent university graduate, I have a B.A in psychology. My Spanish (in my opinion) is average (have a hard time remembering little word for things) My Fiance thinks I will be able to find good work, just curious to see, if you do work in Mexico, what type of jobs you have, now or in the past? Thanks guys!
of course you can! I live in the Missisauga/Brampton border (tech. considered missisauga, the other side of my street is classifeid as brampton though! haha.) Are you also originally from the GTA?
Oh wow, and now you are currently residing in Cancun? Yes, Canada as a society in gerenal is pretty cold. I have been traveling almost every year to Cancun since the age of one (My family owns property there) so I have spent a fair amount of time there.. once I met my fiance, my time there became more frequent, and longer. What made you decide to leave Canada, if you don't mind me asking?
Sorry to hear about you friend..that must have been tough for you. My condolences. I agree with everything that you say.. especially about the 'every day conveniences' such as getting your OHIP, Driver's License, etc. The organization here is excellent. About the culture, you elaborated my thoughts. It is the people here that choose to make it cold, I think a major reason for this is because the multicultrualism here is superficial, a word better to describe how we view other cultures in this society would be 'tolerance' in my opinion. In general, I think the main and/or biggest reason we want to move is that Cancun gives us or rather, coincides with our view of what 'quality living' truly is. To elaborate, I think Cancun has a better 'work-life blance,' where unlike here in Canada, your life usually revolves around working, to get things that you don't need, but think will make you happy, recharging, and doing it again. For the grocery part, I guess it depends what you buy. I eat really basic things both in Mexico and here in Canada. For two people in Mexico, we can buy tortillas, chicken, meat, fish, fresh fruits and vegtables, oaxaca cheese, and a few other items we need for about 600 pesos a week. Here for the same items, we pay about 70-80 dollars, so I guess it all depends what you buy?? haha. Also, I agree clothes are less expensive, particularly in the GTA with all the outlets!
