As I continue life in my little Mexican town - ok technically it's a city, and apparently there's more than 50,000 people, but it really doesn't feel like that to me, so I'm just going to keep calling it a town - so as I continue my life here, I continue to notice more and more differences with my life back home. More things that I am noticing that still surprise me, and also more things becoming used to here, compared with what I would have considered "normal" at home. I already wrote about some of them here.

Some of these differences are big; and some are very small. Some are things that span across many other countries, not just Mexico nor just Latin America; whereas some are things specific to town life, or even just this particular town. Some of them frustrate me from time to time; whereas others remind me how wonderful Mexico is. 

But regardless of what my reaction to them might be, none of these differences are necessarily better or worse: they are just different to what I'm used to, and one of the great parts of travelling and living in other countries is experiencing daily life in other cultures and other parts of the world. I love opening my eyes to all of these things that remind us what a big world we live in.

So here is the second dose of the new "normals" in my life in Mexico:

1. It costs less than 2 dollars to go to the movies. Popcorn costs more than the movie ticket itself. 

2. Not wearing a seatbelt in the back of a car (and indeed often not even having seatbelts in the back of the car). 

3. Politeness: Mexican politeness is common-place in daily life above what I'm used to, even amongst people who have never met before. For example as I walk down the street I regularly greet and am greeted by people I've never seen or met before, sometimes even with a further well-wishing (buenos días/buenas tardes/que le vaya bien, etc). It's also common to say buen provecho (i.e. bon appétit) to people who are eating or who’ve just finished eating, for example when you enter a restaurant; and to ask permission before entering a room/area from whoever else might be there or whoever you might need to walk past. Cars will even stop to let me cross the road much more than I am used to, even when they have right of way, and even when I would otherwise have a gap to cross right after them. 

4. I will always taste a tiny bit of every sauce before putting it all over my food in case it’s crazy hot. Having said that, I have a pretty good tolerance to hot food/sauces, and this surprises many people here who expect me to have no tolerance (even the 3 year old girl in my house once warned me against eating a tamal because it would be too hot for me - it wasn't).

5. As with takeaway drinks, sauces for your takeaway food also come in little plastic bags.

6. I get genuinely frustrated (and also equally as confused) if there is no salsa on the table to add to my food. The salsa provided can determine if a meal is good or great.

7. Not having enough food to finish your tortillas can be a legitimate problem.

8. Of course Mexico has a significant amount of delicious foods. But it also has some really weird foods. For example, plátano con chicharrón; (i.e. fried banana with fried pork skin); hollowed out cucumbers stuffed with corn and covered with chilli and salt; popo, which is chocolate froth (as in essentially the froth of a chocolate milkshake without any of the liquid, although made with proper cacao and a few other things - pretty good dessert if you’re on a diet as you’re essentially just eating air!). 

9. When eating at a restaurant, your plate will be taken away the second all the food is gone, even if the last piece is still in your hand or on your fork. However, to get the bill can take much longer - you will always have to ask for it (they never just assume). Whilst this is all strange for me, I can imagine what I’m used to (leaving the plate a little while longer, and bringing over the bill) may well seem very rude to people used to the other way around. 

10. Although customer service is generally friendly, the concept of the customer is always right or of making sure the customer is happy just doesn't seem to exist. If a laundry service breaks your clothes - tough luck, not even an apology (indeed, apparently I'm lucky they didn't try to just argue that it happened afterwards). If someone makes your meal different to what you ordered - meh.. barely even an acknowledgement. There are of course exceptions, but I am now becoming less and less surprised by people’s unwillingness to resolve problems they’ve created. 

11. It’s not uncommon to have a bag stand next to your table in a restaurant or bar. I’m unsure of whether or not this stems from a fear of having your bags on the ground because it’s dirty (as in Cuba). 

12. There are an incredible amount of random cultural parades, often with horses (including dancing horses). On more than a couple of occasions and without any prior warning we have heard the music of a big parade passing outside our office - whether it’s a Monday afternoon or a Friday morning or any other time. One such recent parade involved people dressed in traditional indigenous clothing passing by on floats and throwing presents to the crowds who scrambled on the ground to get their hands on as many things as possible - the presents could be anything from snack foods, to food storage containers, to fly swats, to toys, to tiny sachets of salsa (the least appreciated gift) and so much more. (Apparently it started with giving out fruit to the masses, but has evolved).

13. There are chickens and goats in the street. Sometimes ducks. Sometimes pigs. Occasionally cows. It’s not that weird to see someone walking through the centre of town holding a live chicken or rooster.

14. I regularly share my room with geckos. For about a month I lived with one who didn't have a tail because I accidentally stepped on it the first night it arrived and it dropped its tail in fear.

15. There is a really bizarre tradition in my town in the months of October/November, where some people dress up in outfits covering their faces except for holes cut for the eyes, and carry wooden sticks or fake death axes, and if you give them money (less than a dollar) when they approach you for it, a group of 5-10 (or even up to 20) of them will play drums and dance around a symbolic dance that apparently has something to do with bulls. 

