| Archive for langcafe2.myfreeforum.org Come in and have your daily cup of languages! |
| Fredrik |
Æ vil fara til Mæxico!With this old Norwegian hit (meaning "I wanna go to Mexico"), I just wanted to ask whether you people in Souhthwestern US actually go to Mexico all the time? I assume it must be very tempting having such an exotic place so close to you? How exotic is Mexico by the way? How popular is it to go there and where do people go? |
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| Icke |
Re: Æ vil fara til Mæxico!
Hi Fredrik! I just wondered cause you wrote "Æ" instead of "jeg". Is the former just used in a Norwegian dialect? |
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| Porthos |
Re: Æ vil fara til Mæxico!
Hah, it's funny that you think of it as such an exotic place. Naturally for us, Mexico is not as *exotic* as say, Thailand. For me in particular, it is not very exotic at all, as I have a lot of family in Mexico. And I would say I go there about three times a year. A lot of young men go accross the California border to Tijuana to get laid and party off cheap liquor and fireworks and such. Those who can afford it sometimes choose the exotic coastal/tropical destination of Cancun in the far south of Mexico. I have family in Sonora but I normally just visit my uncle and cousins in Baja California. He has a semi-mansion in Cabo San Lucas which is also a tourist destination with sunny beaches. Having spent some of my life growing up in Hispanic neighborhoods in California, Mexico is not all that exotic. For me, a place like Quebec would seem far more exotic and alien than Mexico. Also, where I live now, 70% of the people are Mexican. So, other than the white neighborhoods, much of the town is of a Mexican culture and a Mexican ambiance permeates everything. |
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| fab |
I've heard from a American from LA that is was not very usual to go to Mexico for people of non-mexican origins. For the people who have a family link it is another story I think, as Josh said.
The Californian guy in question was telling me that most californian didn't see really for what reason they would go to the surrounding areas of mexico, which have about the same climate than southern california but quite poor, and if they want to be put in a mexican culture they would just go the the "hispanic"(mexican-American) districts of LA. I think it is about the same link that we have with Algeria. It is where a lot of immigrants are coming, our southern coast are quite close and climatically similar to them, and our histories are mixed. some districts of Marseille for exemple have a real north African ambiance, and I actually don't really need to to go Algiers to taste it, but without the problems of travelling in a quite poor country - most of the french people who travel to Algeria are actually of north african origins and go there to see their relatives. In Morocco and Tunisia it is much more turistic, so basically different to Algeria in this point of view. I personally plan to go to Mexico for march. I would be curious to discover this country. I don't know really which parts I'll visit, since it is too big to see more than one region in one week only. I think I'll see mexico city and surroudings, and then maybe to Yucatan. |
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| fab |
Yes, I personally don't see Mexico as been more exotic than the US. And some countries of latin America such as Argentina much less. |
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| Porthos |
Yes, for a Frenchman, a place like Argentina would probably be the least alien place in the Hispano-American world. Argentina is the most "Latin" or "European" of the Latin-American countries. Certain parts of Mexico and Central America have a very strong indigenous influence on the culture and people. In the Carribbean there is a strong Afro influence in many places. But even in Central America and large parts of Peru, where the indigenous culture and population is possibly the most pronounced, there are still segments of society and regions within those countries that are very Hispanic. I find it funny that my family will often try to glorify the past of the Aztec and other indigenous people, and speak badly of the Spanish, while we have almost nothing in common with the entirely indigenous people who are of a different culture, language, and race. I actually spent some time in a Mayan village while in southern Mexico and the people were very hospitable, but I felt like I was in a completely alien place. Most people didn't speak Spanish, and if they did, it was heavily accented and broken, thus making communication rather difficult. But the well educated Mayans speak a beautiful version of Spanish, due to the strong phonological substratum which gives the spoken tounge a sing-tone effect. If you are in an upper class part of a city, things are very Hispanic. The architecture, everything. But I would say Argentina, as a whole, is the closest thing to Spain in Latin America, and thus, carries the most cultural affinities with France out of the Latin American countries. |
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| fab |
Yes, but it has also strong links with Italy, and other European countries, France in particular. Carlos Gardel, the most famous Argentinean tango singer was born french before his family moved to Uruguay and then Argentina, that's maybe explain why Tango had so much succes in France since the 20's, and was incorporated in "musette" songs. On the other hand, buenos aires is one of the rare cities of the world where you can find a almost parisian architectural ambiance. |
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| Porthos |
I never really think of Argentina as having much French influence. To me Argentinians are an American hybrid of Italians and Spaniards who speak sloppy Spanish and drink wine. | ||||||||
| fab |
It is true that a most of Argentineans are mainly of Italian and Spanish origins. It have also have been an important french immigration to argentina, especially from the south-west. on a urban/arch point of view BA can have a certain "parisian feel", more than italian one : 
Even the cars are generally European ones (Renault, Peugeot, Fiat), while most American countries have few of them : 
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| Fredrik |
Re: Æ vil fara til Mæxico!
