ODDITIES: Mexico

There are some things about Mexico that I find strange. I suppose that there are oddities about any place. I would think that when a person from another country comes to visit America, there are things that would seem a little strange to them. It is with this in mind that I have created this post which is poised to be the first in a series of posts entitled "ODDITIES". This is where I will share my observations, thoughts and experiences about such things that I find just plain strange, odd and completely out of the ordinary, as far as I am concerned, with regards to the locations around the world that I visit.

Mexico:
I love dogs. They are the one of the animals that I typically have a close bond with almost immediately after meeting them. If I got along with people the way I get along with dogs I think life would be much easier for me...at least that is the case with American dogs. In Mexico, dogs seem to come from a completely different breed. Dogs are not typically leashed, which I personally think is absolutely wonderful. They are allowed to wander freely about. They go where they want and seem to do what they want. If and when I ever will be fortunate enough to have some dogs to call my friends again, I hope to be able to let them roam free as much as possible. I feel it to be cruel and unusual punishment to keep such an animal, any animal really, locked in one place blocking their free movement. I think it is great that this seems to not be the case here in Mexico, however, I do not feel that it is an act of generosity or of kindness from the Mexican people as a whole. The dogs here seem to be quite afraid of people in general. Any attempt I make towards befriending a dog ends in them either completely ignoring me, them running away and cowering, or them barking while running away and cowering. So far since I have been in Mexico I can only recall one instance of having what I deem to be a normal greeting with a dog. I find that most of the dogs I come across look particularly malnourished and mistreated. There may be more to this story, though, because I have not come across any hostile or otherwise aggressive dogs like I would assume to come across in the event of dogs that have been mistreated. In any case, it is certainly an oddity.

Everyone has a cell phone. I would not be surprised to see that there are as many cell phones here in Mexico as there are in the states. Even out in the rural areas of the country where it takes 2 hours to drive to the main road; 2 hours just to get to the main road, not even to another town, 8 year old children are running around with cell phones. Very odd, I must say. On a related note: If you are in Mexico and want to hear some music, apparently the only way to do it is either by having some music on your mp3 capable cell phone and blast is so everyone can hear or to run your car constantly and turn up the volume so the whole block can hear. I have lost count of how many times I have seen people walking down the street listening to their choice music on the loud speaker of their Motorola Razor.

If you are out walking through a town in Mexico and you happen to have a need to throw something away, you better hold onto it because the odds of you finding a trash bin in Mexico is about the same spread as finding an iPod in Mexico. In other words, it is not going to happen. It seems that most of the population does not hold onto their trash, they decide to throw it where they happen to be at the time. Pollution is rampant. Look in any creek or river and you are hard pressed to find an area that is not littered with bottles of all sorts and wrappers from any numerous amounts of items. I come from California...this is very odd to me.

Have a need to get somewhere in Mexico? Get on a bus. The buses go everywhere here. They are cheap, efficient and frequent. If it were not for the fact that it takes forever to travel from point A to point B there probably would be no airlines in this country. In fact, they are so good I feel sorry for Mexican tourists that visit America. They must have one hell of a time trying to get around. Most of the buses that I have been on have actually been quite comfortable as well. The seats have plenty of room and a lot of them had movies to watch while we were on the go. As for the quality and selection of movies, that is another story.

So far, I have only seen one Starbucks.

Puerto Vallarta Pictures 2.0

I have added more pictures of the shelter I am volunteering at.

Puerto Vallarta

Puerto Vallarta Pictures

Pictures of Puerto Vallarta and the shelter I am volunteering at.

Puerto Vallarta

Making Head Way

I am very excited because today is the first morning I have woken up here and have actually felt pretty normal. I am hoping this means I have reached the peak of whatever sickness it is that I have and I can concentrate my efforts on more important things.

Yesterday morning was probably the worst I have had here in Puerto Vallarta so far. I was feeling absolutely terrible and worn down. I did not feel like doing anything what-so-ever. After wracking my brain trying to figure out what I should do, it occurred to me that I could just travel home now for the holidays. This thought had an immediate effect on my body. I suddenly felt better, more alert and happier. It was then that I realized that a lot of this could all just be in my head. Sure, I was feeling pretty bad and I knew that my body was quite unhappy with whatever sickness was going on, but if it was all just my body why would a single thought make my body feel better? I made a decision right then that I was not going to let this sickness rule my time here.

With what little energy I had, I went to the store and bought some imodium AD to hopefully curb my bodies reaction to whatever it is that I have. I decided that from now on any water that I consume is going to be boiled even if it is bottled. The thought of food was utterly disgusting, but I knew that I needed some sort of sustenance if I was going to go up and volunteer. I made some rice for myself and evidently put waaaaay to much salt on it. I did not think I put that much in the water, but alas, I am no experienced cook. I ate as much rice as I could muster and then took one of the imodium ADs. Not much longer after that, I threw it all up. Oddly enough, I felt quite better after this then I did earlier in the morning and I then went and volunteered up at the childrens shelter. When I was finished it was about dinner time and I came back and made some fried rice with egg in it. By that time I was really hungry and ready for some food and some clean water. I ate a lot and drank a lot.

I hope this marks a turning point for me here in Puerto Vallarta. These last few days have not been very fun, but I hope that yesterday turned the new leaf and I can now give my time to more worthy causes.

Puerto Vallarta

I have been staying at the Oasis Hostel in Puerto Vallarta for the past two nights. I was hoping that when I arrived here in Puerto Vallarta I would have numerous emails from most of the different volunteer organizations that I sent emails to, unfortunately that was not the case.

So far I have received three reply emails. The first of which was written all in Spanish and as far as I could tell basically said that they would welcome my volunteer assistance come January. That is great, except I am trying to find something between now and when I leave to come back home for the holidays. The second email I got was from an organization quite a long ways south of here. It seems that transportation down there would be a large problem, especially if I were to take a bus which might take me to Mexico City. From what I have heard, just assume that if you are in Mexico City that you will be held up at gun point and robbed. I do not really like the sound of that so I am thankful that I got an email yesterday from this organization: Refugio Infantil Santa Esperanza.

Tomorrow I will be heading up the street where their orphanage is located to see about volunteering there. Hopefully all will go well and I can stay here in the hostel I am currently staying at while helping out with the children at their facility which is a 5 minute walk from here.

In other news, my body is reacting negatively to something I ate and I am soiling what were some clean garments of clothing earlier this morning. I will be taking the rest of this day to relax here at the hostel reading, sleeping, writing and watching movies. I hope to not spend to much time in the bathroom. Tomorrow will probably be my first day volunteering and it would be unfortunate if I spent it all indisposed with other problems. With hope, this will not be the case.