tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56381790948120348102024-02-15T20:34:45.179-08:00Jay in CancunJust a guy blogging about his adventures with his lady... in Cancun, Mexico!Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212204388556217814noreply@blogger.comBlogger86125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638179094812034810.post-63868651515247859402012-11-28T10:06:00.001-08:002014-10-03T21:28:07.578-07:00American Movies & Mexican Audiences...<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last night Jen & I went to Cinemex in what I call the Home Depot Plaza (behind Home Depot at the west end of Coba) and saw The Campaign. It's funny enough, if you like Will Ferrell movies. At one point in the movie, Ferrell, who plays an infantile North Carolina fat boy-turned-Senator (think George W Bush before he found Jesus at age 40) and his naive gay opponent (think Richard Simmons' lamer brother) have some drinks together and Ferrell, in party mode, cries out, "We are going to Cancun...!!"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jen & I cheered a bit, but no one else did.. which surprised me. If an audience in Toronto was watching a movie & heard a line like that about T.O., someone, if not everyone, would react in some audible fashion. And if </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the audience was largely black, the place would go bananas (I know that's a stereotype but it's partly true).</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, I kind of miss American & Canadian audiences. Isn't audience participation part of the fun of going to a movie? Compared to audiences at home, those here are a little too well-mannered (tho soccer games are another story). Some people laughed occasionally last night, but for a zany comedy, the theatre was generally pretty quiet (with two exceptions - hehehe)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the way home, Jen reminded me of another funny incident that happened a few weeks ago when we were watching Ted. It's an adult comedy in which Mark Wahlberg's character has a lifelong dream/nightmare come true when his cuddly teddy bear comes to life... as an obscene pig. At one point the pair talk about starting a restaurant: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />"Okay, yeah, let's make it an Italian joint."<br /><br />"Great, love it!" <br /><br />"With no restrictions, everyone's allowed in." <br /><br />"Oh my gosh I love that. Don't restrict anyone, not even the Jews." <br /><br />"Well obviously not the Jews, why would you even say that?" <br /><br />"We wouldn't, that's the point." <br /><br />"No, but I mean, why would you even mention it right now." <br /><br />"You wouldn't, I'm not even saying anything about it... But seriously, no Mexicans!" <br /><br />No Mexicans! Of course Jen & I burst out laughing! Eventually we regained our senses, and remembered where we were. The rest of the theatre, of course, was entirely silent.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, I love most of the people I meet here, and I'm sure they are more lively on other occasions & I know that subtitled American films are no basis on which to generalize here. But I will say this: if Jen & I ever have a pizza party here & watch dumb American comedies in English, we'll invite our fun friends... but seriously... no serious Mexicans!</span></div>
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Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212204388556217814noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638179094812034810.post-49145508055089288152012-11-22T11:17:00.000-08:002014-10-03T21:28:34.386-07:00Looking for Market 28? This AIN'T It!<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jen & I live 5 minutes from Market 28, Cancun's main market. It's a great place to shop (Market 21 is slightly cheaper, but much smaller). Tourists flock to this place to buy everything from shot glasses & T-shirts to silver rings & porcelain pottery (photos below).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Almost every day we pass along a road called Tankah, that runs south from Market 28. And almost every day, when we return, we pass a large shop called Plaza 28. And almost every day, when we do, we see a group of white-clad men standing nearby, shouting something about Market 28 at passing tourists.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Only recently did it occur to us that these kind gentlemen were not directing people to continue on to nearby Market 28. They were inviting them to come in to their own store: </span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Come! Welcome! Market 28! Right here: Market 28!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As far as Mexican scams go, this one is fairly tame, but you can be sure many tourists are fooled. "Oh, look, honey. Here's that market the nice fellow at the hotel was telling us about..."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, I'm posting this as a WARNING to innocent tourists. The store in the photo below is NOT Market 28...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The guy in the chair and the guy nearby in the white shirt ARE "OPCs" -- Time Share employees.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Remember: Market 28 is a GIANT market covering several city blocks & comprising hundreds of small stores. If you don't see 8 billion kitschy souvenirs, you're in the wrong place :)</span></div>
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Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212204388556217814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638179094812034810.post-43680790282469992692012-11-22T10:55:00.001-08:002014-10-03T21:29:05.419-07:00Buying Water - Agua Men-a-Poo!<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've blogged before about the <a href="http://jayincancun.blogspot.mx/2012/07/cancun-water-is-deadly-but-what-about.html" target="_blank">water here in Cancun</a>. We still buy most of ours in 20L bottles ($2), from one of the army of men who ride, drive, or otherwise roll through every area selling it. You'll be sitting at home, or lying in a hammock writing a blog post, and hear "Agua! Agua! Agua!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you need water, you holler back & the vendor (let's call him Agua Guy) comes over & swaps your empty bottle & 25-30 pesos (depending on the brand) for a full one.</span><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Funny thing is, one day recently, instead of "Agua! Agua! Agua.." Jen & I began hearing what sounded like "Agua - men-a-pooo! Agua - men-a-pooo!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Naturally, being the idiotic tourists that we are, we started cracking up. When I stopped laughing, I googled "mexican poo water" & got (in addition to a question from google asking if I realy meant "mexican poop water") almost 5 million search results about water issues in Mexico.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, today, after buying some water, I finally asked a Mexican friend on Facebook.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Me: amigo! how goes? agua guy keeps saying smthg like "Agua - men-a-pooo!" what is he saying?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mario: beats me. agua guy? some context might help.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Me: the water seller :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mario: electropura? which is the name of the brand...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Me: ahhh.. thats it.. ur a genius!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, mystery solved! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, I can return to my hammock, kick back & relax, with my newest blended beverage concoction: mango-ice-men-a-poo!</span></div>
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Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212204388556217814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638179094812034810.post-45432318490411138062012-11-19T10:17:00.003-08:002014-10-03T21:29:35.981-07:00Mexico's Day of the Revolution<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">November 20th (tomorrow) is Mexico’s Día de la Revolución (Day of the Revolution). It’s not Independence Day, and it’s not Cinco de Mayo (which celebrates the Mexican victory over the French during the battle of Puebla in a war that Mexico eventually lost).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Day of the Revolution </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">is </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the anniversary of the 1910 start of the popular movement which led to the overthrow of dictator José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori after 34 years of military rule but ushered in over a decade of civil war which ultimately led to the promulgation of the nation’s constitution in 1917 and the 1920 ascension to the presidency of General Álvaro Obregón.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">According to voxxi.com:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mexico’s revolution started in 1910 and ‘officially’ ended with the Constitution of 1917. But fighting, and social repositioning in the country went on through the mid 1920s. The Revolution ended the 33-year dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz, and set Mexico on a modern socialist path.