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Published: December 17th 2011
Church
Our Church FamilyTeresa's perspective as our stay came to an end:
April, 2007
It doesn’t seem possible but we’ve been here since December 28th, 2006. In some ways it has been a roller coaster of emotion, transition, adjustments, and exploration, and settling in. Now, with only 2 months left to go it causes me to be introspective about these last weeks. I also feel that with four months under my belt that I can be a little more accurate in my depiction of life in central Mexico.
It has been really fun to have the opportunity to compare the customs of the U.S. with the ones here in Mexico. We are two different countries that geographically are so close but yet are so different in so many ways.
The main areas that differ are cultural. Here in Mexico what is valued seems to be focused on people - relationships, having a good time, being in the moment, enjoyment of one another, and involving children in all aspects of their lives.
To me, the American way is to focus on what is accomplished in a day or a year, setting goals, and what is best for “me”. In Mexico, it
Dick and Ann Dye
Our Church, Rose of Sharon. Started by missionaries from the U.S. by the name of is more of a family focus – what is the best thing for everyone. Everyone makes up a team that includes family and friends.
Another profound difference is the Mexican’s way of acquiring possessions only determined by what is needed and necessary. Once something is acquired it is kept indefinitely until it wears out or truly is not needed anymore. And by wearing out I don’t mean the fabric on the couch is getting a little thin, I mean the iron is broke and won’t even turn on anymore. You know without me telling you that the American way is that we replace when we get tired of something regardless of its condition. Our “need” for the best is driven by an egocentric society and one that is “keeping up with the Joneses”.
The Mexican way helps to keep their lives simpler, less complex, and allows energy to be focused on people and not possessions, which would be their wish. An enviable philosophy to be sure.
I don’t think they tend to shop for large amounts of food or groceries at any one time because 1.) it would mean a lot of money up front and 2.)
Bella, Haley & Madison
Our best treasure from Mexico!! they only procure goods as they are needed. Typically, you will see the ladies at the market or store buying only what is necessary for that day’s meals.
Mexicans are very neat and tidy in how they care for themselves, their houses, their places of business, and even their 1974 Volkswagen Beetles. It is a real treat to walk a city/town/puebla in the “early” (most Mexicans don’t get started with their day until after 8:00) morning and see the amount of sweeping and mopping that gets done. Of course I have seen stores swept and mopped, but I have also seen sidewalks and even streets swept and mopped. Also, this is not a weekly or monthly occasion, this is a daily event!
Personal grooming is high priority. You will see few straggly or long-haired men here or there but they are mostly all clean shaven with a fresh haircut. Even the very poor have clean and pressed clothes. Tattoos and body piercing is also rare here. How refreshing!
The Catholic faith here is very prevalent and strongly observed. It is astounding how many people stop in their local cathedrals daily to light candles and offer prayers to their
Agua de......
The 2 favorite in Mexico are Horchata (rice) and Jamaica (a flower) which are my least favorite! saints on bended knees. At first I expected that it would be the older, more traditional crowd but after visiting cathedral after cathedral I was able to see that it is really a large mix of people inside on any given day. It is not unusual seeing a mother and her young children in the pews, the mother on her knees praying and the children sitting quietly beside with wide eyes of wonder. How wonderful that they are exposed to this kind of faith from the very moment they are born! Cathedrals and chapels are common sightings in any town in Mexico. They are usually centered on the town square in smaller towns but in a town such as Queretaro (with almost 700,000 people within the city) I believe I was told that there were 43 cathedrals here which doesn’t account for the smaller chapels.
Personal space is also different here. It is very common and expected to kiss on the cheeks upon greeting someone – your teacher, your doctor, and of course your friends and family. Speaking of personal space, here are some examples of Mexican Zero Personal Space Zones. The kids say that at The Lunch Box
Speed-Bump
These signs are everywhere in Mexico. They work as the Mexican Police! (their “cafeteria” at school) it is very common for ALL the kids on lunch break to be squished and jostling in front of the two counters where you can order – no semblance of order or a line in sight – the kids are five or six deep taking up every available inch of frontage on the counter and the kids three, four back are yelling up their orders. And they get them! Apparently the rule is whoever can get the attention first, gets waited on. It is a friendly jostling though, no harm intended.
