# What do you love about Mexico?



## RosaMP

Everyone has their own reasons why they love Mexico and what made them choose this country to make their home. 

So what is it about Mexico you love?


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## joaquinx

RosaMP said:


> So what is it about Mexico you love?


The people.


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## citlali

The climate.


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## TundraGreen

The sounds.

The cow bell of the garbage collectors.
The sing song ditty of the gas truck.
The steam whistle of the camote/platano roaster.
The whistle of the knife sharpener.
The roving mariachi bands.
The guitar players on the buses.
The explosions of the fire works.
El grito.
The clack of the shoes of the native dancers.


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## Isla Verde

The generally benign climate, the warmth of the people, the lower cost-of-living, the authentic tacos and tamales, for starters!


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## RosaMP

TundraGreen said:


> The sounds.
> 
> The cow bell of the garbage collectors.
> The sing song ditty of the gas truck.
> The steam whistle of the camote/platano roaster.
> The whistle of the knife sharpener.
> The roving mariachi bands.
> The guitar players on the buses.
> The explosions of the fire works.
> El grito.
> The clack of the shoes of the native dancers.


That's lovely.


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## terrybahena

I would have to echo Isla Verde with climate, people, lower cost of living, the food,.....and add sitting outside my house looking at the ocean, with a book in hand and my dogs running freely. I'm outside any cities so open space, no leash law, quiet nights with the occasional coyote sniffing at our gate, my silly dogs bothering crabs on the beach. The beautiful sound of the language. And how much I have changed- perceptions, expectations, what's real, what matters...


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## Lorij

The people, and the slower pace of living, and a much more enjoyable less stressful lifestyle, and being surrounded by beauty and nature. When I first came here, I saw for the first time, that this was how life was supposed to be lived.


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## AlanMexicali

The streets packed with pedestrians all day. The 4 or 5 year olds running down the street alone to the store. The older children taking care of their young sisters and brothers. The street dogs eating scraps at the street venders and having a nap on the sidewalk and nobody bothering them. The girls walking in high platform shoes in a robot like way on uneven sidewalks.


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## ojosazules11

I love that Mexico clearly inspires the poetic side of us. I love all of the above. Thank you everyone for such beautiful, evocative descriptions.


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## adoborepublic

I love Mexico because she closely resembles my homeland the Philippines. Probably because of the shared history in the past, we almost have the same culture and food and Catholicism (though I'm not a practicing Catholic). 

Whenever I go around any towns or cities I've been to in Mexico was like being transported back to the Philippines, except everyone speaks Spanish (or Mayan in the Yucatan). 

The bonus for me is that, it is only a few hours flight to/from my home in Canada, the airfare is much cheaper, going about the whole country is cheap as well (by land unlike in the Philippines going around cost too much by ship or plane) and ancient ruins.

Plus, I'd really like to practice my Spanish - a language we should have spoken in the Philippines besides English & Tagalog.


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## GARYJ65

adoborepublic said:


> I love Mexico because she closely resembles my homeland the Philippines. Probably because of the shared history in the past, we almost have the same culture and food and Catholicism (though I'm not a practicing Catholic). Whenever I go around any towns or cities I've been to in Mexico was like being transported back to the Philippines, except everyone speaks Spanish (or Mayan in the Yucatan). The bonus for me is that, it is only a few hours flight to/from my home in Canada, the airfare is much cheaper, going about the whole country is cheap as well (by land unlike in the Philippines going around cost too much by ship or plane) and ancient ruins. Plus, I'd really like to practice my Spanish - a language we should have spoken in the Philippines besides English & Tagalog.


What history do we (Mexicans) share with Phillipines?


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## Isla Verde

GARYJ65 said:


> What history do we (Mexicans) share with Phillipines?


