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Les and Nan (Yolisto: LegalBlonde) Logan traveled all over Mexico before deciding to spend their retirement years in Chelem. They considered Lake Chapala, Puerto Vallarta and other resort areas during their search.

 

"Lake Chapala was like an old folks home. It was like Florida," Nan said. "In Puerto Vallarta, people would leap out of doorways wanting to sell us a timeshare. We didn't want a gated community."

 

What they sought was a warm climate, friendly people and a relaxed lifestyle.

 

They wanted to avoid winters in Calgary, Canada, where they lived for the past 10 years, prompting two visits to the Yucatan in the winter months.

 

"We came down here twice. Both times in November and we did like it," said Nan. "The beach here is quiet. Merida is historical and yet modern. It's everything we could look for because we like history."

 

The Logans lived in many parts of the world. Les is an electrical engineer who built power stations all across Canada, Nova Scotia, Nigeria, Panama, Miami, Kuwait and Libya. The decade in Calgary marked the longest the couple ever spent in one place.

 

As they discussed which warm climate was most suitable, the Logans weighed the cost of airline flights so their two daughters and son could visit frequently. The children will fly into Cancun from Canada and vacation in Mexico.

 

Since their arrival in June, the couple has adopted a mellow lifestyle. Les jokes that he spends an inordinate amount of time tending his rose garden as he shows off a lone, spindly, pink bush.

 

"When we got it it had one bud. I call it my rose garden but it's a weak little plant," said Les.

 

The best thing about living here, he added, is not having to report to an office every day. He complained in jest about putting on a pair of shoes once to trim a bougenvilla. That night he had a blister. He learned to stick with sandals.

 

The Logans are remodeling their house but find not much gets accomplished in a day.

 

"We quickly adapted the Mexican manana," Nan said. "Nothing gets done but there's no rush. Sometimes I still feel guity sitting and reading a book. Every so often I think I should be doing something."

 

While living in Libya, Nan served as the academic administrator of an international school. She started out as a volunteer and ended up managing the facility. She is also a Scots lawyer, and worked as a compliance officer for investment companies in Kuwait.

 

Once back in Canada, Nan used her experience living in foreign countries as a relocation specialist to help ease the transition for others.

"The husbands are going to a job but the women worried about not knowing the language. I was able to comfort them," she said.

 

Nan learned "pidgeon Spanish" in Panama that helps her here.

 

"It's not very good. I get the tenses all wrong but (the local people) will listen to you and seem interested in helping you," she said.

 

Her husband has set learning Spanish as a goal but it's apparent he doesn't take life too seriously. He said he communicates fine with a local deaf man who is working on his house, despite a wide language barrier.

 

"I usually can get what I want. I just talk louder," he teased. "He stops here and we chat away. He speaks Mayan and he's stone deaf....I think he reads lips. We are probably not talking about the same thing but it really doesn't matter."

 

Nan also doesn't fret about things some people find inconvenient in Mexico. Since English books are not plentiful, she reads about subjects she would have passed up previously. She even looks forward to the hunt for rare food items and the pleasure of finding them.

 

"One of the things I like down here is that you can't get things. In Canada it's so boring. You know things are going to be there. It's the same thing in all the supermarkets. Here, you really can get everything. You just have to go to different places." 

 

Last winter, the Logans saw a sale sign on a house near the plaza in Chelem. Within 15 minutes, they made an offer. They sold most of their possessions and their home in Calgary, loaded a van and drove south for the next chapter in their lives.

 

The couple has no desire to return to Canada. They found the climate they were seeking, friendly people and tranquility. Traveling in the future doesn't appeal to them.

 

"Been there, seen it, done it, don't want to do it again," Les said. "I can't wait until winter in Canada so I can start sending photographs from down here."

 

 

 

Tags: Expat Profiles

One day after Cotting White retired on Dec. 18, 2007, she landed in the Yucatan as one of the bold expatriates who choose a foreign country as their retirement home.

