Best Places In The World To Retire

Your couch and chair buying options in the Lake Chapala / Ajijic area are quite limited.  With the exception of one or two very interesting specialty stores that have great imported tables and more exotic and higher end items, I don’t know of any mid-range furniture store in Ajijic, there is one locally-owned store in the neighboring town of San Antonio, and, from an expat perspective, extremely limited options in what could loosely be called smaller department stores or other...

Your couch and chair buying options in the Lake Chapala / Ajijic area are quite limited.  With the exception of one or two very interesting specialty stores that have great imported tables and more exotic and higher end items, I don’t know of any mid-range furniture store in Ajijic, there is one locally-owned store in the neighboring town of San Antonio, and, from an expat perspective, extremely limited options in what could loosely be called smaller department stores or other family-run stores in Jocotepec and the town of Chapala.

 

There is one chain mattress store and a few other locally owned stores.

 

Guadalajara (most of which is an hour or less away) has a very large quantity of furniture and mattress stores.

 

Prices for nicer furniture made in Mexico will tend to be about what you would pay in the US or a bit more.  Imported furniture such as from the US or Canada will cost significantly more.

 

 

While “comfort” is a very subjective term, it would be fair to say that most expats would describe the comfort level of the furniture choices generally available essentially anywhere in Mexico as ranging from “not great” to “downright bad” while the mattresses will range from “I don’t think I can sleep on this” to “ridiculously uncomfortable.”

 

That’s not to say that much of the Mexican furniture is and can be quite beautiful, especially hand-made items that cost much less than handmade items in the US or Canada.  It’s just that even those beautiful handmade items tend to be really, really, almost ridiculously uncomfortable.

 

Almost emblematic of this lack of comfort in furniture is the virtually ubiquitous “equipale” or “tequila” chair, pictured to the right.  Very uncomfortable and no place to put your feet and the padding is usually quite lacking. 

 

It is not unusual to see furniture that expats would generally put into an outdoor setting instead placed into a home, sometimes a very expensive one.  (You sometimes see this in pictures for real estate offerings, which from an American perspective, looks quite odd.)  The sensibility for comfortable furniture is much different in Mexico than north of the border.  That’s why lots of people bring their own furniture with them.

 

Interested in moving to Mexico?  Visit Best Mexico Movers.

Belize is very diverse; it is like a multi-cultural melting pot. Like Canada, Belizeans celebrate diversity. They do not fear it. It's not like you have to be American first and then whatever culture is second. In Canada, first you’re your other culture, then you're Canadian. Likewise here in Belize, Belizeans consider themselves to be whatever their heritage is, but they are very proud Belizeans because their differences are accepted. There is significantly less racial tension...

Belize is very diverse; it is like a multi-cultural melting pot. Like Canada, Belizeans celebrate diversity. They do not fear it. It's not like you have to be American first and then whatever culture is second. In Canada, first you’re your other culture, then you're Canadian. Likewise here in Belize, Belizeans consider themselves to be whatever their heritage is, but they are very proud Belizeans because their differences are accepted. There is significantly less racial tension in Belize than in the US. Some of it is based on the fact that there are only 300,000 people in Belize.
 
There are a lot of different races in Belize, but surprisingly there is also a large Mennonite population. The Mennonites are accepted here along with all the other cultures, from the Mayan culture, which is one of the original cultures, to the Garifuna culture, which is also an original culture here because they are descendants of the slaves. There is also the Mestizo culture, which is the Spanish / slave mix. There is a Creole culture, which is the British / slave mix. Then there is the British-American culture, but all these different cultures kind of mix together into one. People of all different races and cultures hang out together and do things together here in Belize.

• Most of the doctors in the hospital are members, so a regular fee of $30 is reduced to $10 / visit.
• Most of the doctors speak English, and were trained in the states or at accredited Central American locales.
• I had elective surgery on both feet at once.  In the states, it would have been out patient, with surgery and recovery rooms utilized, about $18,000.  My total bill here was $1,700 to the doctor's office and $800 to the hospital…and two nights in a private room!
• I had non-elective colon surgery……potentially bad stuff.  The doc said it could have developed into colon cancer, but we caught it early with an upper an lower GI procedure.  Total cost, surgery center, recovery, and five days in a private room: about $3,600 out of pocket after the insurance covered the hospital portions.  I have NO IDEA what this would have been in the states.