Both were part of the Spanish Empire. And lots of important international commerce and trade were carried out between the ports of Manila and Acapulco. Haven't you heard about the famous Nao de Manila? http://www.mexicodesconocido.com.mx/breve-historia-de-la-nao-de-manila.html


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## GARYJ65

Isla Verde said:


> Both were part of the Spanish Empire. And lots of important international commerce and trade were carried out between the ports of Manila and Acapulco. Haven't you heard about the famous Nao de Manila? http://www.mexicodesconocido.com.mx/breve-historia-de-la-nao-de-manila.html


Ok, in that regard, both Countries being conquered by Spain, then some Filipinos were taken to Mexico and worked as almost slaves, Virgen de Guadalupe was imposed to them as well.

But we do not share, I mean, really SHARE, great things, important colonies, commerce, most Mexicans have never been or know enough or even mention Filipinas.
Just wondering


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## GARYJ65

http://marcopolos21.com/2012/12/filipinas-y-mexico-muchisimo-en-comun/


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## AlanMexicali

GARYJ65 said:


> What history do we (Mexicans) share with Phillipines?


The same numbers. Last name Lopez is one of the most common names there etc. Catholicism among others.


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## sparks

GARYJ65 said:


> What history do we (Mexicans) share with Phillipines?


Colima has a number but TUBA is a main Mexico import. 

The Filipino roots of mezcal

Seems Philippine workers needed their refrescos both strong and mild


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## Isla Verde

GARYJ65 said:


> FILIPINAS y MÉXICO :: muchísimo en común | MarcoPolo siglo21


Very interesting link - thanks for posting it, Gary. I was especially intrigued to learn that there are words of nahuatl origin in Tagalog, the native language of the Philippines.


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## Isla Verde

sparks said:


> Colima has a number but TUBA is a main Mexico import.
> 
> The Filipino roots of mezcal
> 
> Seems Philippine workers needed their refrescos both strong and mild


What is TUBA?


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## GARYJ65

I still have huge dubts, as a Mexican, having Mexican friends and family, we never ever ever feel Filipinas as being close


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## Isla Verde

GARYJ65 said:


> I still have huge dubts, as a Mexican, having Mexican friends and family, we never ever ever feel Filipinas as being close


It's a historical connection, Gary, not something most Mexicans are aware of.


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## GARYJ65

Isla Verde said:


> It's a historical connection, Gary, not something most Mexicans are aware of.


That's what I mean, not many Mexicans, to me, that is very very few Mexicans

Mexicans do not feel close to Flipinos


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## adoborepublic

Isla Verde said:


> What is TUBA?


Tuba is a short of refreshment sourced from the coconut tree? In the Philippines, we have an alcoholic drink from the coconut tree we call "lambanog," I don't exactly know if it is lambanog or the Filipino version of tuba that is available in Colima.


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## adoborepublic

GARYJ65 said:


> Ok, in that regard, both Countries being conquered by Spain, then some Filipinos were taken to Mexico and worked as almost slaves, Virgen de Guadalupe was imposed to them as well.
> 
> But we do not share, I mean, really SHARE, great things, important colonies, commerce, most Mexicans have never been or know enough or even mention Filipinas.
> Just wondering


We don't feel any special attachment or even mention Mexico also in the Philippines. Except Mexico, Pampanga (a town in the Philippines). Only when I started spending holidays in Mexico have I seen so many similarities between Mexican culture and ours. We have adobo, you have your own. We have lechon, you have lechon, etc. Our fiestas are similar to Mexico's and so is the semana santa, our celebration of all saints day (dia de los muertos in Mexico), so many. Go to the Philippines, you will see what I mean. But, honestly, Mexico is not even in the radar of common Filipinos. We are more attached to the US than Mexico. We just shared a common past and similarities in culture and traditions, that's all.


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## Isla Verde

I wonder if any scholars have made a study of these cultural links between the Philippines and Mexico.


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## sparks

Isla Verde said:


> What is TUBA?


Tuba is palm wine made from the sap of the tree. Street vendors sell it from large gourds with ice and peanuts. It's not strong

Palm wine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Also the 400 year relation of maritime history of the two countries


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## sparks

Cultural exchanges between Mexico and the Philippines


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## adoborepublic

sparks said:


> Cultural exchanges between Mexico and the Philippines


Wow, I didn't know past Mexico-Philippine relations was more than what I read in Philippine history books. Thanks for the link, Sparks.