As the construction on her home in Chuburna nears completion, Cotting is anxious to realize a goal she set for herself a half dozen years ago after her first visit to the region.

"When I came here six years ago, I fell in love with Chuburna," she said. "I thought it amazing that people could really live like this, and, of course, I thought I couldn't afford it."

That first trip came at the urging of her friend Sharon who lived in Merida. Sharon and Cotting have known each other 36 years and both taught at a community college in Boston at one time. Cotting taught art and her friend taught Spanish.

She flew to the Yucatan with Tryne, an 83-year-old woman who also wanted to visit Mexico. The friends rented an apartment on Paseo Montejo in Merida that was linked to a condo in Chuburna. The tenants had access to both residences during their stay.

"We ended up staying most of the time in Chuburna," Cotting said. "Both of us - pardon my language - were like pigs in shit."

They enjoyed coffee each morning while gazing at the ocean. When the temperature rose, they jumped into their air-conditioned rental car and went exploring. Cotting recalls a frightening, but humorous, mishap during one excursion near Xcambo.

Tryne desperately needed a bathroom, telling her friend, "old ladies can't wait." But no restrooms could be found. Cotting finally pulled onto an isolated loop road bordered by thick vegetation.

"Just as we pulled over I saw the head of a rattlesnake," Cotting said. "(Tryne) was getting ready to get out and I couldn't speak. I couldn't get a word out. I finally reached over and just grabbed her by the shirt and pulled the door shut. She probably wondered why her friend was attacking her. We took off like a shot and ran over the snake. It didn't even faze him."

Her friend suddenly lost the urge to "go" in all the commotion, Cotting said. Other than Pythons she saw when visiting Thailand, this was the largest snake Cotting had come across. She avoids all grassy areas after that experience.

Until her retirement, Cotting, 61, served as a social worker in Boston counseling prison inmates who were infected with AIDS.

"It was a wonderful job," she said. "I was locked in the prison a day and a half one time when there was a lockdown but I was in in an office. That wasn't fun."

She also worked with those infected with HIV in West Africa for about six months in 2000.

"We had a coup while I was there and the U.S. government evacuated all U.S. citizens. It wasn't voluntary," said Cotting. "I had a lovely house there on a cliff by the sea. I've always liked the beach. I grew up on the Massachusetts coast and I'm a beach person."

She now volunteers for a facility that houses AIDS patients in the Yucatan. Cotting did not want to reveal particulars about the home because of privacy issues.

She speaks French fluently but has taken only one semester of Spanish.

"I learned French when I was 16. It's more difficult learning a language when you're in your 60s," she said.

Cotting and a partner bought a house in Merida four years ago. When the partnership soured, Cotting took her share of the profits from the sale and purchased a little house in Chelem that she recently sold, another home in Merida and the Chuburna property.

"I parlayed one house into three," she said. Cotting has now formed a corporation with her friend Sam, also a former teacher she worked alongside.

Both Sam and Cotting are artists. She is delighted because an art studio has been built on her property. She creates sculpture, oil paints and works with clay. She hopes to find supplies on an upcoming trip to Mexico City to supplement the items she brought from the states.

"I brought a kiln, clay, a wheel, paints, easels and canvas stretchers. I have all my tools," she said.

Cotting might offer workshops or classes once she is settled. She also enjoys fishing. But mostly, she wants to get completely moved into her new home and start really enjoying retirement.

"I want to go out in the morning with coffee and go out at sunset with a glass of wine," she said. "I'm going to have a pool there and my art studio. What more could I want?"

 

 

 

Tags: Expat Profiles

Doug Willey says he spent the first 50 years of his life doing what others expected of him.

Now it's his turn to live the life he chooses.

 

Doug and his wife Teresa (Yolisto:bchbums1981) moved to Chelem at the end of March but bought property here five years ago as a retirement home. The couple was looking at 15 years before they could quit work and live permanently in Mexico.

