Just Got Back - trip report

I went up to Southern California to spend a week with my 89 year old Mom. It was great seeing her, especially because she is still fairly active, mobile, and sharp witted.

The weather – It was perfect…just like here at home in Z. I can’t imagine why everywhere I went, people were complaining. They were telling me it was a heat wave, with daily temps around 105°. I got some nasty looks when I told them the weather was just like home and I was fine. Which usually prompted an explanation of our 90° temperatures with the humidity being about 70%, and the heat index is “feels like 103°”.

But, in the house I darn near froze to death. Mom had the thermostat set at 74°, which I always bumped up to 80° when I passed it. I would lower it a couple of degrees when she started complaining about how hot it was. She didn’t catch on until the day before I left, so it wasn’t too bad. And, it was strange to actually sleep with a blanket over me at night, but those kinds of things are just some of the small items you have to put up with when you visit another country.

I did feel sorry for the San Diego Chargers and Seattle Sea Hawk players (mostly Seattle).

They played in San Diego in triple digit temperatures. A weight loss clinic should have capitalized on that and advertised the tonnage of weight lost that day.

Driving - It did kind of spook me a bit when Mom told me they renewed her driver’s license and she is still driving (in California, many things are strange). When she was with me, I did all the driving…which spooked her, because of my Mexican driving ways.
North of the border drivers know every driver on the road is going to obey the laws, and they become complacent. This is not so in Mexico; you have to stay alert. In California, when a guy runs a red light arrow to make a turn in front of everybody, it scares the crap out of them. Then because they are “in the right”, they start blowing horns, shaking fists, etc. They are not alert. Similar infractions to the driving laws are what happens to me in Zihuatanejo 5 times a day (by combis and taxis), and that is just for a trip to Centro and back.

And, it was a bit annoying for me when my Mom was bracing herself and stepping on the imaginary brake pedal on the passenger side floor every time something happened. She would not do well in Acapulco or DF (or…. being her driver’s license will still be valid, in another year or two she just might fit right in).

Junk food - A lot of people write in their trip reports about the excellent food they eat when they go on vacation, so I will include it also. The junk food was fantastic and I got my semi- annual dose all wrapped up in a week. When my son picked me up at the airport, my first request was “let’s go to Johnny’s.” They have the best charbroiled hamburgers I have ever eaten, and a huge order of onion rings which two people can’t finish. We went back the next day and had an incredible pastrami sandwich. And, I also got a bean and beef burrito from Del Taco (the makeup of the ground beef was questionable, but at least that is what they call it). I was in heaven.

The People – That was a strange experience. I am used to people giving you a “sincere” and warm smile and bit of friendly off the wall chatter at the same time. All I saw up there were artificial smiles and people wanting to hurry on to go do the next thing. I felt if I talked with them too much I was interfering into their “space”. Even in my cherished junk food restaurants, it was as if it was by rote when they took your order. And when done with your order, instead of a bit of talk, they said a quick “Here is your number…NEXT”. And, I actually saw people who never got out of their vehicle. They just talked to a metal speaker box, drove up to a small window, paid and got their food. They even acted like it was a normal thing to do…incredible.

There were so many people, nobody knew anybody when you went to the store. Heck, when you go to the Commercial Mexicana here, it is like a weekly meeting among friends. You always see somebody you know, and stop and chat. Then they see somebody they know and introduce you, and it goes on.

Grocery stores - I went to a store to stock up on some things I can’t get here in Zihuatanejo. One of the things I first noticed was a huge price difference between one item and the exact same item in the fruit and vegetable section. I looked a bit closer and the incredibly expensive item was labeled “organic”…Huh? Here in Z Town our fruit and vegetables are fresh year round. I mean we get watermelons, just off the vine that morning, in January and February. I can’t imagine a vendor in the Mercado trying to get a premium price for something everybody else has, by just changing the label.

I am used to eating eggs with a bright yellow/orange yolk, and chickens with a healthy yellow skin (just like on the north of the border farms and ranches). Our chickens here are eating all natural foods and not artificial food like the white skinned chicken in the grocery stores and very pale yellow eggs. I didn’t eat any chicken or eggs while there. I can’t believe they are healthy for you.

And the plastic wrapped bread bags all had date stamps of up to 10 days on them. If you wait and eat a bolillo or telera here the next day it will be as hard as a rock. The preservatives in their bread up there must make them feel like they will be preserved forever. Go Figure.

At the checkout line, the woman in front of me had about 20 frozen TV dinners in her basket, and nothing else. I was speechless and amazed.

Misc. –
I never lock my truck’s doors, and unless it is raining, always keep the windows rolled down. Many times I have even left my keys in the truck, and I have never had a problem. All vehicle doors are locked in California and all windows are rolled up. That should tell you something.

Daily, when the mail was delivered, there would be a bill or two, maybe. The rest of the stack was junk mail, advertisers, and letters asking for donations. That never happens in Mexico.

In Mexico we answer the phone because we probably know who it is. In California, Mom has a recorder and waits for the caller ID to show, or waits until they answer a message. At least 5 calls a day hang up before the message. The calls are all from telemarketing companies. It drove me crazy.

Well, I am back home in Z now, and it truly is good to be back. First thing this morning (7:00), the guy came around selling hot bolillo bread from a huge woven basket he carried and I bought three. Then at 8:00 a guy came selling tamales, but I didn’t buy any. At 8:30 a woman selling fish, caught last night and carried in a plastic tub on top her head, came to the front gate. I went out and bought a 1 kilo fillet of dorado and a 3 pound pargo…breakfast and dinner were taken care of, with lots of sincere smiles and a little bit of gossip and chatter. Tomorrow it starts all over, with sweet potatoes, chicken, and chorizo also being sold door to door on any given day of the week.

California is a good place to be from, and to go there to vacation for a week, but I certainly wouldn’t want to live there.