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## gringotim

It's NOT Canada eh!


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## surfrider

Mexico has shown me a different side of live and living life. There is a sweet innocence within the little area that I live in that I never experienced before. The stress is not here. My life style is more comfortable to me here. I truly enjoy traveling into the different states within Mexico and seeing the different cultural and social differences.


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## paw

*nice thread*

I have lived in MX 10 yrs now, with frequent visits & work projects before that, so thanks for the thread! What´s a foreign world has become my world, although my ID is clearly that of USA person living/working here.

That would be part of my answer why I like it so much - I have always been more at home being the foreigner if that makes any sense - actually yes it does, lots of people like me here, in USA, all over. Its very relaxing being in a culture I have no hope of controlling yet whose members ask me politely to participate. Its a huge freedom from social constructs - I realized about 3 yrs in that I could stand on my head naked in the middle of the street and my Mexican friends/observers would just say "Oh that´s just paw, she is from California". Mexicans are great!


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## AlanMexicali

Well I also have a different take on living and participating in local Mexican social events today. I always thought me being a senior greying haired man got me benefits that I hear about seniors getting. Yesterday that was debunked by 5 - 12 and 13 years old girls. We were at a large "First Communion" fiesta at the parent´s rural house after the church mass and they had a rented juke box. They had put on 3 Vikki Carr complete CDs and I waited until they finished. I went up and programmed 5 of my favorite songs and after the first one these 5 girls deleted mine and put on tiny bopper songs. Most of the attendeees were adults or under 6 years old.

Ok I waited for them to get bored and walk away from the juke box and their songs ran out. I go back and program them again. After 30 seconds they come back and delete them. They hover around the juke box for a couple of hours hogging it and playing their stuff. This is an all day, all night fiesta. 

Finally they leave and the songs stopped. I run up from 25 meters away and they full speed cut me off and start programing. I got a few laughs from the owners and my table and hammed it up a bit.

I wait again and walk slowly up when they have run out of songs and were off eating. The guy who showed me how to program it is there. We program some of his and some of mine. 10 minutes later one of the 12 year olds deletes them and walks back to eat putting 1 song on.

I again walk up and the guy with me, now my friend and reprogram our songs. He waits there and by now several people have been laughing at these stupid events, me being stubborn and relentless.

After one song they all walk up and the guy, about my age tells them to back off.


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## sparks

Over a Vikki Carr album ??? ...... hard to believe

Who was Vikki Carr?


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## AlanMexicali

sparks said:


> Over a Vikki Carr album ??? ...... hard to believe
> 
> Who was Vikki Carr?


Someone else played Vikki´s 3 complete CDs first and the 5 girls went to , sulky and whiny teeny bopper songs and the Mexican versión of the "Hokey Pokey" for example 5 times.


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## BirthAbroad

My favorite parts of Mexico are my childhood memories. I can still remember the culture that was so absolutely different from my own, but as a child, you could not comprehend the differences. I learned to ride a bike in Mexico, I still remember crying because I got my face stuffed in a cake on my birthday, my friends and I riding on the back bumpers of cars as they honked to try to get us off and our secret missions to spy on "la bruja" before her daughter chased us away with sticks. Social class or color didn't matter, we were all one people, and when I moved back to the States I was tossed into a school system where for the first time, I was conscious of my color because it was used to identify me. I had never been so aware that I was the only white child in my grade.

I think because Mexico was probably one of the best parts of my life, it drawed me back to moving here as an adult, but it also lead me to be dissapointed this time. Everywhere I go now, I am always asked what I am doing here in Mexico, or taxi rides are 30% more for me than my Mexican wife. I hate being treated as a "forastero" here, when I work for the same as other Mexicans in the same random jobs and live a humble life here just like they do. But I think I have rambled enough.


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## AlanMexicali

The diversity.

