The Morning Edition - What Living in Mexico is REALLY Like

When people are considering living another country, they spend a lot of time looking for the "real story" about what life in at country is like.  For Mexico, like any other country, we find all sorts of extremes flying around, with some people trying to promote as paradise, and others, who like to present themselves as "realistic," telling exaggerated horror stories.  With the first people, you're left wondering what they're trying to sell, or what they've been doing to remove they're mind from reality, with the second, you're left wondering why they're still here if it's so horrible; the truth is that both are falsifying for the pleasure of telling stories and either pleasing people or shocking people (the two are not so dissimilar.)

From my point of view, the plain truth is that once you settle into day to day life, enjoying the simple pleasures that each day brings to you, or hating the mundane routine that you can't escape from (the optimistic vs. pessimistic view of the exact same things,) day to day life is about the same just about where ever you live.

This is not to deny or even diminish the importance of cultural differences, lifestyle and work routines, which are very dependent on where you live.  But the point is that even the richest culture or the most comfortable lifestyle can be swallowed up by boredom and no pleasure to life whatsoever.  On the other hand, the place most devoid of culture and anything remotely interesting in terms of human achievement could be beautiful to the open heart.

My life in Mexico is most defined by the same things that define the lives of people I know in Canada, Mexico City, China, the U.S., etc; I get up, I take my son to school, I do my work, sometimes I cook, I eat, I help clean the house or do the dishes, I write my blog, I help put the kids to bed, I read, etc. I'd guess that well over 90% of my life is taken up by these things.  My friends who don't have kids wouldn't be doing those items, but most of the rest would be similar.

Of course, the places we live and the people near us define the flavor of these routines; but it is our openness to life that shows us the beauty of the place we live and the people we interact with.

I love my routine because it is with my family and friends, and in a place that is pleasant. The strange, interesting and wonderful little discoveries I come across (many of which show up in this blog) add flavor and spice to this.

In this blog, the posts that are most about my life every day here are the ones that are not much different from little things people everywhere would enjoy:

Our New Park
The Neighborhood I Call Home
Our Beautiful Bougainvilleas - Flowers, Flowers and more Flowers

These are like rice (I like rice); they are the base of my daily life.  The other neat little things I have the pleasure of coming across are like the spices and other ingredients added to the rice to add flavor and variety:

Cafe de Olla - One of my Favorites!
Day of the Dead - The Symbols and Traditional Elements


Of course, there are things which aren't pleasant at all, but these are also a part of normal life.

So what is life in Mexico like?  The short answer is, when the new wears off, just about like anywhere else; discovering and enjoying the little beautiful things and intriguing features unique to Mexico, which add some spice to life will depend entirely on how you view life ...

Our New Park

My family in the park (this is the playground side, with fewer trees.)

About 4 or 5 months ago, a new park was opened in our community, just across the main road, a 3 minutes walk from our house.  With the completion of the development, it's also our last park; there are a total of 7, all within walking distance.  These parks represent one of the best features of the planning of our community; no other community anywhere in Playa del Carmen has this concentration of parks.  All of them also have plenty of trees, which are mostly the native trees left in tact, adding necessary shade for the heat of the Caribbean sun. 

Most of the other parks in the city, as well planned and beautiful as they are, have been completely cleared with a few scraggly palms added that do nothing either for shade or for the visual appearance of the park.  (I still can't figure out the obsession with palm trees; in a suitable habitat they grow nicely, but they give little shade, and die as quickly as they grow.  In Mexico City, some idiot city planners have tried to grow palms in Santa Fe, which is naturally a cool hilly climate where pines grow.  The palms grow to about 3 feet tall, and whither up, looking quite sad compared to the majestic pines towering over the hill tops a few kilometers away.)

This new park is also the nicest in the community, providing an ideal balance of trees, walkways, benches and playgrounds.  We're in love with this park and delighted that it's so close to us.

The park closest to our house (about a 2 minute walk away) is about 1/4 of the size.  It was also nice, but was less planned.  Worst of all, though, was the fact that within weeks of its opening it was vandalized.  I could live with graffiti, but the kids who did it also nearly dismantled the playground, disfiguring every part they possibly could.  It's now been put back together, but from the original parts, so it's still deformed and rather shabby looking.  My wife was there when they wrecked part of it, and came home very upset and frustrated, nearly in tears, because they were very rude to her when she tried to convince them to stop.  By the time I arrived they had left.

The worst part about it is that everyone on the street (not our street) knows who it was.  But no one wants to say or do anything for fear of getting on the bad side of the parents of the kids.  I wish parents would pay just a little attention to their kids.  Disinterest and complacency are destructive.

