On the surface life in Mexico looks hard when compared with daily life in Australia. Whether you look in large cities or the small rural villages. Houses and buildings are of a completely different standard comparatively speaking.
It appears that Mexico has little in the way of government welfare, and people of all ages are working hard nearly seven days a week to earn an income. I am not sure what the average income is in Mexico. Along any street in any town or village you'll find people of all ages working, selling food, trinkets, souvenirs, music cds, anything at all within reason and the law.
Mexican cities seem to revolve around a zocalo (town square) where the main Catholic cathedral is located. Each zocalo generally features a central rotunda and gardens and around the perimeter are all manner of restaurants, retail shops and cafes. The zocalo is a hive of activity either day or night and you'll find mariachis, street performers, parades, fireworks and all sorts of local sellers. Boys from as young as 5 years of age walk the streets looking to shine your shoes for a few pesos and young girls with their mothers and babies are peddling chewing gum and trinkets. There are ice cream vendors, balloon sellers and grandmothers from surrounding villages selling all sorts of indigenous handiwork and textiles.
As you venture away from the zocalos you start entering into the market areas for most Mexicans. There are street stalls selling pirated dvd and computer software, clothing and shoe stores, computer stores, food outlets, grocers, automotive shops, supermarkets and furniture manufacturers. There doesn't appear to be any town planning requirements and food stores and restaurants are often located next to woodworker factories and automotive shops.
The traffic throughout these areas is chaotic at best as pedestrians and street stalls mingle with cars, taxis, motor bikes, gas and water delivery trucks, all on very narrow roads and side walks. Throw in some loud music blaring out from large speakers and the occasional street parade and "The Rocket Men" and you start to get a sense of what it is like. But somehow there is order amongst the chaos and it just works.
Christianity is a major part of Mexico and it underpins the culture and everyday life. Churches and cathedrals everywhere and wherever you look you find religious icons, crucifixes, rosary beads and images of religious figures. I have read that the Virgin Mary is revered more by the Mexicans than Jesus Christ and this is probably due to Virgin Mary's appearance to Juan Diego in 1531, Our Lady Of Guadalupe.
But more than anything, Mexicans love a party and they certainly do it well. They are loud, garish, colourful and over the top. Sometimes they make no sense. For example during one the street parades for Guadalupe, you have images of the Virgin Mary next to people dressed up as Mayan kings and queens, Spanish conquistadors and people in horrific monster masks. Very strange, but they seem to enjoy themselves.
