Pemex Fuel Pricing Caught Red Handed

Exploitation is the law of the land. People don't retire to Mexico just for the weather. Oops, was that related to exploitation? Depends on how you look at it.

Hi Chris,

We have not retired to Mexico but we do come almost every year. I do know that there are many retired people from the US and Canada - and probably other countries - who live in Mexico because it is more affordable for them than wherever the come from based on their retirement income. I guess you could call the exploitation.

But not all of us come for that reason. Yes the weather has something to do with it. But we come to see and experience things we do not see or experience in the US. We visit ruins and churches and markets. Now in the Oaxaca are we are visiting as many of the little villages as we can so we can see the work they do and how they do it. How the beautiful rugs are made. How the pottery is made. More ruins. More churches. Festivals. Parades. Food. This list goes on and on. And we do buy some things and we do spend some money but it is not about going to the source to get things cheaper - though we are amazed by what we can buy for so little money - how much work goes into the things we buy - we buy to contribute to the local economy and directly to those who produce the folk art we buy. We cannot buy much but when we buy we are saying to the artists that we recognize their talents and their hard work and we buy from them to show are appreciation. And we do meet many other gringos who feel the same way.

I can't really explain what we feel and what we see that makes us love Mexico and the people of Mexico. Words escape me. But I guess all I can say is we mostly come because of the culture. We are not part of the culture and probably never could be. But we appreciate it and like to show them are appreciation and our respect for who and what these people are. We also know we are not normal tourists or visitors as we visit local markets and see we are the only gringos there. But we are gringos and we are not part of the culture. That does not mean we cannot recognize the needs of the people of this country and say that there are things we don't like about how some of these people are forced to live because things just are the way they are.