Me and the Garica Garcia Brothers in Monterrey Mexico

The experience left me truly humbled. I was treated like a brother and will never forget the generosity of the family and community.

In this post, I will explain lessons of how I met the Garicias on the street, gained acceptance and safety when alone.

The Street Meet
The premise, is you hang out in a place with community feel and near a university and wait for someone to take you home. It worked for me but it was pretty freaky and I cannot give tips without sounding like a douche. For the majority I recommend couch surfing not street meets.

Inter-cultural social networking

Now you have a place to stay some ideas for becoming a champion.

• Learn the basic greetings

My Spanish sucked but I quickly learned the basic greetings.
Knowing the greetings plus follow-ups in social situations (there will be many) puts others at ease and gives you more respect. Get up to speed before arriving my sitting a course or listening to the Michael Thomas Spanish course.

• Become a parrot (non Speakers)

Even if it feels uncomfortable, repeat what your host\friends say even if you have no idea what it means. Show people that you are trying to learn they will like it.

• Get drunk

Get drunk even more. This assists in being a parrot and builds trust with your fellow Amigos

• Deal with the unknown

Plans will be made on your behalf. You will be going somewhere in a speeding car wearing no seat belt. Embrace the fear, accept death and choose to die in an alternative way. Or prey to Jesus Christ that it won’t be your last ride.

• Do it for the kids

When you come across children (and you will being in Latin America). Teach them a game. Speak English, their parents will think you are great despite being a gringo. Guide them through 1 to 10 even better teach them how to head butt.

• Be clear about why you are there

Internet marketer, digital consultant or just hanging out doesn’t mean shit to the mothers of the community. They will want to know exactly why you are in their community. Be clear about your plan and how long you will be around. It will make for better Kalma and more opportunities.

Supertip: You will be asked whether you are Christian. There is only one right answer.

• Join a team

Jump at the opportunity to play a sport\game you excel. Nothing bridges cultural differences like friendly competition. But don’t lose and don’t suck especially if it is football. Luckily, my hosts were softball mad and a game I played for 20 years.

• Speak up if you feel uncomfortable

If you genuinely don’t want to do it then say “NO”. Use your body language. Make every thing about you represent “NO”. Walk away. Remember NO means NO unless you are asked by the BOSS MAN of the family.

• Don’t sleep with their woman

Ok, you are hitting home runs, keeping the BBQs colorful, matching them in the drink offs, gaining celebrity status in the community. Don’t ruin it and sleep with any of their woman. Sisters, daughters and maids included.

And remember DO NOT sleep with anyone’s wife otherwise you are fucking dead.

Safety

An analogy of safety in Latin America is the same as lambs in a pack. Lambs should stay with the pack. If you have to stray, don’t go where the wolves prowl, do act like Dad and his other ram buddies are just over the next hill.
• Be physically strong

Be as fit and strong as you can. (Self Explanatory)

• Use the Traffic Light System

I have been practicing this system for years after reading the “Art of Fighting without Fighting”. Basically, you internalize green, yellow and red to reflect the risk of the outside world and respond accordingly. If you practice it enough it becomes a sub-conscious thing. We have it naturally but can be nulled out after years of living with in safe zero threat environments.

• Walk like you know where you’re going

The perception that you know your surroundings even when you don’t is a powerful deterrent against bad guys. Walk strong. This does not mean walk like big daddy or a body builder. Just walk with confidence and awareness.

• Look like a local

Don’t wear bling, dress as the locals do, the more you blend in the more you represent a local interest and the less someone will fuck with you.

• If you are a woman then carry

Most of these tips don’t apply to woman. Woman should walk with company in unfamiliar places.
If you must go alone I recommend a Tazer and don’t be afraid to use it.

And there you go. Monterrey is coming up and I am looking forward to playing nine innings practicing my new found Spanish and not getting in TOO much trouble.

UPDATED July 2009

If you are an independent technologist\artist\media hacker\entrepreneur\etc and want to experience San Francisco and the Bay Area on the ground instead of a one week gig feeling like a tourist. Here are tips to make it happen cheap!

Below are recommendations you may find useful:

Find your crew. This is so important. If you leave anywhere after 3 months and don’t have one meaningful connection then it’s going to suck on many different levels. I don’t have to explain why. You know what it feels like to belong.
My advice is to detach from the security of the Laptop and hit events early on arrival. I met three people at Word Camp San Francisco. One happened to be a guy called Peter who introduced me to J-dub. The rest is history.

