Patience

Stop and Smell the Bougainvilleas

That furniture you ordered. Setting up internet service. The appointment you scheduled. The check at the restaurant. Your change for the check at the restaurant. In Mexico, these things all happen with a pace and timeliness that people from the U.S. and Canada are not accustomed to. And if foreigners cannot adapt to the pace of these things in Mexico, then many of their experiences in Mexico will likely be frustrating. In Mexico, one must adopt the cultural expectations for timeliness, or one must bang one's head against the wall.

“On Mexican time” is more than just a t-shirt slogan. It is a manifest concept. It's not that the concept of time itself is different in Mexico (don't worry, your wristwatch will still work in Mexico the same as it does anywhere else on earth), but the adherence to time - to schedules - is different. The obsession with timeliness is different. If someone in Mexico tells you that something will take a week, it is expected and OK if it takes 2 weeks. Or even 4, on the odd occasion.

And it's not that Mexicans are lying about how long something will take. Instead, the urgency to meet a communicated deadline is what is different - that urgency is simply much less "urgent" in Mexico. Mexico doesn't have the same kind of work takes precedence over everything else, period mindset that the cultures north of the border have adopted. Family is more important, friends are more important, enjoying life is more important.

This doesn't mean that Mexicans are not hard working; Mexicans are, generally speaking, incredibly hard working and industrious, and strive to do work they are very proud of. Mexicans often have longer work hours than people in the U.S. and Canada do. But there are imperatives other than work here, and they occupy a larger mindshare.

Another important consideration to keep in mind with respect to time schedules is this: many businesses in Mexico are struggling to acquire and retain employees. The unemployment in Mexico right now is at an historic low of 2.7%. This definitely is having an impact on how quickly businesses can provide their services.

I will admit, I sometimes forget all this. Because I still work for a US-based company, I have to adhere to US-based time commitments in my work life. And I'll frequently let this adherence to that "foreign" concept of time and schedule slip into my definition of time and schedule in Mexico. I'll create some unreasonable expectation for getting something delivered or installed or repaired within a timeframe which I've decided to believe in. This is on me, and when I recognize it happening, I remind myself where I am, and why I'm here in the first place: I appreciate the culture here; I enjoy and often prefer the cultural differences; I don't want to be always embedded in the rat-race that much of U.S. life has become. I remind myself that - like Dorothy - I am not in Kansas anymore. I remind myself to chill out.

I also try to expel the word "punctual" - or the idea of punctuality - from my vocabulary. "Punctual" carries cultural bias: in the U.S. and Canada, being punctual is good, not being punctual is bad. In Mexico, those are judgments that don't make much sense. Punctuality is a cultural expectation - best to just go ahead and leave it out of your suitcase when you pack for Mexico.

There are always exceptions

So I've been focusing on how schedules often run longer than expected in Mexico, which is an inaccurate generalization. Some things happen more quickly here: construction is usually faster, often taking significantly less time than construction north of the border. Quite often, people will show up for a service appointment before the scheduled time. Even days before. So I guess it is better to say that schedules in Mexico are more fluid, not more slow (although they’re often more slow 😉).

And then there are schedules that aren't fluid. Don't expect to show up 20 minutes after your scheduled departure time and make your flight, or bus, or whatever. The transportation sector of course relies on accurate schedules. Formal business meetings are expected to start on time. Have an appointment with a banker? You should probably arrive a few minutes early. If you can. Don't sweat it if you can't.

Going with the flow

So to make the most of your experience in Mexico, lean into this schedule fluidity. It underlies much of what makes Mexico the unique and happy place that it is. And, if you reject the idea of living in an environment wherein the clock and the calendar don't represent firm definitions of what you want and when you can get it, well - there's always Switzerland.