Aunque usted no lo crea “Esto es México, This is Mexico” | HELLO DF - El blog de la ciudad de México


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## Adveyesr

The people and their focus on family.
The year-round availability of fresh/non-processed food.
Buying warm tortillas each morning from the tortilleria.
Tamales filled with fruit and/or nuts.
Barbers who REALLY know how to cut hair.
Birthday parties for kids.
Beaches of Oaxaca.
Watching surfers at Zicatela Beach in Puerto Escondido.
Real tacos (al pastor) with the onion, cilantro and various chile sauces.
Beach vendors selling banana filled empanadas.
From a Oaxaca Beach watching turtle eggs hatch and make their way to the ocean.
The sounds as mentioned before, love the cow bell announcing daily trash pick-up, also the distinct and various calls of the traveling street vendors. 
Our kids thought the sing song ditty of the gas truck was saying in English, "Get some, get some, get some gas!"


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## Hound Dog

_


BirthAbroad said:



...
I think because Mexico was probably one of the best parts of my life, it drawed me back to moving here as an adult, but it also lead me to be dissapointed this time. Everywhere I go now, I am always asked what I am doing here in Mexico, or taxi rides are 30% more for me than my Mexican wife. I hate being treated as a "forastero" here, when I work for the same as other Mexicans in the same random jobs and live a humble life here just like they do. But I think I have rambled enough.[/QUOTE

Click to expand...

_


BirthAbroad said:


> ]
> 
> Ah, yes; one cannot return and, in countries or regions other than the countries or regions of one´s birth, one is always and forever "forastero" or, at the least, an oddity. Disappointment at returning to places experienced in one´s youth is a normal reaction.
> 
> I lived in Paris for about a year back in the 1960s and was astounded at how expensive it was. I was paying the equivalent of $10USD a day for a hotel room on the Left Bank when just before that I had been paying the equivalent of $0.35USD a day in Barcelona and that included supper. I had gotten to Europe on what in those days was known as a student ship - in other words a couple of thousand young people having a constant party on the ship from New York to Ámsterdam over a ten day period with (sometimes) private cabin including five meals a day for, if memory serves me, about $250USD. At the ship´s bars, beer was free and hard drinks were $0.25USD each. In Paris, I made a living selling the New York Times just outside the Opera House and could actually afford a creme caramel and café express at the (fancy and expensive) Café de La Paix when I needed a break. I was making $0.35USD per copy of the Times I sold on the Street corner as the NYT was trying, in those days, to break the English language newspaper monopoly then held by the International Herald Tribune.
> 
> You can´t go back so just relax. There are lots worse places that we could all be than Mexico for sure even if your dream has crashed as all dreams must eventually do.


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## Chelloveck

I love the sounds and smells in the streets of the D.F. (Okay, maybe I don't love ALL the smells). I love the willingness of the people to take their democracy right to the streets. I love the fact that even though I might feel like a foreigner, I never feel like I don't belong. And I love the fact that I can't walk more than two blocks without encountering a beautiful senorita.


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## Chelloveck

I could go on, so I will.

I love tipping grocery baggers.
I love not pumping my own gas.
I love that me and the garbage collector are on a first-name basis.
I love that I at least now know what pulque is, and have drunk it, even though I don't necessarily love pulque.
I love that my apartment doesn't have heat or air conditioning, because it just isn't necessary.
I love that even though my apartment has a fireplace, I've only ever had to use it to set a romantic mood, and never as a heat source.
I love that when I'm wearing sunglasses, passersby will often stare right into my eyes, as if they were trying to figure out if I'm a celebrity. I'm not, but sometimes it's nice to feel like one.
I love that my last name (which I will not reveal here), is an endless source of amusement for Mexicans, given its meaning in the Spanish lexicon.

I love that I can say, with pride, that I am a ****** chilango.


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## Hound Dog

_


Chelloveck said:



I could go on, so I will.

I love that I can say, with pride, that I am a ****** chilango.

Click to expand...

_"Chilango" and "******" are pejorative terms. and you needn´t feel the need to refer to yourself disrespectfully just because many others inhabiting the same milieu as you are insensitive enough to use these words without inhibition. 

