Our Mexican Adventure

Sunday, September 16th marked Mexico’s Independence Day, the celebration of Mexican independence from Spanish rule. In some ways, Independence Day here in Playa del Carmen is very similar to Independence Day celebrations in the U.S. Families and friends gather for food, drinks and good times, stores and homes are decorated in the colors of the national flag, and a fireworks display enthralls crowds in the town square.

But instead of burgers and brats (sorry, I’m from the Midwest), Mexicans indulge in the traditional party food of pozole, a hominy and pork soup. They decorate their homes, cars and tiendas with Mexican flags and red, white and green ‘papel picado’, another Mexican tradition of decoratively cut paper banners.

The most interesting difference to me is the tradition of the grito (shout). The grito is a reenactment of the shout to fight for liberty made by Father Hidalgo in the wee hours of September 16th, 1810. Today, crowds gather in town squares all over Mexico on the evening of the 15th to participate in the reenactment. A government official shouts ‘Mexicanos, Viva Mexico!’ (Mexicans, Long Live Mexico!) to which the crowd responds ‘Viva!’. This is repeated several times, then the Mexican flag is waved, and then um …

Well, the truth is that John and I have somehow managed to miss this ceremony two years in a row now. This year, we were eating pozole at a bar just a block from all the action, when the ceremony began earlier than scheduled. We heard the shout, but missed the rest of the ceremony. We did run up to the roof of bar, and managed to see much of the fireworks display, which was even better this year than last!

The celebration in Playa was very much a party atmosphere. Revelers were shouting and using noisemakers, waving flags and banners. Vendors sold everything from Mexican flags to marquesitas (a tasty, crispy crepe filled with edam cheese) to ceramic frogs.

The next day a parade was held, which we missed. However, we were thrilled to accept an invitation to the house of a Mexican friend for an Independence Day party. Unfortunately, I had felt sick since waking that morning, and the aroma of the food which our friend, Ara, had so lovingly prepared for us, made my nausea unbearable.

So, I had to go back home to nibble on plain crackers and sip 7-Up, while John had a grand old time, eating home-cooked pozole and tinga de pollo (shredded chicken in chipotle sauce), attempting to understand and participate in Spanish conversations, drinking tequila, and singing along to Mexican music. Mexicans love to sing LOUDLY! John came home raving about his Mexican Independence Day.

¡Viva Mexico!

Watch a video of the fireworks display.
Watch a video of an auctioneer hawking ceramic bowl sets, frogs and angels.

As many of you know, last autumn, we packed up our car with our two cats (among other essentials) and drove to Playa del Carmen, Mexico for a six month sabbatical from our corporate jobs, hectic urban lifestyle, and blustery Chicago winters. That was over eight months ago. In case we have to hit you over the head with it, we came here for a period of 6 months over 8 months ago! So, what the heck are we still doing here? Surprisingly few of our friends and family have asked that question. Perhaps it’s because, before we even left, many of them predicted we would not return. They were right, at least for now.

Playa captured our hearts the very first time we set foot on her eighteen months ago. We grew wistful that evening on the return ferry to Cozumel after a perfect Playa day trip. Months later, we went misty-eyed in the airport return shuttle after a week of Playa vacation heaven. And we can’t imagine leaving here now. Why does Playa have such a hold on us?

For sure, Playa del Carmen is beautiful. The sand is white and never gets too hot, the Caribbean waters are blue (or clear depending on your vantage point), the coral and fish are abundant and colorful.

Playa is fun. Water sports are plentiful, outdoor activities are enjoyed all year round, the bars are filled with friendly faces, the margaritas are just the right mix of sweet, sour and salt, and the cervezas are cheap.

Playa is tasty. Fresh seafood, homemade Italian pastas, Argentinean steak, French cuisine, Thai-inspired menus, Middle Eastern fare, all manner of Mexican foods, and exotic fruits, vegetables and spices all tempt the taste buds here.

Playa is friendly. We’ve befriended Mexicans, ex-pats, and tourists alike. Mexicans are easy-going, never criticizing us for our country’s politics, never laughing or sneering at our meager attempts at Spanish, and always appreciative of our attempts to speak their language, enjoy their food and not get in their way when they’re driving. The ex-pats have embraced us. And the tourists are jealous as hell of us.

But there’s more to Playa than all that. Playa is also gritty. Sidewalk hazards, scrawny dogs, maniac drivers, exposed wires, peeling paint, catcalling hombres, and construction noise abound. It’s all part of what we’ve come to love about Playa.

This is all well and good. Except that we have been enjoying all this for eight months with nary an income. Our parents taught us to save for a rainy day. We squandered our savings on sunny days. (Sorry, Mom & Dad!) Now rainy season is upon us in Playa, so we’d better start saving again.

In our old lives, we often dreamed of moving to a tropical region to run an open-air bar, start a scuba shop or open an adventure tour company. But plenty of others have already been here, done that. ‘What Playa really needs’, we’d often hear from business owners, ‘is knowledgeable and reliable computer people’. (Libby would like to note that Playa also really needs an Indian restaurant and a Container Store.) Seeing as we are both computer programmers (and quite possibly knowledgeable and reliable), this seemed like an obvious (although not very exotic) choice for us. We were in.

We inaugurated our company on the lucky day of 6/6/06. Since there are so many different needs here and so few technical persons to fill them, we will do a wider variety of work than in the states. Web site development, networking and computer troubleshooting (here that usually means ‘Help, my 8 year old laptop doesn’t work anymore!’) will all be within our realm.

Will be is the key here. In Mexico, it is a very simple matter for a foreigner to start a business. Hiring Mexicans to work for that business, while not necessarily simple, is very achievable. But legally working for your own business … that can be challenging to accomplish. Understandably, Mexico does not want us to take jobs away from Mexicans. This is an especially sensitive matter in Playa del Carmen where there are already so many working foreigners. And it could be argued that the Mexican immigration conflict in the U.S. doesn’t help our cause either.

We feel confident that we will overcome this, as we will not be taking jobs away from Mexicans. Although there certainly are Mexicans capable of doing this work, there simply aren’t enough in the Playa area to meet the growing demand. Local computer consultants have told us that they regularly turn away work. We already have several clients lined up and anxious for us to start working. To top it off, Playa del Carmen has been named by the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest growing city in the world. We seem to be in the right place at the right time for starting a computer consulting business.

Wish us luck, and keep us in mind for all your outsourcing development needs!