Job Discussion Forums

[canadano]

This is my first post, hope it�s not too long.

Does anyone have experience in both Monterrey, MX and Quito, EC? I�ve been in Quito for 11 months and it�s been pretty good to me. Only had two phones, a camara, and a wooden Kendo practice dummy stolen. Almost had a bag stolen, but just ended up with mustard down my back (another story). My girlfriend was French kissed by a guy as she walked out of the bathroom. One friend was molested (inside shirt boob grab). Another found the taxi driver on top of her when she woke from a drunken nap (she went back to Canada a couple days later). That said, I still feel pretty good about the city, there are much worse.

Pollution in Quito is fairly significant. The damn buses, of which there are many thousands, spew endless clouds of diesel. But transport is pretty good getting around this sprawling city. Taxi meters go off and prices go up after the sun goes down, but not too rediculously.

Jobs that you can live on are fairly easy to find, depending on your definition of �live on.� Jobs that give you enough money and the time to enjoy it are not hard to find, for the qualified. I have one of those. My girlfriend is in the third category, a smoken job in good international school. She has experience and a teaching degree.

So, based on that, does anyone know how Monterrey compares.

[MELEE]

[moonraven]

I haven't spent very much time in either city, but--what I see that they have in common is heavy duty air pollution (both are subject to weather inversions). Monterrey is VERY hot in the summer months (40 degrees celsius); in the winter months it is cold. Quito runs on the platform of being a colonial city, while Monterrey thinks it is part of Dallas, Texas. Although crime has increased dramatically in Nuevo Leon state over the past 3 or 4 years, I don't think it has reached the level of what one expects in Quito or Guayaquil. Why not give Cuenca a try, instead of leaving Ecuador? I thought it was a much more livable spot than Quito....

[inmexico]

I can only comment on Monterrey. I have never been to Quito. I used to live and work approx. 1 hour north of Monterrey and used to visit the city on a fairly regular basis.
I agree with moonraven in that Monterrey is Dallas-like, or Houston-like, or just about any other southern US city. It is quite modern in comparison to more southern Mexican cities. I didn't find pollution to be a big problem (for me, it compares with Toronto). It certainly is HOT most of the year. During the winter it does get cold, but generally it is only cold at night. I don't recall a day when the temperature didn't hit at least 16C during the day. As far as safety goes, I was the victim of an apparent B&E and lost a considerable amount of $. As it turns out, the evidence supports the fact that it was an American teacher that was the culprit.
Monterrey does have a very vibrant night-life, and there are several places of interest. It is also the only city in Mexico that I have been to where baseball rivals soccer in popularity (they were trying to get the Montreal Expos franchise).

[MELEE]