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Ice Phisherman posted:Sure! Mostly I'm interested in the broad strokes. How life is similar in one respect, different in others, but in positive ways. Alright, here we go. About Tabasco, and the thing I like the most, and all the southeast, is the nature around it. Everything is green,all the trees and grass seem always bright green, I'm not kidding. People who come visiting always describe that first. We are lucky down there or having so much water around, lakes,rivers,etc. And because of that, it's not weird to find exotic animals. Even in the city, if you pay attention, you'll get to see parrots,black-bellied whistling ducks(they are domesticated, so sometimes you'll find them in peoples backyards),all kinds of herons,birds of pray,etc. There's a large lake in the middle of the city, which they have been battling to keep clean, over there you'll still find the occasional turtle (They are a delicacy, so endangered already), and lots lots of crocodiles. Once you start traveling outside the cities,you'll start seeing more and more nature, there are far away places where you are technically stepping on a jungle. Actually, the capital city has a mini-jungle, there's a museum-zoo that was built long time ago. Parque Museo La Venta, if you want to google it. One part is the zoo, which got rebuilt like ten years ago so the animals weren't in cages anymore, the second part is a tiny rainforest, where you'll find the famous Olmec head, along with other stuff from the Olmec culture...as well as jaguars. We have goddamn jaguars. My dad use to tell me stories of being on the oil fields, and listening to the jaguars roaring at night. Also, last winter I was glad to see that the monkeys were back in the park. When I was a little child, it was common to see spider and howling monkeys wandering there, but they started to disappear slowly because some idiots started to capture them and sell them. For a long time they were gone, but it seems they are being reintroduced to the park. Same goes to parrots, when I was a child, you would see insane flocks of parrots in the middle of the city. Like, huge! Of course, greed was stronger and people started to poach them. So, for a long time they were completely gone from the city. Until recently that I've caught tiny flocks in the afternoons...so I guess something good has been happening. Tao Jones posted:I can't think of a non-silly way to phrase this question, but what kinds of Mexican music are there? In the US, Spanish-language stuff just gets billed as "Latino" or "Spanish music", but I imagine there must be different categories and styles just like in English-language music. There's a lot of genres, some are the same genres you'll find all over the world: electronic, pop ballads, metal music,etc. Rock music tends to have that something that makes it special and different. There's rockabilly as well. Although, if you mean something more local...we have what it is rancheras,corridos,norteño,tropical,trova,mariachi,romantics(which is ballads),etc,etc. quote:What kinds of things do Mexican families have friendly arguments about? (For instance, here in the US there's a kind of stereotype of a crazy uncle, usually right-wing, who spouts off every family gathering about the Democrats, or Obamacare, or how our president is a stealth Muslim born in Kenya, or how kids these days are irreligious, and so on.) Hahaha, I think over here is the classic Catholic aunt/grandma/mom that thinks the world is going to hell for Catholic reasons. The one that will always tell you to not dress in black and stop listening to Satanic music. Political as well, specially if it's about the current happenings. A funny thing, is that in my family we rarely fight. My sister once told me that she was invited to a Thanksgiving dinner back when she was studying in Arizona, the whole thing was surreal, specially seeing the teenage daughters screaming at their parents in front of strangers. If you do that over here, a Mexican mom would give you the "I'm going to kill you once the visits are gone" look. Then you'll shut up because you know mom's are scary when angry.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYviBsqwwzE quote:What are some good jokes? Dude, I'm sure I won't be able to translate them at all. But the best jokes are the ones with double-meaning words. quote:e: Also, do people reference Hitler/Nazism as an example of "a bad thing" in conversation in Mexico like we do as We do believe nazism was bad. After all, they sunk a few ships in our territory and we sent a small air battalion to help the English (I think it was the English,I don't remember well). But there's a few Mexicans that have this weird mentality where they don't care about anything that's foreign, or others that get obsessed with it. There's a few that are like the Supernatural fans of WWII. Then the ones who claim to be nazi unironically  peanut posted:What is up with the long pointy ranchero boots? I don't have a loving clue! It's the weirdest fashion thing ever. And we don't have many foreign restaurants, you'll find more in Mexico City than in other states. We tend to favor things from the US more than from other countries. So lots of Applebee's, and Chili's, and Domino's,KFC,etc,etc. And Chinese food. gently caress, there's Chinese food everywhere. But no Taco Bell, gently caress Taco Bell. And I laugh knowing that they tried like twice to bring their stuff to the country. quote:How much money do the dudes playing music and sells lollipops on the bus make in a day, and how does that compare with other jobs? I'm not sure. But I think they make not much money. You have to weary of the people selling lollipops, or getting in the bus and telling you a sob story about their sick love one. Some are the real thing, others are clearly lying and just need money for their booze/drugs.
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Nov 12, 2014 14:36
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peanut posted:
The US is a pretty big outlier in how well foreign foods are represented in the major cities, largely due to the whole melting pot thing.
