# Things you love & hate about Mexico



## bloomfieldtj

There is an interesting post on the Spain forum of this website, where people have listed what they love/hate about Spain. 

Would be interested to know what people love/hate about Mexico. We lived in Mexico City for a couple of years and I loved and hated it in equal measure, although my husband just loved it and was sad to leave!!

Just for a laugh, what would your love and hate bullet points be ?!


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## Rodrigo84

Speaking for my cousin who lived in Mexico City for 6 years, he absolutely hated this rule, Hoy No Circula - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and in the end it was one of the big reasons he left when it got more restrictive and he wouldn't be able to make his morning commute.

Would have to say he enjoyed going with us and family to neighboring states like Michoacan and Guerrero, and always mentioned to me that he wouldn't have to hear anything about American politics, only Mexican politics, which was just fine with him.


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## RVGRINGO

I love waking up each morning to cool fresh air and sunshine beginning to stream through the windows of the bedroom cupola as the church bells strike 7:30 AM. Never needing a raincoat, overcoat, gloves or more than a straw hat for the sun are among other pleasures. Seeing children playing in the street or at the town plaza, older ones looking after toddlers as mother works a stand or a shop, Sundays with young men on horseback trying to impress the girls, other days with the normal liveliness of life in the village, ritual greetings and smiles for neighbors, daily handshakes with friends, great food at very reasonable prices, nine day fiestas which seem to occur every ten days somewhere in the area; and the list goes on and on and on.


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## ROKZY

I love the warm friendlyness of the locals as well as their strong family bonds... Something I miss in the states.


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## OregonMike

RVGRINGO said:


> I love waking up each morning to cool fresh air and sunshine beginning to stream through the windows of the bedroom cupola as the church bells strike 7:30 AM. Never needing a raincoat, overcoat, gloves or more than a straw hat for the sun are among other pleasures. Seeing children playing in the street or at the town plaza, older ones looking after toddlers as mother works a stand or a shop, Sundays with young men on horseback trying to impress the girls, other days with the normal liveliness of life in the village, ritual greetings and smiles for neighbors, daily handshakes with friends, great food at very reasonable prices, nine day fiestas which seem to occur every ten days somewhere in the area; and the list goes on and on and on.


Love your description, RVG


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## chicois8

It took 5 years to tell Ringo that........


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## Isla Verde

chicois8 said:


> It took 5 years to tell Ringo that........


Well, this is a four-year-old thread, but it's one worthy reviving, I think.


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## GARYJ65

Rodrigo84 said:


> Speaking for my cousin who lived in Mexico City for 6 years, he absolutely hated this rule, Hoy No Circula - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and in the end it was one of the big reasons he left when it got more restrictive and he wouldn't be able to make his morning commute.
> 
> Would have to say he enjoyed going with us and family to neighboring states like Michoacan and Guerrero, and always mentioned to me that he wouldn't have to hear anything about American politics, only Mexican politics, which was just fine with him.


I also hate HOY NO CIRCULA
It is a plain stupid program

If the objective is that a car do not pollute, it has nothing to do with its age, what if I have a brand new engine, or an electric one, or one that is in very good shape, but, if my car is an older one, it cannot work one day a week and one saturday per month.
That is idiotic, but most idiotic is for my chilango friends ( I'm a chilango myself) for not complaining about it


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## Heyduke

There is nothing I dislike but barking dogs.


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## AlanMexicali

Heyduke said:


> There is nothing I dislike but barking dogs.


Barking dogs are annoying and the rudeness and inconsiderate driving habits of some people here. Trying to cut into line at the clinic used to annoy me until I figured out the system of first come first served there. 

Other than that I wish some homeowners would keep their sidewalks in decent repair and raise their advertising banners a foot or two higher above the sidewalk and people would park so I can easily walk around their illegally parked vehicles.

Yesterday in El Centro my wife parked illegally and ran into a store and I was waiting for her and a lady who had to wait 1 minute for another guy to move his car in the middle of the street drove past me and called me a "baboso".


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## citlali

What drives me crazy is that people hate to say no so they will tell you a white lie rather say no.
Same when asking for directions, people will send you in the wrong direction rather than say, I do not know.. I hate the word no problem, do not worry and that is exactly when I start worrying.
Also hate the way the workers will say they are coming that day in the morning and do not show up, show up another day and will tell you, I came but you were not in.,,


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## Hound Dog

OK, OK, this is about what one loves or hates about Mexico and, while I do not hate this, I must say that there is a tendency, primarily among indigenous people, in Chiapas to rudely bump into or brush past one with bodily contact delivered in a manner that in most places Dawg has lived would be considered a personal affront but in Chiapas, no one everand I mean EVER says something akin to " Excuse me." or "Sorry" or "Pardon me" . I think it is beauuse many people there grow up in crowded conditions in small homes and were so used to brushing into others constantly that the notion of begging pardon for having done so became superficial.

