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Milenka
Joined: 30 Jun 2008
Posts: 113
Location: Mexico City
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 Posted: Sat Aug 09, 2008 9:53 pm Post subject: |
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| MO39 wrote: |
By the way, Milenka, I like your icon! |
Thanks, MO! It's a painting of La Malinche by Rosario Marquardt. I find La Malinche very interesting, not only because of her role as an interpreter (faraute or lengua, as they (we) are called in old Spanish documents), but also because she's one of the most painfully misunderstood characters in Mexican history: http://www.tihof.org/honors/malinche-esp.htm (espa�ol)
http://www.tihof.org/honors/malinche.htm (English) |
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kidefl
Joined: 22 Jun 2007
Posts: 40
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| Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 11:07 am Post subject: |
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The best tip from me is to learn Spanish as quick as possible. If you can't roll the R you'll sound, er, um ... gay, wrong country for that. In such case have fun with it, maybe by holding your finger under your tongue as you try to say it, Mexicans will laugh along with you.
If you're a cheapskate never let it be known. Drop a coin often, especially in company of your Mexican friends, and do it as if you've been doing it all your life.
Foreign men should be cautious about eye-balling the women a little too much. Sure the boyz there do it but they have a better idea who she might be related to.
Avoid other Gringos as much as possible. It will retard your growth in learning how to speak and act (unless your plans are only temporary).
You may find lots of sources that tell you to never use native slang in your host nation. It makes you appear you want to be part of a group you could never, ever be in reality. Once you got the R down and have fluidity, let it fly!
I got the Choros my first visit, one of the sickest three days of my life. Remember, as has already been stated, don't plug it up - get it out, lots of fruit. I was unconscious for two of those days and an American tourist I met come to my house and hand-fed me. But you know what? I never got it again.
In my opinion, as written as rule #1, your ability in Spanish is directly related to the benefit and enjoyment of your stay. My social life after three years was more chido than ever in my life, in any country, and it only got better. |
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thelmadatter
Joined: 31 Mar 2003
Posts: 1212
Location: in el Distrito Federal x fin!
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| Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 12:52 pm Post subject: I dunno |
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| ls650 wrote: |
| corporatehuman wrote: |
| Can someone tell me what the gringo dance is? I want to know if I'm doing it or not. |
Otherwise known as throwing a hissy fit. |
Im not so sure about this one. I have found that by being nice I get steamrolled here. More and more people (Mexicans and foreigners) are telling me that I NEED to throw hissy fits, not at first perhaps, but if being nice doesnt get you anywhere, there is nothing wrong with getting mad. |
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MO39
Joined: 28 Jan 2004
Posts: 1970
Location: El ombligo de la Rep�blica Mexicana
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| Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 4:18 pm Post subject: Re: I dunno |
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| thelmadatter wrote: |
| ls650 wrote: |
| corporatehuman wrote: |
| Can someone tell me what the gringo dance is? I want to know if I'm doing it or not. |
Otherwise known as throwing a hissy fit. |
Im not so sure about this one. I have found that by being nice I get steamrolled here. More and more people (Mexicans and foreigners) are telling me that I NEED to throw hissy fits, not at first perhaps, but if being nice doesnt get you anywhere, there is nothing wrong with getting mad. |
I sometimes get quietly angry, when things aren't going well, at a bank, for example, and this usually gets results, without my having to go into a full-fledged "dance". The key to success is not losing control, just making them (at the bank, at Migraci�n, at the supermarket, wherever) do the right thing. |
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guatetaliana
Joined: 20 Feb 2008
Posts: 112
Location: Monterrey, Nuevo Le�n, Mexico
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| Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 5:47 pm Post subject: Re: I dunno |
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| thelmadatter wrote: |
Im not so sure about this one. I have found that by being nice I get steamrolled here. More and more people (Mexicans and foreigners) are telling me that I NEED to throw hissy fits, not at first perhaps, but if being nice doesnt get you anywhere, there is nothing wrong with getting mad. |
I think maybe this is also regional. For example, in Monterrey, you have to be like a shark if you want to get anywhere. Nice and polite people lose in Monterrey, generally. However, I really want to believe that in some other cities, being polite can still get you somewhere...  |
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Travel Zen
Joined: 02 Sep 2004
Posts: 634
Location: Good old Toronto, Canada
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| Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 4:34 pm Post subject: |
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I'm going to a resort near Cancun on the weekend, do I need to watch what I drink/eat ?
I've never been to (a resort in) Mexico before 
As an aside, the travel people all tell me to 'stay with your tour group' if I'm travelling out. Is this good advise, or just alot of hysteria? |
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Milenka
Joined: 30 Jun 2008
Posts: 113
Location: Mexico City
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| Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 4:38 pm Post subject: |
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Well, going to a resort in Cancun is not really being in Mexico, believe me. I wouldn't worry about what I ate or drank there, nor would I pay attention to the "stay with your tour group" warning.
Have fun and enjoy your trip! |
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Guy Courchesne
Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Posts: 9650
Location: Mexico City
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| Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 4:43 pm Post subject: |
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Seconded...Cancun (at least the part of it you'll probably be in) is highly Americanized. Leaving your group to wander around is fine...you'll only run into other tourists no matter where you go.
