Mexico: weather, utilities and prejudice
Utilities
- Q. Since I've had several questions on utilities, I'm going to just answer them all in one section here.
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A. It's important to find out before you rent or buy, what the utility situation is in each area, or fraccionamiento. In some areas, a call to Guadalajara is a local call; in others, it is not. Some areas still have long waits for telephone service. Check on water supply and electricity as well.
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Electricity -- My electric bills run about $40/month which is a far cry from the $10 I was told before I bought my house. Storms often cause electrical damage to TVs, stereos, computers and other electrical appliances. It is necessary to have regulators for any expensive electrical item. I lost my TV, VCR, stereo and answering machine before someone told me this. You can buy them locally.
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Propane -- Each home comes with a gas tank. No one told me I need to go asked to have it filled when the dial got in the red zone. Mine is on top of my house, so now I just have it filled about once every three months unless I have a house full of company, then I do it more often. Gas runs me about $12 per month.
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Water and Garbage -- My neighborhood has annual dues which cover these as well as security drive-throughs by the police. This costs me about $70 per year. I have a water pressure system and water purification system in my house so I can drink water directly from the tap. This costs about $600 to install.
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Television/Cable -- There are three ways to go here. One is a satellite dish which provides basically the same channels you can get in the states. Cable is another option in most areas. I have the deluxe package which provides me the local stations, as well as NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, Discovery Channel and one or two other English stations. It costs me about $18 per month.
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Telephone -- Now that we've finally got local access for the Internet, my telephone bills have been slashed by about $100 per month, leaving about an $80 long distance charge and about $15 for local calls. This, of course, varies widely based on your usage.
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All utilities must be paid in person. Some you don't even get bills for.
Weather
- Q. What is it like in the rainy season? MR
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A. Locals prefer the rainy season over any time of year down here. The temperature stays in the 70s and it typically rains hard, for short bursts. To give you a feeling for a typical storm here, I'm including a short, short story I wrote:
The Banshee
Marcy is visiting from California. I retired here one year ago -- the time it takes to become an expert. Exhausted, we want to eat simply, talk quietly and enjoy together the scenery laid out in front of us. This is our beloved rainy season, I explain to her. At night, rain quenches the land's thirst, providing lush green tapestries which rival the emeralds of Oz; and in the morning, sunshine warms the hearts and souls of its inhabitants.
We sit at an open-air eatery that is nestled among the rushes and lavender water lilies of Lake Chapala, near Guadalajara. Resting behind the low-hung clouds, the sun permeates earth's evening canvas with muted greens and grays, purples and blues. Four distant sails and one lone raven provide the obligatory black and white contrast.
Within minutes, the sky darkens and The Exalted Banshee swooshes down, supplanting our serenity with a dark, forbidding fury. Sheets of water catapult onto the corrugated tin roofs, disturbing our tenuous tranquillity with a deafening discord. Bolts of lightening tear into the canvas, accompanied by howling wind and followed by thunderous applause. The rushes lay horizontal.
Waiters scramble to secure tables and chase yellow cloths that cavort like butterflies in the squall. Customers huddle close together with the basket vendor and small boy who sells Chiclets. We watch in awe -- children and parents, Mexicans and gringas -- and, in unison, offer a raucous standing ovation to The Banshee.
Twenty minutes later it is over. El sol ducks once again beneath the purple horizon. The Banshee leaves as suddenly as she appeared. The rushes stand upright again. The young Mexican boy offers two Chiclets for one peso and Marcy asks, incredulous, "Was it something we said?"
Prejudice
- Q. What's it like for a gay person living in your area. Is there much prejudice?
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A. No, almost none. Guadalajara is a lot like San Francisco. It's a beautiful, city of six million people. There are large communities of almost every ethnic group and sexual orientation. There are many gay clubs in the city as well. At Lake Chapala, whose gringo enclave began as more of an artists' colony, we have a lot of gays and lesbians. They are well integrated into the community and, although I am not gay, I have gay friends who believe this is a wonderful place to live. This area really is a melting pot of people from all over the world who bring to us their unique restaurants, their wonderful stories and their personal contribution.
(Because I live near Lake Chapala in Jalisco, this column is geared towards this region of Mexico. Answers may not be applicable to other regions. When dollars are quoted, they are U.S., not Canadian dollars.)
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