No one has touched the new park yet.  I hope they don't.  After half a year of walking halfway through the community to get to the next park to avoid being reminding of how disappointed, upset and frustrated we were to see our first new park vandalized, we've finally got the best park in the community right across the street.

Moms, dads, kids, teens and dogs all come out every evening to play and relax, and it's really becoming sort of a hub for this part of the community.  We love it.

Right now we feel like we live in the best place in the world!

For 2 other pictures (one before the development), read:
The Neighborhood I Call Home

Saint Death - A Uniquely Mexican (and Strange) Phenomenon

A Saint Death Figure For Sale In a Store

"Saint Death" seems to be a  primarily Mexican phenomenon, although I have recently been informed that there is a "San la Muerte" in Argentina.  The following of "Saint Death" is not tied specifically to any one other Mexican cultural feature, but rather a hodge-podge of several of the most important ones.  Saint Death is a unofficial sub-cult (sub-cult because it seems have many individual followers from various other religions, without being an official part of any of them - although it seems to be trying to emerge as an official religion). Adherents worship Death as cult object, or at least (much more commonly) ask it for favours as a saint.  Saint Death is almost invariably represented by a grim-reaper like statue of just about any size (I've seen key-chains and human-size statues,) but it can also be portrait.  People will ask Saint Death for many things, ranging from money, to a husband, to protection while working the night shift, to success in a crime they're about to commit.

Before saying much else there are some very, very important things to note about the cult of Saint Death:

This is not officially accepted or tolerated by Catholicism.  (Originally I said "in no way Catholic" but some one pointed out that that statement is "tendentious.") The Catholic Church of Mexico has officially condemned the cult as satanism, and teaches that even the least committed adherence is unacceptable. (Out of pure curiosity,  I consulted a Catholic deacon, and confirmed it on the internet.)   This is very confusing since the part that is trying to emerge as an official religion actually has rites which are based on the Catholic liturgy; one group actually calls itself "catholic."  Even more confusing is that many members of the real Catholic Church ignorantly keep Saint Death icons thinking that it is a legitimate saint.  These last two reasons specifically brought the Catholic Church in Mexico to condemn the cult; it doesn't have strong enough presence in the U.S. yet to have brought any official statement from U.S. bishops.

It is definitely not Protestant or any other Christian group.  Most protestants in Mexico will be very quick to condemn this kind of superstition.  For the reasons mentioned above, many think that it's one of Catholicisms many faults.  But here's a dark little secret: my mother-in-law believes that her father, my wife's grandfather, who is a staunch convert to Protestantism  (which is supposed to mean opposition to all of Mexico's superstitions) is hiding a little figure of Saint Death in his bedroom, hoping it will help him discover the gold from the Mexican Revolution he's certain is buried in his land. I'm sure his pastor doesn't know about that one ...

(See Looking for a pot of Gold? Perhaps a heart of Gold? Grandpa Pedro, Part 2)

Saint Death, With Fake U.S. Bills and Canadian Coins

It's predominantly working class.  Like the "curse of the eye" bracelets , this is a superstition with a very strong following in the working class, and seems to cross religious, regional and lifestyle borders withing the working class.  Although, from my experience, it seems to be much more urban than rural.  (So, it could be that my wife's grandfather, living out in the isolated hills, really doesn't know what it is; he says someone gave it to him for good luck.  Although this doesn't justify his hiding it.)  The main altars for Saint Death (yes, there are public altars - they are centered around the statue figures seen above) are located in Mexico City, with the most famous one in the very poor downtown community of Tepito, which is also the city's largest street market, a great place for everything cheap, stolen and illegal.  That one is dressed as a bride. It's the only public altar I've seen, although numerous others exist.

(Compare:The Curse of the Eye, and The Morning Edition - Exotic Mexico)

It's not associated with the original Day of the Dead Celebration.  As with Catholicism, followers of Saint Death have integrated traditional elements of Day of the Dead into their rites, and even have a special celebration on Nov. 1, which is the first Day of the Dead.  But from what I understand, the Day of the Dead celebration is in honour of the souls of friends and relatives who have passed away, and does not celebrate "death" as a element in itself.  I think that the Day of the Dead can be celebrated in accordance with Catholic beliefs, but I still have to check both the Catholic and Protestant view of this celebration.  In any case, most people who celebrate don't make any connection to "Saint Death," unless they are already followers.  ( Click here to read more about the Day of the Dead)

Most people who worship or adore Saint Death do so in secret. For this reason, I've seen very few people with their little figures.  I have seen some in buses or taxis.  As noted above, the open following of Saint Death is becoming more common.

