Job Discussion Forums

[FoxandMe]

Why did you go to Mexico? What was it about Mexico, rather than El Salvador, Argentina, Colombia, and anywhere else in Latin or South America? Did you pick Mexico and then go? Were you travelling and ended up there? Did you know someone already there and took advantage of the connection?

Tell me your story, please...

[Johnny T.]

Here's my story - and I'm not even there yet! (But I did just spend a couple of weeks travelling around, lining up a job and now the house is rented and the bags are almost packed.) It could have been anywhere in Latin America - I'm just dying to become bilingual and I love the music, culture, food, history, and people from anywhere south of the Rio Grande. I get excited just looking at a map of South America, Central America or Mexico. Por eso, I took a course in translation and another program in TESL. But eventually you have to narrow it down - you can't go everywhere and teach for a couple of weeks in every city in America Latina! (Maybe you can, maybe I will!) One deciding factor was - I wanted to drive there. I've spent lots of time in Guatemala and have close friends there, so it became a toss-up between Mexico - (but where? The more one knows about Mexico, the vaster and, of course, more interesting everyplace becomes) - and Guatemala. Friends on the street (here in Toronto) and at parties would tell me - "you know, people in Guatemala go to bed at 8:30 (which I remember) - they're just a little too humble and beaten down (a result of a 37-year civil war), Mexicans love parties, their history is soooooo exciting, the infrastructure down there is just a little closer to ours than a lot of other places in the south, the geography and music and culture is so varied - they seem to be experiencing a renaissance in the cinematography industry . . . I'm taking my family there for a year, it may be just a stepping stone to places further south or it may be a lifetime move!
-Hope to meet you and your dog (incidentally, I'm taking my 16 year-old border collie with me) down there!

[FoxandMe]

Johnny T:

Great response. I feel that at this point I really do need to just pick a place and go, so your confirmation of Mexico is nice to hear. Where in Mexico are you going? Where did you go when you went travelling in search of work and a home? I too have realized that, once I settle on a country and, if say Mexico, a general region, I'll need to do some travelling to line up a job and decide where I want to settle.

[snorklequeen]

i loved your story, JT!

what translation course did you take, and where?

like FoxandMe, i'm curious which area you chose for your first year

buen viaje,

Queenie

[Johnny T.]

In February I headed for the "colonial heartland," and specifically a place that's a little on the fringe of that, Aguascalientes, because I had a contact at a Language School. I only spent two days being interviewed and looking around Aguas., it's not the most colonial city in the area, but it has some advantages - real flat for bicycling and getting around, close enough to really colonial places like Guanajuato, Zacatecas, Queretaro, etc. It's clean, safe, traffic flows nicely, perhaps a little too "middle class" (on the surface), but I was offered a job there, so we shall see. By the way, I may end up being the "academic co-ordinator", so I'll be scouting around for others to come down and work there, at KIOSK. I did later look into about 6 or 7 schools in Queretaro and a couple way over in the east, Xalapa, but always met with the same reply - "well, if you want a job for August, come back in August and we will probably have something for you - what are you doing here now?"
Snorklequeen - Just to push my Spanish studies that one step further, I took a 3 year certificate program in Translation: Spanish to English from York University here in Toronto. It was great, I did it over about 5 years, mostly at night. Living here in Toronto, I can't claim to be bilingual even with that certificate.
Anyway, other people must have a story as to why they chose Mexico, I'm interested in hearing those!

[cwc]

[Guy Courchesne]

Johnny T might never see his family if he were to work the hours you do!

I got to Mexico by accident...was supposed to go to Peru but a job offer there fell through at the last minute. Not wanting to suffer through another eastern Ontario winter, I found something in Mexico and had one of those 'what the hell?...let's roll' moments.

Now I stay because I'm severely addicted to Mexican food. Oh and I'm married.

[FoxandMe]

no offense, cwc, but i don't trust you. at this point, i don't really pay attention to your marketing. again, no offense.

[cwc]

Fox, Obviously you have a selective reading disorder. I think you must be reality-challenged. One of the most trusted posters on this site vouched for me. You are not going to make it in Mexico!!! I am seen as a caustic braggart, I tell the truth. You are seen as an immature and troubled individual that can�t reason for himself. I do find it odd that you decided to do what I advised you to do, only a month later. The same thing will happen in the future. When you are struggling to make ends meet and have a problem with where to put your beagle, you WILL think of Carmen. I, and most ESLers, suffered for a long time before finding a good situation. You would be well served to learn from the experiences of others. Supposedly that�s your point in being here.

Guy, JohnnyT strikes me as a good guy that will be fine wherever he goes. I am certain he will pick up 10-15 extra hours a week. 2-3 hours of tutoring at night is easy and desirable. However, in my case, with two babies, enough is never enough. I really should work less but I have a soft place in my heart for people who want to give me money. People wait outside my school to schedule tutoring. Schools and oil companies call me at home to offer work. There is a real shortage of teachers here. There are 2 oil companies that need full-time translators. cwc

[Lilli]

Hey, when did the forum do a "most trusted poster" vote? How funny. You must have been a politician in a former life.

[cwc]

Lilli,
When you have a few more than 5 posts you may be able to discern who the most trusted posters are. There are a few people that have never had their credibility doubted and always offer good advice. If you read, you will know who they are. You remind me of another poster that comments on unknown things that are right in front of him to investigate. If you are here, it is supposed that you can research. I am brash and forthright, but never a liar.
cwc

[M@tt]

i was going to post a rather lengthy message that i just wrote but then i realized this thread no longer has anything to do with the original topic. i'm saving my composition in my email and waiting for the right thread to unleash my wisdom on you all.

i think almost everyone on here has been "questioned" at one point by another person on the forum. i don't know if that tells you much about the person's integrity or not. the people on here who i feel like i trust the most are the ones i've had private email/personal contact with and who made a good impression on me. they also offer consistent, helpful advice and avoid attacking others in public. when people ask me questions i can't answer i usually refer them to one or more of those folks. then there are people who have information that might be useful but whose personalities are so unpleasant you would almost rather not hear from them.

[ls650]

[cwc]

[ls650]

We interrupt this flamewar to go back to the original topic...
Why did you go to Mexico?