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Nov 12, 2014 17:07
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I've been living in DF for the past 6 months so my view of Mexico might be kinda skewed, but it's definitely an awesome place. I think the closest thing i've had to a religious experience was carnitas at an open-air market in michoacan. You got any good english-language source on the goings-on around the 43? My commute keeps getting hosed up by all the demonstrations 
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Nov 12, 2014 18:33
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luminalflux posted:I've been living in DF for the past 6 months so my view of Mexico might be kinda skewed, but it's definitely an awesome place. I think the closest thing i've had to a religious experience was carnitas at an open-air market in michoacan. Carnitas are the most awesome dangerously greasy food ever. I love to eat tripe tacos, which has proven not to be something you'll find everywhere. About the news, I think CNN and probably even Al Jazeera have information about it. Local news will try their best to pretend nothing is happening. Check if Proceso has an online English version of the news, Aristegui Noticias is another good source, I don't know if they have a translated version of everything.
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Nov 12, 2014 19:26
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Desperado Bones posted:and lots lots of crocodiles. Your nature sounds amazing, but the crocodiles especially. How often do you encounter them? Can they pose a danger? Are they American crocodiles or morelet's? Falukorv fucked around with this message at 21:24 on Nov 12, 2014 |
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Nov 12, 2014 21:22
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Falukorv posted:Your nature sounds amazing, but the crocodiles especially. How often do you encounter them? Can they pose a danger? Are they American crocodiles or morelet's? Here in Tampico, you go to lake near downtown and you'll see them happily floating right there,not giving a poo poo about people. In Tabasco, they are engendered, because you know...they make good boots and belts. Anyway, you can encounter them any day you take a stroll on the park. Just there, motherfucking huge crocodile, swimming peacefully in the middle of the city's lake. And they must be Morelet's, it's the most common one over here. And yes, as any wild animal, they can be dangerous if you are not careful. People usually avoid them, it's a see but don't touch thing we have. I think people panic more with snakes than with a crocodiles. Edit: Photos from last December. I think, like in five minutes about two or three climbed on the fountain's thing-whatever-is-called to take a sunbath.  
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Nov 12, 2014 22:03
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I'm sorry but I have to ask, I'm about done with season three of Breaking Bad and it has a lot of Spanish speaking scenes sets in Mexico and some moments of Mexican culture. Are you familiar with it at all? Is it all just bollocks? Being from the south of America and very well traveled in this hemisphere, my only experiences in Mexico were pre 9/11, so I don't really think they hold any relevance now. Other than the fact that my Columbian friend was able to get us into a ton of second floor elevator only wood paneled cigar type clubs filled with people wearing nice shirts that were very polite to us. It was cool.
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Nov 13, 2014 07:18
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What is transportation like between states? I imagine when you get close to big cities there are large highways and generally well kept roads, but what about the long routes between populated areas. I don't know how much you traveled around the US, but everything is kept up almost religiously. If a large interstate freeway is blocked people will freak out. But in movies and TV we're always shown any foreign highways is a dangerous dirt road with sheer cliffs on either side and goats crossing approximately every 50 yards.
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Nov 13, 2014 09:22
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Inspector 34 posted:I don't know how much you traveled around the US, but everything is kept up almost religiously lol if you believe this
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Nov 13, 2014 09:30
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Arnold of Soissons posted:lol if you believe this Haha, no. That was a bit of hyperbole, maybe combined with a little pnw privilege. No idea how well kept the freeways are in the deep south or wherever. The next statement was the more important one. Shipping and just general transportation are dependent on the interstates being in decent condition. But I know the US is kind of unique in the percentage of people who own cars and rely on them for long distance travel so I was curious how important it is in that particular part of Mexico.
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Nov 13, 2014 09:41
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Most parts of the US couldn't function without our ability to own and operate cars. It's what makes American culture so God damned fat. Driving a hour to a job where you sit in a cube for nine hours with a thirty minute at your desk "lunch" and ten days of combined sick/vacation a year is considered nice by many standards. Which makes me want to ask, is driving pretty normal in Mexico i.e. it's a strange thing to not have a car/driver's license?
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Nov 13, 2014 10:05
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Captain Log posted:I'm sorry but I have to ask, I'm about done with season three of Breaking Bad and it has a lot of Spanish speaking scenes sets in Mexico and some moments of Mexican culture. Are you familiar with it at all? Is it all just bollocks? The narco corrido music video nailed it. I was laughing my rear end when that episode started with it, extra points because they used an actual real band. Some of the actors were speaking a very "mocho" Spanish, that means, you could tell English was their first language. So it made me cringe a bit, but by now we are so used to see Americans trying to pass for Spanish speakers that we just ignore it. It's been a while since I watched Breaking Bad, but I think not all of that was too wrong, or too insulting. I've seen worse, like the usual "Mexico is a huge endless desert without any civilization, and lots of cactus". Inspector 34 posted:What is transportation like between states? I imagine when you get close to big cities there are large highways and generally well kept roads, but what about the long routes between populated areas. Finding an always extremely well kept highway is like some sort of Christmas miracle, but they are not that bad. I've been a few times in the US, and what got me a lot what was the highways and the streets inside the cities were better kept than over here, but then again,I was a tourist and never wandered in the ugly parts. Here a example, I have to travel 15 hours in bus to reach my mother's town. Half my travel is through a paved roadway that's usually filled with holes after a rain, then we reach the highway, things gets nicer. There's a series of highways, so the travel through Veracruz is usually really fast. The real danger is all road thieves and narcos, traffic accidents and stuff like that. Anything can happen in 15 hours. Inside my mom's town, the streets are usually terrible, hahaha...they tend to use cheap materials that get washed away really fast by the rain. The dirty roads? You can only find those in a ranch, or little poor towns in the middle of nowhere. Usually a town's mayor (that isn't blatantly stealing money) is trying to win the sympathy of everyone, so they'll go around paving everything. Captain Log posted:Which makes me want to ask, is driving pretty normal in Mexico i.e. it's a strange thing to not have a car/driver's license? You can always throw a few 200 pesos to a transit agent and they'll pretend you have all the driver's licenses in the world! Cars are expensive, and you'll notice there are a lot of old cars,trucks and buses in circulation. Volkswagen was really popular back in the days, because they were so cheap, today Nissan took their place. They are also the most stolen ones. So,it's not strange not to own a car, just like it's not strange to live with your mother past your 30's.
