Handy Conversions for Mazatlan

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Mexico, like the rest of the civilized world, uses the Metric system of measurements. A few very odd countries, such as the United States, still hold on to outdated measurement systems by using ridiculously illogical methods of measuring distance by inches, feet, and yards; liquids by pints, quarts and gallons; and weights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 Mazatlan 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	40 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 in Mazatlan 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

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 Mazatlan 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 Mazatlan.