Life is Good

Adjustment to living in Mexico has been reached.

I actually adjusted relatively soon after getting here, as I really enjoy the Mexican lifestyle. I wish I could be posting more, but my internet access is pretty darn limited. And since I have not been writing about things since the beginning, I feel like it might be confusing now. Luckily I have been able to connect to someone else's wireless at nighttime from my house, but it is a very bad connection, cuts me off a lot, makes fb chat difficult and slow, and likes to not save/post my posts (hm like right now!), or allow me to comment or update statuses.

I have only been here 13 days, and it some ways it feels like a lot more. Here is what I have observed thus far that makes living in Mexico easier than one would probably assume:

1. Mexicans love their ice cream. There are ice cream parlors on practically every block in Queretaro and Mexico City. Walking down the street at any given time, I'd say about 1 in every 8 groups of people are eating ice cream. Unforunately they are not blessed with knowing real fro yo or gelato yet, but their ice cream is still pretty darn amazing. And thanks to globalization at McDonald's ice cream cones are 7 pesos. That equals roughly .50 cents just fyi.


2. This is not a stereotype because it is actually true: a good majority of people who own dogs indeed have Chihuauas. My host family included. Walking around town I have seen a ridiculous amount of families with Chihuauas (Yo quiero Taco Bell?). It is sad though because there are a lot of stray dogs in the streets, especially in Bernal. And they are usually bigger sized dogs.


3. There is no concept of a personal bubble here. Your space is everyone elses space. This includes driving, as it is not uncommon to come to stops an inch away from the car in front of you, and make four driving lanes in a two lane area. Incredibly enough we have yet to see a car accident of any kind.

This also includes sitting insanely close to other groups of people at restaurants, meeting/greeting people by handshaking and kissing each other on the cheek, saying "Buenos dias", "Buenas tardes", and "Buenas noches", to everyone that you pass on the streets, and using a lot of body language when talking to others. it makes first meetings with people and situations in public much less awkward in my opinion.


4. They never kick you out of restuarants. They consider it rude to bring you the bill if you do not ask for it. So far, on two occassions we have stayed at a restaurant for 4+ hours after eating, just talking and doing homework and they could not care less. It makes for very nice eating experiences, and you get to know the servers and cooks pretty well (aka discounts the next time you come to eat :] )


5. Everyday is a party. Like actually. "The centro" translates into "downtown" in English, but the centro is SO much more. There are artisan vendors out everyday, bars and clubs are open and poppin' 7 nights a week, rallys, parades, Mexican heritage and culture events, live music of all kinds, random street shows, and pirate tours (long story)--these all happen every night!! It is absolutely wonderful, always something to do.

This brings me to

5a. The live music/music they play at clubs/music played on the streets? It is pretty much all a combination of Mexican music (new and old) and the randomist mix of music from the United States ever. Along with some top 40 music from the states like Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Hannah Montana, etc., Mexicans seem to love our oldies but goodies. I'm talking musicals like Grease, classic bands like Journey, ridiculous songs like from Titantic, some super outdated Top 40 like Spice Girls, oldies like "Brown Eyed Girl", the list goes on. The music anywhere is basically always a pleasant surprise.

and

5b. Women run this place. We get into every place for free, get a ton of things for cheaper/free, get talked to about the cool things to go to, etc. And we have observed it is really not just because we are American, it is the fact that we are woman. Women run the households too because they cook and food (like actually) = life here. I could get used to this . . . oh wait, I already have.


6. They do not believe in modernizing roads, and it's great. Cobblestone streets, the street signs on buildings so no poles on corners, and sidewalks only wide enough to fit one person at a time are how things should be. It makes the landscape so much prettier, like you are on a movie set! There are very few pedestrian walkways over highways, so we have all gotten very good at the "Run across the busy highway" game. It's pretty fun.


More to come!