Another example would definitely have to be the people in cars. The cars all but kiss one another over and over again on a daily basis. Where there are two lanes, the Mexicans will make as many lanes as there is room for. If that means four cars abreast of one another, that’s okay, whatever fits. That can even apply to exits and entrance ramps off of major highways. Somehow it all works but you have to wonder why there aren’t more accidents.
Our theory on the surprising lack of accidents is that most drivers drive by one rule – defensive driving. If
Tope!
Watch out or these will tear up you front-end! you don’t, you won’t be accident free for long - that is guaranteed. This is even especially true with the many, many buses that careen the streets all over Mexico. The buses are unforgiving and I have seen at least two accidents involving buses with cars. If it comes between the bus getting ahead or the car, there would be an accident before the car would get ahead. These bus drivers must get paid by on-time arrivals!
It would not be unusual to see a driver driving the wrong way on a one-way street, a motorcyclist driving with a child sprawled across his lap sleeping, a truck with 8 – 10 people riding in the back on the way to work in the morning, a very small car loaded up with Mexicans like the teensy weensy car at the circus with the clowns that just keep coming out, or farm animals freely roaming alongside the major highways (mostly cows, sheep, and goats) to find that tiny patch of green that is so hard to find here in this semi-desert area of Mexico.
It doesn’t seem as if there are as many overweight people (men, women, and children) here
Mexican Clothes Dryer
You will be amazed how fast clothes dry in the windy, dry Mexican climate! as there are in the US. My theory on this is that they are accustomed to much more physical activity on a daily basis due to the fact that not a lot of people have cars, so therefore a lot of walking is done. Even when the bus is taken, you must sometimes walk quite a ways to get to a bus stop. Also what I mentioned earlier could also contribute to less overweight people as well – a pride in their appearance. There are many Mexicans out running early mornings and exercising.
Here in Queretaro there are many, many construction jobs going on and you see reminders everywhere of how physically hard these people work day in/day out. It is not uncommon to see construction workers working on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. Lastly, they do not eat the prepared foods chocked full of fat, preservatives, or chemicals that we do. The food here is prepared fresh. They eat a lot of fruit, yogurt, beans, various soups, cheese and meat. The biggest contributor to their bread consumption would have to be the tortilla of course, mostly corn but also flour is used for certain dishes like quesadillas.
The freezer section at all of the grocery stores (in Queretaro that includes: Commercial Mexicana, Sorriana, Chedraui, Wal-Mart and Superama) that I frequent is very limited and small in proportion to the rest of the store. Ice cream makes up at least ½ of that freezer space followed by frozen vegetables and fruit, a few frozen pizzas (Hawaiian style being the favorite) and then a few little things here or there, and that is it.
Because up to 25% of Queretaro’s population consists of whites/Europeans (according to one Internet site) it is not too hard to find in the grocery store what I am used to in the states. There are a few things I have not seen: graham crackers, pretzels, raisins, pickles, or brown paper lunch bags. My girls would want me to add Butterfingers to this list.
We went to dinner (that is, the Mexican dinner which is usually around 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon) at a woman professor’s house from the Tech de Monterrey by the name of Claudia, her husband and their three small children. Another professor was there by the name of Horacio and his wife, Marta. We sat outside and they served chips/dip, guacamole, jicama, tortilla chips, and other assorted snacks. Then they served aracherra (a kind of beef steak), tortillas, white rice mixed with a few peas and corn, pinto beans, and roasted onions in lime juice. All was delicious. For dessert, it was candies from Claudia’s hometown of Monterrey called Glorias (a kind of cajeta with nuts) and also two huge chocolate covered apples.
It was all very nice and conversation flowed easily. It was fun to discuss all of our impressions about Mexico and the U.S. Horacio and his wife and family lived in the US in Virginia for two years previously so they also had impressions. We were there for approximately 4 hours, just talking the whole time.