Yes, it's trøndersk, the dialect of Trondheim and the surrounding region (Trøndelag). Lots of æ in Trondhjæm! Trøndersk school lunch break conversation: Æ e i A æ å æ = I am in (class) A, I too! Porthos wrote:
Sorry, but I do! LOL! But even the US sounds kind of exotic to me. Mexico kind of sounds fascinating because I don't know whether it has more of the ambience of the US or more of the ambience of its poorer Central and Latin American neighbour states? Thanks for the interesting replies so far. I will have to leave the thread to you for a small week, as I'm going to another exotic place, Moscow, returning shortly before Christmas! |
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| Deborah |
Mexico still seems exotic to me, since I've never been there -- at least, not since I've been old enough to remember it, and in any case I wouldn't count Ensenada as being exotic, from what I know about it.
When I went to Russia for the first time (1988), I definitely had the feeling of going someplace exotic. But on my third trip, I experienced something interesting as I was on the bus going from the airport into the city -- the surroundings looked familiar enough that I felt as if I were returning home to San Francisco after a trip. |
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| Deborah |
I would like to see lots of parts of Mexico. However, I've never enjoyed traveling unless I'm either visiting someone or traveling with someone I know. Back in the '70s, I had a standing invitation to stay in Mexico City at the home of the mother of one of my friends. However, in those days I was a starving artist and couldn't manage it. When I eventually did have enough money for a trip to Mexico, my friend was by then definitely an ex-friend, so there went that connection. | ||||||||
| Deborah |
Some of you may remember this place from the old langcafe, since I posted something about it there. Ever since I saw a documentary about the eccentric British millionaire Edward James, I've wanted to see Las Pozas, his architectural creation in the jungle in the state of San Luis Potosí.
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| Porthos |
Mexico definitely has an ambiance more similar Central America and the rest of Latin America. Catholic, large meztizo population, Spanish speaking, Spanish colonial architecture, more relaxed life, and Hispanic culture. Northern Mexico looks very much like the southwest U.S. It's desert, with a lot of adobe houses and missions and late Spanish colonial architecture, so that it bears a resemblance to the predominantly Hispanic parts of the U.S. southwest, where most citizens are Mexican, such as where I live. There is a saying in Spanish that says "Soy mas Mexicano que nopal", which means "I'm more Mexican than cactus". This of course makes reference to the large part of Mexico that is desert. Central Mexico is brushy and southern Mexico is tropical like Central America. I have been to the far south of Mexico in places like the Yucutan and Quintana Roo and I can say that this area has more in common with Central American countries like Guatemala and Honduras than with northern Mexico. This area feels rather exotic for me too, because most of the people are of Mayan extraction (very short, very dark skinned, huge beak shaped noses, slanted eyes, and round heads with slanted foreheads) and their accent sounds very exotic. The local terrain also contributes to the feeling of being in an exotic place because it's not everday that you are in the jungle. The food eaten here is also very Central American and thus very different from the food I'm used to, which is northern Mexican cuisine. |
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| Benjamin [inactive] |
Don't they also have Carrefour in Argentina?
Let's not also forget that there are parts of Brazil that look like Germany, especially in the far South: 
And of course, there are parts of Argentina where they speak Welsh. 
