Issue #3: Mérida Storm Day, Guanajuato Hammers, August Prices

What everyday life actually looks like.

Keba runs ordinary errands in Mérida (a print shop, then the seamstress). Rain gets heavier. Power dies while she is getting measured; phones become flashlights. Later a ride-hail car (Didi) stalls in floodwater and the driver has to push the car. A second ride gets her home. The apartment is dark again when she settles in. Not every day abroad is easy, she says. Patience, then bed.

This is one solo woman’s Yucatán weekday in weather and outages. It is not a crime report, and it is not a utility forecast. Watch “I Got Stuck During a Power Outage in Mexico! | Living Abroad Alone Vlog” on YouTube.

Alex Wittman walks to a ceramics class in Guadalajara, through Colonia Americana toward Casa Ceniza in Santa Tere. It is rainy season. Later hail falls so hard it sticks in the courtyard. Power drops briefly while floors dry. The next morning, a downed tree is part of the walk. A named café, El Terrible Juan in Providencia, shows up in the week.

This is inland rainy-season life, not a beach reel. The video description also points to Patreon and a free Move to Mexico Quickstart Guide PDF (commercial context, not the reason to watch). Personal experience only. Watch “what rainy season in Guadalajara REALLY looks like” on YouTube.

Silver Fox has lived full-time in Mexico for about four and a half years, in the Amealco / Querétaro orbit. He talks about why some people pack up after two or three years (money that worked on paper then drifts, paperwork that wears people down, loneliness inside the expat bubble, and language fatigue). Soft texture from one mature voice, not a day-in-life film and not a checklist of doom.

This is one person’s read of honest friction. It is not visa, healthcare, or safety advice. The video description also carries a vidIQ promo (commercial context). Watch “The 9 Real Reasons Expats Are Giving Up on Mexico” on YouTube.

Places, people, and experiences that widen the map.

San Juan de la Vega sits near Celaya in Guanajuato (Bajío inland, not Cancún or Tulum). Mexico News Daily published a first-person report on 12 September about the town’s explosive-sledgehammer tradition: homemade charges packed onto heavy hammers, slammed into the ground for San Juanito. People lose fingers, hands, and worse. Authorities have banned the explosives; the ritual continues anyway, sometimes pushed to the train tracks when police arrive.

This is a Guanajuato town most maps never show. It is not a visit tip, and it is not a thrill checklist. Witnessing the explosive sledgehammer ritual in San Juan de la Vega, Guanajuato.

On 12–13 September, Nayarit brought crafts, food, dance, and music to Complejo Cultural Los Pinos in Mexico City. Admission was free. The state showcase included Wixárika bead and yarn work (Ojos de Dios, nierikas), cook-fire dishes from San Blas and other towns, drinks such as tejuino, workshops, and traditional dance. Mexico’s Culture Ministry and the Nayarit government presented it as part of “Los Estados en Los Pinos.”

By issue day the weekend is over. What lands is Nayarit’s Pacific and Sierra culture in the capital, not a reason to move to Los Pinos. Nayarit en Los Pinos.

What life here really costs.

Onions again. Eggs again. Chile serrano and limes too. Mexico’s stats office (INEGI) published the full August consumer-price print on 9 September. The national price index sat at 145.462, up 0.20% from July and 3.26% over the year. Onions rose 32.70% in the month, chile serrano 19.61%, limes 11.17%, and eggs 8.91%. Small eateries (fondas and taquerías) nudged up 0.43%. Some items eased, including squash, avocado, chicken, tomato, and potatoes.

This is the national household basket, not an expat monthly budget. Figures as reported by El Universal’s packaging of INEGI’s August inflation release.

Mexico’s central bank posts an official peso-to-dollar exchange rate each business day. On Monday 7 September it was 16.9237 pesos per dollar. Through the week it printed 16.9202, 16.8947, 16.9722, and closed Friday 11 September at 16.9707. (12–13 September had no print.) The rate stayed under 17 all week. Compared with the prior Friday’s 16.8748, a dollar bought a few more pesos by week’s end (a modest soften, not a drama). That is the official reference rate, not what a bank window or a street booth will give you. Figures from the Bank of Mexico exchange-rate table.

The rules, decisions, and realities of making a move.

No big new rule change for visitor stays, residence visas, money proofs, entry forms, or fees showed up from Mexico’s immigration or foreign-affairs offices between 7 and 13 September. The paperwork week stayed quiet again (a third quiet week in a row). This is general information, not immigration advice.

What we're watching next.

Mexico’s Independence / Grito weekend falls on 15–16 September.

INEGI’s next first-half September consumer-price print is expected around 24 September.

The central bank’s next rate decision is also 24 September. The rate is still 6.50%.

Cervantino circuit events run late September into October; the main festival in Guanajuato capital follows in October.

Coverage: 7–13 September 2026. Issue date: 14 September 2026. This newsletter provides general information, not individualized visa, legal, financial, or medical advice.