perjantai, 8. kesäkuu 2007

1.5, Room service, Senor Frogs...

We got our first touch to the Mexican night life last week when we "toured" some of the most popular clubs and launch rooms in Cozumel.

In the American populated Senor Frogs we got to see some disgusting hootsie action when the American cruiseship girls let lose. Now we know why the Mexican men look at us as if we were a piece of meat (or even worse..).Yack.

The launch bars were on the shore, we got to see the ocean at all times. The atmosphere was also phenomenal! And what is even more great is that girls drink for free on Thursdays. Oey!

Here it seems to be popular to drink beer with a slice of limon to get a fresh flavour of fruit in the beer. We learned a handy little Mexican trick with the limon and Corona beer (if you flip the beer up side down, the limon goes to the bottom and you're able to drink the beer). Pirta put this trick into practise this week on the main street while having an afternoon beer. The results were not exactly what expected, especially to the American lady (sitting behind Pirta) who experienced the fresh fruity Corona shower. Now this is how you make friends!

 

maanantai, 28. toukokuu 2007

Language barrier part one

Our effective maintenance of hydration balance while shopping created us a strong need to use a restroom. After searhing potential bars and restaurants, we suddenly spotted a sign of Sol Beer. We ordered a beer which just increased our need for a toilet.

The waiter looked a bit confused when we asked where the toilet was. He said they don't have a toilet. We didn't give up: we asked a customer as well if they have a toilet and the customer asked the waiter in Spanish. Once again we only received a strange look towards our table. After this all, we decided to ask where the nearest toilet it and the waiter gave us the directions; the nearest toilet was a few blocks away!

In the evening we were increasing our knowledge of Spanish language by reading our small dictionary. To our surprise, we realized that the waiter thought we had asked for a face towel, which is "toallita" in Spanish. Just a hint: toilet is baño in Spanish.

Another tiny misunderstanding happened in Chedraui, a big shopping centre, where we asked for candles. The sales person claimed they had no candles at the store, however, later we found a nice row of candles (which were even quite close the place where we asked for them!). Perhaps we don't even want to know what they thought we asked for.

perjantai, 25. toukokuu 2007

Pleasurable spending

Cozumel is said to be one of the most expensive places in Mexico. Even some Finnish travel agencies and guides say that Mexico's price level is reaching Finland's. We'd be very interestend in learning if these people even ever visited Mexico. Please contact us.

Here are some examples of our weekly purchases and their costs:

Freshly squeezed fruit smoothie (one liter) 16 pesos 1,10 euros

5,2 kg of laundry, drying, folding, packing incl. 52 pesos 3,50 euros

One kilogram of mangos 5,90 pesos 0,34 euros

Six pack of beer 29 pesos 2 euros

Sol beer (0,33 l) 8 pesos 0,55 euros

A liter of Coca-Cola 10 pesos 0,70 euros

From our perspective these prices are almost non-existing after living in Finland but from the eyes of an average Mexican worker, whose daily wage is approximately 50-100 pesos (3,40-6,80 euros), you might see things a little differently.

perjantai, 25. toukokuu 2007

Hunt for a crib

Already on the first day we began to search for an appartment. The cost of living in a hostel here isn't exactly that expensive, 7 euros per night, but we were eager to find our own little home.

We came across several alternatives, however, there seemed to always occur some little problems. For instance, refrigerator doesn't seem to be part of the basic furnishing in Cozumel. At some of the appartements, meeting the possible neighbours gave us shocking horror images of the future. We were almost losing all our hope of finding an appartement, until Mauro, our lovely little helper at hostelito, found us a dream appartement.

Since the rent of the appartement was extremely expensive, we negotiated the monthy rent with our splendid Spanish skills (sign language and pieces of paper) from 5000 pesos to 4300 pesos (which would be from 343 euros to 295 euros). Since there are two of us, we naturally splitted this enormous rent. 

Now we live on the top floor of a hotel, in a 3 room suite with our own kitchen, blacany/terass and a pink bathroom. On top of all this luxury the owner of the hotel, Victor, is taking very good care of us. He is even keeping the intrudors away; he told our two male friends to go away and tried to trick them that we're not at home. Once in a while there are surprises in our appartment, like new furniture, a larger cable tv etc. Thanks Vic you're super!

perjantai, 25. toukokuu 2007

Mangos and strange-green-things.. with chili

We reached Playa del Carmen in the early afternoon, the hottest time of the day. The wind of temptation led us to the beach to the fruit booths. In Mexico people eat fresh fruits with picante, a chili-salt mix and limon (kind of like a lime but not really). We already broke one of the main traveling rules in the first 10 minutes by buying this exotic experience from the street.

We took a ferry to our new home island, Cozumel. The ride was weavy and mind blowing with the Mexican musicians. The one-way ferry ticket costs more than the average daily wage in Mexico (110$ pesos), so we were enjoying it with all senses.

We soon realised that blonde hair is not exactly a benefit in Cozumel. The local men have runny mouths and a collection of the strangest "compliments" you can ever think of. Additionally there is not, most definately, a lack of taxis in the island.

We spent our first 4 nights in  Hostelito, a local cosy hostel. The atmosphere was almost as international as the Finnish For Foreigners class, with the exchange students in TAMK. We shared a dorm with 24 people. At times it was more interesting than expected- you never knew who'll sleep next to (or above) you the following night.