As I write this my cat, Tuba, is sitting on my lap. I couldn't be happier.
Coming back from a trip abroad is always a bit strange. Language is one of the biggest differences. Everyone speaks English and you don't have to think about what to say in simple interactions. "Excuse me" is just "excuse me". You know that the grocery checker can speak your language. There won't be any surprises there. Another difference is money. I know money here; I know where it says how much the bill is worth, I know what a dime looks like instinctively; I am used to the green that is in my wallet. In my five weeks in Guatemala I never got settled with the money. I still had to look at the bills and the coins before handing them over for whatever I had bought. (assuming I understood how much money they needed). Yet today, I was looking at a handful of quarters and they looked too small. Most of the coins in Guatemala are larger and thicker. Quarters seem so tiny in comparison. Yet, even if they look strange for a moment I still know what they are and what they are worth.
I started my new job today. As expected all of the kitchen staff speaks Spanish. I will get to use some of my newly acquired language. In my new Greek restaurant I had 'tacos' served by Mexicans today. Multiculturalism at it's best.
I am happy to be back, even if I am still adjusting to being a US citizen in the US again. (I am NOT solely American, as I was told many times in Guatemala. ALL the people from North, Central and South America are Americans. People from the US are US citizens, in addition to being American. Guatemalans are American too, as are Canadians and Chileans and Brazilians, etc,etc.)
Thursday, November 4, 2010
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Yeah, US citizen just doesn't have the ring to it that "American" or "Brazilian" or "Mexican" has. Plus, do Canadians really consider themselves Americans?
ReplyDeleteThis is something I've been conflicted about for a few years now. Someone in Tennessee is never going to not say he's American. Should he really? Can we really not have two meanings for the word? Do we have to forget that the A in USA is for America because we named the continents and the country the same thing?
I continue to say I'm American (at least, in French and in English, I'd consider not doing so in Spanish), and I try to remain conscious in conversation of the fact that it means two things. But I'm not sure I agree with the idea that we should call ourselves "US citizens." Mexico is technically the United States of Mexico, after all... we're just the ones who call ourselves the United States.