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Now, here is one last but long post about Mexico. It seems like I just can't let go. But then some things you only really realize when you find the differences after you come back… Also I need to add that everything I am saying here is true for Mexico - so not necessarily for all parts of Mexico and certainly not for Quintana Roo (and partly Mexico City).
Back in Europe I have to re-adapt again and get rid of all the habits you automatically develop in Mexico. If you live in Mexico you adapt some habits that would be very strange in Europe. One is, that you always have to collect coins. If you tend to buy food on the street or in small shops, you always need small change. There seems to be a constant lack of coins in the whole country. So basically, whenever you go to buy something in one of the big chain shops or with a bigger company (like bus companies) you use the biggest bill you have to try to get change. And if you buy in a small shop or on the street and you only have, say a hundred peso bill (like 7 Euro) you should always ask in advance if they have change.
It is also interesting to know that most of the things sold on the street or in the metro cost 10 pesos (or 5 pesos). Obviously this is a function of the lack of change, rather than the actual value of things. But it is funny to think about this if you try to compare this to economic theory. I wonder how they would explain this… I also think that 5 and 10 peso coins are the two single most used payment methods in all of Mexico (and as I mentioned before, most of this is actually not noticed by official statistics, so who knows how big Mexican economy really is).
Another thing you tend to collect (as a woman anyways) is toilet paper. Many public toilets don't have paper, but every female always has toilet paper on her, so if you don't you can always ask. Women in Mexico are pretty good in sharing bathrooms. Many toilets don't have locks (that work), for example, but this is never a problem, on the one hand because people aren't too worried about their privacy, and on the other hand, because they are so used to there not being locks they usually check before opening the door.
Something else that is rather hard to get used to again, is that you have to think about food and drink. In Mexico you don't. If you're hungry or thirsty, you buy something. There is literally food and drink you can buy everywhere and all the time. During the night it is a little bit harder (and more expensive) but you will never go hungry or thirsty (unless you're like in the middle of the desert or something). If there is a house near, you can always buy food. On the other hand, for example, shop opening times are more depending on what the owner feels like. For example the best bakery I found in San Cristobal seemed to be literally always closed, when I wanted to buy something. In general you get used to eating and drinking what is right there rather than thinking what you want and then go hunting for it. Unless you are vegetarian, which makes life quite a lot harder. But otherwise it is actually quite nice to not have to make a choice - I remember very well how hard it was for me to go grocery shopping in Miami, where you have so much choice it takes you forever to buy anything. And then you just buy the same crap you would without choice in Mexico. I honestly love those little shops in Mexico where you say, I need milk, cornflakes, shampoo and yoghurt and that's what you'll get. Imagine not spending five minutes checking all the brands and prices before you buy shampoo or whatever. I love this!
One funny thing I found, that describes the difference between Mexico and Europe or America pretty well is the following: I never have a guide book, as you probably know. I usually don't need one either, but sometimes I need some information. So when I tried to find out how to get to the Olmec site that is closest to where the bus passes through on my way from Mexico City to Tulum, I looked at the web-site of the national archaeological institute. So a government page to tell me how to get to La Venta. And the indications there are: take a bus to La Venta and from there ask the locals. Google Maps will tell you, that it is literally just a ten-minute walk straight down the only main road, so it would have been really easy to put a description there, but asking the locals is usually easier than trying to find the way yourself. And it is just so normal, it's almost the polite thing to do. It's like saying good morning. Kind of. Imagine a government site in Europe telling you to ask the locals how to get to a national monument… Mind you, there's nothing wrong with asking your way in Europe. It's just not viewed in the same way as in Mexico. Not at all really. On the other hand, in America, I imagine myself being somewhere in Miami waiting for half an hour for someone to pass by, who is not in a car and who I could actually ask for the way…
In general in Mexico strangers talk much more than in Europe, for example in the bus or in shops or when they are eating on the street. I must say that I always enjoyed it, when I did that in Europe too, even though it is not as common but it should be, really!