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Nov 13, 2014 13:57
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If there was one place in Mexico you would recommend a visit to for its beauty, culture, and safety (!) where would it be?
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Nov 13, 2014 16:32
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Desperado Bones posted:Some of the actors were speaking a very "mocho" Spanish, that means, you could tell English was their first language. So it made me cringe a bit, but by now we are so used to see Americans trying to pass for Spanish speakers that we just ignore it. A vague question, but is there any common view or attitude on foreigners (i.e., non-Hispanic Americans) who speak Spanish as a second language? Tourists, etc. For example, the French have the stereotype for being up-tight about their language and correcting people who are trying to speak it with them, etc. Other countries, maybe with less common languages, people are super appreciative if you say a few basic phrases, etc. I'm muy gringo but I speak pretty good Spanish, and I find that most Spanish speakers in the US are appreciative, but that's because they are in a context where they don't speak the dominant language and I can help them out. However, I know that this isn't always the case while in country and the roles are reversed. For context, most people in the US study Spanish in high school, but most also never get beyond the "yo quiero una cerveza, por favor" stage. However, Spanish is becoming increasingly "relevant," to put it that way. In my state two anglophone candidates for congress had a televised debate all in Spanish, and neither of them are native speakers (one could barely speak it, so read off a script for most of it).
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Nov 13, 2014 16:47
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Exioce posted:If there was one place in Mexico you would recommend a visit to for its beauty, culture, and safety (!) where would it be? Yucatan. I've been told is currently the safest state. You'll get to learn about Mayan culture and eat delicious food. Also, Cancun is a few hours away from it, so you can take the highway and visit on the weekend. Thesaurus posted:A vague question, but is there any common view or attitude on foreigners (i.e., non-Hispanic Americans) who speak Spanish as a second language? Tourists, etc. For example, the French have the stereotype for being up-tight about their language and correcting people who are trying to speak it with them, etc. Other countries, maybe with less common languages, people are super appreciative if you say a few basic phrases, etc. The thing with Breaking Bad and other movies and TV series, is they try to pass Americans as Mexicans, sometimes people from other Spanish speaking countries, so it's a bit "Hey...we don't speak with that accent." But it's just inane whining, as I can't tell apart British accents and I'm always surprised when someone tells me certain character in a tv show is making a bad accent. By the way, no matter what other gringo goons said, on La Casa de mi Padre, Will Ferrel was speaking a good Mexican-ish Spanish for an American. Also, like I've said before, we don't give two shits if you are learning English. It's actually fun and we like it when someone speaks the language, or at least tries. It feels like, "well this person is being polite towards us by making an effort". There's no frowning or feeling culturally violated,not at all. Considering that I've always felt Spanish to be a bit difficult(All those loving accents, and our undying love for double meanings and synonyms, not forgetting the "X" and its many pronunciations).
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Nov 13, 2014 17:04
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How do you guys feel about the Spanish? I'm really curious about this. I mean, "son of a raped mother" is an actual insult in espanol is it not? The level of horrible poo poo that the Spanish did in South America was insane and I'm wondering in 2014, what is the legacy of that? Is there a difference between how a poor indigenous person, an average "middle class" Mexican and an upper caste Mexican feel about the Spanish? Are the lighter skinned, upper caste Mexicans that I see on Sabado Gigante and telenovelas cool with the Spanish and what they did while the poor Indian dude hates them or has no clue? Is it mostly indifference? How big a deal is made of their legacy in Mexican schools? Conversely, I wonder what the Spanish teach their youth about what they did in Mexico. Since the world is terrible place and people are horrible I'm guessing its a bunch of whitewashed bullshit. Do you guys get many tourists from Spain? It's just so God drat weird to me. "Hey Manuel, leth go to Methico and check out the country our forefathers raped and pillaged mercilessly." I guess basically what I'm trying to say is gently caress Spain am I right?
