Pura Basura
So the news from Cuernavaca is that the landfills are full. Yep, full. For about a week now there has been no where to put all the trash (Mom, basura is trash), and the garbage trucks have just stopped passing by since they have no where to bring the garbage! So what are they doing with all the garbage you ask? Well, they're piling it up in small side streets all over the city. Too bad these are also streets that people live on or near. I'm lucky enough to live a few blocks from the nearest trash pile, but walking to work everyday I see the hundreds of garbage bags piled up on the other side of the street. The smell is overbearing, and all the food waste and used toilet paper (yep, you can't flush toilet paper here so guess where it goes...) is just rotting in the sun. And it only gets worse by the day. I simply can't believe what's going on. People are going to start getting sick, and soon. Yeah, it's bad, and I don't know what they're going to do about it.
Other than that life continues as usual. Erin found a job teaching English but unfortunately her hours are opposite mine, so she's home in the mornings and then doesn't come back until 9:30 or 10 pm. It kind of works out because we get time to ourselves, but it also prevents any sort of social activity for the two of us in the early evenings. Oh well, at least we have the weekends! Not sure what we're doing this weekend, hopefully go see some ruins nearby or something like that. Eduardo and I will be celebrating our one-year anniversary on Saturday from afar, but hey, what can you do.
I really love Mexico and Cuernavaca, but the one thing I will never get used to is the stares, shouts, and cat calls that I get on the street every day. Guys driving by in cars, guys walking by on the street, construction workers (they're the worst everywhere, aren't they?) shouting, "gua-pa", "hola bonita," "guera," and some other, not so nice things (as if I didn't already know I was cute and fair-skinned?). I also get lots of whistles and hisses. And honestly, it's too much. I've never felt more like a piece of meat in my life. Guys slowing down as they drive past me, or sticking their heads out the window to look at me after they drive by, it's obnoxious! Apparently the best response is no response, but Mishel told me I can yell at them if I want to (except when they're in their cars because they leave too quickly to hear), and they will probably stop. I'm at the point where I'm about to snap and I just might start yelling back! Or kicking them in the nuts. One of the two. It's unfortunate that such a hospitable culture has such an unwelcoming and alientating custom. But it's just the way Mexico is I suppose.
Other than that life continues as usual. Erin found a job teaching English but unfortunately her hours are opposite mine, so she's home in the mornings and then doesn't come back until 9:30 or 10 pm. It kind of works out because we get time to ourselves, but it also prevents any sort of social activity for the two of us in the early evenings. Oh well, at least we have the weekends! Not sure what we're doing this weekend, hopefully go see some ruins nearby or something like that. Eduardo and I will be celebrating our one-year anniversary on Saturday from afar, but hey, what can you do.
I really love Mexico and Cuernavaca, but the one thing I will never get used to is the stares, shouts, and cat calls that I get on the street every day. Guys driving by in cars, guys walking by on the street, construction workers (they're the worst everywhere, aren't they?) shouting, "gua-pa", "hola bonita," "guera," and some other, not so nice things (as if I didn't already know I was cute and fair-skinned?). I also get lots of whistles and hisses. And honestly, it's too much. I've never felt more like a piece of meat in my life. Guys slowing down as they drive past me, or sticking their heads out the window to look at me after they drive by, it's obnoxious! Apparently the best response is no response, but Mishel told me I can yell at them if I want to (except when they're in their cars because they leave too quickly to hear), and they will probably stop. I'm at the point where I'm about to snap and I just might start yelling back! Or kicking them in the nuts. One of the two. It's unfortunate that such a hospitable culture has such an unwelcoming and alientating custom. But it's just the way Mexico is I suppose.
posted by Jen at 8:27 PM
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