Actually, even upon checking in in Cancún airport for a flight to Germany, I already had to deal with Germans. Nothing against Germans, they are really just Europeans. Everybody here is kind of the same. It's just that the flight went to Germany and I happen to understand German. But remember I said, when I arrived in Guatemala I felt at home? Well, I now know why: it is the way people talk. It is not the language. People say German sounds rough. Maybe it has something to do with the language but it is more the way it is used. In the line at the check-in in Cancun, so many Germans were complaining about how long it took. I wasn't too happy with that either, of course, but the fact that everybody around me was complaining just made the whole thing worse. So the overall atmosphere was really bad. And it is not like the flight might have taken off earlier if they could have checked in faster - they would just have had to wait longer somewhere else. It is the fact that in central European countries people tend to be very negative. In Latin America they are always positive. When you sit in a bus that is caught in a traffic jam for two hours in Mexico people will also talk. They will also complain, but they make it fun. They laugh about the fact that they will be several hours late to wherever they were supposed to go. They just accept what they can't change and make the best out of it. It is not something that you can easily describe in words but it is something that you immediately feel: the atmosphere is just much more positive over there…
And then, of course, I have to get used to the cold winter in Europe. It's been about 24 months since I last had anything like winter! But besides that, it is actually quite nice to be sleeping in my own bed, to have a washing machine and to have easy access to healthy and vegetarian food.
Getting around in Mexico is easy but very different than in Europe. Basically, depending on how far you go you have real busses (for long distances) and colectivos (mini-busses or regular cars) for short distances within or between villages or towns. Busses basically work like trains. There are bus terminals where they leave and where you buy your ticket. There are different bus companies and different classes. The second class busses often don't go very long distances (they often operate only within the state or in the near surroundings). But if they are available they are actually a good choice: they are cheaper, they are more fun as the local people take them, who are more talkative, might transport fun things like life chickens, and they always let vendors get on whenever there is one. So, for example, if you're stuck in traffic there will be a vendor you can buy food or drink from, or a street artist to entertain you. You avoid the movies of the first class busses and, also nice, the bus stops wherever someone wants to get on or off and not only at the terminals. As most people on there are locals they will also be able to answer all your questions you might have about how to get where you want to go or what type of food is common in the area. Since they stop so often and tend to pass also through little villages, these busses take longer than the first class busses, but then time has a very different meaning in Mexico so this is not really a problem.
The first class busses travel long distances, have a toilet (which is rather important on that kind of travel), they have TV screens and generally always show movies until late at night and Out of all the movies I had the misfortune to have to see, I think there was only ever one that was not very violent. These busses also have a kind of pretend-safety system. Every passenger has their luggage checked when boarding but the checks are really so careless that they might as well not do them. There are also premium class busses, which I've only taken once (I can't remember why). Basically it is a first class bus with fewer seats (so more space), more toilets, you get a drink when you board and I believe there is free wireless internet on the bus but I don't know how well it can work on the road.
Now, for all busses they give you a travel time. But any travel time for busses in Mexico is to be viewed as approximate. For example if your travel time is ten hours then assume you will arrive approximately between 9 and 12 hours after your departure. It has actually happened to me once that I arrived about an hour early. More often though, busses tend to be late up to two hours and more. When I travelled from San Cristobal to Mexico this time, for some reason I didn't hear, the bus had to take a different route and was therefore almost 3 hours late. This is normal. You don't complain, that's just life. When I went to visit the pyramids of La Venta, I was told that the road is blocked and the bus can't go. This is also just normal. It's Mexico, things don't tend to happen the way you plan them. This is something you have to get used to. However, there is also always a way around a problem. This is another part of Mexico, you have to get used to: improvisation.
