Culture Shock Mexico [Paperback]

Mark Cramer (Author)

Book Description

Series: Culture Shock | Publication Date: March 1, 1998

Each book in the unique Culture Shock. serie s provides travellers with a practical guide to the culture, customs, traditions and society of the featured country. '

Product Details

• Paperback: 130 pages
• Publisher: Kuperard (March 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857332407
• ISBN-13: 978-1857332407
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,724,953 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars we use it as a textbook!, March 1, 2001

By 

suzan kardong-edgren (Arlington, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Culture Shock! Mexico (Culture Shock! A Survival Guide to Customs & Etiquette) (Paperback)

We teach a summer elective in Mexico for health professional students. Our 2 week in-country course focuses on learning the culture and language and health care systems of Mexico. This book is very useful because it gives a quick down and dirty synopsis of Mexican history (much longer and messier than U.S.history)that allows us, as teachers, to move into what we see as the aftermath, in the country today. It then moves onto the author's own experiences navigating the culture, with excellent tips, "to blend in" and understand what is going on around you. The details the author provides, such as going up to a stranger's house in the country, and asking "do you have any extra food today?" were true 20 years ago and are still true today. This provides the cultural context and informational detail we need, dealing with immigrants from these areas, in health care settings. It is not a guidebook. It is a hybrid...and very useful for those travelers who blaze their own paths, not the usual tourist tracks of Mexico.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Social and Cultural Mexico, March 29, 2000

By 

Steve (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Culture Shock! Mexico (Culture Shock! A Survival Guide to Customs & Etiquette) (Paperback)

I read this after reading the US State Travel Dept. Info Sheet which tends to be overly conservative and makes places sound like demilitarized zones. This guide put a little reality back into it. The author gives some cultural tips mainly for the gringo (US citizen) to help mostly in social situations. Especially useful, were the tips on how to recognize a good Mexican restaurant, how to address people in social situations, and other Mexicanisms such as various commonly used slang. The author also describes regional differences and urban/rural differences you may come across. I feel this is a good guide to get a feel for the people and the place especially for the casual visitor going to the non-tourist areas of Mexico so you don't act like such a gringo. Not really a book to keep as a long-term reference to Mexico, I'd try to borrow it before buying it. The author does give minor Mexican differences in pronouncing Spanish, but I think he assumes most readers have a basis for Spanish, or will have a phrase book for this.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating anecdotes, but needs an editor, June 15, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Culture Shock! Mexico (Culture Shock! A Survival Guide to Customs & Etiquette) (Paperback)

This entry in the Culture Shock! series provides a wealth of information about Mexico, but the author's presentation is rambling and disorganized. Of course, one could take this as a metaphor for Mexico: things appear to be chaotic, but generally they can be made to work. Tips for doing business in Mexico and handling social occasions are generally well-presented. The section on personal safety, in which the author relates his attempts to stay overnight in the worst sections of two Mexican cities to tempt fate, is instructive (he emerges unscathed) but does leave me wishing the jacket carried a photo of this fearless adventurer. (See the review of Culture Shock! Japan for general info on the series.)