# Coatzacoalcos



## Christianman (Dec 31, 2014)

Have been here for two months now,the second month has been without running water.This is going to be a challenging place to live I believe.Are there any foreigners in Coatzacoalcos besides myself?


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

Christianman said:


> Have been here for two months now,the second month has been without running water.This is going to be a challenging place to live I believe.Are there any foreigners in Coatzacoalcos besides myself?


I can't answer your question, but I did want to congratulate for spelling the name of your new home in Mexico correctly instead of shortening to something like Coatza  . How did you end up there, anyway?


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

I was in Coatza a few days ago and if there are any foreigners there they would be living in the Pemex housing compounds. I have friends in Mina and it's the same there. You in the petro business?


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

joaquinx said:


> I was in Coatza a few days ago . . .


Oh, no, what have I done?


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

Isla Verde said:


> Oh, no, what have I done?


I made a post and you changed the location of the thread. Hadn't you done so, I would have beaten you. Come on, everyone says Coatza and Mina:boxing:


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## Christianman (Dec 31, 2014)

El amor jaja my fiance is from here,she works for Pemex,its not so bad.


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## Christianman (Dec 31, 2014)

No I am not but my fiance is,she works for Pemex.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Yes that is about the only reasons I can think of moving there , love and or Pemex.


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## Christianman (Dec 31, 2014)

*coatzacoalcos*

It certainly is not easy on the eyes,Coatzacoalcos that is.I have a good sense of humor im going to have to rely on that to get me through the initial shock of the place.Thanks for the reply


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## Justina (Jan 25, 2013)

It's always been known as a Pemex town. But there must be more pleasant places for weekend escapes.
Some four years ago, I spent a long weekend in a small beach town, Motril outside Granada in Spain and having just settled myself on a rented lounger, I looked around and was horrified to see a large gas deposit with, guess what, Pemex. Didn't put me off my sunbathing.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

Christianman said:


> It certainly is not easy on the eyes,Coatzacoalcos that is.I have a good sense of humor im going to have to rely on that to get me through the initial shock of the place.Thanks for the reply


We drive down the autopista from (and to) Orizaba, Veracruz (to and from Tuxtla Gurtierrez, Chiapas to (from) Lake Chapala several times a year as the autopista passes Minatitlán and Coatzcoalcos several times a year but have never visited either city - just passing on the autopista. We actually like the countryside around Minatitlán which reminds us of the Gulf Coast of Alabama where we first met and married in the 1970s. Beautiful, low-lying tropical Gulf coastal plan with countless rivers and lakes which would appeal to people who like to fish or simply cruise endless coastal swamplands. A most attractive if challenging enviroment. The towns in that coastal región from Coatzcoalcos to Minatitlan to Ciudad Del Carmen and up to near Campeche can be unattractive, industrial communities but the Gulf Coast of Southern Veracruz State all the way to Isla Holbox on the Yucatán/Quintana Roo Border harbors many coastal treasures mainly in rural fishing villages and to be put off by the industrial/oil town ugliness of Coatzacoalcos and avoid this wonderful coast is to miss treasures due to shortsightedness. A great and fascinating coast with countless charming, if poor, fishing villages. Don´t miss this unsung Mexican treasure.


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## Christianman (Dec 31, 2014)

Hi Justina,yes im sure there are and am looking forward to exploring the area when I get a chance.I am originally from Dublin and you know us folk from the British Isles wont let any oil refinery get in the way of our enjoyment of a little sunshine.Thanks very much for your encouraging reply


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## Christianman (Dec 31, 2014)

Thanks so much for your reply,I lived in Alabama for many years and know gulf shores well.I look forward to checking out some of the areas you have mentioned.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

_


Christianman said:



Thanks so much for your reply,I lived in Alabama for many years and know gulf shores well.I look forward to checking out some of the areas you have mentioned.

Click to expand...

