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bajaden
Nomad
Posts: 496
Registered: 4-7-2005
Location: Ensenada
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Mood: vicarious
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I wasn't talking about you Bernie. Just a gereralization.....
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Dave
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6005
Registered: 11-5-2002
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| Quote: | Originally posted by bajaden
I went to rent a car and the young man asked for my cerdit card. I removed it from my wallet and tossed it onto his desk. He stared at me for a second
and then said, In baja we hand things to people, we don't throw. He said it with a smile on his face, but I knew he was serious. It was my first
awakening to thier culture. |
You let a clerk lecture you on Mexican culture?
Right, what you did was considered rude yet his response was even worse. He's damn lucky his supervisor didn't overhear the conversation.
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pokey
Nomad
Posts: 199
Registered: 5-20-2005
Location: ensenada
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Mood: sun burned
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I think us Americans can learn alot from Mexican culture. Them being so respectful and friendly and all. My particular favorite is when the shop
keeper makes the Oaxacans wait while he/she takes care of us non-indian customers first.
Keep Mexico weird
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Baja Bernie
`Normal` Nomad Correspondent
Posts: 2962
Registered: 8-31-2003
Location: Sunset Beach
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Mood: Just dancing through life
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Pokey
I can't believe that you posted your last post. The little people had to step aside for you???????
Dang! I just went back to check and you really said that.
Not trolling or blaming just sad!
My smidgen of a claim to fame is that I have had so many really good friends. By Bernie Swaim December 2007
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Sharksbaja
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5814
Registered: 9-7-2004
Location: Newport, Mulege B.C.S.
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THNK YOU LINDSAY
I watched as your nicely worded post invoked a wonderfully positive response. Your unassuming post clearly illustrated a willingness to partake
without condition. You would be welcome in my country too.
There is a term for the hospitable acknowledgments.
It's called "unconditional love" & random acts of kindness" or something like that. You have that too as do a number of "caring" types. Thanks
again, and once again, I learned something new.
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pokey
Nomad
Posts: 199
Registered: 5-20-2005
Location: ensenada
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Mood: sun burned
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I was being sarcastic Bernie. Treating the Oaxacans like second class citizens is unfortunately too common here. I'm suprised you've never
noticed it.... being a resident of Baja for as long as you have.
My wife who has Myan features often recieves a different level of service that I do. A good example of this is my wifes visit to telnor to order
telephone service.... They wanted to know the names of the cross streets and intersections near our house. The assumption being that since she has
Myan features that she must live in one of the poorer colonias where houses pop up everywhere and locating a residence can be difficult....She left
Telnor without getting any service.
The next day I went to telnor and asked for a phone line in my accentless spanish. Twenty minutes later I walked out with the order completed and
a promise to have the line installed in two weeks or less. No mention of cross streets or intersections. The assumption being that Being a white
man I lived in a colonia where the telnor guys would have no problem finding our house.
Sad but true
Keep Mexico weird
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bajaden
Nomad
Posts: 496
Registered: 4-7-2005
Location: Ensenada
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Mood: vicarious
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Well Dave I guess I did. I didn't take it as lecture at the time. But then I was just an innocent newcomer to baja. Im resisting the impulse to become
sarcastic. My way of protecting my thick skin. Whether he was rude or not is immaterial to the subject. What was important,was how it changed my
prospective at the time. Hey, you either get it or you don't..
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pokey
Nomad
Posts: 199
Registered: 5-20-2005
Location: ensenada
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Mood: sun burned
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hey man you just became a "Nomad"!!
Keep Mexico weird
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Baja Bernie
`Normal` Nomad Correspondent
Posts: 2962
Registered: 8-31-2003
Location: Sunset Beach
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Mood: Just dancing through life
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Pokey
Yes, I have noticed it all over Mexico and in most cases it normally was Mexicans and not Gringos. Very often it occured in governmental and utility
offices and even in the markets---The hotels for sure!( Except in Cancun where they can't get the Mexicans to work in the heat so they hire local
Mayans to do all of the work).
My smidgen of a claim to fame is that I have had so many really good friends. By Bernie Swaim December 2007
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jrbaja
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4863
Registered: 2-2-2003
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Many of the extras on Titanic
were light skinned Mexicans from down south. These guys treated the rest like dung and the prejudice was very obvious!
Ever notice the people on Mexican TV? Pretty scary now that the humans in the bunch are now trying to duplicate this plasticity. Reminds me of
another country not so far away!
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lindsay
Nomad
Posts: 189
Registered: 9-9-2003
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It's nice to see everyone reflecting on their experiences and it just highlights how we all have different takes on the everyday moments in life. As
for the waving and acknowledging each other, I always enjoy this part of life in Mulege. My first year, I was initially confused by people passing in
cars or when walking and calling out, "Adios". I was thinking I just saw you and was going to say, "Hola" but I learned the routine soon enough. Then,
with my Mexican friends at the high school, I learned variations on greetings, particularly from cars, these greetings were various call-outs from
whistles or yalps out car windows. Another area of interest for me was the signal from cars to acknowledge a friend in another car which I picked up
from Sara's dad, Francisco. It was the two finger, peace-like signal, when driving on the highway. We would see someone we knew in the opposite lane
and without taking his hand off the steering wheel to wave, he would lift the peace sign fingers away from the steering wheel to signal to the
approaching car as the other driver did the same.
