Puerto
Vallarta and Mexico, like the rest of
the civilized world,
uses the Metric system of measurements.
A few very odd countries,
such as the United States of America, still hold
on to outdated measurement systems by
using ridiculously illogical methods
of measuring distance by inches, feet,
and yards; liquids by pints, quarts
and gallons; and weights by ounces and
pounds. For the benefit of our visitors
to Puerto Vallarta from the U.S. who
still resist moving out of the stone-age,
we provide this simple chart for dealing
with what, to you, will be a different
method of measurements.
Think
about this amount... |
as
being this amount... |
but
it's actually exactly... |
| Pint |
almost
1/2 liter |
.47
liters |
| Quart |
almost
a liter |
.95
liters |
| Gallon |
almost
4 liters |
3.79
liters |
| 5
Gallons |
almost
19 liters |
18.93
liters |
| Inch |
about
2-1/2 cm |
2.54
cm |
| Foot |
about
30 cm |
30.48
cm |
| Yard |
a
bit less than a meter |
.91
meters |
| Mile |
about
1-1/2 km |
1.61
km |
| Pound |
a
bit less than 1/2 kilo |
.45
kilos |
| Ounce |
about
28 grams |
28.35
grams |
| Square
Foot |
almost
1/10 of a sq. meter |
.09
sq. meter |
| Square
Yard |
almost
1 sq. meter |
.84
sq. meter |
| Acre |
4/10
of a hectare |
.4047
hectares |
 Shoe
Sizes
are a whole different animal…we’re
not sure what the Mexican shoe size numbers
refer to, and this should be considered
a ‘rough guide’ to finding
a pair of shoes that fits you. As always,
try them on before you buy, as the actual
size from different manufacturers may
vary wildly: Note that Mexicans in general
are of smaller statue than Gringos, and
therefore finding size 11 or larger men's
shoes or size 9 or larger women's shoes
may be difficult without considerable
searching.
MEN'S SHOE SIZES:
U.S. |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
Mexico |
25 |
26 |
27 |
28 |
29 |
30 |
31 |
32 |
NOTE that finding Men's shoes in sizes larger than (U.S. size) 10 is difficult, unless you have shoes custom-made at one of Vallarta's many leather shops.
WOMEN'S SHOE SIZES:
| U.S. |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
| Mexico |
22 |
23 |
24 |
25 |
26 |
27 |
28 |
 TIME:
Mexicans are a very relaxed culture. Waiting
is part of life, and nobody gets uptight
about things not happening on the same
schedule as the rest of the world. Gringos
who move to Puerto Vallarta and are unable
to adapt to this new relaxed concept of
time are quickly driven crazy and most
of them return to their time-structured
lives back home. (The few that remain
simply annoy their quickly-dwindling pool
of friends with constant complaining.)
Here’s a few key
Mexican words, followed by their ‘dictionary
definition’, and then the reality:
“Ahora”
is defined as ‘now’ but actually
means ‘in a while’
“Ahorita”
is defined as ‘right now’
but actually means ‘in a little
while’
“Mañana”
is defined as ‘today’ but
actually means ‘some day other than
today’
“Cinco minutos”
is defined as ‘five minutes’
but actually means ‘five Mexican
minutes’, which could be up to 15
minutes of more
“Momentito”
is defined as ‘in a moment’,
but could actually mean ‘five Mexican
minutes’
If you are making time-sensitive
plans with a Mexican, it's best to confirm
what you mean: "5:15 Mexican time
or Gringo time?" or "He's coming
in cinco minutos or cinco Mexican minutos?".
These will be understood with a smile
and clarified in Puerto Vallarta.
ALSO
SEE "MEXICAN TIME AND TIME ZONES": Click
HERE.
|
More Mexico....