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During the time of the Diaz regime Mexico’s economy boomed and was sometimes compared to the economies of Great Brittan, France and Germany. Diaz, ran a centralized government, and gave substantial land and tax breaks to foreign companies, so the Mexican economic boom was only being felt by the rich, and the foreign corporation that were given preferred status; mines, railroads and other concessions.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A series of events brought about the Mexican Revolution and the toppling of the Porfiriato, as the Diaz regime was known. Not only was there a huge economic gap between the 99 percent poor and the 1 percent rich, but the government also privatized the ancestral and communal lands of hundreds of thousands of peasants. At the time, 95 percent of the land in Mexico was owned by 5 percent of the population.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 1910, Francisco I. Madero, a statesman from a wealthy family, campaigned to become the next president of Mexico, but Diaz had Madero arrested and declared himself the winner of the election. Madero escaped from prison and is credited with starting the Revolution when he launched the Plan de San Luis Potosi in 1910, and calling for armed revolt on November 20th, 1910.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In 1911 Diaz resigned and Madero was elected president, but was toppled in a military coup led by General Victoriano Huerta and killed in 1913. While all this political positioning was taking place, Pancho Villa was stirring things up in Chihuahua as a Maderista, and Emiliano Zapata was rebelling for peasant rights in Morelos, in southern Mexico.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When Madreo supporter and Primer Jefe of the Constitutionalist Army, Venustiano Carranza, marched triumphantly into Mexico City in August of 1914, he broke with revolutionary leaders, Zapata and Villa. Carranza became president and established the Constitution of 1917, which to many became the official end of the revolution.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Constitution of 1917 stripped the church of much of its power, which led to uneasiness between the church and the government. In 1924, when Plutarco Elias Calles took over the presidency, secularist laws were applied stringently. Groups of Catholics revolted in 1926, and this gave way to what became known as the Cristero War.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The early 1920s saw many ideological changes as Mexico reestablished relations with the Soviet Union. The first murals by Diego Rivera, Jose Orozco and David Siqueiros were created opening up an era that openly embraced Mexico’s indigenous heritage, and meztisaje. Also, as a result of the 1917 Constitution, Mexico’s relationship with the Soviet Union, and land and social reforms pushed on by Zapata, Villa and others, the first national worker’s union, Confederación Regional Obrera Mexicana, was created in 1918.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But one of the most important accomplishments of the Mexican revolution of November 20, 1910, was national pride. The revolution gave peasants and workers a sentiment of worth, that they have rights, and that they can fight for these rights. It’s is one of the reasons popular protests and movements like Yo Soy el 123, or the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas can happen today after 100 years since the ‘first’ revolution, in a country that is closer in reality to the Porfiriato, than the ideals of the Revolución.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21.58px; text-align: left;">Emiliano Zapata, Pancho Villa and others at the National Palace in Mexico City, 1914.</span></td></tr>
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Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212204388556217814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638179094812034810.post-13659201570089095802012-11-18T12:32:00.000-08:002014-10-03T21:36:08.804-07:00More Ants! (Best Story So Far)<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've blogged before about ants. A lot.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've blogged about ants <a href="http://jayincancun.blogspot.mx/2012/11/fire-ants-at-xcaret.html" target="_blank">at Xcaret</a>, ants <a href="http://jayincancun.blogspot.com/2012/10/ants-ants-ants-damn-ants-in-my-cereal.html" target="_blank">in our cereal</a>, ants <a href="http://jayincancun.blogspot.com/2012/05/ants-in-my-pants-hostel.html" target="_blank">in our hostel</a>, ants <a href="http://jayincancun.blogspot.com/2012/06/one-morning-last-week-found-me-eating.html" target="_blank">on our pizza</a>, ants <a href="http://jayincancun.blogspot.com/2012/06/bleeding-fan.html" target="_blank">in our fan</a>...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some of those stories are worth reading, but yesterday we had an ant experience like no other...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was sitting in our living room, merrily adding anecdotes to our website (</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">anecdotage.com - home to thousands of <a href="http://www.anecdotage.com/" target="_blank">funny anecdotes</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">), when suddenly I heard a scream. It was Jen and there was a problem: ants in the bedroom.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Actually, that wasn't really the problem. We've had</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> ants in the bedroom before. Big ants, medium-sized ants, and little ants. But this time, the problem was wee, teeny, tiny ants. And they weren't in the bedroom per se...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See, when I raced into the room, I discovered that they were </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">crawling all over Jen's HP tablet, which was in its handy faux leather case. No problem. I grabbed the whole thing, took it outside, removed the tablet, dropped the case on the ground, and started blowing the ants off the tablet (and off my hands and arms). There were dozens of them tiny critters, and the strange thing was, every time I blew one off, two more seemed to take their place.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I soon discovered the problem. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My blowing and shaking</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> wasn't generating new ants (I'm still looking forward to that particular nightmare!). It was disturbing something: the colony living inside the tablet!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eeeeek!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sure enough, it wasn't long before I saw the little buggers streaming out of the headphone jack. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After about 2 minutes of shaking & blowing & waiting, the stream slowed to a trickle (it kind of reminded me of waiting for microwave popcorn), & </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">finally stopped.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I put the tablet back inside, thinking </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had licked the problem.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Only later did something occur to me: don't ant colonies have a queen!? Oh crap! I picked up the tablet & shook it again. No doubt, there was a giant queen </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ant</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">in there, somewhere. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I huffed & </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I puffed & </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I blew inside, hoping to blow the queen's house down (so to speak), but nothing happened.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What if it couldn't (or wouldn't) come out of the jack? </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm not even sure a queen ant can move on her own. (I'd google it but I'm too scared to lol..)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I gave up eventually & that's where we are today. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We still haven't powered up the tablet again. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm a little worried that all the lights will dim & buzz & we'll hear a gruesome sizzling sound, followed by the </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">sound of dripping ant goop as the room is</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> plunged into darkness!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">OK. That's unlikely, I admit. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And we may never know: Jen still doesn't know there might be a queen inside & she hasn't (yet) seen this post. When she does (& she will!), we may have a shiny new HP paperweight.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, I'll keep you posted. I</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">f we do fire it up... please wish us luck!</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.spk.la/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/hp-tablet-portatil1-520x353.