Random Observations

Here are some random thoughts and observations from the last week or so...

Totally 80's: For some reason, Mexicans seem to have a love for pop songs from the 80s and early 90s. I noticed this in particular this morning, when Emily and I heard a jazz version of Michael Jackson's "Billy Jean" at the supermarket. This is now the fourth day in a row I've heard "Billy Jean" being played. The jazz twist was new.

Still, I haven't heard it translated into Spanish yet, unlike some other pop songs. During our van ride on our tour of Agua Azul and Misol-Ha, Emily and I were treated to Spanish versions of Ace of Base's "The Sign", "Material Girl" and "La Isla Bonita" by Madonna (to be fair, "La Isla Bonita" already had at least three lyrics in Spanish), and A-ha's "Take On Me", among others that we can't remember right this second.

Food description by waiters: Emily and I are starting to notice that Mexican waiters have difficulty describing dishes on their menus. To take the latest example: at dinner last night, I asked the waiter about a dish called filete a la poblana. The waiter told me it was a beef filet with poblano peppers. Well, that sounded good enough (and was what I was guessing from the name of the dish), so I ordered it. I was surprised when what showed up was beef covered in a sauce made primarily of mushrooms and corn with about three strips of poblano pepper added for color. It seems like it should have been easy enough to tell me that it would come that way when I asked, but my waiter chose to keep his description short, sweet, and totally unhelpful. This has happened several times now, that we've noticed.

It's possible that we're asking it wrong. Maybe when I said in Spanish, "what is filete a la poblana?", the waiter thought I just wanted a translation, rather than a description of the dish. It's also possible that none of the waiters in Mexico know what their restaurants actually serve.

Noise: There's a tremendous amount of noise pollution in San Cristóbal. Cars here blast music loud enough that you can hear it throughout the state of Chiapas. More amusing, though, is the phenomenon of megaphones. In San Cristóbal, one out of every three vehicles has a megaphone strapped to its roof, shouting the driver's message for everyone to hear. Strangely (to me), they aren't shouting out political messages, the way they do in movies back home. Instead, it's strictly commercial advertising. Most common are ads for pure water. We've also noticed ads from a truck carrying some kind of gas tanks. Apparently billboard space is hard to come by around here.

More fun with signage: I described in a post a while back some odd highway signs they have around here. Well, fun with signs doesn't end when you leave your car.

One of the most amusing signs we've seen is located near the falls at Agua Azul. This particular sign warns you, with the falls roaring in the background, that it is "DANGEROUS NOT TO SWIM." It's a classic of Spanish to English mistranslation.

I've also been treated now twice to amusing signs at urinals. One urinal in Chichén Itzá had a sign taped above it that said, in Spanish, "Don't be afraid. Get close." More recently, a urinal in San Cristóbal had a small note taped above it telling the reader to "Pee happily and contently, but please aim accurately."