One interesting subject we discussed were doctors. In Mexico it is very common for doctors to hand out all telephone numbers they have available to reach them – home, cell, office, etc. Of course, if you need anything you call them night or day, at home or work. Claudia was confounded at how you could visit your OB/GYN for 9 months in preparation for the big day when baby comes, only to find out that another doctor, the doctor on call, will actually be delivering the baby. It took many tries before successfully explaining to her that while it wasn’t in the best interest of the patient, it was in the best interest for the doctor.
One thing that struck me is that, like almost every other house I’ve visited since arriving here, they had a full-time maid. This person watches over their three little kids, cooks, and cleans. Her name was Olga and she had two cute long honey-colored pigtails. Olga happens to live with them full-time which isn’t always the case but this is not unusual either.
While I can relate to so many things they do differently here, this one is harder for me to understand. I like my privacy maybe a little more than the next person but I am not obsessive about it. I cannot imagine having someone living with me all the time as an extra person in the house. But more than that, to watch her serving us and hovering in the background was almost humiliating for me to watch. I felt bad, like she was a servant, which I guess she is but it is hard to get this in my brain. Didn’t slavery go out a long time ago? I know that I am being overly dramatic – she does get paid for her services and most likely she is treated like one of the family. Olga is getting married in September (how did she ever meet anyone when she seems like she is sequestered in their home all the time I ask?) and then she will live with her husband but come early in the morning (around 7:00 a.m.) and then stay until evening. Long hours.
While I was driving the other day I witnessed some things I forgot to mention earlier in my writing about the driving here. One common practice is to pull up behind someone on the highway and if you want to pass them, turn on your left blinker. This is telling them to get over so you can go by. This is very, very common. More common than using your blinker to make a turn. That would be considered a little unusual to do that. Alternatively, this can be used in reverse too. If you are in front of someone and you don’t want to speed up or want them to go around you, then turn on your left blinker to let them know you have no intention of going any faster or getting out of their way – and that they can pass.
One of the things we’ve seen over and over again on the major highways are cars, trucks, and semi-trucks going speeds from down right racetrack style to puttzing along style. The main reason for the puttzing is overloaded vehicles. This then causes them to be 1.) so heavy they can’t navigate the hills very well and have to slow way down when climbing up one; or 2.) carefully driving so that no items go flying off because they are stacked from the bed of the truck to the sky. Sometimes we see regular size pickup trucks that are precisely packed with something (say, kitchen chairs) like an intricate jigsaw puzzle so high that the actual space of the cargo is twice that of the truck itself. The one we saw the other day resembled an upside-down pyramid as it got wider and wider as it went up until it reached the utmost level that was flat at the top. It is funny to see and amazing what they can transport with a single vehicle if they put their mind to it. But again, it is probably normal, every day behavior for them to pack up their trucks.
Taxis are very prevalent here and somewhat economical. It is common to use the taxi to go to the grocery store or even to pick your children up from school. What I find unusual is the openness of the driver and passenger(s) to admit other riders into the vehicle. For example, a taxi is taking someone to their destination. On the way they pass another person who needs a taxi. The driver pulls over to see where she wants to go and she gets in along with the original passenger and off they go together. Makes sense – saves gas, the second person gets a ride faster, the taxi driver can make more money – but can you imagine Americans doing this without much discussion about whether to let the person in or not? Most often, I think an American would prefer to ride alone. Again, the privacy issue.
April 30, 2007
Last Thursday I was mad at Mexico. I had to pick Madison up from swimming but Haley was held after school because her entire class took a Geography test and failed. That afternoon the teacher said all students were to stay after school from 2:30 on and study (never mind the fact that Haley was supposed to go to swimming as well). At 4:30 they would retake the test. So after I picked up Madison, we went to the closest grocery store, Superama, through the little puebla of Jurica. While at the store we bought a few things and then proceeded to the checkout. Normally, I always pay by credit card so I don’t have to mess with exchanging money, etc. This time I decided to pay cash because it was only $160 or so pesos. I paid with a $500 peso bill. She gave me back $240 pesos in assorted bills and coins and said adios. As I walked away I didn’t feel right about the amount of change and stopped to count it. Sure enough she had shorted me $100 pesos (the equivalent of about $9.30). I was very frustrated and made my way back not sure how I was going to tell her in Spanish that she shorted me $100 pesos. I fumbled with my words and she immediately knew what I meant. After hesitating with her hand on her cash drawer she reached in and gave me the $100 and said “perdon” (which means pardon, forgive me, or sorry), turned her back to me, and continued with what she was doing. I was insulted and mad. Most likely the strength of my feelings came from the fact that this also occurred with my father-in-law 2 or 3 times while he was here and Jeff a few times as well. Do Mexicans think we’re stupid? I do not like being taken advantage of.
