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“When you listen to the news media, you often hear phrases like "narco state", and "failing". There are also reports of an estimated 8,000 recent drug slayings and dissolvings (in acid), decapitations and kidnappings.”
Why I love Mexico - despite the drug-related murders
The pros far outweigh the cons of life in Mexico for one brave - or foolhardy - expat
By Clive Warner in Monterrey
Published: 1:03PM BST 17 Sep 2009
Many regard Mexico's drug murders as an exercise in 'self-cleaning' Photo: AFP
It's Thursday, which means I'm giving a class on passing the SAT to two students. It's at the home of one of them, halfway up a mountain in a fairly exclusive section of Del Valle, the number one colonia (neighbourhood) here in Monterrey, Mexico.
When I arrive I notice a man outside the building next door, leaning on a pickup truck. He's heavy set and looks unlikely to be a resident of the area, so I thought "driver". But then he takes out a notebook and writes something in it. Hmmm.
By the third class, I'm on pretty good terms with the students and the one who lives there, says: "I don't like the people living next door very much."
I say: "There's that weird guy outside all the time. Every time I arrive, he notes it in his little book."
"Yeah. They might be narcos," the student says.
When you listen to the news media, you often hear phrases like "narco state", and "failing". There are also reports of an estimated 8,000 recent drug slayings and dissolvings (in acid), decapitations and kidnappings.
We don't like it, but we regard it as a self-cleaning oven – except in one respect. Many police have been slaughtered by the syndicates, so it is not uncommon to come across retens while driving. These are chicanes manned by soldiers. There's usually an armoured car nearby with a mounted and manned machine gun.
This expat, though, feels infinitely safer in Mexico than in London, or Manchester, or Liverpool, or many other major British cities. One thing I don't miss is the British alcohol culture. In Monterrey, it is rare to see a drunk on the streets, and if a mess is made of the sidewalks in the nightclub district – the "Barrio Antiguo" – the newspaper, El Norte, is likely to get on the case fast.
Not that Mexicans don't like a drink - they invented mezcal and tequila after all. And in this city we have Cervecería Cuauhtémoc-Moctezuma, responsible for Sol, Tecate, Carta Blanca, Dos Equis, and the 5.5 per cent ale, Bohemia.
My day job is teaching at (fee-paying) secondary school level. I mainly teach physics and chemistry, but I've also taught modern history, computer studies and English literature. I have a very free hand compared to teachers in Britain. I decide my own curriculum to a large degree, and I'm also responsible for creating my own exams.
I don't think I would be able to stand the British winter if I returned. Monterrey can get really hot – 113F (45C) at times. In winter the temperature can be as low as 10C. But it's a dry cold, not that skeletal dampness that sinks into you in a British winter.
When I retire, I'll move to a quieter part of the country - one with an ideal climate, near the Pacific shoreline.
Living costs are still low enough that one can just about get by on a British pension, provided the house is paid for. With no need for heating or cooling, an eco house design becomes possible, using the abundant sunshine and solar panels, backed up by a small biodiesel generator. Put that together with a sizeable kitchen garden and locally caught fish, and you have a plan for living a green and low-cost lifestyle.
Somewhere near Puerto Vallarta, perhaps; somewhere like the place where I am typing this report: the penthouse floor of a holiday home, one block from the beach, one block from the Buddha bar, with the sound of the waves rolling in.
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