One of the things we find most fascinating about experiencing other countries and cultures is that everybody has their own way of doing things, and often times, "their" way is just as good as "our" way, just different. Here are some small differences we've found in our lifestyle in Mexico in the short time we've been here.
Water.
You know how we have tap water in the United States and use that for pretty much everything – from making your coffee to brushing your teeth to washing your lettuce to drinking? Well, in Mexico they have tap water, too. But you don’t drink it if you want to stay healthy. Instead, there are huge purified jugs of water that sit on countertops in every kitchen in Mexico. They are filled with 5 gallons of “agua purificado” and have a hand pump that makes you feel like you are pumping water the old fashioned way. Which you are.
There is something extra refreshing about water this way. For one, you enjoy it a bit more because it isn’t as simple as just turning on the tap—you have to work for it, and think about it. And two – a whole 5 gallon jug costs you just $1.80. That’s a lot more refreshing than the $40 to $80 dollars it would cost to buy 40 16-ounce bottles back home.
It’s better for the environment, and a man with a funky bike delivers it to your front door and carries into the house – all included in the $1.80 price. Our take: the water is better here.
Siesta.
In theory, siesta is the world’s greatest invention. What could possibly be better than having societal permission to take a couple hours off in the middle of the day to eat, rest and spend quality time with one’s family? (Well, as long as you asked, that answer would be a Results-Only-Work-Environment (ROWE), the latest thing John has been working on. See www.caliandjody.com/blog for more info on this new amazing concept.)
But during our “siesta” in Merida, we like to run errands: drop clothes off at the Laundromat, pick up a couple of items for CeCe at a local tienda, get some big jugs of water delivered, that sort of thing. Well, we dare you to get much of anything done during siesta. On a recent trip to Wal-Mart, in fact, we waited for at least 30-minutes as cabbie after cabbie drove right past our flailing arms. Why? It was siesta, and most of them seemed to be enjoying it with the lady in their lives next to them in the front seat of their car.
Babies and humidity.
We’ve heard it time and time again – babies sleep constantly. And CeCe has always been a champion sleeper. However, in Merida, we have begun to worry that our little 16-month-old has narcolepsy. We’ve finally come to suppose that it is the heat, humidity, fresh air – and probably the daily swims in our courtyard pool – that is lulling her to sleep for up to 17 hours A DAY. You heard me right.
Goes to bed: 7:00 pm
Wakes up: 8:30 am
Morning nap: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
Afternoon nap: 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm
Repeat.
Refrigeration.
It is always interesting to me to see what other cultures refrigerate and what they do not. Or what they have a big selection of in the grocery store, and what they do not. Some observations:
Milk in Mexico is not refrigerated. All the milk is in the “milk aisle” next to the soup.
Eggs? Nope. Not refrigerated. Just piled on crates in the middle of the store.
But yogurt is refrigerated, and the yogurt aisle takes up more space than almost anything else in the store. They have all flavors and brands – and all consistencies. The biggest thing to hit Mexico since sliced bread? Yogurt drinks. They are everywhere. We’ve never seen so many in our lives. But if you are looking for feta cheese, say? There is one unappetizing brand in the whole HUGE store, badly packaged. The packages had no “use by” dates on them, and they looked like they had been around since the opening of the store itself. But they WERE refrigerated … so that was encouraging. (We still didn’t buy one.)
Garbage and recycling.
You know how we separate our waste into “garbage” and “recycling” in the United States – can, bottles, paper, cardboard, etc? Here is Mexico they separate by “organic” and “inorganic.” The “organic” garbage guy comes every Monday and Thursday, and the “inorganic” guy comes every Tuesday.
And it works just how it sounds. We pile all of our cans and plastics and bottles into our inorganic can which fills up pretty quickly and is changed pretty often. Then we pile our “organic” matter into another garbage can WITH a lid that fills very slowly with organic bits: cucumber and banana peels, chicken bones, jalapeno stems and dinner leftovers. We actually keep this garbage can out in the courtyard, as it starts to stink after about four hours.
