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chrisx
Banned
Posts: 173
Registered: 12-17-2009
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Mood: baj nomad is broken
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Some how it seems important to go many places and discover the differences. Not just from country too country but from state too state as well.
| Quote: | Originally posted by Roberto
It's pretty tough to declare one country/culture as superior to another - they are all different, and being made up of people, have pluses and
minuses. |
HEY GRINGO HIT THE BRAKES
SCAN THE ROAD AHEAD AT ALL TIMES
HIT THE BRAKES AND SLOW WAY DOWN
WAIT, PASS WHEN SAFE
HEY GRINGO HIT THE BRAKES!
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Eli
Super Nomad
Posts: 1471
Registered: 8-26-2003
Location: L.B. Baja Sur
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Mood: Some times Observing, sometimes Oblivious.
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Another of the differences between Mexican and Gringo culture that I really like is in Mexico you don't have to know someones name until you really
have some kind of valid relationship with them. First you get to know the person, than you call them by their name. In the states, as soon as you
meet someone it is the polite thing to do to memorize their name, than later you can figure out if you are going to really get to know the person or
not.
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chrisx
Banned
Posts: 173
Registered: 12-17-2009
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Mood: baj nomad is broken
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California, Oregon, and Washington Are reasonably clean, free of trash. On a week long hike in the Olympic mountains I found 0 trash.
The East coast is over loaded with trash. to the point I don't want to go back
The Black Hills are quite trash free
HEY GRINGO HIT THE BRAKES
SCAN THE ROAD AHEAD AT ALL TIMES
HIT THE BRAKES AND SLOW WAY DOWN
WAIT, PASS WHEN SAFE
HEY GRINGO HIT THE BRAKES!
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BajaGringo
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3922
Registered: 8-24-2006
Location: La Chorera
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Mood: Let's have a BBQ!
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I hear you on the trash thing.
It is frustrating and something I have been vocal about to a lot of folks here. Some would say I am p***ing in the wind and after filling another,
countless bag of left behind trash I was just about ready to agree with them.
That is until a couple of weeks ago. I was contacted by a local group who has a program on the local and only radio station here a couple of times a
week. They push a green agenda and have begun dedicating a portion of their program to educating people about the downside to littering and promoting
people to pick up their trash wherever they go, and always mention our coastline / beaches. They have also begun recruiting for a day in September to
organize a group to come out for a day of trash pickup, installing some fixed trash bins and posting no littering signs.
Change comes in small steps and I am going to keep my fingers crossed. We offered to throw a BBQ out here on the beach for all who show up and
participate.
Hopefully this will be one of many such events...
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shari
Select Nomad
Posts: 13052
Registered: 3-10-2006
Location: bahia asuncion, baja sur
Member Is Offline
Mood: there is no reality except the one contained within us "Herman Hesse"
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like Eli says, there are people I have known for 20 years and I dont even know their real name as everyone uses the nickname!
Also, it is totally acceptable to refer to someone by their physical attributes...for example I have heard people in restaurants call the waitress
over by hailing..."Gorda" or "Flacca" which is most likely not considered appropriate but they do it....pelon, chino, negro, narizon are others that
are quite common...I hated being called guera, "white girl" but have gotten used to it now and realize to them it's not negative...it is just how they
address someone who's name they dont know....seems so foreign and unpolitically correct to us.
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chrisx
Banned
Posts: 173
Registered: 12-17-2009
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Mood: baj nomad is broken
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A couple of years ago I chanced to meet a Belgian man pedaling his bicycle North. He started at the southern tip of South America. He said the
Mexican people were among the warmest and nicest he meet on his journey. He also likes Bolivia. And said the Colombian girls were the prettiest ever.
Although he spoke highly of his Mexican friends, he also got robbed in Mexico. He rented an apartment for 1 month on the main land. Someone broke in
and took everything accept his bike which was locked to the radiator, (ouch).
He Said he received frequent invitations to dinner and a cot for the night. Until he crossed into Texas, Where the invitations stopped for good. Some
nice folks in Silver City New Mexico paid him $1,000 to cut tile for 10 days and he bought some new cold weather gear. Note: ( the Hotel California
from the song is near Hurst castle). As we set on the steps of the now closed Hotel California eating lunch, the Belgian showed me a years worth of
photos from his journey. Then a Ranger pulled in and more or less called him a wino. Note; (a bright yellow jacket makes you look like a cyclist
instead of a wino.)
You can find something good to say about each country. You can find Something bad to say about each country. If you have something to say about many
countries you are winning.
Note; from the border south, and from about the red woods north you are a touring cyclist and people ask to many questions. Where, when, why, how far.
etc.
