Rant: Sidewalks in V@llarta

You try to avoid walking in the street in V@llarta. Cars don't really have respect. And forget about the buses. The ways those guys drive, it's surprising people aren't killed daily. I always err way on the side of caution when crossing anywhere near a bus. If I don't make eye contact and get a nod from the driver, I'm not crossing. In the rainy season, streets can become flooded, so a sidewalk is welcomed. And well, those cobblestone streets. They're quaint and cute for about 5 minutes. Try walking on them on a regular basis. And in platform shoes? Forget it!

Then you have the sidewalks. When you're really unlucky, you have a situation where it looks like a backhoe came and dug up the sidewalk, leaving it in pieces in a heap. Sometimes you can walk precariously on it, but other times you're better off walking in the street. And forget about handicap accessibility here. Sometimes a sidewalk will turn into stairs. Sometimes the stairs will be uniform height..but usually not. You might have a 4 inch step or a 7 inch step - who knows? Building codes? Who needs stinking building codes? Let's make steps however we want to make them. It keeps people guessing and adds excitement to life. And then you have the situation where in the middle of the block, you might find a huge drop in the sidewalk. You're walking along, la-di-dah, when all of the sudden the sidewalk ends and drops down 2 feet! Better watch your step when you're drunk.

Not to mention the fact that most sidewalks barely accomodate the width of 2 people. And then there are the people who stand side by side on a sidewalk, and you see that they see you coming, but they don't make way for you. What's the protocol? I still haven't figured it out. Usually you sweetly say, "Con permiso" (excuse me) when really you want to say "Get out of my fucking way! Don't you see me walking down the sidewalk? Where the fuck am I supposed to go with your fat ass standing in the way?" But this is Mexxico, and you don't lose your cool here and you just accept things as they are.