The following is a story that was written by Diego Ibarra to a friend in Canada. It has been edited slightly.
Mexicanadian by Diego Ibarra
1) I was born and raised in Mexico City… a 20-million people, hyper-hectic, and dangerous corner of the world. Nine years ago, I traveled for the first time outside of Mexico as part of a student exchange program. It is easy to understand how culture-shocked I was when I arrived to my foster home in the coastal community of Botwood, Newfoundland; a little town with a population size comparable to the student population of my high school. It is a placed between the wild boreal forest and the roughed Atlantic Ocean that is, evidently, the complete opposite corner from my home, Mexico City.
2) Back then I didn’t speak much English and after listening to the thick, almost incomprehensible accent of the Botwood locals, I thought, “Oh boy, it’s going to be a long summer”.
3) Although I didn’t know anybody in town, the news of the newly arrived Mexican student spread around so fast that before I had the chance to finish unpacking, I received my first invitation, from complete strangers, to go to their house for a cup of tea. The invitation came from Wally and his wife Maria from Ecuador Wally and Maria spoke to me in Spanish when I really needed it and it was Wally and Maria who told me go to the waterfront and hike the trail on the peninsula.
4) The next day I went down to the waterfront and hiked the peninsula and found a series of man-made caves. They were abandoned military hideouts from the war. The caves were dark, hidden, private places, surrounded by thick, bomb-proof, concrete walls. It was the absolute perfect place to practice my recently purchased flute.
5) A few weeks later at the cave, I got an unexpected visit from about 15 kids on bicycles ranging in age from 9 to 13. They were all staring at me, as if they had never seen a Mexican flute player practicing in a cave before.
6) They came in and curiously asked me all kinds of questions starting with “Where are you from?” and followed by more challenging questions like “Is it true that if I rob a bank I should go to Mexico because police will never find me there?” or “Can you play any Guns ‘N’ Roses[a] on that flute?”.
7) After 5 or 10 minutes of questions they got back on their bikes and took off. Five seconds later the smallest of the kids came back on his bike. “I have one last question!” he said, “How do you say ‘”piss off”[b] in Spanish?” I peered at him and I asked, “How old are you?” “Nine” he replied. So I told the kid “piss off” in Spanish is: Te quiero mucho.”
8) “Te quiero mucho?” he said. “Yes,” I said. “Perfect.”
9) And off he went flying on his bike not having a clue that he just learned how to say, “I love you very much” in Spanish!
10) I didn’t realize what I had done until next morning when Wally and Maria’s daughter phoned me and told me that that every single kid in Botwood between ages 7 and 15 were openly, loudly and rather aggressively[c]… loving each other! In Spanish!
11) I went back to Mexico shortly after that and I haven’t been back in Botwood since that summer in 1998 but my time in Newfoundland fundamentally changed the way I see things: It doesn’t matter how tough or how rough or how cold it gets, they always made it possible to view life in a positive, friendly and warm manner. And I am happy to tell you that tomorrow, at last, I will be submitting my application for permanent residency in Canada. I will finally be an authentic Mexicanadian.
Meaning
in context
1) What is a “Mexicanadian”?
2) What does he mean “with a population size comparable to the student population of my high school”?
3) What word in the first two paragraphs means “difficult to understand”?
4) In paragraph 3, the author talks about “the newly arrived Mexican student.” Who is he talking about?
5) A “peninsula” is a piece of land that is surrounded by water on three sides, like Florida. What is a waterfront?
6) In paragraphs 3 through 5, where does the writer want you to laugh?
7) What word in paragraph 5 means “to look at someone closely”?
8) What different word in paragraph 7 means “to look at someone closely”?
9) What phrase in paragraphs 7-9 means “to not understand at all”?
10) What word in paragraph 11 means “completely”?
11) What word in paragraph 11 means “true”?
12) Approximately, how old is Diego when he first arrives in Botwood?
13) What are some of the main differences between where the writer grew up and where he lived in Botwood, Newfoundland.
Journal topics. Choose one of these topics to write about in your journal.
1) Diego heads down to the waterfront when he needs a break from life’s difficulties. Where do you go when you need to take a break? Have you found a place where you can relax here?
2) Diego plays a fun trick on the children, when he tells them how to say “I love you” in Spanish, instead of telling them what they wanted to know. Tell the story of a funny trick you played on others or that others played with you.
3) If you were to leave the Seattle area, what would you most miss?