On the other hand, we lived for years adjacent to Chinatown in San Francisco and among the Chinese residents of that district, it was commonplace to run into or brush by others making inadvertent contact and never apologizing for the affront.

Must be an Asian thing.


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## AlanMexicali

Hound Dog said:


> OK, OK, this is about what one loves or hates about Mexico and, while I do not hate this, I must say that there is a tendency, primarily among indigenous people, in Chiapas to rudely bump into or brush past one with bodily contact delivered in a manner that in most places Dawg has lived would be considered a personal affront but in Chiapas, no one everand I mean EVER says something akin to " Excuse me." or "Sorry" or "Pardon me" . I think it is beauuse many people there grow up in crowded conditions in small homes and were so used to brushing into others constantly that the notion of begging pardon for having done so became superficial.
> 
> On the other hand, we lived for years adjacent to Chinatown in San Francisco and among the Chinese residents of that district, it was commonplace to run into or brush by others making inadvertent contact and never apologizing for the affront.
> 
> Must be an Asian thing.


The Asian thing of constantly spitting on the sidewalk is a bit rude in the US. Here brushing up against someone is always answered with a sorry and sometimes both of us do it. It seems to happen a lot with the women and their huge purses in crowded places bumping my butt. I sometimes wonder if they don´t know how much room they take up especially the larger women or if they do don´t care to wait a second or two. 

Impatient people seem to be a norm, at least in San Luis Potosi. I get bumped a lot.


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## citlali

duplicate


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## ElPaso2012

Is it possible to love and hate corruption at the same time? If you haven't done anything, it's a real pain to have to give a cop $30 so he will leave you in peace. If you have just accidentally run a stop sign in a residential neighborhood, well, it's a bargain...


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## DebMer

I love the food, the warm hospitality, the vivaciousness, the sense of humor, the language.

I hate getting attention from males in the street.


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## Hound Dog

_


ElPaso2012 said:



Is it possible to love and hate corruption at the same time? If you haven't done anything, it's a real pain to have to give a cop $30 so he will leave you in peace. If you have just accidentally run a stop sign in a residential neighborhood, well, it's a bargain...

Click to expand...

_If I have committed a truly serious traffic infraction, I would a hell of a lot rather be in Mexico than California or France. Especially France where they can be very serious about these things. Consider yourself lucky to live here.

Want to lose your license and pay huge fines and then go to a very stern and quite serious traffic school for a while to get it back? Have that extra glass of wine in France. The most expensive glass of wine you will have ever drunk.


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## conklinwh

Love and hate are strong words that really seem to be replacing whether something meets your personal expectations or not. My experience is that 80-90% of what happens is within expectation and for the other 10-20% I just say that this is Mexico and proceed with altered expectations.
Something I do really hate is ****** gripe sessions. If you wanted to be in the US, leave, but don't expect that Mexico will change for you.

I've mentioned before the book "Mexico Behind the Mask" that very well gives an historical basis for a lot of what we see as different or gripe about.


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## Heyduke

I agree with conklinnwh that if you find things to complain about here in Mexico maybe you should go back to the states where you will find some serious s--t to complain about. I just told a women this today because all she does is complain. Today it was no water pressure. I said no one has water pressure so why should you. Many have no water. I love Mexico and the people who live here. Thats why I moved here. Mexico has a soul.


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## GARYJ65

ElPaso2012 said:


> Is it possible to love and hate corruption at the same time? If you haven't done anything, it's a real pain to have to give a cop $30 so he will leave you in peace. If you have just accidentally run a stop sign in a residential neighborhood, well, it's a bargain...


If I haven't done anything, the hell I pay nothing to no one
If I did something, and get caught, I asume my responsibility and pay the fine, this works for Mexico and anywhere in the world

Unless the cop is harassing me, demanding me to give him money no matter what, in which case it is a plain and simple robbery performed by a cop. Can happen everywhere as well


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## ElPaso2012

conklinwh said:


> Love and hate are strong words that really seem to be replacing whether something meets your personal expectations or not. My experience is that 80-90% of what happens is within expectation and for the other 10-20% I just say that this is Mexico and proceed with altered expectations.
> Something I do really hate is ****** gripe sessions. If you wanted to be in the US, leave, but don't expect that Mexico will change for you.
> 
> I've mentioned before the book "Mexico Behind the Mask" that very well gives an historical basis for a lot of what we see as different or gripe about.


