MeXscape

We have been avoiding opening a Mexican bank account. Everyone we have talked to has told us it is a long, grueling process that takes most of a day. I certainly didn't want anything to do with that. I have much better things to do with my time than sit in a bank all day, thank you. And really, we have gotten along just fine without one. All our money is in an American bank account that we access through an ATM without problems. In fact, our bank charges us no fees to use any ATM anywhere in the world, so keeping our American bank account has been a very practical and economical choice. Until now.

It's Sun Day! And while it is not exactly sunny right now, I can see a few patches of blue opening in the sky, and I have faith. In a few hours, I am sure it will be a beautiful day to go to the beach. I am checking my beach bag to make sure it has all the things we need. I know I said you can get everything you need at a palapa, but we have discovered a few things we like to have with us. So, what's in my beach bag?

Yesterday started out the same as any other day. Chuck woke up about a quarter to eight, slid out of bed, and took the dogs with him out of the bedroom for their morning potty break. I stretched and yawned, and remained there in bed, enjoying the comfort of the mattress and the coolness of the bedroom, steeling myself to get up, turn off the air conditioner, and face the heat of the day. After a few minutes, Chuck came back into the bedroom, and with four little words, dramatically changed the course of my day: “Babe, we've been robbed.”

I knew when I moved here that a different language is spoken, but I never took that thought through its logical progression that the nonverbal language is different here, too. When we first got here and were still depending on charades for a lot of our communication, it sometimes caused a great deal of confusion that my gestural language was completely different from the local one. It also doesn't help that some gestures exist in both cultures but mean completely different things. And a few that Americans use regularly can get you into trouble because the meaning here is vulgar. So here is a quick crash course to help you out.