 

Their journey began after Teresa bought a trip to Mexico for her husband's birthday in 2000. That was the only way she could convince him to leave Delaware and visit the Yucatan, she said. They traveled to Akumal.

 

"After that first episode, I fell in love immediately with the water, the weather, the people and the food," Doug said. "It was so laid-back. No one was hassling anyone. We came back to Mexico eight times in two years, and that's when we decided we were going to buy a little piece of Mexico."

 

The Carribean was so expensive, the couple started looking at the Gulf Coast. They contacted Jim Mann at Mayan Living after researching property for months on the Internet. The first few houses they viewed needed too much work, said Doug.

 

"Either it was a hovel or out of our price range," he recalled. "But we didn't want to go back empty-handed."

 

The Willey's ended up buying a house they later traded for the one where they now reside, across the street from Sian Ka'an hotel and restaurant.

 

"It was solely for retirement, and we had 15 more years to go, but we had the bug and couldn't stand it," Teresa said.

 

They returned home. Doug, 55, went back to his job as a union construction worker. Teresa, 51, was a women's counselor for the state helping battered and abused women find a better life.

 

"I was a die-hard union man. If it wasn't made in the U.S.A., I didn't want it," Doug said.

 

But the lure of Mexico persisted. Teresa and Doug made lists of the pros and cons of living in the Yucatan earlier than originally planned. Both earned good money, and Teresa's benefits from her government job were a big consideration.

 

"I was very comfortable where I was," said Teresa. "I did not think the timing was right."

 

They decided to each request a month-long leave of absence from their jobs and headed to Mexico. Doug soon got a sales job with Occidental Resorts, which led the couple to life in Playa del Carmen, Cozumel and, most recently, Belize. As the crime rate in San Pedro, Belize increased, the Willey's began looking towards Chelem.

 

Doug called his former real estate agent and asked if he needed help in the business.  He was hired to handle beach properties for the company. They have been busy renovating their three-bedroom home and helping other expatriates wade through the real estate process. 

 

Like many who move to the Yucatan, the local villagers have welcomed the foreigners. The couple has grown fond of Eduardo, a worker who has done much of the renovation on their house.

 

"Every day the local people amaze us with their kindness. On Mother's Day, Eduardo brought me a present. He also gives us all the gossip on all the other gringos," Teresa said with a grin.

 

They brought along Julio, a dog they adopted in Playa five years ago and call a "Mayan Doberman" because it has Doberman features but is quite short. They recently added a German Shepherd puppy to the family.

 

Their 26-year-old son and year-old granddaughter live in Ft. Lauderdale. A 24-year-old son is in Delaware and plans to visit soon.

 

Most of Teresa and Doug's spare time is spent working on the house. But Teresa makes time to walk the beach each day and read. She is an avid reader who is always looking to trade books with other expats.

 

Doug relishes living his life of choice ‑ swimming, snorkling, diving and wind-surfing.

 

"You couldn't get me out of here with a shotgun," he said. "All the people who have migrated here are real people, not plastic. This is a laid-back, peaceful life."

 

Tags: Expat Profiles

After spending the past several years in the Republic of Congo, Emmanuel Seenath and Jeanine Galvan are committed to living in the quiet fishing village of Chelem.

 

The couple recently bought Hotel Garza, and have ambitious plans for a complete renovation to create a memorable resort from the aged property.

 

Emmanuel is a native of Trinidad who has worked in Angola, Venezuela and other remote parts of the world. He and Jeanine are mechanical engineers employed by Schlumberger, an oil servicing company that operates in 80 countries. Jeanine is a native of Mexico.

 

The couple met in Africa at work. They are expecting their first child in November and hope to raise their offspring in Chelem where a child "can be free," to play without many restrictions,  Jeanine says.

 

Plans to relocate immediately were derailed when neither Jeanine nor Emmanuel could get out of their employment contract with Schlumberger. As soon as Jeanine receives her American visa from immigration in Merida, the couple will live and work in Houston for the next year. Once that obligation is fulfilled, they will return to live permanently in the Yucatan.

