Cancun Care Message Board Forum

[V]

Cancun was the host for the Gran Premio Viva Mexico Cancun 2009, a criterium for professional cyclists. A criterium race consists of many laps around a (relatively) short course, 3,5 kilometers, in this case. Criteriums are good for spectators as the riders pass by repeatedly during the race, which seldom lasts more than an hour.

Something like this can make you glad you live in Cancun. The world's greatest cyclist, Alberto Cantador, was here, as well as a number of other highly ranked, professional riders, to participate in the Gran Premio Cancun, run on the streets of the hotel zone. As you might expect of a professional event, things were well organized; and, a helicopter carrying a camera circled overhead throughout to record the action.

Several hundred people were in attendance to watch the 14 lap, 50 Km main event.
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As an major international entertainment venue, the city continues to attract a number of events and performances to appeal to a wide range of tastes, and interests.

[RiverGirl]

I believe his name is spelled Contador.

The following comment was submitted to my blog today:

[V]

The poster's response to Cancun that Rivergirl spoke of, visceral as it is, isn't very enlightening, for it could be said of a number of cities in the U.S., as well.

Here are a few observations I'd make about Cancun, and life in Cancun, which I find true.

You've said before, Rivergirl, that life here, for retirees, is a different life from those who have tried to work, here. That is undoubtedly true. I've worked in a number of foreign countries, but Mexico was the hardest place to get permission to work of any place I've been. I spent a great many hours, and considerable money, getting mine.

Further, I've never had so much difficulty getting work started for myself, anywhere. It's not easy to overcome the perception- perhaps it's more than that- that there are Mexicans who are just as capable of performing a job as you are, and more in need of one, to boot- not to mention that it's their country, with a right to control access to jobs for the benefit of their citizenry.

Then, there's the problems involved in getting services, such as home repair, performed well, and at a fair price, which those who live here begin to encounter, after a time. I could go on, but life is "easy" here only for those who don't need to work, or do much of anything else, other than enjoy the sun and the sand.

Having said that, as a very large foreign country, where a language different from our own is spoken, having a rich history, there is much to enjoy and appreciate here, in Mexico, for those who have a capacity for enjoyment, and appreciation.

[RiverGirl]

Starting your own business here, as I did, is tough. But one major stumbling block, which is alleviated simply with the passage of time, is that people here don't want to do business with foreigners who they think might up and move away in a few months.

So as you stick it out here it gets easier to get business...your credibility goes up just because you've survived here for a while. (Same goes for making friends here, lots of us don't run out to make friends with newbies who might be gone next month.)

When we first came here a Mexican woman (from Acapulco) told us that Cancun was so hard to live in that if you managed to live in Cancun for over a year you were FROM CANCUN!

So now I'm Cancunense! And I have more work than I can do.
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"If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough." ~ Mario Andretti
Web Design: Magnolia Web Studio
My Blog: RiverGirl Blog
My Twitter: RiverGirlCancun

[V]

I agree with Rivergirl, persistence is required to succeed, here, perhaps more so than other places. Some of it could definitely be related to the fact that foreigners come here, many of them make first efforts to get something started, then leave. The locals may have simply learned to ignore those first contacts.

To get an opportunity to speak with a "decision maker," there were several occasions in which I had to call on the same office five times.

It took me three months to get things "up and running." It's never taken that long any where else I've lived.

Here's a saying I've admired since I first ran across it.

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb."

[V]

Having been in Cancun, now, for six months, and finding it necessary to speak Spanish, I've been learning quickly. My greatest teachers, and the people I've had the most fun with, speaking Spanish, are the taxi drivers. I take anywhere from 6-8 taxi rides a day, as I go about my business, so this provides plenty of opportunities. They tend to work 12 hour days, seven days a week, so they have little chance for diversions of any kind, other than talking with passengers.

My model for social interaction, in this culture, has been the conversations I've overheard between the drivers and often middle aged women when sharing a taxi with other passengers, something that occurs, here, with some regularity. The elegance and warmth of the manner in which these women have interacted with the drivers is something to behold. "Old school," I guess we could say they are. They seem to understand, and empathize with, the difficult lives the taxi drivers lead, and offer them solace in the form of a gentle, and soothing conversation, full of human warmth.

One of the things I've discovered is that taxi drivers, and perhaps most other Mexicans, have a great sense of humor. I was trying to recruit one to run in the XXV Annual International Night Marathon, Cancun, 2009 (if you think that's a mouthful, try it, in Spanish), which will include a 6KM run, as one of the events you can participate in. At the end of an animated discussion of the details, when I asked him if he would run the 6K event, he said, "I'll think about it," but with an expression on his face which said, "Just kidding," knowing ahead of time I'd think the response humorous.

