What if I were Mexican?

What is culture? What if you were born in India or Zimbabwe or New Zealand? Well must probably you will speak another language, practice another religion and had a whole different way of behavior and diet, etc.

Me, I was lucky enough to be borne in a place of earth with the nicest weather, lots of different ecosystems, a great variety of flora and fauna, eleven thousand kilometers of coast with the most amazing beaches in the world... a place than now is considered Mexico, where we speak Spanish, worship Virgen de Guadalupe and eat hot spicy food... well, at least the majority of its residents.

I will talk you a little bit into our culture just in case you are interested, just as an useful tool for you when you visit or decide to live in our beautiful area of this world. 

Arriba el Mariachi!!

Yes! you would know all lyrics, sing along and totally relate to Mariachi Music. The word comes from the french "marriage" it is basically a pretty cool mix of music, beats, and instruments from our ancestors the Aztecs, the Spaniards and the slaves from Africa, such a delicious synergy, right?

"Dos tacos Al Pastor por favor"

Well, what would Mexico be without the taco? It is the most representative food of our country and you really should know this: if you have had tacos abroad Mexico, well believe me you have not had the REAL TACO. If you were Mexican you would sure eat many of these delicatessen every week. And there are thousands of hundreds of different tacos, they change depending on the State, there are even blue tortillas from blue corn (my favorite), but here are the most traditional ones:

• Quesadilla - Cheese Taco
• Taco Al Pastor - Pork marinated Taco
• Taco de Asada - Beef Taco
• Taco de Carnitas - Pork Taco
• Taco de Pescado - Fish Taco
• Taco de Camarón - Shrimp Taco

French do 2, we do 1

Yes, you probably will have more human contact than what you do now. When we encounter someone we know, we greet with one kiss on the cheek, well more like a touching cheeks. Some people may find this too personal, or invasive... if you really just want to keep your distance, a hand shake would do just fine! There are different levels of closeness, and yes I consider myself one of the ones that not only do the cheek but also a little hug, if I love you, like you, care about you, I will definitely give you a kiss a hug and a big smile, just because that is me.

Mexican Time

Well, if they said meet you at 8, you must probably would appear at 9:45. It is a little bit shameful, but it is the true in most cases. Why would not take time seriously, why we are not slaves of the clock? I do not know. Sometimes I get frustrated when I did everything to get to a place on time, and they keep me waiting for 40 minutes or more, not nice, I know! Sorry if you have to experience anything like this, believe me we are working on it. Have I forgotten appointments? Yes, and I have apologized. But have some faith, there are a lot of friends and family that are always on time everywhere, every time. 

1, 2, 3 shots of Tequila

Are you feeling more and more Mexican by now? I bet you are ready for Tequila! Here, we drink it to celebrate, at bars, clubs, at home. We like it as a digestive, we mix it with soda, lemon, we cook with it, have tequila ice cream, tequila shrimps and tequila cake. Ancestral drink, part of our history and a great heritage to the world. You know every good story starts with "We were drinking tequila when..." So come to Cabo, to Guadalajara, Mexico City, Oaxaca... and drink up with your tequila shots!! 

So I hope this gets you a little bit closer to understand us, don't try too hard, just accept us and love us. At the end, yes, we are all the same, we breath the same air, it does not matter which part of this planet you are right now, we all aim for acceptance, love, success, respect. We protect our loved ones we live and then we die. We take vacations, we make memories, we dream of the beach in our feet... So don't you wait for it, live now. Cabo is awaiting you with its sun, beaches, adventures and "Choyeros" (folkloric name for the ones borne in Baja)... lots of fun and peace, your hammock, your "margarita" and your book. 

#Choyero #NoBadDays #Cabo #CaboforLife

Shoes, Tanzanites and the "Atrapa-Novios"

Yes, yes! You will find all kind of beautiful places to shop, here is a list of them:

LUXURY AVENUE, by the Marina of Cabo San Lucas.
Private Covered Parking in Puerto Paraiso Mall, all day long only $20 pesos

• Carolina Herrera
• Ferragamo
• Maliparmi
• Ultrafemme
• Chopard
• Swarovsky
• Fendi, etc.

Puerto Paraiso Mall, by the Marina of Cabo San Lucas.

• Swimming Suits Shops
• Boutiques such as Keneth Cole, La Coste, Nike, etc.
• Diamonds International and its famous Tanzanites
• Local Handcraft Shops
• Sunglasses
• And much more..

Art District, Historic Downtown of San José
All kind of Galleries, get your local piece of art! Remember, every Thursday afternoon is the Art Walk, so not only you get to see the galleries, they even offer wine and you will listen to music on the street, it is really quite a delight thing to do.

Plaza El Pescador, San José in front of Hotel Cabo Azul

• Bikes store
• Surf Clothes
• Book Store
• etc...

Streets, everywhere
Jewelry, silver, clothes, souvenirs, tequila, wine shops, cigars, etc.

You must know more than me about the perfect souvenir, I guess classics are tequila, key chain, refrigerator magnets and shot glasses. But you can also get a little bit more "out of the box" and try:
Mezcal - It is a destilled beverage from Maguey, just as the Tequila, but with a different production process, mainly I can tell you Tequila is industrialized while Mezcal is down to earth, it is artisanal and that is what you taste in it. This is really IN everywhere in the world, it is the most organic and the most traditional thing. Instead of using lime as with Tequila, this one is great with orange, mmmm!!! So try some, get advices from conoceurs, and prove me wrong, but YOU WILL NOT GET HANGOVER!!
Zarape - Blanket made with 100% wool. Perfect way to cover yourself with Mexican colors and designs.
Mexican EcoBag - This is the bags that my grandma use to bring to "mercado" (markets) every morning. It is 100% ecologic, you can bring them to supermarket and they really can hold more weight than any horrible plastic bag. I love them, and actually use them to do my groceries and to bring my lunch to work. There are many designs, colors, sizes and the best thing is that they do not represent any extra weight to your luggage.

Eco-Mexican-Bag

What about bargaining? Well I always ask if you would go and bargain to Walmart cashiers? You would not right? I understand some people find it funny, even they compete within each others to see who gets the best price. I would totally bargain if it is something made in China, just because the massive production. But honestly if it is a hand craft, try to pay the price, if is an art, support it, it would be a shame that all those artisans would stop their tradition because it is not business anymore. Just a personal opinion, I also get that, now they increase the price because they just "know" you will bargain, but I would just ask to pay for the right price, they are valuable things and you will be supporting families that do this for living, you will help to keep being a heritage one generation to the next one.

If you want to dig into Mezcal information, I really liked this blog with the explanation about differences between Mezcal and Agave, check it out: Tequila vs Mezcal

And for the most exciting shopping, well there is also amazing properties, visit CaboforLife.com for more information.

And, finally in my title I used the word "Atrapa-Novios" (Boyfriend - Trapper) because I find this a very particular, fun little Mexican Toy that artisans do with dry palm leaves, and basically it consists on someone asking another someone to run the finger inside it, and when they pull to take the finger out, it is stocked! So you trap him/her.

ATRAPA-NOVIOS
PhotoStream by Andrea Rios

#ShopingCabo #CaboRealEstate #CaboforLife