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.spk.la/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/hp-tablet-portatil1-520x353.jpg" height="434" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ya, that's an expensive paperweight...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212204388556217814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638179094812034810.post-3324793813134803042012-11-16T14:09:00.001-08:002012-11-16T14:09:59.720-08:00Paletas: Amazing Mexican Popsicles!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil_f6av7ewEZ63JxdeXdligBdFIniUdAq107LnMSh8PWEiNDTjYhGGWbeCQOoXT43-0hNTqZtOmz3HMR6_4zNzvnaqLv0JXqAIi0KRGQi-wlCdd8MV5_fjz0mZJgRDlj04GHcLIcaWiRg/s640/paletas.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paletas - so good they'll make your vision blurry!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil_f6av7ewEZ63JxdeXdligBdFIniUdAq107LnMSh8PWEiNDTjYhGGWbeCQOoXT43-0hNTqZtOmz3HMR6_4zNzvnaqLv0JXqAIi0KRGQi-wlCdd8MV5_fjz0mZJgRDlj04GHcLIcaWiRg/s320/paletas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of our favorite things in here is so-called Paletas -- </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mexican ice pops! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These popsicles are amazing, and Mexicans love them too. In fact, one city in Michoacan even raised a statue of a paleta at the entrance to the town!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had managed to forget about paletas (they are verrrry addictive) until I came across a <a href="http://www.latimes.com/features/la-fo-paletas22aug22,0,4572601.story" target="_blank">story in the LA Times</a> about how they are becoming more popular with Latin Americans in the US, and who can blame them...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Chock-full of chunks of fresh fruit and available in a hypnotizing array of colors and clear, not-too-sweet flavors -- conjure images of hot afternoons in the park, time spent on a bench under a shady tree, clear blue skies dotted with red, white and green balloons..."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Damn you LA Times!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jen & I are going home for Christmas soon & won't be able to get any of these in Canada. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe we need to buy a cooler so we can bring some back with us :)</span><br />
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<br />Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212204388556217814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638179094812034810.post-87811084919109777942012-11-15T10:33:00.001-08:002012-11-15T10:33:22.400-08:00<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I did an </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">interview</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> for </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">blogexpat!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> You can check it out here :)</span><br />
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<br />
<a
href="http://interviews.blogexpat.com/blog/2012/11/15/from-canada-to-mexico-jay-in-cancun">
<img src="http://www.blogexpat.com/images/logos/tagBlogExpatInterview.gif"
border="0" alt="Expat Interview" />
</a>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212204388556217814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638179094812034810.post-82372917583911540542012-11-14T11:53:00.001-08:002014-10-03T22:33:26.060-07:00Sexy Mexican Women!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm busy with our newly launched website anecdotage.com (</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">30,000 <a href="http://anecdotage.com/" target="_blank">funny anecdotes about celebrities</a>)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> but I'm still </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">trying to post something every day...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pressed for time, what's a busy blogger to do? Simple answer: post something about sex! What sells better than sex, sex, and more sex?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In that spirit, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I just googled "sexy mexican women." I always knew </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mexican women were </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">sexy but I'm</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> still amazed by what I found...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In addition to the obvious pictures of sexy Mexican celebrities like Salma Hayek...</span><br />
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<a href="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/deadspin/2008/11/salma-hayek-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/deadspin/2008/11/salma-hayek-8.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">...and a few pictures of men... </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was surprised to find this:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wait for it...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A little more...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ready?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Are you sure?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is one sexy mama...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">OK...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Eeek!</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cdn.crushable.com/files/2011/04/108321_2_468.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://cdn.crushable.com/files/2011/04/108321_2_468.jpg" height="640" width="482" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sexy Mexican... something</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212204388556217814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638179094812034810.post-30908997141056103922012-11-13T15:27:00.003-08:002014-10-03T22:34:15.944-07:00Zapped!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jen & I love the house we're renting, but there are a few things we'd fix if we ever bought the place.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One evening when our friend Jesse was visiting recently, we went out on the patio to play with our dog Diablo in front of the house, just to the right, behind the fence, in this photo...</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgttR_LxM1K5kZ6n_iAFqoyl5o2KWXdIFKa1NTd0I9vg1fiSxLxsR-jghQdfwD8V_08wproZe06SVDiPo-yu8k3ZoWFEAISkw-2Egq5os2AaNSONbOGaxjop1xDUOpZ1chh5vSTh85GVE8/s1600/house.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgttR_LxM1K5kZ6n_iAFqoyl5o2KWXdIFKa1NTd0I9vg1fiSxLxsR-jghQdfwD8V_08wproZe06SVDiPo-yu8k3ZoWFEAISkw-2Egq5os2AaNSONbOGaxjop1xDUOpZ1chh5vSTh85GVE8/s640/house.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Suddenly Jesse, who wasn't wearing any socks, started hopping around like he'd been electrocuted. I thought maybe he'd been stung by a bullet or fire ant (which, despite <a href="http://jayincancun.blogspot.mx/2012/11/fire-ants-at-xcaret.html" target="_blank">assurances from Xcaret guides</a>, I think might live in the area).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Turns out the most obvious answer was the right one: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesse was </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">hopping around like he'd been electrocuted... because he </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">had been electrocuted!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we turned on the porch light an explanation presented itself:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seems that when the builders wired up the light outside our house, they ran a cable along the ground and "buried" it, possibly by pressing it into some wet concrete.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In any case, years of Mexican weather (& hurricanes) had worn away the thin layer of concrete & abraded the cable. We covered the bare wire with some epoxy before our puppy Diablo or one of the neighborhood dogs got zapped by it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mexican building codes! Gotta love 'em...</span><br />
<br />Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212204388556217814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638179094812034810.post-88217837750621638762012-11-12T12:23:00.002-08:002014-10-03T22:34:47.662-07:00Public Hygiene in Cancun... Ewww!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jen's been nursing a cold for more than a week & I've still got the cough I blogged about (<a href="http://jayincancun.blogspot.mx/2012/09/catching-colds-in-cancun.html" target="_blank">here</a>) more than a month ago. We expected to be sick more often here, and we have been, but we expected to encounter digestive issues, not respiratory infections. It's hard to believe...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At least it was until recently.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I won't go so far as to say that Mexicans are less hygienic than other North Americans (hey, my dad once saw a skanky woman drop her pants and urinate in a busy gas station parking lot in the middle of the day), </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">but Jen & I have now seen a few things which help to explain how we keep getting sick.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's my top 3...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">#3: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most big supermarkets (including Walmart) here have fresh bread and pastries. That's great, but the way they are handled isn't: You grab a pair of tongs, place your stuff on a metal tray, and pass it to a clerk, who bags it up and applies a UPC label. That's fine. The problem is... those metal trays (which are kept in a stack) and tongs have been handled by untold numbers of unwashed hands before they come into contact with your food. Fun! I assume that they are washed once in a while, but I'm not really sure. Remember those ads in the subways about meeting Sal Minella? No? Well, here's your chance!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">#2: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Most big supermarkets here also serve hot food. That's great. But it would be nice if they were more strict about their use of sneeze guards. They aren't uncommon, but they aren't employed as often as they should be, even in local restaurants.</span><br />