In Socal you are a wino on a bike, now move! Hows that for a cultural difference?
HEY GRINGO HIT THE BRAKES
SCAN THE ROAD AHEAD AT ALL TIMES
HIT THE BRAKES AND SLOW WAY DOWN
WAIT, PASS WHEN SAFE
HEY GRINGO HIT THE BRAKES!
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chrisx
Banned
Posts: 173
Registered: 12-17-2009
Member Is Offline
Mood: baj nomad is broken
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Very similar to that in rural Ireland, where I lived for 2 years
| Quote: | Originally posted by shari
like Eli says, there are people I have known for 20 years and I dont even know their real name as everyone uses the nickname!
Also, it is totally acceptable to refer to someone by their physical attributes...for example I have heard people in restaurants call the waitress
over by hailing..."Gorda" or "Flacca" which is most likely not considered appropriate but they do it....pelon, chino, negro, narizon are others that
are quite common...I hated being called guera, "white girl" but have gotten used to it now and realize to them it's not negative...it is just how they
address someone who's name they dont know....seems so foreign and unpolitically correct to us. |
HEY GRINGO HIT THE BRAKES
SCAN THE ROAD AHEAD AT ALL TIMES
HIT THE BRAKES AND SLOW WAY DOWN
WAIT, PASS WHEN SAFE
HEY GRINGO HIT THE BRAKES!
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Barry A.
Select Nomad
Posts: 10007
Registered: 11-30-2003
Location: Redding, Northern CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: optimistic
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True story---------when we moved to El Centro (1974) in the Imperial Valley (SoCal), we bought a house in a cul-de-sac consisting of 8 houses. 3 of
the 8 houses were owned by Mexicanos, all USA citizens. The house had been on the market for several weeks prior to our buying, and the grass and
scrubs were a little overgrown. The day we moved in (Saturday), and were really busy unloading the van, all 3 Mexican families (men, women and
children) came over with their garden equipment and cut the lawn, trimmed the hedges and treated the entire day as a welcome party without intruding
on our 'moving in' activities in the least. I was thoroughly impressed, believe me, and it is still clear in my mind and that was 1974. For the 13
years we were in that house, these 3 families were amongst our best friends. It took me weeks & months to gain a similar friendship with the
Anglo families in the other 5 houses, and one couple never did become friendly---------I always thought that was weird, but it did not bother me.
Barry
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Eli
Super Nomad
Posts: 1471
Registered: 8-26-2003
Location: L.B. Baja Sur
Member Is Offline
Mood: Some times Observing, sometimes Oblivious.
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Oh and the really fun nicknames are the ones that were given as a baby and really don't any longer in anyway fit. I know a lady who is as medium a
size as any and her nickname is Gorda, because she was a fat baby. Or the bald guy called Chino, or the guy with a full head of hair being called
Pelon because he was a bald baby jejeje. too funny. I know lots of Gueras that are Mexican, my head always pops up when someone calls out Guera, and
than I note they are referring to someone else. One of the ladies in my art class is called Blondie, I have no idea what her real name is, she is a
reddish blond many freckled Mexican. I feel strange addressing my art teacher by his name Luis Portfilo, we all call him Maestro.
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oladulce
Super Nomad
Posts: 1625
Registered: 5-30-2005
Location: bcs
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Thanks Shari. Lean to the Right and lead with the cheek- hold the peck.
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BajaGringo
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3922
Registered: 8-24-2006
Location: La Chorera
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Mood: Let's have a BBQ!
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Yeah, down here just about everybody has a nickname. A lot of them aren't very flattering either and yet people don't seem to mind. They just accept
that they are called as people see them, and as they do with others. Like my adopted lil' sis Shari, I'm also "guero" to a lot of folks down here.
Going to keep working on my tan. Maybe they'll start calling me Jorge Hamilton...
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Mulegena
Super Nomad
Posts: 2412
Registered: 11-7-2006
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I think that'd be lean to the left and you'll "kissey-peck" the right-- I think. | Quote: | Originally posted by oladulce
Thanks Shari. Lean to the Right and lead with the cheek- hold the peck. |
| Quote: | Originally posted by shari
yep the "Hug and a Handshake" is one of those differences and I try to warn our visitors and friends about the handshake after the kinda fake
kissy-poo action...which is on the right cheek by the way...right fake kiss followed by the right hand sticking out. Or sometimes its a fake back
pat...also right cheek to cheek. |
[url][/url]
[url][/url][email][/email]I've always appreciated this greeting, but only do it with sincerity. The other day
at the horseraces some drunk guy tried to take this greeting to another conclusion and overstepped his bounds. I felt it coming, turned my head
completely away- to the left- and UP came my left arm which prevented him from completing that bear hug he had in mind. I was prepared to give him a
push with my left arm against his chest, my foot behind his, so he'd fall in the horse pucky, but alas... wasn't necessary.
