I moved to the US 10 years ago today, specifically Washington State. I was living in Mexico City at the time, a city rat. Amongst the gray skies, the contrast of buildings, old and new, and the endless concrete maze, I met a beautiful woman, blue eyed blonde, from the Apple orchards of Washington State. She told me I would love it, she told me Washington was beautiful, and she was right.
I had a decent job, friends and family, but living in the States was something I had never done, and being an American and speaking English fluently, I decided it would be a good idea, I loved her (I still do and always will) and so I packed my world in a suitcase and moved to a different country yet again.
Renewed my US Passport at the Embassy and hopped a flight from Mexico City to Seattle and it was nice to hear the customs agent say "Welcome Home" when I landed in San Antonio.
First things first: toilet seat covers... in Mexico we don't have those, if we did probably some idiot would get other idiots to wear them around their necks as if they were clocks and start a new religion. I like them, I've become used to them (I'm not a germophobe but I'm all for anything hygienic and easy to do), I just don't get why some people here have such a tough time flushing, and it has nothing to do with the paper seat covers, since there are folks at work who chose to cover the toilet seat with toilet paper instead, and yet they won't flush either. But it's not all bad, since some chose to keep their privacy at all costs by hanging toilet paper strands in an effort to cover the milimetric gap between the stall doors and walls (as if every other guy in the bathroom was interested in peeking) we know you're watching gay porn on your iPhone, it's ok... just take the toilet paper vines off when you leave (I think it's a waste of paper and 3G coverage).. And don't be so gung ho about reusing the compostable coffee paper cups... closet hypocrite.
Me? I chose to use the paper covers, most men don't trim and ... have I become a metrosexual? Hardly.
Beats public restrooms in Mexico, where sometimes you have to pay for toilet paper.
Fashion: hey look, we're all a bunch of tree hugging, granola eating, Birkenstock wearing, lesbian hippies... not. We just prefer wearing khakis, jeans or shorts with vintage Nike sneakers or sandals-and-socks and the unmistakable messenger bag. In my book, that trumps wearing the typical Suit and Tie Mexico City uniform... Never again.
Oh yeah, Starbucks... I became an instant coffee whore, nuff said.
Smoking... let's just say I quit 2 years ago and I couldn't be happier. I hope Mexico City and the rest of the world don't take long to adopt our smoking ban rules.
T.V: Oh God... ok, here we go: during the first couple of months here, it was almost impossible for me to even get a job interview... my resume only listed Mexican Companies and there really wasn't much for me to do in Wenatchee... therefore I got to stay at home and watch the tube in the mornings, while my then fiancé worked. Yup, that means Maury and Springer... don't think I was shocked at the content, not at all. I've never claimed to be a prude and I grew up dancing with semi naked women in the yearly Brazilian carnivals... what shocked me was that it was on at 10:00am.
Mexico, in contrast, not only has really bad TV... in Mexico is 24x7, but I do believe shows like that come in a bit later at night.. At least they did back then.
I don't know how entertainment tech is in Mexico nowadays, here we have HD Cable, Netflix and HD streams. Plus 20gbps for less than 50 bucks (in Mexico you won't get that, dancing in Chalma won't help.
Food: There's no Mexican Food in Seattle, and the sooner you get that through your head, the better. Now the rest of the cuisines: I don't like Indian or Thai, but I'm told there's decent chutney and stuff. Chinese is gross, no matter what planet you're in. Italian food here would be wonderful if they stopped adding sugar to the pomodoro paste.
Burgers, Prime Rib and BBQ Ribs rule, if you go to Mexico, don't get them there. Vegans are the Mexican blondes and I wish the avocados we get here weren't so goddamn expensive and shitty. But Seattle's seafood makes up for everything, hands down.
Drinks: what's up with the plastic cups and the sloppy drinks? You’re ruining it. But I must acknowledge jagermeister rocks and pierced buttery nipples are the bomb (nope, we didn't have those in Mexico back then). Beer: this one is too personal, but here people go nuts over some award winning microbrews and Seattleites might very well have better beer than Mexico, but Americans will never drink as much beer as Mexicans... and you haven't truly experienced Mexican Beer until you've gotten pissed drunk on Victoria and Indio in Tierra Colorada.
Wines: Columbia valley wines aren't bad at all, but in true reality they are as half ass as their Mexican counterparts, I still prefer Chilean.
Drugs: Oaxaca's Caca de chango (monkey shit), Morelos's Cola de Borrego (sheep tail) and Guerrero's pelo rojo (red hair) have absolutely nothing on BC Bud... I read it on National Geographic... or was it the Cosmo?
Anyway, Meth is bad and Washington has to eradicate it faster than you can say Mike McGinn.
