I've always found travel blogs in which people write about the everyday parts of their life abroad most interesting-though these little details have become normal to the writer, these small differences are some of the most exciting rewards of travel, I think-so here we go.
Bargaining
I get a thrill out of bargaining here, on some things. One case is taxis. In Guadalajara, taxis are required to have a taxi meter, and I'm pretty sure they won't even turn on if it isn't working. But tons of drivers will say they don't have one, or it's broken, and then want to bargain with you over the price. I like to demand a taxi meter and wait if they are jerks about it, but if I'm forced to bargain, it is exciting! I like to quote past trips as evidence for the need to lower the taxi price..last taxi I got down from 90 pesos to 50. Bam! With the taxi meter, the taxis really aren't too bad. I was quoted a price from someone from Tlaquepaque, a suburb of Guadalajara, to the center of 200 pesos, about $16, and after being told that was a "great deal" and no one would do it for less than that, the taxi meter taxi we took cost 45 pesos, about $4 USD.
I also like to argue my way free into clubs and bars, and since I don't really ever go to places I have to pay cover at in the U.S., I'm honing a good skill. Usually if I just pout for a few minutes, they ask "are you alone?" and then let you in. Good money saver!
I'm also practiced at talking down prices on unreasonable fruits, like a 30 peso mango in Puerto Vallarta, that I just gave 20! nice. However, I feel bad bargaining if it's like a handmade shirt someone made or they probably need the money. So I'm not such a good bargainer..but I try.
Nightlife
I feel like I kind of mix it up on where I go, though I always spend Tuesdays at Wall St., my favorite bar-with-dancing with an outside terrace with a beach bar, only a 10 minute walk from home! Mondays I usually take it easy, though last Monday I went to a bar and played Beer Pong, haha. Thursdays I can usually be found at Wing's Army, an "American military themed" bar that has locations everywhere. On Thursdays it's really cheap so I've gone quite a few times..my roommate Molly's novio is a big fan. Otherwise, I've often headed to salsa dance at the Mutualista, a salsa bar with live band. I love salsa music, but don't know how to dance to it..but that doesn't stop people from dancing with me all night! I'm terrible, oh well.
Weekends vary. As a sample, this was my most recent weekend here in Guadalajara. I started the weekend on Thursday (don't have class on Fridays) by going to the Classic, a fancy swanky bar with oldies music covered in red velvet and leather that we had earlieraccidentally stumbled on right by our house. They just give us free drinks there, so it's a great stop. This time we each bought a drink and then had free fancy shots and drinks brought to us for hours. We swung across to the street to Wall Street, where it was salsa night, and danced for a bit. Caught a taxi downtown looking for an Irish bar with free "jelly shots" for St. Patty's, couldn't find it, so we instead went to bar and got micheladas. I absolutely love them-beer with salt, lime and various hot sauces. They're amazing! Swung back by Classic for some free fancy gin shots and some sparkling water, then walked home. Friday, though I don't have classes, I had an all-day session on entering my career path, writing a resume...ugh. I was completely exhausted and had another session the next morning at 8 am, so I stayed in, but the plan was, I would have gone to Wall St. and hung out with some of my best Mexican friends and danced the night away. First time I've stayed in on a Friday, so maybe not a good sample! After my Saturday all-day in school, ugh (this was a one-time thing), I went with my host brother to a friend's house. We drove around to various locations, going to a street music festival in Chapultepec that was really cool. We ended the night at the Red Pub, a "British-style" pub near our house. It's set up pretty cool and I felt like I was in a British street! Sunday we meant to go to a music festival in Tequila, a pueblo nearby of Tequila fame, but ditched that idea and went to the pool at a friend Diego's house. We wound up getting there by the time the sun was almost down and the pool sucked, but we ordered pizza and drank Tequila so I forgave the lack of pool quality. Dominoes here actually isn't bad..no Papa John's but it's way better! Nothing like a Sunday night party..and so ended my weekend. Every one is different, but there's a sample!
Tequila
Just want to mention that I was at a food tasting party for an entrepreneur whose business I'm helping launch and met a woman who grew up in the pueblo Don Julio is from and she would always go to his factory and once a year he'd give out free bottles to everyone. Since my dad is a huge Don Julio fan, I had to be impressed. The town of Tequila, which I've visited twice, is about an hour and a half from here. It's a cute pueblo, though the second time it was so rainy we just tested tequila the whole time. It was actually a great day, besides the very strange downpour. Lots of free varieties of tequila!
Food
In short, I love the food! I've mentioned food earlier, but just wanted to reaffirm I love it. I love chili, I put it on everything. Some of my favorite foods are: chilaquiles (kind of long soggyish-nachos with beans, but way better), enfrijoladas (tortillas covered in frijoles and cheese), liquados (milk blended with fruit-usually I have strawberry, mango or banana), guacamole, pico de gallo, fresh mangoes, chips with Valentina hot sauce on them, popcorn with hot sauce, taquitos, elote (corn with mayonaise, hot sauce and chili), quesadillas with chili, frijoles and avocado, sopes (like tostados with frijoles, potatoes or cheese, lettuce, sauces), molletes (baguette with frijoles and cheese on top), a "sopa" of seasoned rice with veggies, my beloved micheladas, tacos....as you can tell, I love frijoles, but I eat a lot of other things too..those are just my favorites.
What People Call Me
People in the streets will always yell at me güera or güerita, which means "blondie." Since blondie is not exactly a respectful term in English, I was at first kind of offended, but after I noticed my friend said, "Thanks, güero" to a guy who helped us park, I just realized everyone uses it just to describe someone who doesn't have black hair..or is lighter skinned..whatever. Just like people will refer to the skinnier or the fatter person of the group as "skinny" or "fatty," people use physical characteristics more to refer to each other. Instead of "Hey you, watch out for the car," it's "Hey blond one, watch out for the car." I've also been referred to as "chinita," meaning curly, but güerita is my usual name. No one has called me flaquita or gordita (skinny or fatty) yet, so I think güerita is all I'm getting.
