One child in Mexican university

When we moved our kids here I had no idea at least one would want to stay in Mexico to go to University. Does it make a difference? Of course not, it is just a surprise that I did not think of it.
It makes perfect sense of course; she is now more comfortable with the expectations and culture of Mexico than of Canada. So she is staying in Mexico, but moving far away from us to go to a Mexican University.

I am proud of her and know she will adapt well no matter where she is and what she decides to do. I think that is a gift moving to Mexico gave our kids – the ability to adapt.

Moving to Mexico with kids? Life is always interesting.

Enjoy the Adventure! Suzanne

Suzanne Marie Bandick
Live your Dreams Life Coach

P.S. My book: Only in Mexico You Say? The Humorous Side of Living in Mexico is available now on my site http://www.onlyinmexicoyousay.com/.

Why move to Mexico?

Mexico beckons many of us. What is that call to us all about?

Let me share what called to us and what our family found in Mexico ……..

Beautiful weather year round … a more relaxed life style … it gave us an opportunity to create a different life and consciously choose what we wanted in it … we could learn a new language and have fun with hand gestures … we not only learn about, but experience day to day all about another culture … we see palm trees … beautiful beaches and ocean … and then there is the creation of more quality time with family.

Granted some of these things we could have changed or experienced where we used to live, but it was much more fun and adventurous to do it in Mexico!

If any of these appeal to you - when are you coming to visit and check it out?

Enjoy the Adventure! Suzanne

Suzanne Marie Bandick
Live your Dreams Life Coach

P.S. My book: Only in Mexico You Say? The Humorous Side of Living in Mexico is available now on my site http://www.onlyinmexicoyousay.com.

Would you like help to visit or live in Mexico? Visit http://www.liveyourdreamscoaching.com.

Mexico education for your kids

Do you have a desire to move to Mexico but are just not sure what to do about schooling your children?

The questions keep coming to you . . . . Is the schooling any good? Does anybody speak English? How much does it cost? How do we find out what schools are available to us? What do they do in the school? Will my kids fit in? Is Mexico even safe for the kids?

I know the questions because my husband and I had them all too! We are Canadians who have lived in Mexico with our son and daughter for seven years now. We spent one year in Puerto Vallarta and the rest here in Playa del Carmen. Our kids are now 15 and 17; they started their Mexican experience in Grades 3 and 6 and this year our daughter graduates!

To try to help you if this is your quest, I have written my thoughts and advice on this subject of educating your kids in Mexico in an article for Playa Maya News. You can go here to read the whole article. Feel free to let me know if you have more questions.

Enjoy the Adventure! Suzanne

Suzanne Marie Bandick
Live your Dreams Life Coach

P.S. My book: Only in Mexico You Say? The Humorous Side of Living in Mexico is available now on my site http://www.onlyinmexicoyousay.com/

Would you like help to visit or live in Mexico? Visit http://www.liveyourdreamscoaching.com/.

Our Easter in Mexico

Yes, Easter in Mexico is a very important religious time of the year and I respect that very much. However, I sure wish they knew the Easter Bunny!

Do you know how hard it is to find Easter chocolates here? The only thing I can find is Kinder Surprise eggs because they have them available all year long.

I tried making homemade chocolate/ peanut butter eggs one year but they were a little tricky and I had to eat the embarrassing rejects and that was a little dangerous for my figure.

I do have teenage kids so you would think that the chocolate becomes less important – you would think. My son however has impressed upon me how nice chocolate would be!

So the kids may find some Kinder Eggs, some assorted chocolate bars and some books this year. Yep, my Mexican Easter Bunny brings books!

Now to hide the chocolate so that it will not melt . . . . . . .

Enjoy the Adventure! Suzanne

Suzanne Marie Bandick
Live your Dreams Life Coach

P.S. My book: Only in Mexico You Say? The Humorous Side of Living in Mexico is available now on my site http://www.onlyinmexicoyousay.com/

Would you like help to visit or live in Mexico? Visit http://www.liveyourdreamscoaching.com/

Viva Aerobus - The inexpensive way to travel by air in Mexico

Viva Aerobus - It’s a bus with wings! It is air travel for the cost of a bus ride!

Am I a fan? I think so. The price is certainly right. We booked for our family of 4 adults to travel Cancun – Monterrey – Morelia and back for $5,000 pesos or the equivalent of about $500 USD total. Good deal eh? Monterrey is the hub city for Viva Aerobus so most flights go through there. We arrived home yesterday so I can fill you in on all the details.

