Mexico "Way"

My stupid blurbs about anything and everything.....in addition to the ups and downs of living in Cancun, Mexico.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Your Directions Suck!

I grew up in Vancouver. Never really ventured out except to go to Burnaby (next city beside Vancouver) or Richmond (another city beside Vancouver). You don't have to go on any major highways to get to either of these cities and as I result, I never really went on highways, nor did I drive. If I did go on them to go to martial arts tournaments, my boyfriend or mom would drive and I never cared to pay attention to how we got to and from there.

So as a result, highways freak me the hell out. Well, actually, highways here freak me out. It's not as simple as the ocean being on one side and the jungle being on the other, and driving in a straight line to get to Puerto Morelos, Playa del Carmen, or even Tulum. All you really have to worry about are people without break lights, speed bumps, and road kill. Ok, well maybe thats not the entire truth. There is a reason why that highway is called "The Highway of Death". But to me, it's something I just understand better and feel more comfortable with.

Since I'm staying with my mom until I move into my own place, I've had to get use to the whole highway thing. She lives a lot farther from where I grew up and if you want to go anywhere, you have to take the highway. This is all fine and dandy if you go to the same place every day. But if you don't, it's a little more complicated than that. I don't understand the highway names or numbers or the exits. They have me all sorts of kerflucked. Cars whiz by and they all seem to know where they are going except me. If you are in the wrong lane or the you take the wrong exit....forget about it!

But my favorite is, the directions I get. When I have to go somewhere new, and have to take a completely new route, I cannot understand the directions for the life of me.

I do know know what street Lougheed is or how to get to it. I do not know if once I find it, if I should go left or right. I do not know if when you tell me to take the #48 exit if that means I should take #48A or #48B exit....because you failed to mention that there were TWO. I do not get that there is highway #1 East, and highway #1 West, and that god forbid I miss correct exit, I will end up in Northern British Columbia. Sure. This may seem simple to you, but your directions suck.

The directions I understand are as follows:

Leave your house, go out the gate, turn right at the security guard booth, go down to almost the end of the street and turn left at the big white house with the palm tree sticking out of its roof. Go down one block past the tienda and turn right. Turn left at the construction site. Go to the first set of lights....and turn left. You are going to drive for a long while and you will pass a starbucks, and then some schools and then when you curve up to the right, stay in the left lane and turn left. Go straight until you pass 8 topes, make a right at the next corner after that, and go straight until you see a bright yellow house. Park across the street in front of the house with the dogs barking and go up the red staircase and knock.

Now THAT is what I call good directions.

17 Comments:

  • At 4:49 PM, July 27, 2008, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Welcome to Vancouver and its interesting style of driving. We moved from Burnaby out to the rural lands called Maple Ridge and when we get into the truck to drive into town on occasion it now scares me too.

     
  • At 9:28 PM, July 27, 2008, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Sounds like you could use a GPS system in your car to tell you how to get where you need to go.

    Until then, googlemaps and randmcnally.com are pretty spot on. They give the exact exits as well as which side of the road the exit is on.

    Oh...no speeding, you will surely pass your turn an we will be forced to call out the troops looking for ya!

    Michelle N Chicago

     
  • At 5:28 AM, July 28, 2008, Blogger Fned said…

    hahaha! I know what you mean. I still can't drive in Paris where the stop lights are on standing on the left sidewalks like lamp posts instead of hanging overheads like they do in Mexico. I keep running past red lighs when I drive here cuz I simply don't see them!

    Fned.

     
  • At 5:29 AM, July 28, 2008, Blogger Fned said…

    P.S. I vote for the GPS too. Get one girl before you end up in Seattle or something like that!

     
  • At 7:45 AM, July 28, 2008, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I just read your blog to Norb and we are both LOL!!!

    janie

     
  • At 11:58 AM, July 28, 2008, Blogger CancunCanuck said…

    LOL, I thought for sure you would be raving about how well everyone drives and how easy it is to get around, que raro! Cuidado amiga, be careful out there!

     
  • At 1:08 PM, July 28, 2008, Blogger My Way said…

    Ray - Oh good I'm glad I'm not the only one!

    Michelle - I've been thinking long and hard about getting one. Praying that if I use Mapquest...I may not need it.

    Fned - Funny because, the lights don't flash before they change to red so I often find that I'm slamming on the breaks or my timing is off. With all the traffic screw ups in Mexico, I will say that the flashing lights before red is a good thing to have.

    Janie - I am here to entertain thee.

