
Originally Posted by
ziegh
Not sure if topic is meant to be serious since I seldom log in and consequently seldom visit Spam, but I'll bite. I lived in Mexico for 4 years so yeah, I know how obtuse they can be. I think it starts at school when they start learning about the Aztec and Mayan empires and they get told these romantic stories of how the Aztecs fought back (clue: they didn't...till much much later), how these pre-colombian empires weren't as stupid as they're normally depicted (end of the world from the mayans; plants, fruits, animals unknown to Europe), influenced the Spanish language and by extension most european languages with inexistent concepts (chocolate, tomato, coyote, chicle come from Nahuatl; yes, chocolate was invented by the Aztecs, i.e. Mexicans), how they won the Independence war against Spain, how they retained their independence in the war against Napoleon and how they executed Maximilian I (Emperor of Mexico), the folk hero known as Pancho Villa who was never captured by US forces no matter how much they tried (that is the story told by them), and quite obviously, their food. They're mostly proud of their native american heritage I guess, since their civilization wasn't as thoroughly wiped out as most other countries. I remember they used to scold me cause I would often speak Spanglish or use vos instead of tu.