This is a picture I took on a trip to the Market with the students. We were actually on assignment to see how difficult it would be to live on the Mexican minimum wage (.48 pesos/hour). It was our first group outing and we had to first of all navigate our way to El Mercado in El Centro. Oh my goodness. I learned a lot! 1. Cuernavaca traffic is crazy. The streets that do have lights (and they are few), still require policeman to manage them. 2. Buses here are effective and utilized as are taxis. But, buses can be small and white with broken fenders, or huge and sea-green Mercedes buses. Then there are the uber-cozy travel busses. 3. El Mercado is underground then outside, then all around once you are there. To get there though, you have to go through another maze of pawned, black-market items...hmm..that was interesting. We actually had to ask about 5 different locals how to get there, because we were just lost! For the most part, Mexicans have been friendly to us ("us" being we, the group of U.S. students). They are helpful and greet us when we greet them. I have noticed though that women are more reserved and don't always respond to me though. I feel like I offend them in just being present here. Men, however, vary in their response to me. Older gentlemen types call me "Bonita!" and offer a common greeting. Other men of fewer years yell out there truck window: "Tienes un novio" ("Do you have a boyfriend?") That happened to me yesterday. Anyway, I'm telling 3 stories at once again. Back to my numeral system: 4. Mexican minimum wage does not go far. Now we know why Americans seem rich in their eyes. A box of tampons would have equated to $38 US dollars, shampoo would be over $100 US dollars. We did make it to and from the market however.

26 January 2009