American Movies & Mexican Audiences...

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...!!"

The trash-talking scene in The Candidate

Looking for Market 28? This AIN'T It!

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).

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.

Buying Water - Agua Men-a-Poo!

I've blogged before about the water here in Cancun. 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!"

 

Public Hygiene in Cancun... Ewww!

Jen's been nursing a cold for more than a week & I've still got the cough I blogged about (here) 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...

At least it was until recently.

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), but Jen & I have now seen a few things which help to explain how we keep getting sick.

Here's my top 3...

Beep! Beep! Honking in Cancun...

Near Plaza Las Americas in Cancun

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 driver. Their reputation seemed undeserved.

Cheap Night Out in Cancun

Just a quick post to illustrate how you can live in Cancun for a few dollars a day.


Jen & I went to the casino for brunch. Cost: 75 pesos each, which we won back with our free credits (as we often do).

 

Later we hit McDonald's for dinner. Tuesday is Big Mac day. Cost: 44 pesos each.


Then we saw the new Bond movie (Skyfall) tonight. Tuesday is 2-for-1 night at Cinemex. Cost: 25 pesos each.

 

We also stopped at Elite Cyclery to get my rear derailleur cable (and some cable housing) replaced. Cost 50 pesos.

So, to sum up, I fixed my bike & got dinner & a movie for about $10, 
roughly half what I would have paid for the repair alone at home...

Cancun.. I'm lovin' it.

Fire Ants at Xcaret?

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). 

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.

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.

Hahahaha. Jen & I have both received pretty painful bites from ants here &/or in Belize so I
didn't believe her for a second...

Renting a Car in Cancun - Cheated by Alamo!

Alamo - Return Unhappy?*

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:

Sharks in Cancun II - Creepy Shark Encounters!

I recently posted another entry about sharks in Cancun. It's easily my most popular post & it's not bad, but when I wrote it I hadn't met Dan Garcia...

Black tip sharks in a feeding frenzy!

Big Score at the Dubai Palace Casino!

I've blogged before about the Dubai Palace Casino here in Cancun.

Every M/T/W they have a promotion: buy 5000 "vouchers" (for 500 pesos) and receive 2000 free! You must play through the vouchers, converting them into credits, before you can cash out. 
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.

Anyway, Jen 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.

Top 5 Reasons to Shop at Walmart in Cancun

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."

So here goes my...

TOP FIVE REASONS TO SHOP AT WALMART IN CANCUN

Funny Mexican Phone Call Blooper

I just did an interview for blogexpat.com (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...

Google, Google, Google! Google video chat is reliable & free. I also use Google to make local calls. It’s about 50% cheaper than Skype.

Ants Ants Ants... Damn Ants in my Cereal!

I know I've posted about ants before but when you're sitting at your PC wondering what to write about... and you realize that you're eating your breakfast cereal with your hands, one bran flake at a time, because the tiny ants that plague your kitchen somehow wiggled through the tiny cracks in the rolled up cereal bag and crept into your cereal... well, what choice do you have, really?

From now on we're fumigating (or at least spraying some OFF around the kitchen) once a week & keeping our cereal in the refrigerator!

I know the ants were here first & we're just visiting "their" jungle, but if Jen & I ever go insane, that could be the reason.

Lookout! Flying grass & dust!

For 2 hours this morning, workmen were tending to the park outside our house. They pruned some trees and collected garbage, but most of the work seemed to comprise cutting the grass right outside our house.

At the beginning of hour #2, I went out to see what was going on. Though our house has nice big front windows, I coudn't see through them on account of the flying grass & dust, & because we had to keep them closed: Jen, who is still sitting here with a mask on, has asthma. She was not amused.

Catching Colds in Cancun

I'm battling a pretty nasty cold. I also had a bad cold a few months ago. So, to recap: I've had two of the worst colds of my life in the past 6 months.

That would not normally seem that strange. But I've been living in Cancun for six months. And it's been spring and summer here! It has rarely dropped below 80 degress and ~80% humidity.

The all-too-common cold virus

Low Taxi Prices in Cancun

Whenever Jen & I go shopping in Cancun, I marvel that you can take a taxi to & from the supermarket here for less than the cost of a large box of cereal or a couple of loaves of bread. Imagine taking a taxi in New York or Toronto (our home town) & paying the driver with a loaf of Wonder bread. Ya, I Wonder what would happen...

Taxis in Cancun - they are everywhere!

Our Internet Fiasco

It's hard to believe that my last post was two weeks ago (I'm writing from Starbucks again, whose wifi is about 93% reliable). But then it's hard to believe that we still don't have internet access at home!

We moved into a new place 3 weeks ago, 1 week after telling our new housemate that we absolutely 100% needed internet access before we moved in. No problem, he said. He would arrange it. Sure enough, it wasn't ready on moving day. Oh well, we thought, how long could it take.

The next day, that housemate had a dispute with our other housemate (his friend) and decided to move (that's a whole other story).

Anyway, no problem. Housemate #2 assured us that he would take care of things (as we are not on the lease, only sub-letting). Nevermind that the existing contract was in the name of Housemate #1. Hmmm.

Internet in Cancun

I haven't posted for a while because we moved again & don't have internet access yet (I'm writing from Starbucks, which, like most things in Mexico, is 25-50% cheaper here than in Canada). And, being from Toronto, I'm used to dealing with terrible internet service: thanks to Rogers' monopoly, Ontario boasts some of the world's most expensive telecoms prices (with some of the worst customer service). At home, we pay about $50/month for internet alone. Here in Cancun, it's about $20/month for a bundle featuring internet, cable TV, AND wireless service!

Hotel Xbalamque Resort and Spa Cancun Review

Yesterday Jen & I visited the beautiful Hotel Xbalamque Resort and Spa Cancun (on Yaxchilan just north of the blue school, the first school in Cancun).

Barking Dogs in Cancun

If you visit Cancun & don't stay in the hotel zone, you'd better bring some earplugs or get used to the sound of barking dogs. They are everywhere here. Stray dogs wander the streets and parks at night, but the problem is mostly the domesticated dogs and their inconsiderate owners. Apparently there are laws about making noise here, but like most laws in Mexico, they were made to be broken. Calling the police is probably useless (or worse). We haven't tried it yet, but we will, as soon as our Spanish improves.

Most people who have dogs here keep them outside, as guard dogs. And noise after midnight seems to be accepted here. A friend who runs a hotel in the neighborhood worries that the loud music from a nearby surf bar is bothering his guests, but he hasn't formally complained to anyone. We have tried to buy an anti-bark (shock) collar for Diablo & haven't been able to find one here, in a city of almost a million people (& what seems like as many dogs)!