de corazon mexicano
as promised (though a day late) a little bit about why on earth i'd choose to call my personal blog "de corazón mexicano" (mexican heart), when i'm not officially mexican, by birth, marriage or voluntary nationalization (or any other nationalization, for that matter, haha).
turns out that in 1992 my father would be transferred to mexico city for work, and little did i know it on the plane ride in, but i would land in a place that truly felt like home; like "holy cow, in my gut, this is for real" home. for reasons too long to go into all of them here, that feeling of "being home" has lasted for the last 15 years and now i truly do get to call mexico home.
it's not just that the city is beautiful (which it isn't somedays, and much less so when demonstrations and strikes threaten our collective sanity - more on that later), or that food here is among the best cuisine in the world, that traveling within mexico is among the most rewarding experiences, that i have made the best friends in the world here or that, more importantly, the love of my life happens to be mexican and we share a life here, because while all of those are undoubtedly true, they fall sort of short of explaining my undying love for this country and my feeling that i truly am "de corazón mexicano".
i constantly hear friends and new acquaintances ask me, "what the hell are you doing here?! you could be living in miami or new york or singapore (where my parents currently reside)...why on earth would you pick mexico!?" more often than not, these people mean quite well and do not inherently loathe their birthplace or the city they currently live in, they just don't understand why i would willingly choose to reside here, a place they've probably tried to get out of (or would like to be out of), at least temporarily, a few times in their lives. and the stock answer is "i love it", but the long answer usually takes a bit longer to explain.
as it works out, after being in 11 schools before hitting high school, moving 13 times and living in 6 different countries, i get to be a bit pickier about where i want to spend my life. clearly there's a catch there because i could choose not to hunker down anywhere (and this might seem the obvious given the track record), but i like a little stability and mexico works for me. seriously, trite as it sounds, i'll never forget riding in the cab from the airport, headed to the hotel on paseo reforma, and thinking, "wow. this is amazing. i hope i never have to leave."
this city, and by extension the country, feels right to me; it makes sense despite its unending contradictions, its ridiculous and infuriating bureaucracies, the pollution (from smog, noise...the list could go on) and traffic, among other things that being realistic make life complicated here. i guess on most days i see beyond that (though it takes some trying other days) and just see this place that has made me feel welcome from day one. the inventiveness of mexicans - from food to comedy to housewares - still astounds me. i don't think that there are too many other places in the world where during a spencer tunick photo shoot the crowd spontaneously starts shouting "norberto rivera, el pueblo se te encuera." (norbert rivera is mexico's catholic cardinal, the photo shoot was right in front of the cathedral)
i won't keep going now (seriously it would take days to explain everything i'd like to say), but it suffices to say that i really do love mexico. i'm not nationalistically inclined, never have been (colombia holds no more sway to me than any other place would, except that my family is all still there; the u.s. is fun for shopping and visiting, and has a few spectacular cities, but it's not a place i call home, though i am a citizen, and germany and switzerland are my mother's ancestry), but mexico for some reason pulls at my heart strings unlike any other geographic location in the world. i scream like a banshee for mexico during world cup matches, cry on the 16th of september when i see the zócalo light up with fireworks and the hundreds of families gathered together to celebrate their "patria", and i could eat mole for days (though that wasn't always the case).
i know, i know, soccer, mole and independence day celebrations are not mexico (or certainly not all of it) - there are a zillion other things (i told you it would take me days) - but they're easy examples i guess. examples that to me speak of zeal for a country that isn't actually mine. maybe i'm just another gringa who romanticizes this country and wants desperately to call it her own, but i know for certain that in light of not being mexican by birth, marriage or citizenship, i can honestly say that i have a truly mexican heart - by choice, with conviction and with a passion that i feel in every inch of my being.