Shortly after leaving Superama while driving back through the puebla of Jurica I was in the center of the little town where there are NO stop signs at any of the four corner intersections. It is hard to see around the corner to see if anyone is coming because the sidewalks are very narrow and hence, the buildings are very close to the roads. After stopping at one intersection for a bus that stopped ½ way through the intersection to pick up a passenger, a new bright red truck repeatedly honked at me to get going. It didn’t really matter that I couldn’t go because the bus was in my way, he just wanted me to go. As soon as possible I accelerated up the hill and started to take the curve to the left as the red truck zoomed by, and in order to avoid an oncoming car, cut me off coming very close to my front left-side of the car and zoomed off. Because of my residual feelings about what happened at the grocery store I was especially upset. I honked back at him as he went by and used some words I think like jerk and stupid. Madison chastised me for that, rightly so.
I am over my hard feelings now but I really felt let down that afternoon. I have felt nothing but warmth for these people and have felt 100% safe the entire time I’ve been here which is no small feat. When things like this happen it erodes my trust in them in tiny increments and I don’t want that to happen. You know what they say, a few bad apples.....
Being “on time” in Mexico – and I think this applies to any Latin American country – is a relative term. I went to a presentation the school put on last week for parents that was scheduled to start at 9:00 a.m. At 9:20 it officially started and at 9:45 there were a few straggler parents coming in even though it ended at 10:00. Our church we attend is supposed to start every Sunday at 9:30 a.m. When it starts at 9:40, that is early. Yesterday at 9:40 the pianist (Laura Young) was still practicing her songs and there were only a handful of people there and that included the four of us! I read in a good little book, From Foreign to Familiar, that in Latin American countries if the starting time is 2:00 p.m., that means that is the time that the preparations for the event will actually start. It is anybodies best guess as to the actual starting time but as people arrive they would just jump in and help prepare or socialize until the event begins. I have not experienced anything quite this dramatic, but close.
May 20, 2007
Time is getting shorter and shorter here and I am being protective of it. Only a 6 more weeks to go and we will be heading home. There is a lot planned for those weeks – it will be fun to see how they pan out. We returned from a trip to Cancun this past Saturday night and had a fun time at the Moon Palace Resort. The employees there were nice, as they were at the Vallarta Palace. They work so hard, especially the people in the restaurants. You will see them at breakfast and then you will see the same people, still on their feet always moving about, at dinner.
It has been interesting to see the differences between the American people I meet and the Mexican people and how they approach a relationship with me. It may just be me, I haven’t decided for sure or not yet, but when I meet an American person it seems as if they are not that interested in being a friend when they find out that I am only a temporary visitor here. Also that I cannot really know what it is like here when I am “only living here for six months”. On the other hand, with the Mexican people once there is a reason to meet them, or have even a slight relationship with them, they want to be your friend. A real friend.
Mexicans always seem to be respectful and positive towards the U.S. and are very complimentary of it. Sometimes when I am talking to someone about the U.S. I have even been slightly embarrassed at the inferiority of the U.S. in comparison to Mexico. Our lack of beautiful, historic, truly old buildings and monuments. Also the things that are important to us which can sometimes seem insignificant here.
The landscape here is one of severity and sharp contrasts. The area around Queretaro is semi desert and is very dry and brown. No matter where or how far I’ve traveled from our home here, there are always bluish gray mountains looming in the distance. All around are green cactuses of more varieties than you can imagine. Tall, short, fat, spindly, skinny, some that even have bark on their trunks like a tree. The spiky agave plant is also plentiful with its sharp silver green spikes reaching toward the sky. In urban areas green grass, flowers, large towering trees, and all sorts of green vegetation abound. Bougainvillea is the most common flowering bush here and it is very plentiful alongside roads, in parks and landscaping, everywhere. It is the only flower that blooms here 12 months.
