ON DRINKING

Not long after I arrived here, a friend wrote and asked me if "drinking" was a part of the culture in Mexico.  I answered with a resounding YES!!  Since then I have learned just how much.

One can assume that the natives in Mexico had alcohol long before the Spanish arrived with their wine.  Tequila and Raicilla are both made from a regional cactus.  So getting drunk here goes way back.  There doesn't appear to be any laws about drinking.  It is quite common to see men (never women; they drink at home) walking down the street with a plastic cup of beer, or a whole bottle.  You also see people in cars with bottles or cans of beer, including the driver.  The Mexicans love to party and booze is a big part of their parties.  One morning I saw hundreds of bottles strewn all over Plaza Cardenas left over from some other festivity that I also missed.

The Malecon is just one long line of bars where the tourists get loaded.  Every street in Puerto Vallarta has four of five bars and most corners have a tiny grocery store that sells liquor.  Occasionally you will see some guy passed out on the sidewalk.  He isn't really homeless, he just could not make it home.

The ex patriots who live here full time, or just spend the winters here have taken up the culture of drinking with abandon.  In the Zona Romantica where I live there are "neighborhood' bars and everyone has their favorite, but pub crawls are also the norm.  The most popular is Apache's.  Unlike most bars, they do not open until 5:00.  During the height of the season, if you want a seat outside, you had better arrive at 4:00 when they start putting out the tables and chairs.  Well we really don't have anything to do, so people congregate in the afternoons at bars.  Now you understand why I try to occupy my time with Spanish, the gym, and adopting parks.

Each bar has their "happy hour" when drinks are cheaper.  Some places like Apache's offer "two for one" which means if you slip over to the third drink, you are stuck for a fourth (it is free, right?)  Yes, I must admit many nights  I have staggered home after four Margaritas.  But compare to some people here who will drink all day and into the night, I look like a teetotaler.

There are also night clubs and discos that don't even open until 10:00 at night.  I have never been to one, but I am told that they don't really get busy until after midnight and you can drink until dawn.  Luckily it is cheap to drink here, especially during "happy hour"  when a bottle of beer is about $1.00 and a blended strawberry margarita can be had for as little as $2.50.  Apache"s is a little more up scale, but at two for one, you can still get pretty drunk for not much money.

I don't want to leave you with the impression that I am a total souse that you will one day find lying on the sidewalk, or curled up in some door way.  For one thing, I never drink far from home.  I don't start drinking until about 5:00 when Happy Hour starts (unless, of course I am at the beach).  I usually leave by the end of Happy Hour (about 7:00).  I may have a glass or two of white wine when I do get home, but HEY I am already home.  Also, maybe you can understand why these Blogs don't always get out on time.