Now, the colectivos and taxis are different. While busses actually have schedules (although often they might as well not), colectivos don't have schedules (normally, and if they do you can certainly not find it on the internet you can only find out by asking). They normally pass through their routes very frequently so you would usually not wait longer than a few minutes or maybe fifteen minutes at the most at a low frequented route. Also the routes are usually not on the internet (although this is slowly changing, I believe). They have fixed routes but the way to find them out is by asking (either the drivers or just random people on the street). There are no tickets for the colectivos, there is a fixed price of a few pesos (depending on the route and if it is within the city or between villages) and you just pay on the ride or as you get off. Often there is no way the driver, will know if you paid or not, but no one will ever not pay. In every place that is not Quintana Roo, colectivos are usually mini busses that look like they are about 50 years old and almost fall apart. They also tend to have more seats than they were designed for or people also stand. They also just stop where people want to get on or off but the routes are fixed (although they may go off their routes to drop someone off but that will usually cost extra).
Finally a word on food. I meant to write more about that, as food also differs between states but I didn't visit as many states as originally planned after all. Mexico does not count in this case as it tends to just be a mix of food from everywhere and Quintana Roo, as mentioned before, is not Mexico so it doesn't count anyways. In Quintana Roo you just eat McDonalds hamburgers, Pizza or whatever else you eat anywhere else. So I will not write about different foods but just food in general. The only (obvious) difference I can write about is, that in warm places, drinks sold on the street are always cold, whereas in cold places (San Cristobal and Mexico) there are also hot drinks sold on the street. Cold drinks are usually water with taste (agua de sabor). Which is basically sugar, fruit juice and water. My favorite is agua de horchata (closely followed by lime, pine and coco - in this order). Horchata can be prepared in different ways but is usually almost like a cold arroz con leche (although usually without actual rice grains, just the milk). Normally they also use almonds to prepare it and always cinnamon. And of course lots of sugar. The most consumed drink in Mexico, however, is certainly Coca Cola. There is also a very Mexican cold drink called pozol. I think it is originally from Chiapas and it is not sold on the street in very many places. It is basically corn water. A range of other things (like chocolate) can be added. I don't know if there is an original pozol recipe. Hot drinks are coffee (of course), rarely tea, and atole. Atole can also be made of many things. Technically leche con arroz (milk with rice) is also atole but usually not sold as one. There is chocolate atole, oat atole and others. They are usually made with milk and quite sweet, but there are also other ways to make atole. If someone sells atole you always have to ask which kind it is.
Food, as I said before, is generally very meat based. The one most famous and common food in Mexico are tacos. Tacos are literally only a tortilla topped with the meat of your choice. It is eaten with onions and tomatoes, lime and the obligatory hot sauce. I have probably not said so before and I really feel bad about saying this, but meat or not, generally I don't like Mexican food very much. It tends to not have any taste. That is why you have the sauce. Basically instead of making food taste of something they just make it so hot that you don't notice that there is no taste. That's just the way Mexico works. Sauces can be very hot to almost boring, so you always have to try. There is also, of course, the famous guacamole (a sauce made from avocados, and usually absolutely delicious). Guacamole is more commonly served with tostadas rather than tacos. A tostada is basically a taco but the tortilla fried in oil and tends to have more toppings including usually some salad and the famous bean paste. Then you have tortas. Torta is a Mexican thing, I am not sure about Guatemala but in other countries a torta is what it should be: a pie. But in Mexico a torta is a toasted sandwich. And it is my favorite real Mexican food. It usually has bean paste, avodaco, tomato, some lettuce, onion, cheese, chili and meat of your choice. You can add chili sauce if you want but usually they have enough chili already. But in Mexico you can generally add chili sauce to everything. And if you eat in whichever place and ask for chili sauce, you will more easily be accepted as a local. And finally there are quesadillas. These are folded tortillas filled with cheese or anything you want. Again you are supposed to eat it with hot sauce. My favorite filling (next to cheese) is nopal. Nopal is cactus. They cut the cactus leave (after they take out the spines) in little pieces and cook them. Then they are eaten like a vegetable but I have only ever seen them as a filling in quesadillas. Now here is a food that is not eaten everywhere: nopal basically only exists in the northern half of Mexico since there is no desert and no cactus in the south.
