1. Lots of kissing. I don’t mean the friendly peck on the cheek (which, by the way, they do single-cheek style in Mexico), nor do I mean full-on, gotta-look-away making out. I’m talking about a brief, seemingly spontaneous lip-to-lip smooch engaged in by couples everywhere — young couple on dates, but also married couples dining in restaurants with their children or middle-aged couples on the bus. People just seem happy to be with the person they’re with.

2. Private vs. public life. Similar to what you might see in European cities with a Mediterranean climate, most of the buildings in central Guadalajara are two- or three-story colonial structures with shuttered windows facing the street and heavy, often gated front doors. Private life is lived behind an impenetrable streetscape, glimpsed only through the occasional open door. Public life, on the other hand, is eagerly embraced by everyone from skate punks to pensioners, who throng the parks and plazas to socialize, eat and drink, play music, and just be around other people.

The life within colonial buildings is not visible from the street.

3. No canned beans. You’d think that a culture famous for its bean-eating would offer beans in every format. Not so. You can buy a bag of uncooked whole beans that require overnight soaking and slow-cooking (not feasible in a hostel with a shared kitchen). You can buy precooked refried beans in cans or bags. You cannot find a can of whole beans — no black beans, no garbanzo beans, no northern beans, not even the common pinto — anywhere. Go figure.

Why no whole beans?