How Skype Can Prepare You Now for Life in Mexico Later
Updated January 2022
Use Skype to experience any culture you in which you are interested.
Do you want to explore the culture of Mexico, or perhaps another foreign retirement destination, but can’t travel there yet? You don’t need to be anywhere other than where you are to connect to the world you want to live in. This week you can explore Mexico, or any country for that matter in a first-hand way. You can learn all about the lives and get opinions of the people who live there, directly from the people who live there, whether your dream is Mexico City or Tuscany.
You will learn more about that given country than your friends will even if they have spent thousands of dollars on trips. You will speak a second language more than than they will even if they are sitting in a restaurant in that country right now.
At least three times a week I have 60-90 minute Spanish/English language exchange sessions with people who live in Barcelona, Seville, Valencia and Madrid, Spain. During these exchanges, I learn more about their country and their beliefs than I ever did on any of my three trips my trips to Spain, where I was lucky if I even shared a meal with a Spaniard. Some weeks I speak more Spanish with them online than I do living in Mexico (I practice with Spaniards because of the time difference. I need to practice in the mornings, when Mexicans usually are working).
That more people don’t take advantage of the wonderful relationships you can establish via Skype language exchange websites astounds me. These friendships got me through the pandemic and continue today as a critical social outlet. As a single person, I know that every day I’ll have at least one conversation with an interesting person, and friend.
International friendships, just like college
I have been practicing Spanish with the same four people in Spain for over four years and have had numerous fascinating Skype conversations with people from throughout Latin America during the same period at intervals. What I’ve learned from these exchanges goes far beyond any trip I’ve ever taken. All of my Spanish practice partners have invited me to visit, one even offering access to a second home in Valencia for a month.
These conversations grew out of relationships facilitated by a self-imposed “mandatory” once-a-day Spanish exchange schedule. In the same way you make friends at work because of the regularity of your interaction, you become friends as well as study partners by having a consistent schedule. One hour per week has culminated into more time with exchange partners than spent in person with my regular friends.
It’s more interesting to learn about a country from the people who live there.
One friend and practice partner, Lourdes. is a vivacious single woman living in Seville with her 6’4’ son (They didn’t make them that tall when I lived there in the 80’s. She agreed it was a relatively new phenomenon). We dish on men and dating. I learned the attraction of Irish men. She learned about Tinder (She was shocked.). These conversations have updated my knowledge of Spain. I have learned that Spanish women have come a long way since my days in Valencia as a college student. Lourdes taught me about Spanish kings and queens….and a pretty racy lot they were, too.
On the other end of the spectrum, my practice partner from Seville is a singer, graphic artist and psychologist with three children, who grew up with parents who lived under Franco’s dictatorship. Her freedom in the free-wheeling post-Franco years was difficult for her parents to get used to, much like the American sixties.
Spanish practice partners can give you an outside perspective on politics we never get from our media. One explained to me that in Spain, the government pays for the fruits and vegetables in schools lunches and the parents pay for the rest of the lunch, the chips and carbs. Many a conversation has left me wondering why America has no interest in how other countries have solved these problems. None of these conversations could I have experienced at home.
Easter celebration in Sevilla, Spain
Another practice-partner friend Javier lives in Pamplona. We talk about politics and existential subject, made more interesting because he is an atheist (a Spanish atheist!).
When the conversation turned to our own populist, he helped me understand populist movements by describing a conversation he’d had with an old friend of his, a nationalist Basque.
We like to share what’s going on in technology, which does tend to happen in the U.S. first. I cut and paste the most vivid paragraphs of stories about virtual reality, bots, or things related to the evolution of sharing services.
Unlike ever before, with web-cam services like Skype and Zoom, people of any age, income or even health status can explore what life is like in other countries from the perspective of people living there. You will be surprised how many misconceptions you have, probably based on something you read or an experience you had in that country a decade ago. Your second language skills will improve immensely of course, but the benefits go far beyond that as you make friends and explore the culture that interests you.
There are many websites for finding language exchange partners. Here are the best sites for finding a language exchange partner if you are over 40.
Too nervous about approaching potential practice partners online? If a shy housewife in Seville can, so can you.
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About the author:
Hola, I am a partner with Ventanas Mexico which provides insight and resources to people considering expat life in Mexico, and recently wrote "If Only I had a Place" on renting luxuriously in Mexico. Renting in Mexico is different.
Set up for your expat life right by learning the cultural implications of renting in Mexico. Book includes listing of rental concierges to help you confirm what you're getting is as represented. My third book is “The Mexico Solution: Saving your money, sanity, and quality of life through part-time life in Mexico.” Most recently I co-authored, The Lazy Expat: Healthy Recipes That Translate in Mexico, a cookbook for travelers, expats and snowbirds to Mexico.