This other Eden, this demi-paradise…

Clive Warner is an Englishman living in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon. His “Why I Love Mexico” appeared in 17 September The Telegraph (U.K.):

When you listen to the news media, you often hear phrases like “narco state”, and “failing”. There are also reports of an estimated 8,000 recent drug slayings and dissolvings (in acid), decapitations and kidnappings.

We don’t like it, but we regard it as a self-cleaning oven – except in one respect. Many police have been slaughtered by the syndicates, so it is not uncommon to come across retens while driving. These are chicanes manned by soldiers. There’s usually an armoured car nearby with a mounted and manned machine gun.

This expat, though, feels infinitely safer in Mexico than in London, or Manchester, or Liverpool, or many other major British cities. One thing I don’t miss is the British alcohol culture. In Monterrey, it is rare to see a drunk on the streets, and if a mess is made of the sidewalks in the nightclub district – the “Barrio Antiguo” – the newspaper, El Norte, is likely to get on the case fast.