Now understand you get no frills for a no frills price.

- No food, no drink (most airlines are that way now anyway) but it was inexpensive to buy snacks and even sandwiches on board.
- No company produced magazines on board.
- The seats do not recline.
- No fancy tickets – you get only a paper receipt (like a grocery receipt) for boarding.
- No reserved seats!
- No piped in music or videos. However the flights are short.
- You are encouraged to book your flights on the Internet.
- Their uniforms are khaki pants and t-shirts (that must cost the company less). I don't care - they could all wear pink tutus!

Frankly if they save money with the above and they pass those saving on to me – I am all for it!

Our flights to Morelia were both running about a half hour late but coming home they were both early. Name an airline that has not been running late.

I hear that as of May 1st they are also flying in and out of Austin, Texas. I think I am developing an absolute need to see Austin! Thanks Viva Aerobus!

Enjoy the Adventure! Suzanne

Suzanne Marie Bandick
Live your Dreams Life Coach

P.S. My book: Only in Mexico You Say? The Humorous Side of Living in Mexico is available now on my site http://www.onlyinmexicoyousay.com

Would you like help to visit or live in Mexico? Visit http://www.liveyourdreamscoaching.com

Making a Gingerbread House in Mexico

One might think that this would be a relatively easy process. However in Mexico a builder has to think about the fact that humidity can crumble walls or even that ants could carry it away! I do not want any ants thinking my gingerbread house is a party palace. I want us free to eat it ourselves dust and all after Christmas!

Here is my plan:

- Bake the gingerbread well to ensure strong walls. Of course avoiding any burnt color.

- Cover the preparation area with disposable plastic to avoid leaving any sugar remnants.

- Build the house on a base that then gets set in a pan of water to deter ants. Maybe we should make the house a gingerbread castle and that is the moat!

- And vacuum the kids after assembly.

That should work! And you thought living in the tropics was the easy life!

Okay so maybe it is. See you at the beach. Feliz Navidad!

Enjoy the Adventure! Suzanne

Suzanne Marie Bandick
Live your Dreams Life Coach

P.S. My book: Only in Mexico You Say? The Humorous Side of Living in Mexico is available now on my site http://www.onlyinmexicoyousay.com/

Would you like help to visit or live in Mexico? Visit http://www.liveyourdreamscoaching.com/

Christmas in Mexico Top 10

Today I’ll share with you my top 10 things to do if you are spending Christmas in Playa del Carmen, Mexico this year.

10) Go to the beach and build Santa’s house out of sand. Paper towel rolls make a great mold for the posts. Don’t forget to add the North Pole sign post. Paper or plastic reindeer are optional, but do add a more realistic look. Skip the candy – too messy with the sand – sand on your tongue is just yucky.

9) Make some pretty red and green margaritas. The green ones are lime and the red ones are strawberry (frozen strawberries of course because we don’t grow strawberries in Mexico!). Drink them while you eat corn chips with a choice of red or green salsa.

8) Put on suntan lotion and go Christmas shopping on 5th Ave. Buy an inflatable pool floaty toy shaped like a palm tree for yourself and towels that say “Playa del Carmen” for everybody else.

7) Rent a kids Christmas movie that you know really well and watch it in Spanish and giggle because the voices are different and sound funny.

6) Take your new palm tree floaty and go for a polar bear swim in the pool – the pools are cold here at Christmas time! Have Abuelita (Spanish for Grandma) brand hot chocolate ready for when you come out. It’s the best - all pre spiced and everything!

5) Decorate a palm tree with twinkle lights and red balls as your Christmas tree.

4) Plan a party and invite mariachis to play the music. This is a good time to serve more red and green margaritas, and your salsa. You can also show off your palm tree.

3) Buy some poinsettias to decorate your place and then after Christmas you can plant them outdoors and they will live!

2) Take a picture of yourself at the beach wearing a Santa hat and send it as a Christmas card to all your friends who live far away. If you want to get creative, take it in front of the Santa house you made out of sand. Very impressive!

1) Last but obviously not least; put tacos out for Santa and chili flavored chips for the reindeer. They look forward to coming to Mexico every year because we have the best snacks!

Merry Christmas to all!

Enjoy the Adventure! Suzanne

Suzanne Marie Bandick
Live your Dreams Life Coach

P.S. My book: Only in Mexico You Say? The Humorous Side of Living in Mexico is available now on my site http://www.onlyinmexicoyousay.com/

Would you like help to visit or live in Mexico? Visit http://www.liveyourdreamscoaching.com/

Day of the Dead in Mexico

In Spanish it is called Dia de los Muertos.

