Mexico: The Good, The Bad...And The Very Ugly

It is time, again, for a Mexico Top 10 List.

This list is brought to you courtesy of the Mexican Army, the cook at NPH, and The Club.

1. You know you are safe from drug lords when you see a caravan of Mexican military personnel riding on a truck with AK-47s in one hand and a Popsicle in the other.

2. Ketchup: It is apparently a great condiment on pasta with cream sauce. Thank you, Doña!

3. Another Mexican culinary delight? After a dinner of Costco cheesecake, we had a dessert of shredded carrots with salt, lime, and hot sauce. (The kids flocked to it like roaches to our sink.)

4. Apparently your car will not get stolen here if you use The Club. Yes, the '80s are still kicking here.

5. Some people here think you can "catch" diabetes...

6. Teachers can dress as the like. This may or may not include tight white leggings (you know, the ones with lace on the bottom) and a top that looks like you are going out for a night on the town. True story.

7. People are not very aware of carbs here. Case in point: Friday lunch. Rice, beans, and fried potatoes. One kid got a baguette and made a sandwich of rice, beans, and fried potato.

8. Sometimes I see more cockroaches than I do kids. Is that a problem? My cockroach-killing skills, however, have drastically improved.

9. I have been seeing "punto de reunion" (reunion point) signs painted around town. I kept thinking, "Wow, before we had cell phones, they must have been really concerned about people being able to find each other." Um...turns out those signs signify where to go in an earth quake. Yup, that's right. My IQ is quickly dwindling here.

10. They close the office for Mother's Day. That's right! Any excuse for time off!