WHAT I LOVE ABOUT LIVING IN MEXICO

I don’t think of myself as a small-town person. I grew up in Brooklyn and when I think of “home” in Canada, that’s Ottawa. I've been living in Progreso, Yucatan for 8 years, a city whose population is only about 60,000. Its proximity to the major city and capitol of the state, allows me to treat Progreso as a suburb of Merida. Only 20 minutes away, I can be in a city that has such amenities as Costco, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, large shopping malls and cinemas, theatre, ballet, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Merida, good restaurants, etc., but what I like about Progreso is this: it’s on the ocean, so the air is clean; it’s not fancy and touristy – it’s real Mexico. Most of the people don’t speak English and few are fluent. Occasionally, I will spot a herd of goats at the end of the city or a horse and cart. Not a buggy, but a horse and cart, where the driver sits on a plank of wood with his feet (sometimes bare) dangling over the edge. Every morning when I wake up, I hear the men of the panaderia behind my house bustling around, preparing to bake the fresh bread for the day. They sing. Loudly. And joyfully ! And then I smell the aroma of fresh bread wafting through my house. I love grapefruit and grapefruit juice. I buy a whole crate of grapefruit for just over $5. !  In Ottawa, I bought some recently for $1.40 each ! I make my own juice every morning using two fat luscious grapefruit and throw in some organic berries… I love these things !

You can take Spanish lessons here; my neighbor and good friend has a language school. You can go to the beach every day if you want. I take my dog for a walk on the beach most evenings and it’s completely safe. We have a long malecon( or boardwalk) that makes taking a stroll along the beach incredibly pleasant. It’s lined with great restaurants with a view of the ocean. But if you want to eat like the locals, I can steer you in the direction of wonderful little places where you can have a great lunch for about $3.50 -$4. ! What you can’t get here in Progreso, you can get in Merida. If you can’t find it in Merida, you ask your friends and family to bring it with you if you run out before you go back to visit. Or you learn to like something else instead. Life is a bit simpler here and it’s definitely less expensive. True, it’s not as cheap as it used to be, but that goes for pretty well everywhere in the world today.

Some people fly into Merida to get here, but many like myself, fly in and out of Cancun as there are many more flights and they’re much less expensive. There are now buses that go directly to the Cancun airport from Merida in 4-4.5 hours. And buses here are incredibly inexpensive ! There are buses from Progreso to Merida every 20 minutes – they’re air-conditioned and comfortable and super-convenient ! These are the things that I love about living here. Mostly simple things that make me smile. That and it’s almost always sunny here … I like that too !