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://0.tqn.com/d/create/1/0/o/8/A/-/buffet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://0.tqn.com/d/create/1/0/o/8/A/-/buffet.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even swanky hotels like the Riu have dubious sneeze guards</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, sneeze guards don't solve every problem. Which brings us to...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">#1: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While visiting Xcaret, we had an early dinner at the International Buffet. Notwithstanding many of the reviews on </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">tripadvisor</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, the food at Xcaret was great. Jen especially enjoyed the cheese station... until she saw a woman lick one of the communal cheese knives and put it back beside the cheese. Ewwwwww!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't mean to gross anyone out. But if you're planning to visit Cancun, you might want to pack lots of tissues and hand san...</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Btw, you should also check out my post on <a href="http://jayincancun.blogspot.mx/2012/06/cancun-toilet-pet-peeves.html" target="_blank">local toilets</a>... Enjoy!</span><br />
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Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212204388556217814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638179094812034810.post-17278734085144070672012-11-11T16:45:00.002-08:002014-10-03T22:35:23.761-07:00Beep! Beep! Honking in Cancun...<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ontheroadin.com/miscellasneouspictures/Cancun%20Streets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.ontheroadin.com/miscellasneouspictures/Cancun%20Streets.jpg" height="374" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Near Plaza Las Americas in Cancun</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jen, and I ride our bicycles almost everywhere here. Though guidebooks often warn tourists not to ride bikes and scooters, I often marvel at the decency of the average Mexican </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">driver. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Their reputation seemed undeserved.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Compared to drivers in Toronto (where any infraction seems to merit a nasty honk and a cyclist friend once took to carrying a tennis ball on a string for self-preservation) and Los Angeles (where many drivers seem to think that self-preservation entails carrying a gun), for example, we have found Mexican </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">drivers to be generally friendly, courteous, and patient. Perhaps it's the warm air & nearly constant sunshine. "Why hurry when you're already in paradise," I've remarked more than once.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, today, as we were riding home from brunch at the Dubai Palace Casino (which we usually access by riding the wrong way down a one-way street, with nary a beep from passing cars), I pulled up alongside Jen and said, "It really is amazing how rarely people honk at us here. It's like one honk per hour of driving!"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course, as if on cue, I was immediately honked at by a passing taxi...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kind of a funny story, though, to be fair, it was a 2-beeper: "That's a friendly honk," I said, "not a 'Get out of my way, you @#$%!' honk."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh well, we'll be home soon enough (for Xmas), where I'm sure we'll get enough honks to last us well into the new year!</span><br />
<br />Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212204388556217814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638179094812034810.post-14665087972834952212012-11-08T10:42:00.005-08:002014-10-03T22:36:16.125-07:00More Funny Spanish - Calzones!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Living in Cancun, I often find myself trying to communicate with Mexicans who speak very little English. Because I speak very little Spanish, I often have to try to guess what the Spanish equivalent of a word might be.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While shopping the other day I saw a sign that made me laugh. It also reminded me that attempting to communicate the way I do can be a tricky proposition.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The sign said simply... "Calzones (Boxers)." </span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://blogchef.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/bbq_chicken_calzones_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://blogchef.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/bbq_chicken_calzones_1.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mmmm - calzones...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, it seems that, in Spanish, calzones (which, in English, are like giant pizza pockets) means boxer shorts (or, judging from <a href="https://www.google.com.mx/search?q=calzones&hl=en&prmd=imvnse&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=JvubUPy5GIn68QS9iIHoDQ&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1024&bih=499" target="_blank">these google results</a>, panties). </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hahaha!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's not hard to imagine a situation where mixing those two words could be a little embarrassing...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Would you like to try my calzones? Can I taste your cazones? Please, can you put some salsa in my calzones!? These calzones are making me thirsty!</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.salamandersociety.com/temple/temple_pink_panties.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://www.salamandersociety.com/temple/temple_pink_panties.jpg" height="504" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mmmm - calzones...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, if you're visiting Mexico & don't speak Spanish... please be careful :)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See you at the pizza store...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212204388556217814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638179094812034810.post-71736326095491229042012-11-06T21:21:00.001-08:002014-10-03T22:36:58.150-07:00Cheap Night Out in Cancun<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just a quick post to illustrate how you can live in Cancun for a few dollars a day.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jen & I went to the casino for brunch. Cost: 75 pesos each, which we won back with our free credits (as we often do).</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Later we hit McDonald's for dinner. Tuesday is Big Mac day. Cost: 44 pesos each.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then we saw the new Bond movie (Skyfall) tonight. Tuesday is 2-for-1 night at Cinemex. Cost: 25 pesos each.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also stopped at Elite Cyclery to get my rear derailleur cable (and some cable housing) replaced. Cost 50 pesos.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, to sum up, I fixed my bike & got dinner & a movie for about $10, </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">roughly half what I would have paid for the repair alone at home...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cancun.. I'm lovin' it.</span>Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212204388556217814noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638179094812034810.post-21445411236554700442012-11-04T11:23:00.001-08:002014-10-03T22:38:15.499-07:00Fire Ants at Xcaret?<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jen & I just returned from a road trip south of Cancun. Among our stops was a visit to Xcaret (which was fun but, we, felt, vastly overpriced compared to the other theme parks in the area). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first thing we did was the "guided jungle tour," a 1 hour tour through a few dozen metres of jungle, culminating in stops at a chicle tree (where we chewed real chicle) and a large orchid greenhouse & edible fungus farm.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At one point, I looked down & noticed a funny looking grey insect at my hand & asked the guide what it was. "Ant," she said. Then I asked her if there were any dangerous ants, like fire or bullet ants, in the area. No, she said.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hahahaha. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jen & I have both received pretty painful bites from ants here &/or in Belize so </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">didn't believe her for a second...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #dddddd;"></span><br /></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a name='more'></a><br />
