I've been living here in Mexico for nearly 2 years now. Tijuana is ugly and dirty, but I love Mexico as a whole, and sometimes I don't know if I really want to move back to the US. Before I had a kid and moved here, I was such a different person. People are different in the US.
The reasons I like it here? There are several, but among the top:
Kids here are respectful. Last time I was up visiting relatives, I just couldn't help but notice how disrespectful kids are to their parents. And how materialistic!!! My baby cousin, at just 2 years old, is already asking for everything she sees. I wonder if there is any correlation between the materialism and the lack of respect for others. *ponders* Here, kids still say "Gracias a Dios" when they are finished eating and wait to be excused from the table. In the US, many families don't even eat together, let alone at the table!
Teenagers here are NOT dressing in slutty clothing and being promiscuous. I am only 23. Back when I lived in the US and before I had a child, I didn't really see a problem with this. I may *ahem* have even been one of them. But I've changed. A lot. And oh how I wish that teens in the US would realize that it's not such a good thing to be having sex at that age.
People are friendly here. Neighbors actually greet eachother in passing, which is actually something that was hard for me to get used to! Here, I know that if I run out of something, I can run to my neighbor...and she knows the same. We have taught eachother how to cook things. She taught me how to make salsa/chile (not for chip dipping, the real stuff!). I taught her to make pizza. Happen to be coming home from an outing while your neighbors are having a carne asada?? You get invited the moment you step out of your car. People are generous. I like that.
We can get hot, fresh tortillas just about any time. I HATED corn tortillas before I moved here...I always thought they tasted like cardboard. Commercial tortillas are crap. Hot, fresh corn tortillas, even a week old (refrigerated, please) are fantastic. Just mash up some avocado on a warm tortilla, add a little salt, and have a small taste of bliss.
Things I DON'T like about living in Tijuana:
The traffic...I refuse to drive here...too scary. Plus, the roads are shitty. Pot holes up the wazoo.
The lack of all things fiber. This one really bothers me, being the fiber nut that I am. We have 1 yarn shop in the whole city...and they mostly have acrylic. Overpriced acrylic. The very, very, very few people whom I have met here who knit (okay, 2 people. Just 2.) buy their yarn from walmart in the US. Because acrylic yarn is cheaper in the US.
Want to weave? Forget it. Spin? You can forget that too. This makes me really, really sad. Most of the people here in TJ come from somewhere else...further south in Mexico. The owner of our convenience store comes from Oaxaca. My neighbor is from Michocan. Her husband from Queretaro, and MY husband from Hidalgo. Spinning and weaving is part of Mexican heritage, and it makes me really sad to see that people want to forget it and leave it behind. Maybe it's because I don't know my own heritage. But I find it depressing that people just don't care to keep these things alive. I *have* taught several people to spin since I've been here, though I seriously, seriously doubt that any of them have stuck with it, even though their very first yarns were fantastically even. All 4 or 5 of them.
We also have no health food stores and no plant nurseries that we have been able to locate...and we've looked!! I really want to grow some veggies this year!
I've been Mexican at heart since I was 5. I always, always knew that I would live here. I've loved the language since my grandma taught me my first few words of spanish as a preschooler. She taught me to love the hispanic culture. She took me to a catholic church a few times, though she wasn't catholic. She grew up as a missionary kid in Honduras, though I didn't know it until after she passed away. She spoke fluent spanish, which I also didn't know. See, we moved from CA to CO when I was about 9...after my parents had been divorced for 4 years. So I didn't see my grandma much. Then she was hit by a drunk driver while taking a walk and had severe brain damage. I never had the chance to talk to her about her life. I took my son to see her once in the nursing home (just once because I didn't live in the same state), and she just cried and cried...tears of joy at seeing her first great grandson. She never had the chance to meet my husband, but I think she would really have liked him. She passed away this past November, and I really miss her. She taught me to sew when I was 6...a doll blanket decorated with a bunny, green hills, the sun, and a fluffy cloud...all running stitch on top of the design she drew for me on the fabric.
I got a little off track there. Anyway, my husband and I are currently in the process of getting him US residency. It's a long and expensive process. My son and I will be getting our Mexican citizenship eventually, because we can and because I think my son deserves the right to choose where he wants to live when he grows up.
We aren't sure where we will end up...hubby is in his 3rd semester of law school here, so we will be in TJ for another 6 semesters...3-4 more years minimum. After that? who knows. We *do* know that if we stay here, we're moving south. Neither of us wants to live in TJ. No matter where we end up, our son will have the advantage of being bilingual. And we are homeschooling...I want him to learn the history of *both* of his countries. And I want him to think for himself. I don't want him to be taught to a test. And I don't want him to be in an overcrowded school learning from his peers what he should be learning from his elders.
That is all.
And because Adam wants to type:
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