CULTURE SHOCK LESSONS #105: Moving to Mexico--Holiday Noise, Holiday Delays, Holiday Festivities!

And So Many Holidays!

One of Many Altars for Dia de Muertos, Day of the Dead

     Mexico celebrates many more holidays than the countries north of the border. Holidays are festive times, right? So, why is this something that can create culture shock? Let me try to explain with some examples.

Many Holidays are Unique to Mexican Culture

Dia de Muertos, a very festive time in Mexico, means literally, Day of the Dead. A festival that revolves around death? I didn’t understand it for years.

The celebrations last for several days, from October 31 through November 2. This is a time when families and friends celebrate, inviting the souls of those who have died to join them on earth. A large part of this celebration takes place in the cemetery at the loved one’s grave. Food, alcohol, candles, flowers, and other gifts are placed on the grave, offered to bring the soul to earth. The family members will have a picnic at the grave, eating a meal and drinking beer. The belief is that their departed love ones’ souls join them to share this meal. This was difficult for me to understand when we first started traveling to Mexico. In the United States, in non-Hispanic cultures, when we visit a grave-site, we feel sadness at the loss of our loved ones, certainly not a festive joy.

After living in this beautiful country for some time now, I have come to see this festival as a celebration of life, a time to remember and honor the people who have passed from this earth. The town plazas become a place where many colorful alters are built with flowers, food offerings, candles, sand and rocks, personal articles, and photographs, each honoring a deceased person. Music and entertainment fill the downtown with people mingling and strolling through the path between alters, admiring the artwork of each memorial, then moving on to enjoy the festivities. Later in the night, a long line of quiet Mexicans can be seen walking from the plaza, through downtown and neighborhoods, to the cemetery, each carrying a lighted candle.

     When first experienced, it appears that Dia de Muertos revolves around death. Now I see that this celebration is a healthy way to remember the life of departed loved ones.

Parade for Dia del Niño (Day of the Child)

     Dia del Niño, Day of the Child, is also unique to Mexican culture, and a very big deal in the town we live in. The main street into downtown is closed for hours for a parade and it seems the whole town turns out to watch the children dressed in costumes, riding in floats that cruise the streets around the plaza. It is a lively, happy festival with the crowd filling the plaza and spilling into the streets. Two young children dressed as the King and Queen of the day ride in their own fancy float. They help throw treats including balls and hula hoops to children and adults alike.

      I am impressed with how much attention and love the children receive in this culture. To set aside an entire day to honor the children and to make them feel special is unlike anything I’ve seen in the United States. It is a joy to watch. It is also wise to plan your day so as to avoid driving through town, taking laundry to the lavandería, or shopping for groceries while the festivities are happening, at least in our town. We soon learned that the roads will be blocked for hours on Dia del Niño, so we might as well find a taco stand, settle in for some fish tacos and a drink, and enjoy the show!

Our Lady of Guadalupe Festivities Last for Days

Holiday Noise Can Be Disturbing & Can Last for Days

     In addition to all of the fun things such as parades, bands playing music in the plaza, residents and tourists dancing around the band, cowboys riding dancing horses, and children in costumes, there is an amazing amount of noise that reverberates across the town during holidays. Some holidays are accompanied by more noise than others, but for me, the holiday that was the most shocking was Our Lady of Guadalupe. The first year we lived there, I was startled awake by cannons going off downtown at 5:00AM to call the Catholics to church. Bella was barking and I wondered what the sound was, so loud we heard it clearly a half-mile away. I had just calmed her down and fallen back asleep, when the next cannon went off at 5:30AM. Another round of barking and falling asleep only to be jolted awake at 6:00 by a third cannon shot. By then, Jon and I realized it must be cannons calling the Catholics to come to church for a service. That day, I asked around town to find out that each day during the week leading up to Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12 begins with cannons and church bells! Each evening ends with fireworks. 
     All of this early morning and late-night noise was culture shock at first. By the fifth or sixth morning, I didn’t hear the cannons explode at all. I slept right through the sounds, and so did Bella.

