Living at Lake Chapala in Mexico

Mordita

Sometimes just learning Spanish words is not enough.

Mordita, translated literally means a little bite. That's probably why the word has been used to also mean the small bite traffic cops sometimes accept in order to not ticket drivers.

While the government has been striving to reduce incidences of mordita, each of us needs to think through the situation and then decide how we will respond to situations in which a small mordita might be accepted, alleviating the payment of a much higher fine or bigger problem.

We received an email a while back from a man who had been stopped for driving the wrong way on a one-way street. He was convinced that since the block on which he was driving didn't have a one-way sign that the transito (traffic) officer was simply trying to get a holiday mordita (bribe).

As we've said so many times, the way Mexico works is very different than the countries North of the border. Each of us in this country - Mexican or foreigner is expected to take responsibility for our own actions. In this case, our subscriber is responsible to learn which streets are one-way and to know which direction to travel on each one - whether each block is marked or not.

Mordita bothers a lot of newcomers; others take it in stride. One long-time resident said that he felt paying mordita was a good example of taxation with representation?he paid the traffic cop with which he was doing business. He felt that in most cases the amount he paid on the spot was far less than the time and money involved in coming back to pay the ticket. In many cases, I think he is right.

Your best defense against mordita (the little bite) is to ask the officer to write a ticket for your offense. Offer to follow him back to his headquarters so you can pay the ticket?just as you would in the U.S. As a matter of fact, that's also a good way to determine if the violation is real or only a front for mordita? if they are only interested in the money, they won't be anxious to write a ticket.

My experience with mordita
About two years ago I was happy to pay a significant mordita to end a fairly situation in which I was certainly at fault. I made an illegal left hand turn from the highway onto an Ajijic street. For 15 years, I've been legally making that turn, and while I knew the rules changed when the stop light was installed at the OXXO corner, that morning I was driving on "automatic pilot."

When the officer approached my door and asked for my license, I realized I had a second strike against me?both of my own making and my own responsibility. I'd left the house without my purse. My license was at home.

Next the officer asked for my car importation papers. While I've told countless participants at the weekly Living at Lake Chapala newcomers seminar to make copies of these valuable documents and to never carry the original papers in the car.

Guess what? It was a clear example of do what I say, not what I do. Worse yet, when I pulled those original documents from the glove box I immediately noticed that the most important document, the one that proves I had legally imported the car was blank.

Somehow, when I'd brought the car across the border back in August of 1998, the officials (and I) had missed filling in my name, and the car's pertinent information. The blanks for the car's make, model, VIN number and license plate data were all blank.

As the officer began talking about the impound lot (he was absolutely within his rights to impound my car. For the moment I appeared to be illegally in Mexico). I began considering my few remaining options.

I knew the only way to straighten out the paperwork would be to drive the car back to the border. I also knew that I wouldn't be able to remove the car from the impound yard without proper paperwork, and meanwhile the car would be accruing additional fees every day it remained in impound. It was the most glorious example of all catch-22 situations.

Basically I realized that if I couldn't pay a mordita to this officer, I was in effect going to relinquish my car ? and I had no one to blame but myself. I was totally responsible.

I was delighted to solve the whole situation with an $800 pesos mordita. Yes, I paid the officer about $75 U.S. and yes, in the following weeks I solved the car's paperwork problems. As we used to say back in Iowa, I think that solution was cheap at the price.

By the way, if I hadn't been in the wrong on all three problems, I would have handled the situation differently. In fact, if I hadn't been wrong on any of the points, I would have talked long and hard, and in the worst case would have insisted that the officer write me a ticket.

The other meaning of mordita
At birthday celebrations here at Lake Chapala, once assembled guests finish singing the lovely words of the traditional song, "Las Maņanitas" and the candles have been extinguished, the guests begin chanting "Mordita, Mordita, Mordita!" (Little bite, little bite, little bite!)

At this point the guest of honor?child or adult has a choice. He or she can either lean forward to take a bite of the cake or wait for someone in the crowd to help by shoving his or her face into the cake. The most popular party photo of all is that of is of a smiling child, his or her mouth and nose covered in icing.

Life is good at Lake Chapala

Labels: birthday parties, bribes, Mordita

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Judy King is publisher of  Mexico Insights' Living at Lake Chapala, a monthly online magazine for people interested in Mexico's Lake Chapala region, in the state of Jalisco.

Judy, a 16-year resident of Ajijic on Lake Chapala's north shore, conducts weekly newcomer's seminars, shares her expertise about Mexico in her monthly online magazine, and in the "Mexico Lindo" column for the Lake Chapala Review.

Judy also is a speaker for local organizations and visiting tour groups about the Lakeside area and Mexican customs and holidays.