Bubba
Feb 3, 2007, 1:39 PM
Post #2 of 15
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Re: [gurley] Expatriate Life in San Cristobal?
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Are there many expatriates in San Cristobal (U.S., Canadian, European, other Latin American countries)? An eclectic community - folks from many places - would be very interesting, I think. I want to immerse in the country as much as possible, once we make our move. But I know that having some folks to talk to in my native language will be important to me.
There is an expat community there but much smaller and somewhat different than that you might find in places such as Lake Chapala and San Miguel. Proportionally, for instance, there are more Europeans (especially Italians) and young drifter/seeker/holier-than-thou- wow-is-that-cool-or-what sophomoric types similar to the Bubba of old.
We have come to realize that there is also a small , insular group of Americans of middle age and up many of whom are veterans of Northern California and Santa Fe misfit colonies still hoping to find the truth around the next corner and, like people in retirement communities everywhere, constantly finding fault with one another.
I won´t even speak here of the abnormal expats.
Still it´s a colorful expat community and much more interesting than the mind-numbing Journey´s End Home Mobile Home Estates Phase II crowd at Lake Chapala or the new rich Texans at San Miguel.
Expats at San Cristóbal are more inclined to speak Spanish than in the above colonies and have more of an interest in the local culture but this is not a universal characteristic.
A few other specific questions, if anyone "in the know" is willing to answer:
How is health care in San Cristobal? Doctors? Dentists? Hospitals?
Health and dental care in San Cristóbal are sort of rudimentary as are local hospitals. That is not to say there are no good local physicians and dentists. Nearby Tuxtla Gutierrez is a big city with better medical care but there is nothing in Chiapas even close to what one can expect in Guadalajara or Mexico City. If you are going to live here, befriend a shaman.
Still, Mexico City is an inexpensive and easy flight away and takes less than two hours.
Our retirement budget will be far from extravagant. In order to be able to "cut the ties" from our 9-to-5 jobs sooner rather than later, we think we could swing about $1,500 per month for the both of us. This would need to cover our home rental. I know that the cost of living totally depends on lifestyle. If we want a decent home, nothing fancy, but with telephone and internet access (ANY chance that fast internet has made it to San Cristobal?), mainly market food and occasional-only eating out - is a simple, comfortable life possible on this amount of money?
$1,500US net income a month is cutting it thin if you are renting. Still, if you rent in a cheap part of town outside of the colonial center, you can find a cheap place unfurnished. You could achieve a modest life style there on that.
There is high speed internet through Prodigy Infititum. But it will cost you $60US per month to say nothing of the initial equipment cost. The town is filled with cheap and very good internet cafes where you can cruise the internet for peanuts. You would have to utilize an internet cafe´s high speed computers for an enormous amount of time before you spent $60 a month.
I'd appreciate any comments on having a car there versus using public transport. Chiapas seems so far from the U.S. border. Do people really drive there?! (I know some of you do, but that sounds so intimidating to me.) I guess I'd like to drive into our life in Mexico - so we could at least take some stuff with us. Is it absolutely frightening to drive in Mexico? The freedom of a car would obviously be nice. But, I'm assuming we could live quite a bit more inexpensively if we didn't have our own car.
San Cristóbal is a walker´s town without steep hills and taxis are cheap ($20 Pesos anywhere) in town when you need one. To go anywhere within the region, collectivos and buses are great bargains and, on the collectivos, you also meet locals if you (and they) speak Spanish.
I noted, however, that you asked about Chiapas in this paragraph, not the town of San Cristóbal. To be honest with you, the tone of that question about driving in its naive innocence convinces me you don´t belong in Chiapas for a number of reasons. This is not xanadu.
Is there very much home rental available in San Cristobal? What price range for a simple, yet decent, 2 bedroom home? Would anyone rent to us since we have a cat and dog? And, regarding real estate, I'm just curious - what are similar homes selling for, and do you think real estate is a decent investment there? (By "investment," I don't mean a money-maker necessarily - though that would be nice too. I just mean, do you think that we would be able to re-sell at some point, if need be, without losing a lot?)
Does San Cristobal feel safe? Do expatriates seem to be well-accepted? Are expatriates welcoming to new expatriates? Are there any opportunities for teaching English as a foreign language there?
I won´t answer these last questions. I should have never started this. You will need to go there to answer those questions yourself. I will tell you this. You can find cheap rentals there. However, hardscrabble living is hardscrabble living whether in San Cristóbal or St. Louis. At least in St. Louis they speak English.
Good luck to you.
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