Living in Monterrey, Mexico - cultural differences (Part 2) 

"Fresa" (strawberry) includes boys and girls, but I guess it can be more stereotypically noticable in girls as you described. It's just a slang word that can apply to anyone who grew up in the upper middle class or high class and hence has a certain accent, vocabulary, clothing, and lifestyle. They don't call themselves "fresa" except to tease each other or joke about it. I think it's just a matter of perspective... people in the lower middle class might call those in the upper middle class "fresa"... and people in the upper middle class might call very wealthy high class people "fresa"... although not all the time, It's used within certain contexts. And anyone can call anyone fresa as a joke if they did something, bought something, or have a hobby that appears to be posh.

Hi, first time seeing your video, welcome to Monterrey. One thing about “ahorita”, it not necessarily means no time, instead of that it is like “let me finish first what I’m doing right now”. Now about being late, it just applies in social reunions, not work meetings. And the reason of being late for a reunion like a party is that no one wants to came first because people would think that you are too anxious. So is better if you came half an hour late.

I totally agree. You have describe us really well

Great information… regarding close friendships, this is a little complicated and has nothing to do with safety (as you mentioned on early videos, they didnt wanted to hurt your feelings). The truth is that many Regios and specially if you live in San Pedro, many friends have known each other since kindergarten, so bringing someone new to the group is hard but not impossible. In my group of friends which some I know since Kinder, we have some other that joined at high-school and a foreigner from Sweden that ended up getting married to a friend (girl), so he was adopted in the group. That doesn’t mean it is impossible, but is difficult since they will always be talking about experiences they had at school, trips, etc and makes that weird and uncomfortable for outsiders. Even between well known friends, they will have many groups for different purposes. I dont know if that make sense. Groups for martecitos, juevecitos, carne asada and in some groups even two different groups get together. I live in Mexico City and that does not happen here.

AMOOO MI MONTERREY ♥️✝️ BENDICIONES

Ahorita= now, tomorrow or Never,, it all depends in my mood,,

Hi, I just stumbled on this video while researching Monterrey. I live in Merida and am looking for another location to move as I don't care for it here. Monterrey was on my list. I love how easy going you seem and have no problem telling it like you see it! I appreciate the refreshing honesty as many on social media will criticize and find issues with your views. Your video 1 & 2 is something to consider for me , especially the ones that won't speak or acknowledge you when you speak and just act like you're invisible. Im not sure if that would be a good fit for me as I would most likely eventually say to someone , "bitch you heard me speak to you, how ignorant!". Regardless, thanks for expressing your opinion!

Great video. Im planning a week vacation and is always good to know .

Fun fact, "If you can drive in Monterrey, you can drive anywhere" regards 😊✌️

Adding to the household. It’s common to have, stay in home help. A person that lives in your house, and helps to clean, laundry, cooking. They leave on Saturday and come back on Monday. This is very common with women that are home stay wives.

Decir "Girlfriends" se escucha raro .. como si dijeras mis novias .. se escucharia menos raros si dijeras "Female friends"..

Hvala puno 😅 my girlfriend has said that everything you said is accurate thank you so much I will also be a Croatian than speaks 10 languages that will soon come to Monterrey not sure if I’ll live there tho you are great hvala ti puno 🇭🇷

There are definitely fresa guys, just google roberto palazuelos, now he’s old but when he was young he was famous for that

Also saw your part 1 and I really appreciate honest commentary on foreigners commentary living here. Some more info for you: Time: Yeah, Mexican time is special. However, just like 'indirectness', people up north are *way* more mindful of timeliness than people in the center and south of the country. Seriously go live anywhere in the south and its like clocks and schedules don't exist at all. That drives even regios crazy, let alone europeans... Fresas: Yes fresas can be men too. That doesn't make them gay, fresa men have their own speech patterns and mannerisms. Since you clearly have friends of upper-middle class or upper class, you're probably surrounded by them and don't even realize it lol. Fresa is generally a stereotype for 'spoiled' rich people that are kinda shallow, kinda dumb, and snobbish, and sometimes that's true. But I'd say a lot of fresas are not necessarily bad people, just... out of touch. Being rich in a poor country means people sometimes live in a bubble and don't understand how the average person actually lives and thinks. What is normal to them might come across as insensitive and obnoxious to others even if they had no ill intent. Heat and cars: 100% the worst things of living here. Entrepreneur spirit: The can-do mindset is truly a unique part of the culture and the pride of the town, and lots of people do indeed build their businesses out of nothing but determination and sweat. But also a lot of them build their businesses out of daddy's endless pocket... a lot of them 'succeed' when everything is handed on a silver platter and not allowed to fail because dad can keep funding the broke company for a decade, or if your family owns the commerical lot or office space its easy to out compete others when you don't have to pay rent... On regards to the friendliness of the entrepreneur circles that's kind of a mixed thing. There's sure a lot of camaraderie and support among them, but once you move past the micro business environment of hipster coffee shops, boutique jewelry, flower arrangements, event planning and photography into middle-sized businesses, things get cut-throat very, very fast. Business is a very savage environment... I'm telling you this after 8 years of running a business. Closed friend circles and safety: Someone below said it has nothing to do with safety, and he's dead wrong. This is totally a thing among the upper class. They are afraid of being kidnapped, because narcos will kidnap rich kids and extort their parents for big bucks (this used to be a huge thing ~10 years ago when the narco war was very hot in MTY, but still happens and it's kept very hush-hush... they'll say they went on a trip or had some illness to justify their disapperance). So they are taught since children to keep very closed circles and be suspicious because that friendly person they met might be working with organized crime. This is not a thing among non-rich people, who sure have friend groups since young, but they're not paranoid about letting people in... Seems like you need to expand your social circles to enrich your experience and understanding of the city.

Lots of very helpful information! Wow traffic sounds quite bad. Do people use motorbikes there? Easier to navigate through traffic?

If you hate bumpy cars but don’t try to understand the reality of Mx you should have stayed in Europe, constructive criticism is ok but not without the sufficient research, your perspective seems superficial…and I agree that is the immigrant who needs to adjust not the other way around

I thought you added Taylor Swift picture as click bait 😀😎 you resemble her in this video 😘

Monterrey sucks !! Sorry but true