Job Discussion Forums

[chula]

Okay, so this isn�t about teaching, but more about the cultural experiences of living in a foreign country. I�m just curious as to what sorts of things other people have seen lately. This was sparked by the lady I saw downtown the other day. It was really hot and sunny out and she was wearing a sweater, which is actually normal for here. But then she took out a stick of deoderant and started putting it on. But she put it on the outside of the sweater. Mind you, the sweater was dark green and deoderant was the white chalky kind. I was just kind of intrigued by it. So, I was just wondering what you�ve seen that went beyond the minor day-to-day amusements that come with living in another country. What have you seen that just made you stop and gawk?

[Guy Courchesne]

Wow...Mexico just never stops entertaining.

I won't say that my little story has much of a weird factor, but it was interesting from a cultural point of view. Mexico City is the only place in this country where you can be going about your business on the street, turn a corner and end up in a riot. I noticed that when the police in DF mount a squad against heated protesters, they will form a line of all female officers, with male commanders behind them. The thinking goes that no Mexican male will dare strike a woman.

Anyway, found that of interest. Beats a water cannon or billy club to the knees.

[Ben Round de Bloc]

[lozwich]

When I first got here, I was quite fascinated by the amount of sweeping that goes on. One morning I was sitting on my balcony eating breakfast, having one of those 'Ah.' moments, when I saw a man sweeping a pile of dirt. Not sweeping more dirt into the pile, but generally tidying the pile and making it more of a little rounded mountain of dirt.

Yesterday, my friend and I went for a walk in the rain (IT RAINED YESTERDAY!!!!!) and this man burped, not once, but twice, so loud it sounded like somebody was keeping a wild boar in their apartment. And everybody stared at us because we laughed at it!

Have a good day.

Lozwich.

[chula]

I love the sweeping. That and using laundry soap to wash everything from the sidewalk to the dishes.
The whole putting women on the front lines of the riot thing amazes me considering the amount of women I�ve seen with big ol� black eyes and broken noses as they picked up their kids from school - things that I�m sure weren�t self inflicted.
I know that the longer we live somewhere, the more we get used to things, but some things never cease to amaze. At first the drinking things out of plastic bags was fun for me, but that�s become normal too. Does that worry anyone else, that some things become normal? For example, I feel almost ignored when I go home and no one yells or hisses at me. Funny that the cultural adjustments and readjustments are never what we expect!

[Guy Courchesne]

I should have added that no Mexican male would hit a female in public. Domestic abuse behind closed doors is another story.

I noticed too that when I went back to Canada for a visit, I continually nearly bumped into people on the sidewalk. I had forgotten how ordered a Canadian sidewalk is...like traffice, keep to the right. Mexico City sidewalks are, well, like Mexico City traffic. Chaotic.

Here's a question...how long did it take each of you to stop tripping over tree roots, cracks, massive holes, and metal bars in/on sdewalks? Took me about 4 weeks, though I still trip over the ocassional street dog here in Acapulco.

[Ben Round de Bloc]

[lozwich]

[M@tt]

--security guards at small family-owned businesses who are armed with machine guns. Middle East?
--all the flavored drinks are just called "water".
--"meat" only means beef, or something like that.
--the highest per capita use of hair gel in the world (i'm confident about this) to the worst effect
--swastika t-shirts on people of all ages
--ditto Tim about the photocopy stores. what is everyone copying?
--the shrines to Mary that are located in the middle of nowhere or the middle of the sidewalk or the dashboard of a bus
--you can use someone's physical appearance as their nickname without shame. e.g. guero, gorda, negro, mono, etc.
--toilets do not come with toilet seats, you have to buy them separately. incidentally, about 50% of toilets have no seat
--of the toilet seats that exist, 80% do not stay up
--porn is readily available (and completely visible) on the sidewalk
--the entire culture of piracy
--really little kids working for a living
--transvestite gangs
--crowds of people gathered in a market to watch michael jackson videos on a small screen TV (this has happened all 8 times i've been to mexico city)
--graphic images in the media (mostly car accidents)
--being considered sexy by lots of people (never happened before!)
--being remembered by absolutely everyone, even if they saw me from a distance 4 months earlier and we never met each other

The last two are the weirdest for me. The rest, well, when you come somewhere like Mexico you expect lots of differences and things aren't so shocking. I had a harder time adjusting to life in France because I expected it to be similar to the US.

[Guy Courchesne]

Very complete list...ah the little things now taken for granted.

Hey, to add to the recognition factor (last item on your list), I would like to announce the beginning of my modelling career! If you will all kindly pick up a copy of the monthly rag, "La Economista" you will see me on the cover of an inside section, pretending to be an insomniac. That they published a picture of me in a paper is at the top of my weird list. Not on the weird list is that I didn't get paid for the poses. Not pretty enough I s'pose.

[khmerhit]

Dear Posters in Mexico,
Mexico sounds a lot like cambodia, in almost every respect.
Yours Sincerely
khmerhit

[lozwich]

[Julieanne]

The strangest thing I ever saw were how the people drive while nursing their babies. This considering they are very protective of their children.

[chula]

That is weird no. They also prop their wee ones on the dashboard, usually right next to the great big star mark in the windshield that was made by someone else�s head crashing against it. I�ve never actually seen a child safety seat here (I�ve been checking lately) even though most people have a swarm of kids.
Another thing here, besides the excessive hair gel and love for MJ, is that the doctors just sort of prescribe things without knowing anything about them. One of the other teachers here, who has really high blood pressure, was prescribed something that raises blood pressure. And she went to 3 different doctors before someone told her why she was so dizzy and out of it. Of course, that�s better than what she was told ten years ago when she went to the doctor due to dizziness. That doctor told her that it was because she was tall and so the air was thinner up there---ja ja ja, but he was serious!!!!!

[Ben Round de Bloc]

They used to have signs inside city buses here that said (translation):

Keep the bus clean.
Throw your trash
out the window.

A bit weird, no?