Now that I can interact with the local people rather easily, I find they are very responsive to attempts by foreigners to communicate with them and, more often than not, do not get involved with your Spanish so much as with trying to understand what you're saying. This makes the effort to speak their language all the more rewarding.
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I've mentioned, before, what a great venue for entertainment and sporting events Cancun can be. Below, is another example of one of the many opportunities you have, from time to time, in Cancun, to try something just a little different from your usual, day to day activities, if you're here, full time.

Sponsored by the Benito Juarez Municipality, Cancun, and known as the First Preliminary Race for the International Night Marathon, Cancun 2009, it was held on the 27th of September and offered 5, 10 and 15K runs for all ages down to 12 (age 12-17, 5K only). Winners were recognized overall, and by category (age, sex). Entry was just 37 pesos. Registration for the race began one hour before race time, at the start/finish line, just below the bullring, on Bonampak.



Exactly 180 registered participants took part in the races. They got underway at 0730, with all runners starting together. Those who were participating in the 10K event ran two circuits of the 5K route. Bonampak, below the bullring, was closed to traffic and made a nice course for the event.

As expected, all age groups joined in, with the youngest allowed just 12 years old (no upper age limit). Awards were given for men, and women's top three finishers, overall; and, for men's and women's top three finishers by age group.

It was truly a "fun" race, with all ages, shapes and sizes trying their hand at it. The atmosphere was light, and the crowd urged everyone on, the last person to cross the line in the 10K, at just over one hour and 15 minutes, getting the biggest hand of all. Everyone who wanted to participate was able to do so, and complete the distances they chose.

Benito Juarez Municipality provided security, emergency health services, drinks along the route and at the finish for the runners, and masseuses/trainers for those who needed assistance in the form of massage at the end of the event (a number took advantage of this offering). Sliced oranges were also provided the runners to help them get back up to speed after the event.

All in all, it was a well done event, with fun the main objective, although times were recorded for every runner on the course.

[V]

I'm retirement age, and for people like me having ready access to a reasonable quality of medical care is important. Cancun is a large city, said to have almost one million inhabitants. As such, it has a range of hospitals, public and private, to choose from, as well as scores of private clinics where you can find a reasonable quality of medical services- all kinds, including specialty care- at prices well below that of the U.S. As a result, a significant number of visitors to Cancun are here to seek medical care and treatment: most popular among these are cosmetic surgeries, and surgeries designed to help control serious problems with weight. If you look at the patient boards of the private hospitals, as many as half the admissions will be for procedures falling into one of these two categories.

If you are here, long term, you may want to seek official permission to live here in the form of an FM3, issued by Mexican Immigration. Those who hold an FM3 are eligible to enroll for health coverage in what is the largest provider of health care in Mexico, the Instituto Mexicano de Seguro Social, or IMSS. Even for a person 60 or older, it costs a very modest 3,000 pesos per year: those who are younger, pay even less. A person with full IMSS privileges pays nothing for any of the services: this includes hospitalizations, clinic visits, specialist care, treatments of all types, and drugs, among other things. Putting it simply, having paid the annual assessment, everything after that is "free".

Cancun is lucky to have one of IMSS' most modern, and best equipped of the IMSS hospitals in the system, the Regional General Hospital, Region 17.



Thoroughly modern, and just two years old, it occupies an entire large city block.




Regional General Hospital, Region 17, is a tertiary care center, offering treatment and diagnostics, often unavailable at general hospitals, under the direction of medical specialists. Patients come here by referral from one of the other nine IMSS hospitals, polyclinics, and family medicine clinics in Cancun.



At left, a doctor chats with a patient in Cardiac Intensive Care. The machine to the left of the bed provides a continuous read of the patients blood pressure, while the machine to the right of the bed, a continuous electrocardiogram, all easily seen by the doctors and nurses caring for the patient. The machine, back left, controls the intravenous solutions flowing into the patient's body.

In the Hemodialysis Unit of Regional General Hospital, Region 17, on the right, a patient receives treatment. There are twelve hemodialysis machines in the unit. At the time of my visit, seven patients were undergoing treatment, simultaneously. This very costly and sophisticated treatment is available, for free, to those with full IMSS privileges.

IMSS has well developed policies, nationwide, reqarding enrollment of foreigners who are living, with official permission, in Mexico. There are exclusions for pre-existing health conditions, as well as limitations on services available during the first year following enrollment.