Reminds me of those African Americans in my native Alabama in the 1950s who, in deference of their European overlords of the day, used to refer to themselves as "we colored folk". 

I´m not criticizing you in any way but there is no reason to "shuck and jive" in order to gain favor hereabouts. We have been delivered.

To each his/her own.


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## Chelloveck

Hound Dog said:


> "Chilango" and "******" are pejorative terms.


"Chilango" is only pejorative when used pejoratively by people who don't live in Mexico City. I've seen people in rural France use the term "Parisian" in a derogatory sense as well. That doesn't make it an insult. Likewise with the word "******." It all depends on the context.

I'm a ******. I live in Mexico City. I'm a ****** chilango. I am proud to be such, and don't consider either word insulting.

There are hillbillies in the U.S. who use the term "New Yorker" pejoratively. But any good New Yorker is proud to be a "New Yorker."


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## Isla Verde

BirthAbroad said:


> I think because Mexico was probably one of the best parts of my life, it drawed me back to moving here as an adult, but it also lead me to be dissapointed this time. Everywhere I go now, I am always asked what I am doing here in Mexico, or taxi rides are 30% more for me than my Mexican wife. I hate being treated as a "forastero" here, when I work for the same as other Mexicans in the same random jobs and live a humble life here just like they do. But I think I have rambled enough.


Why are taxi rides more for you than for your wife? Don't the taxis have meters where you live? Living in Mexico City, I don't feel as though I have been charged more for services and products just because I am not Mexican.


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## FoxIslander

RosaMP said:


> Everyone has their own reasons why they love Mexico and what made them choose this country to make their home.
> 
> So what is it about Mexico you love?


...the people, the food, history and culture. 
I have been visiting México as a tourist for 25 years. In approx. 4 months my lovely wife and I will begin a new life, at first in La Paz and later somewhere in the central highlands. Coming from the Seattle area, it isn't a specific temperature range we are seeking, it's simply SUN. The PNW is a beautiful part of the country, but we find we have lost our tolerance for constant rain and 50 shades of grey.


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## citlali

Parisien= Capitalino

chilango=parigot


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## Hound Dog

[_QUOTE=Isla Verde;4258258]Why are taxi rides more for you than for your wife? Don't the taxis have meters where you live? Living in Mexico City, I don't feel as though I have been charged more for services and products just because I am not Mexican.[/QUOTE]_

Taxis in San Cristóbal de Las Casas are, at this time, 30 pesos anywhere in the city witr no tip expected unless the driver assists you in, say, the carting of groceries because there it is commonplace to taxi to and from the surpermarket. There are never any meters. The fare is the fare whether one is going one or thirty blocks. One day in the last few months just before Semana Santa, a taxi driver demanded a fee of 35 pesos and I responded that the fare was 30 pesos and that was it. He immediately folded but on the way from our house to the Central lPlaza he kept inquiring of me as to how to say in English, 40 pesos. 50 pesos and up to 100 pesos. in English and I was happy accomodate him but inquired en-route to the plaza as to his curiosity. He told me that shortly many English speaking tourists would be arriving for Semana Santa and would, collectively have no idea what the municipality mandated taxi fare was so he wanted to know how to overcharge them. by being knowledageble about how to charge them excessive fares in English.


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## diablita

Isla Verde said:


> Why are taxi rides more for you than for your wife? Don't the taxis have meters where you live? Living in Mexico City, I don't feel as though I have been charged more for services and products just because I am not Mexican.


No meters in Acapulco either.


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## Adveyesr

Isla Verde said:


> Why are taxi rides more for you than for your wife? Don't the taxis have meters where you live? Living in Mexico City, I don't feel as though I have been charged more for services and products just because I am not Mexican.


There were meters in taxis in Guadalajara but not in Puerto Escondido nor the smaller villages along the coast of Oaxaca. We were there long enough to make a few local friends and discovered we were being charged a premium. Once we determined the "fair" fare, we simply verified with the taxi driver before getting in the taxi that that was the fare. A few tried to up charge, but we simply declined and waited for the next taxi.


