Survival guide to mexico city part 1.
just because I wanted to write something about the oddities of this wonderful and strange city of mine that I love.
this are some advices of what to do while riding a bus, taking a cab and driving in Mexico city.
I must confess that one must be brave, have a strong will and be in part cunning and lucky to travel through Mexico city, the 2nd largest city in the world acording to the magazzine "DF por travesias", wether you do it by bus, take a cab or drive through mexico city there are some basic things that you need to know.
First case: when you take a cab, ALWAYS MAKE SURE THAT IT HAS PERMISSION AND TAXI PLATES. all the oficial taxis have plates with a code that begins with an L or an S and there must be a license with the photo and name of the driver in a visible place.
Despite what one can belive, several of teh Taxi drivers have some college studies and /or has worked in some government office. Some of this guys have finished their studies but considering that they couldn't get another job, bought a taxi or drive it for someone else.
something that I have discovered is that you should better avoid talking about politics with them, considering that some of them used to work in sobme sorrt of gubernamental dependency, they tnd to have harsh felings towards this topic and conversations can get ugly.
One funny thing, is that some of the taxis that have no licences or official plates, are drove by ex police officers!
Second case: Taking a bus
Make sure that you are taking it in the right place, a bus stop if you are taking an RTP bus or a corner if it is a "micro"
Pray often, because several of the bus drivers could succesfully audition for NASCAR, F1, or be stunt drivers.
No matter how much luck you have, prayers you have made or deodornts you carry... you can always run with the luck of being in a bus with bad ventilation standing besides someone who smells like he hasn't taken a bath in several weeks. Also, meditate often and pratcice patience, because you never kow when you will be finding the neurotic lady who yells at you for sitting besides her being this the last seat left in the bus, and in the worst of scenarios..... being besides a crying baby who is desperate because he is hungry, tired sick of being inside a bus with lots of people who could be in the same (or worse) bad mood as he is and has a dirty diapper.
If you can get to choose a seat, try to take teh one that is close to an open window to get some air in case that the bus is too crowded.
don't panic and try to remain calm. the worst thing you can do is to take other's bad mood with you during and after the ride.
Also, if you see a pregnant woman or a woman carrying a baby, offer her your seat, no matter how "important" you think your backpack, purse or bag is, she is carrying something that, in the case you get to carry by bus, would wish to be treated in the same way. Believe it or not, she needs it in that moment more than you do.
Third case: Driving through the city.
ALWAYS MAKE SURE TO BE LISTENING TO THE TRAFIC REPORT. you never know when a protest or march could show up and interfere in your way.
don'rt take short cuts ifyou don't know that zone by heart and carry a map. Most of what this city is, is created by old towns that were devoured by the city and that had no idea of what urban planing could be.
Places such as Tacubaya, Romita, Santa Fe, Coyoacan, Santa Julia, San Angel, Xochimilco, Tlalpan, etc.... believe it or not used to be towns "close" to the city several years ago (by several I could be meaning a couple of centuries) Some ofthis places even were towns that were hours and hours away of the city downtown! (OH!!! the miracles of avenues, cars, paviment, buses and subways!, they make the distances look relatively insignificant)
this city knows little about urbanism and planning and a short cut could take you to places that you didn't even imagined that existed or to be driving in endless circles.
Be careful with people crossing the street, there is this thing called "preferencia peatonal" that means that no matter how badly someone crosses teh street, if you hit him with your car, you are guilty of whatever happens to him.
This is all for today....
got any suggestions to add to this?
/
this are some advices of what to do while riding a bus, taking a cab and driving in Mexico city.
I must confess that one must be brave, have a strong will and be in part cunning and lucky to travel through Mexico city, the 2nd largest city in the world acording to the magazzine "DF por travesias", wether you do it by bus, take a cab or drive through mexico city there are some basic things that you need to know.
First case: when you take a cab, ALWAYS MAKE SURE THAT IT HAS PERMISSION AND TAXI PLATES. all the oficial taxis have plates with a code that begins with an L or an S and there must be a license with the photo and name of the driver in a visible place.
Despite what one can belive, several of teh Taxi drivers have some college studies and /or has worked in some government office. Some of this guys have finished their studies but considering that they couldn't get another job, bought a taxi or drive it for someone else.
something that I have discovered is that you should better avoid talking about politics with them, considering that some of them used to work in sobme sorrt of gubernamental dependency, they tnd to have harsh felings towards this topic and conversations can get ugly.
One funny thing, is that some of the taxis that have no licences or official plates, are drove by ex police officers!
Second case: Taking a bus
Make sure that you are taking it in the right place, a bus stop if you are taking an RTP bus or a corner if it is a "micro"
Pray often, because several of the bus drivers could succesfully audition for NASCAR, F1, or be stunt drivers.
No matter how much luck you have, prayers you have made or deodornts you carry... you can always run with the luck of being in a bus with bad ventilation standing besides someone who smells like he hasn't taken a bath in several weeks. Also, meditate often and pratcice patience, because you never kow when you will be finding the neurotic lady who yells at you for sitting besides her being this the last seat left in the bus, and in the worst of scenarios..... being besides a crying baby who is desperate because he is hungry, tired sick of being inside a bus with lots of people who could be in the same (or worse) bad mood as he is and has a dirty diapper.
If you can get to choose a seat, try to take teh one that is close to an open window to get some air in case that the bus is too crowded.
don't panic and try to remain calm. the worst thing you can do is to take other's bad mood with you during and after the ride.
Also, if you see a pregnant woman or a woman carrying a baby, offer her your seat, no matter how "important" you think your backpack, purse or bag is, she is carrying something that, in the case you get to carry by bus, would wish to be treated in the same way. Believe it or not, she needs it in that moment more than you do.
Third case: Driving through the city.
ALWAYS MAKE SURE TO BE LISTENING TO THE TRAFIC REPORT. you never know when a protest or march could show up and interfere in your way.
don'rt take short cuts ifyou don't know that zone by heart and carry a map. Most of what this city is, is created by old towns that were devoured by the city and that had no idea of what urban planing could be.
Places such as Tacubaya, Romita, Santa Fe, Coyoacan, Santa Julia, San Angel, Xochimilco, Tlalpan, etc.... believe it or not used to be towns "close" to the city several years ago (by several I could be meaning a couple of centuries) Some ofthis places even were towns that were hours and hours away of the city downtown! (OH!!! the miracles of avenues, cars, paviment, buses and subways!, they make the distances look relatively insignificant)
this city knows little about urbanism and planning and a short cut could take you to places that you didn't even imagined that existed or to be driving in endless circles.
Be careful with people crossing the street, there is this thing called "preferencia peatonal" that means that no matter how badly someone crosses teh street, if you hit him with your car, you are guilty of whatever happens to him.
This is all for today....
got any suggestions to add to this?
/