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jennifer rose

Jul 30, 2005, 11:50 AM

Post #1 of 57 (3932 views)

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You know you live or you've lived in Mexico when........

-A wedding is at 8:00 p.m., you get there at 10:00 p.m. and nobody has arrived yet.
-You will often have lunch and dinner at the same restaurant on the same day...without actually leaving
-You believe a shot of tequila cures everything.
-You have more prescription drugs in your toiletry bag than Eckerd does and you don't have an actual prescription for a single one.
-You bring along small cans of chilies when traveling to Europe.

Let's add to the list, started at http://www.mexconnected.com/...t/dtyouknowwhen.html

Anonimo

Jul 30, 2005, 2:20 PM

Post #2 of 57 (3883 views)

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Re: [jennifer rose] You know you live or you've lived in Mexico when........

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You wonder where you can get the best bagels.

Saludos,
Anonimo

ms mac

Jul 30, 2005, 2:29 PM

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Re: [Anonimo] You know you live or you've lived in Mexico when........

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You don't sweat the small stuff.
ms mac

Esteban

Jul 30, 2005, 3:36 PM

Post #4 of 57 (3862 views)

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Re: [jennifer rose] You know you live or you've lived in Mexico when........

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Your drivers license is out of date, your cars registration is overdue by 4 months and you feel you still have time to get it all in order.

Gringal

Jul 30, 2005, 3:46 PM

Post #5 of 57 (3856 views)

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Re: [jennifer rose] You know you live or you've lived in Mexico when........

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...you roll over and go back to sleep on Sunday morning after being awakened by what sounded like the start of a war outside your window at 4 a.m.

...tortillas seem more logical than bread

...you are not surprised when the driver in front of you will, without warning, cross two lanes of traffic to snag a parking spot on the opposite side of the street.

...topes start to seem like a good idea

Bear

Jul 30, 2005, 4:55 PM

Post #6 of 57 (3840 views)

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Re: [jennifer rose] You know you live or you've lived in Mexico when........

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.....you turn on your emergency flashers, pull over and double park on a busy blvd., so you can talk with your friend you saw on the sidewalk. (the heavy traffic then backs up for two kilometers)......

Ed and Fran

Jul 30, 2005, 6:25 PM

Post #7 of 57 (3807 views)

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Re: [Bear] You know you live or you've lived in Mexico when........

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".....you turn on your emergency flashers..."

Hey, that's mine, no fair! Of course, I might ask why it would be necessary to pull over. The maneuver is more effective if you just stop in the middle and talk.......

G.F.

Bear

Jul 30, 2005, 7:15 PM

Post #8 of 57 (3793 views)

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Re: [Ed and Fran] You know you live or you've lived in Mexico when........

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Sorry, Ed
But everyone knows that you can do anything you want if just put on your flashers.......

Marlene

Jul 30, 2005, 7:17 PM

Post #9 of 57 (3790 views)

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Re: [jennifer rose] You know you live or you've lived in Mexico when........

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Oh, this one happened to me just last evening and it is SOOOO "you know you are in Mexico when"....

A friend and I were enjoying a botana and happy hour in the new Sanborns in Mazatlan. There was live music at a nice (low) volume, polite inobtrusive wait-staff in spiffy uniforms, everything was perfect including the decor. We had just commented how this could be an upscale lounge in ANYWHERE, The World. I no sooner uttered those words when suddenly the keyboard player stopped, the big TV screen in the corner was turned on, sound cranked to HIGH volume and SAY WHAT??? A Telenovela!! I looked at my friend and she said "It is the season finale of the BIG soap opera and EVERYONE is into it". Really. How to kill the ambiance.... The keyboard player, the waiters, the bartender were all lost in this drama. The customers may as well not have been there and it took ages to get the bill. Only in Mexico.

MG Rabon

Jul 30, 2005, 9:01 PM

Post #10 of 57 (3765 views)

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Re: [jennifer rose] You know you live or you've lived in Mexico when........

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Even though you frequent their business several times a week, and you always order a Coca Light, the owner waits for you to order it, then leaves you to watch the cash register while he goes down 3 floors of stairs, and down the street half a block, to purchase ONE Coca Light (at retail), to serve to you.

You come out of a restaurant and even though you've parked on the street you still have a tip in your hand for the 'parking attendant'.

You find yourself looking at prices and dividing by 10.