That looks like a really good book, judging from the table of contents and the description as well as some of the reviews --- so much so I just bought the ebook on Google Play and look forward to settling into it as soon as time permits. 

Your comment about the "****** gripe" sessions resonates strongly. When I first became enamored with Mexico in 2002 I quickly discovered that I was much happier exploring the country on my own versus in the company of other Americans. When I crossed the border every sense came alive with the excitement of experiencing the newness of it all to me. If I brought someone along, even someone from here in El Paso, I had to spend entirely too much time fending off a never ending stream of negative observations and comments. I also got a different reception from the Mexican people when in the company of a griper. People are going to sense it when you think you are better, or come from a better place than they do. Plus, it's just a pain to deal with. We have another whole culture, another whole world full of as many good things as bad to explore. That seems like something to be grateful for to me, and I can't see how the Mexican people as a whole could be working any harder to make us feel welcome. 

Take the language issue, for instance. Almost anyone not too busy working will try to help you out no matter how poor is your Spanish. Just the other day I had an elderly man in Juarez take me under his wing on the bus to make sure I got off at the right stop to make a connection to get to Walmart. The woman at the immigration office was a paragon of patience in assisting me with my application. She even called over a clerk who spoke English for me. I've had the same experience getting electrical service, cable internet, and in conducting other rather complicated applications. If you have the will to keep things upbeat these people will keep trying to help you. 

Accepting things _as is is the only way to deal with Mexico. To me, the people are interesting. They are very direct and quick to find reasons to like you instead of the opposite. 

Now I can finally move there, and I can't wait. Maybe this time I'll finally break the conversational barrier with my Spanish._


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## gringotim

Heyduke said:


> There is nothing I dislike but barking dogs.


The one thing worse than barking Mexican dogs, is yappy, expat owned, lap dogs, or as I call them Yap dogs, especially when the owner doesn't think, or care that their 
dog(s) annoy everyone within earshot, so they make NO effort to keep them quite. :noidea:


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## makaloco

gringotim said:


> The one thing worse than barking Mexican dogs, is yappy, expat owned, lap dogs, or as I call them Yap dogs, especially when the owner doesn't think, or care that their dog(s) annoy everyone within earshot, so they make NO effort to keep them quite. :noidea:


A friend of mine refers to those dogs as "barking cats". My neighbors (Mexican) across the street have two Chihuahuas that yap at anything and nothing, day and night. What bothers me more, though, are people whose visitors park in front of my house and leave the car stereo blasting when I'm trying to read or take a nap. Then they all stand on the sidewalk and shout in order to hear each other over the music. Argh!

Something I love about Mexico that hasn't been mentioned is how colorful everything is ... homes, shops, plants, clothing, even some trucks and boats. At first it startled me to see (say) a bright blue house next to a pink house next to a purple house next to a green and yellow mini-mart, but now it feels like home.


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## GARYJ65

gringotim said:


> The one thing worse than barking Mexican dogs, is yappy, expat owned, lap dogs, or as I call them Yap dogs, especially when the owner doesn't think, or care that their
> dog(s) annoy everyone within earshot, so they make NO effort to keep them quite. :noidea:


Is that a Mexican problem?
I thought it would happen everywhere
By the way, how do you know that the dogs are Mexican?


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## Isla Verde

GARYJ65 said:


> Is that a Mexican problem?
> I thought it would happen everywhere
> By the way, how do you know that the dogs are Mexican?


Because they bark in Spanish, of course!


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## GARYJ65

Isla Verde said:


> Because they bark in Spanish, of course!


You are right!

It's like roosters! How do they crow in English?


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## Isla Verde

GARYJ65 said:


> You are right!
> 
> It's like roosters! How do they crow in English?


Cock-a-doodle-doo!


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## GARYJ65

Isla Verde said:


> Cock-a-doodle-doo!


See?????

Mexican roosters go: kikiriki!


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## citlali

Whre do their German accent come from? The French ones go cocorico!