As CeCe would say of our little composting experiment, “Pee-you!”
Water.
You know how we have tap water in the United States and use that for pretty much everything – from making your coffee to brushing your teeth to washing your lettuce to drinking? Well, in Mexico they have tap water, too. But you don’t drink it if you want to stay healthy. Instead, there are huge purified jugs of water that sit on countertops in every kitchen in Mexico. They are filled with 5 gallons of “agua purificado” and have a hand pump that makes you feel like you are pumping water the old fashioned way. Which you are.
There is something extra refreshing about water this way. For one, you enjoy it a bit more because it isn’t as simple as just turning on the tap—you have to work for it, and think about it. And two – a whole 5 gallon jug costs you just $1.80. That’s a lot more refreshing than the $40 to $80 dollars it would cost to buy 40 16-ounce bottles back home.
It’s better for the environment, and a man with a funky bike delivers it to your front door and carries into the house – all included in the $1.80 price. Our take: the water is better here.
Siesta.
In theory, siesta is the world’s greatest invention. What could possibly be better than having societal permission to take a couple hours off in the middle of the day to eat, rest and spend quality time with one’s family? (Well, as long as you asked, that answer would be a Results-Only-Work-Environment (ROWE), the latest thing John has been working on. See www.caliandjody.com/blog for more info on this new amazing concept.)
But during our “siesta” in Merida, we like to run errands: drop clothes off at the Laundromat, pick up a couple of items for CeCe at a local tienda, get some big jugs of water delivered, that sort of thing. Well, we dare you to get much of anything done during siesta. On a recent trip to Wal-Mart, in fact, we waited for at least 30-minutes as cabbie after cabbie drove right past our flailing arms. Why? It was siesta, and most of them seemed to be enjoying it with the lady in their lives next to them in the front seat of their car.
Babies and humidity.
We’ve heard it time and time again – babies sleep constantly. And CeCe has always been a champion sleeper. However, in Merida, we have begun to worry that our little 16-month-old has narcolepsy. We’ve finally come to suppose that it is the heat, humidity, fresh air – and probably the daily swims in our courtyard pool – that is lulling her to sleep for up to 17 hours A DAY. You heard me right.
Goes to bed: 7:00 pm
Wakes up: 8:30 am
Morning nap: 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
Afternoon nap: 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm
Repeat.
Refrigeration.
It is always interesting to me to see what other cultures refrigerate and what they do not. Or what they have a big selection of in the grocery store, and what they do not. Some observations:
Milk in Mexico is not refrigerated. All the milk is in the “milk aisle” next to the soup.
Eggs? Nope. Not refrigerated. Just piled on crates in the middle of the store.
But yogurt is refrigerated, and the yogurt aisle takes up more space than almost anything else in the store. They have all flavors and brands – and all consistencies. The biggest thing to hit Mexico since sliced bread? Yogurt drinks. They are everywhere. We’ve never seen so many in our lives. But if you are looking for feta cheese, say? There is one unappetizing brand in the whole HUGE store, badly packaged. The packages had no “use by” dates on them, and they looked like they had been around since the opening of the store itself. But they WERE refrigerated … so that was encouraging. (We still didn’t buy one.)
Garbage and recycling.
You know how we separate our waste into “garbage” and “recycling” in the United States – can, bottles, paper, cardboard, etc? Here is Mexico they separate by “organic” and “inorganic.” The “organic” garbage guy comes every Monday and Thursday, and the “inorganic” guy comes every Tuesday.
And it works just how it sounds. We pile all of our cans and plastics and bottles into our inorganic can which fills up pretty quickly and is changed pretty often. Then we pile our “organic” matter into another garbage can WITH a lid that fills very slowly with organic bits: cucumber and banana peels, chicken bones, jalapeno stems and dinner leftovers. We actually keep this garbage can out in the courtyard, as it starts to stink after about four hours.
As CeCe would say of our little composting experiment, “Pee-you!”
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