Compórtate bien, y si no puedes, invítame!
MG Rabon

(This post was edited by MG Rabon on Jul 30, 2005, 9:04 PM)

sfmacaws

Jul 30, 2005, 10:00 PM

Post #11 of 57 (3747 views)

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Re: [jennifer rose] You know you live or you've lived in Mexico when........

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You pull over to the right and wait for traffic to pass when you are making a left turn.

You always look for the newest gas station or at least one on a hill.

You keep your toothbrush in the kitchen, next to the garafon.

You only get impatient when driving.

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

kirkswig

Jul 31, 2005, 12:51 AM

Post #12 of 57 (3733 views)

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Re: [jennifer rose] You know you live or you've lived in Mexico when........

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When you've learned that Mexican music isn't about technique as much as it is expression.

There's a little boy who lives in the building one door over who will sometimes go out on the terrace and belt out a tune or two. At first I found him irritating; he's off-key, he has no tempo... it was a shrieking racket.

But after awhile, I finally got it. He puts so much joy into his voice that it doesn't matter what he sounds like. As far as he's concerned, he's the Mexican Frank Sinatra. It's what he is feeling that counts, and when he sings today, he never fails to bring a smile to my face.

To boldly go where no wig has gone before.

Tequisbob

Jul 31, 2005, 7:08 AM

Post #13 of 57 (3696 views)

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Re: [kirkswig] You know you live or you've lived in Mexico when........

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you get onto the autopista....go to the left hand lane...put your blinker on.....set the cruise at 85-mph and then have to move over for a Jetta with DF plates.

donwilliston

Jul 31, 2005, 7:15 AM

Post #14 of 57 (3693 views)

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Re: [jennifer rose] You know you live or you've lived in Mexico when........

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The taxi drivers are truly proud of their city and love living there. (Mazatlán)

Having fun is more important than achieving success.

Having invited two people for dinner at 8pm you have no idea how many will show up or when they might arrive.

You come across a street party while walking in the evening, you sit down to rest and are served dinner with a coke. (Mazatlán)

You are at a sidewalk café and a group of policemen (in uniform) put some tables together and order beer. On your way out you buy them a round and they insist that you join them. (True story – in Veracruz).

---
"It's good enough to be true" Gracie Maurahan 1970
---

Carol Schmidt

Jul 31, 2005, 8:30 AM

Post #15 of 57 (3665 views)

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Re: [jennifer rose] You know you live or you've lived in Mexico when........

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You greet strangers on the street with a smile and mean it.

You look both at your feet and at eye level constantly so as not to trip over a cobblestone or run into a forehead-level windowbox.

You see people putting catsup and/or worchestershire sauce on pizza.

There's an accordion player in the middle of the chamber music group.

You get a five-cent discount if you bring your own container for the fresh corn tortillas.

The waiter slaps down a thimbleful of mescal for free as a starter.

Corn fungus is considered a delicacy, not something to be burned immediately so it doesn't spread.

You actually can take a bus anywhere.

You're not surprised when that plain tree leaning against your second story window bursts into red at Christmas and you realize it is a poinsettia.

You step aside for burrows and never miss a beat.

Guys on horses are right in there with the creeping traffic.

A hundred mourners in a funeral procession block the main street in town for fifteen minutes on their way to the cemetery and nobody honks.

Some bare-torsoed guy with a six-foot-wide peacock feather headdress and shells rattling around his ankles rushes past you on his way to some parade.

Men are carrying their babies instead of pushing a stroller.

Kids are entertaining themselves for hours in the Jardin with an empty Coke bottle and a small ball, playing baseball together with no fancy equipment instead of staring into separate gameboys.

People go by carrying what looks like entire pig skins fried in four-foot hunks, cracking off a small piece and sprinkling it with a bottle of hot sauce as they walk.

There's mayonnaise, grated cheese, lime and chile powder on the ears of corn.

Old women and kids alternate on a bench in the grocery store, waiting their next turn to bag your groceries and get a tip.

You take nopales capsules for $7 a month for cholesterol instead of Lipitor for $70 a month and get better results.

A steer ambles onto the highway.

Carol Schmidt, reporting scenes from San Miguel and environs

jreboll

Jul 31, 2005, 9:23 AM

Post #16 of 57 (3643 views)

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Re: [jennifer rose] You know you live or you've lived in Mexico when........

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You are NOB and:
You answer your phone with "Bueno"
In a pinch you will drink instant coffee when before you used to hate it.
You ignore other's commentaries on Mexico (usually negative)

kirkswig

Jul 31, 2005, 4:14 PM

Post #17 of 57 (3550 views)

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Re: [jreboll] You know you live or you've lived in Mexico when........

