i live in mexico

I’ve never actually been within the legal boundaries of Mexico; however, the place I call home in southern California is a fairly accurate replica of how I imagine Mexico to be so I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything (Unless it isn't actually anything like this, in which case I feel cheated!). Walking out my front door (or only door since I don’t have a back door… or a side door) I hear more Spanish spoken than English. The kids run unsupervised in the streets (oh wait, that was my childhood too). A cart selling Mexican snacks cruises down the sidewalk every afternoon with its (quite annoying) bell ringing. And the food’s so authentic I’m pretty sure I’ve achieved some semblance of nirvana.

I’ve fully embraced this because I get to feel like I live in a foreign country without the hassle of Visas and Passports and 18 million dollar plane tickets to fly home. And I think Mexican food should be its own food group. My neighbors are also really nice and we frequently exchange pleasant smiles and a few words because that’s all any of us can manage. I’ve realized just how much I’ve embraced it in that who I’ve known my entire Midwestern life to be “Jee-zus” is now only “Hey-soos”.

But sometimes it can be a big pain in the ass and I momentarily morph into an extreme conservative who thinks everyone in this country should learn our official language (even though we don’t have one). I spent an entire day once trying to find a place that could hem and take in a bridesmaid dress and the only one that spoke English was going to charge me double what the others would. But since I couldn’t communicate exactly what I wanted to the others I had to go with double the price out of fear I’d end up wearing something even worse than what I'd started with.

Another time I needed a hella cute boot’s zipper fixed and using the limited Spanish I have, thought I’d communicated how the zipper should be replaced (including bringing the other boot in for an example). When I got it back it was the most poorly done sewing job I’ve ever seen (and I have no professional sewing training), looking nothing like the example I’d provided. Again, with my limited foreign language skills I tried to explain the problem to him and asked him to fix it for free. Instead of fixing it for even a fee he got really angry and refused, demanding I pay him immediately. I really loved that boot too.

I’ve since stopped my attempts to speak Spanish because either native Spanish speakers don’t understand what I’m saying, I don’t understand what they say back or they look at me like I’m crazy to even attempt to speak it. Which I can understand in some respects because I probably sound crazy to even attempt to speak it; however, I am trying, in a country where even though English isn’t legally our official language it is the one most used (82% according to wikipedia). And I think that should count for something.