When we first moved to Mexico I did not understand this holiday or this concept. As with everything we do not understand, it even scared me a little. Why did Mexicans display skeletons and skulls made out of sugar?

It turns out that the whole emphasis is on celebrating and honoring the lives of the deceased, and celebrating the continuation of life; the belief is not that death is the end, but rather the beginning of a new stage in life. Now this I can get behind.

Alters are made and graves are decorated to celebrate the lives of loved ones passed away. If artistic skeletons are used, they are often adorned with the type of clothes the deceased would have worn. Their favorite food and drink and cherished possessions are put out in hopes their spirits will be enticed to visit.

This special time is celebrated November 1st and 2nd. I better get preparing!

Enjoy the Adventure! Suzanne

Suzanne Marie Bandick

P.S. My book: Only in Mexico You Say? The Humorous Side of Living in Mexico is available now on my site http://www.onlyinmexicoyousay.com/

More road construction in Mexico?

This is a funny story. Only in Mexico you say? I drove my son to school this morning. What is normally a five minute drive took fifteen. Why? It was because of road construction.

Let’s see, the first right I tried to take had three roads with a total of five lanes of traffic trying to merge into one lane just before a traffic light. I actually backed up from that mess to take another route.

I decided to go several blocks to the left in order to go straight. That was a great plan until I tried to make another right (yep – still trying to get to the Highway). This right hand turn again had four lanes merging into one because they had blocked this road too! We managed that to find out the traffic going against us on the highway also had to deal with road construction and were backed up - I would normally return home this way!

My son actually apologized that I had to go through all that to take him to school! Maybe it was worth it just to hear the thanks? … I actually told him it was not a problem and that if this was the worst I had to deal with today life was a piece of cake. He was not even late for school – although he was right at the bell.

I returned home through Puerto Vallarta – please note that we live in Playa del Carmen on the opposite coast of Mexico. No, I jest – because I wouldn’t be home yet would I? But it would make for a good adventure! Wait until people asked me how I ended up on that journey!

Enjoy the Adventure! Suzanne

Suzanne Marie Bandick

P.S. My book: Only in Mexico You Say? The Humorous Side of Living in Mexico is available now on my site http://www.onlyinmexicoyousay.com/

Enjoy having a maid in Mexico!

I really love my maid!

She scrubbed my bathroom floors on her hands and knees the other day! Who else is going to scrub my bathroom floors? It sure won’t be me!

Living in Mexico definitely has its benefits and having a maid for a reasonable cost is one of them.

I am one of those people who had a maid in Canada as well. I worked, had the money and hated cleaning. I found a lady who loved to clean (hard to believe eh?) and the income she made helped support her and her son.

So it was no trouble at all for me to adjust to having a maid in Mexico. I love to help people and I love my house being clean without my doing it.

When the kids found out she swept under the bed they were amazed because Mom never did that! Who looks under the bed anyway? Now you know why I also need a maid in Mexico!

Enjoy the Adventure! Suzanne

Suzanne Marie Bandick


P.S. My book: Only in Mexico You Say? The Humorous Side of Living in Mexico is available now on my site http://www.onlyinmexicoyousay.com/

Playa del Carmen And Hurricane Dean

Hurricane Dean has passed us now. It hit about 4 hours south of Playa del Carmen early Tuesday morning. It went through Mahual and Chetumal; unfortunately leaving those areas in very bad shape. Let's face it, all kidding aside there is never a good place for a category 5 hurricane to hit.

In Playa del Carmen we got a night of high winds and a little rain. I was a little disappointed that the power did not go out, but my husband lit some candles and did his candle making class anyway.

Playa was really over prepared (is that even possible?) just in case of a Hurricane Wilma repeat for us. We are counting ourselves very fortunate this time.

So Tuesday afternoon we untied our trees, took the boards off of our office windows, and had several good meals to eat some of the food we had stocked up on! It will be awhile before the cookies are all finished though.

Enjoy the Adventure! Suzanne

P.S. My book: Only in Mexico You Say? The Humorous Side of Living in Mexico is available now on my site http://www.onlyinmexicoyousay.com/

The joy of Zip Lining in Mexico

I went zip lining over the Mexican jungle this weekend. Here is the definition of a zip line from Wikipedia:

A zip-line (also known as a flying fox, zip wire, aerial runway, death slide or tyrolean crossing) consists of a pulley suspended on a cable mounted on an incline. They are designed to enable a user propelled by gravity to traverse from the top to the bottom of the inclined cable, usually made of stainless steel, by holding on or attaching to the freely moving pulley.

