What I like about Mexico
There was an earlier post about this,I gave it a lot of thought before writing this.
I am an old gringo that has lived in Mexico since june of 2005 and still struggle and get scolded over my errors in the language.I am still working and enjoying the everyday life here in the north of Mexico.
I am a legal residident here now and our group of friends has grown to more than 60. There are no English speakers in our group other than my dear wife.
Our group includes people from all carreers from buisness man to government official- to restaurant owner to skilled labor and all in between.Ranchers masons mechanics and a few very rich.
What I favor most is the open mindedness of our group. When we gather --all topics are on the table and strong debates may ensue. discussions last to the wee hours of the morning. we all hold our own opinions , and express our points of view--and present our evidence-but however strong our arguments may be we respect and honor the opinions and feelings of our group wthout regard to our own- and remain friends at the end of it all. This is an openess and a willingness to debate and discuss that in my opinion has been lost in the country I fought for.
3 Answers
I also have lived in Mexico for several years (since 2007) and my circle of friends also is entirely Mexican, no English spoken here.
What I love about Mexico is that it reminds me of growing up in Albuquerque in the 1960's. Sure things are more modern than that but the freedom and openness of the people is still in that era of 50 years ago. It is a very non-judgemental society and here in La Paz it is extremely safe with an unbelievably low crime rate.
I consider Mexico to be a more civilized country than the US. I base this not on how technologically advanced the society is but on how people treat each other. How many of your neighbors do you know and speak with on a regular basis? When was the last time you stopped and spoke with a stranger on the street? These things are the norm here, not the exception.
And yes Paco, I too continue to struggle with the language. I have good days and bad days with my Spanish. You are lucky that your wife speaks English and can explain things to you. I don't have that luxury. But then again I can't get lazy and fall back on English. I think that the desire to be fluent is highly over-rated. Being able to converse with native speakers is all that is needed.
Very nice post and very well said. That's how it should be.
What I favor most is the open mindedness of our group. When we gather --all topics are on the table and strong debates may ensue. discussions last to the wee hours of the morning. we all hold our own opinions , and express our points of view--and present our evidence-but however strong our arguments may be we respect and honor the opinions and feelings of our group wthout regard to our own- and remain friends at the end of it all.
While it's great that you are getting a lot of enjoyment from your get togethers, I don't think this is just common to Mexico. My friends and I do this all the time. It's related more to the ideals of the people you hang out with more than with their nationality or where they live.
