Mexico Life - General Discussion

[NYGirl]

Editor's Note:

Discuss Mexico Life Here!

 

Our wonderful moderator Wendy has graciously allowed us to put the "Life" topics in here since they are on HGTV AND very similar to House Hunters.  Thanks again Wendy.

[DownTheShore]

Has there been some major change in food safety in Mexico that I've missed? I remember dire warnings about eating and drinking there, but now Pati Jinich and Rick Bayless are always noshing and drinking at local markets.

I always love the ML shows; the homes are usually always interesting.

[MsTree]

And the Brain Trust in one of the shows tonight remarked about the "linoleum" on the countertops. I'm sure he meant formica ;-)

[DownTheShore]

It's just sad how clueless some people are. I don't expect anyone to know everything about anything, but if you're house hunting, at least familiarize yourself with the parts of a house (yes, that room with a stove in it IS the kitchen), and the pros and cons of various materials used in it.

I was watching one of those shows and the realtor stressed the huge underground catchment system a particular house had. The wife replied that that was good because her husband liked to take long showers, and I'm thinking to myself, "no, no, just because the system can hold that amount doesn't mean that there's been enough rain to fill it to that level! ".

[laredhead]

DownTheShore, don't you just wish you could be there when he runs out of water in the middle of his shower and has to wait another month until it rains again?  They didn't purchase that house did they?

[elainebenis]

We're a retired couple who travel and winter in Mexico (we recently took the plunge and bought our own casa in paradise! whoo hoo!) so I can give you my experience/perspective:

The various municipal water systems are very hit or miss - some are good, some bad, so it's best to drink only purified water. Most households use big 5 gallon jugs of purified water for drinking. Trucks roam the neighborhoods selling the jugs for about $2US each. Some homes, such as ours, have built-in purification systems. Big resorts always have purified water from the taps. By Mexican law, all ice used in commercial establishments must be made from purified water.

Everyone - commercial cooks and home cooks - routinely sanitizes their produce before using. I use a product called Mycrodyne. It's basically iodine drops you put in water then soak your veggies and fruit for 12 minutes. (Funny that when I'm home in the US and buy Safeway strawberries GROWN IN MEXICO I only rinse them!)

As far as food, 1) avoid tourist traps. I've been sick twice in all these years and both were at restaurants catering to the tourist crowd. The high turnover in staff and the transient clientele leads to less care in the kitchen and problems often don't get reported and corrected. Go for places popular with the locals...they are sickened by the same bugs as foreigners are, so the restaurants reputation is on the line. I think there's a perception that Mexican nationals are not up to speed with food safety but by in large they are - and have to be to stay in business. Another thing about local places is that often you can watch your food being prepared, unlike at Mega Resort or Senior Frogs. See a street taco stand with a long line of neighborhood workers? A tiny but busy mom-and-pop restaurant? Go there, the food will be fabulous and safe. 2) Use common sense. Hot food should be hot; cold, cold. Skip the salad and raw fruit if you're nervous. Bring Immodium just in case!

Side note: Earlier this year, right after we started the process of buying our house, there was this posted on a local message board:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Greetings!

My name is Andrea and I am an casting producer for Left/Right TV, a New York City-based television production company. We are currently casting for a new season of Mexico Life. Once again we will be searching across the best Mexico beach locations to highlight excellent locales and affordable real estate. Casting has officially begun and we’d love to work with you to hopefully film in Mexico.

CRITERIA FOR CLIENTS:
-Purchasing (not renting) a property
-The homebuyers CAN be purchasing the property as a second home or vacation home (they do NOT need to be permanently relocating to the island, though we still LOVE those stories)
-Young families/individuals/couples.
-Purchasing for less than $1 million - our show highlights AFFORDABLE real estate, so the more relatable the budgets, the better. $1 - 2 million may work for a great family.
-We prefer people from the US who are from somewhere else and are moving to Mexico, OR natives who lived elsewhere for a while and are now choosing to move back for a reason.
-They can have closed on the property within the past 9 months (preferable), OR they can be actively looking, ready to put down an offer ASAP.

