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Mistakes I've made while living in Mexico


modeeper

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Early on it was distressing to hand a police officer money.

As a single man it's not a good idea to impulsively think it's alright to form a friendship with someone's wife.  Wrong country!

Loaning money.  Loaning anything.  Sometimes it worked out, but mostly not the thing to do.

Mexicans will prolly give you the benefit of the doubt for language flubs.  I've done some doosies (sp).  

Age deference is a powerful force.  Damn if it isn't easier to get along now that I'm old.  People are waaay more pleasant.  It's easy to overlook the pecking order.

As an Yank I've formed the habit of talking about things I have.  That doesn't usually go over so well.  That's what nacos* do.

Mexicans are the World's best slangsters.  They love to play with their language.  Using slang is a flag that flies over a clique.  I often flew my flag too soon. 

Learn to be able to talk about food.  I still haven't.

I often assumed Mexicans needed to be informed about what's happening in the USA.  They already know.  They have TVs.

If you're invited to someone's house bring something with you, bring a lot of something.

I hung out with children for my first 2-3 years.  They were at my language level.  That paid off.  Took awhile to figure that out.

I had legal problems my first three or four years, even been jailed.  Not knowing how things work round here is a pit to fall into.

Mexicans are sentimental.  I learned how to fake it. ;)

As a teacher it's too easy to see how the boys get preference.  I thought I'd change that.  Big mistake.  Your coworkers and/or student's parents will just think you're weird at best or a pedo at worst.  But the same goes for everyday social interactions.  The gender role divide is strong, boy child with men, girls with woman.  

*What is a naco?  Depends on the region you're in.  The best definition I've read/heard is this:  If you have Mexican friends who like to be seen with you, who defer to you, who dress like you,  speak English ... they are nacos.  Even the furnishings in one's home can define him/her as a naco; Gringo wannabes.  They were hard to avoid early on, when alone in a foreign land it's easy to gravitate to any soft spot to land.  They are the brunt of humiliation to the hard core Mexico Mexicans.  These days I don't know any ... the company you keep and all that stuff.

I know y'all are mostly older retired married folks who prolly have't the need to bury themselves in Mexican culture.  But what the hey, eh?

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Whaaaaat!  Sir, I don't think you have a clue about Mexican culture as proven by your culturally insensitive diatribes in the past and reinforced by your inane remarks in the Art House lady's post a few chains down. I only speak for myself when I say that whenever I see your handle in the future I will not be able to move on fast enough.

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Naco is oftentimes similar to "hillbilly or redneck."  If you and your family find a pristine isolated spot on a beach miles long with no other tourists and then an old beat up van pulls up and parks right next to you along with empty beer bottles and dirty diapers falling out of the missing back door of the van while the radio is blasting banda, .... then they are "naco."

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31 minutes ago, Bisbee Gal said:

Agree.  Funny thing: there is a Naco, AZ and a Naco, MX, just south of Bisbee.

There are some in Mexico with the surname Naco. How about the last name of Ladron? I knew a shop in Texas named after the owner's family name, Mota's Garage.

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3 hours ago, Kiko said:

Naco is oftentimes similar to "hillbilly or redneck."  If you and your family find a pristine isolated spot on a beach miles long with no other tourists and then an old beat up van pulls up and parks right next to you along with empty beer bottles and dirty diapers falling out of the missing back door of the van while the radio is blasting banda, .... then they are "naco."

There's a couple more for that, chaca and chundo.    

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23 hours ago, AngusMactavish said:

There are some in Mexico with the surname Naco. How about the last name of Ladron? I knew a shop in Texas named after the owner's family name, Mota's Garage.

Lechuga too.  Got a friend named Mota.

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