 

The hotel has recieved a thorough cleaning and the restaurant has been re-opened for breakfast and lunch. Plans also include opening the hotel's tennis courts and providing public access to all amenities for a modest fee, including the pool. Wireless Internet is also available.

 

The restaurant menu offers food that appeals to expats, as well as dishes that are favored by the local villagers.

 

Emmanuel, 35, exudes excitement when he talks about his plans for the 44-room hotel.

 

"I want this place to be an experience for guests. It was the first hotel built in Chelem 18 years ago. I want to bring it back to its former glory," he said.

 

The entire structure will be repainted. Some guest rooms will include small kitchenettes for those who want book an extended stay. The bar area will be revamped, and a second palapa bar on the roof will provide guests with spectacular views of the area. Already, new plants have brightened up outdoor areas.

 

The couple hopes to eventually work with travel agencies to provide tours to some of the major attractions in the Yucatan, and offer fishing trips.

 

They will live on site by next year. In the meantime, Jeanine's brother, Raoul Galvan, will oversee the renovations and daily operations.

 

"Oh, man, I love this place so much. I have to live next to an ocean. I'm from an island so that is a must," said Emmanuel. "We're pretty excited. We're still relatively young and this is semi-retirement for us. I think we're on the right track. The people are so friendly and Merida has everything. The health care is pretty good and the culture here is so rich."

 

His wife agrees.

 

"Actually, I really like this place. It's a change of life we were not expecting. After all the travel, the Yucatan brings all the culture and quietness," Jeanine said. "This is the third place that I have lived by the sea. All my working life has been by the sea and I have to get used to it."

 

She speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese and French. Emmanuel learned Spanish during two years he worked in Venezuela. English is the official language in Trinidad and Tobago.

 

The couple found the hotel in March on a visit to Merida where Jeanine has friends.

 

"We did not come to see this hotel. We came to see another one in Progreso," said Emmanuel. "Then we saw this one on a website, popped in for 10 minutes and started negotiating. This is all new territory for us. We just want people to come here and have an experience."

 

Emmanuel has enjoyed fishing off the small pier near the hotel, saying he has caught more than 50 fish in the short time he has been here.

 

"I love anything aquatic - fishing and snorkling - but my passion is fishing. I also love football and am going to learn tennis," he said.

 

Jeanine, 34, enjoys shopping and is quite handy with paint and decorating, he added.

 

Because the couple has traveled extensively, they are looking forward to the day they can settle in at the hotel and relax.

 

"I hate traveling," Emmanuel said. "I won't miss the flights where they lose your luggage and sitting in a seat for 14 hours. I am ready to be quiet for awhile."

 

Tags: Expat Profiles

Susan Reid (Yolisto: Sooz) was a newlywed when she and her husband made an abrupt decision to move to Mexico and buy a house last year.

 

Within two months, the couple left their Portland-area home and moved into the Chuburna house they bought in one day after seeing it on the Internet.

 

“It happened really, really fast,” she said about the life-changing experience. “We’re both kind of impulsive, I guess.”

 

The couple is still learning the quirks of living in a foreign country and how to get tasks completed without speaking fluent Spanish. Dealing with frequent maintenance  at a beach house is often Susan’s responsibility. Her husband Phil works in Merida  where he is training Mexicans to test turbine blades used in jet engines. What he thought would be a 40-hour work week when he transferred here from Portland has evolved into substantially more hours.

 

So, Susan spends a lot of time with a Spanish dictionary, looking up construction terms so she can get a leaky roof fixed. She has dealt with being without electricity for an extended period after learning her bill had blown away and not been paid. She knows how to improvise with replacement parts and used the Internet for instructions to fix a pool pump. 

 

“I go and try to get stuff all day. It’s very strange,” she said. “Nothing is standardized. You think you’re going nuts.”

