The first time we ate out here in Mazatlan, I thought we had the worst waiter that ever fell to Earth, and I was good and angry by the time we left the restaurant. Etiquette and social behavioral norms are different here than NOB. Not extremely different, but enough to cause you some problems, even doing something as simple as dining out.

If you want the waiter to come to the table, you are going to have to ask him to come over. The waiters here don't come by your table every few minutes to check on you. They will take your order and deliver your food, and that's it, unless you ask for something else. To keep coming to your table would be like asking you leave, and your waiter would never be so rude. You can sit at the table all night long if you wish.

Getting your waiter's attention is done differently. In the US, I was accustomed to making eye contact with my wait person, and then a slight lifting of my chin was all that was needed to let them know I needed something and wanted them to come to the table. If you use that technique here, your waiter will think you are weird, and you may possibly starve to death.

To get your waiter's attention, you need to do something more overt. If your waiter knows you well, you may get away with just raising a finger, but more than likely, you will need to lift your arm in the air over your head with your index finger pointed toward the sky. It takes practice to accomplish this while still maintaining your American air of nonchalance, but I have finally gotten to the point where I don't feel like an idiot.

It also helps if you say something while you are raising your arm. The customary thing to say is joven, but I just can't do it. Joven translates to young man, but it feels way too much like calling someone boy, especially when my waiter is older than I am. I usually use señor or por favor, both of which work well. Lately, I have started asking my waiter his name when he comes to the table, and that solves my quandary pretty effectively.

Another area where you will have some trouble is asking for water. At most restaurants, water is not automatically brought to the table, so if you want some, you will have to ask. I think anyone who watched Sesame Street growing up knows that the Spanish word for water is agua, but if you simply ask for agua, you are probably not going to get what you expect.

Flavored water is very popular in Mazatlan. Some water is lightly flavored with fruit: pineapple, orange, grapefruit, and tamarind are very popular. There is also agua de jamaica, a tea made from hibiscus flowers that is lightly sweetened and served cold. And then there is a variety of rice drinks, ceboda and horchata being the most common. If you order agua, you are likely to get any one of these beverages.

So how do you get plain water? You can ask for una botella de agua or agua natural (nah too RAWL), and you will get a bottle of water. If you prefer sparkling water, ask for agua mineral (meen a RAWL). If you simply want a glass of purified water with purified ice, ask for agua con heilo (YAY low). It might also be handy to know that a bottle of water will likely cost you more than a bottle of beer, while a glass of ice water is free.

Getting the check when you are finished may be the easiest thing to deal with. You will have to ask for it. No waiter here will simply deliver the bill without your asking. But the universal sign of making writing motions in the air works. Or you can ask for the check by saying la cuenta, por favor.

Everything else works pretty much like it does at any restaurant: you order drinks, the waiter brings the drinks and takes your order for food. If your pronunciation is really bad, you can simply point at the menu. He brings the food and you eat. The number and variety of truly delicious restaurants in Mazatlan will give you ample practice for perfecting your dining out skills.