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| Kirk |
Yup.
Yes, altho finding anyone who speaks Welsh fluently in those areas who's not elderly is nearly impossible. Welsh Argentines by this point are nearly completely monolingual in Spanish as it's been several generations since most Welsh immigrants moved to Argentina. Argentina has a similar linguistic history to other nations-of-immigrants such as the US, Canada or Australia in that usually by the third generation the "old country" non-dominant language is either no longer spoken or isn't spoken fluently (for instance, despite the fact that Argentina's populace is of majority Italian descent hardly anyone there speaks Italian natively these days tho some Argentines do study it in school as a subject. I never heard Italian even in Buenos Aires, which has an even higher proportion of Italian Argentines than the national average of 55%). |
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| Uriel |
It depends. If you have family or business in Mexico, you'll go quite a bit, and to hear someone say that they're popping down to Juarez for the day is pretty common. I know someone who crosses the bridge nearly every day.
However, you have to realize that we in the Southwestern US are not close to the GOOD part of Mexico. We ain't next to Acapulco or Mazatlan or Mexico City. We're next to the shitty part of Mexico. Sorry to be blunt, but it's true. It's not pretty, it's not touristy; it's poor and arid and not very exciting (in other words, not that different from what we already see every day!). The upper part of Mexico that borders on the US is dry desert, and very sparsely populated, just like we are. The nearest big city to where I live is, as I mentioned, Ciudad Juarez, which is right across the ditch from El Paso. Its main claim to fame is the sheer number of dead, raped, and mutilated female corpses found in and around it in the last 10 years -- I believe they're up to about 400 or so. Not exactly a big tourist draw. It's a big, sprawling, ugly city surrounded by huge suburbs of poor shacks -- you can see them as you drive down I-10 into El Paso; they're right next to the freeway. Even Mexicans will tell you it's a shithole, and that other cities further south are much nicer. Palomas is the next largest town; it's a long drive, and most Americans just go there for cheap medication and dentistry -- believe me, you never saw so many dentists and pharmacies packed into one little area, catering to the transborder medical trade. Personally, I find it sad and depressing. So no; there's nothing exciting about going there. I've been to Palomas once and Juarez twice. I spent 4 days in Puerto Penasco, on the coast. I enjoyed it but again, it was fairly poor and very aggressively aimed at the US tourist trade -- signs in English everywhere. The shopping isn't great -- it's the same stuff you buy here. (In fact, the parking lots at the malls in El Paso are packed with cars bearing Chihuahua license plates, so I suspect the shopping here is better.) The food isn't any different than the food you find here, since we eat tons of Mexican food anyway. The language -- well, you can hear Spanish all day long here as well. So there's nothing particularly exotic about Mexico for us. Somebody from Peoria, Illinois would probably get a huge kick out of it, but for us, it's the same old crap, only poorer, with a scarier legal system, worse hospitals, and water that's known for giving you murderous diarrhea. |
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| Porthos |
Yeah, what Uriel said mostly sums it up. Although Mexico has great tourist destinations like Acapulco or Cancun or Cabo San Lucas. It's just that there really isn't any great place to visit right accross the border. | ||||||||
| fab |
Let's not also forget that there are parts of Brazil that look like Germany, especially in the far South:
Yes, and there are also german little colonies in a lot of latin-american countries, such as in Venezuela : 
Yes, and in other latin american countries also (Brazil for what I've seen and maybe others) In argentina, it was funny to find the same hypermaket model than in france, with about the same products, at 15 000 km of distance. 
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| Uriel |
Palm trees and half-timbered buildings -- that's just not right! 
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| Julian |
No need to apologize, I was thinking the same thing when I read Fredrik's initial post. Besides, frankness is part of your charm. 
