Expat advice #1

A new series on tips I've learned by experience after having lived in Mexico 2 years...many of them are just common sense to Mexicans, but not always to the folly-prone foreigner...

Expat advice #1:

Respect the puddles




This is why I would get a minivan: to show those pedestrian bitches who's boss.


During rainy season (June to November), don't walk too close to the street unless you want a late-afternoon acidic rain shower. Careless drivers will unwittingly rush through puddles, splashing you down the sides and dirtying your freshly washed pantalones. Some aggressive roadsters will even go out of their way to do the favor of bathing you, even though there are three traffic-free lanes at their disposal.

I've been victim in both instances and on many occasions, but now instinctively steer toward the side of the sidewalk furthest from streets. However, I can now proceed to passive aggressively laugh that as a pedestrian, I'm not the one caught in the never-ending bumper-to-bumper parking lot, as frustrated drivers honk away and wonder who is turning their two-hour commute into a four-hour marathon. *skips happily home in a poncho and umbrella*