Yep, did you catch the death slide part? I did a death slide! I am so glad I only looked this up on my return. I was a little scared before I did it. I mean I was only there to support to my friends starting a new business. I am a good friend aren't I?

So there I am hanging thousands of miles off the ground in a harness attached to a cable ..... whoops there I go..... was I supposed to go then? Is everything hooked up? ......I'm now whizzing across the line above the jungle feeling like a bird and ...... wait I feel no fear anymore. I did four different lines - no, no fear - only a feeling of freedom.

This is fun. I must remember to thank my friends. They turned out to be pretty good friends. Can I do it again? Only 12 or so more times - please?

This new adventure is down by Bacalar. It's called BioMaya. Just e-mail me for details.

Enjoy the Adventure! Suzanne

P.S. My book: Only in Mexico You Say? The Humorous Side of Living in Mexico is available now on my site http://www.onlyinmexicoyousay.com/

Living your dream in Mexico

What do you do when you have a dream that is so big and bold that to live it you need to move to another country?

The dream for my husband and I was to live in a tropical place with palm trees and beautiful beaches. Mexico beckoned to us invitingly. “Come play here,” is what we kept hearing.

Then our questions came: Will it work out? Can we really do it? Is it possible for us?

When I look back at our decision and what it took to make our dream happen - leaving friends and family, leaving our beautiful house, leaving the majority of our stuff behind, leaving a secure income, leaving the known to go live in the unknown (and doing it with kids)..........I can see that if we were not clear in our choice it would have been very, very hard to pursue this dream.We actually did do all that and more because we were very clear on what our dream was and we knew in our heart of hearts we could make it work - that there was something special for us here in Mexico.

It turns out our inner guidance guided us well. We didn't leave it all - we gained it all. The only thing that was important in Canada to us was our friends and family and we still have them (although many refuse to stay there and keep coming to visit us here). We now have even more friends in our lives and so many beautiful experiences. We are living an adventure and have given our children an experience they would have not otherwise had.

Is living this dream we chose all a bed of roses? Nope – no way. Of course we have our challenges. Who wouldn’t have some challenges living in a foreign country? Did I mention we have kids? Kids alone can be a challenge. I will say though that if part of your dream is adventure – you have a winner here. I love the adventure of living in and exploring another country. Anyway, who is going to focus on the challenges when you are busy living your dream?

I have learned we can choose where we want to live and we can choose our reality. One person’s fantasy is another’s reality.

If you feel a dream to live in another country in your heart - in your gut - if you can hear the call, there is a reason for that and it needs to be honored in some form. Sometimes you just have to take the first steps and see what happens. At least ask the questions you need to so that you can decide if this really is for you. Then if it really is your dream – figure out the way to live it! Maybe I’ll see you in Playa del Carmen soon.

Enjoy the Adventure! Suzanne

P.S. My book: Only in Mexico You Say? The Humorous Side of Living in Mexico is available now on my site www.OnlyinMexicoYouSay.com

Children and Easter break in Mexico

My kids will be off school starting tomorrow for two weeks as all of Mexico celebrates Easter week and Holy week. That has an upside and a downside as I love to spend time with my two teenagers but it is hard to get much work done. Yes, I am a parent that has the privilege of working from home.

What to do with them? I would suggest the beach - however, my daughter hates the beach because it has salt water and sand - yuck! She doesn't like to swim in our pool either - chlorine and more water! Imagine living in Playa del Carmen and having a daughter who doesn't like the beach or water. My son likes to skim board now but that is only good for about an hour and then he is bored of it. By the time I make sure he has suntan lotion on and get him there it is hardly worth it.

My daughter loves to bake - but that means I have to do the dishes because she baked and that is only fair because she does the dishes when I cook - but did I mention I have to do the dishes? They could finally clean up their rooms - yes right. Yard work? Not a chance. They could hang out with friends - that usually means a request for money though as their needs are always many whenever they go out.

Yep, I am looking forward to two weeks of bonding with my children. Maybe I could go to my husbands office? Hmm, there is an idea ............

Enjoy the Adventure! Suzanne

P.S. My book: Only in Mexico You Say? The Humorous Side of Living in Mexico is available now on my site www.OnlyinMexicoYouSay.com