Duncan's Blog

Mexico

I was in Mexico two weeks ago. Left Boston on Tuesday afternoon and got to D.F. that night, after spending the night at Miguel's, all of us took a bus from the central bus station and headed to Veracruz for the GUL3V Congreso.

On my way back to Boston, via Atlanta, I wrote up some of my thoughts on that trip. I didn't get to write down everything because I ran out of battery (the stupid lady at the security checkpoint woke up the laptop, and then the laptop was sitting in my backpack for the whole flight, draining the battery).

I want to write another bit on my last week in Spain too, hopefully I'll get to write that down tonight, before I start forgetting the experience.

9/20. On Delta flight back home. From ATL to BOS

I like writing notes on the plane. It's a nice place for writing.

Going to Mexico has been something I wanted to do for a long time. Having spent some much time with Miguel in the last 2 years, I have wanted to see how he is in his native country. Miguel at home. He has told me so many things about Mexico, about its people, its culture, its food and its history. This time, having spent 5 days in Mexico. I think I got a quick taste of what he's talking about.

It's a country of mixes. A country originally of Aztecs and Mayans, then a period of Spanish colonization; recently, an influx of immigrants from Lebanon and the Middle East. Unlike Hong Kong and the US, the people of Mexico are truly diverse. Mexico has none of the homogenity of Asia and of Hong Kong, nor the segregation of different races and ethnicities in the US; the people of Mexico are all part of a gradient between the old (Aztec and Mayan), and the new (Spanish, Lebanese, etc).

What surprised me the most is how recognizable it all is. Although I do not speak or read Spanish well, so much of the country that I saw, Mexico City D.F, and Veracruz, remind me so much of home, of Hong Kong and of China. D.F. is yet another modern metropolis, however different from Hong Kong. Despite all the differences, cultural and historical,
the smog, the density of the city, the traffic, the dusty and smoky particles in the air, brings me immediately back to Hong Kong.

My talk didn't go too bad at all. All that I wanted to say and show was said and shown, and along the way, I've learned a little more about doing presentations and talks. It is what had happened after my talk that surprised me the most. The people of Mexico, in fact rather similar to the Chinese people, too, have a tendency for 'idol worshipping'. The subsequent demands for autographs and photos was a shocking and weird first time experience for me. That it happened again on the Friday, the last day of the conference, in a bigger and
more intense manner was even more surprising. On a certain level, it was very gratifying and fun and exciting and ego-pleasing; I think my lack of understanding of Spanish also helped me quickly realize, just like the fads in Hong Kong, that this is simply a fad. As Bdale told me over lunch, "no, this is just part of the job, you're not really a rock star, they don't really love you". In the end, it is just a dream.

While people came and asked me to take photos with me, I kept on asking in Spanish, puedes enviarme los fotos, non?, and they all replied, uniformily , the same way. Yeah, yeah, what's your e-mail address, I'll send it you. So far, I have received only 2 photos.

When I was in Veracruz, on the first night, we had dinner at the town square. Miguel recommanded that I order 'Pescado Veracrusano', fish cooked in a Veracruz style. The fish is cooked in a tomato and onion sauce, and was dished in its entirety, bones at all. That reminded me of how Chinese people steamed our fish and ate it with soy sauce and spring onions.

Other notes

* Mexican crafts and the Saturday artisan's market -> Globalization and Capitalism. A place to see the class differences in Mexico.

I wasn't even sure whether or not the crafts are truly authentic or not. So many of the things on display vaguely remind me of the similar crafts I saw when I was in South Africa last summer.

* How the Latin culture differs from Asian culture. The frequent hugs and the kisses, etc.

Posted by Duncan at October 1, 2003 09:18 PM