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## chicaperdida

gringotim said:


> The one thing worse than barking Mexican dogs, is yappy, expat owned, lap dogs, or as I call them Yap dogs, especially when the owner doesn't think, or care that their
> dog(s) annoy everyone within earshot, so they make NO effort to keep them quite. :noidea:


This sounds like a plus to me. Apparently I am alone in this.:noidea: Granted, I am polite and prevent my three dogs from barking at unreasonable hours. However, I look forward to not having to stress about noise pollution laws in my own gosh darned home when I finally make the move to Mexico.


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## citlali

well I do not know the difference between Mexican and expat dogs, my neighbors are Mexicans and have 5 yappy Chihuahuas, I could swear the yaps come from Mexican yappy dogs..They wake me up every morning and so do the fighting roosters kept on the roofs , they just take turn at different time of the night and morning. I can say that roosters make racket in the middle of the night, I do not know if it s because they see the street lights or if they are screwed up but these roosters crow in the middle of the night as well as during the day. They are noisier at dawn but they are not picky about the time they will make racket any time they feel like it. One good thing is that they are used for cock fights so they do not last very long and we get a break between the old and new roosters.


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## RVGRINGO

Hmmm. What happened to that burro that brayed at 6:30 AM; I have not heard it for a while?
May have gone to Japan as an exotic dish. Who knows?


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## Longford

citlali said:


> well I do not know the difference between Mexican and expat dogs, my neighbors are Mexicans and have 5 yappy Chihuahuas, I could swear the yaps come from Mexican yappy dogs..They wake me up every morning and so do the fighting roosters kept on the roofs , they just take turn at different time of the night and morning. I can say that roosters make racket in the middle of the night, I do not know if it s because they see the street lights or if they are screwed up but these roosters crow in the middle of the night as well as during the day. They are noisier at dawn but they are not picky about the time they will make racket any time they feel like it. One good thing is that they are used for cock fights so they do not last very long and we get a break between the old and new roosters.


I've spent a lot of time in San Miguel de Allende over the years, and two of the most annoying things, overnight, are the church bells and the barking "roof" dogs. Friends I'd stay with when I visited ... I no longer stay with, because the dogs/bells are just too obnoxiously present where they live in town. Then there are the occassional roosters, which, as you correctly note, crow whenever it suits them ... not just at sunrise (which we learned about by watching a Hollywood-made movie).


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## Isla Verde

The answer to ambient noise in Mexico is earplugs!


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## GARYJ65

Isla Verde said:


> The answer to ambient noise in Mexico is earplugs!


I don't think they are serious about barking dogs and Church bells
Those are not "Mexican issues" that are to be avoided when in this Country


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## Isla Verde

GARYJ65 said:


> I don't think they are serious about barking dogs and Church bells
> Those are not "Mexican issues" that are to be avoided when in this Country


They are when you're trying to get a good night's sleep!


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## citlali

noise at night is a human issue and you get more noise in Mexico. I forgot the bells, the fireworks that actually explode tiles on the roof. Every year I have to replace tiles that have been busted by the firecrakers, that noise actually cost me money. The cold tiles break when the heat of the firecraker fall on them. I live one block from the church. Another I forgot are the cars parking on the street in front of my bedroom and basting music or the live serenade or mariachi music coming from the street when a baby is born. I live next to a clinic and the father or family send musicians to serenade the baby and the mother after the baby is born and I particularly love the babies born between midnight and 6 in the morning. The first time it happened , the trumpet player was right outside the window and I almost fell out of bed. They play for 20 minutes and then go, just enough time to have you fully awake in a mood for partying and pouf they disappear.


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## Longford

citlali said:


> the first time it happened , the trumpet player was right outside the window and i almost fell out of bed. They play for 20 minutes and then go, just enough time to have you fully awake in a mood for partying and pouf they disappear.


lol!


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## AlanMexicali

citlali said:


> The first time it happened , the trumpet player was right outside the window and I almost fell out of bed. They play for 20 minutes and then go, just enough time to have you fully awake in a mood for partying and pouf they disappear.


At least they had a good reason to blast the trumpet. 

For years there has been these two rough looking guys that come along in front of this nice long time retired lady´s house in Mexicali. They have a snare drum and trumpet and stand in front of her driveway at 10:30 PM at least about once a week and blast a horrible out of key and a loud tinny drum beat. The same horrible beat, not music at all, sounds like a dog being tortured, until she comes out with money to get them to go away. Extortionists in my opinion and I live 6 doors down, which helps. It usually lasts 5 minutes but as long as 20 minutes. I presume she is sleeping at 10:30. 

I mentioned this to a neighbor back then when it started and he said never pay them to go away or your house will be included.