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Nov 14, 2014 00:01
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visuvius posted:How do you guys feel about the Spanish? I'm really curious about this. I mean, "son of a raped mother" is an actual insult in espanol is it not? The level of horrible poo poo that the Spanish did in South America was insane and I'm wondering in 2014, what is the legacy of that? Is there a difference between how a poor indigenous person, an average "middle class" Mexican and an upper caste Mexican feel about the Spanish? Are the lighter skinned, upper caste Mexicans that I see on Sabado Gigante and telenovelas cool with the Spanish and what they did while the poor Indian dude hates them or has no clue? Is it mostly indifference? How big a deal is made of their legacy in Mexican schools? Conversely, I wonder what the Spanish teach their youth about what they did in Mexico. Since the world is terrible place and people are horrible I'm guessing its a bunch of whitewashed bullshit. It's divided. A part of the country hates them,and are not proud of their Spaniard roots. Another part are completely cool with them and all over them because white Europeans (Yes,Spanish look white for us). Racism is a thing in Mexico, believe it or not. Another part doesn't care at all, and it's just indifference. In my family, my dad's side tend to be all over their Spanish relatives, like they are the best of the best, and like we all should feel superior because we have direct Spanish blood. While my mother's side are seen as lower class trash only because they look brown and are actually poor. Yes, we get Spanish tourists, and indeed it's a bit weird now that you say it. By the way, we don't celebrate Columbus day anymore, I was surprised the USA was throwing a party over it like it was the 4th of July...and we were like, " the gently caress...?"And, I was told, that children in Spain are usually taught that Hernan Cortez was civilized and a hero, while the Aztecs were uncivilized brown savages, he didn't brought death and destruction, but all the goods of the civilized and rich Spain. Like they completely ignore the whole huge Aztec empire, science,arts,writing, their complicated social system and language...and the fact that Cortez was only able to "win" because he managed to get the tribes that hated the Aztecs on his side. By the way, no offense to any goon from Spain, but I've had bad experiences with Spanish people on the internet before. They are huge assholes. I specially hate being called a "sudaca". Don't call us that, that's like using the n-word, goddammit.
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Nov 14, 2014 00:36
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Desperado Bones posted:By the way, we don't celebrate Columbus day anymore, I was surprised the USA was throwing a party over it like it was the 4th of July...and we were like, " I was born and raised in the midwest, and that's weird as hell to me too. To everyone I know in real life, Columbus Day is just another day off work. How common is it for people to read and write English fairly well but be unable to speak it? I have a couple friends from Middle/South American countries (Costa Rica, Venezuela), and their written English is essentially native level, but most of them can barely speak the language at all. They attribute this to using the English part of the internet so much, where they're constantly reading stuff and making posts in English, but they never have any opportunities to speak the language with anyone.
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Nov 14, 2014 05:32
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So my husband has been asked by his employer how he would feel about moving to Mexico for 3to 5 years once their new factory is built in 2016. We are seriously considering it but being from Michigan it is terrifying. He is not sure of exactly where we would be but my main question is about how good/bad in general it is for foreigners living in Mexico.
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Nov 14, 2014 06:43
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Desperado Bones posted:And, I was told, that children in Spain are usually taught that Hernan Cortez was civilized and a hero, while the Aztecs were uncivilized brown savages, he didn't brought death and destruction, but all the goods of the civilized and rich Spain. Like they completely ignore the whole huge Aztec empire, science,arts,writing, their complicated social system and language...and the fact that Cortez was only able to "win" because he managed to get the tribes that hated the Aztecs on his side. On that note, how are the Tlaxcalteca viewed? From what I have read, their alliance with Cortez during the conquest of the Aztec realm meant that they had a relatively privilegied position in the colonial society, like having the right to carry firearms and govern their own settlements. Are they considered traitors? What do Mexicans think about Spanish actors like Antonio Banderas and Javier Bardem playing Mexican characters in Hollywood movies? How do Mexicans view figures like Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez and the regimes associated with them? Kopijeger fucked around with this message at 10:36 on Nov 14, 2014 |
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Nov 14, 2014 10:34
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Spoggerific posted:I was born and raised in the midwest, and that's weird as hell to me too. To everyone I know in real life, Columbus Day is just another day off work. Wait, you get off of work for Columbus Day? I've only ever received sale flyers for mattresses and a dozen Facebook posts about how genocide, slavery, and imperialism are still uncool. Why is cilantro so common in Mexican food? As a weird person with the gene mutation that makes cilantro taste like soap, it turns me off of trying new foods from several cultures for fear that I will spend half my meal picking out evil little green flakes. Are there some safe food items that are extremely unlikely to have cilantro and still be authentic? Or is cilantro abuse just a thing local to the Mexican restaurants here in Chicago?
