Next to the cost of living and the climate, perhaps the best thing about winter in Mexico was the music. Competing mariachi bands roamed the town square in San Miguel on Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons, and for the equivalent of $11 Canadian, they'd play or sing a selection of your choice.

At fiesta time someone else pays the shot. For the cattlemen's reception one Sunday afternoon in Ajijic, an operatic-calibre tenor, seven violinists, a brass section and an accordionist - all decked out in festive garb we're familiar with from the movies - put on a performance that dazzled us stolid northerners.

Mexicans are in a festive mood from the Day of the Dead, in early November, to Mardi Gras, at the beginning of Lent. On the Day of the Dead people spruce up the monuments in their cemeteries and pay respects to their ancestors. This is followed by whole weeks of celebrating their War of Independence, their Revolution, the Virgin of Guadalupe, Christmas, New Year's, a gringo affair called a "Chili Cookoff, and finally carnival week.

Gringos and Mexicans mix freely and easily at these events, and at no time did we see any evidence of rancour or hostility. (Gringo, incidentally, is a term that applies only to Americans. It was first used during the SpanishAmerican War of 1898, when Mexicans reacted to the presence of U.S. soldiers in green uniforms by shouting "Greens, go!" Canadians just don't qualify.)

Mexican cowboy - Vaquero in Spanish - puts his horse through its paces for the crowd at a Chili Cookoff in Ajijic. I tried to figure out how such different cultures could mix so comfortably, especially when the members of one are so affluent, while those of the other are not.

One part of the answer undoubtedly lies in the civilizing influence of Mother Church on the host people; another in the fact that Mexicans are naturally friendly anyway, and react in kind to a smile and a nod or a "buenos dias." Hard as this is to believe, they are fundamentally unimpressed by your money, and even less so if it's flaunted in any way.

I suspect that our familiarity with each other also plays a part in the comfort level. Most of us go to the movies and watch television, and we learn about each other there. For example, many times, especially with Latin music playing in the background, I felt like I was on the set of a Clint Eastwood western. And as for the Mexicans, perhaps, like us, they enjoy watching a living, breathing stereotype, even if it happens to be crass or tiresome - and if truth be told we saw very little of that.

If all this seems too rosy a picture of what most of us think of as a poverty-stricken country, Mexico indeed has its shortcomings. Poor sanitation is one of them. Dangerous driving habits is another. Cobblestone streets is a third, and air that's occasionally laden with soot is a fourth.

Finding a clean public restroom is sometimes impossible, and garbage tossed on the side of the road is commonplace. To avoid Montezuma's Revenge, most people buy drinking water - about $1.30 for a 19-litre jug, delivered. Joyce always soaked fruits and vegetables in a disinfectant solution.

As for the roads, Mexican drivers have little respect for the solid line, and combined with the tirejarring potholes on many of the main highways, and narrow cobblestone streets in the towns and villages, you and your vehicle are always at risk. You must be on your toes at all times, and you never drive at night - you might hit someone's cow grazing along the highway! No joke.

As for crime, you'll have heard of the couple murdered in Cancun, and even we wondered about bandits until we got used to things. Now the idea seems absurd. It's not that bad things like a holdup can't happen, but it would be totally out of character with anything we saw.

I would say that if you know how to behave yourself, and take certain precautions - like getting car insurance with a rider guaranteeing legal help should you need it - you shouldn't run into anything worse than a pintsized highwayman raising a string in front of your vehicle while he holds a cup up to the window, should you wish to contribute a peso or two to who-knows-what.

On the whole, I would also say that if a Saturday afternoon in a Brampton mall is your idea of a good time, and you can't stand surroundings that aren't spic-and-span, you wouldn't be happy in Mexico.

But if you like the idea of a much lower cost of living, and a climate that encourages you to get out of the house instead of keeping you cooped up in it, then, as noted at the outset, Mexico is worth serious consideration.

If you decide to give it a try, you certainly won't lack for Canadian company.