The opening of our Mexico eBooks Store offers our readers and community members an opportunity to purchase carefully selected books, guides, reports and other literature items which are directly related to Mexico. Purchasing eBooks using Mexperience brings knowledge to you and supports the authors, publishers and this web site—all of whom make this knowledge exchange possible through the sale of eBooks.

We’re working with a number of talented writers and publishers who know Mexico well to bring you high caliber eBooks on topics related to Mexico, and we’ll be continuously adding to this pool of talent.

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The announcement has come one week after the airline’s parent company, Nuevo Grupo Aeronautico (NGA), was bought by Tenedora K investments. Tendora K had been trying to negotiate concessions with the company’s unions, in a hope to create a rescue package for the troubled company.

However, on August 27th NGA announced that operations needed to cease due to “the serious deterioration of the company’s finances and the inability to reach agreements to ensure its future viability”.  The statement went on to say that the company is continuing with its efforts to seek alternative options which might ensure its long-term viability of the airline and even said that it hopes operations might resume “soon”.

However, given that Tendora K have failed to issue any press releases of their own, and in media reports spokesmen have declined to comment, it’s hard to see how Mexicana’s fortunes may be revivied in short order.

Three weeks ago, Mexicana filed for bankruptcy protection and soon after announced the suspension of key flights, including its flagship routes connecting Mexico City directly to London and Madrid.

Further information and full statements can be found on the airline’s website.

The suspended flights include those connecting Mexico City to Madrid, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Bogotá and Costa Rica, as well as flights from Mexico City to Montreal, and the relatively-new Mexico City to London flight, which was launched with considerable fanfare in January last year.

A number of niche routes have also been suspended, including Zacatecas to Chicago, Guadalajara to Fresno, and Bajio to Chicago (via Monterrey).

The full list of suspended flights can be found on Mexicana’s web site which is being updated as the situation unfolds.

See Also: Air Travel in Mexico

In a statement, the company said that it filed for bankruptcy to help it restructure its costs and ensure the long-term viability of the airline. Before the bankruptcy applications, creditors leasing aircraft to the company grounded three planes. The company told the bankruptcy courts that further asset seizures would lead the company into liquidation. According to the latest accounts, the company made a trading loss of US$350 million between 2007 and 2010 and is holding debts of some US$1 billion.

Although some flights were cancelled, the company is trying to reassure customers that most flights would continue to run normally during the restructuring process.

Mexicana and Aeromexico were bailed out by the government in the 1990’s. Since Mexicana was subsequently re-privatized, it has struggled financially as its legacy cost structures, which offer higher salaries and benefits to its employees than competitors, the global slowdown and the H1N1 virus have each taken their toll on the company’s financial fortunes. Mexico’s government has said that it has no plans to bail-out the airline again.

Mexicana’s chief executive has said that a re-merger of Mexicana and Aeromexico may provide a solution to the airline’s fiscal woes; however, the idea is likely to be met with considerable resistance. The last time the two carriers held a monopoly on the Mexican market domestic air fares were higher than they are today.

See Also: Air Travel in Mexico

The details of the regular reviews are not made public by the FAA but Humberto Trevino, the Mexican transport minister, said that the matters of concern to the US agency related to the training of regulators and the procedures for inspecting airlines. He also went on to say that his department is working ‘hand-in-hand’ with the FAA to resolve the concerns and restore Mexico’s Category 1 rating at the earliest opportunity.

In addition to the symbolic significance of the US downgrading the flight safety status of its southern neighbor—and one of its key trading partners—the ruling also carries economic sanctions for Mexican airlines. Without a ‘Category 1’ FAA status, US-based airlines cannot “code share” with Mexican airlines. Code-sharing enables US airlines to sell seats on flights which connect to Mexico via the USA on Mexican carriers, enabling customers to pay one fare for the entire journey which may be supplied by two or more carriers. For example, American Airlines code-shares with Mexicana, and Delta code-shares with Aeromexico. US airlines will need to drop their code sharing arrangements until Mexico’s safety rating is restored. The process is likely to take some months, at least.