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Nov 14, 2014 12:54
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Spoggerific posted:I was born and raised in the midwest, and that's weird as hell to me too. To everyone I know in real life, Columbus Day is just another day off work. I guess so. I can write, read and understand English, but I struggle a bit to speak it. Like, some words are not pronounced correctly and I have this heavy stereotypical accent haha. I always blame it to the lack of a native English speaker around me. Me and my sisters share the same level of English, only one of us can speak it as a native. And it's the one that used to be an English teacher and spent a fairly amount of time in Arizona. SlaveToTheGrinds posted:So my husband has been asked by his employer how he would feel about moving to Mexico for 3to 5 years once their new factory is built in 2016. We are seriously considering it but being from Michigan it is terrifying. He is not sure of exactly where we would be but my main question is about how good/bad in general it is for foreigners living in Mexico. I think is fairly good. I always see foreigners living in the nicer parts of the cities, and as you do in any part of the world, they avoid the lovely neighborhoods. It also depends on which state, you could check the news and see which ones are the most hosed up ones. Guerrero,currently, is a mess. I have someone in my facebook who lives in that state, and they keep posting about buildings being burnt, roads closed, people stealing, etc,etc. Kopijeger posted:On that note, how are the Tlaxcalteca viewed? From what I have read, their alliance with Cortez during the conquest of the Aztec realm meant that they had a relatively privilegied position in the colonial society, like having the right to carry firearms and govern their own settlements. Are they considered traitors? I think, we had a very whitewashed history taught for a long time. It was until recently that we started to realize how hosed up everything was in the Conquest. So, I learned about the Tlaxcaltecas and their deals with the Spanish until I was an adult and through Discovery Channel. How messed up is that? The only person many consider a traitor is a single woman, who just happened to be a slave that worked as a translator to Cortez. quote:What do Mexicans think about Spanish actors like Antonio Banderas and Javier Bardem playing Mexican characters in Hollywood movies? We like Antonio Banderas because he is handsome, but I always laugh when I see people from other nationalities trying to play a Mexican, specially when they speak Spanish and throw in their own accents. By the way, we love the poo poo out of Danny Trejo. quote:How do Mexicans view figures like Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez and the regimes associated with them? There are lots of Mexicans that admire Fidel and Chavez, mainly because they say they were against you gringos.  Some people love the USA, other's not. Or they don't like it, but still consume things from the US. We are a bunch of weirdos.TunaSpleen posted:Why is cilantro so common in Mexican food? As a weird person with the gene mutation that makes cilantro taste like soap, it turns me off of trying new foods from several cultures for fear that I will spend half my meal picking out evil little green flakes. Are there some safe food items that are extremely unlikely to have cilantro and still be authentic? Or is cilantro abuse just a thing local to the Mexican restaurants here in Chicago? So I did a quick search, and you can blame the Spaniards for bringing the cilantro. There are several foods that don't need cilantro here in Mexico. Mole,pozole, some tortas don't need it,gorditas,etc. Here in Mexico you can ask for your tacos without cilantro. Actually, they will ask you before serving, "Con todo?", "Sin cilantro,por favor". You can do the same in a restaurant, you won't see the cooker getting angry and the food will still be authentic.
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Nov 14, 2014 15:08
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Do you get primarily hollywood films or is there a decent amount of spanish/latin american cinema? And do people prefer subtitles or spanish audio? Same for music actually. Are mexican artists popular? How much music do you get from the other spanish-speaking nations, and from the USA?
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Nov 15, 2014 17:32
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You've touched on this a bit I think with accents and how the Spanish are viewed, but how different is European Spanish? All I really know is that it uses a form of "you" which other dialects have dropped (vosotros?). Is it fairly difficult to understand, or its it more akin to American vs British English? Are those with Spanish accents viewed similarly to how British accents in America are?
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Nov 15, 2014 22:38
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vintagepurple posted:Do you get primarily hollywood films or is there a decent amount of spanish/latin american cinema? And do people prefer subtitles or spanish audio? Mexican cinema has an interesting story. For a time, there used to be a moment called the "Golden Era of Mexican Cinema". I mean we got some movies with amazing special effects for the time, cinematography,etc. Around the 70's everything went down, productions cheapened and people weren't interested in what the country produced anymore. From around the 70's to the late 90's we had a few bad decades of bad movies, so national movies became synonym of bad quality. For that same reason you'll see more American movies over here, even if recently there has been a period of good Mexican movies. I think a Mexican movie with high production is released every two months or more. The rest are the video only, which are cheap and are mostly about narcos and the like. People do prefer Spanish audio over subtitles. Many complain that they can't read and watch at the same time. I'm not sure if our level of literacy has to do with it. I personally prefer the original audio, because I like to hear the actor's real voices. Not like there's bad dubbing over here, they make a good one, it's just a matter of tastes. About music, well, it varies? I belong to a generation that grew with the good MTV, so we got to hear and see a lot of American artists. I don't know how things are currently, but I think corridos are extremely popular, even over your usual American super star. Mef989 posted:You've touched on this a bit I think with accents and how the Spanish are viewed, but how different is European Spanish? All I really know is that it uses a form of "you" which other dialects have dropped (vosotros?). Is it fairly difficult to understand, or its it more akin to American vs British English? Are those with Spanish accents viewed similarly to how British accents in America are? Your comparison is correct. We see Spanish accents as you see British accents. The European Spanish I know tends to stress the "S", making it nearly sound like a "Z", they also have this really weird funny way of speaking. Although I think someone told me that the European Spanish we use in jokes and to imitate a Spaniard, belongs just to one single zone of Spain. I don't know how true is that. Surprisingly European Spanish is not that hard to understand, the one I can't understand at all and it sounds like gibberish to me...is the one used in movies like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcjSccUy0m4 It's from Colombia, and from my quick Wikipedia search, it uses an accent and slangs common to the lower class.
