Life Here …

Life here (in Mexico) consists of many things for us, but two that always seem to be on the front burner these days are language and culture. Here’s what I mean.

Trying to learn the rules while you are playing the game is difficult at best with the potential of being disastrous. Take for instance a dinner we had at a Mexican home recently. Here are some of the things that are going though our minds: Should we take something as a gift and if so what? Should we make room at the table for the hostess or will she stand to serve the meal? Should we eat when served or wait on until everyone is served? Do we eat everything on our plate or leave a little? Is it okay to take seconds or not? Can we offer to help clear the table? When should we leave without going too quickly or staying too long? Should we give everyone in the family a cultural kiss and/or hug when we leave or just the hostess? Should we send a thank you? It all adds up to the great possibility of breaking the rules of the game – unintentionally but breaking them none-the-less.

Q. How many forms can you think of for the word go in English? A. go, going, goes, went, gone. Q. How many forms are there for go (ir) in Spanish? A. voy, vas, va, vamos, van, yendo, fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fueron, iba, ibas, ibamos, iban, ire, iras, ira, iremos, iran, iria, irias, iriamos, irian, vaya, vayas, yayamos, vayan, fuera, fueras, fueramos, fueran, ve, vayamonos, ido.

As for our future here we continually hear the same warning. When people learn we are going to live in Puebla, we are cautioned that it is a stronghold of Catholicism. Our first language teacher, our pastor, a stranger at the produce stand and others all say the same thing. We are beginning to feel as though we are walking into some kind of fortress. We have been told that at one time Puebla was the premiere training center of Mexico with countless monasteries and convents.

There is lots of natural beauty here and we saw some of it today as we visited the Barranca del Salto de Sn. Anton. It’s a 40 meter waterfall right in the heart of our city. Amazing!