The world out there....

The night before I headed north to "el otro lado" (the US) I was talking to Cynthia. I said that I had a friend in Portland who was from El Salvador, so I would be able to practice my Spanish while I was in the States. I told her this friend used to be my Spanish teacher and would probably (hopefully!) be impressed by how much I have learned in this past year.

"So he speaks Spanish?" she asked.

"Yeah. He teaches Spanish." To me, being able to teach your native language is pretty impressive, so I thought this would impress upon her just how smart Walter is.

"So he speaks it pretty well."

"Yeah, it's his native tongue." I thought maybe I hadn't used the correct Spanish to explain where Walter was from. But it's really easy to say: "Walter es de El Salvador". I knew I had said that correctly.

"Oh yeah?"

I didn't show it then but I was really shocked. Somehow I just assumed that she would know that El Salvador is a Spanish-speaking country. I mean, pretty much everything south of the US is Spanish-speaking. Wouldn't she have learned that in school?

I told Luis about this the next day and he just laughed. Said he wished I had told him while we were still in Tuxpan so he could have made fun of Cynthia.

I wasn't sure if it was funny or sad. I told my mom about this incident too and she suggested that the people there just aren't curious about the world outside of Tuxpan. And that was it. It's not that they aren't educated - everyone in Luis' family has been through high school at least - it's just that they aren't aware of the world outside of their own little lives. If something happens in northern Mexico, they might hear about it on the news. But if something happens in China, that information might not get to them, and even if it does they won't care. They are much more interested in the gossip of Tuxpan. They are isolated in their little town and they like it that way.

So different from me. I'm curious about other people, other cultures, other worlds. I've travelled to ten other countries, I've lived in five major cities in the States, my favorite tv show is "Globe Trekker". And here I am, surrounded by people who have travelled only to the little towns around them, who have lived in the same small town their whole lives, who's favorite tv show is "Bailando por un Sueno" - something akin to "American Idol". No wonder I don't have any friends I can relate to.