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		Ben Round de Bloc
 
 
  Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1946
 
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				 Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 11:57 pm    Post subject:  | 
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	  | gordogringo wrote: | 
	 
	
	  | Back in to your glass house. | 
	 
 
 
Nice to see that you're consistent and didn't take the high road with your glass-house comment either.
 
 
You win.  You're a much better man than I'll ever hope to be.
 
 
Adi�s. Que le vaya bien. | 
			 
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		shaner
 
 
  Joined: 27 May 2005 Posts: 47 Location: Medellin, Colombia
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				 Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 1:30 am    Post subject: Good News | 
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				I talked to her today.  Strangely enough her father was asking about me and wants to have me over for dinner.  I guess he secretly warmed up to me and so.....
 
 
game on !!!!!  We are going to give it another shot.  I am headed over there on Friday.  Keep ya posted.  
 
 
By the way, I really don't consider "pinche" to be racist considering it is used so frequently here. | 
			 
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		mapache
 
  
  Joined: 12 Oct 2006 Posts: 202 Location: Villahermosa
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				 Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 1:43 am    Post subject:  | 
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				| Guy, in Canada how do the guys write their girlfriends names in the snow?  Do they use hockey sticks? | 
			 
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		Guy Courchesne
 
  
  Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City
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				 Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 2:35 am    Post subject:  | 
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	  | mapache wrote: | 
	 
	
	  | Do they use hockey sticks? | 
	 
 
 
 
ummmm, not quite.
 
 
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		M@tt
 
 
  Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 473 Location: here and there
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				 Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 3:04 am    Post subject:  | 
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				| Guy, that was your chance to make a really inappropriate claim about your anatomy and you totally missed it! Now go edit your post. | 
			 
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		Guy Courchesne
 
  
  Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City
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				 Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 3:15 am    Post subject:  | 
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				| You must have missed me in the bullfighter outfit over on the Latin America forum.  One grandiose claim per year about manhood is all I get. | 
			 
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		Samantha
 
  
  Joined: 25 Oct 2003 Posts: 2038 Location: Mexican Riviera
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				 Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 5:55 am    Post subject:  | 
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				This is a fun thread.  I am getting a chuckle!  My Mexican husband said he didn't want to marry a Mexicana because modern Mexican women are hot tempered and "loca" and you don't tell them what to do or how to do it...and he felt quite sure that the Canadian culture was of tamer temperament.       Hello?  
 
 
As far as the mariachi or any serenade thing for a mad-at-you lover...you are supposed to be present.....and if the girl doesn't come to her window to peek out and listen then you are done for.  If she comes to the window then you are in once more, until you screw up again.    My husband sang for one of these recently on an impromptu hire,  and the girl didn't come to the window.  He came home feeling sorry for the guy but pleased with the pesos.  I wondered aloud what the guy did in the first place.      If she didn't come to the window to hear the singing, even just out of curiousity,  then she must have been very miffed!
 
 
As far as the TJ posts, I can see there is a fair amount of fiction being thrown into the mix.  I know an American guy who lives a normal life in TJ with a Mexican wife and family, plus my single sister-in-law lives in Mexicali which is no tame city by comparison.  I have an insight into life in a border city as a result and it isn't quite the picture being painted.  Not to diminish the problems in any of these cities, but not everyone is lining up to learn English to "better" themselves in the trade.  And yes, there IS crime in every city, mine included, but going on the forum and having an all-out brag about it does seem a weird approach when we know there is crime in many cities outside of Mexico.  Who the heck wants to go to Tijuana to teach English anyway??  I have never seen a job posting for Tijuana.  Happy New Year all and best in 2007. | 
			 
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		MELEE
 
  
  Joined: 22 Jan 2003 Posts: 2583 Location: The Mexican Hinterland
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				 Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 3:26 pm    Post subject:  | 
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	  | MikeySaid wrote: | 
	 
	
	  . He was probably just scared you'd take her away from the family and never bring her back. In Mexican culture it's not altogether uncommon for people to leave for a "better life" and not return.
 
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BINGO!
 
 
Give that boy his prize. Mikey, you've won a a ticket into a Mexican family! It won't be an easy ride. But conviencing mom and pop that you are not going to take their daughter/son away is the first big obstacle. Because as you say, it happens, probably happened to some body shaner's x girlfriend's father knows. Shaner, it can be a rocky road, you said you can talk easily with her. That is the key in cross-cultural relationships. Don't leave things unsaid, not assume the other understood your unspoken clues, and be extremely straight up about your feelings, you beliefs, values, etc. | 
			 
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		MikeySaid
 
  
  Joined: 10 Nov 2004 Posts: 509 Location: Torreon, Mexico
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				 Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 6:29 pm    Post subject:  | 
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	  | MELEE wrote: | 
	 
	
	  
 
	  | MikeySaid wrote: | 
	 
	
	  . He was probably just scared you'd take her away from the family and never bring her back. In Mexican culture it's not altogether uncommon for people to leave for a "better life" and not return.
 
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BINGO!
 
 
Give that boy his prize. Mikey, you've won a a ticket into a Mexican family!  | 
	 
 
 
 
Funny, I was just issued my walking papers... I'll have to check to see if the ticket is still valid in Coahuila even if it was issued in Oaxaca. | 
			 
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		Guy Courchesne
 
  
  Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City
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				 Posted: Fri Jan 05, 2007 6:12 pm    Post subject:  | 
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				Hey Gordo, what's going on in TJ?  How about an on-the-ground report?
 
 
Tijuana police ordered to disarm
 
 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6234393.stm
 
 
 
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	  Local police in the northern Mexican border city of Tijuana have been ordered to hand in their guns.
 
 
The move is part of an operation by soldiers and federal police to crack down on drug traffickers.
 
