As I sort through my pictures I am reminded of the many interesting things I see here. Some things are very much the same as home and other wildly different. The Mexican people want to please, want to make you happy. Which sometimes leads to great misinformation. If you were to say ” the bus comes here frequently ?” They would agree with you, “Oh yes frequently” even if it only comes occasionally. Because they answer with what they think you want to hear. So you have to be careful how you phrase your questions.
“Gringos” are frequently frustrated by what we consider slow service in restaurants, but we forget that food here is cooked from scratch and slow cooking is usually it’s own reward. They won’t give you your bill until you ask, to give it to you as soon as you are finished would be considered rude, and you could sit for hours after the conclusion of a meal visiting with friends and “no problema.”
Last week at Playa Larga the restaurant dealt with a crowd of 16- 20 of us, mostly single individuals in the most efficient fashion I have ever seen. They gave each one of us a blank bill (in triplicate), we were to write our name on the top and write our meal order in the center and our bar choice at the bottom. When it came time to request our meal they took the top copy and we continued to tally our bar orders. At the end of the day it was very easy for all to reconcile our bills. I always give my name as Catalina, Spanish for Kathleen or Katherine, and they do have trouble with Doyle, absolutly can’t wrap their tongue around that one. Last week my new acquaintance, Heather, gave her name to the breakfast waitress as”Esmerelda” but come lunch time at a different location she said “Lolita”. Simply stated she said “they can’t pronounce Heather, so I can be who ever I want to be.” Love the attitude! Puts me in mind of the old play The Importance of Being Ernest”.
There are not a lot of beggars here but those that do and are almost always infirm, missing an arm or a leg or blind. No young, able bodied folks with signs saying “down on my luck”. The Mexican people are generous with the folks that have a need and drop a few coins regularly. Signing off with hope for new improved internet manana KO.
Zihuathyme 