# Job Ideas In Merida Mexico



## worldnomad (Aug 27, 2015)

Hi,
I'm an Australia who has just moved Merida Mexico, I'm here for an extend holiday and maybe to live. I was wondering if anyone has any job ideas for me. In Melbourne I was a fully qualified Aborist (tree worker/gardener), and I've done bar work whilst traveling.


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## maesonna (Jun 10, 2008)

Have you got authorization to work on your visa?


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## worldnomad (Aug 27, 2015)

Yes but i'm not looking for full time employment, casual work only


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

What type of visa do you have?

I pay my gardener 200 pesos an 8 hour day, about $12 USD a day........


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## WintheWin (Jul 15, 2015)

You could find bar work, many places will hire you 'unofficially…'
At least here in Baja, don't know how formal/exhaustive hiring requirements are in other cities.
A buddy of mine pays his staff about 200 pesos a day, plus they keep/split tips and such.

It's more for meager spending money/get out of the house and appear busy/hook up.


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

WintheWin said:


> ...
> 
> A buddy of mine pays his staff about 200 pesos a day, plus they keep/split tips and such.
> 
> It's more for meager spending money/get out of the house and appear busy/hook up.


Except for those Mexicans who are trying to support their families on this same income...


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## WintheWin (Jul 15, 2015)

ojosazules11 said:


> Except for those Mexicans who are trying to support their families on this same income...


I based my answer on the sort of work he was looking for.

If he meant to support his family, I'd say to look for a bar job where his employer would be paying his IMSS, and where he could get worker benefits (incapacidad, liquidation, aginaldo, etc…)

You can find a bar job, no strings attached.
Or you can find a bar job with benefits.


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

WintheWin said:


> I based my answer on the sort of work he was looking for.
> 
> If he meant to support his family, I'd say to look for a bar job where his employer would be paying his IMSS, and where he could get worker benefits (incapacidad, liquidation, aginaldo, etc…)
> 
> ...


I was referring to the fact that what for many of us would just be pocket money, for many Mexicans is their total income. Hard to know how they manage on MXN$200 a day, but many do.


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## ZaPatton (Aug 17, 2015)

ojosazules11 said:


> I was referring to the fact that what for many of us would just be pocket money, for many Mexicans is their total income. Hard to know how they manage on MXN$200 a day, but many do.


Its hard but FAMILIA plays a big part of it....


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

ZaPatton said:


> Its hard but FAMILIA plays a big part of it....


And stingy Mexican employers count on that fact to let them keep the wages they pay shockingly low. And that's why many Mexicans prefer to go NOB to work illegally where even the lowliest jobs pay better than most jobs do in Mexico, even for people who have finished prepa or even university.


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## ZaPatton (Aug 17, 2015)

Isla Verde said:


> And stingy Mexican employers count on that fact to let them keep the wages they pay shockingly low. And that's why many Mexicans prefer to go NOB to work illegally where even the lowliest jobs pay better than most jobs do in Mexico, even for people who have finished prepa or even university.


They pay better NOB but in the end they are not better off... So they make maybe 9 a hour and get paid under the table they have to live sub standard and in constant threat of deportation. Peace of mind is worth more than living in a small apartment. Many have gone back. And to call Mexican owners greedy but not Americans is laughable. Billionaires like the owner of wal mart are notorious for hiring cheap labor and keeping them par time so they dont have to pay benefits...


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

ZaPatton said:


> They pay better NOB but in the end they are not better off... So they make maybe 9 a hour and get paid under the table they have to live sub standard and in constant threat of deportation. Peace of mind is worth more than living in a small apartment. Many have gone back. And to call Mexican owners greedy but not Americans is laughable. Billionaires like the owner of wal mart are notorious for hiring cheap labor and keeping them par time so they dont have to pay benefits...


