My perception of the gringos in México.

Well, my English sucks, I learned it from Happy Days Again on TV, but I'll do my best to describe in "american" how I see the gringos in my country.

This idea pops up after reading several internet sites of gringos traveling along our country.

A general thing that they like to do is to judge us. The way we live, the way we drive, our moral quality, our food, etc.

So I decided to make my Friday writing about the gringos in México.

Well, in the first place, I find a bit annoying to discover that we have gringos all around installed in our most beautiful places and sometimes owning properties. I think this is rare (and know it's illegal).

Most of the gringos come here knowing just five or ten words of Spanish and they complain if we don't understand them. Actually it is normal to read comments like "they don't speak English"... of course, we are Mexicans and we were a Spanish colony, so we speak Spanish and don't have any obligation to speak the language of the guys who like to invade our territory and beside want to be received like gods.

Most of the gringos visiting México come afraid of all the bad things that they can suffer here, but anyway they come.

There is a divided opinion of the Mexican, when it's evaluated for the gringo. Some of us are thieves, corrupt, dishonest, whatever you want to call us. But I find interesting to read that there is a big amount of gringos who come expecting for the worst experiences, and they get surprised knowing friendly people, beautiful places and having lovely experiences. Mexicans are good too; it depends on what part of the country you are, and what is your attitude to Mexicans.

The gringo tourist in Mexico is normally a person who doesn't make big expenses here. They come with a motor home filled with bottles of water, coffee, bread, cookies, beer and soda and the only thing they left is in our drain tubes. There is another kind of gringo, who lives down the border half of the year. Becomes part of a little community, and learns to love México. This learning to love México sounds rare even to me when I write this, because they shouldn't come to learn how to love México. They should come only if they love México, otherwise they are just coming to have bad experiences and they don't get disappointed.

Not every city works for a gringo. I see them at the beach, but I often watch them walking in my town, asking for cheaper prices everywhere. They have the wrong idea that they must "regatear" in every place they go. Offering ridiculous amounts of money for any thing, and when the sales guy becomes mad for the bad business the gringo wants, the Mexican turns to be the bad person, just because he doesn't want to give his work for free.

It's Hilarious that some gringos can't believe that some Mexicans don't want to live in the United States of America.

I'm not an antigringo people, in fact I like to chat with them and have some beers when in a bar, but that is one thing, and other thins is that I like to be rated by a foreign güerito in my own country.

The most I know the gringos, the most I think they are not really bad people. They are just misinformed and sometimes their friends give them wrong information when they come to visit us.

An important data for the gringos who want to visit México would be: The Mexicans you are used to, and the Mexicans in México are not the same. They both have good and bad things, but never think about them like the same. We are not the same. It is like poor gringos and rich gringos. Both look the same, they both speak English, they both have bad cuisine, but it is not the same.

Our relation should be better. We are neighbors... who knows? Maybe some day I will go to meet that familiar northern country. I'm not curious so far.

Pinches gringos.

Perfil Mexicano.