Growing up in SoCal, Mexico had absolutely no exotic appeal to me because it was the place where all the poor immigrants came from and where underaged US teens would go to get pissed drunk, have cheap sex, get mugged and end up rotting in some hell-hole Mexican prison. That was my childhood impression of Mexico. It wasn't until my late teenage years when I started going to Baja to surf and vacation in Acapulco, Mazatlan and Mexico City that I discovered the appeal of Mexico. It still doesn't seem exotic to me though because the people, culture, languages, and cuisine of Mexico are everywhere in Southern California. |
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| Porthos |
Yes, yes. All very true from my point of view as well. |
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| Fredrik |
I have returned safely from Moscow (and just escaped celebrating a Christmas in transit á la The Terminal due to a delayed flight and thus an expired visa) and Deborah is right! Russia (at least Moscow) is not that exotic, just dirtyer than Norway, with way more people wearing way more fur and having much cuter, Slavic noses! Very interesting to hear about how un-exotic Northern Mexico is! Now I have to go and celebrate Christmas Eve! |
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| Benjamin [inactive] |
Indeed, physically Birmingham probably resembles numerous cities in Siberia more than it resembles Marseilles. Actually, just yesterday evening, Shouga and I were talking in Esperanto on MSN to a boy from Magadan Oblast in the far-eastern part of Russia. It seemed totally weird at the time, but when I thought about it, I realised that, on a purely intellectual level, it's actually no more eccentric than talking on the internet to someone from Singapore. |
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| Uriel |
I thought you said nobody was cuter than a Scandinavian! Glad to hear you made it out -- the first circle of hell may indeed be an eternal wait in an airport terminal! My mother's neighbors were just trapped in the Denver airport for several days after a skiing trip, when a blizzard shut it down. Two days later they only had 2 of 6 runways open, and everyone was on standby because whole days of flights had been cancelled....aaack!
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| Deborah |
Did I say it was not that exotic?? I think I just said that by the third time I visited, it was starting to feel like home. It probably seemed more exotic to me than to you because the first time I went there, I hadn't been in a foreign country for 8 years. |
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| Fredrik |
OK, i see. Pluss Moscow in winter probably looks less exotic to a Norwegian than to a Californian! After all, Russia defines itself as a Nordic country (geographically, that is) and as Uriel have noted, Russians and Norwegians can't be that far apart racially either! | ||||||||
| Porthos |
That depends on what kind of Russian you're talking about. There is a Norse element in their gene pool, as even their very name testifies to that fact. But you will also see a great deal of dark-beaty eyed Russians, with characteristically Slavic cheekbones and other features which they do not share with North-western Europeans like Scandanavians. |
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| Fredrik |
Porthos:
Scandinavians are probably not as racially uniform as we often assume. Remember I mentioned that BBC's "Blood of the Vikings" revealed that English and Danish genes were indistinguishable from each other, while Norwegian ones could be distinguished? I wouldn't be surprised if that was due to the non-Germanic, possibly Sami or similarly Finno-Ugric aboriginal substratum in the Norwegian race. I have heard this substratum mentioned, but don't know any scientific evidence that supports it. But it seems credible to me, when you consider how far south Sami settlement have stretched in Norway (Eggedal in the province of Hedmark, not very far north of Oslo). Samis are famous for some Asiatic features, such as high cheekobones and non-curly hair (features that also are typically Slavic) and I have read accounts that mention how people have been surprised by the Asiatic high cheek bones of many Norwegians. The same Finno-Ugric substratum is of course also present in Northern Russia. So I would imagine that racial similarities between Norwegians and Russians may have as much to do with this Boreal substratum as with the limited number of Vikings that settled in ancient Rus (or Gardarike (= Realm of Towns) in Old Norse). Since you take such an eager interest in racial genetics, I might add that the most known theory of races of Norway is Andreas M. Hansen's infamous work Norsk Folkepsykologi = Norwegian Folk Psychology from 1899. The author, who like all racial scientists of those days had measured a lot of skulls, claims that Norway is inhabited by two racial types: The long-skulls and the short-skulls. The Aryan long-skulls (dolikocephal) have long skulls, blond hair, fair skin, blue eyes, are slim and tall, predominantly live in the broad vales of Eastern Norway, are of an aristocratic nature, brave, generous and cherish freedom above everything else. The best example of this race, both physically and mentally was the handsome Arctic explorer Fridtjof Nansen. In the gloomy fjord valleys of Western Norway you find the short-skulls (brachycephal), with short skulls, broader faces and noses, darker skin and eyes. Both physically and mentally they are the descendants of the slaves of the saga era, with inferiority complexes, jealousy, slowness, narrow-mindedness and lack of spirit as typical characteristics. They were of a democratic nature, but of a fanatical kind that cherished equality more than freedom. And when you know that he also claimed that the long-skulls voted for the progressive, liberal party (Venstre) while the short-skulls supported the backwards, conservative party (Høyre) you realize how little scientific evidence there was behind these theories.... |
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| Uriel |
There's a classic book on the subject of debunked racial anthropological theories called "The Mismeasure of Man", by Stephen J. Gould. Interesting reading. Craniometry is one of the major ones he dissects.