I'm not recommending that most Mexicans go north to find better wages, but many of them do. And I'm aware that their lives are more difficult in many ways than they would be if they had stayed in Mexico, where at least they have the support of their families. My comment was about greedy Mexican employers not about equally greedy American companies like Wal-Mart, so I didn't think to include the latter in my comment. In any event, many Mexicans still have dreams of going north at least for a few years to be able to send money back home and maybe build a house for themselves once they return. If the wage structure in Mexico changed, that would certainly cut down on the number of Mexicans who feel impelled to leave their beloved homeland and head north. Not being an expert in economics, I have no idea how that could be accomplished. I do know that the way things stand now, a very small percentage of the Mexican population derives huge benefits from the way the country (and the economy) are now run, while the rest suffers, with even the middle class not doing very well when compared to middle-class populations in the rest of the world.


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## ZaPatton (Aug 17, 2015)

Isla Verde said:


> I'm not recommending that most Mexicans go north to find better wages, but many of them do. And I'm aware that their lives are more difficult in many ways than they would be if they had stayed in Mexico, where at least they have the support of their families. My comment was about greedy Mexican employers not about equally greedy American companies like Wal-Mart, so I didn't think to include the latter in my comment. In any event, many Mexicans still have dreams of going north at least for a few years to be able to send money back home and maybe build a house for themselves once they return. If the wage structure in Mexico changed, that would certainly cut down on the number of Mexicans who feel impelled to leave their beloved homeland and head north. Not being an expert in economics, I have no idea how that could be accomplished. I do know that the way things stand now, a very small percentage of the Mexican population derives huge benefits from the way the country (and the economy) are now run, while the rest suffers, with even the middle class not doing very well when compared to middle-class populations in the rest of the world.



From my own opinion you get allot of guys who move get freedom and end up partying more than taking it seriously to. I have had cousins come and think its a party vacation with no immediate family that will see what they are doing do not take full advantage of what they can do here. Also they have no blue print on american society to succeed enough in a few years to send allot of money back. The ones I see sending money back are the ones who are not going back or have homes in the US...


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## WintheWin (Jul 15, 2015)

I'm disappointed Mexico is allowing even more "zonas de economia especial" or something along those lines. And companies, importers, factories, etc… get 'special tax status' so that while their workers get IMSS and other benefits, the company doesn't have to pay it's share, or pays a highly reduced share.

My baby-momma works at a factory, that while it's tax exempt status lapsed, it still doesn't pay "utilidades", which I think is something like a profit-sharing system, it either lubed the right hands, or just pays fines which would be lower than the profit sharing.

And she's making like 1,000 pesos a week.

Get this, this is the crazy part…

200 pesos daily.

But if she misses a day, unexcused.
She forfeits two days of PAY. (Not two days of work…
So her pay, would be 600 pesos, for working 4 days, 9 hour shifts.

Employment is absurd sometimes here...


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

WintheWin said:


> . . .
> My baby-momma works at a factory, . .


What on earth is a "baby-momma"?


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## WintheWin (Jul 15, 2015)

Isla Verde said:


> What on earth is a "baby-momma"?


My girlfriend/conyugal partner/mother of my unborn

I've spent the last couple of days watching way too much Maury.


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## dwwhiteside (Apr 17, 2013)

Mexico is not a poor country. In fact, Mexico is a very wealthy country with a very large poor population. I would love to see that change and see Mexican workers paid well enough to enjoy more of the wealth of this nation. 

At the same time, surveys continue to show that Mexicans, by and large, are very happy. So maybe, if it is true that money cannot buy happiness, it is also true that happiness doesn't take a lot of money.


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## WintheWin (Jul 15, 2015)

dwwhiteside said:


> Mexico is not a poor country. In fact, Mexico is a very wealthy country with a very large poor population. I would love to see that change and see Mexican workers paid well enough to enjoy more of the wealth of this nation.
> 
> At the same time, surveys continue to show that Mexicans, by and large, are very happy. So maybe, if it is true that money cannot buy happiness, it is also true that happiness doesn't take a lot of money.


I think maybe, the poverty, to some extent, promotes intrafamiliar cooperation, which accounts for tight relationships, interdependence, all of which are correlated to general happiness.

The issue though is, that said poverty also comes with high comorbidity with obesity/other public health issues, which are less prevalent in higher-earning households.

Even in the US though, there have been studies done on wealth/happiness. And there is a strong relationship, but up until a certain income level. (I believe, after 75k yearly, happiness doesn't really go up.)