Preparing the Lady of Guadalupe Float for our Barrio

     The evening festivities for Our Lady of Guadalupe are colorful and entertaining, including children dressed in traditional costumes, dancing to the beat of drums, proceeding through the closed streets downtown. Each night a different float is included in the parade around the plaza. In our town, each of the barrios (neighborhoods) is assigned one evening of the festival to display their float. We had just moved into our new casita when one evening we noticed a crowd in front of our house, gathered around a large flatbed truck. As I watched, the children and adults chatted and worked together to create our neighborhood’s float on the back of the truck. Many were working to decorate the truck, transforming it into a beautiful float. Women were dressing the children as angels, wise men, the Virgin Mary, and other characters to fulfill the theme of their float. Excitement filled the air as the costumed children were lifted onto the float and helped into their assigned positions. It was fun to watch, a real community project. When the parade organizer gave the order, the float rolled away, driving toward the downtown plaza with a crowd of proud parents, grandparents, siblings, and neighbors walking along behind.

     Then the fireworks begin around 10:00PM. They can be heard all over town, startling us awake again, if we decided to go to bed early that night. Bella barks furiously. Other dogs can be heard barking in the neighborhood. When it finally quiets, I think, “Best if we get some sleep because this will start all over again at 5:00AM tomorrow.

Holidays with Loud Music All Night

A Wedding Procession through San Miguel de Allende

     There are many other holidays when fireworks and cannons are shot into the air in the evening, and then loud music and the fiesta begins, many times lasting until dawn. Often, we don’t even know what the holiday is. Sometimes there are fireworks after a wedding in our town. In San Miguel de Allende we saw a parade through town for a wedding, the bride, groom and many guests led by tall caricatures of a bride and groom, other guests riding in fancy horse-drawn carts through the steep cobblestone roads. It was enjoyable to sit at a sidewalk café and watch the happy people stroll down the narrow streets, drinking champagne, and toasting the new couple. What a fun, lively way to celebrate, so different from any I’ve seen north of the border.

Musicians in the Plaza May Play Late into the Night 

     Yet, we know the parade through town is just the beginning of the fiesta. We’re always glad we live in the quieter outskirts of town, far from the venues where the rest of the party occurs, with a band, disc jockey, or recorded music playing loudly through large speakers, and the guests enjoying elaborate meals, limitless drinks, and dancing until the early hours of morning. Once I went to the plaza at 6:00 AM to see how many people were still partying to the music continuing to blare from the speakers. That’s when I learned that just because the guests have all gone home doesn’t mean the music will be turned off.

     In addition to the holidays for saints and other church traditions, there are parades and celebrations in the streets for Mexican Revolution Day on November 20^th. Emiliano Zapata's Birthday August 8, provides another reason for boisterous, noisy celebration, as he was a leading figure in the Mexican Revolution. Día de la Independencia, Independence Day in Mexico, celebrates the “cry of independence” on September 16. The “bombs”, cannon booms, go off frequently for anything having to do with Revolutions and Independence.

There are also large parties for Quinceañeras (coming out at a 15-years old girl’s birthday), smaller, yet elaborate baby showers, and fancy birthday parties for young children that morph into loud music, drinking, and dancing late into the evening. The loud music can be heard blocks away and may last until 5:00AM. The Mexican people love their fiestas and know how to stretch them out and extend their fun! 

Those of us who have moved to Mexico to enjoy all of its benefits must learn to adapt to the differences. Ear plugs are a necessity, sometimes even sound-cancelling headsets.

Holidays Cause Delays

Holidays Mean Fun with Friends and Family in the Plaza

     Purchasing our home in Mexico was our biggest lesson in patience, the time when we learned that businesses, banks, and government agencies move slowly as a manner of course, “On Mexican Time”. But throw in a few holidays and the delay may be extended for months. Getting upset about the delay doesn’t make anything move faster, it just leaves you more frustrated. So, we learned to wait patiently.

The time from our offer to buy our house in late July, 2015, until the contract was compiled by the Notario (Notary) and agreed upon and signed by all parties was about three weeks. I don’t think there were any major Mexican holidays during that time, things just take time, so by then it was mid-August. An inspection by a building contractor was done and the report prepared, which we accepted by the end of August. At that time, the Title Company became involved to handle the escrow account and transfer of money, with form completion occurring over the next month. They were finally ready for our first deposit of funds at the end of September, two months after we had made an offer on the house. Our contract stated that the sale would close by November 10, 2015, but allowed for an extra ten days in case of banking or other business delays. With Dia de Muertos the first of November, which should be called the DAYS of the Dead because it can last for up to a week, the sale closed on the very last day of the deadline, November 20, but only because we insisted. November 20th is Mexican Revolution Day and everyone would have rather postponed the signing of our documents another day or two so they could go to the celebration.

