Observations

2-13
Observations from Mexico
We pretty much have a routine going. Get up, have coffee, check our e-mail, maybe pay a bill or two, find out how much money I lost in the stock market the day before.
Same old boring stuff. I thought that I would include a few observations from living in Mexico for a couple of months.
Drivers and transportation: I have never had an interest to drive down here. The public transportation works well, even though it looks a little rough. There is the occasional time that you wonder why I took this bus with this driver! We catch the local bus in front of our house and can ride to the Mercado in the center of town for 5 pesos, or about 40 cents. Some of the drivers leave a little to be desired, but every country has that. The only way to control the speed of vehicles in and area is to create a zona de tope, or in English speed bumps! There is a zone in front of our house. I am not sure what the speed limit is supposed to be, and if they did take the time to put up the signs, it would only be a suggestion. Everyday I watch cars go wide open then slam on the brakes just before the speed bump. Maybe brake jobs are cheap down here. Sometimes you hear the water trucks coming down the hill with the brakes rubbing metal to metal.
Shopping: Shopping for groceries is always great fun. We only go the big modern grocery maybe once a week. The rest of our groceries we buy from vendors in the Mercado or in the streets behind the Mercado. We know what we want and it is always so much fresher and ripe. The tomatoes are out of this world. We have some favorite vendors, but mostly we look around and get what ever looks best to us.
The locals and work ethic: Like any city, you have a certain amount of crime. If you look for it, you can find it most likely. The majority of the people are hard working and very honest. They are just trying to survive and take care of their families. Six days a week we watch the construction workers head up the hill to different sites to work a twelve hour day. This year I have seen more concrete pump trucks, but most of the time the bricks and mortar are all packed by hand. You will see a truck load of bricks go by with a couple of guys riding on the back. The bricks are never stacked on pallets or have any sign of having been loaded with machinery. If you walk past one of the construction sites, you will see them unloading the truck by hand. The rebar is all cut and bent by hand, and they use lots of it. This is earthquake country. The women get in on some of the construction action also. Where there is a bigger construction job going on, you will have hungry and thirsty men. Almost every site, you will see a couple of ladies out front with a folding table, some pots of some kind of food and beverages. Usually you will see the whole crew sitting down having a lunch break around 1 to 1:30. I’m not sure how long of a break they take, but they have earned it. You will see the ladies heading home early in the afternoon to get ready for tomorrow. Not sure what they charge for the lunch, but rest assured it is reasonable. It’s called sweat equity.
Creepy crawly things: It is no secret that Mexico has lots of creepy crawly things. You don’t see them often, but when you do, you are always fascinated by them. The other morning after delivering Alfredo’s coffee to him, I saw what I believe was a spider. It was slowly making it’s way across the wall to retreat to the bushes by the door. The only way I can describe it, is that it looked like a daddy long legs with little crab pinchers on it. Did I mention that the leg span was no less than 10”, not sure if it was bad or harmless. It disappeared before I could get the camera to get a better look. I have looked on the internet to see if I can find a picture of it. There are a lot of spiders in Mexico!
Doctors: Judy has felt like she was coming down with a cold for a few days. Last night she started to lose her voice, and her throat was getting sore. We got some Robitussin today, but it was getting a little worse. I was down at our old apartment talking with friends today, when I spotted a young man from next door, who I know is a doctor. He is the son of friends of Joe and Fanny. Fanny used him last year when she was sick. He lives next door. I went back down about 4 today and talked with him. He was having a meal with his parents and brother. I felt bad about disturbing them, but he said he would come up in about an hour. That’s right, a house call. Very common in Mexico. His name is Roberto and he is a very nice young man. He covered all of the basic checks with Judy then gave her a couple of prescriptions. We just didn’t want this to get worse before we did something about it. His fee was 400 pesos. Less than $40. The co-pay for an office call, if your lucky in the States. I went to the Pharmacy and picked it up this evening. She is taking it and hopefully it will do the trick. He said to give him a call if needed and he will come back again.
There are many more observations to be made and reported on, but it is time to move on. I will get this posted tonight. Sorry no pictures this evening, but we will try to get some others out soon. The next topic will probably be Valentines Day. It is very big down here.

Warren