Why Mexico City You Ask?

Let me just say that in January 2007 when Kris and I were choosing possible overseas posts, Mexico was the first to be discarded right off the bat at the same time Pakistan, India, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and several others made the "no way José" list (pun intended). Each 'rejected' post had its own reasons, Mexico was rejected because

1. It is Mexico
2. Not exotic enough
3. We've already lived in Mexico Lite (that would be Denver)
4. We had the same reaction you all are having "wow, Mexico, really? Yea, well, ummm, so did you hear Kellogg is coming out with a new cereal?"
5. It doesn’t really count as living overseas in our humble opinion (they have Costco & Wal-mart...need I say more?)

I also need to mention that even though Mexico was on the ‘reject’ list Kris and I have an overall fondness for decent Mexican people, both those in Mexico and those that are in the US legally. They are warm, humble, and some of the greatest people to be around for the most part. Kris and I also love Mexican history (specifically Meso-American/pre-Columbian), the culture and need I mention the FOOD? Mexico just didn’t excite us the way Thailand, China, Uruguay, Argentina, Russia, Denmark, Spain, Brazil, (and even) Venezuela did.

When Venezuela turned out to be such a bust we were faced with some tough choices. Back to ground zero. What were our choices for overseas countries and what were our main goals for wanting to be overseas? We decided to focus on the countries that were available with Spanish as the language…that left Ecuador, Panama, and Mexico. Ecuador got the boot because we wouldn’t be able to get there soon enough (the office wouldn’t be available until the Fall and we wanted the kids to be able to start school already semi-established after their whirlwind experience at the end of the previous school year).

Panama was a consideration but we had to weigh whether we would consider a $15,000 a year pay cut. Yes it would be cheaper to live there but still, not really worth $15,000 we’d lose because of the change in differential.

So Mexico, while originally rejected, all of a sudden started looking pretty good. Overall, it met our financial goals in that we could still save money (going towards that 40+ acre alpaca farm and deluxe 2000 sqft Hogwarts style green house in Idaho!), and Kris could remain working in the Office of International Affairs rather than going back to Office of Investigations (those would be stateside positions). We also had the option of Kris going back to OI and moving stateside but we’d be in limbo again until mid-Fall if not later waiting for a stateside office that may never materialize which would then force us to move back to Fredericksburg and wait all over again.

Mexico has its downsides but none even compare to Caracas and we were more than willing to move there in spite of the Country’s issues. What we weren’t prepared for was the lack of support from the embassy as you know from previous posts. Thankfully, the embassy in Mexico City is very supportive and relations between the US and Mexico are much better than between the US and the BRV.

Some of you have voiced concerns about the crime in Mexico City. Trust me; Mexico City looks tame after what we found out about Caracas once we got there. We will have an armored vehicle to drive around in, common sense prevails overall and you have to expect to be the victim of some crime when you are willing to be an American living in a foreign country…bad enough to be an American living in America and dealing with the crime here. Just today at 2pm, a man robbed a woman at gunpoint in the elementary school parking lot where my parents’ neighbor teaches here in Williamsburg. Chances are slimmer here in the States but that’s a risk that is part of the Foreign Service. We aren’t really ready for it but we accept the probability that it will happen at least once…just petty crime I hope.

The worst thing we have heard about Mexico City is the pollution. It is definitely a concern of ours above any crime concerns. Kris has been grilling several people at the embassy who have lived there. Crime has not been mentioned as a concern (then again they are dealing with Caracas crime which is worse) but pollution is often the first thing mentioned.

Other than that, he has heard over and over: it is a great place for families, the food is fantastic, and they would move back if they had the chance. We’ll take their views with a grain of salt (after all, it was State Dept people who were less than forthcoming about Caracas) but we know it will be better than Caracas and for this we are grateful.