The above mentioned are the usual foods you can by on the street or in little shops selling cooked food. There are several variations to these. Especially in Mexico City there are also substitutes for tortillas, that are like flat bread and are called gorditas (fatties). Besides that there are also caldos: soups with meat. And of course I may not forget elotes. This is really the food that is most often sold on the street and on bicycles. Elotes is corn. It is usually boiled and sometimes fried and eaten with mayonnaise, cheese and chili. Esquite is the same thing but the corn grains plucked from the cob and cooked so it is almost like a soup. And chicharron. Chicharron is more like a snack food. Like chips. Chicharron is fried pig skin. But nowadays most of the chicharron sold is actually fake chicharron. I don't know what they make them of, I actually think that there is no animal part in the fake chicharron, but I would still not eat it because the name makes me think of pig skin. Oh and I almost forgot Tamales. Tamales are mainly sold on the streets in the morning. Basically where you see someone selling elotes in the afternoon, someone will be there in the morning selling coffee and tamales (possibly the same person). Tamales are cooked dough (made of corn), filled usually with meat (but there's other versions). The dough is formed into a little block like a slice of bread. The whole thing is then rolled up in a leaf (normally palm or corn leaf) and cooked (or steamed really) with the leaf.
And then there is a whole lot of sweet foods in Mexico. There is sweet bread which you can buy in bakeries but also on the street. Sweet bread is basically everything sweet that you can buy in a random bakery in Europe. And more. There are churros and marquesitas. If you don't know churros, look it up, I can't explain it. Marquesitas are kind of like a rolled up crèpe served with cheese. But the dough is sweet, which makes it rather weird. You can also eat a nutella marquesita with cheese…
This is basically the kind of food you get to eat in Mexico when you want to eat local and cheap food. Of course you can always by fruit and vegetables real cheap on the market and every village has at least one tortillería. They usually open at 5 am or earlier and sell tortillas. And for more spread-out villages, there are usually people who go on motorbikes to every house to deliver tortillas every morning.
Now, one last thing before I stop blabbering about Mexico. I haven't really talked about living situations yet. I have several friends and seen their houses. There are normal houses and apartments, especially in the bigger cities. These are inhabited by rich people. If you have a European-looking apartment in Mexico this means you are rich for local standards. The average apartment or house looks like this: it is usually a house, made of one room, where curtains may be used to create separate rooms. Depending on the local climate many houses may not have glass windows but instead only a mosquito net. In the hot regions glass windows are really rather superfluous. Since there is only one room this means that everybody living in the house shares this room. There is not a lot of privacy. And usually many members of a family are living together. This generally includes three to four generations and on average between four and ten people. The kitchen is usually only a little stove and normally the sink where dishes are washed is outside in the backyard. Especially in the villages, in the backyard is usually also where the chickens live and many have a cow a goat or something else too. And the toilet and shower are there too. Although the shower may just be a little space that has curtains around it and a whole in the ground for the water to run off. Running water does generally not exist outside Mexico City (and Cancún). If a house has running water this is because they have their own pump that pumps water to a tank on the roof. And every time the tank is empty you have to turn on the pump or else you don't get water. Houses which don't have that, have a tank of water next to the sink. This will be filled with water usually once a week (through and underground water pipeline system normally). And from there you take buckets of water to shower, to flush the toilet, to wash the dishes and your clothes. This is how it works. Also in regions with hot climates, usually warm water doesn't exist. Some houses have black tanks on the roof so the sun warms the water. But warm water is not really all that necessary in these places. In cold places they just have electric water boilers or they heat water on the stove and shower with that.
It is funny how quick you learn to live without any luxuries and you find that they are really just that: luxuries. While in Europe we think that it is impossible to live without them, there is really not that much wrong with it.
But I should also mention the things I like very much about Europe, that you just can't get in Mexico and that I do enjoy now: that you can drink water from the sink and it actually tastes good, that you can go out on your own at every time of the day or night without thinking if it might be dangerous, that there are hiking paths in the forest, trains, sport facilities.
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