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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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A Sad old Gringo
I don?t k now if this is making any sense or not. Perhaps Neil and Skeet can chime in and help me with where I think I am going.
When I think of Gringo?s in Baja I think of the first wave of guys and gals who started heading south in the early 1950?s. People like Bobbie Van
Warmer, Jimmy Smith, Ray Cannon and the guys who started the hotel industry in Cabo And, of course Mr. Johnson in Mulege. All of these folks more or
less settled way down south. Then there was the second wave in the mid sixties including yours truly. This group tended to stay in Norte because
they still had to live with one foot in Baja and one in Otra Lado. In other words they didn?t have the ability to wander further south because they
still had to make a few pesos in the States.
Both of these groups were comprised of people who understood and cared for the people and the culture of Baja. They all interacted with their hosts
and worked with them to make various communities more people friendly. Most of them supported orphanages, clinics, etc. Some even made arrangements
to have Mexican kids brought to the U.S. for various operations to correct physical problems. Always at no charge to the patient. Others assisted
kids with their education.
I guess what I am trying to say is that we were, ?like one big family that helped each other.? I surely know that they taught me to value that which
is important in life and to realize that I really didn?t need a lot of the BS that went with the rat race.
Even those who came in the 70?s valued their hosts and lived modestly.
But! Something happened and a different type of person started to wander down to Baja. The Mexicans hated those Mexicans from north of the border
because of their pushy ways. I won?t even use the names they applied to those people who thought they were above the laws in both countries. I used
many of the same names to describe the ?new? gringo who came into camp and immediately wanted to erect walls and pave streets. It didn?t take
terribly long for these idiots to start excluding Mexicans from their ?gringo? camps.
Where before you could wander up to the Cantina and visit with Gustavo, Chio, Tequila Pancho, Miguel, Ramon, and Antonio now the only people you would
find in the Cantina were drunk Gringo?s who were constantly complaining about being ripped off by the landowners, the propane driver, the telephone
guy (oh! Yes if their phones were out for any period of time the whole place was going to hell.)
When asked to contribute to the hospital expenses for a young kid with leukemia the response was, ?I don?t like his family.? Believe it!
They brought all of the crap that the people of the 50?s-60?s and 70?s were trying to escape from and planted it on what they came to believe was
their land (????)
That is what forced many people like me to give up our houses and move back across the border where we anguish over the reduced ability to visit with
our Mexican friends---the gringo?s who cares.
I am to old to try and move further south and I know a lot of people who would love to but one spouse or the other needs to be close to the medical
system in the States.
So, Now all I can do is visit the Baja Boards and live through the posts of others. Guys like JR, Jessie, David K, and Baja Cactus are very important
to me as are many others on this board.
That is why I spend so much time writing and trying to capture the Baja that is so rapidly disappearing.
JR?s story about his campo is unfortunately all too common today.
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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FrankO
Nomad
Posts: 301
Registered: 11-10-2002
Location: Ocean Beach
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that reminds me of the
the upper class Mexicans I met in the Yucatan who would look down their noses when I mentioned baja....... seems like they feel the same way about
baja californios as JR's neighbors feel about the white folk in their 'hood.
[Edited on 7-19-2004 by FrankO]
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64525
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Then what is the best thing we Baja Nomads (who respect and love the people and the place) can do?
Personal meetings and communication is a big one (like at JR's last Sunday).
Posting stories like yours Bernie, JR, Jesse, and others so the new Norteamericano visitor can appreciate how the Mexicanos feel and to learn their
customs.
We are the visitor to their country... because it is NOT like it is here. It is totally strange that the new gringos want to duplicate the north, in
Baja. Just stay home if that's what you want!
I am sure we can work on this to our mutual benefit... I don't want the 'ugly Americans' to ruin it for us nice ones...
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Capt. George
Super Nomad
Posts: 2129
Registered: 8-21-2003
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UGLY AMERICANS
I was always offended by that term, until I experienced it with my own eyes and ears.....astounding. How about this one, and I've heard it more then
once, "they didn't even try to speak english"...HELLO, you're in Mexico.
Or some Norte Americanos living most of the year in Baja and not knowing or even trying to speak the native tongue...lo siento, mi no comprende....