 

Like many people who relocate here, Susan discovered early that electricity can be a challenge. Many of the lights in her house do not work. The house doesn’t have enough juice to power a microwave oven.

 

“Most everything else works most of the time,” she joked.

 

Spanish lessons are helping. A woman comes to their home several nights a week to help the couple with pronunciation and learning new words.

 

“I don’t get as many blank stares anymore,” she said.

 

As her language skills improve, Susan would like to work with the humane society group in Progreso that is dedicated to spaying and neutering street dogs. She brought one dog to Mexico and has adopted two homeless dogs since.

 

In spite of the setbacks, Susan hopes to live out her retirement years here. At 44 years old, it seems strange not to work every day, she said, but good books and a long list of tasks keeps her busy. Phil, 54, hopes to continue with the job in Merida for another five years and then retire.

 

“He will have a little gap before Social Security kicks in. We hope to stay here. I know he does, but I have my moments,” said Susan. “He loves it here, mostly because of the people and the romance. He likes that Mexicans are openly affectionate.”

 

She is looking forward to a time when Phil’s hours aren’t so brutal so they can explore Mexico “and actually see more of Mexico instead of this one little circle.”

 

Susan enjoys a sense of freedom since there aren’t excessive laws in the Yucatan. As an example, she said, Oregon enforces strict rules about passengers in the back of a pick-up truck.

 

“After watching everyone riding in the backs of trucks here, I tried it for the first time,” she said. “It’s hysterically fun, especially if you are standing up leaning on the cab for balance. It feels like you are flying. I actually had to sit down a few times because I got woozy.”  

 

Before leaving Oregon, Susan used her chemistry degree at Nike, developing faster and stronger soles for the sports shoes.

 

“We had recipes that we would mess around with until we’d get something they liked,” she said.

 

She enjoys photography and finds many opportunities for pictures locally.

 

“I need to get braver with people pictures. I feel very touristy when I take them. In Chuburna and Chelem now, most people recognize me.”

 

Phil plays electric guitar and “is quite good” on the harmonica, Susan said.

 

Tags: Expat Profiles

Patrick Fenton and Robert Nolin conducted Internet research on Mexico for a solid year before making the move to Chelem last October.

 

“It was all crap, all the horror stories,” Patrick said recently.

 

The couple thought their computers would be seized at the border, along with CDs and DVDs.

 

“They opened one bag, closed it and we were told to go on,” said Robert. “I think of all the stuff we could have brought.”

 

They vacationed here in 2006, then took another trip from Utah in July 2007 to purchase property.

 

“We were dreadfully tired of the snow. When we bought this place, we said, ‘that’s it.’ We made it out of there 10 days before snow hit,” Patrick said.

 

Robert and Patrick own the Bullpen Restaurant near the ball fields, along with four condos they rent. Getting the restaurant up and running has taken longer than originally planned but the goal has not been discarded. The entrepreneurs are still in the process of obtaining the necessary permits to operate a business in Mexico.

 

“It’s going to be a simple menu and a good menu. We won’t be having 40 items on the menu,” Patrick said. “We’ll probably have one special a day.”

 

TexMex food has been requested, he added, and will be served. Internet and a book exchange will also be available for customers.

 

The men will use their hospitality experience in the casino and hotel industry for the Yucatan endeavor. Robert spent 27 years catering to high rollers in Las Vegas casinos and managing casino floors. In the gaming industry, he was known as a “Whale Watcher,” charged with meeting the demands of customers who gambled $1 million or more.

 

“The goofiest or most ludicrous demand I got was from a high roller from Hong Kong. He wanted a 1937 Silver Shadow Rolls Royce,” Robert recalled. “I got on the Internet and found one. It was delivered in three days. He ended up paying $1.3 million for the car and paid with a cashier’s check.”

 

Being raised in SinCity, celebrities were a common sight. Bobby Darin lived down the street. Sandra Dee across the street. Robert’s cousin is Tanya Tucker. His parents spent many hours at the Sands Casino watching The Rat Pack perform, he said.