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Quote

In a pinch you will drink instant coffee when before you used to hate it.

Yeah, what is the deal with that?

I used to be one of these guys who had to buy the stuff by the bean, it had to be fresh, had my own coffee grinder, had a french press. A very fussy coffee drinker was I.

Then I come to Mexico and... what the hell happened to me? Nescafe!? You've got to be kidding!

That's what I drink now though. Weird.

To boldly go where no wig has gone before.

sfmacaws

Jul 31, 2005, 4:24 PM

Post #18 of 57 (3540 views)

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Re: [kirkswig] You know you live or you've lived in Mexico when........

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Buck up! You've succumbed to the dark side. Learn to 'Just Say NO' to Nescafe, even when they dress it up with hot milk. Next thing that happens is you start dumping Knorr Suiza on everything, drinking Coca Cola for breakfast and eating endless amounts of ramen.

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

Georgia

Jul 31, 2005, 5:57 PM

Post #19 of 57 (3508 views)

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Re: [jennifer rose] You know you live or you've lived in Mexico when........

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You carry in your own roll of toilet paper to the Oxxo restroom on the cuota road.

Carron

Jul 31, 2005, 6:53 PM

Post #20 of 57 (3483 views)

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Re: [Georgia] You know you live or you've lived in Mexico when........

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. . .and speaking of toilet paper, that was probably my biggest shock after moving to Mexico.

Soon after we arrived in Chiapas, I was invited to dinner at the home of a very middle class friend who worked in the governor's office. In the place of honor on the table was--a roll of plain white, one-ply toilet paper. The hostess proudly wrapped a few turns around her hand and passed an individual wad to each diner as though she were dispensing royal titles! My face must have turned the color of an ancho chile. That wasn't the last time.

I grew up in the deep South in the late 40's when ladies still used embroidered linen hankies and napkins were of cloth. We hadn't even reached the stage of using colored Kleenex in patterned boxes to match every room in the house, much less paper towels. We used cloth tea towels and clean rags for everything from drips and slips to accidents. (Although I was just one generation away from using the outdated Sears catalogue in an outhouse in the back yard!)

Then flu season hit in southern Mexico and all my students at the university had a roll of toilet paper in their back packs which they generously offered to anyone who sniffled or sneezed. I thought toilet paper was supposed to be secreted away in the bathroom???

But the incident we always laugh about now in our family is the time shortly thereafter when we were visiting Mexico City. In an upscale jewelry store near the plaza mayor my then teenaged daughter developed a sudden nose bleed, probably from the altitude. Blood came out in spurts! Within seconds, the handsome clerk, not much older than she, raced from the employees' bathroom with a roll of toilet paper and began to blot her upper lip! She refused to leave the hotel room the rest of the time we were there.

Mexpender

Jul 31, 2005, 7:31 PM

Post #21 of 57 (3463 views)

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Re: [Carron] You know you live or you've lived in Mexico when........

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At immigration in Puerto Vallarta, we were given pieces of toilet paper to wipe the black ink from our thumbs after being printed.

sfmacaws

Aug 1, 2005, 12:21 AM

Post #22 of 57 (3415 views)

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Re: [Mexpender] You know you live or you've lived in Mexico when........

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You aren't surprised that the toilet seat is missing in even an upscale restaurant's bathroom, or in Liverpool department store but you are SHOCKED when you find one in a Pemex bathroom.

***It's a true mystery, what has happened to all the toilet seats of Mexico? I keep expecting to find them turned into some kind of artisan item on sale in the markets.

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

Chumley

Aug 1, 2005, 4:53 AM

Post #23 of 57 (3399 views)

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Re: [kirkswig] You know you live or you've lived in Mexico when........

As they say, Nescafe es no cafe.

Adrian

Aug 1, 2005, 5:06 AM

Post #24 of 57 (3395 views)

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Re: [sfmacaws] You know you live or you've lived in Mexico when........

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In Reply To

Let me let you in on a secret...

There's a stall selling used plumbing fixtures on Calle Heroes de Nacozari, round the back of Mercado Juarez, right here in downtown Tampico. Cheap, black, plastic toilet seats are MN$50 each (minus lid) in a good used condition.

Go down Ave.Hidalgo to Home Depot and be prepared to pay MN$300 for the same as new!

Adrian

alex .

Aug 1, 2005, 8:02 AM

Post #25 of 57 (3348 views)

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Re: [jennifer rose] the propane truck.....

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becomes your alarm clock.
Alex

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