Or so goes the song "For the Love of Money" by the O'Jays.
It is all about the money isn't it when you move to Mexico. You need money to get there and live there. But what "money" do you use. Many Americans may not think about this.
When moving to a popular tourist destination like Playa del Carmen, you really need to think about it. Most of your big living expenses like rent, utilities, groceries, etc will almost certainly need to be paid in pesos. Pesos are the Mexican currency, learn more about pesos here. They come in paper bill denominations of 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000. Coins come in of 5, 10, 20, and 50 cent (centavo) pieces; and 1, 5, 10, 20 peso pieces. To see pictures of all Mexican paper bills and coins, click here.
One of the first words we learned when we decided to visit Mexico was baño (bathroom). Let's face it, being in a foreign county and not knowing the most basic words is a real challenge. We know what you're thinking...learn the basics like hello, goodbye, thank you, etc. Nope, that's not what we wanted to learn. We wanted to learn how to read, recognize and say the word BATHROOM in Spanish. So between our Spanish/English dictionary and the Spanish websites we frequented, we learned the word baño.
So we are moving to Mexico in just over a month...with all the research and preparations, learning a new language seems to have slipped through the cracks. However, it's never to late to get started. A plus for us is
that in Playa del Carmen, in the heart of tourist-heavy Riviera Maya, most locals understand at least a little English; and some can communicate in
English quite well.