Everything Stops for Parades and Festivals

But, what about getting the recorded deed? Well, allowing for many upcoming holidays, including Our Lady of Guadalupe, Christmas, New Years, Dia de Niño, Revolution Day, Semana Santa, Easter, and the week after Easter, we finally received our recorded deed over six months later, in May, 2016. That was a lesson in patience!

     I’m glad we hadn’t decided to build our home in Mexico. I hear the delays waiting for masons, plumbers/electricians, painters, roofers, and other subcontractors can really try the patience of a gringo from north of the border! Until you learn the cultural difference about setting priorities, living on Mexican time can be very frustrating.

Terry Gets in the Holiday Spirit with La Catrina

     What we’ve learned is that maybe the Mexican Nationals have their priorities straight—family and fun come first. Work can wait—it will always be there. I enjoy living “On Mexican Time” now that I’ve adjusted to it. In fact, when we return to the United States for a few months, we wonder why everyone is in such a hurry, rushing to work, rushing home, stuck in rush-hour traffic. How did we ever live like that, and for as long as we did? Life is healthier, more enjoyable, when the pace is slowed down, and we are comfortable with that slower pace.

     Read more about culture shock and the fun of moving to Mexico in this eBook, "Living in Mexico, Lessons Learned: Healthy Living in Mexico #3".  Have you read the other four books in the series?

Available on Amazon Worldwide!

     If you haven't read "Healthy Living in Mexico #1 and #2", here are the links on Amazon.com. Remember these are also available on Amazon.ca, Amazon.mx, and Amazon worldwide!
     Healthy Living and Traveling in Mexico: A Search for Sunshine, Sassy Exercise, Savory Food and a Simpler Life Kindle Edition

Healthy Living in Mexico eBook #1

     Retirement Before the Age of 59: Healthy Living in Mexico #2 Kindle Edition
     

Healthy Living in Mexico #2

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CULTURE SHOCK LESSONS #104: Moving to Mexico--Noisy Roosters, Dogs, & Chachalacas!

Plus Other Daily Sounds of Mexico

Dogs, Rooster, and Chickens in Front of Our Home

     Choosing to retire in Mexico for us meant a decision to live in real Mexico. That meant finding a small affordable, Mexican-style home in a barrio, a Mexican neighborhood. We found our perfect Hacienda-style home at the end of a cobblestone road surrounded by friendly local families and a sprinkling of international expats. An unexpected surprise bonus is that the Cake Lady lives behind us, so we enjoy the aromas of her cakes and breads baking, different recipes each morning. We really love living in our barrio. There were just a few other surprises that challenge our patience.

Roosters Crow At All Hours!

Crowing Roosters

The first test was adjusting to the annoying crowing of roosters. At. All. Hours! I have always despised being on vacation in an exotic place like Hawaii, enjoying a morning of sleeping in, only to be awakened at dawn by a rooster crowing. Then I found we had moved into a neighborhood full of roosters that crow at all hours of the night and day. I thought I would lose my mind when the first one started crowing at 3:00 AM, waking me from a sound sleep, and other roosters followed with their own variations of crowing every half-hour or so until 9:00. Then there was the young rooster, “Junior”, I called him, who was practicing his crow. He would wake up and start crowing if I turned on my bathroom light at 1:00 in the morning. I would quickly turn the light off and mutter, “Shhh, go back to sleep, Junior” and he would quiet after a few minutes.

I am still amazed that I no longer hear the roosters crowing at night. The brain learns to block out repetitive noises during sleep. I suppose it is much like people who say they no longer hear a train that goes by their house every night at 2:00AM. I guess I would miss the roosters if they were gone. They sure don’t keep me from sleeping in until 9:00 in the morning when I choose to these days.

