Street Kids
You are certain to be accosted by young children selling 'chiclets' and other things, some can be pretty pushy as well. Some of these kids are being exploited by their parents or some other adults nearby. We have in Puerto Vallarta support programs for these children in need. Please help by not giving them money or buying things from them, this only encourages the problem. You will be helping them to stay off the streets and away from exploitation.


I guess I must confess in having friends, very young and awful cute, who you'll find around the Los Muertos Beach area in the evenings, and I sometimes buy things from them, They have some very strange, weirdly painted, animals made from 'who knows what' with bobbing heads. That was the season before and still some about, the latest I saw was an egg shaped thing with a hinged lid, containing a spider with moving legs, all brightly painted for 15 pesos. Also some very young and cute flower sellers.



You'll also see the 'Marias', indian looking, older women squatting on the street begging, just what you expected to see in Mexico, Right? Wrong, these women are well organized and are brought to the edge of El Centro by van, then they go to their spots, sometimes with kids, who may, or may not, be theirs.

Read what another resident of Mexico says:
"Mexico isn't a culture of poverty, it is simply a different culture. Though poverty indeed exists it is relative to the socio-economic culture in which it exists. Using that measuring stick there is a lot less poverty here in Mexico than is being inferred. Poor but happy, translates into not so poor for Mexicans who believe that they are better off than many people with more money. The poverty problem by U.S.Mexico has had very little in the past couple of decades in particular. But many Mexicans look at the problems the U.S. and other "superpowers" have and they feel very fortunate to be Mexicans and sorry for the first-worlders with their myopic vision of the world. Straying a bit, contrary to popular belief the U.S. is NOT the center of the world and most of the rest of the world does not aspire to imitate the U.S. Here in Mexico we are generally proud to be Mexicans, as U.S. citizens are generally proud to be 'Americans' ".
Quoted by kind permission of Zihu@Rob - MexicoConnect Forum standards is more closely related to economic opportunities, of which

For your Information When you visit, please don't try to apply your standards on the Mexican Culture, remember the History of Mexico goes back further than any other part of North America. ......
and that name America should be cleared up. The name comes from Amerigo Vespucci (another Italian), who was a major figure in exploration and sighted the coast of Brazil in 1499. The name 'American' therefore applies to all residents of the two continents, from Canada to the tip of South America. So, if you happen to come from 'The United States of America', keep in mind that Mexicans, as well as all the other residents of the two continents, are also 'Americans'. If asked 'where are you from ?' ..'The US' or 'United States' is much preferable to 'America'. I'm afraid North America won't cut it either, since this also includes Mexico.

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