I will never in my life understand why a person would move to a place because they fell in love with it.......and then try to change it back to what
they ran away from..Someone, please enlighten me!
It's not only an occourance here in Baja, I've seen it happen in Montauk, NY Cape Cod, MA and the Beautiful Florida Keys.
Well, to each his own, Deborah and I will simply try to just blend in with our Mexicano amigos, neighbors and ultimately, familia. We will cherish the
time we have here, and if, for some reason it changes to what we left, we will pick up and move off again....Hopefully not in our lifetime (wishful
thinking)....
El Vikingo Y Deborah:
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Skeet/Loreto
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4709
Registered: 9-2-2003
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Wise and Respected Words from All!
Gentlemen and Scholars: Start your Engines!!
Respect for your Neighbors.
The Ability to Listen.
Kindness.
To think of the other person instead of wrapped up in "Yourself" all the time.
Not to be a "Metechy".{Liar}
Responsibility for you Acts.
Salute you Neighbors each time you see them.
All of the above applies to both Mexicanos and Americanos on both sides of the Border.
Since returning to the States , I have found that I get along much better with my Mexicano Neighbors than the Americanos.
The Music is far enough away that I enjoy and participate in that Music.
I do not enjoy driving down Blackstone Ave. in Fresno being "Blasted" by the Boom Boxes on Wheels, owned and Driven by Mexicanos and Americanos!
My Point:Both of our Cultures have changed since the 60's in the States United, and since the 70's in Baja.
I think that it is the "Break down" of Family Values. The Mexicanos Family Breakdown is much slower and somewhat behind ours.
Each Day try to be a Good neighbor:
Faith, Hope, and Charity!!
Skeet/Loreto
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jrbaja
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4863
Registered: 2-2-2003
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That is exactly
what happened Grover. It also works well to supress any mass opposition to dishonesty and government corruption when even the families don't stand
behind each other.
Somebody knew what they were doing when it comes to controlling a population!
Very unfortunate ...
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Capt. George
Super Nomad
Posts: 2129
Registered: 8-21-2003
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VOTING
Did you know that the % of union membership in the workforce is now at 8%? That's less then before the great union movement of the 30's....
The politicios and Robber Barons over the last number of elections have figured a way to rob the working classes of the country.....
They have managed to convince the populace that voting based on moral issues is the important vote.....For the average (working) family in America...
the important vote should be "the economy stupid"!
How did they manage to get it to go this far, how do the American people turn it around?
The combined worth of the Republican and Democratic nominees for Pres./Vice Pres. could provide health care for the 65% of "WORKING" Americans who
happen to have NONE. What is wrong with this picture?
Bush = Old Oil Money
Chaney = Crook
Kerry = Gigilo, his money from a gigelet!
Ahhh, my favorite.........Edwards...worth 750 million, made his money as an Ambulance Chasing Attorney..And he professes to help with the insurance
problem?!?!?
Yeah, all four of them are real interested in the welfare of the American populace..
At 59 years old, I have never missed the privilage of voting, however, I'm sorry to say, I only voted one time for my choice.
The rest of my votes were simply, "the lesser of two evils"...
I'm through, dropped out, over it, no mas, no mas.....I will try to live the rest of my years surrounded by the peace and tranquility of my new home
in Baja...No newspapers, no news stations, no mas problema para mi........
OOPS, Sorry, I'M finished, the Soap Box just fell over.....
Capt. George aka El Vikingo
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jrbaja
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4863
Registered: 2-2-2003
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The food is better here anyway!!
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Baja Bernie
`Normal` Nomad Correspondent
Posts: 2962
Registered: 8-31-2003
Location: Sunset Beach
Member Is Offline
Mood: Just dancing through life
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Could this even be reaching into Baja?
SKEET, you nailed it! Thanks
John's Weekly Column: 7/13/2004 "Is today's mom a doormat?"
by John Rosemond
I was just thinking . . . Isn't it ironic? Part One: In my youth, the typical child was afraid of his mother?a mother, furthermore, who might never
have spanked or yelled, but who could glue his feet to the floor with nothing more than a look. Today, the typical mother is afraid of her child.