Part of the Dog Pack On Guard in Our Road

Barking Dogs

The second challenge of living in the barrio was adjusting to the loud, sometimes incessant sound of barking dogs. Our neighbors across the street have a protective pack of mutts that vacillates in size from nine to seven, depending on how many passed away that year, whether a litter was born before the mama was spayed, and how many new dogs wandered in to eat or play and never left. The alpha male (not shown) scared me so badly the first few times I encountered the pack, every dog running loose and free to do as they please. When I approached the gate to our home, I would pick up Bella, our dachshund, and just stand still in the road while the large, Shephard-mix faced me, feet set, teeth bared, fiercely barking as if to say, “This is my street and you are not passing me”, and all of his canine pals were backing him up with loud agreement. I wouldn’t pass them until one of the neighbors came out to see what the commotion was about and call off the hounds when they recognized me.

Now the neighborhood dogs know us and greet us with wagging tails. Some even come to us for a belly rub or a scratch behind the ear. These days, when the pack starts their ferocious, noisy, continuous barking, we know there’s a stranger in the area. Those dogs are helping keep the neighborhood and us safe. We appreciate them.

Then there are the nights that a dog starts yapping for some unknown reason and it goes on for hours. I often wonder if the dog's people left it at home alone and the dog is just feeling abandoned. Jon thinks the dog is just yapping to hear himself talk. Whatever the reason, the annoying ruckus can continue for hours. I am grateful that the white noise of the ceiling fan and nightly use of earplugs help me block out the sound of yapping dogs at all hours of the night.

A Chachalaca Eating Berries in Our Palm Tree

Raucous Chachalacas

The unbelievably loud, raucous sound of a flock of Chachalacas in the mango trees next door to our house makes roosters crowing seem pleasant by comparison. About the time the roosters stop crowing in the morning, the Chachalacas start their group “squeaky-hinge” bird calls. These large birds, similar in size and appearance to a wild turkey, are interesting to watch. They are nearly silent as they flap and walk their way to the top of the mango trees to roost each evening. Usually seen in pairs and groups of pairs, they have a quiet, sweet chirp as they communicate with their mates and young. But, be ready for the sound of eight or ten making their morning wake-up calls!

When we first visited Sayulita and I heard a tree-full of Chachalacas singing their awful song, I recall commenting to Jon, “How can people live next to that?” Then we found ourselves living next to that and wondered how we would adjust. We not only adjusted to it, we enjoy them as part of the sounds of Mexico. We just smile when we hear the Chachalacas start their morning chorus, we shake our heads, and we sometimes comment, “There they go.” After an hour of squeaky-hinge birdsong, they quiet. The chickens clucking as they scratch in the flowerbed outside our garden wall and hang out with "Juan the Crested Guan" are the only background noises for a while.

"Juan the Crested Guan" Hangs Out with the Chickens

Other Sounds of Mexico

There are other daily sounds of Mexico that are noticeable and were sometimes annoying when we first moved there. There are the loudspeaker sounds played by vendors selling their wares including three gas truck companies, each with its own unique musical or vocal recording. Other trucks and cars drive with their speakers announcing the sale of produce, seafood, bread and pastries, beds and mattresses, and other necessities for day-to-day living. A scrap-metal man drives his truck by daily looking for discarded junk to recycle, the purified drinking water trucks make their rounds, and the flower man calls through the gate when he has a wheelbarrow full of potted plants to sell.

The Produce Truck Speakers Announce His Arrival at Our Home

     We love these daily sounds, which have become background music of our life. But our favorite is when the Soni-gas truck comes up our street, the speaker playing a woman’s voice singing. Before we have caught the first notes of her song, the alpha male dog outside our gate begins to howl and soon the whole pack joins in, howling a plaintive song. We laugh while the music and howling continue until the Soni-gas truck resumes his travels away from our corner of the barrio. 

     To read more about Culture Shock and lessons learned after moving to Mexico, Check out my  "Healthy Living and Traveling in Mexico #3" eBook on Amazon, Living in Mexico LESSONS LEARNED, available worldwide.

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CULTURE SHOCK LESSONS #101: MOVING TO MEXICO--No Dishwasher, No Garbage Disposal, No Washer or Dryer

And No Air Conditioner!