Configure your “Triangle of Work” This term was invented by Jaan Orvet of noded and means designing a personalized desk, a meeting area and alternative workspace normally a sofa. Work as quickly as possible to set this up so you can start harmonizing what you do.

Go Ramen to save money and not get fat
I am a massive proponent of being Ramen Profitable and have been practicing it for years. Going Ramen makes your business lean and you lean. My favorite Ramen meals are authentic Italian pastas that are naturally low in fat.

Get a Bike With out a doubt the best way to see SF is by bike. Find a road bike on craigslist for under $100, join the Bike Kitchen, a do-it-yourself bike maintenance co-op, and realize the joy of working on ya bike.

Add another Muse Despite how much you are a tight arse, the reality is San Francisco is expensive. More income never goes a stray. This a place holder for the muse I executed to subsidize the rent.
And updated tips….

1. Travel OFF PEAK

   Peak is May to August and any holidays i.e. Christmas, Thanks Giving are peak. For cheap flights and accommodation avoid these times.
   If you are flexible flights can be had anytime of year to LA.

Fact: San Francisco DOES get cold and foggy either side of over Summer

2. Get a VISA (Non US Citizens)

   If you are one of the 27 Countries who participate in the VISA WAIVER Program you automatically get 90 days.
   There are other ways to stay longer including the E3 Visa which I have attained and will blog about another time.

Important! – 90 days includes travel to Canada and Mexico. Jetting off to Cancun for a week or two will not reset your Visa on re-entry.

3. Stay with locals

   Accommodation will be your biggest expense. Use a travelling host site and let people stay at your house. In turn you will find it easier when you arrive in your international destination. I am a Couchsurfing.com evangelist, I cannot recommend it enough but you can check out the other services on my couchsurfing facebook app for other suggested options. If you want an extended stay the best time of year is summer because all the students leave on holiday and cheap rooms are available. Use www.craigslist.org to find your new home.

   SUPERTIP: Pat Allan of freelancing-gods.com let people find him by posting a housing wanted. Counter-intuitive but from all reports effective

4. Get connected!

   The cheapest way is to stay off plan and buy a phone that is tri-band GSM, supports PUSH (mail), MMS, browser.
   
   I run a quad band I-mate SP5 running windows mobile 5.0. It cost me $250AU and is the stand out as the poor mans Iphone.

   This time I ran a Blackberry 8700c because of my muse I had newer models but because I destroy phones regularly the 8700c with quad band + Internet was sufficient

   My recommended off plan option in the U.S is AT&Ts Go Phone which comes with data options.

   The combo I use:

   • 5MB Media Pack 9.95
   • 100MB Media Pack 19.95
   • 200 MMS and TEXT $4.95

   5MB might not seem like much, but if you keep it for e-mail, twitter, browsing (images off) then you will be surprised.

   If you want an I-phone it can still be run off plan using t-mobile with a bit of hacking and sacrificing default function

5. Go Public Transport

   PT is great in SF but starts to deteriorate as you move lower towards the valley and Palo Alto.
   Either way it is by far cheapest way to get around.
   Be smart and remove the guess work by installing BART’s trip planners and www.nextbus.com for realtime info on PDA.

6. Drive using Zip Car

   It is inevitable you will be heading to Mountain View or Palo Alto for an event and PT to these areas does not cut it.
   Register for ZipCar and within a couple of days you can being picking up a car with in minutes from a convenient location to get you there.

   Important: Internationals, bring a copy of your driving record from your home country to fast track approval

7. Make office

   If you want to feel lonely and ineffective quickly do coffee shops for 3 months. For FREE or a modest monthly fee you can have an office space along side other talented San Francisco independents. By having your own desk and location you can build a routine, get work done and meet locals just like you. My favorite place is the HatFactory but all the co-working locations are different so find one that fits you.

8. Hit the FREE Events

   San Francisco and the Bay Area have a phenomenal amount of events all year round.
   And there is no better way to find out if you are up to par, meet people, get free food and drink and learn really cool things!
   I found the events, search and scheduling using upcoming excellent.

   Update: Tap into the nerve center: San Francisco Twitter accounts to follow for news, events, alerts, and more

What is your tips for prosperity when working in a new city?