 

Patrick owned a kite store in southern Utah for the past six years. He served as a judge for state and national kite competitions.

 

“You’d see five people, each with a six-foot kite, and all five kites flying in precision and unison with every move,” said Patrick.

 

On a recent trip to see his mother, Patrick, 49, brought back some of his spectacular kites. He hopes to fly them on the beach and ball field.

 

Robert, who said his age is 30-plus, enjoys stargazing. He sets up a telescope on the roof of his home.

 

“Having the highest building in Chelem helps,” he said.

 

Robert also enjoys writing short stories and creating jewelry with precious gems.

 

“He does some beautiful work,” his partner said.  

 

Robert and Patrick met on an Internet site seven years ago. When the couple decided to move to Mexico, they invited Kaylen Spencer to join them. Kaylen, 21, was a tenant at the time and decided to come along.

 

“He’s a computer genius and he fit right in. He took right to it,” Patrick said about how Kaylen has adjusted.

 

The young man agreed.  “I’m just happy to be here,” he said. Kaylen couldn’t think of a single thing he misses about the U.S.

 

Robert wishes there was more music and night life in the village. Patrick could only think of one downside to living here.

 

“I miss Perry Mason,” he said. “The old black-and-white shows.”

 

Tags: Expat Profiles

Wendy Moore ventured to the Yucatan two years ago after a Canadian boyfriend ran into visa problems that banned him from the United States for five years. She was living in Florida at the time and saw Mexico as a solution so the couple could remain together.

 

Wendy's friend John relocated quickly but Wendy was delayed for eight months while she recovered from injuries she suffered in a serious auto accident. When her health was stable, she loaded her eight Pekinese dogs and made the long drive down.

 

The relationship soon faltered, leaving Wendy alone in her beach house near the Mojarra entranda in Chuburna.

 

She stuck it out, partly because returning to Florida with so many pets is not an easy task.

 

Now, Wendy has many friends in the area and sees Mexico as her permanent home.

 

"I feel like this is probably going to be it. I'm going to stay here," she said. "The house is paid for and I've put quite a bit of money into it. I really like all my girlfriends. If they start to go home, that would influence things."

 

A pool was recently built on the beach side of Wendy's house. A mosiac turtle decorates the bottom. She is also proud of a spacious new bathroom, complete with a generous tub.

 

"Since I've been down here, I feel like my job is a professional home re-modeler," she joked.

 

Wendy, who is in her early 60s, sold real estate in Florida for 10 years and still owns a condo in Panama City that she rents to provide part of her income. 

 

The prior 10 years were spent in Atlanta where Wendy used her master's degree in social work to qualify the needy for food stamps and welfare.

 

 

She also worked as a bridge tender for a short time. Wendy sat in a small booth, raising and lowering the bridge for ships to pass. The bridge has since been replaced by more modern equipment, she said. 

 

Much of her adult life was spent breeding and competing show dogs. In addition to Pekinese, Wendy has raised Chinese Crested and Yorkshire Terriers. Nine-year-old Robbie was named Champion and featured on the cover of a dog breeding magazine. She also shares her home with a Green Amazon parrot named Buddy.

 

"All my dogs are from champion lines. They are not just pet quality," she explained. Wendy misses the dog show circuit and all the friends she made along the way.

 

She learned the hard way about the practice in Mexico of using the left turn signal to indicate it is safe to pass. As Wendy was preparing to make a left turn onto an entrada one day, she was struck by a combi.

 

"Like a bat out of hell, a combi came out of nowhere and passed me as I started to turn," she said. "I found out that ‑ to the older Mexicans anyway ‑ a left signal is an indication that it's okay to pass."

 

She endured the stressful ordeal of insurance and police procedures after hours alongside the road.

 

"All the policemen sat around yakking and yakking while we waited for the insurance people to show up. Once they finally showed up, they started arguing with each other," she recalled.