A corollary of the FAA ruling is that some US airlines with extensive direct routes to and from Mexico may benefit by gaining additional business. As the ruling means that US airlines cannot sell seats on their “partner” airlines through automated code-sharing arrangements, seats could instead be sold on their own planes, by default. However, as seat supply diminishes, fare prices could rise in the short term; if this happens, the only way to get a less expensive seat may be to book your flight segments separately, with separate payments to each airline you fly with.

See Also: Guide to Air Travel in Mexico

However, some background research into Mexican culture, how its society is structured and in particular learning about the country’s social etiquette, can help you to arrive in Mexico better prepared for the road ahead. If you plan to work in Mexico, whether under the auspice of an employment contract or by running your business, you’ll also need to familiarize yourself with Mexican business etiquette.

If you’re planning to call Mexico home, it’s worth getting an understanding of how the social fabric is structured. Understanding how the government is structured, the basic principles of the country’s legal and judicial systems, how the police and military operate, how religion is practised and so on, will help you to get a broad backdrop to this country and its social norms. The Mexperience guide to Society and Culture in Mexico will give you an introduction to all these matters.

Understanding social etiquette is vitally important when you are in the throes of adopting a foreign country as your home. Behaviors which appear irregular to you may be quite normal in Mexico; and vice-versa. You can avoid potential embarrassment and upset by becoming familiar with basic social etiquette in Mexico. Understanding how social classes are defined, the formalities of language use in everyday situations, the expected use of professional titles, the appropriate way to greet people, how to dress, dinner table manners, giving gifts, time-keeping and a miscellany of social etiquette practices are examined in some detail on the Mexperience guide to Social Etiquette in Mexico.

If you plan to conduct business in Mexico, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with a further set of rules, those concerning business etiquette. As we alluded to in part four of this series, doing business in Mexico is distinct to doing business in the USA and western Europe. Our guide to Business Etiquette in Mexico, which can be read in parallel with our guide to Social Etiquette, is good primer for beginners. If you’re planning to work for yourself in Mexico, you can also read our Guide to Self Employment.

Moving to a foreign country to live is challenging enough. Adopting that country and embracing its culture and ways is a life-skill that requires good character, a high degree of presence and observation, patience, understanding and acceptance. In these respects, kindling your relationship with Mexico will be like kindling a relationship with any other being. Hard work, perseverance and tenacity will also be required, because even in laid-back, easy-going cultures with a great climate, life is hard sometimes.

Today, an unprecedented number of Americans and Canadians—and increasing numbers of Europeans—are not just talking about moving to Mexico, they are actively pursuing those plans.

Foreigners who come to Mexico without the strength of character, open mindedness, flexibility and patience required to adopt a foreign country will almost certainly find themselves increasingly frustrated, agitated—perhaps even becoming angry—and probably end up leaving. For those who come to know Mexico, who are willing to accept its foibles and graces in equal measure, and who are willing to undertake the hard work of adaption that needs to take place before adoption can come, Mexico offers one of the most unique and valuable expatriate locations on offer anywhere.

In social terms, Mexico is an easy place to meet and make new friends locally.  Mexicans are exceedingly social people.  They are open, some will speak English (possibly quite well), and getting involved socially is never difficult in a Mexican town or city.  Check notice boards at coffee shops, internet cafés and book stores for advertisements and classified ads to find out what social events are happening locally. In addition to making new local friends, you’ll also find that there are many expatriate networks and expat social events happening in Mexico.  If you’re completely stuck about where to start to find those—contact your country’s consulate in Mexico, they will be able to tell you about the existing networks established near you.

If you’re planning to work in Mexico, or run your own business here, building trust networks is vital to your commercial prosperity.  Furthermore, you’ll find that Mexicans will be weary of dealing with you if they don’t know you.  You must allow space for a social and non-commercial relationships to kindle before you can move on to business matters.  This process may be hastened if you have been referred by someone who knows you already to someone you don’t know.  This is a common way of connecting with new people in Mexico; there’s no guarantee that the connection will be right for your needs, but on balance it’s probably better than picking someone at random.

This process of relationship-kindling and network development is important whether you’re looking for a maid, an electrician or plumber, a builder, a lawyer, a service supplier or a business partner.  You can go out and seek people to work with at random, but many people who know Mexico don’t do that initially—they always prefer a referral.