Mulege, as those nomads who live there now already know well, is also a great cruising town. Driving through the town and doing a loop of the mostly
one way streets is a very social activity particularly on a weekend night when a baile or other event is happening. One of Sara's aunts lives right on
the corner by the town's downtown church across from the clinic. So, we have front row seats on the steps of the house for watching the cruising show.
Everyone passes by in cars, on bikes, on motos, ATVs or foot and everyone greets you with an adios, a whistle, a head nod, a yalp, your nickname, or
some combination of these greetings.
Another lesson related to greeting others that I learned was to always allow extra time to get from point A to point B when walking through town. Even
if I knew that Sara and I were going from her aunt's house, say to the other end of town and another aunt's home, usually just a 15 minute walk, I
would plan on 30 minutes. This 15 minute cushion would usually cover the greetings and conversations we would need to make along the way with various
people in the town's plaza, the shops and any friends we may come across on the street. So, this routine is one of the great parts of small town life.
Although these exchanges happen with people I know in Mulege, it's true that just a passing "Hola", "Adios" or smile of acknowledgement is common
there when others recognize you even if you don't know them personally. It was also interesting for me to have my students here in San Diego comment
about these casual greetings. In La Jolla, despite much development since I was growing up here in the 70s, the area's main downtown still has some
vestiges of the small village feel...don't get me wrong there are plenty of people with their cell phones too attached to their heads to even notice
the world around them but my students here often comment on how friendly Americans are in terms of greeting strangers. These students come from all
over the world, from both large cities and small towns, and during their first weeks or months here they often say how amazed they are by people
saying good morning or hello to them. They can't imagine doing the same in their countries to strangers. So, it's nice to see that some of the
kindness that we appreciate in Mexico still exists in our towns up north.
As I said in the beginning, I've enjoyed seeing how everyone views these day to day moments. These views are just my take on the everyday and that's
why all of your different views make this board an interesting place to share our experiences. Thanks again and enjoy the weekend. 
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bajaden
Nomad
Posts: 496
Registered: 4-7-2005
Location: Ensenada
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Mood: vicarious
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Hey Lindsey, I live directly across from the church. Im sort of sandwiched between Dannys taco's and the hardware store. Your right about saturday
nights. Sometimes Noel and I just sit outside and watch the people go by.
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Sharksbaja
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5814
Registered: 9-7-2004
Location: Newport, Mulege B.C.S.
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When we lived on Catalina Is.
We would take the company truck to Avalon, the only real town on the island. Very little traffic on the inland as all(most) vehicles are restricted to
Avalon. The one hour drive on a narrow dirt road. I can't remember a time when two approaching vehicles did not wave to each other. As there were less
than 100 cars allowed access we felt a bit "special" and I would say so did they. I also feel special(privledged) when I go to Baja and I wave
frequently.
Can you imagine waving to everyone on I-5
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jrbaja
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4863
Registered: 2-2-2003
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Hey Sharks
Did you ever know a guy named Larry Walling on that island?
And, long before that we used to dive for coins when the "Big White Steamship" pulled in.
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burro bob
Nomad
Posts: 264
Registered: 3-15-2004
Location: Poblado del Ejido Plan National Agrario
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El Bueno, El Malo, y El Feo
Lindsay
Great Post. I have used that line with my Mexican fiends many times when they ask me about the differences between the US of A and Baja. While I know
there are lots of differences I like to focus on what we share as aposed to how we differ.
Here is a true story of one of my first instances of "meeting the locals".
I had ridden my BMW Paris Dakar motorcycle out to almost Agua Caliente in Valley Chico. Before I got there the electronics crapped out and the bike
wouldn't run. Seems like I wasn't going fast enough to charge the battery. So I turned it around and started pussing it back down the long dusty road
to El Dorado.
A group of Gringo came by in rails and stopped to help. They jumped my battery and got me going again. On guy even offered to drive real slow and stay
with me in case I had other problems. I declined his offer because I didn't understamd what kind of problem I was dealing with at the time. Sure
enough, their dust had hardly cleared when the moto conks out again.
I hadn't pushed too long when here comes a nice new pick up with an elderly rancher inside, going the other way. He stopped and refilled my empty beer
cans with water. This was in the winter so it wasn't real hot.
I pushed the bike for another mile or so before I decided to push it out into the desert and hide it behind some bushes. I could walk out a whole lot
faster and go git my little truck to come back for the bike.
I walked another mile or so without the bike when here comes another little truck full of young Mexicans and one old man, also going into Agua
Caliente. They also stopped to make sure I had water.
Now I was worried. I didn't think the old rancher would go looking for my moto but I knew this truck full of "broncos" would. There was a good chance
my bike wouldn't be there when I got back. While I was walking and worrying here comes the little truck again and amazingly my moto isn't in the back.
This time they stop and offer a ride for only a few kilometers, which I think is odd because there isn't any thing along the road for many kilometers.