 
The guns will be inspected by federal officials, who are investigating allegations that some local officers have been involved in drug smuggling.
 
 
Police are refusing to patrol unarmed, reports say. Gang violence left more than 300 dead in Tijuana last year.
 
 
Entry point
 
 
Earlier this week, the government announced it was sending more than 3,000 soldiers and police to the Tijuana to help fight drug trafficking and gang violence.
 
 
Interior Minister Francisco Ramirez Acuna said the Tijuana operation would be backed by 28 boats, 21 planes and nine helicopters.
 
 
The city, across the border from San Diego in California, is a major entry point for drugs into the US.
 
 
This is the second such federal operation ordered by President Felipe Calderon since he took office last month.
 
 
In December, federal officials carried out a crackdown in the western state of Michoacan, which is also hard hit by drug-related violence.
 
 
Drug gangs are blamed for more than 2,000 deaths in Mexico in 2006.  | 
	 
 
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		gordogringo
 
 
  Joined: 15 Jul 2005 Posts: 159 Location: Tijuana
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				 Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 12:52 pm    Post subject:  | 
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				The only place I am seeing cops is directing traffic at the border. They are all unarmed and are oddly friendly. At night there is nothing. The army patrols are pretty no contact.They drive by with thier machine guns but are only looking for narcos.Good for them. The mayors house is two colonias away from mine.They are looking for drugs and corruption they should try there.But I have a feeling they will not. There is no looting or rioting with minimal to no police force. That is a positive.The problem is with no police force there is no one to stop burglars,etc. While they were pretty inept at this before if you caught the guy red handed maybe they could do something. Now they are not responding to very much. So until I can have drop down metal screens installed in the school windows I may sleep there for awhile. Protect the new computers. Should have the security stuff installed by Tuesday. This is all a long time coming. Some are saying a year till they leave. Others say a few weeks at best.No one knows yet. Corruption has been rampant here for too long. If the soldiers keep the cops down and arrest the majority of them that is a start.However the head on the snake is the mayor and he wants to be governor of Baja. Put Jorge in jail, clean up the department and Tijuana will be as liveable as all your cities. Keep him in, he will just reload the department with a new group of dirtbags. Somewhere I read 400 Tijuana cops had been transported to a jail in Mexico City.Any news on your end of that,Guy? 
 
Hopefully the city can be taken back from the Sonoran cartels. Despite the colorful vice permitted nature is a fun city with great people. Had a chance to buy tacos for five federales today when thier truck pulled up at my favorite taco place. Paid for the tacos and sodas and thanked them for all the hard work and let them know how much the work was appreciated. I just hope they don't cross the wrong narco and end up dead like so many others. Let's hope 2007 is a peaceful year in Tijuana.
 
Have seen no helicopters but several boats did dock at Playas Tijuana and did house to house inspections. A few gringo friends were driven to the border to get thier tourist visas by the soldiers. | 
			 
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		Guy Courchesne
 
  
  Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City
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				 Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 2:22 pm    Post subject:  | 
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	  | Somewhere I read 400 Tijuana cops had been transported to a jail in Mexico City.Any news on your end of that,Guy? | 
	 
 
 
 
Hadn't heard about it.  I don't live close to any of the jails, so I didn't see anything.  I did see a lot of city cops trying to handle the Reyes crowds in the Zocalo and some kind of sweep on toy gun vendors.  Vendors were upset about it.
 
 
Calderon is keeping the Feds busy...Oaxaca, Michoacan, TJ...what's next?  While a crackdown is good, a police state isn't. | 
			 
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		tonydicer
 
 
  Joined: 03 Mar 2005 Posts: 81 Location: Monterrey, Mexico
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				 Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2007 5:18 pm    Post subject:  | 
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				You need to put things into perspective.
 
 
Mexico seems to hold onto the 'protectiveness' that the US had 30 or 40 years ago, in terms of father/daughter relationships.  Seems reasonable seeing that 'family' is still cherished in Mexico.... regardless of any change going on.
 
 
Think of it this way...
 
 
You are a threat.  You may take his daughter back to Canada, and if he's lucky, he sees his daughter once a year. | 
			 
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		ericksgm
 
 
  Joined: 08 May 2006 Posts: 21 Location: Tapachula
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				 Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 4:47 pm    Post subject:  | 
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				| I have noticed a jealously between family members here in Mexico that I have never noticed in other country.  My boyfriend can't sleep at my house or just spend time alone with me because his mom gets jealous.  Here and I get along great, but she still gets jealous.  His nephew is the same, we get along great, but he still gets jealous and so therefore my boyfriend can't spend time with me.  It has been extremely difficult for me and continues to be difficult.  I also had a discussion once with my students about jealously.  I assumed that we were going to be talking about boyfriends and girlfriends but it turned out that we started talking about how daughters get jealous when their fathers spend time with a cousin or niece or some other female family member.  This was completely foreign to me.  I had never even heard about it in the states.  Maybe wisconsin families just don't get jealous.  i am not sure, but this particular part of the culture is something that I just can't understand at all. | 
			 
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		cangringo
 
  
  Joined: 18 Jan 2007 Posts: 327 Location: Vancouver, Canada
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				 Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 2:46 am    Post subject:  | 
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				Oddly enough here in Monterrey, which is very Americanized in a lot of ways, we have only met one single mother and she came here from DF. She said that a lot of people here discriminate against her because they are still very traditional here. In our neighborhood you only see families. We haven't figured out if it's just that the people that live here really want to be together or don't believe in divorce. They do seem to spend a lot more time together as a family and the kids are incredibly well behaved. 
 
 
We did get to hear a serenade one night which was beautiful, unfortunately it was at 3 in the morning on a work night but whaddya gonna do??
 
 
Samantha, what does your husband think now??    | 
			 
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