Where to start with Mexican culture...? (shayne)

shayne - july 29, 2009

Culture is like the weather. In most aspects it’s completely predictable, yet can be quite spontaneous given any set of circumstances; something that we can praise or blame for just about anything.

People often ask what I think of Mexican culture. Well, what really, is one supposed to say to that? Sensing that I’ve been blindly fired a hopelessly rhetorical question, I’ll just respond with, “I love it!” After all, why compound the silliness of a thoughtless question made in earnest with an answer any more profound? It does, however, tend to lead into an awkward silence right from the get-go. So I’ll add, in as plain and sincere a tone as I can muster, that I also love Mexican hills and mountains, Mexican cattle… whales… oh and of course: Mexican weather. Now, the non-thinking person will be just fine with the short, three-word answer, and in fact will probably not flinch at all with the mentioning of mountains and weather, only becoming slightly perplexed with cattle and whales. The thinking person I hope will be able to just laugh it off with something like, “touché”. Let’s face it; all of us are prone to asking pointless questions from time to time. We often don’t realize how pointless they are until they properly receive an equally pointless answer.

When I think about culture, I don’t find it in any way something that one can draw out in a manner by which another can equally comprehend it. Take a city map, for example. It’s an invaluable resource if you plan to be in that city, navigating yourself. But if you’ve never been to that city, what can the map really tell you about the place, besides the names of streets and freeways and the directions they go? You can only stand to look at it for so long without having any point of reference in mind to correspond. Only when you trek through the labyrinth of streets and exits, or the quick, scenic or dangerous routes on a daily basis does the map start to come alive and be a really meaningful tool.

How a visitor sees a culture depends far more on the visitor than the culture itself. The kind of individual you are, what you do wherever you go, and what you do in life are going to be the prism through which you observe anything new. A person who stays in Mexico a week will leave with a much different impression than one who stays here a year or longer. One who works will see things differently than one who doesn’t. Those who speak Spanish will have a distinct experience from those who don’t; one who comes alone from one who arrives with friends or family; one who comes from a city from another who comes from the countryside… as well as one who stays in a city from another who stays in a small town; one who’s catholic from one who’s protestant, from one who’s not at all religious; an optimist from a pessimist from a realist; one who works for the government from one who works in the marketplace; one who drives a car from one who doesn’t… and so on and so on…

Mexico, given its relatively large landmass and population, is quite culturally diverse. Just as New Englanders tend to scoff at the Midwest, or vice versa, Mexicans from the north border as far south as Guadalajara see the southern Mexicans as backwards. Customs and traditions differ from state to state, of which there are 32 altogether. Accents and dialects of Spanish vary as much if not more than in the U.S. While tacos and tamales are common in almost all parts (that I know of), burritos are found more in the northern states, and no one I know here in Guadalajara has even heard of a chimichanga.

But my aim is not necessarily to write about all these supposed staples of cultural dialogue such as the food and traditions and Indian art and folk dance and, you know, just… enough already! All of that crap can fit into any old two-hour black and white movie. And perhaps in the comfort of your living room, maybe with a Mexican tv dinner on your tv tray, such a fine film could even grace your imagination with all the cultural enchantment and exaggerated chivalry you could ever desire. They’re nice movies… I’ve seen a few of them. They depict very little of the Mexico I know, however. If a foreigner were to ask you about life in the U.S., would you suggest that the guy watch a Jimmy Stewart film?

I live in a city of roughly six million people, that in square miles is about the size of Wichita, Kansas (pop. 250,000). Some people are friendly, some not. Some are very culturally sensitive, others couldn’t care less. Many are dirt poor, and many are quite well-off. I’ve met many extraordinarily intelligent and resourceful people, and others who are just plain stupid, their education levels not being as much a factor as you might imagine. Reminds you of the U.S., eh? …or anywhere else for that matter. The point is that there is no “Mexicans this, or Mexicans that” kind of analysis that’s going to be really useful to you should you ever decide to come.

(to be continued!!)