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[lozwich]

[MELEE]

In that same small town Loz mentions, the Mexican faculty from other reasons often refuse to admit that the local might have any good qualities and tend to spend most of the time pining for their hometowns. Some manage to pine for years and seem to enjoy living there for the most part but won't admit it. Others truely are "miserable" and ride the bus for hours every weekend to return to their families. Young women especially seem to suffer when separated from their families. I've seen several give up their careers after earning graduate degrees just so they can move back in with mom and dad.

I think it's hard for Mexicans to separte family from hometown. Because family is extensive and includes all the padrino relationships as well, in a small city the two could literally be the same.
They are also "team" players at least here in southern Mexico. Most of our students want to do something professionally that would benefit the people of their town.
Primary schools do to their share of indoctrination and here in this town by the time you finish 6 grade you know 500 years of local history and can recite speaches generals made here 300 years ago by heart. BUT you don't know anything about world history.

[MO39]

Both lozwich and MELEE have touched on the essence of the answer to the OP's question, I think. It's much more family ties than the place where the family resides that explains most Mexicans' strong attachment to their place of birth. This also explains why I have heard from Mexicans that Americans (and others) don't love their families like Mexicans do, partly because we have no qualms about picking up and moving hundreds of miles away from loved ones to study or work.

[Mrs L]

That's interesting. I often feel it's harder for my husband to be living 6000 miles from his Mexican family than it ever was for me to be that far away when we lived over there. We love our parents equally but because all his family are in the same small city where they grew up it seems worse somehow. We miss out on big family gatherings and they always tell us how much they miss us and ask when we're coming back to live there (which we never plan to do because of a lack of career opportunities but they just don't believe us).

It's a lot of pressure to be under.

[MikeySaid]

but do we really love our families just as much?

[MO39]

[leslie]

Bye

[lozwich]

[Mrs L]

I do love them just as much but my husband has taught me how to appreciate them more and not take them for granted. My relationship with my parents has changed a lot since I got married and I think that's because his opinion of what family means has influenced how I act.

I think MO's right that we don't rely on our families as much but it works both ways- they don't rely on us either. My parents are fine with having both their children living in different cities and only visiting them once a month whereas my in-laws like to see their kids most days. It all comes down to expectations and what's seen as normal in the culture.

[girlcabbie]

Or maybe we Americans have more dysfunctional families who we're much healthier _not_ spending time with?
Christmas has actually become an enjoyable holiday now that I don't talk to my extended family anymore.

[TheLongWayHome]

[leslie]

Bye

[MELEE]

[Dragonlady]

deleted

[Guy Courchesne]

One might say neither Canada nor the US has those either!

I think tradition is the bigger factor here. If we're talking wealth, Mexico was quite wealthy back in the day. The ageing population is a recent phenomenon without precendent, and if youth stay with family for only economic reasons, it could only be for very recent history.