16. To pay my electricity bill I go to an ATM that is purely for paying electricity bills and deposit the cash there (there is also a way to do it online, but it doesn’t work for non-Mexican cards).

17. Signs for shops are painted right on the wall of the building. It’s really quite pretty as the walls often have several colours on them. 

18. I am often surprised at the number of people who don't know where Australia is on a map. Whilst everyone knows we have a lot of kangaroos, many people seem to think Australia is in Europe and is really cold (yes this could be due to some confusion with Austria, and not realising they are two, very different countries). I do understand that people don't need to know the exact location of countries they know very little about (and even less so if they don't expect to ever go there) and there are plenty of countries that I probably couldn't place on a map even though my geographical knowledge is quite good. But it surprises me because Australia is a whole continent! (Although then I remind myself that in Spanish the continent is called Oceania, not Australia, as it is in English, and it all makes a little more sense). (This is certainly not reflective of all Mexicans, and many do know exactly where Australia is, but I am just surprised at the large number that don't).

19. Every day is casual Friday at work. Blue jeans are completely appropriate work attire even amongst professionals. It’s also very common for everyone (including in law firms etc) to either have a t-shirt or vest/jacket with the name of the company and logo etc on it. Some men will dress it up with a cowboy hat for special events or meetings. (I think all of this is probably not at all the case in Mexico City and other big cities here, but this is country life!).

20. WhatsApp is a legitimate media for work use, including authorising official things, making stationary orders, liaising with clients, etc.

21. Despite the significant levels of chivalry in Mexico, men will get served first in restaurants, bars, etc.  

22. Local news of murders in and near my town is common-place. Day to day safety is fine in that I don’t need to worry about pickpocketing nor violent robberies or anything like that. But it is not at all uncommon to hear of violent and horrific murders, which are generally directed at those involved in drugs/cartels. The news also often has graphic photos, which makes my Facebook newsfeed the least pleasant it’s ever been. (Although please do not at all think this is reflective of Mexico generally - it's not, and only happens in a few places).

23. In just the few months I have been here so far, more than once in my town a local business has closed because the owner was kidnapped...and then later found dead. 

24. You can get your windscreens cleaned at many intersections for just a few pesos as there’s always people doing that. (Unless they get murdered that is - which is what happened to the guys I used to see doing this every day - shot in front of my office, 5 mins after I left work one day.)

25. There are number of safety measures we take in my work which have become part of my daily life, such as messaging your bus details or taxi number to the work Whatsapp group; arriving at and leaving from work at different times so as to not create a schedule; and being very vague on details with people I don't know regarding what I do for work and where I live. 

26. There is an incredible sense of community, for example as I wrote about here.

27. There is a really impressive amount of young entrepreneurship in Mexico. So many people I meet in their 20s and early 30s have their own small businesses - its very inspiring.

28. Punishments for relatively minor offences can be quite severe, but bribery can often get you out of them. Ok so this one hasn't actually become one of my own normals, but I have come across a few stories where bribery has helped (or would have). Some examples:

    a) Driving into Mexico city without number plates that permit you entering that day (even when it’s an accident, taking the wrong freeway exit) - my friend was facing going to jail for this, having the car confiscated, and having to pay a hefty fine. Luckily a few good connections and a 500 peso (i.e. approx AU$35) bribe did the trick to get him out of it.

    b) A couple staying in my hostel in Cancun were interrupted by security guards while enjoying an intimate moment on the beach. They coughed up a 900 peso fine for that one to enjoy the privilege of being able to run away before the police arrived (who had already been called).

    c) When a young German in my hostel in Tulum was caught by police while urinating on a bush in the middle of the night, a bribe would have certainly done him wonders; however unfortunately he didn't have any cash on him and instead had to spend the night in jail (an experience which he described as horrific). 

29. I now consider 24 degrees as cool weather.

30. I pronounce my name differently so that people understand me. “Kiri” becomes something in between “kitty” and “kiddy”, to use the Spanish “r”; “Ana” (normally pronounced “Ah-na”) becomes “Anna”, which in Spanish is spelt as Ana anyway, so that one’s pretty easy; and my last name has the emphasis in a different place, which sounds super weird to me but really helps people here understand it. 

31. Being asked if my boyfriend beats me. The two times that I’ve told guys I have a boyfriend and then still had to tell them that I didn’t want to go out with them, that has been their follow up question. Like the only reason I don’t want to go out with them is because my boyfriend beats me. Although it turns out it's actually just a saying for if someone says they don't want to go out somewhere (not necessarily on a date). 

32. It's completely normal to have immigration inspections on buses (although they’ve only once actually checked me, despite it being quite obvious I’m a foreigner - they’re mostly looking for Central Americans, and they’re apparently not afraid of obvious discrimination). 

33. Chicken meat is a very off-putting yellow. But apparently it’s because they eat marigolds! 🌼