We have a beautiful little church that we have attended on Sunday mornings at 9:30 since about the middle of February. It was a little hard to find a church that was Christian and that was English speaking. It is called Rose of Sharon. It was started by missionaries from the U.S. by the name of Dick and Ann Dye. They moved to Mexico 39 years ago spending the first portion of their time in Acapulco. They raised their children here and are getting on in years. Another couple from the U.S. ? and Laura Young, run things along with Dick and Ann. He does most sermons and Laura plays the piano. Both sing as does their family of 3 girls – Stephanie, Mary Catherine, and Audrey. They have an older son who is in college back home. The three girls are very friendly and made Haley and Madison feel right at home from the very first day. Although the schedule says the service it to start at 9:30 it is amusing to see how some Sundays it can start relatively on time (within 5 minutes) and others it can be 9:50 or 9:55 before we get started. It is very casual with most of the transplanted Americans revolving in and out on Sundays. It is so small that after attending just two Sundays, Ann asked Jeff if he would lead a service the following Sunday. Of course, he was trapped and had to agree. I think he was more surprised than anything else so didn’t know what to say. But naturally he did a great job and repeated the favor again just recently.
About ½ way through after singing, prayer requests/praises, special celebrations the kids are dismissed to go downstairs for Sunday School. They readily scamper off to see what adventure awaits. They also sing and then usually have some kind of activity that relates back to what they’re learning about. It was funny, the first time we attended both girls were tentative about splitting up being so new and everything which we completely understood and we all agreed that we would play it by ear whether they went with the other kids or not. But when we walked in little Miss Audrey Young greeted them with such enthusiasm and open friendliness making them feel right at home that when they called the kids to go downstairs the girls ran off without a look back. Often if they can get it in before we tell them it’s time to leave, they are found playing a game that Audrey and her sister made up and never want to stop.
Once a month they celebrate birthdays and anniversaries. Those people who fall into that category are called to the front and presented with gifts from Ann. Nice gifts. It is mind boggling to think that she can keep up with this but each gift also seems to be thought out in advance as to who is getting what and why. They are also usually gift wrapped. The names are also printed in the bulletin.
Ann coordinates many, many things for the church and is a busy bee always on the move. She organizes a semi-weekly women’s bible study that rotates from house to house. She leads that discussion and hands out assignments when necessary. She also organizes a once-a-month outreach in a tiny puebla near Queretaro for any children and parents that want to come. It is held in an empty warehouse. The warehouse is for sale so unfortunately they may lose their space. The event starts at 10:00 but kids start lining up around 9:00. Usually about 100 children show up. The agenda is to split them up into groups by age. Each group has an English lesson led by the likes of me and then a Spanish person conducts a bible study. Then there is an art activity. Madison and I had a group of combined 8 and 9-year olds since the teacher for the 8-year olds didn’t show up. Jeff and Haley taught English to a group of 12-year olds. It was rewarding for me to see the eagerness in all the little faces. Most participated but all seemed shy. They were for the most part little ragamuffins but with their big, round dark eyes precious. Meanwhile there have been tables set up outside with used clothing, shoes, belts, purses, etc. and they are instructed to take what they can use. If they get something that doesn’t fit or can’t use, share it with someone else. It is a wonderful program.
June 4, 2007
It has been many days since writing last. It is a full house this week. Natalie Enders has been here for 9 days and Lance, Carleen and Kendall arrived on Saturday, two days ago. We are enjoying showing them the usual sights but we are finding it hard to get excited over and over again about the same places. Our excitement is also somewhat loosely based on the visitor and how excited, or nonexcited, they are.
Last week on Tuesday evening, we were invited to Jane’s house (a professor at Tech de Monterrey) for a “light” dinner at 8:00 p.m. When we arrived two of her dogs – she has several - got into a power struggle that was quite vicious with one clamping his jaws around the other’s nape of his neck for several minutes. A third dog wanted to get into the act and for a while also clamped himself onto the other two and they wrestled and fought, growled and bit. It was a little nerve wracking as when we walked through the front gate it started all around us. We were ushered inside and Jeff helped get them separated eventually by throwing bucketfuls of water into the more aggressive dog’s face.
