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 Vallarta Living | December 2005 
Vivendo en Mexico (Living in Mexico) 12
 Korah Winn - PVNN
I decided to make a list of helpful hints if you are going to be a tourist. These are actual things I have seen or experienced since I have moved to Puerto Vallarta. Some of the tips are common sense things that I am certain you would never do but might find humorous. Others are things I discovered only after getting here.
Realize that just because someone speaks English, it does not necessarily mean that they are from the U.S.A. I have a Canadian friend who works in time-shares and he said he talked with some people and one of the first things they said was, "Oh, it's so nice to talk to another American here." He went on to explain that he was actually from Vancouver. The reply to that was, "O.K., so you're from Washington." I just smiled, apologized for my fellow countrymen, and said, "We can't all be geographically literate."
Being an American applies to many more nations than just the United States of America. My identity is that I am an American and proud of it! I have been informed though since living here that everyone in North and South America are Americans. Officially in Mexico, the people from the U.S.A. are called estadounidense. This one is hard for me to change my mentality about. "Proud to be an estadounidense" just does not have the same ring as American.
Be aware of your surroundings. I was invited to go to a Catholic baptism three weeks ago. I was sitting in a pew watching what was going on when I saw a lady start walking from the back of the church up towards the front. She was gazing up at the architecture and as she turned around I immediately saw she was a tourist to the first degree. A Hard Rock cafι sticker-wearing, camera around neck, gigantic handbag toting tourist. She actually walked up to within three feet of the child who was being baptized and cocked her head and smiled at the girl just as if she was watching a cute animal at the zoo. The family excused this complete lack of propriety because they are used to tourists doing indiscreet things but I was pretty embarrassed.
Just because it is your vacation does not mean it is everyone else's. I have seen guys walking around downtown shirtless with bright red, sunburned bellies hanging out. I have watched women casually crossing busy downtown streets in bikini tops. Please, keep beachwear regulated to the beach.
Never throw your tip at someone. I know you must be thinking, "Yeah, right. I would never do that. Why did she include that on the list?" I actually saw a lady do it! My eyes were huge. I was on the beach with a friend of mine from Mexico and I watched how disgusted she was when she saw a woman refuse to put a tip in a hat being passed around for a drum troupe but then the woman went and tossed her tip into the sand in front of them. They had to dig around a little to find it. My friend and I were aghast.
Pay attention to the local people. If you want to go out for a meal and you see a nice looking restaurant but are concerned because you do not see many people inside, realize it is probably too expensive. Go to the places where you see a lot of local people. They know where the food tastes great and costs less. ‘Salud!
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