10 Things I've Learned About Mexico in 3 months

Today marks three months since we packed up all our bags and moved to Mexico. Seems like a lifetime ago. Ben and I were debriefing last night about our time here so far in Monterrey, and the overarching feeling we have is absolute wonder at the amount of growth a person can be propelled into making in a short period of time. These three months have forced us into a crash course of character building like nothing else could have. In honor of our three month mark, I want to write down observations, quirks and stories that reflect Mexico much better than simple descriptions ever could:

In Mexico, “manana,” means neither tomorrow nor in the morning. Manana is actually some ethereal term that means at an unknown moment in the future. “Ahorita,” is another Mexican term that means “now…ish”. That "now" could be in a few minutes, later today, or again, at some unknown time in the future. Last week my washing machine broke; the new part was supposed to arrive “manana.” That was four days ago. My washing machine is still broken.

Grocery shopping is different. The onions here come pre-peeled. The eggs at the store are un-refrigerated, stored on your counter, and are farm fresh and amazing; I even got a double yoke one morning (there’s no way America would let that nonconformity of egg size fly)! Avocados are cheap and wonderful. Limes and limeade are everywhere and lemonade is nonexistent. Fruit is plentiful, especially melons, mangoes and papayas. We tried napoli, which is actually cactus, and it tastes like acidic green beans.

Mexican mosquitoes are a different breed than what we are used to. Poor Josh, the mosquitoes here love him and his body does not love the bites. The bites swell up four times normal size on his body, itch him like crazy and literally last for a month. One time (bad mom moment) I let him take off his shirt at a park and forgot to put on bug spray. Fourteen bites later the poor kid was miserable.

We have no complaints about the health care system. In fact, if we could speak Spanish, we would probably think that it’s even more amazing. Ben was miserable with a sinus infection and all he had to do was visit a farmacia (which happens to be just across the street). All the farmacia’s here have urgent care doctors 9-9, Monday through Saturday. The price is $3 to see the doctor, who was a young gentlemen who spoke decent English. Within 10 minutes, Ben was prescribed antibiotics that cost another $10. In America, we all know what the price would have been of that appointment & antibiotics.

Defensive driving has a different definition here. Ben’s work offered an all-day defensive driving course for him last week. The driving here is pretty intense (fast paced, no blinkers, not a ton of rule following), so we thought that it would be a good idea for him to take the class. One can never learn too much about driving carefully, right? Little did we know, it was actually a course in how to protect one’s vehicle in case someone is chasing you, trying to run you off the road and steal your vehicle. Don’t laugh; I’m telling the truth. Ben was taught how to quickly maneuver through a cone course, drive fast in reverse and slam on the breaks to make a 180 degree turn, all with a car driving next to him and being shot at with paintball guns. Not. Even. Kidding.

Car flashers are your friend. Mexicans use their car flashers like Americans use their blinkers (ironically, Mexicans don't use their blinkers, though). Whenever someone here puts their flashers on, it gives them super powers to do whatever they would like in their vehicle. Stop in the middle of the road to pick up a friend? Sure! Park next to a store in a “no-parking zone” while your wife runs in…no problem! Are you a semi truck with two trailers that missed your exit on the freeway? Just throw on the flashers and back your way down the freeway to your off-ramp. Flashers are especially prolific in parking garages. It’s the Mexican drivers way of saying, “That’s my spot…don’t touch it!”

There are some strange laws. For example: no buying alcohol after 6 pm on Sundays. I still giggle every time I think of this one, because it’s so random. It’s random that I even discovered it, because while we're not big drinkers, I happened to (try) to buy a couple hard ciders while grocery shopping on a Sunday night. Instead, the cashier took them and added them to a growing pile of discarded alcohol next to her register. So random. 

Mexicans are hardworking and so clean. I've been so impressed by the work ethic of the people here. Our apartment building has a full-time cleaner, Lucaro. She mops the hallways of the apartment building six days a week. She does a wonderful job and always has a smile on her face. When I was desperate this weekend to get some clothes washed (remember: my machine won't be fixed until manana), I asked the maid next door if I may borrow their washing machine. Bodi, the maid, brought back the clothes to me only after she had hand-scrubbed the boys' socks to try to get the stains out. She also neatly laid out every article of clothing for me and told me that if I ever needed anything, just to ask. Example three: we hired a senora, Nachi, to clean for me once a week. We pay her a "high" wage of 400 pesos, which is around $20 American dollars (not per hour, per day of work). Nachi cleans my house amazingly in 2-3 hours. She mops every inch of the floor, cleans the bathrooms, dusts everything, cleans the mirrors and the windows, does any dishes left in the kitchen, and sometime even does some ironing for me. It's like magic. The working class in Mexico could give some Americans a lesson in hard work with a great attitude!

Watch out for bathroom bugs. One morning, a cockroach stood between the toilet and I. I decided I'd rather brave killing a cockroach, then going potty with one at my feet. I conquered. Yesterday, Ben stumbled barefoot into the bathroom first thing in the morning only to step on and squish a young lizard-thing. So. Gross. Spiders no more: watch out for cockroaches and lizards.

Monterrey's mountains are amazing. While I still don't quite understand why God brought us to Mexico, I'll never cease to be grateful that he brought us to this part of Mexico. The mountains that surround us are truly spectacular. Each evening we anticipate a beautiful sunset over the Cerro de la Silla. Frequently there are thunderheads over the mountains that create the most beautiful sunsets. Often, there are lightning storms. The view of the mountains as well as hiking in them have mentally saved us many times as we miss our country home in Scappoose. 

This particular evening the clouds started by looking like this

 Then, the color in the sky increased. 

 And we had the most heavenly sunset. Afterwards, there was a lightning storm up inside that huge thunderhead. It was amazing.

 This is a sunrise over the city 

 The view from our balcony in the living room

The black circle is our apartment building. I often go for hikes up the roads behind our building in the evening. I love this picture because it actually shows a range of mountains I never get pictures of. These mountains are in the front of our building, and our apartment looks the opposite direction. Wherever we go in Monterrey, the mountains are all around us, and they are beautiful.