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Mrs L
Joined: 20 Mar 2008
Posts: 72
Location: Rainy England
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 Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 1:39 pm Post subject: |
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| notamiss wrote: |
| It goes all ways. When we told our Canadian friends and acquaintances we were moving to Mexico, it was shocking how many of them were pretty fuzzy on the difference between Mexico and Spain. Moreover, a clear majority asked me if I was learning to "speak Mexican." I really had thought my countrymen had a higher level of geographical knowledge. |
I'm glad you said this because I was horrified lately when one of my husbands colleagues asked him how long it takes to fly to Mexico. When hubby said 11 hours she asked how that's possible when it only takes 2 and a half hours to Spain and they're right next to each other  . She was gobsmacked when he explained Mexico is actually next to America.
I was worried about the ignorance of my countrymen who also continuely ask me if my husband and I communicate in English or 'Mexican', but at least I know now they're not the only ones  |
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GueroPaz
Joined: 07 Sep 2007
Posts: 216
Location: Thailand or Mexico
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| Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 3:51 pm Post subject: |
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My family knows quite well where Mexico is, but some of them have lived there or live 5 km from there. or their ancestors were Mexicans. However, when we went to Winnipeg, they were confused.  |
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MO39
Joined: 28 Jan 2004
Posts: 1970
Location: El ombligo de la Rep�blica Mexicana
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| Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 6:16 pm Post subject: |
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| This is more of a linguistic "Mexico -- Why?" question: Someone I've recently met referred to himself as "feo". Why he's not handsome at all, neither is he UGLY, just sort of average looking. However, one side of his family has Yucatec Mayan roots, and his looks reflect this ancestry. Could there be a subtle sort of racism going on here, without his being aware of it? |
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Phil_K
Joined: 25 Jan 2007
Posts: 2041
Location: A World of my Own
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| Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 8:51 pm Post subject: |
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This attitude is common in Mexico. I've heard many times Mexicans saying that they are all ugly! Reforma newspaper even published a strip cartoon on the theme.
But...think about this:
1) Latin women often want to dye their hair, and will tell you, "I can't wear that color, it makes my skin look too dark".
2) Oriental teenagers try to get a more Western look.
3) White Europeans want to get a suntan.
The grass on the other side is indeed greener!
Even I'm proud that my skin is darker than when I arrived in Mexico! |
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Phil_K
Joined: 25 Jan 2007
Posts: 2041
Location: A World of my Own
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| Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 8:56 pm Post subject: |
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Why, with all the bureaucracy is Mexico, is it so easy passing through immigration and customs? Or is because I'm passing through the Mexican nationals channel with my FM2?
On my recent trip, and as an answer to a previous question of mine, I'm pleased to report that Canada was a breeze too  ... and I got crazy in the USA again, on my connection in Detroit.  |
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Oreen Scott
Joined: 11 Jan 2008
Posts: 179
Location: Oaxaca, Mexico
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| Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 11:08 pm Post subject: |
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| GueroPaz wrote: |
| My family knows quite well where Mexico is, but some of them have lived there or live 5 km from there. or their ancestors were Mexicans. However, when we went to Winnipeg, they were confused. |
Your family was confused when they went to Winnipeg? What confused them? The streets that do not run east/west and north/south but kind of from the rivers? The largest French population outside of Quebec, in St. Boniface? The large number of first nations people - Cree, Assininabee, Dakota and Sioux? The nip and chips? Why hamburgers are called nips I'll never know.
An inquiiring mind soon to leave this place called Winnipeg, smack dab in the middle of the continent would like to know.
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GueroPaz
Joined: 07 Sep 2007
Posts: 216
Location: Thailand or Mexico
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| Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 1:28 am Post subject: |
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Sorry to make my Winnipeg reference vague as to personal pronouns. My older sister and I went there in 1990, and stayed near Steinbach (Mennonite country), but my family back in Texas just knew that I had gone somewhere to Canada. We stayed at a vacation home owned by a French-Canadian farmer, my personal physician in Houston is from Winnipeg, etc. But just as most Americans do not know one Mexican state from another, they also do not know one Canadian prairie province from another.
Maria, at the laundromat in Ciudad Cuahtemoc in Chihuahua, told me her six older brothers all lived in Omaha, and I knew where that was!