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

WintheWin said:


> My girlfriend/conyugal partner/mother of my unborn
> 
> I've spent the last couple of days watching way too much Maury.



"Baby-momma" seems (to me, a woman of 70) a disrespectful way to refer to your pregnant "pareja", though I'm sure you didn't mean it that way. I guess it's short for "my baby's mother", though surely she is much more to you than that. I'm very alert to changes in language, having taught both Spanish and English for many years before retiring, so this expression caught my eye, and my ear. I wonder where this phrase originated in the American vernacular.

One more question, who is Maury?


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

dwwhiteside said:


> . . .
> 
> At the same time, surveys continue to show that Mexicans, by and large, are very happy. So maybe, if it is true that money cannot buy happiness, it is also true that happiness doesn't take a lot of money.


I don't have lots of faith in surveys, especially those that purport to measure intangible things such as "happiness".  From my point of view, after having lived in Mexico for 8 years and having spent lots of time here before that working and on extended vacations, I think that Mexicans like to show a happy face to those outside their immediate circle of friends and family and keep their complaints and worries to themselves. So I wonder how honest their responses were to the survey questions and how this could have effected the survey results.


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## Meritorious-MasoMenos (Apr 17, 2014)

Isla Verde said:


> "Baby-momma" seems (to me, a woman of 70) a disrespectful way to refer to your pregnant "pareja", though I'm sure you didn't mean it that way. I guess it's short for "my baby's mother", though surely she is much more to you than that. I'm very alert to changes in language, having taught both Spanish and English for many years before retiring, so this expression caught my eye, and my ear. I wonder where this phrase originated in the American vernacular.
> 
> One more question, who is Maury?


It is a term of severe disrespect. People who use the term often boast of how many "baby mommas" they have had, or have at the same time, and are always looking for more.


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## WintheWin (Jul 15, 2015)

Isla Verde said:


> "Baby-momma" seems (to me, a woman of 70) a disrespectful way to refer to your pregnant "pareja", though I'm sure you didn't mean it that way. I guess it's short for "my baby's mother", though surely she is much more to you than that. I'm very alert to changes in language, having taught both Spanish and English for many years before retiring, so this expression caught my eye, and my ear. I wonder where this phrase originated in the American vernacular.
> 
> One more question, who is Maury?



It's more of an inside joke we have, though family and friends also find it funny.
I'll also call out to her, "Eyy tu! Embarazada, vente 'pa ca!" 

I think Baby-Momma is more frequently used in the African-American community.

Maury is a TV show, akin to The Jerry Springer Show, but it's focus is mostly on paternity issues. "I 'aint that baby's daddy!" "Baby Momma Won't Let Me See My Son!" And such are the usual episode titles.

It's strange, but when I hear "pareja" instead of marido/marida/esposa/mi mujer/etc… I always think of homosexual couples. Maybe it's because there's been a growing acceptance of homosexual couples in Mexico (at least, it seems so, as we had the first legal gay wedding in Mexicali not too long ago) and "pareja" seems to be used quite often when dealing with this population.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

WintheWin said:


> . . .
> It's strange, but when I hear "pareja" instead of marido/marida/esposa/mi mujer/etc… I always think of homosexual couples. Maybe it's because there's been a growing acceptance of homosexual couples in Mexico (at least, it seems so, as we had the first legal gay wedding in Mexicali not too long ago) and "pareja" seems to be used quite often when dealing with this population.


"Pareja" is used in Mexico to denote committed romantic relationshipe between hetero- and homosexual couples. I used it in your case since you and your girlfriend aren't married.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

WintheWin said:


> It's more of an inside joke we have, though family and friends also find it funny.
> I'll also call out to her, "Eyy tu! Embarazada, vente 'pa ca!"
> 
> I think Baby-Momma is more frequently used in the African-American community.
> ...


I wonder if your Mexican friends and family would find the use of "baby-momma" funny if they were aware of some of its less savory connotations? 

Is the use of "baby-momma" common among all levels of the African-American community or just among that sector where the majority of babies are brought up by single mothers?

Maury's show sounds like yet another reason for not watching TV in the US!


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## WintheWin (Jul 15, 2015)

Honestly, I'm pretty sure that among America's youth, it's a pretty… generic expression now. 
This thread piqued my curiosity, and I looked up some articles about the expression.
Many folks seem to use it with distant negative connotation at worst.

