Tag Archives: arab

in english

Henna “tattoos” and Asian tourists in Mexico

Japanese travel agent in Cancún
Japanese travel agent in Cancún

During my travels in Mexico I have found, surprisingly, many Chinese; Korean and Japanese tourists in the country and travel agencies specialising in catering to their tastes.  The diversification of the origin of tourists is very important for the prospects of the local tourism industry since most come from the United States and the weakness of the U.S. Dollar means an overseas vacation is not as enticing as it once was.

I have also found that henna body art has become fashionable in Mexico as well, as I found it advertised in Acapulco.

Mexicans are also part of globalisation, whether they want it or not.

in english

I’m not an Arab or a Turk, but so what if I were?

I was talking with another person when he made a comment assuming that I was Spanish. When I mentioned I am Mexican, he apologised profusely. I defused it with a comment saying that usually people think in Europe that I’m either Arab or Turk, because it is the truth.

Although there is some people that try to take advantage of the social security system available in this country, I believe they are as hardworking as anybody. I am taking Dutch lessons with them and they’re pretty OK, and I’ve noticed that they have many businesses that even open on Sunday (something almost impossible in these parts).

Of course not all of them are perfect and culture shock for their communities and the host society is not uncommon, but I believe it has to do with people sticking to the labels of “Turk”, “Arab”,
“Flemish” or “Walloon”, instead of noticing that we’re all “Human” with a capital H, regardless of how corny it may sound.