07 March 2009

El Horario de Verano

In the United States people are changing their clocks tonight and jumping one hour forward. Mexico does not change the time until April 5th. In Mexico, Daylight Saving Time (DST) has been observed since 1996 except that down here it is called "el horario de verano" or "the summer schedule". The U.S. government decided to change the DST schedule in 2007 for some very controversial expected benefits (mostly political). Since Mexico is much closer to the Equator the benefits are almost negligible and so to avoid feeling like the tail of the dog Mexico decided to leave things just as they were. That's okay except that it really plays havoc with international communications and trade for a few weeks.

So, if you live in Mexico don't touch that clock yet, my friend. Daylight Saving Time begins at 2:00 a.m. local time on the first Sunday in April. On the last Sunday in October areas on Daylight Saving Time fall back to Standard Time. Sonora stays all year around on Mountain Standard Time because it has so many economic and social ties to Arizona which doesn't observer DST either (except for the Navajo Nation, in northeastern Arizona). Other areas of the U.S. that don't observe Daylight Saving Time are Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands. I noticed that Don Concho, the nice old guy who guards our block, doesn't observe any set schedule. I asked him about that and he told me that he doesn't own a watch and he doesn't have a clock in his house and he doesn't even have a television. He comes to work when he thinks the time is about right and he goes home when he feels that the day is over. He laughs at the fact that we try and control the sunlight. Right after he told me that I took off my watch and threw it in the bottom of my sock drawer. Don Concho is right!

By the way, It is NOT Daylight Savings time either. There's no "s" after Saving. It's Daylight Saving Time. Just so you know...

3 comments:

GlorV1 said...

Thank you for that lesson. I didn't know it was "saving" and not savings. I am changing my clock when I go to bed or NOT. Who gives a hoot really, maybe the night owl. We have roosters all around our area and they wake us up quite well, thank you. :) Have a great Sunday Bob and thank you for the nice comment on my blog.

YayaOrchid said...

I love to read your blog because I learn so much. I also did not know the correct terminology of 'Saving' for this instance. Makes sense if you listen to it and think about it. What are those close ties between Sonora and the US, I wonder?

Calypso said...

Good info hombre - I had forgotten the U.S. changed this past weekend.

I often forget the day of the week and seldom concern myself with the hour (except when trying to follow Cruz Azul's schedule ;-)

Saludos

Blog Archive

About Me

My photo
I was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. I have been living in Mexico since January 6th, 1999. I am continually studying to improve my knowledge of the Spanish language and Mexican history and culture. I am also a student of Mandarin Chinese.