Left/Right is a nonfiction television production company that specializes in telling real stories about extraordinary people. If you are interested in learning more about Left/Right, we encourage you to visit our website. You can also watch episodes of Mexico Life:
GO TO: http://www.leftright.tv
CLICK ON: "Client Login"
USERNAME: MLife
PASSWORD: Eps

Thanks!
ANDREA HARRIS | LEFT/RIGHT
Casting Producer
39 West 19th Street, 9th Floor | New York, NY 10011
212.604.3699 | aharris@leftright.tv | www.leftright.tv
Left/Right
Left/Right creates unscripted television and film projects that illuminate the drama and comedy of real life. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll watch.
leftright.tv

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DH and I briefly discussed then quickly discarded the idea - we don't have it in us to fake shop for a house, fake fight over counter tops, throw a fake housewarming for fake friends, etc etc. LOL. A few weeks ago a locally famous drag queen posted on FB that he had to cancel a performance because he was filming a 'reality tv show' - very top secret. I'm thinking that he got drafted to be the 'local color' or the BFF of the house hunter. (The cute blonde that was a friend of the LA PR poodle guy in a recent HHI Puerto Vallarta episode is a cabaret singer here in town). We shall see.

Good news is that there will be new ML episodes!

[WildPlum]

I've been watching "Mexico Life" and kind of enjoying it - most of the couples have been pretty reasonable and a lot of it has been set somewhere in Mexico I have my eye on visiting and maybe staying for a month or so in the winter (Puerto Vallarta, Puerto Escondido, Isla Mujeras).

[SunnyBeBe]

Can someone tell me if there is still an Advisory on travel to Mexico?  This show seems to indicate that Americans are still buying vacation homes there and it's the greatest place ever.  I thought it was dangerous and that you could be kidnapped, held hostage, murdered, etc.  in many parts of Mexico. Here's one account.  I've read more. 

http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/08/world/mexico-kidnapping/index.html

I've vacationed there years ago and even then, I was warned that it was dangerous. I ignored it and had a great time, but, later things got much more intense. Now, I'm not sure what to believe. 

Edited January 12, 2018 by SunnyBeBe

[chessiegal]

5 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

Can someone tell me if there is still an Advisory on travel to Mexico?  This show seems to indicate that Americans are still buying vacation homes there and it's the greatest place ever.  I thought it was dangerous and that you could be kidnapped, held hostage, murdered, etc.  in many parts of Mexico. Here's one account.  I've read more. 

http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/08/world/mexico-kidnapping/index.html

I've vacationed there years ago and even then, I was warned that it was dangerous. I ignored it and had a great time, but, later things got much more intense. Now, I'm not sure what to believe. 

I read this week the State Dept had issued "do not travel warnings" for certain states in Mexico. I'm sure it's on their web site.

[Kohola3]

28 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

This show seems to indicate that Americans are still buying vacation homes there and it's the greatest place ever.  I thought it was dangerous and that you could be kidnapped, held hostage, murdered, etc. 

Even more important to me is the horrible health care there.  I was a flight nurse and picked up innumerable patients in Mexico to fly them home for decent care.  I had one guy tear out his IV and take a taxi to the airport to meet us instead of waiting for ambulance transport  because he was so eager to get out of there.  You couldn't pay me to live there.

[chessiegal]

Loving watching HGTV's Sunday night shows after missing them last week. The Nor'easter knocked out our power for 8 hours on Friday, but fried our Verizon box, so no TV or internet. We couldn't get it replaced until Tuesday. My goodness, we spent the evenings conversing and reading. #thehorror #firstworldproblems.

[ByaNose]

13 hours ago, chessiegal said:

Loving watching HGTV's Sunday night shows after missing them last week. The Nor'easter knocked out our power for 8 hours on Friday, but fried our Verizon box, so no TV or internet. We couldn't get it replaced until Tuesday. My goodness, we spent the evenings conversing and reading. #thehorror #firstworldproblems.

What is this conversing & reading that you speak of? Is this something new?

[CrazyInAlabama]

They have a marathon of this one today on HGTV.    I know they already own the place, but the criticisms are so bizarre.     The one woman who is looking in Bucerias, and whining about the interior wall texture is so ridiculous.   That's the texture all through Mexico, and a lot of U.S. Southwest homes, and lots of houses I've seen are all white walls inside.   (I lived in far southern New Mexico for years, so the wall texture, and colors look like home to me).