She's afraid he will throw a tantrum in public, afraid he will refuse to do what she pleads with him to do, afraid he will not make good grades in
school (thereby confirming that she is a good mother). But most of all, she is afraid he will disapprove of her behavior?that he won't like her. I, on
the other hand, was afraid my mother would disapprove of my behavior. My mother never yelled or spanked. Am I saying children should fear their
mothers?more generally, their parents? Yes, I am. But I'm not talking about terror. I'm talking about fear in the sense of knowing that your parents
possess incredible power. Jean Piaget, the founder of developmental psychology, proposed that children needed to believe their parents were
omnipotent. That belief, Piaget said, formed the foundation of a child's sense of security. Every child has the right to believe that his parents are
powerful enough to provide for and protect him under any and all circumstances. And he should be helped toward the understanding that this
powerfulness is the very power of their love. The problem is that too many of today's parents fail to demonstrate to their children that they are even
powerful enough to successfully discipline them. And if they cannot succeed at that, then how can the child possibly rely on them to sufficiently
provide and protect? Isn't it ironic? Part Two: In my youth, the typical child was working for his mother by the time he was four years old. He was in
her service, helping her with chores whenever she so directed. Today, the typical child is still being served by his mother when he's ten, and the
arrangement shows no sign of ever ending. I propose that today's children are learning that women are doormats. This so-called "liberated" generation
of women is causing more harm to the status of women in our culture than has any generation of women, ever before. "But John," someone recently
rejoined, "yesterday's woman served her husband. What's the difference?" The difference is night and day. Yesterday's woman served a husband who
provided for her welfare and protection and the welfare and protection of their children. The arrangement was reciprocal. Where is the reciprocity in
today's mother-child relationship? Answer: there is none. Within its context, the child fails to learn that women are people of power. He also fails
to learn what it takes to make a relationship work. Later in life, he is likely to enter into relationships thinking if they do not meet "his needs,"
then they are not worthy of his time. And this, dear reader, does not bode well for any of us.
[Edited on 7-19-2004 by Baja Bernie]
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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wilderone
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3783
Registered: 2-9-2004
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That is some of the most ill-conceived drivel I've ever heard. Care to expound on the absent fathers who pay no child support?
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Capt. George
Super Nomad
Posts: 2129
Registered: 8-21-2003
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AMEN BERNIE
As a yute (oops caught up in Brooklynese),I went to Parochial school...discipline works!! Capital punishment works, fear of reprisal works.....
It's all gone today, Oh Johnny, you should not have burned down the neighbors house, we don't do those things, well young man, you'll just have to be
punished! TIME OUT for you, now get up to your (private) room with your TV, PC, VCR, DVD, Sat Phone and suffer alone.
I guess that will teach you!
OK mom, you b-tch! think I haven' heard that?
My mother would have removed my teeth with a vice grips...Mom, the nun knocked me around today, "I didn't do nuttin!" Come here son, biff, bam, boom,
go take out the ashes now, it will help dry up your tears......
And look how I turned out, oh chit, maybe they have it right today!!!!!
El Vikingo
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Steve in Oro Valley
Nomad
Posts: 105
Registered: 11-14-2002
Location: Near Tucson
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Skeet-- It is metiche
No seas metiche . Don't be a meddler.
Slang word comes from meterse (to put in, intrude, usually where you have no business) Easy to remember: meterse = to meddle or but in.
There.. now I have been something of a metiche..... 
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bajalera
Super Nomad
Posts: 1875
Registered: 10-15-2003
Location: Santa Maria CA
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Thanks, Steve. I had wondered what that was.
bajalera
\"Very few things happen at the right time, and the rest never happen at all. The conscientious historian will correct these defects.\" -
Mark Twain
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Capt. George
Super Nomad
Posts: 2129
Registered: 8-21-2003
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HI STEVE
PLEASE GO BACK TO ORO VALLEY OR WHATEVER OTHER YUPPIE COMMUNITY YOU COME FROM......WAKE UP MAN, YOU'RE LOSING YOUR COUNTRY
CAPT. GEORGE AKA EL VIKINGO DE ????
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Markitos
Nomad
Posts: 218
Registered: 1-4-2004
Location: San Diego/La Paz
Member Is Offline
Mood: let me check
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Change Sucks !
Change! It's ugley messy painfull unrulley stressfull and worldwide  send me to a
deserted cove on the sea !! even there the mega yacths show up sooner then later.
