Donde esta el Wal-Mart?

It´s only been a few days, but before I head off for a weekend in Acapulco (barf), here are a few points on life thus far: Wal-Mart: Yep, it´s here. Saw one in Mexico City, and there´s one here in Cuernavaca too. Along with Starbucks, McDonalds, Burger King (the one in Mexico City was 2 stories!), etc. The American boys staying at my house have frequented these establishments many times...they don´t travel much I think. Seeing as I don´t remember the last time I was in a McDonald´s in the States, I think I´ll stay away from the one here. Food: well, it is mexican food, lots of chiles, which are pretty hot, turns out, and lots of quesadillas, tortillas, rice, beans, etc. Molletes are pretty good, it´s bread, with beans, cheese, and salsa on it. Of the stuff I haven´t partaken in yet, it´s mostly market stuff, like parts of pigs and cows, cactus leaves, bugs (Zam style, nice and crispy), fried fish, and lots of other things fried in oil. Meals are a bit different, with breakfast in the morning, then the biggest meal, la comida, at like 2:30, then sometimes a small snack-ish meal at like 8:30 or so. Sometimes there is no late meal though. The afternoon meal, among other things, has a soup course, which I noticed, contains a chicken leg or wing only for Victor, the patriarch of the family. It is a very patriarchical society...more on that later. Driving: I was thinking to myself that it seems every time I get into a car in a new country I find myself thinking that they are crazier drivers than the last country I was in. But now it´s just that I think the rest of the world is a little crazy and American´s are really defensive and obediant. Either way, you have to be crazy to drive a car here. The streets are tiny, the city is very hilly, and there are minimal traffic signs and reglations. Two lane roads turn into 1 or 3 lane roads quickly... what center line?? The streets wind in and out, between buildings, up and down hills. Driving with my host dad, Victor, makes me feel like I´m going to throw up, driving with my host mom, Avi, makes me feel like I´m going to die. It´s a toss up, so I just sit in the back seat and wait til it´s over. All in all, it´s more entertaining than frightening, although I can´t believe I haven´t seen an accident yet. Which takes me to... Host family: The mom is Avi (pronounced Abi), the dad is Victor, they have three kids in their late 20s, but only two of them live at home, Victor (Jr.) and Veronica, both are very nice but work a lot. They are a very nice, accommodating family, with a lovely home. They have a cat named Picho, and the only reason I mention Picho is because he´s crazy...they call him Picho loco because he has a very strange habit of sucking on his rear foot. Very strange. But as I found out last night Picho is a Mayan word for "baby," so it is fitting. Cross-cultural learnings: The other night at the later meal, we had a conversation about the acceptance of homosexuality in Mexico, and my very offensive and ignorant fellow Americans were obviously not representative of my opinions...As Mexican culture is very concentrated around "machismo" and is a very patriarchical society, homosexuality is not really accepted, but it is present, but mostly hidden. Obviously, in the bigger cities like Mexico City there is a bigger homosexual presence in public. But still, it is less accepted and respected than in the big cities in the States. Noises in the night: Actually, there are noises all the time (obviously), but the night seems to bring more and louder noises...particularly fireworks-like explosions in the the churches. As each day honors a different saint, each church has a different party for each saint, so it appears that the churches are partying all the time, and by partying I mean lighting loud but apparently harmless explosions in honor of the saints. Hmm...these explosions combined with sirens set the many, MANY dogs to barking. Although I´m 98% certain I did hear actual gunshots, within a very close proximity to the house, the other night...fantastic. Tomorrow I´m off to Acapulco for the weekend...yeah, life´s pretty tough.