Just some non-important observations

- Most lifeguards along the beach are also policeman; they carry guns and can arrest you for smoking pot on the beach or for racing with quads on the beach and many other things.
- Police men cruise the streets in pick-up trucks and the guys riding on the back have their guns drawn at all times. Not little teeny weeny pistols either...big guns, always drawn.
- There are always about 3 isles of hair products in the grocery store, the beans take up a whole isle, the canned soup section is only about 2 feet wide, they don’t sell laundry soap in big boxes just in little bags or in bars, ice cream selection is very slim, milk does not need to be refrigerated until opened, rice and pasta come in very small bags only. The reason that food does not come in large quantities is that people here live day to day, they do not stock up on food like we do, and they do not have the space we have to stock up. Kitchens here are not equipped with lot of cupboards, they don’t have huge pantries and most don’t have fridges at all....hence the poor ice-cream selection.
- A 2 lane street can become a 4 lane street with no official warning of any kind.
- It is not uncommon for the bus driver to stop and run across the street to buy some tomatoes to take home or to use a pay phone. ...also not uncommon for the bus to break down (happened once to me so far)
- You can bring your own liquor and your own food into a restaurant.
- They don’t do coffee to go, they can’t imagine not having enough time to sit and enjoy your coffee instead of drinking it on the run.
- There is always a doctor at every drug store that is why you don’t need a written prescription for most drugs, and doctors do still do house calls.
- You can bring your dog onto the bus. (or anything else)
- You can transport a refrigerator on a bicycle and a TV on the back of a motor cycle.
- Kids take their drinks to school in a plastic baggie tied at the top with a straw sticking out. Salsa also comes to school in a baggie.
- You can wash your floors 3 times a day and still have a layer of dust on it...your feet, slippers or socks are forever black on the bottom, now I know why people cover all their electrical appliances, likes toasters, blenders, stereos, and computers etc....
- Not uncommon to see people that have chickens, roosters or even a horse in the city. You don’t have to move out to the country to have a farm.
- Brown sugar does not dry out and get hard here.
- You do not buy eggs by the carton, you put as many as you want in a plastic bag and hope you don’t have scrambled eggs by the time you get home....I have not bought eggs yet for this very reason, it’s also hard in the market because they don’t have shopping carts (remember ....only buying food for the day) I always think I’ll buy them last but by the time I’m done I don’t have room to carry them in a way that I’m sure they won’t break.
- There are no mail boxes, the mailman just throws your mail in front of your door and you just hope the wind does not blow it away.
- Mexicans will hardly ever tell you “No” if you ask them to do something they will say yes and then just not do it, or they will say they will come to something and then just not show up. They consider it very rude to say no but not rude to say yes and then just not.
- The word “frente” means “in front of “in the dictionary, but it is also used for “beside” or “close to “or “around there abouts” making getting directions from someone most confusing.
- It is near impossible to sleep in due to the noise regardless of which neighbourhood you live in. I learned today that most of the gringos that live here use either ear plugs, sleeping pills or Benadryl to help them sleep.....most unhealthy I think. At home I always set 2 alarms clocks so that I don’t sleep in, I only used my alarm clock for the first 3 days, have not needed it since. The noise on my street is mostly due to traffic, it is most uncool to have a muffler on your vehicle or motorbike and about every ½ block you have to test out your horn just in case you get stuck in traffic and you really need it, you would hate to find out then it doesn’t work. You also have to lean out your window once in awhile and yell “ihhhiiiyyiiyiii” (I don’t know how to spell that) as loud as you can...just because.
- If people are home, the doors to their homes are standing open...even I leave the door open now when I am home (until I go to bed)