Naturally, traveling in countries where you don't speak the language can cause you to make silly mistakes.
My favorite example so far is two guys who we stayed with in Sayulita accidentally booking beds at a gay hostel in Puerto Vallarta. It still makes me laugh thinking about how they described the slow realization of where they were.
One of the guys we stayed with in Punta Mita rolls into to town and grabs some groceries. Tortillas and hummus was the meal of the day - only the hummus was actually peanut butter (in a container like you find hummus in). Luckily it was a delicious and edible mistake.
I can see how easy it is. My gf and I were walking out of the grocery store and passed some rather large containers of bright red liquid. They had an apple and stick of cinnamon on the label and a ridiculously low price tag. I exclaimed "We should be drinking that!" and we stood there trying to imagine what it would taste like...problem was, it was cleaning solution. Read the labels carefully kiddies. ;-)
Some times it's not the language but the symbols that tempt you with death. As I've alluded to, pedestrians don't have priority...however, usually the busier traffic light controlled intersections have pedestrian crossing lights as well (you still must cross super carefully). Problem is (at least for someone from BC) that they count down both while you are cleared to cross (white) and while you must wait (red). In BC, a red countdown means you have that much time to _clear_ the intersection. So there have been a few times where I've had to suppress urges to dash across the street.
And oh - and we almost got run over by a public bus yesterday (I had to jump out of the way) while legally crossing a street. That was fun.
I know I go on about the crazy driving down here. Here is some fun side reading:
http://www.economist.com/node/21531484
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate
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