What is interesting about the old-fashioned preoccupation with dolichocephalism and brachycephalism (long and short skulls) is that the expression of those characteristics is often affected by a variety of environmental factors, especially nutrition. So not only are they not a very good predictor of intelligence or personality, they aren't even constant across generations! |
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| Fredrik |
Ah, I see!
I find those defunct race studies quite entertaining, as there is something rather shocking in that detailed attention to the body, like scientific porn! I once happened upon a study like that called "Studien über die Dichte der Körperbehaarung und die Haargruppierung bei den Finnen" = "Studies of the thickness of the body hair and the hair grouping(?) in the Finns", written by a Finn, but perhaps it doesn´t come as a surpirse that it was written in German! 
I searched for this book in Norway for a long time, untill I could lay my hands on it in Germany (!). It turned out to be a bit too scientific to be truly entertaining to a lay person like me, but the idea of studying the differences in body hair in Finnland is just too far out there! What if they discvovered some regional differences, say between Swedish-Finns and Finnish-Finns!? Would there be apartheid measures based on body hair??? I guess crazier things have happened... |
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| Uriel |
I'm all for breeding body hair out of the species, myself.
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| Loic |
I don't think the likes of Gilette can continue to be commercially viable if body hair were to be phased out altogether. |
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| Fredrik |
Well, the Asians have started, haven't they?
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| Porthos |
Don't forget the Amerindians. They have the licensed trademark too.
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| Uriel |
Ad god bless 'em for it! Luckily, many Mexicans have a large admixture of Indian blood, and are often pretty deficient in that area, too. 
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| Porthos |
Well I'm Mexican, but unfortunately, I can't say I have a large admixture of Indian blood. What I can say however, is that my family is not very hairy at all in that respect, although they do have very thick head hair. | ||||||||
| Uriel |
So sadly you don't have the dark eyes and the toasty brown skin and the black hair, either ... and yet you have that horrible gene that makes you tolerate chihuahuas (evil little beasts -- Satan's little helpers, I called 'em when I worked for the vet). Ah well -- nobody's perfect.
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| Loic |
Anyone watched Babel? There were scenes shot in Mexico. Somehow, it seemed like a very dusty place. | ||||||||
| Deborah |
I haven't seen it, but isn't the part of Mexico they show the part that's near the border with the US? That would be the desertous part (unless it was near the Gulf Coast) and therefore would be quite dusty. |
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| Loic |
Yes, there seemed to be plenty of sand. The landscape was monotonous.
In the film, the US Border Guards spoke in English to all incoming travellers to the United States. Is it common practice that customs officials do not even have a cursory knowledge of a neighbouring language when they are sent to the border? I remembered it was the same in Hong Kong where the customs official at the crossing between HK and mainland China couldn't speak Cantonese at all. |
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| Uriel |
No, a large percentage of border patrol agents are hispanic, and fluency in Spanish is actually an entrance requirement.
Many people in service industries who deal with the public here are bilingual, and they usually take a look at you and address you in whichever language it seems like you would speak. I see this phenomenon whenever I stand in line at the grocery store, for instance: the checker will address one customer in Spanish, greet the next one in English, switch back to Spanish for the one after that. Sometimes they guess wrong, but usually it gets sorted out pretty quickly in the transaction. They get good at reading that faintly smiling but uncomprehending stare that means the customer didn't understand them, or notice quickly that they reply in the other language and change accordingly. |
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| Uriel |
Let me amend that: Spanish is a job requirement, but not required up front:
http://www.opm.gov/qualifications/SEC-IV/B/GS1800/1896.htm |
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| Loic |
I went back to check out more on Babel and it seems that the actors who played the border guards were Hispanics in real life. But then again, it seemed odd that the director did not show them to be capable of speaking Spanish.