A "Natural Store" Selling a Bazaar (but common) Combination of Items

One very strange feature of these figures is that they are sold in "Health Food Stores" - "Tiendas Naturistas."  These stores are not like the vegan hippie shops up in Canada or the U.S.  They don't sell TVP, soy-milk, natural peanut butter or quinoa; in Mexico, quinoa is sold as a candy rather than a health food. Rather they sell a supply of natural remedies (tree barks, leaves, seeds, etc.), along side ingredients for common spiritualism (or "witch craft" if you like,) superstitious objects (like the anti-curse-of-the-eye "deer's eye" bracelets), items for the Day of the Dead (when in season), Catholic icons and images, and Saint Death statues.   This very strange mix also makes the confusions mentioned above difficult to unravel, and strengthens the perceived connection between all of these things in the eye of the common public; thus my emphasis on the lack of a real bilateral connection between Saint Death and anything else found in those stores, except perhaps the superstition items; I don't believe, that most of its adherents even practice any sort of witch craft, although I could be wrong.

This is one of those Mexican things closely tied to superstition, and verging on being its own brand of spiritualism; it probably hits rock-bottom on the list of Mexican cultural features I would actually want to participate in.  Although it would be pretty hard to convince me to put one of those evil-eye bracelets on my child as well, I could see myself buying one of the bracelets just as a specimen to show people (not to use); on the other hand, I don't think I could find a place in all my curiosity for a Saint Death figure, even as a specimen.  It is, however, a very interesting and unique cultural phenomenon.

What I've written here is based primarily my personal experience, and is, for that reason, quite incomplete. For more in-depth and better researched information, see Arturo Vasquez's posts in his blog "Reditus":

http://arturovasquez.wordpress.com/tag/santa-muerte/
http://arturovasquez.wordpress.com/tag/folk-catholicism/

For information about "San La Muerte" in Argentina, read:

http://arturovasquez.wordpress.com/2009/02/23/san-la-muerte/

"The seats on the bus go bump, bump, bump ...."

A bus in Playa del Carmen near where I live.

A favorite activity that my son and I enjoy on the way to school is imagining all the different possible versions of "The wheels on the bus ..."

If you've only ever been on a bus in Canada or the U.S., you'd have no idea of how much fun this can really be.  Our favourite is "The seats on the  bus go bump, bump, bump."  The most fun is trying to sing, as the seats, the whole bus, and the people on it actually go "bump, bump, bump" so much that you have to hold onto something to stay in your seat, or at least avoid ending up on the floor.

In the small mini-buses (like in the picture) the morning and afternoon school rush often leaves us standing up in the middle; usually when there's an adult with a seat, they'll at least give the three-year-old a place to sit, but when everyone else has a 3,4 or 5 year old, or just no body is that thoughtful, we're left standing, him holding onto my leg, and me holding on the rail at the top, not being able to stand up straight because the bus is just too small.  We still sing our song, though.

When my wife was going to fly for the first time (this was after we were married with our first baby, who is now the three-year-old), she was concerned that he wouldn't handle the flight well.  I reassured her that if the baby survived the buses on Mexico City's old roads (where we lived at the time), the take off and landing would hardly be noticeable.  I was right; our baby didn't cry.

I've been on the old buses running through the mountains in Greece, and they're even more fun.  Mexico's old inter-city bus services used to be like that - both my dad, my wife, and many Mexicans I know experienced those buses - but they're now quickly being modernized, with soft, comfortable seats and movies; the old highways that were almost wide enough to avoid oncoming traffic, and really made the bus bump, are being replaced with wide, smooth, modern highways.

In the mean time, many of the city buses still go bump, bump, bump, enough to be fun, and give people with motion sickness a hard time.  Singing helps.

"I want Canada music."

These days, my son loves the idea of Canada. (Photo from Wikimedia Commons.)

Ever since my parents left on airplane to head back to Canada after their last visit, my 3-year-old son has been very intrigued by Canada.  When we get on the bus, sometimes he asks us if the bus is taking us to Canada.  If I say no, he asks if the bus is going to Cancun, where we can get an airplane to Canada.  When we ask where he wants to go in the evening, he says Canada.  A few days ago, he was packing a little bag he has to go to Canada.  (The baby's clothes, diapers, toy cars and a book were the key items.)  He loves to wear a Canada t-shirt he has, and gets excited when he sees others wearing Canada shirts; this is fairly common among Mexicans here in Playa, since it seems fairly common for Canadian tourists to give away Canada paraphernalia to their hotel workers, tour guides, etc.

Yesterday morning I asked him what kind of music he wanted to listen to.  His answer:

"I want Canada music!"

The music which best fits that description is Gordon Lightfoot.  Of course, there is lots of great Canadian music of all kinds, but little of it is as Canadian in its essence.  He was very happy with the choice, and kept coming up to ask me, "This is Canada music?"

