shoestring gringa

For all you bloggers and readers out there in Spanish-language land, I thought I’d pass on my latest discovery of how to insert special characters like accented letters into a Wordpress (or any HTML) document.  I’m sure there are many ways to do this, and possibly better ways, but this one is so simple that I’ve managed to use it several times in a row without having to reread the instructions.  I found it on this blog, thanks Tech Paul!  Basically you put the Character Map (which I never knew was even IN my computer; it’s in Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Character Map) onto your Quick Launch bar.  Then when you need an accented letter, simply click the Character Map icon and it will pop up in a small screen.  Select the font if needed (default is Arial), click on the character, click Select and then Copy.  Go back to your document and do Ctrl V or Paste to insert the character.  The Character Map will remain minimized on the Task Bar.

I must say the Character Map is an annoying little tool, with no rhyme or reason to its arrangement that I can see, so in the interest of public service I am going to share the location of the characters needed for Spanish here.  These, by the way, are all in the first ten rows, so you don’t have to scroll.

¡ — 5th row down

¿ — 7th row down

á — 8th row down

é, í, ó, and ñ — 9th row down

ú — 10th row down

Note that the ñ is not among the other n’s as logic would suggest, but sandwiched in among the vowels.

In the course of setting this up, I made a number of fascinating discoveries about the Quick Launch bar, which I do not have the strength to describe.

When typing words in Spanish, it’s usually no big deal to just leave the accents off, but once in a while you really need them, as when I wanted to wish everybody a happy new year here:

¡Feliz Año Nuevo! = Happy New Year!

¡Feliz Ano Nuevo! = Happy New Butthole!

Now why is she writing a post about salt in Mexico,  you’re probably asking yourself.  What could possibly be different about Mexican salt?  So I will tell you.  In some places (Yucatan is where I experienced this) it is almost impossible to find salt which is not fluoridated.  Being one of those cranky people who thinks fluoride is poison, I had a huge problem with this.

I  had to search all over Mérida before locating some unfluoridated salt, and it may have been there by accident, it was so difficult to find.  I think I finally found it at Comercial Mexicana (a large supermarket chain).   The next time I visited the states I brought back pounds of the stuff in my suitcase, worried I’d never be able to get it locally again.  (Reminder:  Finding an item someplace in Mexico one time is no guarantee you’ll ever see it there again.)

An internet search revealed that a number of countries in Latin America and, amazingly, France, have salt fluoridation programs purportedly for the prevention of dental decay.

Having read that, I assumed the disgusting phenomenon was the case in all of Mexico, but have been pleasantly suprised to find out otherwise.  In Zacatecas both unadulterated and fluoridated salt were easily available.  And in Sonora I haven’t seen any fluoridated salt at all.  Even better, in Sonora there’s a  local brand of sea salt, Sal Bahía (it is iodized).  As to the rest of the country, I don’t know, so I recommend carefully examining the label of any salt you buy if you object to fluoride.  Yodada = Iodized, and Fluoridada = Fluoridated.  Let the buyer beware!

One species thick on the ground in Mexico is the parking lot attendant, or viene-viene (c’mon-c’mon) as he is sometimes nicknamed in Spanish.  These fellows are all over the big store parking lots, and even the tiniest patch of dirt will have at least one, providing vigorous hand signals as you squeeze into that tight spot.  They become even more visible as you approach your car to leave, hovering close by to hand you the packages from your cart and signaling you out as you back up.  It is beyond obvious that they are hoping for a tip.

At first I found these guys annoying and even pathetic, but I’ve come to realize that they perform a vital service and we always tip them.  All the hand-waving is just theater; what they really do is prevent the theft of your car and its contents, and it’s well worth the small cost.

How much to give them?  For basic hand-waving and being there, the Mexigringo tips three to five pesos, more for special jobs.  A special job would be for example having a bunch of construction material tied on the top of your truck and needing someone to guard it while you go into the store.  In this case one would personally ask the viene-viene to watch it, and tip him 10-20 pesos on leaving.

On rare occasions you may encounter a parking lot which does not have a viene-viene, in which event we recommend parking close to the entrance or some other heavily-trafficked area, and getting back to the car as quickly as possible.  These are the times you realize the viene-viene is truly worth his weight in gold!