For some reason Jane had no electricity that night other than the kitchen and the TV room so the entire living, dining, and bath were set up with candles everywhere. She did not seem fazed by this little issue and just went with the flow. The candles were a wonderful backdrop anyway to a nice evening. We sat down to “dinner” about 9:00 or 9:30 and we had a wonderful salad with apples and cheese and then we had ???. We finally excused ourselves at a little past 11:00 since the girls needed to go to school in the morning and were having a little bit of a hard time keeping their eyes open at the table.
The usual subject of maids came up – I guess only because of our curiosity about them – and Jane said “having a maid is delicious”. Her maid has been with them for 18 years and works every day from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. Then her cousin comes for the evening and nighttime hours. Jane also made up a little song, singing and clapping her hands about having a maid and how wonderful it is.
We are contemplating a driving trip through southern Mexico in about a week. We would go for about 10 days, return here to pack up the house, and then leave for the U.S.
I am a little apprehensive but also very much looking forward to it. My favorite part of our stay has been traveling around and seeing all that Mexico has to offer. It is a vast country with so much. I am a little apprehensive because we have been so very fortunate to have had not problems with driving – policia, breaking down, unsafe predicaments, etc. – that I wonder if we should push our “luck”. This would be the farthest we’ve driven for the longest time away from our home away from home. We are planning on driving to Acapulco and then along the coast and then back up north again to Queretaro.
I have a favorite lady at the market that I go to get our fruits and vegetables. She has a little stand at the Mercado de la Cruz that takes up an area about 10’ by 20’. I think I will miss her……………
Jeff's perspective after 6 months in Mexico:
It is hard to believe that we have lived in Mexico for over 6 months. If you are still struggling to pronounce the name of the city, it is Querétaro (Kay-REH-tah-roe). Haley and Madison always call it the Q-city. Like many colonial cities of Central Mexico, Querétaro has become a large town. Several major international companies have enormous manufacturing plants on the outskirts. To me that is a little sad. Nonetheless, the city has preserved its historic downtown and taken steps to beautify many areas. The city was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1996. We all share the same feeling about our stay; Mexico is a really wonderful country. The climate is great, the people friendly and there’s more history, culture and variety than we ever imagined. Yet Mexico is a conundrum, a potentially very rich country with some extreme poverty. You simply must accept Mexico as it is. If you reach this point of peace with the country, you will, like us, fall in love with the place.
After 6 months here is a summary of my thoughts.
1. Don’t drive at night. Well, that is don’t drive outside of your comfort range (areas you know well) at night. I violated this rule only once or twice, and was very happy when I reached my destination.
2. Points of interest: Vera cruz, a paradise of colors, Costa Esmeralda, I want it all for myself so please give it a miss (see our trip report for more). Querétaro must make this list, the entire family has enjoyed every moment of our time in this delightful city.
3. Things I really liked:
1. The food; 2. Traveling; 3. Fruits & Vegetables; 4. The climate
4. Things I did not like;
1. Speed Bumps; 3. Paying the Phone, & Electric Bill; 4. Not being able to call toll free numbers in the USA; 5. The language Bearer; 5. the dry dusty nature of the climate.
Conclusions:
Mexico is for Smart People
In the US there are warning signs everything. Mexico isn't like that. In Mexico you are expected to use common sense. If there is a hole in the sidewalk, you should just walk around it. No sign is required. I think that most of this has to do with their legal system. You can sue for the time you were off work and medical expenses, but that is all. There are no million dollar lawsuits for pain and suffering, and mental trauma because you were not looking where you were walking and fell into a whole.
Speedbump Fields
In Mexico they put speedbumps everywhere. Instead of just a bump or two, you'll find yourself driving through a whole field of speedbumps. Sometimes 4 or 5 at a time. In Ohio speedbumps are kind of rare. The speedbump here are big. You have to slow down or else. Think of them as the Mexican traffic police........
