Job Discussion Forums

[moonraven]

I don't believe it is ever necessary to take a third class bus--unless there is no other bus to where you want to go--and if that's the case, there will not be a hotel waiting for you at the end of the ride, either. Some of us are maybe just too old for that sort of adventure....The truth is that the biggest challenge is not scraping up money for travel, but making sure that you have enough time away from work to be able to. I have more time to travel here than I did when I was in the States--but in the States I couldn't afford to work as a teacher....

[MELEE]

[M@tt]

My cars are not made of plastic, they are made of a space-age polymer specially crafted by NASA to resist re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere and US customs. (As Seen on TV)

On a serious note to Flo and any other greedy Americans reading this (just kidding Flo)... IF you have a Master's and you are concerned about money you should start with ITESM (usually called Tec de Monterrey in Mexico) because there are currently 30 campuses (and they start a new one every other year in a new city) and the pay is excellent. Conditions vary from campus to campus and (un)fortunately I happen to work at the campus with the best conditions in the entire system--which makes it really hard to leave this town even though I really want to leave this town!! I would go so far as to say that I might have the best ESL job in Mexico (but I won't say it because that would be rubbing it in and I would never do that to the nice people on this board). By the end of this semester next week, with a little bit of extra income that I earned in the park at night because Mexicans think I look like Chris Martin, I will have saved around 100,000 pesos in ten months. I live pretty frugally BUT I have travelled every weekend I've been here, almost. I think I went to Puebla 3 times, Mexico City 10 times, Veracruz 15 times, Xalapa, Campeche, Merida (sorry Tim it was last minute and really rushed), Guanajuato, Queretaro, and Morelia. It's truly sad when the ADO employees know you so well they start asking you to bring back souvenirs for them, but that's the price you pay for living in a really small (quaint/boring) town. I travel out of necessity more than anything.

Now, if you don't have an MA, you can still work at the Tec but you will make less money. And I basically can't tell you much about other universities because I've only been here a year but. But my advice is this: if you are planning on staying a few years and trying to integrate, pick a place you want to live, and think less about travel and salary. I mean, the ideal would be to live in a place that you enjoyed so much you didn't even feel like traveling, right? That's my current philosophy, and I never would have thought that way before this year.

I don't think my boredom can parallel Mixtecamike's though. In all likelihood I will be here again next year, racing my Porsche 911 Turbo in front of the Palacio Municipal against anyone with a VW Jetta and the huevos to challenge me.

[M@tt]

Lest anyone get the wrong idea, I am actually teaching English because I like it, and I like ITESM. I wouldn't want anyone to think I'm just doing it for the money, because even a really great job in Mexico isn't going to bring in that much money. I'm also not doing it because of the great work conditions, because although they're great, I ended up doing more like 50 hours/week this year simply because I love my little empty vessels.

By the way, what is 3rd class bus service? I've never even heard of it. And what's the point of taking 2nd-class when the price difference between 1st and 2nd is only 10%, 1st class is cleaner with bathrooms, while in 2nd they can oversell and you will have people hovering over you in the aisle the whole trip (those people can be quite annoying if you have any concept of personal space). I agree that they're both nice but I prefer 1st class because it is always nice to be near a bathroom in Mexico.

[moonraven]

It's a tough call, M@tt: The first class buses have bathrooms and are USUALLY bereft of folks hovering over you in the aisle like buzzards--BUT they don't exist on all runs AND they have the Bus Movies from Hell, with biker lingo inexpertly dubbed into Spanish (not to mention S. Segal of the Paraplegic Facial Nerves.)

[Flo]

Matt - Good idea to redeem yourself on the greed comment. I don't think there are many greedy people who would go to Latin America to work if their goal was to get rich. It is awesome that you have saved 100,000 pesos in 10 months. Unfortunately for me, I won't be making close to that amount the year I am there. I am not worried about living a lavish lifestyle (anything is better than were I am now), I just want to be able to feed myself and see a bit of the country before my year is up. I have a masters and applied with ITESM, but was unable to start on July 26 like they wanted me to since I am under contract in a different country until July 30.

See ya around in my Lamborghini (uses a lot of gas though!).
Flo

[mikescapes]

Is there a central web site or email address for all ITSEM campuses?

[Ben Round de Bloc]