    Canuck - Actually everyone here drives wonderfully. The problem is, I don't know where I'm going when it comes to outside Vancouver and highways. While I'm in my childhood stomping ground, it's all good in the hood. In addition, since Vancouver is such an awesome city, the 2010 winter olympics will be here and the city is in a rush to make things perfect for this event. As a result, Vancouver has a lot of construction, road repairs, skytrain building going on and in the past 6 years, it has changed a lot. Take a visit up north and you'll see a little of the same in TO I'm sure.

     
  • At 1:54 PM, July 28, 2008, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Let me know if you want to touch base on the phone. We are working our way to moving to Merida soon.

     
  • At 6:09 PM, July 28, 2008, Blogger Theresa in Mèrida said…

    I got a kick out of your post. I give directions take 101 north, take the 3rd Petaluma exit, at the stop sign go left (west). Go another .75 mi until you get to the blue house with the red car. If you go past the 7/11 you went too far.
    The last directions I got here were go past Mega until you get to the honda dealer, go towards Tulum....

    First off, Mega is on a corner, then should I go east,west,north or south. I had never heard of the colonia so how was I supposed to find it???
    Nobody knows how to give good directions anymore.
    regards,
    Theresa

     
  • At 11:16 PM, July 29, 2008, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Regarding the street lights. Just so ya know the red light doesn't flash BUT there is an amber light that goes on BEFORE the RED one to let you know that the red light is coming on!!! Hello

     
  • At 1:38 PM, August 02, 2008, Blogger barry said…

    I hardily recommend getting a GPS , they are so amazing. takes away ALL the worry about getting somewhere.. you dont even have to Look at it,, its verbal ,,"You going to turn in 100 yards,, , Turn NOW .. ( mine even has a cheeky chip.. You Missed the Turn, I have to recalulate!!, ),and they are getting Cheaper . I have a TomTom One and it works like a charm .An Aternative is Pick your Information Sources well..Pick a Portly pedestrian .. Instead of hearing,, Go 2 blocks , turn left on Ash Street, then right of Williams, , Past the 3rd light , ..etc... you will hear Turn Left At Dunkin Donuts,, go straight till you see KFC , turn left and then straight to Wendy's,, its across the street,, These Signs are 40 ft tall .. .. and before this post gets bombarded with ' "Thats rude" 'comments..I want to add, I just bought one of those Talking Scales,and the first thing I heard when I tried it was 'ONE AT A TIME"

     
  • At 9:44 PM, August 02, 2008, Blogger My Way said…

    Ray - If there is anything I can help with let me know. Either that or ask Theresa! She's the expert on Merida! Well her and Mimi and Jonna!

    Theresa - Hey...I'm with you. Give me directions I can follow!

    Barry - Thanks for the great advice becaues mapquest sucks. Couldn't find two locations that I was trying to go to. The yellowpages worked like a charm but still if i screw up and make the wrong turn, there is big trouble in little china. I've never heard of the tomtom gps but will look into it because I like how it gives directions. I may not need it once I get my job and just have to go to and from it every day and nowhere else. Problem is I'm currently out in the boonies and don't know my way around here and have been going everywhere shopping. Thanks for the advice.

     
  • At 9:06 AM, August 03, 2008, Blogger barry said…

    your Welcome Liz,,I liked this one because not only can you get a deal on it,bought mine for $129.(MRSP $199) at Best Buy( whats that now, about $32 Canadian..) but since GPS Satilites are recalibrated weekly,, you plug this in to your computer once a week and it gets fully recharged and recalibrated at the same time, in about 4 hrs (and you can also find a car charger on Ebay for about $6 for longer roadtrips),, Happy Trails

     
  • At 10:13 AM, August 04, 2008, Blogger barry said…

    PS..forgot to mention , when you recalibrate, TomTom also updates your GPS to any new road info including better routes due to construction.. "They" may all do this but been real happy buying from these folks... adios

     
  • At 7:31 AM, August 05, 2008, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Thanks and I must read all the blogs on Merida as well as talking live to folks that have moved there.

    Also, on an earlier post yuou mentioned the gas thing and having to pay up front and that is due to a law here in the province. The law came about due a horrible incident where a gas station attendant, young person, tried to stop a "gas and dash" and was dragged to his death.

     
  • At 11:32 AM, August 06, 2008, Blogger My Way said…

    Barry - Thanks again!

    Ray - Um...dragged? Yikes!

     
  • At 8:33 PM, August 06, 2008, Blogger Islagringo said…

    GPS? Do you really drive that much to totally different areas and places? When I drove the Jeep all the way from Minnesota to Brownsville, Tx, I used Yahoo Maps. Just printed out the pages and away I went. Every turn and sign they told me about was true!

     

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