Dryers are Scarce
In Queretaro clothes dryers seem to be fairly rare. It makes sense why people wouldn't want to use an electric dryer. The constant sun makes it easy to dry clothes on a line. Because the areas has a constant breeze and is so dry, they will dry very quickly. Teresa actually enjoyed the fresh breeze approach to drying clothes. They reallly do dry fast.
Doctors
We definitely had the nicest doctors in the world. I guess in Mexico they don't teach the class in medical school on how to be a jerk. It is very different than the states, no big deal for the doctor to give you his/her cell phone and to answer when you call. I would never have my doctor’s cell phone number or get to talk to him in the States. I am so grateful for the doctor that treated Madison on two occasions – she was simply wonderful!
Why you can't Drink the Water in Mexico
I don't know that the water treatment facilities are any different in Mexico from the U.S. but the water distribution system is very different. In Queretaro (and most Mexican cities as far as I can tell), water doesn't run all the time. Normally it comes on for a few hours each day. All of the houses here are built to handle this. They have a large cistern. When the water comes on, the cistern is filled. In the evenings it sounds like someone is taking a bath outside of our window as the fresh incoming water sloshes around in the cistern. Water Holding Tanks on RoofSince the cistern is low, there is another holding tank on the roof that is used to supply pressure to the house. The cistern has a pump that feeds the holding tank whenever it gets low. I think there is some type of float in the holding tank that triggers this, but I haven't actually looked inside one.
These two different places of holding water mean that by the time it comes out of the faucet it may have been sitting at your house for quite some time, so even if it is clean from the pipes, it might have grown bacteria while in the cistern or holding tank. It doesn't seem like people frequently clean the cistern or holding tank. I've heard of cases where a bird or mouse fell into the holding tank on the roof and no one knew about it for quite some time. In addition the pipes bringing the water to the houses probably aren't of the same quality as the ones in the U.S. and in many parts of Mexico the earth tends to shift a lot. This is particularly true of Mexico City where the entire area has been build on a lake that had become a swamp. Small earthquakes can cause fractures in the pipes that might pollute the water. In some cases the sewer and water lines run very close together, so you can imagine the problems if they both get even a small hole. Since the water doesn't run all the time, there isn't the positive pressure necessary to force things out. At some point the pipe will be empty and anything around it can seep in. Having said all that, the water seems very clean here. There is just enough of a chance of bacteria that you are better off using the bottled water.
FOOD
Leave behind your Tex-Mex and Taco Bell notions of what constitutes "Mexican food." You won't find hard-shell tacos, stuffed-to-bursting burritos or anything remotely resembling a chimichanga here. These modifications of northern Mexican food are a far culinary cry from what most Mexicans eat. What you will find are soft corn-tortilla tacos; pork; fresh fish; chicken; enchiladas with cream, cheese and a mild green or red salsa; Pozole soup, corn and bean soups.
Mexico's two-bite tacos are made of a warm, soft corn tortilla covered with chicken, beef and pork.
Taco stands can be found on virtually every corner of all cities. My favorite are the taco "al pastor" a pork marinated in a number of "secret" spices that leave the meat orange-red, pungent and tender. The meat is sliced off one taco at a time as it slowly roasts on a vertical spit similar to those used to make Greek gyros, fresh onion, cilantro and chunks of pineapple are sprinkled on top. There are literally hundreds of outdoor markets and toco stalls peddle tacos and other meat dishes -- if you don't mind taking a chance on contracting Moctezuma's revenge.
Agua de...
There are all kinds of fruit drinks available in Mexico and they are really good. The different types of fruit I have tasted made into an agua include: mango, papaya, cantaloupe, watermelon, orange, lime, and pineapple. The fruit is either squeezed or peeled and pureed. Then water and sugar are added. Pineapple must be cored and all the peel must be removed, any little brown left on the pineapple make it bitter. After it is blended, the remainder is strained. These are all very gof. The colder the better.
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Judie Rubel
non-member comment
Your reflections after 6 months
I truly enjoyed reading your reflections. Having visited with you and Teresa your reflections brought back some really fond memories. I was so worried about you taking your family there for 6 months but discovered these worries were silly after being there with your family.