As for the quotation marks around beauty salons, that is to emphasize that it is a foreign name. Far better to get your hair cut at Salon Mitzi or Salon Fifi than at Salon Gomez, even if the name of the stylist is Fifi Gomez. |
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MO39
Joined: 28 Jan 2004
Posts: 1970
Location: El ombligo de la Rep�blica Mexicana
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| Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 5:39 pm Post subject: |
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| Phil_K wrote: |
This attitude is common in Mexico. I've heard many times Mexicans saying that they are all ugly! Reforma newspaper even published a strip cartoon on the theme.
But...think about this:
1) Latin women often want to dye their hair, and will tell you, "I can't wear that color, it makes my skin look too dark".
2) Oriental teenagers try to get a more Western look.
3) White Europeans want to get a suntan.
The grass on the other side is indeed greener!
Even I'm proud that my skin is darker than when I arrived in Mexico! |
I think there's a world of difference between a white European or gringo wanting a tan and a Mexican (even jokingly) saying that he's "ugly", in part because of his non-Caucasian skin color. It goes far beyond "the grass is greener" syndrome and harks back to the racism of the Spanish conquistadors and contemporary racism that implies that "white skin is always better". Just my two-cent's worth... |
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M@tt
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 473
Location: here and there
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| Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 6:56 pm Post subject: |
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| in my experience, mexicans also believe that beauty is an objective standard, with the same standard universally accepted by everyone. suggesting that someone/thing could be beautiful to me and ugly to them is always met with strange looks or disagreement. and many times i'm arguing in their favor! |
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notamiss
Joined: 20 Jun 2007
Posts: 908
Location: El 5o pino del la CDMX
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| Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 10:37 pm Post subject: |
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| I have another hypothesis to propose; what do you think? Leaving aside for the moment the issue of Mexicans' beliefs about beauty and colour, the word feo isn't as strong as "ugly" is for us. I hear it used much more casually and often than we would say "ugly." |
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MO39
Joined: 28 Jan 2004
Posts: 1970
Location: El ombligo de la Rep�blica Mexicana
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| Posted: Sat May 24, 2008 11:00 pm Post subject: |
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| notamiss wrote: |
| I have another hypothesis to propose; what do you think? Leaving aside for the moment the issue of Mexicans' beliefs about beauty and colour, the word feo isn't as strong as "ugly" is for us. I hear it used much more casually and often than we would say "ugly." |
That's a good point. I've often felt that Mexican tend to describe people (and places and things) in either either "black and white" terms. If you're not "beautiful", then you must be "ugly. And, yes, it's true that "ugly" is a much stronger word than "feo/a". Too bad that these fine shades of meaning are rarely pointed out in dictionaries. |
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TheLongWayHome
Joined: 07 Jun 2006
Posts: 1016
Location: San Luis Piojosi
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| Posted: Sun May 25, 2008 2:03 am Post subject: |
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| Why do some highways smell like B.O.? (Could just be an SLP thing) |
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M@tt
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 473
Location: here and there
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| Posted: Sun May 25, 2008 11:09 pm Post subject: |
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| why doesn't mexico smell worse? but i'm always struck by how bad it doesn't smell, despite the level of filth and bad infrastructure. (certain areas definitely stink but not as many as should...or maybe i just adapt quickly?) |
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MELEE
Joined: 22 Jan 2003
Posts: 2583
Location: The Mexican Hinterland
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| Posted: Mon May 26, 2008 9:49 pm Post subject: |
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Why are there whole pieces of chicken floating in the soup?
Wouldn't it cook faster if you cut it up? Not to mention being a million times easier to eat! especially when a tortilla is your only utensil! |
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MO39
Joined: 28 Jan 2004
Posts: 1970
Location: El ombligo de la Rep�blica Mexicana
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| Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 12:35 am Post subject: |
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| MELEE wrote: |
Why are there whole pieces of chicken floating in the soup?
Wouldn't it cook faster if you cut it up? Not to mention being a million times easier to eat! especially when a tortilla is your only utensil! |
Given the lack of eating utensils in your neck of the Mexican woods, you could slurp down the liquid part of the soup and then use the tortillas to scoop up the chicken pieces and make impromptu tacos! |
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