Topic: Culture

Monday, August 18, 2008 - 05:30 PM

I'm on a blogging break today, madly scrambling to catch up on work that has been impeded by lots of lightning and the consequential shut down of computers. But I think y'all should still have something to read. Nancy sent me a link to Elliott in Ajijic. I love this post. Elliott does such a wonderful job of capturing one of the things I love about Mexico.
From Crazy Bad to Crazy Good

Sunday, July 06, 2008 - 06:17 PM

It's funny how we are taught from a very young age that it is not appropriate to talk about going to the bathroom, like its some dark secret. People who will happily tell you about their sexual escapades will still revert to euphemisms when referring to using the bathroom. Crazy. So why am I breaking with social norms, and talking about that most taboo of subjects? Because the procedure is different here. Or, at least, people believe it is.

Thursday, June 26, 2008 - 01:03 AM

I have had my own business for a number of years. Mostly, because I am really awful at working for other people. Just ask my Dad. But that's another post. We'll just call the business decision a choice of necessity. And you know what? I have gotten pretty good at this independent business woman thing.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007 - 06:52 PM

Christmas Eve in Mazatlan is a spectacular event celebrated with joy and gusto and quite a bit of noise. If you like a quiet, spiritual Christmas Eve, or if you want to sleep, don't come here. If you want to be a part of an epic celebration with people who know how to have a good time, Mazatlan is the place to be.

Friday, July 13, 2007 - 07:27 PM

Having any type of work done here is a new and interesting experience. Everything is different, from finding someone to do the work, to how the work is done, to how you pay for the work. Nothing has taught us more about the cultural differences between the US and Mexico than trying to get simple jobs around the house done.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007 - 07:55 PM

Actually, we were the only ones surprised by the party, and it wasn't in our honor, so in the grand scheme of things the surprise only mattered to us.

Monday, July 24, 2006 - 06:43 PM

No, they are not golf carts on steroids, they are pulmonias - modified VW Things and the cutest public transportation I have ever seen. They are unique to Mazatlan. Regular taxi drivers started calling them pulmonias, the Spanish word for pneumonia, intimating that the ride in the open air air cars would make you sick. They were trying the squash the competition for fares in its fledgling stage. It didn't work. You see them everywhere. But the name stuck.

Monday, July 17, 2006 - 06:04 PM

Mazatlan- the misconceptions

Mazatlan is a small town. From everything I've heard and read I expected a small town with a central downtown area, probably around a square. A few main roads. Some sprawl as things spread out along the coast and of course the newly developed tourist and resort areas north of town.

Friday, January 27, 2006 - 06:05 PM

We knew from the beginning we were going to have to improve our Spanish skills past “que hora es?” and “donde vas?”. We could order in a Mexican restaurant and ask where the bathroom is. Just enough to maybe get your point across as a tourist on a very short trip. Neither of us could really communicate. As many times as we’ve complained about people around here not speaking English: you know, the arrogant “If you’re going to live in MY country then learn to speak MY language!”, we figured there was no way we could respect ourselves if we went to live in Mexico without speaking Spanish.