*Mexicans are always whistling; to guide people backing up cars, or to greet each other. I whistle lots now. It is just a great thing. And the people that are true Mexico City-ites talk differently. It is almost sing-songy. It has rythum and ups and downs. Very cool. I’m still working on my accents.
*Outside of almost every apartment complex is a little box, usually decorated with nice lights and flowers that have the Virgin Maria or another Saint in them. I always just give them a little wave and then we go and try and convert the people living there. There are also some of those boxes with Saints just randomly on the sidewalks.
*The day that kids get Christmas presents is called the Day of Kings (Día de Reyes). Also on this day we cut the Rosco (bread) and eat, and there are little figures in there. If you get a piece with a little baby in it you have to bring tamales or something to the next party on February 2nd I think. Pretty cool.
*I think I’m allergic to cats.
*The people here say "every 8 days" if they want to say every week. Hmmmm...
*Every day, usually in the morning, there are just men who walk up and down the streets and yell what must be a word, but not even my companion knows what they are saying. I think they could be selling something, or..... I don’t know, but it is part of life. They have crazy loud voices as well.
*Three or four times a week and man in an orange work jumpsuit comes rolling around our apartment yelling for trash. Everybody just gives it to him and he takes care of it. It’s either him or dump it on the streets like lots of people do. Nice.
*It’s cool if you want to drive your motorcycle on the sidewalk, heck, even your car is cool. If it fits, go for it. There aren’t traffic rules, really - just go for it and if you’re lucky, you drive a Slug Bug. (By the way, I counted the Slug Bugs (Vochos) that I saw in one day: 216. Yup. 216 in one day)
*Construction here is particularly different. There’s a huge project going down outside our apartment since I got here. You can wear hard hats if you’re feeling it. People can just walk through anywhere and they are not too worried about it. They still use handsaws instead of the nifty power tools, and they work 24-7. Pretty sweet. More casual I guess, but more laborious and I think it even takes longer than UT construction. Nice.
*Phone numbers are always at least 8 numbers and sometimes 10 or more. It is really nice when contacting and writing down information in the little space in our planners.
*There are street signs, but they are all in different locations on the corners and most are bent up and end up facing the wrong way - very handy.
*Lots of people offer us agua (water), but agua here is always mixed with something (usually a fruit). It is usually good, but I tried one this week that tasted like vomit. YYES!!!
*In the subway, I noticed how nice the people are to guide the blind people to where they need to go. Right after I noticed that I saw a blind person running into walls a little and we were able to help him on his way. I was happy for the example of the Mexicans and the opportunity to help the man.
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