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Best place to live/teach in Mexico?

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I want to move down to Mexico to teach. I am a certified teacher in the US. Whats safe for a single woman? Do you know anything about Durango? Wht kind of school should I teach at? I want to work in a actual childrens school, not just teaching English part time to adults.

Travel Tips

I am a teacher in Mexico...this is my 3rd year. First, you need to decide why you are coming. If you don't care about the money, go anywhere. Mexico always has it's dangerous parts and safe parts. If you want to have a comfortable life and a school that is modeled after American schools, you need to apply at American Schools. The top paying ones are in Mexico City, Monterrey, and my school in Guadalajara where I teach 1st grade. Go online, look up "American Schools Mexico" and a list should pop up. Now, the season has already passed for interviewing.....this is a VERY competitive field in Mexico. Really, you should have gone to the job fairs back in January to get hired. However, these types of schools always have emergency hired done in the summer. I would fax your resumes this next week and immediately call. Explain that you are looking for a job. VERY IMPORTANT!!!!! Make sure you get hired as a "foreign hire." If you do not, you will not receive housing benefits, plane tickets, or the higher pay scale. ***UPDATE篓篓篓Charlie (his comments are above) has made some good points. But I disagree with the fact that teachers are treated horrible. As a foreigner, you receive all the benefits that some Mexican teachers do not receive. Yes, they are treated horribly. However, I have made a home here in MX teaching and living. I am making more here than I did in Ohio. I got 3 raises for the next school year.....and I will almost double my income for the 2008-2009 school year. I make enough to send half back to the States for student loans and credit card, plus I have all my plush living expenses here....like internet in the house, pets, my girly expenses (hair, nails, pedicure, etc). I travel, and go out all the time. ONLY at the American Schools can you make this kind of money. American Schools will NOT hire you, and then when you arrive, go back on their deal. Plus, they take care of and pay for all your visa and FM3 legal papers. You can trust them. Good luck!
Others

I do not know Durango, and I can not think why you want to go there. I am from Guadalajara, there is The American School the and other bilingual schools.
Good Luck!
It depends on how much competition you want. Guadalajara in the state of Jalisco has a big american community, the same goes for San Miguel de Allende, in the state of Guanajuato. Mexico City has many opportunities for foreigners since there is too much demand for native speakers. Merida in the state of Yucatan, is a good spot too, is a very tranquil city 4 hours east of Cancun, although weather can be too hot. Hope this helps a little
I live in Mexico City.
Hi, I am an American living in Mexico. Your biggiset issue is not WHERE to live in Mexico, but the WORKING part. It is very difficult for a foreigner to work in Mexico. you must have a job offer from an employer and that person must write a letter stating that he has offered you a job and that he cannot fill that job with a Mexican citizen. You must then upgrade your tourist or Fm3 non-immigrant visa to a Visa which includes permission to be employed. This involves a great deal of documentaion of your education, certification of your University, money and time. If you are granted this visa, then you may work. salaries here are extremely low. As a teacher, you would earn less then $5.00 an hour. I have an aquaintance who moved here just a few months ago..very much like you...and thought she would have a teaching job in 2 weeks. Didn't happen. Even schools that told her they wanted to hire her, fooled around for months, and did not ( this is common). Teachers are treated badly and work in horrible conditions in many schools. If you want to, and can afford it, it would be wise to come on a 6 month tourist visa and explore the possibilities. VERY few Americans or other foreigners actually make a living in Mexico. most foreigners here are retired. As to safety, Mexico is safe..outside of the border areas. if you want to live in an area where there are many Americans and Canadians, you may e able to find a jo more easily...but those areas are very expensive to live in. If I can be of any other help to you, please e-mail me.
I have lived inSan Miguel de Allende for 4 years,the climate is ideal , located in the central mountains at 6500 ft. It is a colonial town so none of the facades in El Centro may be changed. There is a large English speaking community a majority of whom are women. I think we all feel very safe here which is not the case in other parts of Mexico. There are many private schools here at levels high school and lower. We are known for our successful Chamber Music Festival in Aug. All the arts are well represented here.
I love Durango, Durango. I am from Durango and I would probably have to say that it is the best place for you to teach. The weather is always nice and it is a safer, and prettier city than other cities in Mexico. The Centro(downtown) is very cool and has many historical/colonial building like the Catedral, There are many beautiful parks and places to buy stuff(there's also a Walmart for convenience.)
There are also many places to teach high schools, middle schools and elementary school, there's a medicine school, and a University where you can teach.
Not only could you teach in a Public school, but you could also teach in a private school, I think you would probably be better off teaching in a private school, since they would pay you a bit more.
Durango, is also great because it is a real city in Mexico, it is how Mexico really is and it is not meant to attract any tourists so there are no tourist things like resorts, or anything of that kind, but there are many hotels.
Another reason that I would recommend Durango, because it is affordable, and there are many places where you can buy a house or rent.
If you do move to Durango, I would recommend living in the center of the city, since it is beautiful and safe.
O yeah and there are many places in Durango like Chupaderos and Villa Del Oeste, where they filmed old western movies.
(I also want to recommend the whole state, since I love Durango).