Daily Life Part #1

I keep thinking that I should post more about the differences that we experience in our daily lives here in Mexico...I'm just not sure where to start! I am realizing that no matter how much I try to describe where we are living & how things are here, I won't be able to explain the culture or environment as much as I would like to. I'm sure that I will make more generalizations than I should and that my way of viewing something here isn't necessarily the way that others would see it...but I'll do my best. :)

Here are a few of the differences that we've seen here so far:

#1-Time. Most people don't stick to a very strict schedule. When dealing with big companies (like the cable company, gas company, etc.) they usually give me a window of time when they will show up (like 2-4pm) and they get here an hour or two after that (5 or 6pm). When dealing with individual workers, who work for themselves, we can expect for them to come half a day, a full day, or even half a week after they say they will come. (We were supposed to have our kitchen completely torn out & redone today. We found out that they aren't coming today, but have no idea if they will even show up sometime this week.) 

#2-Walking. I can walk around the block at any time of day and see at least a dozen people walking or riding their bikes. I LOVE it. My friend Heather & I walk to a park down the street to exercise, and there are usually 8-10 people there jogging, stretching, sprinting, walking, doing sit-ups, and all kinds of things. It helps motivate me to stay committed to exercising...especially seeing the old lady (who is probably in her 80's) there every single morning running laps! 

#3-Maids. This is obviously because of the area that we live in, but most families in the cotos have a full-time maid. Some of them even have a maid who lives with them, cleans, cooks and takes care of their kids. They have food delivered to them on a regular basis (every night I see multiple delivery guys on motorcycles in our neighborhood) and they have people come to wash their cars, trim their hedges, and anything else you can think of. In fact, I think that some people in our neighborhood think that we are very strange for washing our own car and trimming our own hedges.

#4-Dress. I am definitely the most under-dressed person in my neighborhood. The girls here are pretty much always in high heels and dressed nicely. I'm out in my pajamas, with my hair in pigtails, walking my dogs in the morning. And I'm pretty sure I am the only person here who wears a T-shirt, jeans and tennis shoes on a regular basis.

#5-Dirt. The dirt in Mexico is very fine. The doors & windows aren't sealed as well here, so the house gets dirty  quickly. Plus, every inch of our house is tiled. I spend quite a bit of time sweeping and mopping here. Kylee is now in the habit of checking the bottom of her feet to see how dirty they are...and if they are really dirty, she grabs a wipe and cleans them off. :)