_Back in the 1970s, we lived at the mouth of the Fowl River on the western shore of Mobile Bay across from Mon Luis Island near Bayou La Batre and Dauphin Island. A great honeymoon shack since totally destroyed by Hurrricane Frederick in 1979 when we were living in San Francisco. That honeymoon shack is now history and replaced by a shipyard. When we first bought a home in Chiapas some eight years ago, we were intrigued by the Gulf Coast of Mexico from just south of Veracruz City to Isla Holbox at the confluence of the Gulf and the Caribbean. We explored much of that área from Veracruz City to Dzilam de Bravo on the Yucatán Gulf Coast . One interesting thing we discovered was that, once one passes Campeche on the way to Dzilam de Bravo, the beaches are white, not brown as around Veracruz, with beautiful aquamarine Gulf waters. There are some really butt-ugly industrial strips such as Ciudad del Carmen but great small, often isolated fishing villages with very nice beachfront residences that range from shacks to pleasant homes. There are places with hurricane damage but that just makes the drive more interesting. We may have to rent in that área around Telchac Puerto this Winter when we return to Chiapas. One nice thing about the Chiapas Highlands at San Cristóbal de Las Casas where we live is that one can visit Gulf, Caribbean or Pacific waters including the Oaxaca and Chiapas Coasts or the Gulf or Caribbean Coasts of the Yucatán Peninsula - all within a reasonable distance of one´s home in the cool, mountainous Highlands and no hurricanes of significance at that altitude. Maybe an occasional tornado but no place is perfect. 

My bet is you would enjoy a drive along the largely unheralded Gulf Coast of The Yucatán, Christianman so have at it.


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## Christianman (Dec 31, 2014)

Hi Hound Dog,I lived in Birmingham but enjoyed my visits to gulf shores very much.Bayou la Batre has a large Asian community involved in the shrimping trade it seems,I thought that was interesting.Back in the late 1990s I drove from Tennessee to Honduras and passed through Chiapas obviously,I remember how beautiful it was.For me,what stands out in my mind was just across the Guatemalan border in those mountains,I shall not forget how pretty that was,that and my brakes were about gone.My Fiances grandfather has a rancho,mangoes I believe,in chajuites which is close to salina cruz,im sure we will check that out soon.I have never seen the Pacific.Thanks very much for your replys,your right,no place is perfect and we all cant live in picture postcard towns unfortunately,but even Coatzacoalcos has its good points,im sure.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

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Christianman said:



Hi Hound Dog,I lived in Birmingham but enjoyed my visits to gulf shores very much.*Bayou la Batre has a large Asian community involved in the shrimping trade it seems,I thought that was interesting*.Back in the late 1990s I drove from Tennessee to Honduras and passed through Chiapas obviously,I remember how beautiful it was.For me,what stands out in my mind was just across the Guatemalan border in those mountains,I shall not forget how pretty that was,that and my brakes were about gone.My Fiances grandfather has a rancho,mangoes I believe,in chajuites which is close to salina cruz,im sure we will check that out soon.I have never seen the Pacific.Thanks very much for your replys,your right,no place is perfect and we all cant live in picture postcard towns unfortunately,but even Coatzacoalcos has its good points,im sure.

Click to expand...

_That large Asiasn shrimping community grew. to a large extent, with the arrival of Indochinese fishermen after the Vietnam War. Fishing familes from Vietnam who felt the need to leave there after that war ended, were naturally drawn to the warm waters of the Gulf for shrimping opportunities. These folks became large increments of coastal fishing villages such as Bayou La Batre and, no doubt, important contributors to the local fishing economy which is everything in small, largely impoverished fishing communities along that coast. Sincé I left the Bayou La Batre área in 1971, I am unfamiliar with current developments there.

Salina Cruz itself is not a very interesting town, being a rather unattractive place with a large naval base. It is, however, near some interesting áreas such as Tehuantepec and Juchitán on the colorful and intriguing Isthmus de Tehuantepec and, to the west, the fascinating región known as the Bahías de Huatulco. You could not have picked a better región, in my opinión, for your introduction to the Mexican Pacific Coast. If I were going to Salina Cruz, I would stay in Tehuantepec, just up the road. Very good regional cuisine, fine seafood and a colorful population with a very interesting history. This whole área is fascinating but not the subject of this thread so, if you want to discuss it more, we´ll have to start a new thread. I believe you will like this área very much as do I. Great food but the women in Tehuantepec and Juchitán are stern and in charge so mind your manners.


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## Christianman (Dec 31, 2014)

My future mother in law is from Juchitan,you are spot on my friend.So far I have enjoyed all the cuisine here,even the turtle eggs.Your posts have been a great encouragement to me,the first month was difficult to say the least,with homesickness etc,but with each passing week it is getting better.I will be traveling to Guatemala in April,maybe for a weekend.I am on a tourist visa so I will have to leave the country before my 180 days expire.I would imagine my first sortie outside of Coatzacoalcos will be to Selina Cruz so I will visit the places you have mentioned.Once again,thanks for your posts.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

Christianman said:


> My future mother in law is from Juchitan,you are spot on my friend.


