Expat Files - Suegras - 03/07/14

-The Spanish language has many words with double and triple meanings. Meaning, even long term expats with seemingly impressive Spanish skills can screw up in casual conversation. Its a good thing Latins are so easy going and forgiving when it comes to language fax-pas (when coming from gringos). Yes, you guessed right… its part of our “gringo advantage” again. In fact we gringos and expats often get away with language blunders that would make your average Latin blush, or even run and hide. In that regard we expats are the clueless ones. Sometimes we wish the locals would clue us in, but most Latins are just too damn polite.           

 

-Every Latin mother and grandmother’s unspoken (and sometimes spoken) dream is to somehow lighten up and heighten up the family bloodline. In other words… having a gringo or gringa marry into the family.

 

-A word or two about having a Latin “mother-in law”(“suegra”) and how suegras differ quite a bit from the so called first-world bulldozer “mother-in-law” stereotype.

 

-Like us, Latins have their favorite foods and traditional dinner favorites. For them its refried beans, tacos, tamales and tortillas (though slowly but surely being repaced by Whoppers and Happy Meals). Aside from the traditional stuff, most Latins eat about ten times as many chiles and hot peppers as stateside folks do. Not only that, each person also eats at least ten times the number of lemons and citrus fruits as we do too. And a diet like that has very positive consequences and one very obvious negative one too....   

 

-Follow the link on the main page at www.ExpatWisdom.com to schedule a private consultation with me. If you want to discuss the details of living, working, playing, doing business and/or retiring in Latin America, now you and I can talk about your situation one on one.