Compare and Contrast

One can't help but to compare and contrast life between the USA and Mexico. Of course you know that there are big differences in the cultures, but sometimes it is the little things that are interesting and that make you realize just how different life really is. In no particular order...

Mexican walk. They walk everywhere. They are used to walking. With the exception of New York and a few other big cities in the USA, people don't walk anymore. They hop into their cars and drive. Mexicans think nothing of walking a mile or more to the grocery store and then walk home carrying several bags of groceries.

Two on a bike. Remember when you were a kid and rode 2 on a bike? Kids ride 2 on a bike here and have fun. If they fall off, they get hurt on the cobblestone streets. They know that and keep riding! Very few kids on bikes or adults on motorcycles wear helmets. Although I think there must be as law for motorcycle helmets because I do see many riders with a helmet hanging off the cycle.

Four wheelers driving on the city streets. When I was staying in the hotel, the young people on 4 wheelers were everywhere but I do not see them downtown so perhaps the area where my hotel was, may be their special place to ride. I just never see 4 wheelers on streets at home.

People ride the bus. This may not be too unusual in the USA, but here, people go to work on the bus, they go on dates on the bus, they go to school on the (city) bus, if they are not walking, they ride the bus.

And while I am on the subject of the buses, I must say that I have shared my bus rides with a weed whacker, 2 buckets of plaster, surf boards, a person praying very loudly, guitar players, a parrot and several dogs. Everyone is welcome on the bus! Men with guitars hop aboard the bus, free, and play and sing songs, and then ask for pesos, and get off in a couple blocks. Sometimes the people on the bus applaud but I am not sure if they are applauding because they like the music or because he stopped singing. Some singers are pretty bad!! Bus drivers talk on their cellphones or carry on a conversation with a friend riding on the bus. Once the bus stopped at a tire place and had air put into the tires. (Frankly, I am happy when I know the brakes on the bus are working!!)

People ride in the back of the pick-up trucks. Children, adults, I even saw a couple with a child in a stroller in the back of a truck. Car seats are few and far between. Kids ride in the front seat and even hang out of the car windows.

A restaurant named: "El Negro" with a caricature picture of a black man on the sign.

Food handlers not wearing gloves. In the grocery stores, workers wear masks over their mouths but not their noses when they work at the deli counter. At the school, even though they feed several hundred people a day, there is no dishwasher. A woman washes the dishes under running water ( I wonder if it is hot water??) and stacks them on a drain board.

They pay in cash. I don't see much use of credit cards by the Mexican people and many, many places do not accept credit cards.

If you are handicapped, don't come to PV. Very few stairs have handrails, often the sidewalks are slanted (there goes the wheelchair into the street!!) and heaven help the person who walks slowly and wants to cross the street. There are no crosswalks and one needs to sprint across the street when there is a break in the traffic. Pedestrians do not have the right-away in Mexico (although occasionally I do see a sign that says "Respect the Pedestrian").

Many, many people carry backpacks. I guess if you walk, it is easier to carry things in a backpack. The mochilla (backpack) business is booming!

Mexicans do without so many things and they save everything. You never know when you may need a plastic bag or a piece of aluminum foil. Most of my students bring their lunch and if they have a sandwich or a quesadilla, it is usually wrapped in a paper napkin; but if they have aluminum foil, they fold it up and take it home.

When you buy something I am always amazed that the store clerk seems to have a plastic bag that exactly fits the object you purchased. The grocery stores have small, medium and larger plastic bags and you do not get a size larger than you need.
The baggers in the grocery stores are very old people or often young children, 12, 13, 14 years old. Many people tip the bagger. I wonder if they work for tips or if they get a salary. There is no pushing the cart out to the car for you in PV!

There are cars and trucks that are fitted with loud speaker systems and drive through the neighborhood playing VERY LOUD music and/or speaking VERY FAST, unintelligible words, trying to sell something. They drive at all hours. I have heard them as early as 6:30 am and as late as 10 pm. Laws in the USA prevent this from occurring there, thank goodness.

People in PV do not respect the rights of others. They often appear to be selfish and think only of themselves, i.e. the loud music and speaker systems. Also I am really appalled at the lack of concern for the environment. They throw trash on the streets and out of car windows. There are not many trashcans available. A taxi driver told me that a new law went into effect on August 1 saying that there is a fine for throwing trash on the streets but I am sure no one is ever ticketed for that. They have a beautiful country but it is blighted by all the basura (trash and garbage) thrown everywhere. I remember back in the 1950s when the litter laws took effect in the US and people became aware of littering. Unfortunately the Mexicans are still in the 1950s when it comes to littering.

People stand in line everywhere and seem to have the patience of Job. At home, if there are 4 people in a line at the grocery store, we expect that they will open a new lane. I went into a bank and the line was so long that I could not physically get into the door. I had to go to the phone company to pay my phone bill (with cash--they don't accept credit cards!!) I waited in line for 35 minutes. If you go to Walmart on a Sunday afternoon, the check-out lines are so long it may be Monday morning before you are out of the store!! (I made that mistake only once!)

Bicycles made into a cart so the rider can sell things. There is a young girl who comes in my neighborhood almost every day, with her bike-cart, calling out "Elotes, elotes". Elotes is corn-on-the cob with mayonnaise and chile on it. (P.S. You never buy anything from a bike-cart if you want to remain healthy!!)

Security guards in stores are very obvious. Grocery stores as well as regular stores have uniformed guards at the doors. If you go into a store carrying a bottle of water, they put a stamp on it and if you have a bag, there is a place to check bags and, by golly, you check it! Banks have security guards WITH GUNS inside and outside.

These are just a few of the day to day observations that make life here different and interesting. Some things are ok, some, not so ok, and some are just different!

Hasta luego.