Saw this the other day on the way to the mall...made me laugh. I wonder what the señoras look like after coming out of there...

¿Juay?

If you are a tourist in Mexico City and you see this billboard, you'll probably be thinking..."hmm - I didn't learn the word juay in spanish 101 back in highschool." It's ok, you are right, you didn't. That's because it doesn't exist. It's the Mexican pronunciation of WHY. At least according to local news anchor Joaquin Lopez Doriga.

So why is the city sky dotted with these ads? The bookstore chain Gandhi is famous for its quirky, smart, and thought provoking marketing - and this is just another example of them using current social buzz in one of their campaigns. 

(For a whole list of the their campaigns over the years, check out their publicity page here).

Anyway, so juay did this become an infamous line? It's a result of sound and translation complications during an interview with Anthony Hopkins, where Lopez Doriga tried his hand at English by asking Mr. Hannibal Lecter why he chose to do the film The Rite. Needless to say, tweeters went crazy with his obvious lack of English speaking skills. 

It's just 4 minutes of absolute awkwardness. 

Banking in Mexico, Part One

Random thoughts on banking in Mexico...and this is just the first part. 

Debit cards here don't have your name on them. At least the ones from Bancomer don't. Do other bank's debit cards have names on them?

Pro: when you lose yours {or if it's stolen...ahem!} you can get a replacement card immediately by going to any branch with your I.D. and checking account information. Right then and there they assign a new card to your account. 

Con: you need to really be careful with your card. If you lose it and don't realize straight away, anyone can forge your signature...there is no way to match the card to the owner. 

An old debit card...I still erased the number to be safe ;)

Anyway, that was my random thought today while I was at the bank this morning when I realized that in all the other countries I've lived in, your name was always on your debit card.

I'm still debating whether this is a good or bad thing.

Only in Mexico! {although this could be the Philippines too}

I see these "mecanicos" all the time during our trips between DF and Cuernavaca...

And this is one of the ones in better shape compared to others I've seen. LOL!

Would you trust who ever is driving that to fix your car? I guess I shouldn't laugh...they could end up being a godsend one day. {knock on wood}