Video 1 Transcript
Be careful about driving in Mexico because, from what I understand, if you want to get a driver's license in Mexico you just say you can drive. That's about it.
Be careful about driving in Mexico because, from what I understand, if you want to get a driver's license in Mexico you just say you can drive. That's about it.
If you're coming from America, going to Mexico, really easy. All you do is just drive over the border. Coming back in is a lot harder. There's a long line sometimes, and if there is a long line, if you have a lot of people in the car, usually it's better to just have everybody but the driver get out of the car and walk through customs instead of trying to pass everybody through in the car because it takes longer. And also, they'll ask you once you're coming back through if you have any food or anything like that, you just say, I have nothing to declare. That's kind of the jargon, makes them think that you know what you're talking about, and they won't search your vehicle.
I would go to a conversion stand or an ATM and convert all of your US dollars to pesos. A lot of airports have those. Because when you show them or tell them that you have US dollars, they're going to upcharge you on their services, whether that's in the cab or when you're buying things, they're going to upcharge you if you have.
People will call you white boy on the street. They'll just yell guero. Don't be alarmed. It's friendly for the most part. That's kind of fun. You have a long rainy season, so be prepared for that.
With the taxis and the buses and stuff, don't get gypped because they're going to try to make you spend more than you need to, you know, because they'll understand, they'll see that you're a gringo and and they'll try to to get you to spend more than most people have to, so just be sure to negotiate.
Chiapas is super humid. Make sure to pack sunscreen and bug spray and be prepared to buy more when you're down there. It gets super super hot in the day and really humid in the night so there's a lot of mosquitoes so you need to be prepared to feel disgusting every day until you shower in the night or in the morning. Occasionally we had to shower in the night and in the morning because it was so humid and to wash off all of the sunscreen and bug spray we had put on. So just be sure to pack those two things especially because you're going to need them or else you'll burn and get eaten alive by the mosquitoes.
They, everybody talks by whistling. I mean they use Spanish obviously, but they also whistle to say basically anything. They have a lot of slang. They don't really understand sarcasm or a lot of like American type humor, but they love puns. Puns are like their favorites. And they have a lot of like different hand gestures for different things like this. If I do this to somebody, it means thank you. If I do this, that means yes. Or if I like do this, that means share, like give me that or like I want that or whatever.
Never drink the tap water because it's usually contaminated but it's still clean enough to clean your hands with and to boil to use for cooking. From what I understand, you can't depend very much upon the police, can't depend upon very much upon the the postal service down there. When they say mañana, usually means they'll never get to it or they'll just get to it whenever they feel like it or whatever. At one point in time, I learned how to eat fish. I guess you could say the Mexican way. You eat everything as far as I can tell. Well, except with the exception of the bones. But you can eat the fins, the eyes, all that stuff.
So one thing that I would say is a good tip to understand is that Mexican food uses a lot of spicy food, chili and things like that. Do you eat spicy food? Don't be afraid to say no because if you say yes then you might regret it if you actually don't enjoy spicy food or if it makes you sick or anything like that. So that's one thing that I would say and also just get ready to experience crazy public transportation because it's a lot different than what you might be used to if you're from the United States. Public transportation in Mexico City is really crowded, really intense, especially in the mornings everyone pushing and shoving to get in their place whether it's on the subway or on a bus or things like that. So yeah, just be prepared for that.
