Houses etc.

Water
What you have to know about water in Mexico is that the water which comes from the tap is not drinkable. You can use it for brushing your teeth but for cooking etc. you have to buy water.
The thing is that the water quality isn't that bad originally. However, they have a special "system" here how the water comes to the tap. As the pressure which is supplied isn't very high, every house has a pump here which pumps the water into those black reservoirs you can see for example on our house. With this "trick", water pressure is a bit higher.
By the way: We have WARM water only in the shower.

Special note to those who have been to China: Here they clean the clothes with cold water in the laundry, too. And if you have a spot on them: Just tell them, they will use more chlorine!

Electricity
Electricity is another interesting topic. The general system here is very similar to the one in the USA: the same plugs, the same voltage (110 volts). The latter causes some problems. 110 volts cannot be transmitted over very long distances. Therefore, you find a transformer close to your house. And how the current comes from there to your house can look a bit chaotic...














And in most cases it does.

Gas
Gas is very common here. Most cookers work with gas which was a big change for me. Cooking with gas is really not the same!
Also the WARM water in the shower is heated by gas. To do so, they use those boilers you can see in the picture. To be honest the don't look very safe to me. And the stories about exploding boilers don't make me feel any safer.