20 Sights You See In Guadalajara

1. Shoe Stores. Lots of them. Today I counted 10 on one block.
   
2. Buses (Camiones). But don't expect to find a route map or a schedule anywhere. The locals seem to have the routes memorized.
3. Fruit Stands. These come in two forms -- larger tiendas (corner stores) that prop open their garage like doors every day and sell all the fruits and veggies you'd buy in the grocery store and then some, or small corner stands that slice up melons and sell them in a plastic cup.
4. Litter. Seems there has never been a "Keep Mexico Beautiful" campaign. And good luck finding a trash can.
5. Concrete. Houses, buildings, streets, sidewalks...everything is made of concrete. And along with this, you will find in the window of every hardware store wheel-barrow's and bags of concrete mix.
6. Churches. One cab driver told me there are 450 churches in Guadalajara...Catholic of course. Most of them have bells that they ring on the hour, half hour, sometimes on the quarter hour, and occasionally at other times that don't seem to have much logic (maybe it is a call to mass?). Most churches have either a fountain or a "kioska" (a gazebo) in their courtyard.
7. Kids in Uniform. Seems most of the kids go to private school, especially the younger ones. The little kids wear green pants with green sweaters, the teenage girls wear the good old schoolgirl plaid skirts with white polo shirts. To dress it up, they wear funky socks.
8. People in Pickups. I'm pretty sure it is illegal in most places in the states to ride in the back of a pickup truck (no seat belts), but here it is common place. I've seen cops riding in the back of trucks, little kids standing in traffic, and tired workers taking naps in the back of trucks without back ends to keep them in.
   
9. Homeless People with Deformed Feet & Legs. Seems the Rotary Club might have missed Guadalajara. To their credit though, the homeless people are pretty few and far between (considering the population is 4 million)
   
10. Opticos. Almost every block in the city has an optical store. They've also all got a "mini-super" (a tiny convenience store), a shoe store, a paper store (because gift wrap gets its own store here) and a costume shop.
    
11. Dulces (sweets). Three forms: candy, ice cream, and "pan de dulces" (bakeries). As a result, you will also notice that most women over 30 pack on a few extra pounds.
12. Homes. Tons and tons of them. The city seems to have a never ending sprawl of residential areas. The houses are all skinny and built adjacent to each other, like row homes. Interestingly, this seems to be true of all income classes--we went on a drive around what I would call a "richie neighborhood" and those houses were adjoined as well--just bigger.
    
13. Old Colonial Buildings. The heart of the city is 450 years old and the architecture reflects it. My favorite part are the pigeons that congregate in the plazas.
14. People Selling Random Stuff. Toys, keychains, fresh potato chips (which of course you douse in hot sauce and lime), fruit, bubble wands, sticks of gum, magazines, newspapers, popsicles, window washings, you name it...
15. Tile. Many of the sidewalks are paved in tile. On top of concrete, of course.
16. Roundabouts. An attempt to manage the insane traffic. Most of them have very lovely fountains in the middle.
17. Tacos & Abogados. There are taco stands everywhere. Some are permanent restaurants, others are mobile street stands. Most of the restaurants also sell abogados (I'm probably spelling that wrong), which are something like a philly cheese steak--shredded meat, beens, and hot sauce on a hoagie bun. I'm not a big fan of the abogados but Erik likes them.
    
18. Jesus. Of course this is pronounced "Hey-soos". He's everywhere. Every bus has at least one, and there are numerous billboards around town.
19. Farmacias. My favorite is the one with the "Doctor Similar" mascot. No difficulty finding a place to fill your Rx here.
    
20. Delivery Drivers on Mopeds. No matter what the weather, if you order your food to go, it comes via moped. And you should see the "all weather" getup that the driver wears. With the almost daily rain shower, this is much needed.