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Nov 15, 2014 23:36
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Mef989 posted:You've touched on this a bit I think with accents and how the Spanish are viewed, but how different is European Spanish? All I really know is that it uses a form of "you" which other dialects have dropped (vosotros?). Is it fairly difficult to understand, or its it more akin to American vs British English? Are those with Spanish accents viewed similarly to how British accents in America are? As an add-on to my own question, inspired by this post, I know that some companies (Disney) release latin american and eurospanish versions of films. What dialect is the "latin american" version usually speaking? For french or english there's basically two accent groups that dominate so, say, a québécois version of something in addition to the eurofrench is quite acceptable. But with a whole continents' worth of accent standards I could see being annoyed. It'd be pretty grating if everyone in the american dub of DBZ talked like they were in Fargo or something.
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Nov 15, 2014 23:38
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vintagepurple posted:As an add-on to my own question, inspired by this post, I know that some companies (Disney) release latin american and eurospanish versions of films. What dialect is the "latin american" version usually speaking? There's a Spanish known as "Neutral Spanish". It's the one used for movies,TV and on the news. It's a Spanish where the voice actor tries to hide their true accent, and where they avoid any regional slangs. From what I know, the Latin American dubs are usually done in three places: Mexico,Los Angeles and, if I'm not mistaken, Venezuela. They say the Venezuelan dubbing is the best and more neutral of all. In the case of Disney, the dubbers are mainly from Mexico. So you can say it's a Mexican neutral Spanish.
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Nov 15, 2014 23:58
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Tell me more about food; I grew up in Arizona and I was told that what we got was fairly heavily dominated by a Sonoran influence that came with a lot more cheese and flour than you'd see farther from the border, but I've never been sure how stark the contrast really is. Also that the rest of Mexico thought Sonorans were crazy or something, I never actually understood what the stereotype was supposed to be. Do you see any sort of influence from South America in the southern states? What sorts of fruits are popular? I think that was the most striking thing about the Mexican food where I grew up; all grain/vegetable/meat/spices, zero fruits or nuts beyond tomato and avocado. Also how do I make molé that isn't terrible? I miss it.
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Nov 16, 2014 00:55
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Why do so many of my mexican friends like DBZ? This is a thing, right?
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Nov 16, 2014 18:42
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Irony.or.Death posted:Tell me more about food; I grew up in Arizona and I was told that what we got was fairly heavily dominated by a Sonoran influence that came with a lot more cheese and flour than you'd see farther from the border, but I've never been sure how stark the contrast really is. Also that the rest of Mexico thought Sonorans were crazy or something, I never actually understood what the stereotype was supposed to be. Do you see any sort of influence from South America in the southern states? What sorts of fruits are popular? I think that was the most striking thing about the Mexican food where I grew up; all grain/vegetable/meat/spices, zero fruits or nuts beyond tomato and avocado. Also how do I make molé that isn't terrible? I miss it. I really have no clue about the whole Sonorans being crazy,so I can't answer that. Yes, there's influence in the south from South America, just as from Caribbean countries. The deeper you go to the south, and get closer to the border,the more customs and food from Guatemala and Belize you will notice. You probably grew up around Mexicans who only liked to eat meat and didn't like nuts. Fruits depend on the time of the year and state, but you will usually find street vendors selling fruits with powder chile and lemon juice. The most common one is mango, and depending on which state they will sell it to you full ripped, or still "green". Things you'll see them selling on the streets: mango,jicama,cucumber,watermelon, coconut, other regional fruits that I can't remember their names, haha. Even on the supermarkets they sell you diced fresh fruit, ready to eat. And nuts? Seriously, we are peanut land. Everything has peanuts, traditional candies have to contain peanuts! I recommend you to buy the mole that comes in paste. That's the one everyone usually uses. Not even my mother knows how to prepare the paste, but she knows how to buy it. You just have to dissolve it with the chicken broth, but then I don't know if they sell it where you live. Cercadelmar posted:Why do so many of my mexican friends like DBZ? This is a thing, right? Because Dragon ball was one of the few animes that came to Mexico before the era of amazing awesome internet piracy and youtube. Dragon ball and Saint Seiya became instant hits in my country. I mean, DBZ managed to get the daily prime time slot on national television. For some reason the whole loving country loved it, and became even more popular than your usual soap opera.
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Nov 16, 2014 19:20
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You've mentioned that fear and corruption prevent most direct action against the rampancy of the cartels, which blows. Hypothetically, what do most Mexicans (and you) believe would be proper actions for the country to take, if such actions were possible? Do people discuss what Mexico's options as a nation/society are, or are people pretty much beaten down and resigned to the violence and terror? What do people hope would happen?
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Nov 17, 2014 00:17
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Nitevision posted:You've mentioned that fear and corruption prevent most direct action against the rampancy of the cartels, which blows. Hypothetically, what do most Mexicans (and you) believe would be proper actions for the country to take, if such actions were possible? Do people discuss what Mexico's options as a nation/society are, or are people pretty much beaten down and resigned to the violence and terror? What do people hope would happen? Legalize drugs. That's what many of us ask for, we see the examples like Portugal and think it would be a good measure to hit hard on the cartels. The problem is that the bigger consumers are you, the Americans, not us. Other group talk about creating a new Revolution, but the part you read on the internet saying that are just upper middle and middle class young people having power fantasies. There's a side that's imitating a lot of conservative american ideas. Like, guns are the solution for everything. I swear I've seen several unironical "if they had a gun...","If they didn't take our guns..." comments. And there's the other group that's indeed beaten down and resigned, and they prefer to pretend nothing is wrong with the country and all the violence news is just massive hysteria.