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## Hound Dog

Actually, Longford and Alan, since Citlali is my darlin wife and we live together in San Cristóbal de Las Casas for a few months each year, I must tell you that the noise she is complaining about occurs in San Cristóbal and not at Lake Chapala and I believe her complaint to have been issued in good humor. Yes, we have a home adjacent to a "midwifery" clinic in San Cristóbal catering to indigenous women who do not trust the terrible local hospitals when it comes to child delivery or probably anything else. The indigenous women in Chiapas do not give birth in the same manner as in some other cultures in that they position themselves differently at the moment of the birth of their infants and the delivery method applied by the "midwife" is dissimilar to methods familiar to many other cultures. For that and, perhaps, other cultural reasons, the indigenous women whose families live in San Cristóbal or the many indigenous enclaves surrounding San Cristóbal, prefer to give birth in a clinic understanding their values and staffed by their own kind who appreciate their values versus the dreadful hospitals available in San Cristóbal to most of the residents of the Jovel Valley and surrounding mountains. Both Citlali and I find the historic cultural phenomenon of serenading the mother and her new-born child for about 20 minutes with quite beautiful music no matter what time of day or night to be an exceptionally charming tradition and the music can be quite enticing.

Now, as to the firecracker hulls falling on our roof and breaking our roof tiles - since we live within a block of the barrio plazza where there is almost always a reason to celebrate and shoot off fireworks - that really does become tiresome to say nothing of expensive for us but we don´t dwell on it. It beats living in Detroit where bullets may be what are falling on your roof or, for that matter, your head.


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## Marishka

Isla Verde said:


> The answer to ambient noise in Mexico is earplugs!


I posted a link here to a _New York Times_ article about some pretty snazzy noise-cancelling gadgets.

This conversation about noise reminds me of something I read in one of my favorite move-to-Mexico books, _Head For Mexico: The Renegade Guide_, by Don Adams:


> One day we were cruising around Jocotepec when we saw two gingas out walking their dogs. I pulled over and asked if they knew of any houses for rent.
> 
> "Oh God" the older one said, "I hope you're not thinking of moving here. There are nine churches in town and the bells ring constantly. And each one has its own saint and festivals. Firecrackers go off all year round. Music plays all night long. It's a living hell."
> 
> She'd just described some of the reasons I moved to Mexico. Festivals, music, noise. That also means all sorts of parades and entertainment, food drink, fun. And multiple opportunities to learn about the customs and the cultures of the area--and to meet the people. It sounded like a living heaven.
> 
> I've lived within two blocks of four different churches here. The bells are comforting and reassuring. They mark the passage of time. They tell me that there's a constant in this world. They speak to me of history, tradition, sacrifice, and of victory. I'm not religious, but I _am_ affected by them.
> 
> Are they such a problem, these events of life? Everywhere you go you must cope with distractions and inconveniences. Mexico owes you nothing. Accept her, or reject her, but don't complain about her.


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## ojosazules11

I suppose absence does make the heart grow fonder. Right now in Toronto - a city I also love - it is November, meaning it is cold, grey and wet ... I am thinking a LOT about Mexico and I can only think of the things I love - even annoying things seem endearing right now. I suppose that's one reason I'm spending more time than I should on an expat forum about Mexico...

I love the colours, the rainbow hue of homes along a street, _talavera_ tiles, the magenta bouganvilleas spilling over stone walls into the street, flowering plants every where, the fresh produce artfully arranged in the fresh air markets, the _artesania_ - painted pottery, woven _huipiles_ and rugs, intense blue skies.

I love the smells, _leña_, fresh tortillas, beans simmering in a clay pot, mole, hot chocolate, cafe de la olla, the organic smell of leaves composting on damp earth, adobe. Heck, sometimes even the smell of a diesel bus transports me to Mexico. 

I love the food, I love the salsas (I eat more quesadillas, tacos, tlacoyos, etc. than I should, just to have something to put those delicious salsas on) And speaking of quesadillas - fresh off the _comal_ at the mercado - I love _queso oaxaca, flor de calabaza, tinga, zetas_, etc. etc. Or the tacos when we're out for an evening stroll. _Cafe de la olla _especially in the early morning when there is still a chill in the air, or the evening when the cooler air moves in. 

