How We’re Finding Our Rhythm in Mexico

We’d heard it, we’d lived it, we thought we “got it”. Island Time is slow. Mexico time feels like Island Time with the added Siesta! Things are going SLOW. Which may sound beautiful when you’re thinking, “let’s go on a relaxing vacation”, but when you are trying to set the rhythm of your life, it feels uncomfortably lazy to move at this speed.

The Girls

The girls seem to be the only ones that actually have something going on. They went from summer camp, to back-to-school with some after-school tutoring twice a week.

They’re in their second week of school and it feels like the constant schedule that we kept them on throughout the summer (and the constant Spanish) helped them transition into this school year with ease. Ellia, who entered Grade 1 at her new school, didn’t even skip a beat.

Having the girls on a routine keeps me feeling like at least we are doing something. We’re helping our girls get, what we see as, the best education and experience here. It also keeps them busy, ie not bored, ie not getting on each others (and our) nerves!

Although their schedule is actually on Mexico time (half day school, siesta, afternoon activities), it’s basically the only solid routine we have and it feels like it’s some sort of healthy rhythm.  It’s something.

The Project Here

I think this is where we feel the slow rhythm of life the most. We moved down here knowing things would move slow. But we’ve been here almost 10 months now and the only changes we’ve seen on the property happened when Eben, our business partner Arnim, and the guy across the street with the backhoe went down cleaned out the brush and marked the lots.

There has been paperwork stuff in the works. Eben has his temporary residency. We have set up a Corporation with our partners. We have opened a local bank account. Although that is a lot, and it is time-consuming paperwork, when we look at the physical property, it feels like nothing has progressed.

“Poco a poco” they say here. Little by little. It is a feat in patience.

We’re in touch with several contractors and engineers. We are emailing back and forth. We are revising and adjusting. And poco a poco it will happen.

WOOSAH.

Eben

He’s still recovering from his surgery. But he’s definitely on the mend. He went from being stuck laying on his stomach on the couch watching non-stop UFC for weeks, to moving around normally again. There are still certain positions that he can’t sit in without pain, and he modifies certain moves in our workouts…but to say that he is back to working out says a lot.

With the work project going slow right now he is finding other ways to fill his time. Learning more about video making/editing has been a fun project of his. And we’re tossing around the idea of even setting up a photography business. We have all the camera gear, and between the two of us we have a good amount of knowledge. It could be a fun side hustle, and if it doesn’t take off, at least it will have given us the time-consuming project of building the website!

Something To Do

We’ve also been looking at property here, for ourselves. If we had a small piece of land here, Eben could build us a casita. It’s win win. House for us, project for him.

We’re currently renting, and although we got a great deal on our rental, paying rent feels like we are handing money over to someone else rather than investing it into ourselves.

To be able to afford to do the things we do, we often have to go about them unconventionally. Going through a realtor means paying extra fees, and most likely a higher price than had we gone directly through the owners. Yes it goes faster and easier, but we’d be paying for that convenience. Instead, we have been driving around, eyeing up properties, trying to contact the owners, and see if any (cheap) treasures can be found.

So far no luck. But we’re not giving up. Poco a poco, right!? This is all an adventure.

Me    

I waver back and forth in my laziness. Somedays I am completely ok with the idea of sitting around in my undies and counting down the hours until we can put the girls to bed and watch movies cuddled on the couch. Other days I feel COMPLETELY useless.

To give you an idea of the different personalities, I would be fine sitting on the beach reading a book, while in that time Eben would have gone spear fishing, built a sand castle, played frisbee, and come back to tell me he’s bored! He definitely needs to keep busy. Slow is hard.

We’ve been working out. Which makes me feel like “at least I did something today”. But even with that, sometimes I have a hard time convincing myself to do. Laziness breeds more laziness and lack of motivation. I listen to coaching like Jay Shetty and read books by motivational speakers like Rachel Hollis and think “yeah, I can do anything too”, and then the nothingness happens, and…you guessed it, nothing happens!

I constantly have a bunch of ideas bouncing around in my head. “How can we make money remotely? Should we pursue this clothing brand/social enterprise we discussed years ago? Or build a casita and airbnb? Should I be working out right now? Have I neglected the blog? What’s for supper?”

Somedays I move forward on something. Poco a poco. Somedays I sit in my undies. Today I wrote a blog post!!! High five to myself! (Yes, I am typing this sitting in my undies!)

What To Do

I don’t have a solution to this rhythm, nor do I think we necessarily need one. It’s just the way things go here. I think it’s even the reason that many people move here! We spend a lot of time with friends, playdates, family time, beach time, you know, enjoying the social life. Which is absolutely wonderful, it’s just not as financially productive. We have to keep that in the back of our minds. It’s a tough slow pace when we also need to be making an income, seeing some progress, and keeping our sanity. 

Poco a Poco!!!