<a href="http://fireant.tamu.edu/images/js_slideshow/IMG0005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://fireant.tamu.edu/images/js_slideshow/IMG0005.jpg" height="332" width="640" /></a><br />
</td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A not-so-cuddly fire ant</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sure enough, when I got home & googled fire+ants+cancun, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I found hundreds of pages, with titles like "ha ha ha ha. fire ants attack jenny!" and "</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">fireants en mis pantalones..."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When you're surrounded by multimillion dollar developments, it's easy to forget that those developments are in turn surrounded by millions of acres of tropical forest & that tropical forests do not obey human desires.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, no one was bitten by ants at Xcaret, but a small part of me was disappointed. I would love to have posted a youtube video of our guide saying: "No, of course there are no fire ants he-ee-ee-oo-oo-ooowwwww!!!!"</span><br />
Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212204388556217814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638179094812034810.post-26051148686246274232012-11-02T17:16:00.000-07:002014-10-03T22:43:09.047-07:00Dolphin Sex... That's Not His Hand!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://static.neatorama.com/images/2007-04/dolphin-mating.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A pair of dolphins mating, while a friend swims nearby without a hint of embarrassment</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jen & I just returned from a road trip south of Cancun. Among our stops was a visit to Dolphin Discovery. While Jen was swimming with the dolphins, I was videotaping the festivities and watching a trainer teach a youngster to fetch balls and hoops.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jen & I both learned all sorts of interesting facts about these amazing creatures. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But I just found some interesting facts (<a href="http://www.neatorama.com/2007/04/30/30-strangest-animal-mating-habits/" target="_blank">here</a>) that they neglected to cover!</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>"Here's something you probably don't know about Flipper: he has retractable penis. And if that's not cool enough, here's something else: his penis is prehensile. And it swivels. In fact, a male dolphin can use his penis to explore objects just like a hand.</em></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Male dolphins also have a very strong sex drive. It can mate many, many times in a day. Now here's the bad news: a male dolphin isn't that much of a stud. The average time to ejaculation? 12 seconds.</em></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Another hushed-up fact is that male dolphins have a ravenous sexual appetite: they often try to hump inanimate objects and even other animals like sea turtles. When a pack of male dolphins happen upon a female, often times they will attempt to force her to mate."</em></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sorry if I've tainted anyone's love for these animals. I still think they're amazing. But I won't be dressing as a female dolphin for Halloween...</span></div>
</div>
Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212204388556217814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638179094812034810.post-67298698125922672052012-11-02T08:52:00.003-07:002014-10-03T22:41:24.995-07:00Mexicans in the United States<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So many of the people we </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">meet </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">here claim to have lived in the United States that I was beginning to wonder if some of them were lying. Then I read this in a recent </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.economist.com/news/business/21565152-mexico-open-business-global-mexican" target="_blank">article in the Economist</a> about business in Mexico: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mexico is unusual in that it not only has a globalised elite but also a globalised peasantry. The rich study in the United States; the poor mop floors there. Both groups benefit their homeland. The elite pick up skills and contacts at American universities, which help Mexican firms do business with their giant neighbour. Migrant mop-wielders send money home to poor Mexican villages. The scale of border-straddling is colossal. One Mexican in ten lives in the United States—some 12m people. Add in the descendants of Mexicans born in the United States and the number is 33m. This creates a market for Mexican products: Corona is the most popular imported beer north of the border.</span></blockquote>
<div>
<br /></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">article also had a </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">funny anecdote about smuggling:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When Jorge Castañeda was a boy, a typical family holiday was to drive to Texas. “[O]ne of the main purposes of the journey was to purchase fayuca: contraband electronics, food, clothes [and] gadgets of all sorts.” In their closed domestic market, Mexicans had few choices besides “obsolete TV sets…rancid peanut butter [and] highly flammable Terlenka windbreakers”. In the United States, they could buy good stuff cheaply. To smuggle it home, they would fill the car with hidden goodies, leaving a small TV ostentatiously visible. The customs officer would confiscate the TV and miss the rest.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You may have heard of </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jorge Castañeda... He later became Mexico’s foreign minister!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212204388556217814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638179094812034810.post-27197347411568381072012-11-02T08:32:00.004-07:002014-10-03T22:44:11.087-07:00Renting a Car in Cancun - Cheated by Alamo!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjyxRu5ilBxyQMzbRVQLgKZ4q_koMCdQgUBae0cMSJXfafJL5Hn52PmmqmhRkkIRDOsiFg3G6pE3rgwh6tLAR79jzAQ0sxV2Ny18gqKaJngMPHAqZt48NpnevjucbAo2YXRYp-0STfRI4/s1600/alamo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjyxRu5ilBxyQMzbRVQLgKZ4q_koMCdQgUBae0cMSJXfafJL5Hn52PmmqmhRkkIRDOsiFg3G6pE3rgwh6tLAR79jzAQ0sxV2Ny18gqKaJngMPHAqZt48NpnevjucbAo2YXRYp-0STfRI4/s200/alamo.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alamo - Return Unhappy?*</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jen & I just spent a few days south of Cancun in the Riviera Maya. We rented a car from Alamo & had a slight problem. Here's the letter Jen wrote (& sent to the local office and the American HQ). I've added some comments in square brackets & I'll post an update if/when the issue is resolved:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><a name='more'></a><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have a BIG issue. I rented a car from Alamo on Sunday [at a </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">booth in La Quinta Inn on Tulum Avenue here in Cancun</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">] and just returned it today. I went in to rent the car on Saturday (apparently at your mexico locations you can not book in advance???). I had to wait around for 2 hours as your "representative" was MIA. They said he had gone to lunch (for 3 hours? with no one to man the desk?). When we finally rented the car he told us he was upgrading us to the next best car without extra charge. The car we got had LOTS of dents, had NO RADIO, and NO AIRBAGS [& no floor mats, which meant we had to clean the floors or risk an extra charge]. Features I would assume would be a part of any rental at a reputable rental agency.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My husband and I have previously rented from another agency in Mexico and got way better customer service and their cheap car was MUCH better for a comparable price. Because of the hassle the "representative" put us through he said that he would give us a late drop-off time. He said we could bring the car back late as long it was before 10 am. We returned the car about 15 min before 10 am. Of course your "representative" was NOT there. When he finally arrived he told us that he had said to bring it back by 9:00 am. This is NOT true. He then proceeded to charge us for an extra hour (that we did NOT use) [after threatening to call the police when Jen grabbed his binder and tried to find our pre-signed credit slip LOL].