But then again, what do I know? The film is called Babel - there is supposed to be misunderstanding due to language differences. So a bit of creative licence was probably exercised here. |
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| Uriel |
 (Sigh) WHAT have I told you (over and over and over again) about taking Hollywood seriously?
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| Porthos |
Actually, I do have those sultry dark brown eyes. The black hair and toasty brown skin, I can't claim however.
And I hate chihuahuas! I simply refer to them as "ratones". And I frequently remind them of my recipe for "tacos perritos". I myself have a Rottweiler, and I intend on later getting either a mastiff or a Rhodesian lion dog. |
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| Loic |
It seems that our original discussion has meandered off the track and has taken a life of its own. I have since moved the relevant input to the Politics forum. | ||||||||
| fab |
I'm now planning a trip to Mexico in April. Although I know some places in latin-America I've never been to Mexico.
I'd like to see Mexico city and its region, and also maybe Yucatan I'd like to make both intinerant visits to discover the country and its people, and in the same time to have some rest ! If some of you know well Mexico, could you give some advices - what regions do you prefer ? What is the best to see in only one week of holidays ? |
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| Benjamin [inactive] |
Someone seems to have rather a lot of disposable income!
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| fab |
I recognise that I spend most of the money I earn in trips. I think I just can't stay in one place for a long time... | ||||||||
| Benjamin [inactive] |
I know what you mean. I've been going away on trips rather a lot recently, and will be going on even more this year... I actually feel rather guilty about using aeroplanes so often. |
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| Shouga |
If you feel so guilty, cancel all your trips scheduled for this year and put me on them instead, I'd love to go to a foreign country.
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| Uriel |
No idea -- I've only been to the border part. I think Mexico City is still the biggest city in the Americas, though -- that should be something to see! Perhaps you should rent Y Tu Mama Tambien as a handy reference. |
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| Porthos |
Go to the Yucutan/Quintana Roo/Chiapas area for the exotic rain forsest-Mayan native experience. Go out to the rural areas for a native-American experience, and stay in the resort areas for a Hispanic experience. These regions are home to glorious architectural ruins and ancient Mayan cities, as well as beautiful resort beaches.
Acapulco is another place like this, but without the adventure of the rainforest and Mayan Indians. Mexico City of course is a major destination as it's home to 20 million people and the nation's capital in just about every sense (poltical, economic, cultural, etc.), and it has a little bit of everything. The areas where I have family are a bunch of arid deserts and they're boring. Baja California is also another fine destination. |
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| fab |
Muchas gracias Porthos !
Pienso que voy a buscar algo mas en la region del yucatan, y me voy a passar algunos dias en la ciudad de mexico si tengo bastante tiempo. Quisiera ir tambien en otros lugares, en la costa pacifica o en baja California, pero no tengo ni bastante tiempo ni dinero para viajar durante dos semanas... |
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| Porthos |
De nada amigo mio! Bueno, debe hacer lo mas mejor posible con el tiempo que tiene. Porque no puede lograr todos en una visita, quizas debe viajar a Mexico en otra ocasion. Para ahora, le recomiendo ir a un area del recurso como Cancun, y posiblemente volar en avion al capital por algunos dias. Whatever you do, make sure and visit the Aztec and Mayan ruins, and climb the same towering pyramids the ancients once did.
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| Deborah |
I haven't been there, but I think Chiapas looks interesting, both culturally and scenically. My Mexican source agrees.
My Spanish teacher spent some time in Mexico over the Christmas holidays and had a wonderful time. I'll try to remember to ask him tonight if he has any recommendations. (Why am I not writing in Spanish, since we're talking about Mexico and I study Spanish? Because I'm in a big hurry.) |
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| Deborah |
fab, mi professor de español recomendó México D.F., Yucatán, Oaxaca y Chiapas, pero el primer lugar que mencionó era Guanajuato. Creo que dijo que Guanajuato era un poquito triste, pero no elaboró.
fab, te envidio, entre otras razones, por la comida riquisima que vas a probar! |
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| fab |
Ha.... me falta la comida de America central que tuve la occasion a probar el ano passado en Costa Rica.
