My Mexico experience - 101 I learned about Mexico

Mexico and its folklore, Mexico and its people, Mexico and its food, Mexico and its culture. Yes, this country has a lot to offer . Mexico is undoubtedly a paradise and as a foreigner you can easily fall in love with it. I was no exception and during my six months living in Mexico I really fell in love with the beauty of the country and its people. 

One of my biggest goals before I came to Mexico was to dive into a new culture and to get a understanding of how it works. After six months I can say I almost reached this goal. I learned a lot about the mexican culture, the people and the traditions. While I visited almost the whole country I came to love the mexican way of living. I admired also the deserts, the coasts, jungels, volcanoes too - and its endless variety of tasty food, the spectacular evidence of its ancient civilizations, its inspired art and handicrafts, and, most of all, ist charming, hospitable people.

Here are for you now 101 things about Mexico that I observed during the last couple of months . They aren’t good things or bad things. Many are just different. Enjoy the read

 

Beautiful street in Sayulita

1.) Mexico is safe. 

2.) Mexico is a beautiful country to travel. Jungle, deserts, teeming cities, vulcans, one street pueblos and fiesta fireworkes: Mexico conjures up so many vivid images.

Skyline in Zacatecas

Desserted beaches in Isla Cozumel

Visiting a vulcan close to Puebla

3.) You drink water out of big plastic bottles.

4.) “Please do not throw toilet paper in the toilet.”  is a normal sign in mexican toilets.

5.) OXXOs are everywhere. EVERYWHERE.

An OXXO even at the beach in Sayulita

6.) In Mexico "ahorita" and "en un ratito" means "in 30 minutes" or "never," or "You're bothering me," depends on the context of the conversation.

7.) If you ask for a spoon to eat your food, Mexicans will answer you friendly: "Con la mano pinche perro!"

8.) To start a telephone conversation you say: "Bueno..."

9.) When someone calls a Mexican, he responds with a "mande" and the mothers teach their children to respond like this from early age on. 

10.) For a Mexican it is very difficult to simply say "NO", they always seek some excuse or invent a lie to get out of trouble and usually begin their argument with a "lo que paso es..."

11.) In Mexico if you  are supposed to meet at four expect people to arrive at five and a half earliest.

12.) Nobody, NOBODY ever has change. 

13.) In Mexico you have to listen twice what a person says, it can be an albureándote.

14.) Mexicans greet and say goodbye to all;  sometimes this can take almost a life-time

15.) The references to homosexuality abound in its language: “joto”, “marica”, “puto”, etc

16.) When you eat tacos at a taco stand, the plates are covered with a plastic bag. After eating only the bag is striped away and the dish is ready for the next guest.  

Plates with plastic bags

 17.) If you do not understand the multiple meanings and variations of "chingar" and "pedo", good luck when trying to follow any conversation

18.) Talking to a stranger in Mexico on the street just brings a gentle answer most of the time. Sometimes they even spend the whole day with you. 

19.) Mexicans love to share. They share their food, their drinks, their beds. But NEVER their girlfriend.

20.) Mexicans seem to believe that a drop of chili or salsa will be enough to destroy any foreigner, and always ask kindly: "pero pica, huh?"

21.) Every Mexican man has black hair.

22.) If a Mexican starts to insult you with the words "puto" o "marica" you just became his friend

23.) Every Mexican is called "wey"

24.) If you're a guero (guy with blonde hair), get used to being the center of attention in Mexico.  Mexicans love foreigners.

25.) Everbody sells something; either in the corners, outside their homes or even in the metro.

Tacco stand in Aguascalientes

 

26.) The guy who sells the tacos always calls you "joven" or "mi hijo"

27.) Mexicans trust foreigners more than they trust any other Mexican.

28.) Mexicans celebrate death.

Celebration of the Deads Day

29.) In Mexico people are not moderated by the use of gel, it seems that the bottom line is an average bottle daily.

A Mexican with a lot of gel

30.) Mexicans do not talk about sex in public but girls have kids with 15 years.

31.) Mexicans frequently offer you their house: "Mi casa es tu casa"

Mi casa es tu casa sign in Puebla

32.) If a Mexican says:" Thats not spicy!" Do not believe him.

33.) Mexicans take out their car-radio before they leave their car.

34.) If the mexican police stops you with 10 people in a car you do not have to be afraid to get a ticket.

35.) Mexican girls can dance. 

36.) When people offer you to wash your car window, do not do accept it. It is always dirtier afterwards.

37.) The mexican police arrests you because of having sex in a car but gives you a smile when you cross a red light. 

Police car at the coast of Mazunte

38.) Mexico has more churches than schools. That says everything.

The church in Cholula

Church in Zacatecas

The beautiful church fresco in Durango

39.) Mexico has a legendary and delicious food list to cure hangover.

40.) When the sun is at its peak, for an adult the solution is a beer and  for a child is a frutsi congelado.

41.) There’s one gas company…government owned pemex…no competition there. Mexicans seem love monoploys.

 

42.) Mexican food consists of four ingredients: tortillas, meat, lime and salsa/chili

Taccos in Guadalajara

43.) You see greater shows while standing at the traffic light than in a theater or elsewhere 

Street show while waiting in front of the traffic light

44.) You won`t die in Mexico because of hunger

Eating is a main part of the culture. Here a Tyladua in Puebla

45.) To the question: "Do you do sports?" Mexicans answer normally: "Yeah, I used to do a lot when I was younger, but now? Not really. I like to drink some beers that`s also nice."

46.) Mexicans go to work really late and come home even later. 

47.) To have sex you have go to a Motel. Thats a rule.

48.) Motels are generally occupied every fridays and saturdays. Not because of tourism.

49.) Mexican art and artesanía is great. 