</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ALSO on our agreement it states that it costs 112.80 pesos per day plus 11% tax. This would equal 125.21 pesos. He charged my card 345.80 pesos. And this is all for a charge that is not legitimate! He called his "supervisor" but lied to him and told him that he had told us 9 am. His supervisor would not help us [even after I spoke to him & told him he could charge us an extra $15 or risk a boycott of his booth]. We currently live in Mexico and make our living online. Not only will we never be renting from Alamo again (in Mexico OR USA OR anywhere else Alamo rents cars), nor will anyone we know personally, this will be documented online (with pictures) if this matter cannot be resolved.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have witnesses that can corroborate my story, as well as a copy of a rental agreement. This is unacceptable customer service. The man who helped us was named Guillermo. He is NOT a good representative. I do not like being lied to and having your representatives stealing my money. </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We're still waiting to hear back from Alamo. It is nice that they have a parent company in America. If we'd rented from, say, Blueway (which also has lots of negative reviews), we'd be SOL.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We were stupid to trust a car rental clerk (</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">named Guillermo no less</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">). </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Guillermo </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">was stupid to mess with us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We'll fight the extra charge until the day we die as a matter of principle. We might even rent from Alamo again if, eg, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">we end up with a discount or a free rental. Wouldn't it be nice to take a voucher back to Guillermo & rub it in his face?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Update: To their credit, Alamo Mexico responded within 24 hours, and reversed the bogus charges :)</span></div>
Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212204388556217814noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638179094812034810.post-53493497779333940832012-10-21T16:15:00.001-07:002014-10-03T22:44:52.304-07:00OMG! That Seagull Has a Sea Turtle!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every autumn, mother sea turtles visit Cancun's beaches to lay their eggs in the sand. The eggs hatch and each baby turtle flips and flops its way down the beach and scrambles into the water, where he or she is swept into the safety of the ocean. In theory...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To assist these adorable little creatures, many resorts in the Hotel Zone (including the Royal Sands & the Moon Palace Resort) collect turtles on the beaches at night (if you see flashlights or vehicles on the beach at night that could be why) & allow their guests to release them in the evenings. [Jen blogged about this <a href="http://mexicoeh.blogspot.mx/2012/09/turtle-release-at-royal-sands.html" target="_blank">here</a>.]</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, one day recently, Jen & I were walking along the beach between Club Med & the Westin Regina. Suddenly a few seagulls landed a few feet from us & Jen screamed: "Oh my God! What is that? Does that bird have a turtle!?" </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I turned & looked... & was horrified to see that it did!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Luckily, I was carrying my handy flip flops ($2 at Walmart!), one of which I immediately launched at the seagull. It started to fly away with the turtle but was so startled (being hit by a flying shoe!?) that it dropped its dinner on the sand & flew off with its avian posse.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jen & I ran over to check on the poor turtle. It seemed intact but dehydrated (much like a lizard we recently saved). Soon it was moving again & we were able to pick it up & release it into the waves...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I like to think that our little friend is out there somewhere telling all his/her turtle friends about this amazing death-defying adventure!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh, who am I kidding? Who would believe it!</span></div>
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Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212204388556217814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638179094812034810.post-4387706583329330892012-10-21T15:39:00.004-07:002014-10-03T22:45:16.471-07:00Snorkeling with Turtles? Bring some Cabbage!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During our <a href="http://mexicoeh.blogspot.mx/2012/10/crossing-belize-chetumal-border.html" target="_blank">trip to Belize</a>, Jen & I snorkeled with some turtles. It was amazing swimming a foot away from these magnificent (if funny-looking) creatures! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">More recently, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I saw an article (</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">posted below</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">) in The Economist about </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">loggerhead</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> turtles loving the smell of rotting </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">cabbages (because </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">planktonic algae often release a substance that degrades into a </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">rotting-</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">cabbage </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">chemical when they are eaten</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think we actually had some rotting cabbage in the fridge at home. If we ever go back, I think I'll bring some </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">with us.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jellyfish may not be most people’s idea of a tasty snack, but if you are a loggerhead turtle, they are top of the menu. Though jellyfish can swim, they are not exactly the greyhounds of the ocean, so they are easily caught. And since munching a large jellyfish can keep a turtle going for days, loggerheads love them when they can find them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The best place to do so is in an upwelling zone. This is an area where the wind’s action draws cold, nutrient-rich water to the surface. That encourages the growth of planktonic algae, and thus of everything that feeds on such plankton, or feeds on what feeds on them—including jellyfish, and also various molluscs and crustacea that loggerheads enjoy as an appetiser. And upwelling zones do, indeed, attract turtles. But nobody knows how, for such zones are scattered, local and often temporary phenomena, and locating them in the wide expanse of the sea is hard.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Courtney Endres, a biologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, however, thought the reptiles might be smelling such zones from afar. She knew from an experiment she conducted a few years ago that loggerheads have a good sense of smell. She also knew, because passing sailors frequently comment on the fact, that upwelling zones tend to stink.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Specifically, they stink of cabbages. That is because many planktonic algae, when crunched up during the process of being eaten, release a substance called dimethylsulphoniopropionate. This quickly degrades into another chemical, dimethyl sulphide, which generations of those subjected to unimaginative school lunches will instantly recognise. But to loggerheads it is the smell of a banquet.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ms Endres and her colleague Kenneth Lohmann showed this by collecting 11 loggerhead hatchlings from local beaches and testing them to see which smells most interested them. The young turtles (which were released back into the wild after their ordeal) were each put in a tank of seawater that had various scents blown across its surface. These included cinnamon, jasmine, lemon—and dimethyl sulphide.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When a turtle came up for air (which, being air-breathing creatures, they have to do regularly), the researchers recorded how long it sniffed around. They found, as they report in Experimental Biology, that the animals spent an average of five seconds breathing air scented with lemon, jasmine or cinnamon, all pleasant odours from a human point of view. That was no different from the amount of time they spent at the surface when no scent was used at all. When the air was scented with dimethyl sulphide, however, they spent an average of ten seconds breathing in the (from a human point of view) stinky scent of cabbages—or upwellings.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That does not prove that loggerheads smell their way to the table, of course. But it makes the hypothesis plausible. For turtles, it seems, the perfumes of Araby hold little charm. The scent of cabbages, by contrast, is as attractive as the odour of roasting chicken is to a hungry human.</span><br />
