Comments on: Mexico City trash

By: Tom

Tom — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 04:25:47 +0000

Dear Kathleen,
Your post was great fun. We live in Mexico city, we have for the past 5 years. My wife is from here. We greatly enjoy your book as we are in the manufacturing business.

Now…
That post by Eric, is downright false. Filthier than NY??? Smellier than Paris??? He must not visit these cities often enough!! And Mexico City smelly because of Pemex. Seriously, get down with your roots. It’s ok, to like Mexico City, just like Kathleen does.

Viva Mexico!
Come visit, we have a lovely, clean, cosmopolitan, fun city!

By the way, Kathleen, how was the fashion here? Did you visit any designer stores?
Best,
Tom

By: Jasmin

Jasmin — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 06:31:49 +0000

Welcome back
The card thing is pretty standard in Australasia, along with notices to let you know if you would like to reduce water usage and re-use your towel, just hang it up, the staff only take it for laundering if you leave it on the floor for them.
Local recycling here is weekly – we get a special bin, and you can buy additional bins for about $10 US and the recycle staff leave your stuff (like polystyrene packing) if it can’t be recycled or doesn’t fit the guidelines. Actually, our re-cycling pick up guys are great and take the overflow anyway

By: nowaks nähkästchen

nowaks nähkästchen — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 20:45:08 +0000

Oh, I thought these card things were typically US… I know them from Pittsburgh. (Though never seen them in Europe.)

By: Lisa Bloodgood in Portland

Lisa Bloodgood in Portland — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 20:42:13 +0000

The traffic stuff reminds me of when I was in Istanbul in July ‘05. No one obeyed the signs, lights, or painted lines. If the lines made 3 lanes, they made it 6. It was crazy, but I never felt unsafe. Since they all drive crazy, they all know how to avoid accidents. When we were trying to cross a busy street, my friend just put out her hand and all the cars stopped.

Also, the taxis are all compact 4 door cars, just big enough to get 3 or 4 people in plus suitcases. No one ever wore seatbelts. I don’t even remember if the cars had any. At one point, one driver didn’t want to take 5 of us crammed in one taxi and wanted us to take 2 cars, but got in a huge argument with another driver who agreed to take us. Fare was really cheap, but more expensive at night. Across town was the equivalent of around $5.

By: Eddie B

Eddie B — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 03:01:34 +0000

welcome back! trash is indeed an interesting way to gain insight into a culture/life: http://www.goodmagazine.com/section/Features/the_private_life_of_trash

By: Eric H

Eric H — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 23:15:05 +0000

The city was full of weird opposites in juxtaposition. Despite a complete lack of reverence for traffic controls (people frequently blew off red lights, I saw cyclists going down the street against traffic, every single car in the city has at least one dent in it, just look at the jerry-rigged ropes holding those recycling sacks on the back of those trucks, etc.), I saw a cop stop a car and make a sign for the passenger to put her seatbelt on. Talk about rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic!

Sure, there was relatively little litter, but Mexico City has to be the filthiest city I have ever been in, worse even than Paris or New York. I think it’s mostly a result of the smells caused by a combination of the poor quality fuel sold by Pemex (the national oil company), the omnipresence of cigarette smoke, and the “ammonia aroma” in public spaces. Yet within a few hundred feet from each of the worst concentrations of that smell we found art to buy and beautiful little outdoor cafes with great food and service.

By: Natasha Estrada

Natasha Estrada — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 22:49:38 +0000

The rooms in singapore also have that card slot too. Compared to the wasteful US hotels where not only do you not have to return the plastic card but the last really fancy place I went ( celebrity hangout) gives you a velvet pouch to hold you keycard in ( which I did keep )

By: Marguerite Swope

Marguerite Swope — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 20:08:44 +0000

My hotel in Italy last summer had one of those card recepticals for electricity. Also, if you opened the patio door in your room, the air conditioner automatically shut off. How efficient!

Marguerite

By: /anne...

/anne... — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 00:22:00 +0000

We have a separate bin for recyclables, that gets emptied every fortnight. When I was a kid, the garbage truck had a hessian sack hanging off the back that they put bottles in.

I don’t think I’ve stayed in a hotel room in Australia that _doesn’t_ have the card thing. The thing I hate about it is if the power points are connected to it, the fridge defrosts and you have to reset the alarm clock every time!

(Australian hotel rooms ALWAYS have a fridge and tea/coffee making things)

By: Grace

Grace — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 23:11:56 +0000

I have used those hotel room key/light things before. Once was in Japan. But I could have sworn I used it someplace in the US once. Can’t recall where.