Somewhere in Mexico by the TallBoys Band

My husband, Joel, is a guitar and bass player for the TallBoys Band. He and his friends, David and Flip make up the best band in town...and even if that sounds horrifically biased it's just a fact and everyone here knows it and loves them. They are entertainers...they involve their crowd and they have a kickin' set of originals they play. They have two albums out and are working on their third. This is the title track song on their second album, Somewhere in Mexico. Perhaps the best thing about this video is all the footage of Ajijic and Lake Chapala. You can really get a feel for what it's like here! Notice the bride and groom...not actors! There happened to be a wedding that day. Also, when the people sing in the street with them, that was also spontaneous. Just more reasons to love Mexico. People here are so full of life, so supportive and just....happier!

Surprising News About Mexico

It still amazes me how much the people talk about why they moved to Lake Chapala. I think it’s a topic in just about every conversation I have ever had since moving to Mexico in 1993. Most of us are still thankful that we found this wonderful community and even though it is well-established it is still very open and very friendly to newcomers. Despite the simple, peaceful life we lead here at Lake Chapala with the second best climate in the world, the low cost of living and safety, I still get a lot of emails asking me about crime here from people wondering if we’re all just nuts to be living south of the border in a "dangerous place."

According to UN statistics, you're 3 times more likely to be a victim of crime in the U.S. than you are in Mexico.

Recent FBI statistics paint the picture even more clearly... The murder rate (per 100,000 people) in Baltimore is 43.3... in Washington DC it is 29.1... and in Detroit 47.3... But in Mexico, the murder rate again is just a third of that... about 13.

But you wouldn’t get that impression from watching the news! People who come to Lake Chapala say that in general they feel safer than or just as safe as they did back home.

You also might enjoy watching this video about more myths and misconceptions about Mexico:

Growing up at Lake Chapala

by Kristina Morgan

Huele de Noche is an unassuming flowering plant that gives off a heady perfume that will fill an entire yard with its beauty at night. My daughter Maya thinks it looks like a weed. But that “weed” is one of the most beautiful flowers in our yard because of the sheer pleasure I have when I smell it at night. It even fills our house with the sweet smell. I admit that if you don’t recognize Huele de Noche for what it is that it is a little unexpected coming from such a modest flower.

Tonight, as we were leaving the house I stopped and showed my youngest daughter, Maya, the Huele de Noche plant and we both breathed in the scent of this surprising flower that may be small but packs quite a punch! We were leaving the yard and I was driving her to a dance where she was meeting her sister, Lily, and their friends.

As we were driving along, Maya and I chatted about whatever it is mothers and daughters chat about on the way to a dance. Time to be picked up, where she would meet Lily, etc.

Hot Babe Fairy Dust at Lake Chapala

By Kristina Morgan

Those of you who have read my past articles have read about the bromide here, a mineral in the volcanic basin of the lake that evaporates into the air. I call it our Happy Gas. But unless you live here you may not know about what I call the Hot Babe Fairy Dust, a phenomenon that occurs at Lake Chapala.

I feel like living in the Lake Chapala area has kind of taken me back in time. There’s the obvious fact that it is like stepping back 50-70 years here regarding the pace, culture and values but that really isn’t what I mean.

I’m turning 39 on March 8th but I look younger than I did when we moved back here in 2002. I feel younger now than I did when I lived in Colorado and I was in my late 20s and early 30s. I’m not the only one. Many of the people I talk to have had the same experience. Some people have chalked it up to this being a retirement area so there are always people older than us. I don’t think that’s it though. Because there are many young people who live here with their families, working or as entrepreneurs in businesses, or they have an internet business that allows them to work anywhere, or they are in the small percentage of people who came into money or retired very early.

The Maya speak About 2012 at Lake Chapala Mexico

by Kristina Morgan

2012Unless you’re completely out of touch and don’t watch the news or read tabloids you’ve heard of 2012. There’s even an action-packed movie by Mel Gibson that promises to scare the heck out of you if most websites about 2012 haven’t already. So is 2012 the end of the world? The beginning of a shift in spiritual consciousness that heralds the Golden Age of humanity? Or just a bunch of conspiracy-theorist hype?

A History Channel program titled "Decoding the Past: Doomsday 2012: End of Days" says a galactic alignment or magnetic disturbances could somehow trigger a "pole shift."

"The entire mantle of the earth would shift in a matter of days, perhaps hours, changing the position of the north and south poles, causing worldwide disaster," a narrator proclaims. "Earthquakes would rock every continent; massive tsunamis would inundate coastal cities. It would be the ultimate planetary catastrophe."

Living in Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico makes the Mayan prophecies that originated here particularly fascinating to me but I wondered what the Maya really think of their prophetic date and about being at the source of all this hoopla, especially where it concerns a prophecy that may be ladled out in heaping mugs of fact-distortion and fear—or mean the end of the world. So what do the Maya have to say about these interpretations of their calendar?

Are you taking a risk by coming to Lake Chapala?

by Kristina Morgan

I had two very similar conversations this week. Both went something like ths:

“I’m old now. I can’t take risks like I did when I was younger. It’s very important to me that I feel secure and I really don’t like change. I have basically had the same life for the past 45 years and I’m comfortable as I am. I am intrigued by the idea of visiting Lake Chapala to see if I might like it there but I really can’t see myself taking a risk by moving there to a foreign country….even if I like it.”

Both of these conversations left me questioning what is it about change that to one person feels positive and empowering and to another feels dangerous and uncertain?

What are the benefits in taking a chance?

Focus on Mexico, Friends and Lake Chapala: A life changing combination

By Kristina Morgan

I just said goodbye to two of my favorite people, Brad and Mary. They are both Focus Alumni I met on the Focus on Mexico program here in LakeChapala during my very first group (February 2-9, 2008) after I came on board with FOM as their Public Relations Director. An irony I’d like to share regarding our friendship is that we are all from Colorado but we had to come to Lake Chapala to meet!

Since their time here, they have bought a house and have plans to move here and have visited several times. They were here for a week this time and I always tell them, “A week isn’t long enough!” On our Focus programs, it is long enough to know that this is a great place to retire. But the subsequent visits feel like teasers from past participants who have become our friends and long to be here permanently.