Some Things I Miss
This morning I went to the supermarket; I keep trying to learn not to be in a hurry.
I miss Safeway. I miss the speed and efficiency of moving people through the lines. This morning, there was hardly anyone in the store. With the customary Mexican way, I got to the "Express" line and the cashier had to call someone over to undo some transaction. Of course, this involved sliding a card through the terminal, writing and stamping about 57 papers, sliding the card again, this and that...it took me 20 minutes to get through the line with all that nonsense, and I was the only one in the line, purchasing four items! One would think that with computer terminals and such, things would move a bit faster. But no, Mexicans love to stamp their papers.
Same thing for going to the bank. In the U.S., we don't like lines so we do online banking. Heaven forbid we should wait for more than five minutes at the bank! Try three hours! Here you go to the bank and take a number. Then you sit down if there is any available seating. There may be 125 people ahead of you (this is NOT an exaggeration!). I've clocked it and the average transaction at a Mexican bank takes 10 minutes. Type this into the machine, get a printout, stamp, stamp, stamp, do something else, stamp, stamp, stamp, write something down, stamp, stamp, stamp, sign here...stamp, stamp, stamp. Going to the bank here is torture unless you have a good book to read!
The pleasure and pain of Mexico is a system without a system. At the gas station, you don't courteously pull up to the front pump. You pull up to whichever one you want. There is no self-service here, they pump your gas and wash your windshield if they feel like it. Most of the time they do. The gas station people are very nice. One woman who works at the gas station next door to me taught me how to say my numbers in hundreds, like "one hundred, one hundred and fifty, two hundred," etc. She always smiles at me when I proudly ask for the amount of gas she taught me how to say.
Driving is an adventure. Mostly you have to watch out for the microbuses and pedestrians and people on bikes and other cars and big trucks and the occasional donkey cart. Well, I guess you have to watch out for everything, really...a car accident here is a federal offense and no matter who's fault it is, both parties are arrested. If it is determined that it's your fault, you'd better have some extra cash to bail yourself out of jail! Most people here don't have car insurance; the person at fault has to pay for the other person's repairs. Period. The bad part about this is, you don't have insurance protection. You also can't go and buy a plasma TV with your payoff should you choose not to repair the car. This keeps expenses down quite a bit.
Mexicans love a bargain and are into quantity, not quality. Not surprising for a Catholic country where the average family has four or more kids. They love Wal-Mart. They think Wal-Mart is the best thing since the tortilla. They say the price is lower and the quality is higher. Well, the price is lower because there are no import fees. Quality? That's anyone's guess. Mexicans produce good quality things themselves, so I won't be surprised to see them become much more self-sufficient when it comes to superstores.
Milk is the same price everywhere. There is a standardized thing where things like milk, beans, tortillas, and a few other staples are kept at a low cost. Well, milk is expensive here, the price just shot up a few months ago. I am told that milk is cheaper in the U.S. and I believe it. A gallon of milk here costs about $3.50.
Other things are much cheaper; one can eat very well on about $5.00 a day here, or less. I've had three squares for less than $4.00 before.
You won't find the super organic, microbrewed specialty beers here. You have a few choices, mostly Tecate, Corona, Dos XX. The Mexicans don't like to import beer. They are very into their own beer.
Although I miss the speed of things that I don't like to do, I can't help but wonder if it's really better to know that something is going to take you a long time, like going to the bank. It really slows things down. The only place where Mexicans are fast is driving. Everything else happens when it happens, pretty much.
Living here takes a different sort of planning, but thankfully I had the experience of living in the provinces of England and the San Juan Islands before moving here. You learn patience there, waiting for ferries and such. Island life is anything but convenient. Still, Mexicans are more relaxed than the islanders are.
Now we move into Mother's Day...it's always on May 10, no matter the day of the week. It's very strange having Mother's Day on a Tuesday, but I thought it even more strange to have it in March, like they do in the UK. As long as mothers get celebrated, that's what's important. There are some very good ones out there! Don't forget to acknowledge them, even if they aren't your own mother.