Traffic: Seattleites don't know what the word Traffic means, no, really. In Mexico City traffic jams are so bad, there's enough time for a hoard of homeless children to perform the first act of Othello, shake their stomachs up and down, clean your windshield and then sell you bubblegum while scratching your hood.
Rain: it rains for months, but it's still a long shot from the tropical downpours.
Weather: Mexico City is either hot or not hot. It’s never cold. If it rains you better not drink it.
Seattle weather is amazing... cool sunny spring, warm sexy summers, romantic suicidal fall and bridal virginal snow white chilly winters. I am in love with this town.
People: middle class and upper middle class people are very similar worldwide, we work hard to have a good life and we respect others... except for Mexico. Men (complete strangers) lock eyes by mere coincidence; the immediate reaction is a hostile challenge. Taught me to walk with my head held high, but it's childish, stupid, immature, backwards and narrow minded. I was bewildered to find men here nod and say "hello" in a friendly way, almost inviting to conversation... that is so civilized it makes me fit right in. Just don't try to start a conversation with someone you don't know, not in Seattle. They'll look at you and reply in an educated and polite manner, while having an expression of worry; you can tell they're wondering how to get rid of you, wondering if they're safe... Then they look at themselves, all over, maybe trying to find if that toilet paper strand from the stall is hanging from their butt like a tail, or the some rogue usb cable from their messenger bag, something... Something had to call your attention so you would talk to them, and they can't seem to stop it soon enough. So don't do it... just say "How's it going...” and keep walking. People here are either introduced or met online. Casual conversation is as miraculous as seeing a UFO. I call it the "Don't Feed the Monkeys" Seattleite Syndrome and I love not having strangers approach me and try to sell me shit, ask for money or try to convert me to Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Women: women are incredibly beautiful, irresistible, smart, intelligent, caring and insane, no matter where.
Music: I live in the same neighborhood where Jimi Hendrix grew up, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Sasquatch Festival, The Gorge, Heart, The Melvins, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Mudhoney should settle that one.
Religion: in Mexico if you aren't Christian or Catholic you're just weird. If you act normal and speak normal then no one will care. But you sure don't see the tutty fruity chimichanga chaos which supposedly coexists at the Renton Wal-Mart. Personally I couldn't care less, I love Mexico as it is and I love America as it is, leave it alone or leave.
Brazil (oh yeah, did I mention I also lived for a decade over there?) also had slavery, so did Mexico. It was the Mexicans whom were enslaved just the same; it's a horrible chapter in the history of the world and just like the holocaust or the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki should never be repeated. It saddens me to see that some people here live with a huge chip on their shoulders about something that happened to a different generation. Yes, it was wrong, but now is not then and I just wish everyone could live their life without that weight over them. In the same token, I see racists deny they are racist while being racist, not only towards African Americans or myself, but towards anyone who isn't white. I hope one day they can live their lives without that ignorance and arrogance. In Mexico racism is much more straightforward, Mexicans denigrate Mexicans, the darker your skin color, or the more indigenous or poorer you are, the worse you are treated. Makes you wonder which group is educated, in reality.
The big eye opener was to see how the World is mistaken about America. I think they need to be reminded that people here live paycheck to paycheck and it isn't necessarily tied to mismanagement of credit. How there's an infuckingcredible number of super hard working, responsible and caring single moms, whom are the equal reflection of yet another infuckingcredible number of irresponsible males (sorry guys, the term Man is something you earn). Many people in other countries and who have never traveled think Americans live in opulence; yes in general we do have a better living standard, or better yet... more "stuff". But that by no means equals higher "quality of life" or wealth.
I've made many mistakes in my life, during the first months of my move, I spoke about Americans as "you guys" and I spoke about Mexicans as "We".
I'm Mexican-American since I was born, but it really hadn't sinked in.
And then September 11 happened. That day and the days that followed, I saw Americans come together, mourn, fight, endure, support, struggle and rise even stronger than before, and I wasn't just amongst them, I was with them... I was with US and that's when I understood. In the tears that can't put out the flame of a firefighter, in the grieving bagpipes, in the flight of bald eagles and in the flowers falling on graves from the hands of children I felt my heart fill with anger and hatred and then love and hope and strength and I everyone around me seemed familiar all of a sudden. I realized I would gladly serve for this land like my old man did in the Korean War, I felt like I truly belonged, and I do. In the end of it all, I am the son of the Sioux, Hopi and Aztec (native to this lands) and of the Teutonic immigrants of the late 1800's.
Then again, it just takes one of the many known Mariachi songs to shake my soul like an earthquake, I am from the Bronze Race, proudly even after death.
It has been a decade on which I've accomplished a few things, I'm well on my way for more and I can honestly declare myself a Seattleite, and a damn good one at that. Please come visit, just remember not to honk your horn if you think we can't drive when it rains, don't smoke right outside the doors and if you happen to visit one of the downtown coffee shops, please bus after yourself.
