About living in Cuernavaca

I was in Cuernavaca for five months during the spring 2015. I very much enjoyed my stay here. I lived in the Avenidad Universidad which is the street going from the University. Living at walking distance to the University spares you from taking the crowded busses in the morning. However the apartments seems to be a bit more expensive closer to the university compared to some other areas. But still cheap in relation to swedish housing prices.

I was told the living costs in Cuernavaca is about half the price than in Sweden before I went there. This is true for some things, but if you want to live as cheap as possible you should be able to lower the costs much, much more. Of course depending on the amount of money usually spent in Sweden. For an example if you want to get a meal and if you go to a smaller place or buying food on the street you can find it very cheap

There are some negative things about Mexico and especially with Cuernavaca which is very important to think about before going. The crime level of Cuernavaca is amongst the highest in whole Mexico. In some areas you are not safe at all no matter the time of the day. These areas can be just a street apart from the one you usually go on. It is very difficult to know. In more or less all areas of Cuernavaca you are not safe walking in the night at all, even if it is a very short walk. There are people roaming around looking for possible victims. If you do not look mexican, they are going to assume you are rich (rich enough compared to other general people walking the streets) and that alone makes it dangerous. It is very different compared to in Sweden where you can pass by in the streets more or less unnoticed. If you plan to go to Mexico you need to think carefully and be prepared for these things. Mexico city is a little bit better as there lives a lot of non-mexicans there which also moves around on the streets which is not so frequent in Cuernavaca.

Another feature with Cuernavaca is that the streets are very often dead ends. There are main streets (for instance the Avenida Universidad) which has a lot of crossing streets but more or less all these are dead ends. This makes it very convenient for people to patrol the main streets looking for victims.

If you plan to live in Cuernavaca and thinking you want to learn spanish, I can not advise you to take the spanish lessons at the language centre in UAEM. The spanish teacher is famously bad. With lacking pedagogical skills the result is that the classes are simply not good enough. I think you would learn quicker and better totally on your own.

Mexico has much to offer. First impression is beautiful scenes, hot weather and friendly people.

The hot weather of Cuernavaca will find it’s way into the office also. Mexican office-standard for students is sharing one square meter with two other people, four computers and 19 various electronic devices which of noone creates cool air.. The only thing I use is the small laptop in the middle of the desk.

However when you get tired of the heat and overcrowded office in Cuernavaca, there are beautiful places to see. The city of Taxco is a couple of hours away..

Or to Mexico city just a short bus trip 1-2 hours (depending on the traffic) away..

Yes, for the sharp eyed people, it is a couple of construction workers on the edge of the 20th floor. If the oppertunity comes one should also check out the archeological sites of teotihuacan a bit outside Mexico city..

.. and Chichén Itzá in Yucatán which is located in the east parts of Mexico. Here you will find so many ruins that even very large constuctions may go by unnoticed..

As a last tip, if you have serious arachnophobia, deal with it before coming to Mexico and for these people I leave the pic of my lovely house guest small…

Cheers

Henrik