Downsizing & Simplifying, Life in Mexico is Pretty Restful

     More and more people are expressing interest in moving to Mexico, living a simpler life on less money. Simplifying means living with some inconveniences and fewer luxuries. Adjusting to fewer amenities is not for everyone! 

Where is the Dishwasher?!!

     Possibly the most frequent comment from others about our new life in Mexico is, "I couldn't live without a dishwasher!" I recall saying those very words myself at one time in my life. How our perspective can change! While I was washing dishes today, I thought, "How much time did I spend loading and unloading the dishwasher in my old life in the United States?" Now, I wash dishes once or twice a day while Jon dries and puts them away. I'll bet the 30 to 45 minutes we spend doing dishes each day is about the same as it was when we had a dishwasher. That's time we stand together each day now, working and talking about our plans for the day. Not such a bad thing.
     Why do most homes in Mexico lack a dishwasher? First of all, it is a relatively large expense to purchase a dishwasher, especially when living a frugal life where every peso counts. Secondly, dishwashers are water and electricity hogs. In Mexico, if something uses electricity, it is an expensive luxury. If there is another way to do the job without using electricity, then that's the way it is done.

What? No Garbage Disposal?

     Another common question from those unfamiliar with life in Mexico is, "Why wouldn't you have a garbage disposal?" The first reason is that a garbage disposal is just another expensive, unnecessary appliance that uses electricity. We scrape our dishes into the trash can as quickly as we would scrape them into the sink, so no time saved by having a disposal. An important reason not to have a garbage disposal in Mexico is that the sewer systems cannot handle grease and solid materials, even when ground up by a disposal. We put drain screens in each sink and shower to keep solids from clogging the drain lines and we clean the screens at least daily. It is much better to put food waste into the compost pile or the landfill.

Who Needs a Clothes Washer and Dryer at Home?

     We are frequently asked, "How can you live without a clothes washer and dryer?" Easy. We take our dirty laundry to the Lavandería once or twice a week and pick it up clean, neatly folded, and bagged for a very reasonable price. Since my skin is sensitive to fragrances and dyes in most Mexican laundry detergent, we take our own Kirkland UltraClean Libre y Transparente, Sin Tintes Sin Perfumes, purchased at Costco in Puerto Vallarta. We include one Rubbermaid container with a one-load measured quantity of our "detergente especial" in the top of each bag of laundry. The ladies at our Lavandería know us well, so they always use our detergent, no fabric softener, and return our Rubbermaid containers each time for reuse. Who needs a clothes washer and dryer at home?

     "What about an air conditioner?" When we bought our little Mexican house, there were ceiling fans in every room, but no air conditioner. Many Mexicans and expats live without air conditioning year around in their homes. We lived with that just fine through the first winter. By April I could see that I was going to need the bedroom cooled for sleeping at night. We soon took a bus trip to Home Depot in Puerto Vallarta and a taxi ride home with a new Rheem® minisplit that Jon installed in the bedroom. Beginning sometime in May each year, we start using our air conditioning when we sleep, set at 25°C which is 77°F. Around mid-June, it becomes hot and humid enough in the afternoons that we close the exterior doors and windows and run the minisplit to cool the three main rooms of our home. With fans pushing the air from the bedroom, that one little air conditioning unit keeps our home at about 83°F in the afternoon, just cool enough that I can sit in my office and work. 

We Added One Air Conditioning Minisplit in the Bedroom

     Or we turn off the air conditioner and take our boogie-boards to the beach and cool off in the ocean.

Jon Catches a Wave on His Boogie Board

     We adjusted to Culture Shock Lessons #101 easier than many would because we lived full-time in our motorhome for a year before we purchased our small home in Mexico. We still live in our motorhome three to four months of each year and enjoy the RV life. It's not so different really. In the motorhome there is no dishwasher, no garbage disposal, no washer and dryer. But, there ARE TWO air conditioners. We have not yet adjusted completely to the summer heat after living in Mexico for almost three years. That's when it's time for an RV trip to the Redwood forests of California and the beaches of Oregon.

Cooling Off in the California Redwood Forest

Read more Culture Shock Lessons we experienced when moving to Sayulita in my book, Living in Mexico Lessons Learned. 

Healthy Living in Mexico Book #3

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Terry L Turrell, Author

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