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

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!"

 

More Ants! (Best Story So Far)

I've blogged before about ants. A lot.

I've blogged about ants at Xcaret, ants in our cereal, ants in our hostel, ants on our pizza, ants in our fan...

Some of those stories are worth reading, but yesterday we had an ant experience like no other...

I was sitting in our living room, merrily adding anecdotes to our website (anecdotage.com - home to thousands of funny anecdotes), when suddenly I heard a scream. It was Jen and there was a problem: ants in the bedroom.

Actually, that wasn't really the problem. We've had 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...

Sexy Mexican Women!

I'm busy with our newly launched website anecdotage.com (30,000 funny anecdotes about celebrities) but I'm still trying to post something every day...

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?

In that spirit, I just googled "sexy mexican women." I always knew Mexican women were sexy but I'm still amazed by what I found...

In addition to the obvious pictures of sexy Mexican celebrities like Salma Hayek...

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.

More Funny Spanish - Calzones!

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.

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.

The sign said simply... "Calzones (Boxers)."

Mmmm - calzones...

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

Is it Safe for Tourists to Visit Mexico?

I just did an interview for blogexpat.com (yay! -- I'll add a proper link when it's published). They asked me to name a myth about Mexico & I recalled a funny story that I forgot to blog about..  

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.

Is Spanish less efficient than English?

In my quest to broaden my knowledge of Spanish I've been reading Webster's Worldwide English-Spanish Dictionary. I know that sounds a little odd, but this dictionary is riddled with examples of word usage, each translated into Spanish.

Now THIS is what I should be reading!

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.

More Silly Spanish...

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

We spent some time lounging by the pool, which is open to the public with the purchase of some food/drinks.

The pool was busier than I've ever seen it, mainly because July is high season here, with many Mexican families visiting Cancun for their summer holiday. Kids were splashing (and shooting other guests with water guns) and Jen was reading Spanish for Dummies.

At one point, she was studying Simple verb conjugations (I am, you are, etc). She remarked thay "soy" means "I am." I replied that, because of his nickname, my parents' dog Max would say, in Spanish, "soy 'Bean.'"

A bit later, she was contemplating a new Spanish word -- "retrasso" -- which means tardy (i think). I noted that it should be easy to remember, because only a retarded ass (excuse me for being politically incorrect) would be late.

Of course, I can't remember for sure how to spell the word or exactly what it means, proving that I am in fact a retrasso.

OK, gotta run. Gonna be late...

Fun with Spanish & "Pseudo Spanish"!

I woke up this morning to the sound of our puppy Diablo barking at some other dogs. I went back to sleep. But as I was dozing, I thought I was dreaming about the Spanish...


R-eh, S-ey, Teh...


I resurfaced from my "dream" & realized that Jen was in bed beside me, reading the alphabet in her new Spanish book.


Spanish is certainly in my thoughts. I'm enchanted & amused by this magical language. And I've learned enough now that I'm at the point where I can sort of guesstimate what makes an English word Spanish. Here's my recipe:

DIablo incident #11276 - poop in the park

So I took our puppy Diablo (whom I've started calling D) to the Parque de las Palapas recently. Actually we go every day, but we had a little incident recently...

Parque de las Palapas

Beards in Cancun

You know it's time to shave again when your facial hair is growing its own facial hair. And starting to itch. I'd say I've gone native, but the fact is: beards are not popular here.

And I understand why. To me they just look funny on Mexicans (& maybe that's a compliment). I really can't think of a single Mexican I've seen who I thought would look better with a beard. Think about it. Can you, for example, imagine a Mexican Santa?

Santa Adolpho Ignatio Claus?

Cancun Toilet Pet Peeves!

Ever since I took my first photograph of a foreign toilet, I thought my curiosity about foreign toilets was strange, until I heard about another tourist who collects toilet paper from every bathroom he visits.

Pay toilet near Coco Bongo in the Hotel Zone

World Cup All-Star Soccer Match -- Mexico vs USA!

Earlier today, America (or should I say Lionel Messi) hammered Mexico in some kind of World Cup All-Stars match here in Cancun. After seeing posters all over town, Jen & I decided we'd try to see the game at the Esadio do Futbol, which lies just a 15 minute bike ride SW of us (on Kabah).

First we visited a ticket agent, who told us that official tickets were at least 1300 pesos, but that the prices were set so poorly that they had sent 90% of theirs back unsold. He advised us to visit the stadium before game time & see of they had reduced their prices.

We did. They hadn't.

Scalpers near the ticket booths, inside the security zone

 

Achoo, Achoo, Achoo...

So the other day, Jen & I were sitting around & I heard an electronic voice saying something like, "Achoo, achoo, achoo..." It really sounded like someone sneezing.

It wasn't. It was just Jen learning Spanish numbers! "Ocho" = the number 8.

Here's the link if anyone is interested.

BTW: the smart phone translation apps are really pretty handy. I'm using the Talking Multi-Language Translator & Dictionary. You speak (or type) to it in English (or Spanish) & it spits out the equivalent in Spanish (or English). It's not perfect, but it's a great way to learn Spanish.

One day in the pet store, an employee used an app to explain something about our pet turtle. But he was typing for an eternity. I wanted to grab his phone, download this app & get him to speak instead, but, of course, I didn't know how to explain...

How do you say "Catch-22" in Spanish??

About Me.. A Slightly Embarrassing Editing Blooper

After I started my blog, Jen suggested that I put more information in my "About" section. Readers might like to know more about me. And strangers who made a "personal" connection would be more likely to come back & read more.

More about me? I like imagination.. & cheese!

What's so funny about being Mexican?

While looking for an example of a funny Mexican election song this morning, I came across a funny post on yahoo:

"What is a Funny Mexican songs?" - Yahoo! Answers
answers.yahoo.com › ... › Music › Rap and Hip-Hop
4 answers - 23 May 2011

The top answer made me laugh out loud: "Being Mexican is funny enough, you don't need a song to go with it."

How true...

Yep. This incident inspired me to document some of the funny Mexicans that Jen & I have encountered here. It's such a big country, & so many Mexicans are funny in so many ways, that I'm pretty sure this will be the first in a long series...