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
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Eli
Super Nomad
Posts: 1471
Registered: 8-26-2003
Location: L.B. Baja Sur
Member Is Offline
Mood: Some times Observing, sometimes Oblivious.
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One of Dona Lupe's favorite terms of endearment for my father was "Ay que Mi P-nche Gringo". How many times I recall she would pinch both of his
checks and call him that with greatest affection, he loved it, go figure. Even when we buried him, she cried "P-nche Gringo" at his graveside.
I just called my adopted brothers in San Jose, as always, when he recognized by voice, Lalo answered "Hermana Ingrato", (ungrateful sister), he always
calls me that, again this is said with great affection, but reminding me how seldom I call them.
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DENNIS
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 29510
Registered: 9-2-2006
Location: Punta Banda
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This looks like a good read:
Latinization: how Latino culture is transforming the U.S. By Cristina Benitez
http://tinyurl.com/42nz329
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Eli
Super Nomad
Posts: 1471
Registered: 8-26-2003
Location: L.B. Baja Sur
Member Is Offline
Mood: Some times Observing, sometimes Oblivious.
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| Quote: | Originally posted by DENNIS
This looks like a good read:
Latinization: how Latino culture is transforming the U.S. By Cristina Benitez
http://tinyurl.com/42nz329 |
I just skimmed thru this a little here and a little there, but looks like she has covered her bases very well with all she has said. Looks like a good
read to me.
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chrisx
Banned
Posts: 173
Registered: 12-17-2009
Member Is Offline
Mood: baj nomad is broken
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Shopping
What about shopping? With out thinking about it I buy different things at the store here. Chillies for example. Up North they have green chillies,
but I don't buy them. Here I put them in most meals. I don't know why. In the North I buy Different cloths too. When my bottle of tubeless tire
sealant erupted and ruined my Icebreaker shirts, I replaced them with 33 peso polyester shirts, (no cotton for bicycle riding.) Apparently I have a
different perception of what I need here.
HEY GRINGO HIT THE BRAKES
SCAN THE ROAD AHEAD AT ALL TIMES
HIT THE BRAKES AND SLOW WAY DOWN
WAIT, PASS WHEN SAFE
HEY GRINGO HIT THE BRAKES!
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durrelllrobert
Elite Nomad
Posts: 7393
Registered: 11-22-2007
Location: Punta Banda BC
Member Is Offline
Mood: thriving in Baja
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Barry A.
The BLM in the SoCal deserts use to have a lot of trash cans out at the main recreation areas-------people came from miles around to dump their
household trash at our sites so that they could avoid paying for trash collection at their homes, I guess. About 30 years ago, BLM pulled all the
trash cans out of the desert as we were simply overwhelmed, and the "cans" acted like magnets for mountains of trash, far beyond the capacity of the
"cans".
Trash is EVERYBODIES problem, and it takes EVERYBODY doing their share to keep it under control----it's far beyond the capabilities of "Government".
In the USA over the years we have made great progress in each of us handling our own basura-------I can testify to that as I have "paid attention" for
many years since it was "my" problem in the desert.
Yes, the "wind" works wonders for loose trash-------removes it from your sight, and deposits it in somebody elses sight------not sure that is
progress, tho. 
Barry |
Most of the cleanup crews you see along SoCCa highways have been convicted of DUI or other
misdemeanors and are doing their community service time. Could this work in MX?
Bob Durrell
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BajaGringo
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3922
Registered: 8-24-2006
Location: La Chorera
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Mood: Let's have a BBQ!
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| Quote: | | Originally posted by durrelllrobertMost of the cleanup crews you see along SoCCa highways have been convicted of DUI or other misdemeanors
and are doing their community service time. Could this work in MX? |
Only if they were to actually start arresting drunk drivers. As long as they don't cause an accident or any major property damage, most of the ones
around here simply get an escort home...
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Mulegena
Super Nomad
Posts: 2412
Registered: 11-7-2006
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| Quote: | Originally posted by BajaGringo
| Quote: | | Originally posted by durrelllrobertMost of the cleanup crews you see along SoCCa highways have been convicted of DUI or other misdemeanors
and are doing their community service time. Could this work in MX? |
Only if they were to actually start arresting drunk drivers. As long as they don't cause an accident or any major property damage, most of the ones
around here simply get an escort home...
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Yeah, you don't want to
arrest your mama. Kinda make ya' feel like a monkey's uncle.
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