Job Discussion Forums

[geaaronson]

I suppose I am not greatly adding to this dialogue but I thought I would put at least 20 centavos worth into the conversation.

Male/female relationships are so complex as are self-perceptions that I believe the generalizations need placement on a back burner and instead we need to write of specific situations.

Speaking from classroom experience I have learned two things.

First, a majority of my male students at the acessoria wash dishes regularly and occasionally help their mothers with the cooking.

Second, as a teacher I can send my coeds at the university into giggles just by saying DISCULPE or LO SIENTO. I assume they don�t hear it from their male friends.

So which is it, machismo is strong and alive or are most Mexican guys properly domesticated?

And by the way, I see mixed gender groups of prepatoria and college students about town here in Merida, eating helados or drinking cafe in the
coffee shops, all of them friends to each other. Are relationships here in southern Mexico more progressive than in other places?

[Samantha]

geaaronson wrote:

[cangringo]

The problem with the comments on the link I posted were things like "don't travel to Mexico, it's not safe for Canadians", insulting things toward the Mexican people etc. You may have to read on but I'm pretty sure there were some like that on the first few pages. It got worse as I read on.

There was a lot of ignorance in there about the Mexican culture in general and saying there should be a travel advisory because of a few isolated incidents is just plain ignorant. One person went so far as to say that there should be an embargo.

[gordogringo]

Embargo? For a country whose largest industry in remittance? Funny. I guess they could go after the things made in the factories. But do to massive corruption and drug violence many manufacturers are leaving the border areas and heading to China over the next few years. Baja will lose over 45% of its factories by 2009. Cities like Reynosa and Juarez have already experienced a massive drop in investment by manufacturers and will definately continue to drop.I guess the risk of factory executives being robbed and kidnapped by local police is just too much.

While Mexico is still a safe country it is nowhere near as safe as it was 10 years ago.As the economy gets worse in some tourist areas the scams will get more agressive and deplete the tourist numbers even more. Or turn the tourist base into cruise ship types.Scurrying through town in luxury coach buses and back to the ship before dark.

[ls650]

[Guy Courchesne]

[gordogringo]

I am more referring to tourist areas. Acapulco, Ixtapa, Mazatlan, etc.
With the narco related violence in these areas as well as declining tourism numbers local police are getting more desperate, extorting more agressively. Places like TJ and Juarez had a steady crowd crossing each day for drinks, shopping, nightlife, etc. In Southern California and parts of Texas it is almost a rite of passage to cross the border and get shaken down by the Mexican police.Has happened to generations of families. Now with the high prices in these places people are tired of it. They are not crossing the border.Planning trips to Virgin Islands and Bahamas instead of Acapulco.The local authorities have been biting the hands that feed them for so long, they will probably not even be able to connect thier actions with the declining numbers.

[Ben Round de Bloc]

[Samantha]

Gordogringo wrote:

[geaaronson]

I said Disculpe when I made the mistake of telling my class that approximarse does not mean approach and then had to backtrack, so no, Samantha, it was not what I had said prior to my apology.

I don`t remember the other teaching mistake I had made but it likewise related to the lecture material. It could have been when I marked a students test wrong when she wrote tres to my vocabulary word Ill. She mistook the I for a third l. I ended up giving her the credit. Goes to show how much of a softee I am.

[Guy Courchesne]

[gordogringo]

Actually was in Mazatlan a few weeks ago.Acapulco right after Christmas.
Ixtapa another associate went to.We are prospecting for clubs to buy.We are looking to do it in TJ as well but the monopoly here does not allow for much international investment and improvement. And being overly successful could definately shorten our life spans in TJ. Looking over all the numbers the decline in nightlife revenue is a good indicator of the changing make up of tourism. Acapulco was the worst. Mazatlan was a close second, though.Big declines over last few years. If you are looking to buy a business there are fire sale prices in all these destinations. The investors are a bit skiddish so looks like SE Asia for them.

[cangringo]

Sorry didn't mean to start an off topic debate, just thought that some of the comments were very misinformed, like Mexicans are out to get Canadians.

As for the machismo, yes it's alive and well but I found that in New Zealand as well. They claim to be progressive and all that but there were a lot of macho jerk types and the culture is still far behind Canada in the machismo factor. South Africa was the same way. Let's not fool ourselves either, it exists in Canada and the States too, more than people want to admit. Just look at the amount of domestic abuse etc that still goes on.

As in every culture it depends on the people but I don't feel like I can't be myself at all. Of course when we go out to the bar nearby to play some pool we are the centre of attention simply by looking white. It's not bad attention, everyone wants to talk to us and we have a lot of fun.

[Samantha]

gordogringo wrote:

[TEFL anonymous]