I am friends with a family in Mexico City with its roots in Juchitán. In this family, the women definitely rule the roost!


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

_


Christianman said:



My future mother in law is from Juchitan,you are spot on my friend.So far I have enjoyed all the cuisine here,even the turtle eggs.Your posts have been a great encouragement to me,the first month was difficult to say the least,with homesickness etc,but with each passing week it is getting better.I will be traveling to Guatemala in April,maybe for a weekend.I am on a tourist visa so I will have to leave the country before my 180 days expire.I would imagine my first sortie outside of Coatzacoalcos will be to Selina Cruz so I will visit the places you have mentioned.Once again,thanks for your posts.

Click to expand...

_Don´t let the industrial crudeness of Coatzacoalcos get to you, Christianman. There are many interesting drives thereabouts to be accomplished in short order. To name a few, drive the short distance up back roads to Catemaco, San Andres Tuxtla and Santiago Tuxtla for some great sightseeing and interesting cuisine. You can drive across the Isthmus de Tehuantepec from Coatzacoalcos to Juchitán on Highway 185 and you will be driving across the first isthmus in the Americas identified as a place to construct a canal or railroad crossing between the Atlantic and Pacific shipping routes before the U.S. built the Panama Canal in the once Colombian province of Panama. There is also a fine autopista link to Chiapas from Coatzacoalcos with that state´s innumerable natural treasures. In my humble opinión, once you get to know this marvelous región, homesickness wil be a thing of the past as long as you maintain decent relations with your suegra from Juchitan. Don´t cross her.


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## Christianman (Dec 31, 2014)

My fiance told me it is not uncommon for the men to stay home and raise the children while the women go off to work.I think im pretty safe though,she is not going to quit Pemex ha.


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

Christianman said:


> My future mother in law is from Juchitan,you are spot on my friend.So far I have enjoyed all the cuisine here,even the turtle eggs.Your posts have been a great encouragement to me,the first month was difficult to say the least,with homesickness etc,but with each passing week it is getting better.I will be traveling to Guatemala in April,maybe for a weekend.I am on a tourist visa so I will have to leave the country before my 180 days expire.I would imagine my first sortie outside of Coatzacoalcos will be to Selina Cruz so I will visit the places you have mentioned.Once again,thanks for your posts.


Which turtle eggs, may I ask?


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Actually the Ithmus society is not a true matriarchal society from what I read. The men were fishermen and worked at night , handing over the catch to the women in the morning wen they came back. The women prepared the food and sold th catch. They are in chare of the money and that I have checked and found it to be true. ll the women I have met from that area are in charge of the money and all the men from the area I have met told me the women were in charge of the business and the money because they were better at it. 
We have been to festivals in Tehuantepec and it was interesting to see that i the procession the women were offering mescl to the guest and participants and drank a good share themselves, in start conrast of the Zapotec women tin the valley in Oaxaca. 
The women spend a lot og money on themselves, jewelry and different outfits and have a very assertive way to strut down the street , they obviously have a lot to say about many things. 
What is striking down there as well is the respect for homosexuals and transvestite sons.
The sons can be seen either dressed as men or women working alongside their mother. They will be the ones who will take care of the mother until she dies and have a special status in that society.

It is an interesting and colorful culture, if you go to Tehuantepec go to the San Blas side of town that area is all Zapotec and very traditional. It is a fun area to visit.

By the way there is a really nice beach north of Salinas Cruz , la Playa Cangrejos or something like that. It is deserted and there are a few fishermen who will cook whatever you want and you can rent a cabin there. The beach is just beautiful ,


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## Christianman (Dec 31, 2014)

Sorry,I have no idea.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

Christianman said:


> Sorry,I have no idea.


Both olive ridley (Pacific) and Kemp's ridley (Atlantic) sea turtles are endangered species in Mexico. I spent a mosquito bitten night once in San Blas, Nayarit doing turtle patrol to try to protect them from poachers. I have a great appreciation for the people who do this regularly.

"Another major threat to sea turtles is black-market trade in eggs and meat. This is a problem throughout the world, but especially a concern in China, the Philippines, India, Indonesia and the coastal nations of Latin America. Estimates reach as high as 35,000 sea turtles killed a year in Mexico and the same number in Nicaragua. Conservationists in Mexico and the United States have launched "Don't Eat Sea Turtle" campaigns in order to reduce this trade in sea turtle products."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_turtle#Conservation_status_and_threats


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## Christianman (Dec 31, 2014)

It certainly sounds like a unique place,thanks for the post


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