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Nov 17, 2014 03:46
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Desperado Bones posted:Legalize drugs. I'm from Texas and around here (usually from private citizens not from government officials) there's occasionally sentiments of "we should send the army down there", the idea being that US soldiers will help mexican soldiers defend against/hunt down the cartels/patrol the northern states/whatever. Do you think average mexicans would tolerate this or would they prefer cartels to gringo occupation? (Do people still say gringo?) Do you think fighting the cartels to a standstill would even be a possibility? Also one more language question: do you ever encounter people who primarly speak mayan/nahuatl? I understand that mayan is still very much a living language in parts of the south.
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Nov 18, 2014 21:35
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Desperado Bones posted:Legalize drugs. I am a big ole' liberal that has a permit to carry a gun, does so, and owns guns. Trust me, outside of personal protection, owning a gun doesn't really empower you to do poo poo. It's nice knowing I could protect possibly protect myself if someone tried to take my life but the best answer on a small level is a good head on your shoulders, running shoes, and never ever trying to be a stupid loving hero. Then you end up like that absolute piece of poo poo Zimmerman. Sorry, derail done. But I am curious about something. I'm a die hard MMA fan. Recently you had a UFC card in Mexico city. In many of the documentaries it looked pretty safe BUT one of the two main guys fighting from for the belt in the main bout hired 24 personal security people...and he speaks good Spanish and is from Brazil. Any thoughts? I'm still on the "No way in hell I'd visit Mexico" boat and I went in 2001 when things weren't all that lovely.
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Nov 19, 2014 06:29
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What's your favorite street food? I just discovered tlacoyos up here in the US and they're my favorite thing ever. I know they're more of a central Mexican thing, but can you get them where you are?
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Nov 19, 2014 16:11
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vintagepurple posted:I'm from Texas and around here (usually from private citizens not from government officials) there's occasionally sentiments of "we should send the army down there", the idea being that US soldiers will help mexican soldiers defend against/hunt down the cartels/patrol the northern states/whatever. Do you think average mexicans would tolerate this or would they prefer cartels to gringo occupation? (Do people still say gringo?) Do you think fighting the cartels to a standstill would even be a possibility? Well,actually, when things went really bad during Calderon's term...I think he and several Mexicans technically begged the US for some help. Of course it never happened. Sometimes,indeed, there's people who wish for an intervention...specially because they have seen that the military and police force usually don't generate the results we are waiting for. Yes, we still say gringo. And I'm not sure in what moment it became an offensive slur for americans. It was always a slang, we even have a quesadilla named gringa. It becomes offensive once you add puto,pinche,etc before it. I don't think a standstill will ever be accomplished. The level of goverment corruption is,like, Hollywood African country-type. We are hosed,very hosed, and mainly because all of this was allowed for a very long time. About the Mayan language, YES. Specially when I go back to my mother's home. You'll still find people talking all Mayan dialects. The local University even offers (or offered) Chontal Mayan classes. Sadly, there's some indigenous people who don't speak Spanish at all, so there's always an rear end in a top hat that tries to take advantage of them, and then you have the younger people who feel ashamed of speaking Mayan. Captain Log posted:I am a big ole' liberal that has a permit to carry a gun, does so, and owns guns. Trust me, outside of personal protection, owning a gun doesn't really empower you to do poo poo. It's nice knowing I could protect possibly protect myself if someone tried to take my life but the best answer on a small level is a good head on your shoulders, running shoes, and never ever trying to be a stupid loving hero. Then you end up like that absolute piece of poo poo Zimmerman. Yeah,I'm all against weapons, but share the same sentiment as you. They won't turn in to Mexican Rambo just for owning a gun, and there's more chances they'll get killed for trying to play hero. Ah,the UFC thing? That's because famous/popular people tend to turn in to easy targets for delinquents. Like, "famous,appears on TV = HAS LOTS OF MONEY,GET THEM". It's not uncommon that some artists hire security, or move out to Spain or Florida. The Macaroni posted:What's your favorite street food? I just discovered tlacoyos up here in the US and they're my favorite thing ever. I know they're more of a central Mexican thing, but can you get them where you are? Tlacoyos are sent from heaven. Haha,I love the ones made with blue corn and broad bean. I don't have just a favorite, but many. Things I like the most are cochinita pibil,tacos de tripa and panuchos. Desperado Bones fucked around with this message at 04:31 on Nov 20, 2014 |
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Nov 19, 2014 18:42
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I've heard that (American) football/NFL is making inroads in Mexico, and I know some people have even proposed establishing a team in Mexico City. Is it pretty popular among the people you know, or is it still kind of a niche sport?