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## AlanMexicali

diablita said:


> No meters in Acapulco either.


Many taxis in TJ and Mexicali don´t have meters and the ones that do the drivers ALWAYS tell you they do not work. You negotiate a fare before you get in. 

Here in SLP they all have meters and need a yearly state verification to get their yearly license/taxi cab permit renewal. No problem with fares here.


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## Hound Dog

_


AlanMexicali said:



Many taxis in TJ and Mexicali don´t have meters and the ones that do the drivers ALWAYS tell you they do not work. You negotiate a fare before you get in. 

Here in SLP they all have meters and need a yearly state verification to get their yearly license/taxi cab permit renewal. No problem with fares here.

Click to expand...

_The interesting difference between San Cristóbal de las Casas and San Luis is that not even one taxi in San Cristóbal has a meter and, as long as the person engaging the taxi is knowledgable, $30 Pesos anywhere in the city is it. No discussion. No need to negotiate the fare ahead of time. I never had taken a taxi in Ajijic until a couple of days ago when my car broke doown and then I learned that that the all non-metered taxi rides within the Ajijic delegación are always (seemingly $50) Pesos - no meter involved. I´m not sure but I think the taxi fare to Chapala from Ajijic, a distance of a few kilometeres, is about $79 Pesos.

My favorite taxi story took place in Lyon, France several years ago. We arrived at the main railway station from Paris and requested of the next cab driver available in line that he take us to some museum the location of which was unknown to us and he flipped on the meter and drove us over some serious distance to our destination at a considerable fare. We visited our destination and were walking through an adjacent park when I glanced up and saw the distinctively red Lyon main train station just across the park some 100 meters distant. We had been taken for a ride fon the better part of an hour to go a couple of blocks and at great expense. A masterful con. That guy was good at his craft and, I swear neiither of us suspected we were being played for suckers. I never resented that ripoff because the extra money was worth it for the opportunity to witness successful artful maneuvering as a pecuniary skill.


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## makaloco

I had a similar experience to Hound Dog's years ago in Luxor, Egypt. I arrived by train and got a taxi from the station, asking only the fare to hotel such-and-such. The driver gave me a price, I agreed and got in … and he drove me one block to the hotel. He laughed himself silly, and I couldn't help joining in. I paid up.

Here in La Paz fares are 40 pesos in town, higher to more remote suburbs. You can also negotiate with drivers if you want them to wait, take you to several places, etc.


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## kcowan

The camote man
The knife sharpener
The agua truck
The gas truck
Workers singing and joking
Separate prices for gringos and gringas
Gringos who pay the first price quoted
Children playing in the street
Celebrations for nearly everything


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## Eigringoa

My personal garbage man who comes every day at 05 am, makes a big noise, sweeps and leaves.
Tamale street vendors who sell their stuff still at 22 hours
There is a constant smell of **** when I walk down the street
And also....

Nice women
Food
Drinks
Football


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## Chelloveck

I love Mexico because some people in the U. S. think it's weird that I live in Mexico.

I love Mexico because I believe in the right to live your life as you see fit, as long as you don't impede anyone else's right to do the same, and people seem to understand that concept here.

I love Mexico because I'm sick of the constant political bickering in the U. S., as though something meaningful would happen if you elected anyone different. I'm sure that same bickering happens here in Mexico, but I'm a political outsider here, and plan to stay that way.

I love Mexico because even though I'm a foreigner, nobody here treats me like I don't belong. I wish my own country would treat Mexicans the same way.


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## dwwhiteside

I love the fact that, when something breaks, I can usually find someone who will repair it; for considerably less than the replacement cost. I love that I can be outside, comfortably, in shorts and a t-shirt, in January. I love that politeness is so commonplace. I love that, instead of seeing me as an outsider, most of the people I interact with on a day-to-day basis see me as someone with whom they can practice English. I love the relaxed pace of life here.


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## Anonimo

*Good food, good looking women*










At the XIII Encuentro de Las Cocineras Tradicionales de Michoacán in Morelia, for example.


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