A Japanese-American in Mexico Holly Yasui

OCTOBER * NOVEMBER 1997
T H E RaVEN C H R O N I C L E S

`The ABCDE Minded in the Electric Universe`

A Japanese-American in Mexico

Holly Yasui

The Details of Survival

All guidebooks about Mexico warn you about the water. However, they don't warn you about toilet paper, pay phones, or small change. So, I'm taking that task upon myself.

When traveling in Mexico, always carry toilet paper. There are pay-toilets at most major bus stations. (Note: by "major" I mean stations that are actual buildings; many bus "stations" in small towns are just designated sites with a ticket seller -- no counter, no waiting room, no parking lot, no toilets). At pay-bathrooms, there's usually a big toilet paper dispenser in the public wash area, but you have to remember to pull a hank before you enter a stall. If you forget, you're out of luck, because there's no toilet paper in the stall. Though I've travelled afair amount in Mexico, I often forget to grab a swatch, so I'm always glad that I carry an extra wad in my bag.

Also, it's important to remember to throw toilet paper away in the basket next to the toilet, not in the toilet bowl. The plumbing in many places is simply not up to digesting large amounts of fiber. You risk an unpleasant back-up if you tryto flush the toilet paper. Whenever I have gringo visitors, I put up a sign on the bathroom wall to remind them to put toilet paper in the trash, not to flush it. This habit has become so automatic for me that when I visit my mom in Denver, it annoys her that the trash basket in the bathroom is filled with "that stuff" (she's very delicate about these things).

Pay phones in Mexico can also trip you up. Many have recently gone high-tech, with card sliders instead of slots for coins. For these phones, you must use a LadaTel card, which looks like a regular credit card with a magnetic stripe. LadaTelphones don't take coins. If you don't have a LadaTel card, you're out of luck. But many places sell LadaTel cards, at 20, 50, or 100 peso denominations, which isfine if you remember to carry them with you whenever you might need to make a call. I have about twenty 20 peso LadaTel cards with 2 pesos used on each one, because I tend to stick them in my pocket and forget about them until laundry time.

The old pay-phones that do take coins take them only after the connection is made. If don't have the right coins ready, balanced in the slot, the person on the other end can't hear you gasping "Wait a minute! I'm putting the money in!" and he or she usually hangs up. Unfortunately, if you get your coin in just a second before they hang up, the phone eats it and disconnects you anyway. Also, if you don't have enough coins, the phone beeps about five seconds before it goes dead in the middle of a sentence when your time is up.

Which brings me to the next detail of survival that is so widespread throughoutMexico it seems like some kind of conspiracy: the lack of change. Try to pay anyvendor with a 100 peso bill (at the current exchange, about $13 U.S. dollars). Nine times out of ten, the vendor will ask you, sourly, "Don't you have any change?" And nine times out of ten when you hear that, it's not that the vendors don't have change. It's that they are afraid that they might run out of change later.

Tellers at banks have told me they can't change a 100 peso bill. This makes me nervous about getting 200- and 500-peso bills, knowing I'm likely to end up unable to buy food because no one at the market has change for a 200-peso bill.It's bad manners to present a 200-peso bill when you're purchasing 4 pesos worth of vegetables.

How can a whole country be short on change? Upon inquiry among Mexican friends,the answer is invariably: "Because everyone hoards change."

"But why do you hoard change?"

"Because there's never enough."

Can't argue with that. I, too, now hoard change because I feel bad when a vendor looks at my bill with something akin to horror, reprimands me with "Don't you have any change?" then frowns and sighs when I shake my head. So, when I make my nickel-and-dime purchases at my favorite neighborhood stores, I accept the tabletsof gum or candies the cashier gives me instead of change, and keep them in my bag to use as change the next time I'm there.

© The Raven Chronicles 1997

	OCTOBER * NOVEMBER 1997		T H E RaVEN C H R O N I C L E S

	`The ABCDE Minded in the Electric Universe`		A Japanese-American in Mexico Holly Yasui The Details of Survival All guidebooks about Mexico warn you about the water. However, they don't warn you about toilet paper, pay phones, or small change. So, I'm taking that task upon myself. When traveling in Mexico, always carry toilet paper. There are pay-toilets at most major bus stations. (Note: by "major" I mean stations that are actual buildings; many bus "stations" in small towns are just designated sites with a ticket seller -- no counter, no waiting room, no parking lot, no toilets). At pay-bathrooms, there's usually a big toilet paper dispenser in the public wash area, but you have to remember to pull a hank before you enter a stall. If you forget, you're out of luck, because there's no toilet paper in the stall. Though I've travelled afair amount in Mexico, I often forget to grab a swatch, so I'm always glad that I carry an extra wad in my bag. Also, it's important to remember to throw toilet paper away in the basket next to the toilet, not in the toilet bowl. The plumbing in many places is simply not up to digesting large amounts of fiber. You risk an unpleasant back-up if you tryto flush the toilet paper. Whenever I have gringo visitors, I put up a sign on the bathroom wall to remind them to put toilet paper in the trash, not to flush it. This habit has become so automatic for me that when I visit my mom in Denver, it annoys her that the trash basket in the bathroom is filled with "that stuff" (she's very delicate about these things). Pay phones in Mexico can also trip you up. Many have recently gone high-tech, with card sliders instead of slots for coins. For these phones, you must use a LadaTel card, which looks like a regular credit card with a magnetic stripe. LadaTelphones don't take coins. If you don't have a LadaTel card, you're out of luck. But many places sell LadaTel cards, at 20, 50, or 100 peso denominations, which isfine if you remember to carry them with you whenever you might need to make a call. I have about twenty 20 peso LadaTel cards with 2 pesos used on each one, because I tend to stick them in my pocket and forget about them until laundry time. The old pay-phones that do take coins take them only after the connection is made. If don't have the right coins ready, balanced in the slot, the person on the other end can't hear you gasping "Wait a minute! I'm putting the money in!" and he or she usually hangs up. Unfortunately, if you get your coin in just a second before they hang up, the phone eats it and disconnects you anyway. Also, if you don't have enough coins, the phone beeps about five seconds before it goes dead in the middle of a sentence when your time is up. Which brings me to the next detail of survival that is so widespread throughoutMexico it seems like some kind of conspiracy: the lack of change. Try to pay anyvendor with a 100 peso bill (at the current exchange, about $13 U.S. dollars). Nine times out of ten, the vendor will ask you, sourly, "Don't you have any change?" And nine times out of ten when you hear that, it's not that the vendors don't have change. It's that they are afraid that they might run out of change later. Tellers at banks have told me they can't change a 100 peso bill. This makes me nervous about getting 200- and 500-peso bills, knowing I'm likely to end up unable to buy food because no one at the market has change for a 200-peso bill.It's bad manners to present a 200-peso bill when you're purchasing 4 pesos worth of vegetables. How can a whole country be short on change? Upon inquiry among Mexican friends,the answer is invariably: "Because everyone hoards change." "But why do you hoard change?" "Because there's never enough." Can't argue with that. I, too, now hoard change because I feel bad when a vendor looks at my bill with something akin to horror, reprimands me with "Don't you have any change?" then frowns and sighs when I shake my head. So, when I make my nickel-and-dime purchases at my favorite neighborhood stores, I accept the tabletsof gum or candies the cashier gives me instead of change, and keep them in my bag to use as change the next time I'm there.
			© The Raven Chronicles 1997