Week 2 – School Tours, Finding a Home, and Building Community

As our second week in Mexico comes to a close, we’re thrilled with how well things are progressing. From school tours to finding our new home, this week was filled with milestones that are helping us adjust to our new life abroad.

School Tours and Decisions

This week, we focused on touring potential schools for our children. Initially, we started with a list of schools recommended by a local expat. After some research, we narrowed it down to four, with a preference for private Montessori-based schools, as our kids have been in Montessori education since they were 18 months old.

One of the standout schools that we visited this week was actually how we discovered the city we are now living in. Initially drawn to the school’s unique programs, such as a farm program for middle schoolers and French language instruction for high schoolers, we were excited to explore it further. BUT - and there are always but’s unfortunately, while the school was impressive, its location made it less ideal for us. We wanted to live in a more established, walkable neighborhood.

Ultimately, we decided on a school that is within a five-minute walk from our new home. This school offers a bilingual curriculum with half the day in Spanish and half in English, which we felt would be the easiest transition since they do not currently speak the language.

Finding Our New Home

After narrowing down our school choices, we began our home search. Our strategy was to find a home close to the selected school. We reached out to a realtor who was recommended to us by a couple we were introduced to, who showed us a few properties. Although one of the scheduled showings didn’t happen as planned, our realtor had a backup option that turned out to be perfect.

The home is a three-bedroom condo in a small community with a pool. It’s exactly what we were looking for—minimalist, affordable, and in an ideal location. The rent is $1,300 USD per month, including all utilities and weekly cleaning. She really came through with this recommendation!! She also showed us a few other units available closer to a more vibrant side of town that had beautiful mountain views but we opted for the quieter area with the short walk to school.

Building Community and Adjusting to Life in Mexico

Another highlight of the week was Michael receiving his temporary residency card. While there were a few hiccups with him petitioning us — such as needing to apostille the kids’ birth certificates and retrieve our marriage license from the U.S. —we will get it done in due time. You are allowed to stay in the country for 180 days on a tourist visa so we have until January to complete our process. I’ll cover the details of the temporary residency process in a separate blog post.

We also explored Centro, which is within walking distance from our new home. Centro is where the heart of the city’s cultural activities, restaurants, and nightlife is located. We’re excited to be so close to all the action but far enough that we can escape it as well.

This week, we also met some wonderful people. Through a contact I made online before moving, we were introduced to a retired couple from New York who have been living here for eight years. They were warm and welcoming, and we enjoyed a lovely lunch with them at a beautiful hacienda. Building a small but strong community here is one of our goals, and so far, we’re off to a great start.

Overall, Week 2 has been a success with the exception of Michael and I dealing with upset stomachs, likely due to adjusting to the local water and food. We’ve had KFC, Buffalo Wild Wings, Burger King and Dominoes this week to help ease the discomfort. Despite this, the weather has been consistently beautiful, we’ve found a home, chosen a school, and are happy about the community we are building. As we continue to settle in, we’re excited for what the future holds and look forward to sharing more of our journey.