# Tampico, Tamaulipas Living



## jenny10707 (Sep 14, 2017)

Hello everyone. My name is Jennifer and my husband is Ruben. He is from Tampico. We moved here in March of 2016. I enjoy Tampico very much. I am posting here in hopes to see if I can connect with other expats. I dont really speak much Spanish so it would be nice to have some conversation in English with others near by haha. 

I just joined this group so figured I would reach out and see who is out there near by, Altamira, Madero, Tampico, Victoria, Panuco & even Ebona 

I know people say there is a lot of violence here and I am sure there is as well as all over Mexico. I have not had any issues since I have been here. My husband is Mexican but I am very pale with freckles, When you look at me there is no mistaking I am a foreigner LOL and that has not caused any issues for me. Everyone has been super friendly. We did not have a car until this past month since we have been here so been taking the busses and walking everywhere we went. 

Anyway, enough about me. Who else is close by?


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## ElPocho (Aug 25, 2017)

As a boy used to spend summers in CD. Madero. In housing that belonged to the refinery, my grandmother grew up in that house. The refinery used to be called "el águila" and belonged to the British before the expropriation. There used to be a tranvía that went to Tampico. 
I thought about moving halfway up the coast, between Matamoros and Tampico. Still haven't moved back to Mexico. 

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk


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## Zorro2017 (Jan 9, 2017)

Happiness is where you find it. Most of the violence in Mexico is drug related and does not affect the normal law abiding people. Kidnappings are something to be concerned about, particularly close to the border but if you are careful you should be just fine.


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## originalmembername (Oct 24, 2017)

Hey Jenny, unfortunately I've just discovered this forum, I've lived in Tampico until recently for 6 months. How do you like it? I found it to be a rather ugly and uncultured town, although there are a few nice places and interesting things going on, just have to find them.
I've talked to a lot of locals and it appears that the big wave of voilence was about 3-4 years ago, now it seems very safe. Personally, I was out quite a lot at night, mostly by bicycle or on foot, and never experienced any scary situations, apart from unpleasant encounters with street dogs. I've also read a murder statistic for Mexico from 2016, in which Tampico had one of the lowest murder rates in the country.
In case you don't know it already, check out the Puequenha Nueva Orleans, quite a nice cafe. And if you want to practise your Spanish, there's a club de lectura every Sunday at the Blue Coffee Bar in Cd Madero. And don't forget to visit Xilitla! 
Kind regards, Peter


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## jenny10707 (Sep 14, 2017)

originalmembername said:


> Hey Jenny, unfortunately I've just discovered this forum, I've lived in Tampico until recently for 6 months. How do you like it? I found it to be a rather ugly and uncultured town, although there are a few nice places and interesting things going on, just have to find them.
> I've talked to a lot of locals and it appears that the big wave of voilence was about 3-4 years ago, now it seems very safe. Personally, I was out quite a lot at night, mostly by bicycle or on foot, and never experienced any scary situations, apart from unpleasant encounters with street dogs. I've also read a murder statistic for Mexico from 2016, in which Tampico had one of the lowest murder rates in the country.
> In case you don't know it already, check out the Puequenha Nueva Orleans, quite a nice cafe. And if you want to practise your Spanish, there's a club de lectura every Sunday at the Blue Coffee Bar in Cd Madero. And don't forget to visit Xilitla!
> Kind regards, Peter



Thank you!! parts are for sure ugly but i do love it. My husbands family is from here so we have been here now over a year. Been trying to find other expats that may be close by. I have not been to any of the places you have mentioned I need to check them out. 
Is Xilitla close to Tampcio? I need to learn a lot more Spanish but never knew where to go that they have people that teach Spanish to English speakers so I need to look into that Blue Coffee Bar that you mentioned. I am in North Tampico, pretty close to Altamira but since we finally got a car we can travel more than just the places the micro buses go. 
Thanks for your reply


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## originalmembername (Oct 24, 2017)

