Things are different here
When you arrive in Mexico for your first long term visit you might find yourself saying, “That’s not how they did it in Canada”. It seems you question almost everything as a newcomer, whether it's quietly to yourself or out loud to others who might hear you and then give you a funny look. You wonder how these people ever got anything done, and they probably wonder the sames things about us in Canada. It takes a while to discover that most things get done in a certain way for a reason, and so, if you want to move here, being flexible, adaptable and patient are probably the most important things that newbies can focus on. Fortunately, both of us are pretty easy going people and are generally able to roll with the punches.... Can't find our usual grocery items. The power goes out. The internet quits. Our favourite TV stations stop working (well, that does bug Cyndi a bit..). Taxis and buses are delayed here due to religious events blocking the main roadways. My banking card stops working for a few days.
Things are different.
We get into a cash register lineup to pay for our groceries, and after we load our stuff onto the carousel, a manager comes over to the cashier and wants to do a cash count and reconciliation of sales. This happened to us three days in a row. The third time we just rolled our eyes at each other and took a deep breath. Apparently this is done every few hours or so, and we have learned to patiently wait 15 minutes along with the rest of the people in line behind us.
After we walk 10 Km on a hot day wandering through narrow streets looking for and stopping at 20 cell phone outlets along the way, we discover that none of them can help to unlock our Canadian cell phones. Yes, our nice stainless steel phones that we so diligently paid to have unlocked before leaving Canada could not be unlocked by anyone. We bought new Mexican phones.
If you catch a flu bug like everyone else here at Christmas time, going to a doctor is a good idea as it can turn into pneumonia pretty quick due to the humidity. So, you go into a pharmacy and pull a number from their ticket dispenser, and then walk back out onto the narrow street and enter the next store front. There you will find seats filled with others who are ahead of you and appear to be on their last breath. You sit in the warm room with these folks and hope you can limit your own breathing to two or three intakes per hour for fear of catching something else. This goes on for about an hour and then your number is called. The doctor appears to be 17 or 18 years old and she goes about a quick cursory examination including a blood pressure check on the end of your middle finger. Several unknown drug names are scrawled on a pad and you are told to have them dispensed next door where you first started the visit. Cash payment to the doctor for her services is done when you receive your drugs and this is based on a 2-tier system of locals and tourists. We get billed as tourists: $50 Canadian, all in. :-)
The very small amount of our incoming mail is delivered directly into the crack of the hinge in our steel door grill, or it might get jammed under a door, or into a handy window frame. If it gets wet or if the wind blows it away, you suffer the consequences of the loss, be it a bill or invoice or a letter from a loved one. If you walk along the sidewalks on any residential street you will see the inventive places that the mailman has found for the mail to be placed or stuffed. International mail has actually made it to us. We have received birthday cards and Christmas cards but it took four to six weeks from the date it was mailed. The longest delivery time was just over four months.... it's amazing anyone gets anything.
Moving here has caused some of our likes and dislikes to do a switch-a-roo. Coming from Vancouver, one of our primary objectives was to live in a place with as little rain as possible. The constant drizzle in Vancouver along with cool winter temperatures made our bones ache. So Cyndi ordered up sunshine as her first priority for our new home, and lots of it. When we first arrived here Cyndi would complain if we had a rainy day as, damn it, she wanted sunshine! And now, after eight months of sunshine, that was interrupted only twice with a light shower, we are welcoming the heavy tropical deluge we get with the summer storms when they pass over. Cyndi and Patty call each other on the phone to discuss a potential rain storm, and when it happens they get down right giddy! It is funny to hear Cyndi say "yaaaaaaaaay it's raining!"
In my opinion, grocery shopping was actually enjoyable in Vancouver (I can hear the groans now...) as we knew exactly where everything was located and we could read the names of products and their contents. Quickly in and out of the store with a full basket and still smiling. Now we are armed with cheat sheets for grocery items and product names translating them from English to Spanish and try to navigate the aisles to find those Spanish grocery names to fill our wish list. There are many large and small stores to shop at and we have found that we can get almost everything we want and definitely everything need (see previous post on shopping). But, it took us a while, and lot of looking, to realize that some items we wanted were not even available and rather had to be “muled” down when others came to visit. Most grocery store staff are not well versed in English. We use a lot of hand gestures and our English / Spanish dictionary to communicate. They are always very nice to help us with pronunciation, especially if they happen to know some English. We are trying our best and are making headway a little bit. (poquito).
Neither of us have any use for colognes or perfume smells. It is more a mix of the sunscreen and insect repellent that we lavish on ourselves right after our morning showers. We also focus more on itch relief from those pesky stingers and biters, and perhaps the application of a healthy dollop of aloe cream and Solarcane treatment when the need presents itself. And then of course we sweat which invariably leads to reapplication of the contents of all tubes. I have done my best to avoid cologne as Cyndi has allergies, and she tells me I smell good anyway. Fingers crossed.
After spending so much time in close proximity to tourists, we are more aware of the things we do and say. Some of the local people here still think we are on vacation - our blonde hair and light skin colour gives it away no matter where go, even though our tans are looking pretty good. They are very happy and surprised when we stop to spend time to talk, get to know them, and learn something from them. There are a few shop owners that we pass by almost daily in our quest for filling an empty spot in the fridge. They have started to recognize us and they say "hey, you must live here now", and we try to reply in our broken Spanglish. It's a great feeling to know that we have almost graduated from being a "tourist" and are finding a bit of a niche here. It goes without saying that we are always pleasant to them and they respond in kind ten-fold. :-)
On the other hand, we have noticed that some tourists can be pushy, annoying, and speak with a funny drawl. They seem to be very free with their advice and always want to share their wealth of knowledge in a very loud voice. Oh, and yes, it's abundantly clear to us that they know more about Puerto Vallarta than we do. After all, they have just arrived in town for their first visit and have already been here for almost three hours after disembarking their cruise ship this morning..... can you say annoying. I think I will write a separate blog entry on this subject - next one - stay tuned.
The bottom line, it really doesn't matter where you go to find your slice of paradise as there will always be differences. Embrace them. Keep smiling, slow down a bit, have a margarita, enjoy a sunset. We are learning and have a long way to go but we are having fun along the way. However, retiring to a nice warm place where snow, traffic, and the general churn and mayhem of the business world is no where in sight, is definitely the best decision we have made.