Finding someone by chance can sometimes produce surprisingly good results.  By way of example, tradesmen do, on occasion, advertise in the town center.  The advertisement is the person: standing in one of the town’s plazas with a tool box and sign that reads, for example, “Plomero”.  You simply approach him and start talking about what you need, and agree a date and time for him to call at your house, where he’ll consider the situation and give you a verbal quote for the work.

This personalized ‘in-person’ approach is all part-and-parcel of building your networks in Mexico.  You need to have the confidence to talk with people and ask questions, and be open about your needs and intentions with others. When you find a good plumber, a good gardener, a good carpenter, et al, you’ll keep in touch and, if you’re really smart, you’ll give them a bit of work—however small—on occasion, so that when the big job you need doing comes up, the person knows who you are.  Furthermore, referring a known ‘good contact’ to someone else, helps the person in need, helps your contact to secure more work and he/she will remember you for referring them.

To start developing your contacts and building your networks in Mexico, you need to get out into the community where you live, tread some shoe leather, and get talking with people.  You may know some expatriates who live locally; they can offer referrals.  But sooner or later you’ll need to start making your own contacts.  Good places to start include local coffee houses, internet cafés, restaurants, the Zocalo (town center), local shops and boutiques, and local workshops where you may see furniture makers, carpenters, stone masons and others plying their trade.

Building contacts and networks in Mexico is enjoyable, rewarding and it’s all quite real.  There is nothing virtual about developing contacts at a local level here.  The personal aspect of network building is one of the many nuances which make Mexico an attractive place to be for hundreds of thousands of foreigners who, full-time or part-time, call Mexico ‘home’.

Five hundred years later, whether you’re buying a piece of land, a home, a car, or a kilo of limes at the local market, you will need to exercise some negotiation skills, lest you may pay more, and possibly a lot more, than you need have.

How you negotiate (or barter) will depend upon the precise situation you find yourself in. In most cases—the notable exception being real estate purchases in popular towns and cities—effective negotiation will require the use of Spanish, so a basic conversational level of the language, as described in the first article of this series, is a prerequisite. Most Spanish language schools in Mexico include market trading as part of their course material.

There are some places and situations where barter is not practiced in Mexico. These include the local Wal-Mart (and similar establishments), department stores and gasoline stations. Barter is not practiced at tienditas (family-run corner stores) and it’s not practiced at pharmacies. Restaurants and comedores don’t usually barter, either; although they might agree to a group discount if you have a quiet word with the manager or owner before or upon your arrival.

Situations where barter is practiced (and sometimes expected) include shopping in open-air food markets, flea markets, art and craft markets and fairs; and buying from ambulant vendors on the street and on public transport. If you board a taxi cab that isn’t metered or doesn’t charge a zonal fee, you should always negotiate your price beforehand.

More formal situations where price negotiations are often entered into include the purchase of a vehicle (new or used), the purchase of jewelry or fine clothing from a specialist supplier of these products, the bulk purchase of almost anything from a trade supplier, hand-made furniture bought in volume from local manufacturers, as well as land and property—whether for purchase or to rent.

When you have lived in Mexico for a while—and especially when you have lived in one place in Mexico for a while—you’ll notice that the prices asked for many local things you buy every day can be very elastic indeed. There are prices for ‘locals’ and prices for ‘tourists’, and whether the tourists are foreign or Mexican might also create a further variation in price. Unmetered taxi cabs which are few in supply may quote you a higher rate when it’s pouring with rain, than they would do on a sunny day with two other cabs parked in the rank, waiting for custom.

Mexican traders, like traders everywhere, are opportunists. They will always try to make hay while the sun shines, and unwary foreigners (whether resident or just passing-by) are fair game. With some experience of living in a place, you’ll learn what prices should be for things like a taxi cab ride, a kilo of meat or fish, a bagful of oranges, a hat or walking stick, a stack of fresh corn tortillas, and so on. How? You start talking with people locally, you hear and see what others are being offered and gradually you get to know. Eventually, you don’t even ask the price for many things—you know what it should be and hand over that amount of money. The acid test is to hand over a coin or bank note that requires some change in return and see how much comes back. In fact, this level of local economic intimacy is a gauge for you—the more you buy without the need to ‘negotiate’ the price, the deeper you have become involved in—and part of—the local community.