Sometimes a viene-viene may even appear as if by magic on a busy street when you’re trying to maneuver into a difficult spot.  This might simply be a manifestation of Mexican male courtesy and no tip would be expected.  On the other hand, it could be a viene-viene whose turf is a few parking spots in front of a particular restaurant or shop.  You’ll need to gauge from his attitude whether a tip is appropriate in a case like this.  If he’s still hanging around when you return to your car, you’ll know he’s a viene-viene.

There are some cultural differences it’s important to keep in mind when hiring people to work for you in Mexico.  The main one is that Mexicans LOATHE talking about money.  If you don’t believe me, take a look at the classified section of any Mexican newspaper and count the number of for-sale ads that actually state a price.  Close to zero, that’s how many.  It’s very annoying to the gringo way of thinking — you have to make a call to find out if you’re even interested.  In Mexico, however, contact with one’s fellows is clearly valued way more than efficiency.

You’ll find this same attitude when hiring people to perform services for you, from building a house to catering a party.  What typically happens is something like this:  You describe the project in detail, then ask what the person would charge for it.  Instead of naming a price, they’ll tell you something like, “Oh, don’t worry about it, it won’t be much.”

If you allow yourself to be put off by this evasion out of a misguided sense of politeness, lack of assertiveness, fear of making a cultural misstep, or any other reason, I guarantee you will regret it.   If it’s a one-shot deal, like a car repair, you can write it off to experience, but failing to establish a price on larger projects can prove extremely costly both financially and emotionally.  ALWAYS AGREE ON A PRICE FIRST!

In hiring people for construction work, there are two approaches to payment: contract or wage.  Some workers prefer one or the other, others are flexible.  Under the contract plan, the maestro bids a price for the completed job.  Some amount of the total will be required up front to get the job going, and the rest at determined intervals.  An advantage to this is the work may be completed quickly, so the contractor can move on to the next job.  On the other hand, if the contractor is a flake, you may never see him again, or the job could take forever.   Another disadvantage is that the work might be hurried or slipshod, or materials may be skimped on if the bid was unrealistically low.  Also, you can’t make any significant changes without renegotiating the price.  Consider too that your helpful/supervising presence is less likely to be welcomed by a maestro racing to finish the project than one being paid a fixed wage.  If you want to be closely involved with the job and be able to make creative decisions as you go along, the wage basis is probably preferable.  A wage arrangement is likely to take longer than a contract, but you’re more likely to get exactly what you want.

Overall, contract arrangements are probably riskier, especially for larger jobs.  Always try to find people with excellent personal recommendations from someone you trust.  In addition, do not hesitate to fire anyone whose work is not satisfactory; you can always find someone will do the job properly.

Obviously there are situations where quoting an exact price will not be possible (as in car repairs where the extent of the problem is not known), in which case you should ask for an estimate including the worst-case price.

If a person absolutely will not name a price for you, walk away.  Even if they’re the greatest cook/mechanic/architect/friend of yours in all of Mexico, even if it took you weeks of searching to find them.  There’s always somebody else, and you’ll avoid a world of heartache, misunderstandings, and financial losses by taking the time to find them.

In contrast with the woodburning device we built in the living room, the corner fireplace we built in our bedroom has been a resounding success.

This project was pretty simple.  We knew we wanted a New Mexico style kiva design (I once lived in Santa Fe and never got over it).  Our big concern was to build something that worked; most fireplaces don’t heat very well.  So it was back to the internet, where I found a dandy website called The Buckley Rumford Company, which is a veritable treasure trove of information on building something called Rumford fireplaces and kiva fireplaces incorporating Rumford principles.

Rumford fireplaces are named for their inventor, a certain Count Rumford  born in pre-Revolutionary Massachusetts, whose work with fireplace geometry resulted in such impressive heating efficiency that the principles are still in use today.  Mr. Buckley of the website found many similarities between Rumfords and traditional New Mexican kiva fireplaces, and has combined them into the Rumford-Kiva.  Detailed plans and instructions for all manner of these fireplaces are provided on the website, along with a wealth of related information, pictures, and links.  I enthusiastically recommend anyone planning to build a fireplace to avail themselves of this resource.

Our fireplace, built by the Mexigringo with Alejandro the albañil (mason), ended up an amalgam of Rumford proportions, kiva looks, local building traditions, and the whims of the two builders.  It’s a corner fireplace, constructed of burnt-adobe bricks against regular adobe walls, and lined with firebrick.   And miracle of miracles, it works like a charm!