I love the sounds - including the mariachis serenading someone in the early morning and even the _kirikiri_ of the roosters - although there was one rooster my _suegra_ had which was more time-challenged than most - and when he crowed incessantly at 1 or 2 a.m. I could only think there was a soup pot with his name on it!  The sweetest sound of all is my nieces or nephews spotting me across the plaza, running to me with arms wide open "Tia, tia!" (even the 13 yr old still does this - no jaded adolescent here)

I love that we can sit outside and play guitar and sing to our heart's content - our neighbours are more likely to come join us than complain! And on the subject of singing, I love the music - all kinds, ballads, rancheras, Latin pop music from the 60's,70's and 80's, old _canciones romanticas_, salsa (again), cumbia, marimba, all of it. 

I love the architecture - both traditional and modern. I love clay tile roofs, terra cotta floors, thick adobe walls, wrought iron balcones. I love the cobble-stone streets and stone walls, archways, wooden gates, courtyards with stairs winding up to terrazas, old churches, the view of the surreal mountains surrounding Tepoztlan. 

My 13 yr old son just read this and says its "Cheesy". Sorry. I know it probably seems I'm romanticizing things a bit. As I re-read it does sound a bit like a tourist brochure. I'll blame it on sitting here in northern climes, knowing what's coming (Canadian winter - _shiver, shiver_ - with its short days and long nights). I'm fully aware of the socioeconomic and political problems in Mexico, of the reality of too many people who don't even know if there will be enough food for their children tomorrow, who work and work to get ahead, and even so slip farther behind, who risk crossing a border where hundreds die each year, looking for the chance to make a livable wage. I don’t intend to pretend these things don’t exist. But the roots of these problems are global, not Mexican, so I’m not going to blame them on Mexico.

OK, I just remembered one thing I hate about Mexico. Exorbitant interest rates for people of little means – e.g. 3% monthly which is 36% a year! If you can’t keep up with the payments, then an order for your arrest can be issued. Dickensian. Just sayin’.


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## Hound Dog

Ah, ojo, I think you had better get down here before you become suicidal. Fall is the time of year for my wife´s relatives in France to start feeling the cold damp weather coming on and bound to get much worse before it gets better come May or so with luck. In my wife´s beautiful Loire Valley, splendidly green and beautiful in summer, the winter is about to set in with endless cold, grey, damp overcast days stretching into eternity. 

As I have related before on some forum, when we lived in San Francisco in the 1990s, I worked for a bank with branches in Oregon and Washington State where I was often assigned to work periodically and had many colleagues up there who used to berate me asking if I were going to help "Californicate" the Pacific Northwest by moving up there upon retirement as many Californians had done because of the comparitively cheap housing to be bought for a song except maybe in parts of Seattle. I informed them that, once my employment obligations ceased they would never see me again unless they moved to Latin America. Incessant rain and overcast is OK if one is reporting to an office every day but once one retires, the sunshine and mild temperatures become a necessity for maintenance of one´s sanity.


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## RVGRINGO

Hurry! Many of your compatriots have already arrived and more are on the way. Yes, the sun is shining, it is everything that you so nicely described. Only the cafe de olla is getting harder to find in local restaurants. It is still too early for lunch, but you have caused me to raid the refrigerator for a chunk of queso de Oaxaca. Can you taste it?


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## citlali

No as it is pretty tasteless...


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## RVGRINGO

Probably because we bought it on 2 November. Ok, I will have cheddar for lunch.


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## Isla Verde

citlali said:


> No as it is pretty tasteless...


The fresh queso de Oaxaca that I buy from the "Oaxaca truck" that comes to my neighborhood three times a week is far from tasteless. However, the packaged stuff available at Superama surely is.


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## lagoloo

I HATE clobberstones. Results in too many fallen women. I'm still trying to figure out how it is that Mexican females can walk gracefully across them in six inch heels. Must be genetic.

Otherwise.........it's good. The cheeses, too.


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## Isla Verde

lagoloo said:


> I HATE clobberstones. Results in too many fallen women. I'm still trying to figure out how it is that Mexican females can walk gracefully across them in six inch heels. Must be genetic.
> 
> Otherwise.........it's good. The cheeses, too.


Clobberstones, what an amusing neologism. If you fall while walking on them, you get could get clobbered by them! I call the stones that the streets of Chapala and Ajijic are paved with "cobblestones" and found them hard to negotiate in comfortable sneakers, much less the idiotic high heels some Mexican women feel the need to wear.


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## citlali

Right now I have to organize a group of people to come to Guadalajara and what I hate the most is the constant change of plans and the lack of communication about it...It seems that no one can follow a plan and everything is spur of the moment. I feel I am trying to herd cats...

What I love is the richness of the culture and the friendliness and the politeness of most people.