I miss Safeway. I miss the speed and efficiency of moving people through the lines. This morning, there was hardly anyone in the store. With the customary Mexican way, I got to the "Express" line and the cashier had to call someone over to undo some transaction. Of course, this involved sliding a card through the terminal, writing and stamping about 57 papers, sliding the card again, this and that...it took me 20 minutes to get through the line with all that nonsense, and I was the only one in the line, purchasing four items! One would think that with computer terminals and such, things would move a bit faster. But no, Mexicans love to stamp their papers.
Same thing for going to the bank. In the U.S., we don't like lines so we do online banking. Heaven forbid we should wait for more than five minutes at the bank! Try three hours! Here you go to the bank and take a number. Then you sit down if there is any available seating. There may be 125 people ahead of you (this is NOT an exaggeration!). I've clocked it and the average transaction at a Mexican bank takes 10 minutes. Type this into the machine, get a printout, stamp, stamp, stamp, do something else, stamp, stamp, stamp, write something down, stamp, stamp, stamp, sign here...stamp, stamp, stamp. Going to the bank here is torture unless you have a good book to read!
The pleasure and pain of Mexico is a system without a system. At the gas station, you don't courteously pull up to the front pump. You pull up to whichever one you want. There is no self-service here, they pump your gas and wash your windshield if they feel like it. Most of the time they do. The gas station people are very nice. One woman who works at the gas station next door to me taught me how to say my numbers in hundreds, like "one hundred, one hundred and fifty, two hundred," etc. She always smiles at me when I proudly ask for the amount of gas she taught me how to say.
Driving is an adventure. Mostly you have to watch out for the microbuses and pedestrians and people on bikes and other cars and big trucks and the occasional donkey cart. Well, I guess you have to watch out for everything, really...a car accident here is a federal offense and no matter who's fault it is, both parties are arrested. If it is determined that it's your fault, you'd better have some extra cash to bail yourself out of jail! Most people here don't have car insurance; the person at fault has to pay for the other person's repairs. Period. The bad part about this is, you don't have insurance protection. You also can't go and buy a plasma TV with your payoff should you choose not to repair the car. This keeps expenses down quite a bit.
Mexicans love a bargain and are into quantity, not quality. Not surprising for a Catholic country where the average family has four or more kids. They love Wal-Mart. They think Wal-Mart is the best thing since the tortilla. They say the price is lower and the quality is higher. Well, the price is lower because there are no import fees. Quality? That's anyone's guess. Mexicans produce good quality things themselves, so I won't be surprised to see them become much more self-sufficient when it comes to superstores.
Milk is the same price everywhere. There is a standardized thing where things like milk, beans, tortillas, and a few other staples are kept at a low cost. Well, milk is expensive here, the price just shot up a few months ago. I am told that milk is cheaper in the U.S. and I believe it. A gallon of milk here costs about $3.50.
Other things are much cheaper; one can eat very well on about $5.00 a day here, or less. I've had three squares for less than $4.00 before.
You won't find the super organic, microbrewed specialty beers here. You have a few choices, mostly Tecate, Corona, Dos XX. The Mexicans don't like to import beer. They are very into their own beer.
Although I miss the speed of things that I don't like to do, I can't help but wonder if it's really better to know that something is going to take you a long time, like going to the bank. It really slows things down. The only place where Mexicans are fast is driving. Everything else happens when it happens, pretty much.
Living here takes a different sort of planning, but thankfully I had the experience of living in the provinces of England and the San Juan Islands before moving here. You learn patience there, waiting for ferries and such. Island life is anything but convenient. Still, Mexicans are more relaxed than the islanders are.
Now we move into Mother's Day...it's always on May 10, no matter the day of the week. It's very strange having Mother's Day on a Tuesday, but I thought it even more strange to have it in March, like they do in the UK. As long as mothers get celebrated, that's what's important. There are some very good ones out there! Don't forget to acknowledge them, even if they aren't your own mother.
posted by Triana Elan @ 10:36 AM
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