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Nov 20, 2014 05:13
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Smirking_Serpent posted:I've heard that (American) football/NFL is making inroads in Mexico, and I know some people have even proposed establishing a team in Mexico City. Is it pretty popular among the people you know, or is it still kind of a niche sport? No one likes American football, well, not many. There are teams in each University, but really, no one cares. The students prefer watching the soccer or basketball matches. It's getting sort of popular if only because they are making a huge marketing campaign. Making it all flashy on TV and poo poo like that. The sports people go insane about are soccer. And why is that? I guess because it's common for regular Pedro and Juan to have some beers and carnes asadas with their best friends and play a little friendly soccer match. Also, we dislike the American's annoying time-outs for everything.
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Nov 20, 2014 14:09
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This thread is great and thank you for starting it. I've been to a few Mexican resort towns (Playa del Carmen x2, San Patricio, and Zihuatanejo) and always found Mexican people to be laid back and very patient with our fat, rude, American faces. I always liked the little smile I would get when attempting to speak Spanish to them after 4 mostly-useless classes in high school. By contrast US citizens tend to get impatient when someone isn't speaking English. My favorite story is of my dad renting a car in Playa del Carmen. This is back in the late 90s when it wasn't such a big resort town. Days earlier we had reserved a sedan (Nissan Tsuru, they were everywhere back then) to drive to Chichen Itza. When we went to pick the car up it was a VW beetle (which were also everywhere back then). My Dad and the guy at the counter argued a bit. My father realized the futility of his argument and accepted the fact that 5 of us would be making the 6 hour round trip in a car designed in the 1930's with 2 doors and no a/c. We headed out the door, the man following us out seconds later to yell (in heavy accent): "Don't forget the tip!" I'd really like to get back there. Are there any resort towns, similar to Playa Del Carmen in the 90's, that are laid back and not filled with American tourists but are still tourist friendly? Also, when we were in San Patricio we ran into an Expat Canadian who told us Canadians were buying up beachfront property on the West Coast. Still a thing?
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Nov 20, 2014 15:26
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Gorson posted:I'd really like to get back there. Are there any resort towns, similar to Playa Del Carmen in the 90's, that are laid back and not filled with American tourists but are still tourist friendly? Also, when we were in San Patricio we ran into an Expat Canadian who told us Canadians were buying up beachfront property on the West Coast. Still a thing? There are still some places that are not heavy with American tourists. Palenque, sadly, is already too "tourist", indeed in the 90's it was a nice place to go, now you can't explore the buildings without stumbling with a large group of tourists. I haven't gone to Xilitla, but something tells me there are not many noisy tourists wandering in there. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xilitla It has a place called "Las Pozas" which was created by English artist Edward James. El Cielo, is a pretty place to go camping. Sadly it's in Tamaulipas, so you have to take your precautions. My aunt and several friends have gone there, mainly you make a trip on bus, then you have to rent a truck, and after a while you reach a part where either you have to walk or rent a donkey. http://mexicolesstraveled.com/elcielo.htm I've been told Xantolo is the perfect place to go and get wasted during Day of the Dead. Xantolo is located in San Luis Potosi. Now, the places I know the most are in Tabasco. Just avoid the municipalities called Cardenas and Cunduacan, there has been an increase of kidnappings on those places, but the rest of the state is fairly safe for tourists, as long as you stay away from the ugly places and don't go around flashing your extremely expensive canon camera and/or jewelry. In Tabasco, for any goon that decides to give it a try, you can start by staying on the capital city,Villahermosa. The capital city has its own things, we have a zoo park named La Venta, where you'll find a replica of the real La Venta archeological site, and the Olmec heads. Park La Venta is a must if you want your picture taken next to the famous Olmec head. We have the lagoon, and the park is inside another park. HAHA. Well,more like two parks together in the same place. Park Tomas Garrido, it's a pretty place, you'll see a lot of families having a good time on weekends. There's also a museum, the Carlos Pellicer museum. Lost of stuff about Mayan and Olmec culture. If you want, you can wander downtown, but be careful with your belongings...lots of little thieves down there. Downtown there's a lot of colonial style buildings, a museum called "La Casa de los Azulejos", Carlos Pellicer's former home and several art galleries(I don't know if many closed after the floods or are still there). Also, going downtown, will give you a look at how busy is the daily life of a Mexican. Close to downtown is the public market, Market Pino Suarez. Just...go there but be very careful. It's too cramped and dirty And there's always thieves checking out who can they steal from. If you got tired of being all cultural and stuff, there's a lot of fancy malls. Galerias Tabasco and Altabrisa are the best ones. By the way, if you want to experience something way more south Mexican try the state fair. Every year, between April and May, there's this HUGE fair. You'll find regional food,clothes, exhibitions,music,etc,etc. It gets packed, like insanely packed, but it's worth if you want a faster way to learn a little bit about the state. Each municipally makes an exhibition stand of what they have to offer. Now, the thing about Villahermosa, is that everything else is close. The state is fairly small, so the longest trip you have to make outside the city is like 4 hours long. We have some nice beaches,not like cancun, but it's still nice. Those are located in the municipality of Paraíso. There's also tons of rivers and lagoons. But if you don't want to complicate things and play it safe, I think the goverment was offering tours the last time I went. There's a tour that takes you to the houses were chocolate is made, another one that takes you to the Pantanos de Centla(Centla's marshland), which is the biggest body of fresh water in Mexico. There's a lot of pretty places "hidden" in Mexico, it's just takes to look around patiently.
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Nov 20, 2014 16:24
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