Isla the high heels may be used as anchor...maybe..you have to be young and have a good sense of balance to negociate our streets with those.


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## lagoloo

Maybe one reason for the popularity of those miserable shoes is the desire to be taller.
Plus, they flatter the legs. When you're young enough, you're usually a victim of "style"; later, your feet and tendons are all messed up, but it's the price of joining the mating dance, si?

Remember the pointy toed shoes once so popular back "home"? OUCH.


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## Isla Verde

lagoloo said:


> Maybe one reason for the popularity of those miserable shoes is the desire to be taller.
> Plus, they flatter the legs. When you're young enough, you're usually a victim of "style"; later, your feet and tendons are all messed up, but it's the price of joining the mating dance, si?
> 
> Remember the pointy toed shoes once so popular back "home"? OUCH.


Why be taller in a country where most people are not very tall? These idiot shoes may flatter your legs, but this only matters if you wear short skirts! When I was a very young woman, I never wore any heels higher than 2 inches and even those made my feet hurt. I soon changed to flats because I was interested in being able to walk at a good pace and not have aching feet at the end of the day. Hmm, maybe I never married because I wasn't a victim of style and avoided playing the mating game. .


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## lagoloo

I suspect the suffering is for naught, anyway. Those hombres aren't looking at the girls' feet.
The eyes are elsewhere.


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## Isla Verde

lagoloo said:


> I suspect the suffering is for naught, anyway. Those hombres aren't looking at the girls' feet.
> The eyes are elsewhere.


Good one!


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## citlali

Isla Verde , I am from a country where cheese stinks and have a strong taste, to me Oaxaca cheese is tasteless, however a well aged cheddar can be wonderful.
When I stay in Oaxaca, my friend´s mother in-law has adopted me and I call her suegra as well. She insists that I go to the market with her and on Sunday we go to Tlacolula to buy mole, cheese, tasajo etc . The woman insists on tasting everything before buying and keeps tasting until she find the right cheese or whatever and since I like cheese I join her. I do not know how many Oaxaca cheeses we tasted before she settled on one and I have to say..I am not impressed...I have had plenty of Oaxaca cheese and the market cheese are a little tastier than some of the supermarket but it is not a cheese I go out of my way to buy.

If on top of it you eat the cheese from Nov 2 after the Dead have come buy and eaten all the essence of it it has to really be awful!


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## Isla Verde

citlali said:


> If on top of it you eat the cheese from Nov 2 after the Dead have come buy and eaten all the essence of it it has to really be awful!


Very true!


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## Hound Dog

[_QUOTE=AlanMexicali;1249727]At least they had a good reason to blast the trumpet. 

For years there has been these two rough looking guys that come along in front of this nice long time retired lady´s house in Mexicali. They have a snare drum and trumpet and stand in front of her driveway at 10:30 PM at least about once a week and blast a horrible out of key and a loud tinny drum beat. The same horrible beat, not music at all, sounds like a dog being tortured, until she comes out with money to get them to go away. Extortionists in my opinion and I live 6 doors down, which helps. It usually lasts 5 minutes but as long as 20 minutes. I presume she is sleeping at 10:30. 

I mentioned this to a neighbor back then when it started and he said never pay them to go away or your house will be included.[/QUOTE]_

SO¡ Alan; you think you know bad music. You clearly have not been subjected to the Ajijic Municipal Band, the *worst *municipal orchestra on the face of the planet These guys are so bad that they are no longer even bad. They know only one nuetral note and have no rythm whatsoever. The principal instrument to guide the supposed exercise on all occasions is the tuba which is played without regard to purpose. These guys should be summarily shot. immediatly


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## geaaronson

Hate is too strong a Word so I will use the Word peeve or gripe instead.

I´m annoyed when Street vendors don´t carry cash boxes with different files for the different coins and I have to wait 5 mintues while they forage through a plastic baggie for all the correct change. I´m being petty, yes, I agree, nevertheless that is one of my pet peeves.

Mangy Street dogs that no one takes care of.

Same for cats.

Mordidas.

Mexicans who don´t show up on time or at all.