En facto, aqui en Paris no hay mucho restaurantes centro-Americanos - No es muy conocido como lo es en EEUU. Pero yo conosco un muy bien, muy familial y tradicional, ubicado en proximidad de mi casa... Hablar de eso me da hambre !!
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| Deborah |
La comida Mexicana no es la comida Centro-Americana. "Como México no hay dos." (Como la comida Mexicana tampoco.) |
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| Pauline |
Cómo es la comida en Costa Rica? Me interesa mucho este país: se dice que tenga pájaros multicolores y que sea magnífico en general - el lugar el más próximo del paraíso en todo el mundo. Lo enconstraste así? | ||||||||
| Porthos |
Eso es verdad. Sin embargo, la comida del sur es muy similar a la comida Centro-Americana. Tamales verdes, muchos banannas, etc...... |
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| Porthos |
No se para seguro, pero yo se que tienen un del mas mejor de cafe en el mundo! Pero, depende de tus preferencias personales.
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| Deborah |
Here are a few descriptions of Costa Rican food:
http://www.globalgourmet.com/destinations/costarica/costcuis.html
http://www.costarica.com/Home/Culture/Food
http://www.answers.com/topic/cuisine-of-costa-rica
That doesn't sound a lot like Mexican food, unless it's less spicy in the south. Is that the case, Josh? I've had a bit of Nicaraguan food here, and it wasn't spicy. Maybe in Central America they just add their own hot sauce on an individual basis. |
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| Uriel |
I don't think Mexican food is much like Caribbean food. The latter tends to be sweeter and fruitier, less spicy -- well, it can be spicy, but it's not as chile-based. It's just different. I've had Cuban, and it's certainly nothing like the local food around here!
But Mexican food varies a lot by region, so you might find food further south that's nothing like what I'm used to. Get yourself some fish tacos while you're near the coast, fab -- tacos de pescados -- scrumptious! And I'm not even a big fish fan.... |
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| Deborah |
I am a big fish fan and I love tacos de pescado. Also ceviche...mmmm! | ||||||||
| Uriel |
Did I tell you I had the best shrimp in Puerto Penasco? They were enormous -- almost prawns -- and they had been steamed with herbs, and came with lemon and a nice big bowl of cocktail sauce. Washed that down with a Corona & lime and I was in heaven.....
I guess for whatever reason, the local restaurant chose to serve their fish tacos with actual American-style tartar sauce on the side -- well, it was a little runnier than regular tartar sauce. Pretty much the first time I've ever seen tartar sauce anywhere near a tortilla, but what the hey, I tried pouring some on. You know what? With the fish and the tomatoes and the asadero cheese, it was actually pretty damn good! Weird, but good. |
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| Pauline |
Claro, tienes razón: el café costariquense (cómo se dice algo de Costa Rica?) es celebre, pero personalmente no me gusta tanto el café, huele fenómenal pero el sabor no lo encuentro bien. Prefiero el té y casi todos los tipos por ejemplo caramelos, vainilla etc.. Y chocolate caliente, eso me encanta: puedo beberlo sin parar LOL !!  Supongo que allí haya chocolate, no?
Me gustaría viajar a Costa Rica algun día. Quiero ver los pájaros y después iré a las islas galapagos para ver las tortugas enormas -son muy cariñosas, no estás de acuerdo? |
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| Julian |
La forma adjetival es costarricense o costarriqueño. |
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| Pauline |
Gracias Y el c en la primera versión se lo pronuncia como s, no?
Porqué hay dos alternativas - es igual cuál eliges? |
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| Julian |
De nada. Sí, eso es correcto.