All things considered, it's pretty descriptive.

Most of my friends, both Mexican and Mexican-American (who would get the reference) don't really take notice. 

Maury is definitely quite "low" on the cultural scale of American TV. 
Gotta admit though, there are some VERY high quality shows coming out in the states.
I mean, TV shows with Blockbuster Movie-level budgets and writing.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

WintheWin said:


> Maury is definitely quite "low" on the cultural scale of American TV. . . .


From your description of Maury's show, the people who appear on it would be classified as "nacos", at least the way this word is used in Mexico City.


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

WintheWin said:


> It's more of an inside joke we have, though family and friends also find it funny. I'll also call out to her, "Eyy tu! Embarazada, vente 'pa ca!" I think Baby-Momma is more frequently used in the African-American community. Maury is a TV show, akin to The Jerry Springer Show, but it's focus is mostly on paternity issues. "I 'aint that baby's daddy!" "Baby Momma Won't Let Me See My Son!" And such are the usual episode titles. It's strange, but when I hear "pareja" instead of marido/marida/esposa/mi mujer/etc&#133; I always think of homosexual couples. Maybe it's because there's been a growing acceptance of homosexual couples in Mexico (at least, it seems so, as we had the first legal gay wedding in Mexicali not too long ago) and "pareja" seems to be used quite often when dealing with this population.


It seems to me that you are very disrespectful to your partner. 
It is not funny to address her like that, even if she allows it


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

Isla Verde said:


> From your description of Maury's show, the people who appear on it would be classified as "nacos", at least the way this word is used in Mexico City.


Super Nacos


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

GARYJ65 said:


> Super Nacos


¡De acuerdo!


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

According to Wikipedia, the term, correctly spelled, "Baby Mama", was popularized by hip-hop/rapper culture and was used by men to refer to women with whom they had fathered children in situations where there was no long term relation between the parents. Despite, or maybe because, of its rather disrespectful origin, apparently it is slowly seeping into popular culture as a more general term for mothers.

I share Gary and Isla's distaste for the word, but that probably won't stop it from becoming more popular.


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

TundraGreen said:


> According to Wikipedia, the term, correctly spelled, "Baby Mama", was popularized by hip-hop/rapper culture and was used by men to refer to women with whom they had fathered children in situations where there was no long term relation between the parents. Despite, or maybe because, of its rather disrespectful origin, apparently it is slowly seeping into popular culture as a more general term for mothers.
> 
> I share Gary and Isla's distaste for the word, but that probably won't stop it from becoming more popular.


The equivalent term for men is also used. I have heard women referring to the father of their child as "my baby daddy". This has generally been in the context of the black community (here in Toronto), but I've started to hear young white women use it. In my observation, there is still definitely a socioeconomic/ class association in terms of who uses this description. 

In terms of _pareja_ I also hear it used in the context of married couples. My husband sometimes refers to me as his _pareja_ and we've been married more than 16 years. It can refer to husband, wife, common-law partner, or couple. If we have invited_ "una pareja" _for dinner, we've invited a couple over.


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

Well I see after 4 pages off topic the OP has not returned, maybe we shut her down?


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

WintheWin said:


> I'm disappointed Mexico is allowing even more "zonas de economia especial" or something along those lines. And companies, importers, factories, etc… get 'special tax status' so that while their workers get IMSS and other benefits, the company doesn't have to pay it's share, or pays a highly reduced share.
> 
> My baby-momma works at a factory, that while it's tax exempt status lapsed, it still doesn't pay "utilidades", which I think is something like a profit-sharing system, it either lubed the right hands, or just pays fines which would be lower than the profit sharing.
> 
> ...


If employment for your pregnant partner is so absurd, and if that pay is ridiculous, why don't you do something about it instead of posting comments in a forum?
That salary really is low, for real poor people


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

GARYJ65 said:


> If employment for your pregnant partner is so absurd, and if that pay is ridiculous, why don't you do something about it instead of posting comments in a forum?
> That salary really is low, for real poor people


Maybe that's the only job his pregnant partner could find. Maybe she doesn't have the education and experience to be find anything better. On the other hand, I wonder why WintheWin isn't doing more to help her out financially, so she doesn't have to accept such a lousy job for such lousy pay.