What do ya do?
Smile and hope and pray the change, will in the end be good ! 
All that wonder are not lost
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Skeet/Loreto
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4709
Registered: 9-2-2003
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Thanks for the Spelling help!
In development of my realationship with my many friends in and around Loreto and on the Sea of cortez i noticed their habits of "Placing the two
fingers to the Mouth in a silent display of telling you that the Speaker was not dependable".
I have found its use in the States to 'Widen the eyes of my Mexicano neighbors ".
The same as "Placing your finger to your Eye to make a point of what you may be talking about".
Capt. George, my friend, you and i must discuss "Unions" in our next metting. I had many wild, arm slinging discussions with my friend Ray Halstead of
Sequim Wash.{The first Tug Boat Capt. to get a Coast Guard License and only had One Eye!! Retired in 1992 after 40 years Operating Tugs out of Puget
Sound, his Father and Grandfather were Pilots out of Seattle.
I will be on a 76 Ft. Yacht out of La Paz for 7 Days the last week of August. First Stop will be about 65 miles North of La Paz for a yellowfin Tuna
or Two. Been invited by an old Hi School Chum who was the only one to beat me by 3 points in my Last Golden Gloves Fight in 1948 in Amarillo Texas.53
Fights,won 50, lost Three 2 to cuts and one to Melvin.
Children need Discipline!
Now there are a bunch of Parents that need the Same.
How do we do that??
Not by Hate!
Skeet/Loreto
Anon the Preacher
"In God I Trust"
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Baja Bernie
`Normal` Nomad Correspondent
Posts: 2962
Registered: 8-31-2003
Location: Sunset Beach
Member Is Offline
Mood: Just dancing through life
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Markiitos
Right on! That IS the Baja Attitude and I will remember it in the future.
I salute you.
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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Steve in Oro Valley
Nomad
Posts: 105
Registered: 11-14-2002
Location: Near Tucson
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Baja Peninsula getaway
Hi George, Markitos, Bernie, Jessie, Skeet, et al:
I did not mean to criticize anyone's expression here.. I never thought of myself as an Oro Valley yuppie(?)..
George, thanks for the complement (I'm in my 59th year). I would prefer to have a place such as yours in Loreto, but a family member requires some
care and does not tolerate high humidity and heat very well (MS).
This beloved acre lot here in Oro Valley was here before Oro Valley annexation, has no fence, and has a very loose fast draining desert (DG) soil.
If I can not be in B. C., I can create the landscape of Baja. I have a Sonoran Desert microhabitat that has as it's theme "A Baja California Desert
Arroyo".
In some ways, my lot with it's open desert landscape, is more like Baja than Baja itself (apologies to Jimmy). I could never live in a loud campo,
with So Cal landscape and and ATVs.
Well, maybe....if it was like Campo Loco (Arnaiz) where Fred Hoctor used to live.
So you see I am not losing my country, but I am extending my beloved Baja California countryside into my unfenced acre that I like to call Oro Valley,
Baja Arizona.
I still have my dream of a getaway in Baja California. Does anyone (Jessie) remember the lyrics:
Quiero ense?arte un lugar in el mar
Donde nadie ha podido lllegar ....
George, you like to fish?
I recommend a book that my neighbor Bill Mathias here in Oro Valley put together ( I did the prepress). Dictionary of Sport Fishing English-Spanish
Espa?ol-Ingl?s..
You can get it thru Vagabundos del Mar Book Store.
Bill is the guy Gene Kira wrote as the greatest Rooster fish fisherman there ever was. He throws back 120 pounders down near La Paz.
Hasta,
Steve in Oro Valley
[Edited on 7-20-2004 by Steve in Oro Valley]
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Capt. George
Super Nomad
Posts: 2129
Registered: 8-21-2003
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Apologies
Steve, please accept my apologies for being an ass_ole......I'm real good at that sometimes.
I'm also a young 59.....if you ever do get a chance to come down here, get in touch, I owe you a fishing trip.
Buenos Tardes mi amigo
Capt. George
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Steve in Oro Valley
Nomad
Posts: 105
Registered: 11-14-2002
Location: Near Tucson
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Loreto
George:
Thanks, I love Loreto.
Maybe in the fall..
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