<br />Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212204388556217814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638179094812034810.post-38031847487165721772012-10-14T17:21:00.003-07:002014-10-03T22:45:48.685-07:00Sharks in Cancun II - Creepy Shark Encounters!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I recently posted another entry about</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://jayincancun.blogspot.mx/2012/06/sharks-in-cancun.html" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">sharks in Cancun</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. It's easily my most popular post & it's not bad, but when I wrote it I hadn't met Dan Garcia...</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Black tip sharks in a feeding frenzy!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dan, who used to work for a dive company here in Cancun, has had a couple of close encounters with sharks. Almost too close...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I asked him to share those, and here's what he said:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shark encounter #1:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"...i was diving at this reef called the tunnel. it pretty much speaks for itself, tunnels through the reef.. and just as i'm coming out the tunnel, i slice my leg open a little bit and start to bleed a little bit. I didn't really think anything of it at the time, but later on i saw 2 small black tip sharks </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">swimming away from me about 50 yards away.. they were about 5 ft in length so i wasn't sure if they had a mother swimming close by.. i was with some customers so i figured we best be getting out of that area soon too... </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No kidding. Here's a fun fact: Sharks can smell blood in concentrations lower than 1 ppm (part per million), up to a quarter of a mile (400 meters) away.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shark encounter #2:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"...i was at marlin beach [aka Playa Marlin, a haven for sunbathers, at 13 km in the Hotel Zone] just swimming in some waves when i happened to look down in chest deep water and see some shadows moving in front of me. at first i thought it was a shark, then i thought it was the sand stirring up with the waves.. well i ended up just moving aside like 5 meters but then i saw more shadows there too, so i said @#$% it! i went back to where the bigger waves were and attempted to find out if they were sharks or sand. So i stepped forward towards one, it moved back then i stepped back and it came right up to me and bumped me in the leg.. i said @#$% this again and got the hell outta there. i figured the next thing it was gonna do was taste me and i wasn't so down with that..."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No kidding. Fun fact #2: Sharks have several rows of razor sharp teeth that @#$% hurt when they take a chunk out of your leg or just bite it right off! Which they are more likely to do in waist-deep, low-visibility (sandy) water!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Scary, no? If you don't think so, just try to imagine being in Dan's shoes (or flippers)...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dan, if you're reading this, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'd like to thank</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> you.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I'm </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">g</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">lad you lived to share these stories (& hope you have more scary stories to share in the future :)</span><br />
<br />Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212204388556217814noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638179094812034810.post-90124297586256018912012-10-12T09:42:00.003-07:002014-10-03T22:46:14.922-07:00Día de la Raza (Columbus Day) in MexicoToday marks the 520th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas!<br />
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Many countries in the New World and elsewhere celebrate this anniversary (which occurred on October 12, 1492) as an official holiday. The event is celebrated as Columbus Day in the United States, and as Día de la Raza in many countries in Latin America.<br />
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But there's a BIG difference between these celebrations. Whereas in America, Columbus Day is an ancestral celebration, Latin Americans, as a counter to Columbus Day, celebrate resistance against the arrival of Europeans to the Americas!<br />
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As wikipedia explains:</div>
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The most common name for the celebration in Spanish (including in some Latin American communities[29] in the United States) is the Día de la Raza ("day of the race" or "day of the [hispanic] people"), commemorating the first encounters of Europeans and Native Americans. The day was first celebrated in Argentina in 1917, Venezuela and Colombia in 1921, Chile in 1922, and Mexico in 1928. The day was also celebrated under this title in Spain until 1957, when it was changed to the Día de la Hispanidad ("Hispanity Day"), and in Venezuela until 2002, when it was changed to the Día de la Resistencia Indígena (Day of Indigenous Resistance). Originally conceived of as a celebration of Hispanic influence in the Americas, as evidenced by the complementary celebrations in Spain and Latin America, Día de la Raza has come to be seen by some in Latin America as a counter to Columbus Day; a celebration of the resistance against the arrival of Europeans to the Americas and of the native races and cultures.</div>
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"In the U.S. Día de la Raza has served as a time of mobilization for pan-ethnic Latino activists, particularly in the 1960s. Since then, La Raza has served as a periodic rallying cry for Hispanic activists. The first Hispanic March on Washington occurred on Columbus Day in 1996. The name has remained in the largest Hispanic social justice organization, the National Council of La Raza.</div>
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[What do Mexicans think about this holiday? Click <a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=427879400603057&set=a.397114013679596.87462.395211290536535&type=1&theater">here</a> to see a local Facebook page..]</div>
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<br />Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212204388556217814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638179094812034810.post-45596361114924081512012-10-11T14:29:00.001-07:002014-10-03T22:46:56.850-07:00Big Score at the Dubai Palace Casino!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've blogged before about the <a href="http://jayincancun.blogspot.mx/2012/06/so-jen-i-just-got-back-from-brunch.html">Dubai Palace </a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://jayincancun.blogspot.mx/2012/06/so-jen-i-just-got-back-from-brunch.html">Casino</a> here in Cancun.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every M/T/W they have a promotion: buy 5000 "vouchers" (for 500 </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">pesos</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">) and receive 2000 free! You must play through the vouchers, converting them into credits, before you can cash out. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Considering that (so far, on average), we are winning back well over 75%, that seems like a pretty good deal, though I personally haven't done very well on the few occasions I've done this.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyway, <a href="http://mexicoeh.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jen</a> and I went last night, after she saw a post on Dubai's facebook page announcing that for the next hour, anyone who bought 500 pesos in credits would receive X free credits, where X was a random, surprise amount. This made the deal potentially even better. We planned to ask some of our friends (who go there every day) how many freebies we were likely to get and decide on the spot.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After arriving, Jen waited in line while I looked for our friends. I soon found them, but they knew nothing about the deal. No problem. I'd just ask some casino employees. Ooops. They also had no idea what I was talking about.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After laughing about yet another casino blooper, Jen & I decided to play anyway. About half-way through our session (with 7,300 credits and 3,500 vouchers) , we switched to Zeus II, and this happened...</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sorry it's blurry... I guess it's hard to hold a camera steady when you're winning a jackpot!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wow! We were screaming & jumping & generally looking like the idiot tourists that we are.