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

Isla Verde said:


> Maybe that's the only job his pregnant partner could find. Maybe she doesn't have the education and experience to be find anything better. On the other hand, I wonder why WintheWin isn't doing more to help her out financially, so she doesn't have to accept such a lousy job for such lousy pay.


That is exactly what I mean, instead of sitting down to post about his pregnant partner's lousy job, do something about it!


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

Isla Verde said:


> Maybe that's the only job his pregnant partner could find. Maybe she doesn't have the education and experience to be find anything better. On the other hand, I wonder why WintheWin isn't doing more to help her out financially, so she doesn't have to accept such a lousy job for such lousy pay.


Maybe he is doing his part to support their family, and hopefully earning more - but if she wishes to contribute financially and maybe save up a bit before the baby is born, then perhaps she is willing to put up with this pay to earn something, rather than doing (and earning) nothing.


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## WintheWin (Jul 15, 2015)

ojosazules11 said:


> Maybe he is doing his part to support their family, and hopefully earning more - but if she wishes to contribute financially and maybe save up a bit before the baby is born, then perhaps she is willing to put up with this pay to earn something, rather than doing (and earning) nothing.


Yeah, I've managed to secure us housing, am paying all our expenses, and am saving money for the birth.. She's holding off on quitting, because her job will get her maternal-leave, which while isn't a lot, it's something, and in the meanwhile IMSS will cover her, if there are any issues during the pregnancy. It's not ideal, but it's something.

It's not ideal, but we're better off than many. 

I'm also saving for a mortgage to get us a little house NOB and start immigration procedures. Want to give 20% and avoid that dang PMI bill.


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

ojosazules11 said:


> Maybe he is doing his part to support their family, and hopefully earning more - but if she wishes to contribute financially and maybe save up a bit before the baby is born, then perhaps she is willing to put up with this pay to earn something, rather than doing (and earning) nothing.


Nah!


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## WintheWin (Jul 15, 2015)

GARYJ65 said:


> Nah!


?…
Right. Don't know how you infer that I'm not doing anything for my family, because I post a handful of times a day on here. God knows that it's a crime to be on your phone during work breaks. Right?


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## Mechgator (Jul 8, 2015)

Can you perhaps work as a vacation property manager for those expats who owns second/vacation homes/rentals in Merida?


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## Playaboy (Apr 11, 2014)

*Common Occurence Here*



chicois8 said:


> Well I see after 4 pages off topic the OP has not returned, maybe we shut her down?


chicois, Lately there has been a lot of newbies asking a question and then never replying or coming back. Frequently a newbie asks a question, usually gets marginal advice, the usual posters here "like" the marginal advice, and the tangent begins. 

I am beginning to wonder why I come back here.


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## WintheWin (Jul 15, 2015)

Because the drama kicks ass.


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## Playaboy (Apr 11, 2014)

WintheWin said:


> Because the drama kicks ass.


More like the "Funny Papers" with cartoon characters.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

Playaboy said:


> More like the "Funny Papers" with cartoon characters.


Speak for yourself, Playaboy. No reason to insult the forum members who do a good job of helping each other make successful transitions to new lives in Mexico, offering lots of useful information given with a positive attitude.


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## jambi (Dec 12, 2013)

dwwhiteside said:


> At the same time, surveys continue to show that Mexicans, by and large, are very happy.


Really? I wonder what those "surveys" would say after living in Oaxaca for 5 years. My own survey seems to indicate that there's more resignation (as in being resigned to one's fate) than anything definable as "happiness". 

"Como estas?"

"Jodido pero contento."

"Andele!"


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## jambi (Dec 12, 2013)

@ op, I wouldn't bother trying to compete with Mexican gardeners or bartenders. My hunch is that none of them will react kindly to foreign competition. That type of thing simply isn't seen here at those occupational levels. 

A logical alternative would be a landscaping business. Give it some kind of international theme, and it just might go over well. Then you can hire the Mexican gardeners to help you and be considered an asset to the community.

Or just take the standard default English teacher route.


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