 

Wendy ended up paying $40 to the authorities to avoid a trip to the courthouse. A Mexican friend who stopped to see if she was okay vouched for her character, which helped.

 

She is pleased by the low cost of dental care here. She was able to obtain three crowns for less than the price of one in the U.S.

 

Wendy also enjoys trying new varieties of fruit available in the Yucatan, and finds the price of meat and liquor a welcome surprise.

 

She has come to appreciate other aspects of her adopted country.

 

"I like how clear the water is in the summer and how nice the people are. I feel generally safe here," she said.

 

She would like to speak better Spanish but says languages have always been a challenge.

 

"I get so tired of saying, 'no comprende.' I like talking to the neighbors and that's a problem. It would be much better if I spoke more Spanish."

 

 

Photography and collecting seashells are two hobbies that keep Wendy active. Her photos and shell collections are displayed throughout her home.

 

"You can take some beautiful pictures down here," she noted.

 

 

Wendy has a son living in Atlanta and a daughter in Kentucky. She has five grandchildren she will visit later this month.

 

 

 

Tags: Expat Profiles

You can find Rick Hudson and Star Piddington by the bright yellow school bus parked outside their Chelem, Yucatan home. You can't miss it when driving down the beach road in the village. There it lurks, an oddity in a puebla where bicycles are a common mode of transportation.

 

The couple bought the bus in Indiana, converted it to a home on wheels and drove it to Mexico, prompting wide-eyed stares along the way.

 

In fact, they were kept at the border overnight last year because border patrol agents in Brownsville, Texas, couldn't decide how to classify the converted motor home.

 

"I had the bus title changed to an RV title. They only had a picture of one old Winnebago motor home and they knew it wasn't that," Rick explained.

 

A $500 bribe finally did the trick.

 

Rick and Star first visited the Yucatan in 2006. Rick's friend Dave, whom he worked with at U. S. Steel in Indiana, married a Yucateo woman. The newlyweds passed through Merida on their honeymoon and decided to stay. Dave and his bride found a home, later inviting his friend to visit.

 

It wasn't long before Star and Rick, both 53 years old, sold their home in the farming community of DeMotte, Indiana, to live full time in Mexico.

 

"It was the way of life, the slow pace and the people," Star said about what attracted them to the Yucatan. "It's the charm."

 

Her husband added that the cost of living north of the border was also a factor in the decision to chuck everything familiar and start a new life.

 

The couple is in the process of renovating the home they bought in Chelem near Hotel Garza. Rick lives in the bus while the remodeling is being done. A rented home in Merida serves as a retreat for Star when the bus, which is shared with two full-grown German Shepards, becomes too confining.

 

The space became more cramped recently when Jade, the female, added five puppies to the family. The offspring will be sold to good homes.

 

"We don't want them to become guard dogs, tied to a chain. We want family pups," Star said.

 

She worked with special needs children in the states. Both she and Rick are brain-storming ideas to assist the disabled in their adopted village. One idea they've tossed around is a day of swimming, crafts and fun.

 

In addition to an array of tools and household items, three inflatable "Moonwalk" bounce houses, folding tables and canopies were crammed into the bus and brought to Mexico. The couple would like to use the party supplies to entertain children in the community.

 

Both expats said their Spanish is coming along, albeit slowly. Rick drew chuckles in a hardware store in Merida recently when trying to buy rope to hang a hammock. Since so many Spanish words are similar to English with just an 'a' or 'o' tacked on, Rick thought it was logical to ask for "ropa." Clearly, the store didn't sell clothing. But the employees smile each time the gringo customer returns.

 

Star enjoys the beach, making candles, oil painting and other crafts. Rick is happy working on the house, fishing and "bull-shitting" with the locals.

 

The couple doesn't regret the life-changing decision that brought them so far from home. 

 

"I want to die here," said Star. "They can feed me to the sharks," Rick agreed.

 

Tags: Expat Profiles