turns out that in 1992 my father would be transferred to mexico city for work, and little did i know it on the plane ride in, but i would land in a place that truly felt like home; like "holy cow, in my gut, this is for real" home. for reasons too long to go into all of them here, that feeling of "being home" has lasted for the last 15 years and now i truly do get to call mexico home.
it's not just that the city is beautiful (which it isn't somedays, and much less so when demonstrations and strikes threaten our collective sanity - more on that later), or that food here is among the best cuisine in the world, that traveling within mexico is among the most rewarding experiences, that i have made the best friends in the world here or that, more importantly, the love of my life happens to be mexican and we share a life here, because while all of those are undoubtedly true, they fall sort of short of explaining my undying love for this country and my feeling that i truly am "de corazón mexicano".
i constantly hear friends and new acquaintances ask me, "what the hell are you doing here?! you could be living in miami or new york or singapore (where my parents currently reside)...why on earth would you pick mexico!?" more often than not, these people mean quite well and do not inherently loathe their birthplace or the city they currently live in, they just don't understand why i would willingly choose to reside here, a place they've probably tried to get out of (or would like to be out of), at least temporarily, a few times in their lives. and the stock answer is "i love it", but the long answer usually takes a bit longer to explain.
as it works out, after being in 11 schools before hitting high school, moving 13 times and living in 6 different countries, i get to be a bit pickier about where i want to spend my life. clearly there's a catch there because i could choose not to hunker down anywhere (and this might seem the obvious given the track record), but i like a little stability and mexico works for me. seriously, trite as it sounds, i'll never forget riding in the cab from the airport, headed to the hotel on paseo reforma, and thinking, "wow. this is amazing. i hope i never have to leave."
this city, and by extension the country, feels right to me; it makes sense despite its unending contradictions, its ridiculous and infuriating bureaucracies, the pollution (from smog, noise...the list could go on) and traffic, among other things that being realistic make life complicated here. i guess on most days i see beyond that (though it takes some trying other days) and just see this place that has made me feel welcome from day one. the inventiveness of mexicans - from food to comedy to housewares - still astounds me. i don't think that there are too many other places in the world where during a spencer tunick photo shoot the crowd spontaneously starts shouting "norberto rivera, el pueblo se te encuera." (norbert rivera is mexico's catholic cardinal, the photo shoot was right in front of the cathedral)
i won't keep going now (seriously it would take days to explain everything i'd like to say), but it suffices to say that i really do love mexico. i'm not nationalistically inclined, never have been (colombia holds no more sway to me than any other place would, except that my family is all still there; the u.s. is fun for shopping and visiting, and has a few spectacular cities, but it's not a place i call home, though i am a citizen, and germany and switzerland are my mother's ancestry), but mexico for some reason pulls at my heart strings unlike any other geographic location in the world. i scream like a banshee for mexico during world cup matches, cry on the 16th of september when i see the zócalo light up with fireworks and the hundreds of families gathered together to celebrate their "patria", and i could eat mole for days (though that wasn't always the case).
i know, i know, soccer, mole and independence day celebrations are not mexico (or certainly not all of it) - there are a zillion other things (i told you it would take me days) - but they're easy examples i guess. examples that to me speak of zeal for a country that isn't actually mine. maybe i'm just another gringa who romanticizes this country and wants desperately to call it her own, but i know for certain that in light of not being mexican by birth, marriage or citizenship, i can honestly say that i have a truly mexican heart - by choice, with conviction and with a passion that i feel in every inch of my being.
"but i know for certain that in light of not being mexican by birth, marriage or citizenship, i can honestly say that i have a truly mexican heart"
ReplyDeleteAlmost by marriage, we all are working on it ;)
Tus palabras han hecho un gran eco dentro de mi. Gracias por recordarnos a todos los mexicanos lo que vale nuestro país. En verdad me deja sin palabras el verdadero y fuerte cariño que tienes por este país. Creo que si México tuviera la capacidad de dejarse escuchar en una sola voz te diría algo así:
ReplyDelete¡Bienvenida a casa Ale¡