Cultural Differences

No surprise... things are here are a little different than in the states.  I will highlight a few:

• The Easter Bunny is not a national symbol for the Holy Week here in Mexico as it sadly is in the states.  Here, you see pictures of the crucified Christ and images of the Virgincita - the patroness saint of mexico - the Virgin Guadalupe (pictured above).  All I wanted was some marshmallow Peeps for crying out loud.  
• Spring Break:  In the states, only students and teachers get spring break off - this week is varied, not always the same date year after year and different schools and colleges have their spring break at different times throughout feb. and march.  In Mexico, the ENTIRE country is off for "Semana Santa" (the Holy Week).  Businesses close, people travel to visit family, go to the beach, all schools are out, traffic is insane.  Apparently, the majority of students here get 2 weeks off for spring break.
• Mexicans really value spending time with their family.  I was shocked to see throngs of families flocking to nearby parks to have a picnic with their family- spend the day playing with the kids, going for walks, playing soccer, just simply being together.  When was the last time you went to a park to have a picnic with your entire family?
• GPS in Mexico:  Driving home from Texas last night, I saw a bunch of small bon fires on the side of the highway.  Beth told me that those are signs for truck drivers to advertise that a man is available to drive with him if he'd like a travel guide.  They live off the tips the drivers give them and travel the highways with truck drivers to make a living.  They claim to know the best roads and ways to avoid weigh ins and what not. 
• Fruit is almost always served here with some sort of powdered lime flavored chili.  
• Being a runner from Florida- the following just blows my mind:  as the summer heat sets in I have found that it is usually 10 to 15 degrees cooler at noon than it is at 7 pm!  INSANE.... but i'm not a morning runner, never have been, probably never will be.  I'm sure it has something to do with being in the valley of large mountains on all sides?

And right about now, I'd love some Sonny's, publix brand anything, 4th street south, my scooter, and the sunset off my parent's dock, and a gator game with the jones'.