Bubba
Apr 14, 2007, 10:29 PM
Post #4 of 4
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Re: [esperanza] Getting along as an expatriot
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Well, Bubba can make the connection since his wife is a Parisian and he is an Alabamian. When we are in France and French people ask us where we are from, we tell them Mexico which invariably throws them for a loop since, upon meeting me they naturally assume we are Americans. They really space out when we tell them we live in Chiapas since the French (and Italians and Spanish) adore Southern Mexico from Oaxaca to the Caribbean. Unlike Ms. Lalise, we have no problems explaining the U.S. roots of our family or the fact that Ms. Bubba lived and worked in the U.S. for over 30 years since, once we mention that we live in Southern Mexico those French inquiring as to our origin become so worked up and excited over Mayan ruins, beautiful jungles, colonial cities and turquoise seas, they completely forget to further associate us with the despised United States.
We had a hell of a time getting French friends and family to visit us in Mexico when we lived only at Lake Chapala which meant nothing to them. In San Cristóbal, however, we can´t fight them off with a stick. On the other hand, our Alabama and California friends and family make no easy distinction between West Central and Southern Mexico unless we explain those differences on the level of a third grade introduction to geography class. U.S. family and friends (many of whom are,or were, intelligent and liberal minded) when contemplating Mexico are mostly concerned about their safety, drug running, extreme poverty, foreign language barriers, turista and parasites in the water. They think everybody in Mexico is either Carlos Slim or plucks chickens for a living. If we bring up the Zapatistas to the Americans we are certain to free up our guest quarters for our European guests who are more inquisitive and adaptable than the Americans anyway so this works out for everyone. I´ve even considered paying one of our San Cristóbal neighbors to dress up like Sub-Comandante Marcos and walk by and say, "Buenas Dias!", as we walk with our European guests to the indigenous market just to give them a cheap thrill. If we tried that with our American guests, they would throw their wallets at him and experience heart failure.
(This post was edited by Bubba on Apr 14, 2007, 10:43 PM)
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