Xilitla is in San Luis Potosi, about 5 hours by bus from Tampico (I guess by car it's a bit less).
There's a surrealistic sculpture garden built by an eccentric English aristocrat named Edward James, absolutely worth visiting! Also, the coffee from that region is delicious.
I've taught German and English in Tampico for Berlitz and as far as I know, they also offer Spanish classes for foreigners, might be worth checking out (in case you go, say hello from me ;-)
In the public library in the palacio they also often have readings, some are a bit boring but some also quite interesting. You might also check out Casa Gandara, Centro Cultural Vive la Cultura, Casa de la Cultura and Teatro el Farol.
On Sundays, there are regularly guided tours by bicycle starting at the paseo de la cortadura, I took part in one and it was very interesting. And, of course, there's the tour at the Arduana!
Hope I could help


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## originalmembername (Oct 24, 2017)

Oh, and Galeria Project Art, they have regular painting meetups and a Cine Club every thursday.
(BTW, all of these places can be found on faceook)


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## jenny10707 (Sep 14, 2017)

originalmembername said:


> Xilitla is in San Luis Potosi, about 5 hours by bus from Tampico (I guess by car it's a bit less).
> There's a surrealistic sculpture garden built by an eccentric English aristocrat named Edward James, absolutely worth visiting! Also, the coffee from that region is delicious.
> I've taught German and English in Tampico for Berlitz and as far as I know, they also offer Spanish classes for foreigners, might be worth checking out (in case you go, say hello from me ;-)
> In the public library in the palacio they also often have readings, some are a bit boring but some also quite interesting. You might also check out Casa Gandara, Centro Cultural Vive la Cultura, Casa de la Cultura and Teatro el Farol.
> ...



I did do the tour at the aduana and one other tour also. 

This coming week they have a showing of the original Halloween at the teatro el farol. We plan on trying to make it. 

I think I?ll chexk out the Spanish classes to help me learn more. We didn?t have a car the first year we were here to we took the micros everywhere. Now we have a car so it?s easier for us to explore. My husband was born here but hasn?t lived here in a long time. 20 something years. So he remembers his way around a little bit so it?s like re-exploring his hometown also for him. 
I do enjoy walking around centro on the weekends. Now they have a stage set up that stays up and do something every Saturday.


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## subsky (Dec 4, 2021)

jenny10707 said:


> Hello everyone. My name is Jennifer and my husband is Ruben. He is from Tampico. We moved here in March of 2016. I enjoy Tampico very much. I am posting here in hopes to see if I can connect with other expats. I dont really speak much Spanish so it would be nice to have some conversation in English with others near by haha.
> 
> I just joined this group so figured I would reach out and see who is out there near by, Altamira, Madero, Tampico, Victoria, Panuco & even Ebona
> 
> ...


Did you go to Tampico? I'm looking for info on the area.


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## subsky (Dec 4, 2021)

originalmembername said:


> Hey Jenny, unfortunately I've just discovered this forum, I've lived in Tampico until recently for 6 months. How do you like it? I found it to be a rather ugly and uncultured town, although there are a few nice places and interesting things going on, just have to find them.
> I've talked to a lot of locals and it appears that the big wave of voilence was about 3-4 years ago, now it seems very safe. Personally, I was out quite a lot at night, mostly by bicycle or on foot, and never experienced any scary situations, apart from unpleasant encounters with street dogs. I've also read a murder statistic for Mexico from 2016, in which Tampico had one of the lowest murder rates in the country.
> In case you don't know it already, check out the Puequenha Nueva Orleans, quite a nice cafe. And if you want to practise your Spanish, there's a club de lectura every Sunday at the Blue Coffee Bar in Cd Madero. And don't forget to visit Xilitla!
> Kind regards, Peter


Peter. It's 2021. Wondering if the situation is still the same in Tampico. I'm in the Panhandle of FL. We've been as far on the East Coast as La Pesca. We found La Pesca a bit too small and isolated. We take extended vacations with our middle aged son who is schooling on-line. Leaves us free to roam. Wondering about renting a place there for 1-3 months, but wondering even more about the safety and if the situation has gotten better or worse.
Thanks,
Allen


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