Job Discussion Forums

[M@tt]

Hi,
I've been living in the middle of Veracruz for 10 months now. My job is wonderful--I really can't complain about working conditions (though I did complain a while back about my students, but that just goes with teaching). In fact, I don't want to give up my position. However, I am bored out of my mind living here and want to change cities. What I would like are others' impressions of the livability and 'interest-level' of some cities I am looking into. About myself: I'm pretty young and single but not too interested in wild nightlife (have already spent 15 weekends in Veracruz). I'd like somewhere with a variety of live music, cultural activities, bookstores, people who read books and think, basically something resembling the atmosphere you might find in a college town in the US (though I know I won't find the exact same thing here!!!). It's not important to me that the city be small. In fact, what I'm finding in Mexico is that small cities with lots going on are incredibly rare. So here's my list (based entirely on towns where ITESM has a campus):
Leon
Guadalajara
Aguascalientes
Puebla
San Luis Potosi

Feel free to comment on any other aspects of the cities like pollution, crime, green space, cost of living, weather, etc. I hope to be in one spot for 4 or 5 years so I'd like to hear almost anything you have to say about them as prospective HOMETOWNS, not tourist spots.
Thanks for your input--this is a great board and I'm sure we can all overcome our differences in order to help Matt out...

[MixtecaMike]

Can't help you with any of those cities, but I'd give a big thumbs up to Mexico City.

It's big, exciting, and most of all INTERESTING. Most anything you are interested in, somebody else there will be too. They even have a cricket club.

It gets a bum rap for the pollution and the crime, but I lived in the Col. Morelos, right next door to Tepito for two years and I was never robbed or attacked or anything. I might have been called gringo in an unpleasant way maybe two or three times in two years.

The pollution can be a bit tough, but I suffer from asthma and it never really affected me much, except for watery eyes.

If you want, come to Huajuapan de Leon for a month, then you'll see nowhere in God's earth can be as boring as here. Cordoba will look like Las Vegas, as a comparison.

All the best,
Mike

[moonraven]

I agree with Mike that Mexico City has everything. But it is also not for everyone. There's a nice city with many of the elements you mentioned right in the state you are living in. The port of Veracruz is basically a typical port city, but Xalapa is a university town--attractive, cold in the winter, but clearly one of the towns with more of an intellectual atmosphere in Mexico--IF you have an excellent level of Spanish. Leon is boring. Guadalajara is very Gringolandia. Puebla is nice although some folks find it to be stuffy. San Luis Potosi is another pretty low profile spot. Cuautla, Morelos, is not a bad choice and the current mayor has been putting a lot of attention to culture. The climate is probably the best in the country, food is good and people are pretty friendly. Again, it depends on whetheryou are looking to replicate the culture of your home country--or if you plan to assimilate. My suggestions are based on the assimilation scenario....

[lozwich]

M@tt,

I agree with Moonraven about Xalapa. I've said it on this forum before, but if I wasn't leaving Mexico, I'd be trying for work in Xalapa. Don't think there's ITESM there, but there's the University of Veracruz. I lurrrve Xalapa. I went there for 4 days (I know that's not much to go by) and went to a classical music concert (excellent and 50 pesos), a bar with a bohemian feel and trova playing, brilliant and delicious restaurants with reasonable prices, museums, cinema and basically wandered around listening to street musicians. Fab!

And don't get me started on the waterfall at Xico! WOW.

I think maybe Puebla would suit you too. I've not been there, but I have a friend who lived there for a while. She says that she found a lot of the people a little superficial, or obsessed with fashion and outward appearances, but maybe that was just the people she met. The food is cheap and excellent, and there's lots to do there. Didn't you say ITESM has jobs going there, or was that somebody else?

I don't like Guadalajara for the pollution, and don't know anything about the other places, sorry.

Good luck!
Lozwich.

[MELEE]

[inmexico]

Of the cities on your list I would give a definite "thumbs up" to San Luis Potosi. SLP has an active nightlife, museums, cleanliness, and the typical Mexican hospitality. I would go back there in a heartbeat if the opportunity presented itself.

[chula]

I know a bit about Leon. I go there to go shopping sometimes and visit la migra, but otherwise there�s not any reason to go there. Well, unless you have relatives there, but I wouldn�t put it on my top 10 list of Mexican cities to live in.

[Georgina]

I really like Oaxaca, but wish that I could find a way to live there more economically. I have been there many times, but the money doesn't seem to last as long as I would like it to. I live like a tourist most of the time.

Right now I am back in Vancouver, but I am planning to go back to Oaxaca at the end of the month. Does anyone have any suggestions for me about inexpensive accomodations there?

[MELEE]

Georgina,

The trick is to live in the State of Oaxaca, rather than the City of Oaxaca.