The only problem was I couldn't get him to say "Canadian music."  Every time I corrected him, he just insisted that it's "Canada music."  Oh well, that will come.  At least he's getting to like my music too; a while back, he always preferred his mom's music.

(See: Gordon Lightfoot for Mexico; A Musical Exchange)

No worries on the Mexican side, though. He proudly identifies himself with both countries, both flags (which appear on his blanket,) and both languages.  The two concepts show up at different times, but currently he has a strong identification with both.

Cold or Alergies? Here's a Good, Semi-Natural Treatment

An Effective, Semi-Natural Cold or Allergy Treatment

For the past  2 months, I've had an ongoing cold or allergies; the funny thing is that since I've moved to Playa del Carmen, a nice sunny, warm beachfront town, both have been noticeably worse than either in central Mexico or in Canada.  And, on top of that, my allergies seem surprisingly similar to a cold.  The very few times I've gone to the doctor, it's always turned out to be allergies, even though EVERYTHING about it feels like a cold.

This morning my 3-year-old son woke me up at 6:30, and I had a runny nose, I was sneezing and had a headache, and I had to blow my nose every 3 minutes.  10 minutes later, the baby was crying and wanted to eat.  (Saturday is my wife's only precious sleep-in day during the whole week, so it's out of the question to take that away from her.)

I felt like closing myself into a dark, quiet room to just forget about the world.  I thought about heading to the drugstore for allergy medicine, but then I decided to try our alternative approach first.  The last time my family came from Canada, my dad had given us a bottle of tea tree oil as a natural treatment for ticks on our dog. (Ticks are very, very common here in the jungle, and all dogs get them if they are not treated.  Most people use a horrible chemical that cannot be used by pregnant or breastfeeding women, or anyone under the age of 19.  The tea tree oil actually works very, very well - better than the chemical.)

A few months ago, reading the natural health booklet that came with it, I realized that it had lots of uses, including treating the common cold. I found it also works for allergies.  So, this morning, this is how I treated my allergies/cold or whatever it is:

• Tea Tree Oil - I heated a pot of water until it was steaming very well, and added 10 drops of tea tree oil.  I place a towel over my head and leaned over the steaming pot inhaling the vapor of the oil.  The relief in my nose was almost instant.
• Hot Tea -  I used Tetley Orange Pekoe tea, but I would normally us an herbal tea - we've run out.  I prepared it while I was heating the water, so I could enjoy it immediately after the tea tree oil.
• Paracetamol - I took one tablet to help with the headache.  The only not natural part of my treatment.  This is still much better than going to the doctor here; most doctors (although most certainly not all) in Mexico tend to way over medicate; I'm highly suspicious an hesitant when it comes to over-medication.  We've found 2 doctors who are very conservative about medicine, and give treatments (which include only small amounts of medicine if any) whic, as we suspected, are usually much more successful.  I also believe in generics, most of the time.  Tylenol costs about 10 times as much, and does the same thing.

I probably could have done without the paracetamol, but on the whole the treatment was successful.  Afterwards, I just felt a little sleepy, but otherwise fine.  The rest of the morning was a very relaxing, comfortable Saturday morning.

To read more about my experience with healthcare and medicine in Mexico, read:

• Interesting Expats Part 2 - The Drunk "Dentist" 
• Childbirth in IMSS - Mexico's Social Insurance Health Care System 
• Mexican Health Care – The Really Cheap Side of Things

What's Wrong With This Sign?

The sign announcing the power outage.

 This is a sign that was posted throughout our neighborhood yesterday.  For anyone who doesn't read Spanish, It says:

Dear Residents:

We are informing you that the electric company will be turning off the power between approximately 1 pm and 2 pm, for the purpose of repairs.  Thank you for your understanding!

What's wrong with this message?  Well, if you're not sure, the following are my complaints:

• It doesn't state which DAY the power will be turned off.
• Electric work is NEVER completed in 1 hr.
• The paper signs were randomly pasted in visible, but completely unprotected areas, like on this electric power box, or on the walls separating the homes from the main road; this morning only one of the 5 we saw were remaining.  This is as much a problem with social responsibility as with the community council's method of communication.  This is a really big problem here; it's really common that people destroy, remove or deface things just to be a nuisance to other people.  They could have put some in stores, etc.

The only sign remaining after less than 24 hours.

At least it's a small improvement. Up until this yesterday, we've never been informed of electric work and the resulting power outages.   So, it's one small step ahead.  Hopefully they put the date on next time.

It must be noted, however, that the date may not have been put on because they themselves were not sure of when they would do the work.  The signs may have been a response to complaints, without any real intentions of solving the problems of lack of communication.