Have meant that my iPod has been doing the rounds with them. Both of them ("Echoes, silence, patience and grace" and "Si no" are very good and wholeheartedly recommended.
Bought at amazon.co.uk.
Tag Archives: mexico
Choque cultural a la mexicana
Uno de los blogs que leo es de un mexicano que después de vivir en Finlandia acaba de regresar a México. De su experiencia personal tiene tres puntos que comparte que me parecen muy válidos.
- Nunca esperes que te digan las cosas como son.
- Nadie nunca te va a confrontar directamente a menos que seas un extraño.
- La gente se toma todo personal.
Total que uno no es de aquí ni es de allá, jajajaja.
Más en su blog.
The absurd in Mexican news
Two news stories that have convinced me that absurd is the flavour of the day for Mexican news:
- Roberto Madrazo, former Mexican presidential candidate, was found cheating at a marathon in Germany and subsequently stripped of his over 50 year old category triumph. Once a crook, always a crook. And to think that this guy wanted my vote. The news in English, German and Spanish available.
- Taco Bell is trying to enter the Mexican market again. That's like the American Budweiser trying to enter the Czech Republic. I will be really surprised if they actually have customers.
Globalisation is…
People with Vietnamese, Moroccan, Mexican and French names speaking French, switching to English, and back to French.
Who said globalisation was americanisation?
About time
Some of my readers may wonder why I haven't posted about Chivas, the football club I follow. The reason is simple: there hasn't been much to post about. After the end of last season, it was a him or me between the coach and "Bofo" Bautista, and the coach won. However, the team played horribly and after a string of very bad, unsuccessful games, including a defeat last Wednesday agains DC United in the Copa Sudamericana, has meant that "Chepo" de la Torre has also been let go, even if he took the team to their first championship in 9 years last December.
The team obligingly won their first game under the new coach, against Veracruz. However, I'm not sure if Sergio "El Gauchito" Ávila is ready to step in the shoes of "Bofo" day in and day out even if yesterday he proved he's definitely first team material.
Service levels
In Japan (and in the rest of Asia and Latin America) one realises how low is the service level one is used to in Europe. Whereas in Spain or France a waiter will treat you with contempt and in the Nordic countries you will be challenged to find one, in Japan they will be tripping over each other to serve you. I hadn't noticed how much I missed not needing to wait ages to get the attention of restaurant personnel.
Leyes de inmigración a la mexicana
Como he mencionado en algún otro post, las leyes mexicanas de migración son bastante fuertes. Incluso más que las leyes de otros países como Estados Unidos, de las que tanto se quejan los medios mexicanos.
Este artículo de Sergio Sarmiento pone las cosas en perspectiva. A mí lo que me decepciona, además de la obvia cuestión de los derechos humanos, es algo más personal. Si esto es cierto entonces veo bastante difícil que me regrese a vivir a México durante mi vida productiva, ya que mi esposa no podría trabajar allá y si ella tiene que ser ama de casa se vuelve loca y me vuelvo loco yo. No me extrañaría que no fuera el único en esta situación, con lo cual México parece empeñado en perderse la oportunidad de que el know how que adquirimos en el extranjero regrese al país.
Via alt1040.
Dispatch from Tokyo
After around 14 months, I’m back in Japan, but this time is not on pleasure. Funnily enough, I still feel rather comfortable here as I’m also from the big city.
A couple of things that I have noticed (relevant or not) below:
* The current fashionable look for ~18 year old women is small shorts with long tights. Wouldn’t work in Finland.
* There seems to be much more contacts between Japan and China. I met in the plane a Japanese woman who is married to a Chinese man and lives in Shanghai. I’m also watching a Chinese movie subtitled in Japanese at the moment.
* Tokyo has always felt a little futuristic. Both times I’ve been here it feels I’m experiencing the future of other cities. Definitely I would like more parts of Mexico City to look like this, not just Santa Fé.
* Surprisingly enough, I feel more comfortable here than in Paris or London (even though here I don’t speak the language) only because people are more polite. The service level is also excellent compared to what you get in Europe.
* Even coming from an expensive Nordic country, shopping here is pricey.
Time to sleep for me now.
Ideas sobre México
En mi post anterior había mencionado mis particulares ideas sobre el país y qué es lo que más me lo recuerda. En los blogs de Beco y Ceronne me encontré este video, que aunque un poco estereotípico, muestra lo que la mayoría de los mexicanos asociamos con el lugar donde nacimos.
Yo lo disfruté mucho. ¿Y ustedes?
Más fotos sobre el festejo en El Universal.
Mexican Independence Day
After all these years, my relationship with the country where I was born and its traditions is different from what it used to be. For example, I'm not afraid to criticise those things I don't agree, however sacred they may be.
However, that doesn't mean that I stopped feeling myself Mexican. On the contrary, I believe I'm more aware of certain aspects of our culture and am proud of it, but I've learned to keep what is worthwhile and discard the rest, which for me has had more to do with attitudes than with popular culture. I've kept the joy and the ability of improvisation, but added some further planning. I've conserved the family ties and my friends, but have become more open to new people and ideas. I've kept listening to Mexican music (traditional or otherwise) and still wear guayaberas or my tejana from time to time (in my wedding I've even used a full charro outfit), but it doesn't mean I won't use something else (Japanese yukatas are great after sauna, for example).
However, this is about Mexican Independence Day. This year I won't be able to attend the reception given by the embassy since it is on Monday and I'll be travelling, but usually I go and have a good time. My wife will represent our family. To make up for that, we decided to cook Mexican tonight and have the appropriate music with my wive's family, and it all went well. You can judge the results below.
As I've said, I'm not a typical Mexican, so what relates me to Mexico is different than otherwise would be. When I think about it, I think about my family, my friends, the food and the music. I would also like to use this occasion to remember those parts of the country we don't usually think about, like our countrymen abroad, the indigenous peoples and the immigrants to the country that are making a better life for themselves there. All these and more are also Mexico.