Best Of Mexico
Puerto Vallarta
Live & Retire in Mexico

I'm departing Sacramento to move permanently to Punta Mita. Thanks for your sage advice and help in the past. I'm looking forward to finally being "there". It seems like I've been straddling the fence now for a year with one leg here and one there........I'm ready...

I have some questions, and my neighbors in Mita have been more than generous in sharing information, but they are "high maintenance" retirees and will only settle for "the best". I am less chauvinistic and am definitely budget minded. so.......

1): Recommendations on where to shop for furniture? I saw your furniture in the Villa Hadley House, and it is much like I would choose. I'll need a couple of armoires too (I forgot to draw closets in my house plans........go figure, I was in a hurry and now can only laugh). I'd like to finish the armoires myself with a painted finish rather than dark stain, so if you can think of a place that might be able to accommodate me, please pass it along.

2): I'm going to need a car. I'd like a used vw beetle. Any recommendations on where to look?

3): I'm learning spanish, and helping a woman in my village tutor the smaller children in English, so I hope to become fluent within the year. Still, I'd like to get an english language paper from time to time. Is that possible in PV?

Thanks again for your assistance.
Susan

Robert

Hi Susan.

1): There is a rustic furniture factory and factory outlet in downtown Pitillal. They will sell it finished or unfinished I believe. Or customize the finish. That might be just the place for you to check.

2): All the supermarket bulletin boards have Beetles for sale from time to time. Also, the bulletin boards at the two Lloyd branches. (I told you about Lloyd financial services in a prior e-mail.) There are also a couple of used car lots near PV centro that often have Beetles. One is across the highway from the original Lloyd; another is across the street from the main waterworks (Seapal).

The VW dealership in PV has used bugs too. Mostly later models though.

Just driving around PV neighborhoods I see lots of bugs with For Sale signs in the windows.

3): There are two English-language papers that are locally produced in PV. One is a weekly, the PV Tribune. The other is a daily, called Vallarta Today. Much better is the weekly Guadalajara Colony Reporter, which has a PV section. It's a serious newspaper and much more professional. Many newsstands in PV carry it.

Of course, USA Today is always available. Some places even carry the New York Times Sunday Edition, The Vancouver Sun, etc. etc. But these are usually two or three days behind and go for several bucks each.

There is a beautiful, expansive new library in PV now, on the old road that connects PV to Pitillal, and they have a nice English-language section, plus quite a few magazines and newspapers. Great place to while away an afternoon under slow ceiling fans. They used to have an ongoing English-book sale, and I've found some classics there for just a few pesos each. There is everything in the pile from great literature to the usual popular stuff.

Lastly, there are several sidewalk coffee shops/cyber cafes scattered around old town (especially the Olas Altas area of Southside) that have book exchanges/sales. "Page In the Sun", across the street from the old Playa Los Arcos hotel, has a good selection and some the best people watching in PV.

Robert Foster