There is no doubt you need to use precautions in Mexico.. just as you would any where else including stateside. When we took the bus from Guadajara to Jerez Zacatecas I asked why the roads had been clear-cut back so far and the bus driver said it's because bandits rob the bus's sometimes and this way they have a running chance!

When we got to Tamazula Jalisco and tried to visit a Mendez relative who didn't know me he was extremely fearful of us. When we returned we found he had been kidnapped for ransom, he's family owns casas de cambio so that made him a target.

In Jerez everyone was drinking bottled water much to my surprise, they said the iron content is so high it stains their teeth! Mostly they drank Coka-Cola in glass bottles. They would not allow me to walk anywhere alone but said it was because it would reflect badly on my family! I did find that all the families I visited drank alcohol much more and earlier in the day than we would stateside so beware of long lunches that extend into dinner. Tequila and Sprit seem to be a normal afternoon beverage in Jalisco, Colima and Zacatecas!

When we went to a Cabana in Tapalpa, a couple of hours from Guadalajara we were told not to worry,. that they pay someone to protect the property and people when they visit there, it seems that cutting down and stealing trees is a big problem there and our hostess got guards after finding 20 pines missing just after she bought the property to build her home on.

Advice that was given to me was not to wear jewelry, not to go where there were no women and children and not to go drinking at night. I found in Mexico many places do not take credit cards so you really do need to have cash on hand or access to casa de cambio. I payed attention to all advice and had a wonderful time with many very gracious people. Come to think of it, it's the same advice friends gave me the first time we spent a vacation in the L.A. area...

Linda in Everett

Deena,
I enjoyed reading of your experience in Tijuana...........the stories on the news always sound worse than they really are. The same could be said about the US from the Mexican's point of view. When we go to Mexico you hear stories from the people who have never lived or been to the US about the lack of respect for authority in the United States, about the breakdown of the family because most women work and therefore the children are left to fend for themselves without a figurehead of respect and authority in the home during the day. One also hears about the breakdown in the morality of the family and the promiscuity of the youth, the rampant drug use of the young people etc. etc. I could go on and on. This they hear from the news as portrayed in the US media.........they get the same news there that we get here via CNN and other major newsbroadcasters via cable and from hearsay from people traveling back and forth. Is there some truth here? I would say yes. Is this the
whole truth? No, we can pick anything apart and find good and evil, right and wrong everywhere.

The truth is that crime is everywhere and we need to be careful everywhere. Of course be especially careful when you travel to some unknown region whether it be in the US, Mexico or elsewhere, respect the rules and laws of the country, city or county you are visiting. Respect the customs and traditions of it's people.

When my in-laws were alive we would go to Ensenada at least 3 times a year so that our children could have as much possible contact with their grandparents and the extended family.............It was a time of complete freedom for our children as they could go anywhere without any fear. They could run and play freely at their grandparents and cousins' places, ride horses, feed the chickens make mud pies, pick corn, tomatoes, squash and so much more. They learned of the language, foods, music and family traditions of their parents and grandparents and nothing you can read in a book could ever take the place of the real life experience.

Anyone who is thinking of going....... I say go for it, the warmth of the people especially in the small towns is like nothing else you will ever experience. Yes even the border crossing was an experience.........going both ways.

Thanks for posting this topic.....it brought back many fond memories.

Alicia,
San Jose, Calif

My children and I lived in Tijuana for two years so my six children
(ages 1 to 12 when we arrived) could learn Spanish and be immersed in the
culture of their father's side of the family. (My husband came to visit us
two weekends every month; at the time he was a homicide investigator with
our local sheriff's department, and there's no such thing as a two-year
sabbatical -- even if we could have afforded it.)

I read the bulletin posted earlier about the dangers of traveling in
certain parts of Mexico, and Tijuana was listed as a place with a high rate
of crime. We lived near the bullring in Fraccionamiento Escondida; it was
the most wonderful experience of our lives, and the only crime we
experienced was that a sweatshirt hanging on the line to dry disappeared.
Meanwhile, the bicycles we had left in America for safekeeping were stolen.

I always bought bottled water to drink-- still do, as a matter of
fact, but we brushed our teeth from the tap. None of us was ever sick
during our stay -- except for the two littlest ones, who got chicken pox
near the end of our stay.

My mother-in-law worried the entire time that something horrible
would happen, however. Luckily, we ignored her warnings. I say ignore your
relatives, and take a chance. It will be an adventure you'll never forget.

~Deena Ortiz~