Mexican art in the castle of Chaputapec

50.) Prejudices are true, at least some of them. 

A Mexican with Botas, Sombrero and Bigote

51.) Everybody in Mexico hates the goverment

52.) Mexican fiestas are crazy. Usually the whole village is invited, people drink tequila like water and dance, dance, dance.

53.) Food is cheap. 10 Pesos for a Torta? That`s almost for free.

54.) There are no schedules for the public buses. This may be because sometimes the bus decides to skip half of its route or make a quick stop to get some taccos. 

55.) You travel by bus not by train. 

56.) The trunks of trees should be painted white…I think it has something to do with bugs. 

Trees are white. Here in San Christobal

57.)  Pollution (cough, cough) what pollution? 

58.) There are 320 speed bumps ("pinches toppes) on a 5 hours trip

59.) A typical Mexican has a least 10 uncles and 10 aunts

60.) In Mexico, when you park your car, there is "official" guy with a cloth in his hand who is responsible to "watch your car" and if you want also to wash, wax and polish your car until you return.

61.) Staying with your family until you are 28 years old is just normal

62.) Before you leave Mexico you should know the names Miguel Hidalgo, Fransico Madero and Benito Juarez because in every city you find a least one monument of them.

In the middel of mexican history (Oaxaca)

63.) Before you leave Mexico you should know the dates el 5 de Mayo, el 14 de Noviembre and el 16 de Septiembre because in every city one street is named after one of these dates

64.) Mexicans love to eat meat and eat almost everything of an animal. It can occure that your tortilla is served with brain or stomach 

Taccos in Tulum

65.) Mexicans eat Tamales during christmas for at least 3 days in a row. Long live recalendado. 

Recalendado the day after christmas

66.) Mexicans love soccer and still believe Robben did a dive

Watching soccer in Aguascalientes with a good Corona

67.) Mexicans love to make things sound cute. Don`t worry if your name ends with (Pascual-)"ito".

68.) The Mexican television has an index of incredibly low quality, but people still watch it because "it is what it is" and "we have no other"

69.) In Mexico there are a lot of virgins in Mexico. Of course I mean the  LaVirgin de Guadalalupe, La Virgen de Zapopan Jalisco, La Virgen de Juquila Oaxaca 

La Virgin de Guadalaupe in La Basilika

70.)Mexico is country full of an incredible history

Maya site in Chitzen Itza

On the ruins in Palenque

71.) The whole world has a similar birthdaysong melody except from Mexico.

 

72.) At your birthday you have to beat a pinata 

 

Hit the pinata

A huge pinata in the streets of Oaxaca

73.) Mexicans drink beer with tomato juice, chilli and peppers and serve it in a chilled, salt-rimmed glass.

74.) Instead of giving your foreign name to sandwich shops or Starbucks, it’s easier to come up with something like Alexander… which may also be misunderstood as Alexitu.

75.) Instead of nodding for yes and shaking your head for no, you can make similar movements with your pointer finger

76.) When you enter a "public" bathroom, you will be asked for money and when you pay you will get a piece of toilet paper in exchange.

77.) There is a huge difference between Spanish and Mexican-Spanish... chinga tu madre

78.) People in Durango scream like animals when they listen to Banda songs

 

79.) Mexico City consits of three basic sounds: Police cars, the horns of cars and people trying to sell something "a 10 Pesos"

 

80.) At a taco place, sometimes the red sauce is hot and the green one is mild.  Other times it’s the opposite and sometimes they are both hot.

81.) Mañana can sometimes really mean tomorrow, but probably means sometime next week or never.

82.) Ketchup goes on pizza and chili on fruits.

Mangos con chili

83.) Stopping at a red light most of the time is optional.

84.) Don’t pronounce English words with an English accent or nobody will understand you. For example, you must pronounce “hot dog” with a Spanish accent.

85.) A money loan to a friend should be seen as a gift. "Te pago mañana" means they`ll never pay you.

86.) The typical mexican car is this one

87.) You should sweep the street with WATER in front of your house everyday like everyone else

88.) Personal space in a Mexican metro doesn’t exist.

Mexico City Metro station

89.) Whole families sit on the back of pick-up trucks. Nobody cares. 

 

90.) Mexicans have three forms of dinner: pre-dinner, dinner and after-dinner.

91.) You will be offered just about any type of “fruit water"

92.) Using  "pinche" at least twice in a sentence makes you a real Mexican.

93.) All Mexican cities have at least one cathedral, a zocalo, one nice museum and a mexican flag

The Zocalo in Mexico City with the cathedral and the mexican flag

94.) The biggest fear of a Mexican to travel abroad is not the fear to speak another language, live without family or in a different climat; its only the fear to live without salsa

95.) Mexico is unbelievable big. 12 hour trips by bus are just normal.

Big Mexico

96.) On saturdays families clean their house. EVERY saturday.

97.) If a Mexican says "pinche frio" you can wear a T-Shirt and enjoy the sun.

98.) Mexicans are not afraid to ask you about Hitler. Taxi drivers even love to do so.

99.) Mexicans have had exactly one invention (the invention of the colour TV) and  proudly let you know about that

100.) Mexicans are, beside all of the troubles they face, proud of their country

101.) Mexicos landscape is unbelievable great

Landscape in Oaxaca

Landscape in Cavillo

 

Sitting in front of a waterfall in Palenque

So this were my 101 things I learned living six months in Mexico. Some of the things you read you`ll probably only understand when you have been in Mexico before so don`t be afraid if you did not make sense out of all the points. I hope you enjoyed the read either way. 

Of course I learned way more in my 6 months in Mexico and I could have mentioned probably 100 things more. What do you think I did not mention but is absolutly essential about Mexcio? Let me know and leave a comment ;-)

Saludos,

Pascal "El pinche aleman"