See Also: Tipping & Bargaining, Shops and Shopping

If you plan to live in Mexico, you’ll need to develop a certain degree of flexibility and exercise a generous helping of patience with yourself and with others; not just from time to time, but as a matter of course. If you are not of flexible character and cannot find the patience in yourself, you might find Mexico to be a very challenging place to live.

Many foreigners who have settled in Mexico and now make this country their home share stories about how they moved away from stressful lifestyles to find a more agreeable rhythm in Mexico. They tell how the process is almost cathartic—but only as and when they accepted how Mexico is and let go of once habitual demands which appeared to plague their thoughts. This narrative is epitomized quite well in Tony Cohan’s travel biography “On Mexican Time”.

Foreigners who come to live in Mexico and cannot find peace with how things are here usually begin to display impatience, frustration, anger and lack of general respect in formal or informal situations. Inevitably, these fall on “deaf ears” when dealing with most people. Furthermore, although Mexicans may not outwardly react to this conflictive behavior, the ultimate outcome in a situation is usually made worse for the hapless individual, through deliberate obstruction—or perhaps total rejection—of his or her wishes; not because it is impossible to fulfill them, but as a reaction to what is deemed impoliteness.

Remaining calm, allowing matters to take a natural course, being flexible with your plans and expectations, and exercising patience are noble pursuits anywhere you live, but in Mexico they are prerequisites. Being a foreigner in a foreign land means playing by your host’s rules. Given that there exists an estimated one million foreigners living in Mexico full or part-time suggests that the rules are not that difficult to adopt, and may indeed harbor some inner value.

To learn more about Mexican customs, read our guides to Society & Culture and Social Etiquette.

Foreign Native also writes many excellent articles with insights into contemporary Mexican culture and these provide an invaluable source of information.

Also in the “Essential Skills for Expats” Series:

1: Learn Spanish

Even if you plan to live in an area of Mexico that is settled by large foreign expat communities speaking English, you will still need to learn some Spanish to get by on a daily basis, and especially if you want to get the most of your experience of being in Mexico.

Spanish is Mexico’s official language, and is spoken by over 450 million people in over 20 countries world-wide. By being able to understand and speak Spanish, you will gain access to the culture in a way that you would otherwise not be able to benefit from by having everyone else speak to you in English.

Furthermore, many of the people you will need and want to interact with regularly may not speak much English, if any at all. On a daily basis these could include the local shop keepers and market traders, the gasoline station attendant, the bank clerk, your maid and the gardener. People who provide essential services on an ad-hoc basis and who also may not speak English include the plumber, the car mechanic, the electrician, or the local doctor.

It’s inconvenient having to ask someone to translate for you all of the time. It’s also good manners to be command at least a modicum of understanding for the language of the country which you have chosen to adopt. Spanish is a phonetic language, it’s easy to grasp the basics and you can start learning right away.

In fact, you can start learning Spanish now, by undertaking some free online lessons. The language program we have partnered with offers eleven lessons; the course has been designed by an language teacher who devised a way to teach Spanish in such a way that gets you conversing within a quarter-hour. Try the free lessons and see how you get on; you can buy the entire course on DVD, the course is reasonably priced and comes with a refund guarantee.

To accelerate your learning, there is no better way to learn Spanish than by immersing yourself in the language among a group of peers, attending a course at a local language school in Mexico. These structured courses offer an excellent way to learn Spanish, alongside other students who have the same desire as you to study, sharing the learning and getting involved locally at markets, banks, shops and other places where you can exercise the language you’ve studied in the classroom.

If you’re planning to move to Mexico, you can start to learn Spanish today using the online lessons, and accelerate your learning at a language school in Mexico when you arrive. If your move to Mexico is part of longer-term plan, but you intend to visit Mexico beforehand, consider mixing learning with pleasure on your next visit by including a course at local Spanish language school.

Our Learning Spanish guide is an integral part of our Living & Lifestyle section. Learn about how Spanish is applied in Mexico, as well as the reasons why Spanish is such a great language to learn. Intermediate and advanced students will all find a lot of value by reading Foreign Native’s language blog articles here on Mexperience.

Next Time – Essential Skills for Expats 2: Flexibility & Patience