Things that I love about mexico

The fact that every time I walk to city center there are a half dozen people who greet me-even those I have only spoken to for 5 minutes in my life.
The handcrafts-alebrijes, the dolls made of coconut shells and onyx chess boards
early morning sunshine
relleno *****, enchilada con salsa verde, tamales oaxaquenes, 
mayan myths and grotesque characters, Ixtabay, aluxes
sweet, beautiful woman will olive complexions
Francesco Toledo, Tamayo, Freida Kahlos artwork and so many other great artists whose work I see in the MACAY Museum


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## AlanMexicali

Hound Dog said:


> SO¡ Alan; you think you know bad music. You clearly have not been subjected to the Ajijic Municipal Band, the *worst *municipal orchestra on the face of the planet These guys are so bad that they are no longer even bad. They know only one nuetral note and have no rythm whatsoever. The principal instrument to guide the supposed exercise on all occasions is the tuba which is played without regard to purpose. These guys should be summarily shot. immediatly


I was married for 20 years to my exwife who´s parents were from Durango, Durango and Culiacan, Sinaloa but moved to Mexicali when married. Their children used to pay for a "Banda" de Sinaloa to come to the house in the morning of thier parent´s anniversary fiesta and play for about an hour every year. All the bands 35 years ago and after in Mexicali they hired were simply putting out noise that was very hard on the nerves. As you said, "These guys are so bad that they are no longer even bad,"

I always thought is was their style but later on I found out it was 9AM on a Saturday moring, day of the fiesta for them, and the band was so hung over from Fri. night they all couldn´t play a single note in tune or in time. Almost all fiestas in Mexicali last untill 4AM, standard proceedure there.


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## ojosazules11

*A Random Act of Kindness*

My husband is currently inTepoztlan renovating our house there. He was driving up the steep cobblestone streets and didn't realize the back hatch of the car was not secured. Unbeknownst to him some of the tools he had in the back of the car bounced out. Some were his but others were borrowed - all in all worth about MXN$6000. When he got to our place he realized what had happened and retraced his steps with a friend, but he figured the tools were gone. A teenaged girl saw them searching and asked if they'd lost something. When they told her what had happened she said she had seen the tools and had seen who picked them up. They went to that man's place and he unhesitatingly returned the equipment.

My husband said it was a welcome reminder that even though we hear so much about - and sometimes experience - the bad, there are still good people and kind strangers in this world.


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## Isla Verde

ojosazules11 said:


> My husband is currently inTepoztlan renovating our house there. He was driving up the steep cobblestone streets and didn't realize the back hatch of the car was not secured. Unbeknownst to him some of the tools he had in the back of the car bounced out. Some were his but others were borrowed - all in all worth about MXN$6000. When he got to our place he realized what had happened and retraced his steps with a friend, but he figured the tools were gone. A teenaged girl saw them searching and asked if they'd lost something. When they told her what had happened she said she had seen the tools and had seen who picked them up. They went to that man's place and he unhesitatingly returned the equipment.
> 
> My husband said it was a welcome reminder that even though we hear so much about - and sometimes experience - the bad, there are still good people and kind strangers in this world.


Nice story!


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## Hound Dog

_


AlanMexicali said:



At least they had a good reason to blast the trumpet. 

For years there has been these two rough looking guys that come along in front of this nice long time retired lady´s house in Mexicali. They have a snare drum and trumpet and stand in front of her driveway at 10:30 PM at least about once a week and blast a horrible out of key and a loud tinny drum beat. The same horrible beat, not music at all, sounds like a dog being tortured, until she comes out with money to get them to go away. Extortionists in my opinion and I live 6 doors down, which helps. It usually lasts 5 minutes but as long as 20 minutes. I presume she is sleeping at 10:30. 

I mentioned this to a neighbor back then when it started and he said never pay them to go away or your house will be included.

Click to expand...

_Interesting comment, Alan; actually, the 2:00AM music celebrating the birth of an indigenous child is quite pleasant and professional as opposed to the "music" you describe in Mexicali. It´s just that our bedroom window faces directly on the street adjacent to the midwifery clinic and the first trumpet blast is disconcerting when one is sound asleep and startled awake. This is a rare occurrence and we don´t really mind.

Most of the music played publicly here in San Cristóbal is well done to almost excellent and, since the marimba is the state instrument here, the music can be quite pleasant to really fun. To offer a mordida to musicians around here to go away would be an affront to their dignity and should not be attempted. You also cannot shut up the Ajijic Municipal Band at Lake Chapala where we also live and paying them off is not an option there either. This (or these) band(s) know(s) only one discordant note, has/have no sense of rhythm and like(s) to start "playing" at 5:30AM accompanied by indiscriminate and ill-timed cohetes. I think they have been odered by the church to rouse us early so we can attend mass before heading out to pick cotton. It´s just there is no no cotton and we are not their slaves. Small oversights. 

I like that Mexicali extortion trick. Clever and better than a gun to the head. Up to anyway.


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