Yo no se.  " alt="" border="0" />
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| Pauline |
No te preocupes !! Entonces no eres nativo de español?
me gusta mucho el perrito en tu avatar. Es divertido como hace algo con la pierna!! |
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| Pauline |
Y, está hablando o qué hace el perro? | ||||||||
| Deborah |
Me intriga esa coreografía minimalista. |
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| Pauline |
Me parece que está leyendo algo escrito en braille, y explicandolo en el micro al lado de su cara!!! Quiero saber lo que dice!!
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| Deborah |
Acabo de darme cuenta del teclado y el ratón. Pero prefiero la explicación de Pauline. |
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| Porthos |
Well, no, but there is this sort of continuum involving the food and climate relationship in the region. Southern Mexican food differs from typical northern Mexican food (which is what we eat in the U.S.) in that it makes use of much more fruits and vegetables native to the tropical Central American region. So fried banannas would be very typical as is the case in the Caribbean or Central America. Lots of papaya, and mangos, and guava, etc. Tamale husk will be flavored and died green by banannas. They eat black beans instead of pinto beans just as they do in Cuba or Central America. And rice will typically not be died a reddish color by tomatoes as it is northern Mexico. Turkey is used in place of chicken quite a bit also. And things are just different down there. In fact, I am willing to say that in many ways, food in the far southern states of Mexico has more in common with Guatemalan food than with food from Sonora or Sinaloa. |
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| fab |
Well, it depends what we call "central-America". Actually, here Mexico is seen as part of central-America for cultural reasons, being a former Spanish and colony and mostly a tropical (and subtropical) country it doesn't fit with the north American concept. Actually, saying that Mexican food was a central American food doesn't mean that it is all egual. I know that it exists quite a lot a local variations of food habits in all Central-America and Mexico. Mexican restaurants are not so much common here than in the US so we are not specialists of the question. But, for what I tasted, I found that Mexican and Costa-Rican food have a lot of common points: the high use of beans seem to me a crucial point - and a lot of chiken, and with this a lot a tropical products, fruits etc. But that's true that Mexican food has the characteristic of being very hot, which is not the case of Costa-rican one. But I think that it is also possible that some local mexican foods are not spicy. Actually the mexican restaurant I know serve a lot of plates not spicy at all, and quite similar to Costa-Rican ones. |
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| Porthos |
I can't say this is true Fab. For the most part, Mexico is not tropical. It is only tropical or sub-tropical in the southern regions. The vast stretches of northern Mexico is largely desert, and central Mexico is an arid place, with shrubbery and trees, and flowers, but definitely no rain forest or tropical climate. Only the south has this. But culturally, you are correct. Mexico is grouped in with what we call "Latin America", rather than "North America", which includes Anglo America/Canada. |
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| Deborah |
I've seen cooking shows on TV and read recipes for Oaxacan dishes, and a lot of the dishes were very spicy. | ||||||||
| Deborah |
fab, here's a warning from my Spanish teacher:
In Spain, the word for sidewalk or pavement is acera. However, in Latin America (generally?) it's vereda, and in Mexico it's banqueta. My teacher couldn't figure out the instructions someone was trying to give him, since banqueta also means stool. |
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| Uriel |
You'll find that phenomenon here, too -- it's called "white-people Mexican food"! I.e., it's been purposely made bland so that people not accustomed to the real thing can get it down.
My uncle makes the same distinction with Portuguese chourico -- which, now that I have become accustomed to Mexican food, hardly seems spicy at all, in comparison -- but he would always ask when I was a kid. "Do you want real chourico, or white-people chourico?" |
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| Julian |
That's pretty much what I call the cuisine they serve up at "Baja Fresh" or for Chinese food, "Chin Chin's" -- Chinese Chicken Salad anyone? "White-people ethnic", "Kosher Mexican", "Kosher Chinese", etc.
Speaking of Chinese chicken salad, once me and these industry-types trekked over to Chinatown for some authentic, tasty dim sum, but this too-skinny, overly blonde young thing we were with bitched because none of the restaurants served Chinese Chicken Salad!  Just for that, I ordered a plate of chicken feet from the cart and kept telling her how tasty it was that she should try it. 
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| Uriel |
Two words: Taco Bell! What the hell is an enchirito?!
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| Deborah |
The other half of a bulada. |
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| Uriel |
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