So I get in with the rest of these ugly scarry types and ride down the road for a few more kilometers.
There along side the road is a old beat up pickup with the front right side suppension collapsed underneath. Seems like the bailing wire holding it
togeather finally failed. There is an old woman standing outside the truck and a young, late teens, man laying on the front seat unconsious and
moaning.
I don't have any medical training but I can see that this kid needs to get to a doctor. The young Mexicans had gone to Agua Caliente to look for
parts to fix the suspension. Then the old man and lady and the drugged out kid, that had aparently flunked out of the rehab clinic out there, were
headed back to Mexicali.
Well the bolt they had brought wasnt long enough so now they had to go all the way into San Felipe to get the right one. So I found my way into the
back of the little truck again and headed to San Felipe, leaving the lady and moaning kid alone at the broken truck.
On the way to drop me off at El Dorado I got to get a better look at my traveling cxompanions. Besides the old man in the front seat is a young man,
He doesn't have the use of his legs and there is a set of crutches in the back with us. Also in front is this big young man with his long black hair
held back with a red bandana. It was Geronimos great great grandson, or at least he could have been. The back of the truck held three other really
scruffy looking guys and an assortment of axes and sledges. These guys were firewood gatherers.
As they dropped me of at the intrance to Viajeros Norte in El Dorado I gave the driver a twenty and waved adios to my new "friends". Now If I worked
fast I could get the camper shell of my little truck and get back out there before they could return and find my bike.
This time I decided to play safe so I also loaded up some camping equipment and water for the return trip. It took a few hours before I was ready to
head back.
When I finally get back to the old pickup and the old lady and the moaning kid it is starting to get dark, and they are all alone. The woodgathering
mechanics hadn't returned yet.
As I sat with the old Lady and tried to comfort her, without knowing any spanish, I learned one of my first words "esperanza". I finally figured out
that she was asking me if there was any hope for her son. I lied and told he looked better than when I had left several hours earlier. I was torn
between dumping the kid in the back of my pickup and heading for San Felipe and staying there. We waited in the deepening dark for another hour before
the little truck returned.
They were supprised to see me there, there search for the right part had tken a while. It soon became obvious that I was needed. I pulled my truck in
where the lights would shine underneath where Geronimos great great grandson was trying to manhandle the components back into position. It wasn't long
before alll my tools and my jack were also laying in the dust under the truck also. With a little luck and a lot of Mexican savy we were able to fix
the suspension in the dark and in the dirt. In the US of A this repair would have involved a long tow trip to a well stocked garage along with a big
repair bill. The old man obviously didn't have money to pay and no one asked him for any. We were all just happy to see the old truck heading down the
road on it's way to a stomach pump in Mexicali.
Now I was all alone in the desert with a bunch of good, bad ugly Mexicans. They offered me a beer and a couple of shots of tequila that my twenty had
purchased and we had a little better conversation because one of them spoke a little english. One of them gave me a crystal that I still carry with
me. They offered to follow me down the road to help load my bike, and to find where I hidden it. I told them I would spend the rest of the night in
the back of my truck and would put it in in the morning. They were amazed that I would spend the night alone in the valley. The one that spoke english
asked if I wasn't afraid of banditos. As I looked back at them I said "I thought that was you guys" They all understood and laughed and there was a
general nodding of heads and agreement that they were the baddest guys in the valley.
The only one of them that I still see is Geronimos great great grandson. His name is Rafael and he lives in the Ejido with his wife and kids about six
blocks from me. He makes a living hauling landscaping and building rocks in from the mountains. He still looks like Geronimos great great grandson. No
we don't hang togeather, but we do still wave at each other and smile as we remember that shared evening in Valley Chico. It is where I learned about
el Bueno, el Malo, y el Feo and that sometimes you can find all three in the back of a pickup.
burro bob
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Packoderm
Super Nomad
Posts: 2116
Registered: 11-7-2002
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Lindsay, I am enjoying what you have to say. I especially like how you have to add 15 minutes to your commute for pleasantries. The hand gestures you
mention remind me of a story I once read about two ranchers in Wyoming who passed each other in opposite directions on a country road. Knowing they
knew each other, they both stopped and backed up to meet each other. Then, without saying a word, they gave each other a quick nod, and then both took
off and continued on their way.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64479
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Excellent story Bob!!! Thank you for sharing it with us. Valle Chico is a special place in Baja I have enjoyed visiting many times.
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lindsay
Nomad
Posts: 189
Registered: 9-9-2003
Member Is Offline
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It's Monday Again But...
It's 8:00 a.m. in San Diego and another workday at the English school but I'm indulging myself with a "Baja break" before I the "newbie" students
arrive at the school. Thanks everyone for some more interesting posts. Burro Bob, I enjoyed your encounters on the road and your vivid descriptions of
all the pieces of that adventure.
Bajaden, if you live right near the church you may know my daughter's aunt/tia Nelly Cuesta. Her family's home is just at the corner by the church and
she used to have her clothing store in the front part of the house.
Anyway, I've got to run to class now but have a great day everyone and keep the posts coming!!
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