How Much I’ve Gotten Accustomed to … (part 1)

• 90% – Different hand gestures.  There’s the gracias – raising a hand briefly to chest level with fingers toward you (almost as if threatening to backhand the other person).  There’s the ven (come here) – like the full-handed Nero/Morpheus Matrix taunt but with palm down instead of up.  There’s the sí, exactamente (exactly, you got it, on the nose) – index finger raised like E.T. phoning home and then curling it quickly twice like spritzing an invisible cologne bottle.  I recognize these gestures just fine but I’m not in the habit of using them.
• 100% – Walking vendors.  I was initially leery of people strolling and selling churros, gum, peanuts, tacos de canasta, etc. but not anymore.  I suppose I just needed to adapt to unlabeled foodstuffs sold in a completely unregulated fashion.  Now I don’t stop to question the safety or quality … only whether or not I want what they’re selling and have the pesos to spare.
• 80% – Walking musicians in buses & restaurants.  They’re street performers who don’t limit themselves to the street. 


Musician behind us in a bus from Tepic to San Blas. We’re sitting on a suitcase in the aisle because we jumped on mid-route. It's a touch blurry but not bad for being taken by the driver! (His idea, not mine.)

Many city bus drivers and small restaurant managers will let musicians play a few songs for tips.  I almost never know the songs but have almost never been annoyed by horrible music, either … except for a recent lunch in a tiny restaurant with a flutist who was loud and BAD.  If they have any talent at all I usually tip about 5 pesos because at least they’re working at something.  Besides, my coworker Martín said that he used to play on the buses before he got his job at SEMARNAT.  Now he plays in bars or for private events just as a hobby.  When I saw him at the place pictured below he agreed to sing something in his native Zapoteco language if I sang a bit in English.



• 95% – 24-hour time format.  Times are commonly written that way (e.g. 15:00 instead of 3:00pm) but are usually spoken using am & pm.
• 100% – Wearing a coat indoors on “cold” days. Yes, that’s necessary sometimes during the winter (or summer in the mountains) since indoor heating isn’t the norm.  But, to me it’s a minor nuisance compared to the brutal winters I missed back home.  Correction – I did NOT miss them.
• 98% – Wearing jeans/pants in the blazing heat. Like the locals, I don’t wear shorts unless I’m out for a run or at a beach.  Shorts are seen as something for kids to wear, not adults.