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We actually only won 6,000 credits (this isn't our photo .. you're not supposed to take pictures and there was an employee right behind us). We asked her what would have happened if the last square had also been a Zeus or Wild square. She said we'd have been instant millionaires!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">OK, OK.. I'm just joking. We probably would have doubled our winnings. We were disappointed, of course, but only very briefly. Funny how it's hard to get mad a machine that has just given you about $50!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know we were lucky yesterday, but it'll be hard not to go back next week, and hard not to recommend this place again :)</span>Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212204388556217814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638179094812034810.post-3781757003144535242012-10-09T14:05:00.000-07:002014-10-03T22:47:33.127-07:00Top 5 Reasons to Shop at Walmart in Cancun<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAobq-y6qp_ebIYaYwofyXdfKImrd6toVsSp7X2lBtSN-vMqxMpcBmkRQY6IZua2-zI39fUPuQcCGPBYepBj4MExr5qx2o7WBkLfWkCy1Trr-QV6dWIKjGB5shziu2O1hDwyb8IvMVSBI/s1600/walmart.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAobq-y6qp_ebIYaYwofyXdfKImrd6toVsSp7X2lBtSN-vMqxMpcBmkRQY6IZua2-zI39fUPuQcCGPBYepBj4MExr5qx2o7WBkLfWkCy1Trr-QV6dWIKjGB5shziu2O1hDwyb8IvMVSBI/s640/walmart.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm not a huge fan but I find myself shopping at Walmart for the same reason most people do. It's hard to argue with the convenience (yes, there's a McDonald's in our local store) and those "everyday low prices."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So here goes my...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">TOP FIVE REASONS TO SHOP AT WALMART IN CANCUN</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1) Free Samples!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On more than one occasion, <a href="http://mexicoeh.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jen</a> & I have eaten enough donut, cake, and pie slices to sustain us for a couple of hours. Funny story: A panhandler outside Walmart once asked me for money. I told him if he was hungry he should go inside & grab some of the free samples they were putting out. He said he didn't want to take advantage of an American company. (He was American.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2) Drunken Tourists</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cancun's Walmart is more interesting than most, on account of the high proportion of tourists, many of whom you'll spot sitting in their shopping carts, being pushed around by friends! Walmart is certainly a great place to buy alcohol. You'll find hundreds of brands & great prices. This is where we buy our (local) tequila... just 29 pesos (~$2) for a 2 liter bottle!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3) Mexican-Owned</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Walmart haters can take heart in the fact that Cancun's Walmart is largely owned & operated by Mexicans. On the other hand, Walmart stock recently dropped after they were assessed a huge fine for paying bribes to facilitate the construction of their stores here. Oops.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4) Great Inventory</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In addition to the usual Walmart range, you'll find a great selection of fruit (including exotic stuff like tuna, star fruit, and dragon fruit). You'll also find some locally made items, from Cancun beach bags to <a href="http://jayincancun.blogspot.mx/2012/06/tribute-to-my-favorite-mexican.html">hats made by our friend Angel</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5) Classy Clients</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tourists aside, Cancun's Walmart has very few customers who would qualify for inclusion on <a href="http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/">People of Walmart</a>. (Whether this is a pro or a con is for you to decide. Personally, I keep hoping...)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sadly, I've been to Walmart about 50 times and have not yet seen anyone <a href="http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/?p=55692">like this</a>. And if you're looking to spot someone making meth inside a Walmart (like <a href="http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/50123/the-meth-lab/">this woman</a> was), you'll have to look elsewhere...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">OK, gotta run. I'm off to Walmart to look for samples, and amusing to</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">urists...</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You won't find these in Cacnun... they don't rent scooters</span></td></tr>
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Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212204388556217814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638179094812034810.post-55307410976083997062012-10-09T13:08:00.001-07:002014-10-03T22:48:11.428-07:00Is it Safe for Tourists to Visit Mexico?<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I just did an interview for blogexpat.com (yay! -- I'll add a proper link when it's published). They asked me to name </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">a myth about Mexico</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> & I recalled a funny story that I forgot to blog about.. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<a href="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.gadling.com/media/2011/06/mexico-msm-crime.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.gadling.com/media/2011/06/mexico-msm-crime.png" height="494" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My favorite myth about this country is t</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">hat it isn’t safe for tourists to travel "in Mexico", which is like saying it’s unsafe "in America." Use common sense & know which spots to avoid (in Cancun, stay south of Lopez Portillo, especially at night) & you’ll be fine (probably). It reminds me of a story I posted on my website (</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.anecdotage.com/">anecdotage.com: 25,000 anecdotes & funny stories about famous people</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">) recently:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On April 14, 2004, Ewan McGregor and his friend Charley Boorman left London and embarked upon a 20,000-mile motorcycle journey (chronicled in their seven episode series "Long Way Round"). On July 29th, they arrived in New York, having passed through Europe, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Siberia, Alaska, and Canada, often forging their own roads in virtually uninhabited wilderness. Along the way, the intrepid travelers encountered paparazzi in Kazakhstan, Kalashnikov-toting gangsters in the Ukraine, risky food (including bull's testicles in Mongolia), and a hungry grizzly bear. Before leaving, Ewan and Charley had asked a former SAS officer which leg of their adventure presented the most potential danger. Without hesitation, he looked at the map, and pointed at the United States!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">True, they didn’t visit Mexico, but you get my point :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wouldn’t visit Guadalajara, but I wouldn’t visit Compton either...</span>Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212204388556217814noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5638179094812034810.post-6374469543481581612012-10-09T12:56:00.002-07:002014-10-03T22:48:46.015-07:00Funny Mexican Phone Call Blooper<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I just did an interview for </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_kDobGGMbDdyh9IvLZvlgOUZysh2MPX55rYQ3GPIVPA/edit" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">blogexpat.com</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> (yay! -- I'll add a proper link when it's published). They asked me how I communicate with home & I recalled a funny story that I forgot to blog about...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Google, Google, Google! Google video chat is reliable & free. I also use Google to make local calls. It’s about 50% cheaper than Skype.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One funny story: The country code here is 52, many numbers in Cancun start with 998, and you need to add a 1 if it’s a mobile phone. So if you’re using google, you usually end up dialing 011-521-998... Early on, I made the mistake of reversing the numbers and dialing 011-998-521... Now I can proudly say that, if ever I feel inclined to randomly dial one of Borat’s neighbors in Uzbekistan (after a late night out, for example), I can do that without having to look up a country code!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Btw, I don’t remember who I was trying to call (I may have been ordering a pizza) but I do remember the gist of the "conversation." I was using google to translate my request into Spanish and my Spanish was so bad that it took me a minute to realize that I wasn’t actually conversing with a Mexican! I was a Canadian in Mexico, speaking broken Spanish to a confused villager in Uzbekistan. God only knows who he thought was calling...</span>Jayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11212204388556217814noreply@blogger.com0