Search Results for: State of the Lake 2018

Make Lakeside Your Home Base – Zacatecas Part I

One of the great advantages of Lakeside living is its location in the central highlands of Mexico, making it relatively easy to travel anywhere inside Mexico and internationally due to the close proximity of the Guadalajara airport. This is the beginning of a series of occasional articles highlighting lesser known travel destinations within Mexico. As we travel, from time to time we will take you along to visit some of the great cities of Mexico. ZACATECAS Everyone has heard of Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, etc., but have you ever heard of Zacatecas, (which is small enough that it doesn't … [Read more...]

Do I Have To Learn Spanish to live Lakeside?

The short answer is no and yes! You can certainly reconnoiter the area, find a place to rent, eat out and enjoy myriad activities without speaking Spanish. Many Lakeside natives either speak or are learning English and are happy to practice with you. However, your adaptation to Lakeside living will be greatly facilitated by at least a working knowledge of basic Spanish. There are many popular programs such as Duolingo, Babbel, and others that can help you get started. (Even ChatGPT can be your tutor!) Depending on their home/career circumstances, most of our Focus alumni take at least … [Read more...]

Lakeside Joins the 21st Century…Maybe?

Imagine living in a 'newly industrialized' country where you have better internet speed than in most of the U.S. It could happen here because of fiber optics - the wave of the internet future. So, you say, why do I care? Well, current Lakeside residents report download speeds of between 5Mbps and 10Mbps at the best. Fiber optics download speeds start at 15Mbps and go up to 300Mbps - more than most of us will ever need. From the chart below you can see that anything beyond standard definition video streaming is getting close to the limits of what is currently available. For example, the … [Read more...]

Noisy, Dirty and Dangerous Lakeside

This is a must read post if you're concerned about the potential downsides of Lakeside living. Recently some Lakeside expats who decided to return to their home country shared their grievances about the Lake Chapala area with us. After living here a few months their analysis was that Mexico is lawless, chaotic, messy, noisy, dirty and dangerous. To their credit, they realized that this is not the life for them and made the decision to go home. One of them, showing a good sense of self-awareness commented, “I guess I’m not as flexible as I thought I was.” It’s certainly true that Mexico is … [Read more...]

Piñatas and Posadas – Christmas in Mexico

Christmas in Mexico is similar yet different from the U.S. depending on what part of the country you live in. Large cities such as Guadalajara tend to have a similar U.S. like frenzied shopping atmosphere, but Christmas in smaller towns and villages is quite distinct. There is much less emphasis on gifts and more emphasis on the family celebrations and traditions surrounding Christmas. I took an informal poll of my ESL students to see what family gifts they were giving for Christmas and was charmed with the simple answers - a bottle of cologne, a shirt, a pair of shoes, a necklace, etc. - … [Read more...]