Stick to the bottled water though. If you like driving boats, take the Jungle Tour through the lagoon. It ends with a snorkel dive among the coral and pretty fishies. |
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Travel Zen
Joined: 02 Sep 2004
Posts: 634
Location: Good old Toronto, Canada
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| Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 5:21 pm Post subject: |
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Thank you very much. I am exited...even though it's just lying on the beach 
I dunno if you know this, but EVERONE in Toronto is telling people to stay away from Mexico and that it's violent. Is there a city I can visit near Cancun that has some "Mexico" I really am an explorer by nature and I want to see the culture (without any troubles). |
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Guy Courchesne
Joined: 10 Mar 2003
Posts: 9650
Location: Mexico City
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| Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 5:28 pm Post subject: |
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A couple of Canadian tourists were killed some time ago in Cancun...it doesn't take very much to make Canucks fearful of anything below the 49th...I wouldn't worry there.
Playa del Carmen is a short trip away, though it too is quite resortish. One place I liked is Xcaret, just a bit down from Playa. It's a theme park, but lots of fun and it tries to highlight Mexico as best it can. The last song of the last set is a humdinger of a Mexican show (try not to get parrot poop on you). You can swim with dolphins, snorkel through a cave system, and dine with parrots. The nearest city is Merida at three hours away (I think) and there are Mayan ruins in the area, including Tulum which is the closest. Tulum is nice to look at but little more than an hour's worth of photo-taking.
Here's something you can try, just to appease me. Try speaking in Spanish to anyone in Cancun...anyone. When I tried there, and in Playa del Carmen and Tulum, no one would speak Spanish. English-only. It was frustrating. Most of the people I met there were displaced Chilangoes and granted, they spoke excellent English (as they need to on the Mexican Riveiera), but it almost seemed as if Spanish was a foreign language there. |
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El Gallo
Joined: 05 Feb 2007
Posts: 318
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| Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 6:17 pm Post subject: |
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no me gusta Cancun, tiene demasiados a gringos
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dixie
Joined: 23 Apr 2006
Posts: 644
Location: D.F
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| Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 9:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Guy Courchesne wrote: |
A couple of Canadian tourists were killed some time ago in Cancun...it doesn't take very much to make Canucks fearful of anything below the 49th...I wouldn't worry there.
Playa del Carmen is a short trip away, though it too is quite resortish. One place I liked is Xcaret, just a bit down from Playa. It's a theme park, but lots of fun and it tries to highlight Mexico as best it can. The last song of the last set is a humdinger of a Mexican show (try not to get parrot poop on you). You can swim with dolphins, snorkel through a cave system, and dine with parrots. The nearest city is Merida at three hours away (I think) and there are Mayan ruins in the area, including Tulum which is the closest. Tulum is nice to look at but little more than an hour's worth of photo-taking.
Here's something you can try, just to appease me. Try speaking in Spanish to anyone in Cancun...anyone. When I tried there, and in Playa del Carmen and Tulum, no one would speak Spanish. English-only. It was frustrating. Most of the people I met there were displaced Chilangoes and granted, they spoke excellent English (as they need to on the Mexican Riveiera), but it almost seemed as if Spanish was a foreign language there. |
The ticket price to enter doesn't include all of the available activities, such as swimming with the dolphins, but it was a fun time when I went there.
I also went from Playa (where I was staying) on a bus tour to the cenotes, and Chichen itza.
And again, people in Toronto are making a lot out of biased CND news stories. The trouble people tend to get themselves into here is for that exact reason - they get themselves into it, and then whine and cry about being Canadian, and not Mexican, and apparently therefore above Mexican law...  |
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MO39
Joined: 28 Jan 2004
Posts: 1970
Location: El ombligo de la Rep�blica Mexicana
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| Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 10:44 pm Post subject: |
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| Guy Courchesne wrote: |
Here's something you can try, just to appease me. Try speaking in Spanish to anyone in Cancun...anyone. When I tried there, and in Playa del Carmen and Tulum, no one would speak Spanish. English-only. It was frustrating. Most of the people I met there were displaced Chilangoes and granted, they spoke excellent English (as they need to on the Mexican Riveiera), but it almost seemed as if Spanish was a foreign language there. |
That happened to me during my first summer in Mexico (back in 1966) when I went to Acapulco in August for a brief vacation. It was the only place I'd been to in Mexico where everyone wanted to talk to me in English, and all they could talk about was wanting to relocate to Miami! It was really a turn-off for me, and one of the reasons I've never had fond memories of Acapulco, in spite of the fact that that was the first time I saw the gorgeous Pacific Ocean! |
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Samantha
Joined: 25 Oct 2003
Posts: 2038
Location: Mexican Riviera
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| Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 3:15 am Post subject: |
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Guy wrote:
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| Try speaking in Spanish to anyone in Cancun...anyone. When I tried there, and in Playa del Carmen and Tulum, no one would speak Spanish. English-only. It was frustrating. Most of the people I met there were displaced Chilangoes and granted, they spoke excellent English (as they need to on the Mexican Riveiera), but it almost seemed as if Spanish was a foreign language there. |
Ahem... Wrong side of the country. That's the Riviera Maya over there. We still speak Spanish on the Mexican Riviera.  |
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jillford64
Joined: 15 Feb 2006
Posts: 397
Location: Sin City
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| Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 3:41 am Post subject: |
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| Are Tulum and Coba doable from Cancun? If so, I would recommend them. |
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