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MO39 · Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 5:16 pm Post subject: Daylight Savings Time

From the on-line magazine Inside Mexico, I've just learned that Daylight Savings Time ends here this weekend, a week earlier than in the States (not sure about Canada). So before going to bed on Saturday night/early Sunday morning, be sure to set your clocks back one hour.

kosherpickle · Joined: 24 Nov 2006 Posts: 93

and here i was thinking i'd be off time wise with my boyfriend for a month, it's nice to know it will just be a week.

Phil_K · Joined: 25 Jan 2007 Posts: 2041 Location: A World of my Own

I learned - "Spring forward, fall backward" as an aide-memoire Very Happy

This is another strange thing in Mexico! I know that daylight saving time here is relatively new, but it is strange to hear people complain all the time that it is not the "real" time throughout the summer (or is it the winter? - you can see how little it affects me!). Personally, I don't see the difference after the first morning.

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

oh, thank you for that MO...I'd been wondering. Since the gabachos changed the whole thing last year, I had no idea how Mexico would respond to it this year.

GueroPaz · Joined: 07 Sep 2007 Posts: 216 Location: Thailand or Mexico

The Mayas in Chenalho referred to DST as "Zedillo time" and regular time as "God's time." Smile

Daylight savings time only makes sense in northernmost latitudes, say north of 35 degrees. Also, as in most of the world, Mexico's time zones are slanted much too far to the west. Chihuahua should be in the Mountain standard time zone, but by the time the sun set on westernmost Chihuahua on Sept. 22, it was was 8:06 DST instead of 6:00 pm!

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

MELEE · Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2007 6:15 pm Post subject:

Being a solar heating/cooking/etc. enthusiast. I've actually tracked our daylight hours here in Northern Oaxaca (which is Southern Mexico). Our longest day and shortest day are only 90 minutes different. So the whole thing is a little silly. I personally would prefer we stayed on Daylight time all year--but it is convient for my parents since they live in CST we are always on the same time as them.

GueroPaz · Joined: 07 Sep 2007 Posts: 216 Location: Thailand or Mexico

Exactly. Mexico doesn't have enough daylight to save. When I lived on its southernmost coast, and in Nicaragua, the locals seemed unaware that any day was appreciably longer or shorter than another. Tell that to somebody in Saskatoon! Also, living deep in the tropics, they were largely unaware that the position of the sun overhead fluctuates between June and December. Tell that to my granddaughter in Ireland!

MO39 · Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 2:55 am Post subject:

One country that has absolutely no need of Daylight Savings Time is Ecuador, where each day has exactly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness each and every day of the year!

Dragonlady · Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 4:27 am Post subject:

deleted

not related to TESOL

melirae · Joined: 26 Feb 2004 Posts: 145 Location: Korea

This was tricky over the weekend for me because I didn't know it was going to happen and my cell phone automatically updated. To add further confusion, I had family visiting from the USA, one from EST and the other from CST. There was quite a discussion on Monday morning about whose watch was correct and whether or not we had time for breakfast- luckily I was right and there was time for some hotcakes!

notamiss · Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2007 4:03 am Post subject:

Be it that it's lost its meaning, be it that it makes no sense in the tropics, but I for one used to miss that extra hour of evening light in the summer, and have enjoyed it since we got daylight savings time here.

cangringo · Joined: 18 Jan 2007 Posts: 327 Location: Vancouver, Canada

Well for now it's sad to see the sun setting at 6:30 but then again it's still rather hot during the day and cooling off in the evening so it does cool off a little faster. I never like winter times in Canada either. I would prefer it was lighter longer at night than in the morning.

It messed us up too though because our VCR was set to change automatically and our computer was set to change but on US/Canada time and although the cell was set to change on Mexican time it didn't so we didn't know what time it was either for a while on Sunday. Very Happy

Glad you had time for breakfast Melirae... Surprised

MO39 · Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 8:06 pm Post subject:

Now that DST has ended, I both leave for and return from my semi-distant evening class in the dark. It was nicer when I could make the outging trek in daylight, part of which I do on foot. It seems to me as though city streets in the D.F. are not as brightly lit at night as they would be at home in the States, making it harder to see and avoid depressions and bumps in the sidewalk. Sometimes it feels like I'm traversing an obstacle course instead of merely walking down a street!