Ensatina wrote:Mexico is a wonderful place but the violence which affects the people living there...is a bit devastating. Sorry to go on like this, it is a sore point with me.
No, your experience is very needed as a balancing point. I would like to see it on the more active Mexico forums.
The expats who write--especially on the latest thread I've read--have lived there between two and forty years. All speak Spanish and few live in expat enclaves, so most of their friends and neighbors are native Mexicans, and they would be as subject to local violence as anyone.
I believe in the case of the ones who've lived there the longest their opinion of Mexico is based more on the past than on the present, though if they or anyone they know had been the victim of such violence as you describe, I'm sure we'd hear about it. They seem to think that if one is not involved in the drug trade (or is a cop, apparently), the cartel violence does not affect them.
Everyone's opinion of any place they live in the world will be based on their experiences of it, of course. It sounds to me as if the universe is very strongly telling you that Mexico is not the place for you .
Thank you for writing of your experiences, and I apologize for helping to steer this thread into OT territory. Carry on .