Category Archives: International Neighbors

This category will include my stories and tips on meeting people from around the world in your own hometown.

What I Learned About Jalisco’s Culture

2 Replies
Since we didn’t leave the region of Jalisco, I decided I could not apply what I learned to all of Mexico. It would be like applying everything you experience in NYC to the rest of the States…and as a Southerner living in San Diego, I know that would be ridiculous. But I did learn a good bit and found a lot of things that were surprising.
.

  1. Do not play Punch Bug. For some reason the VW Beetle is a very popular automobile in Puerto Vallarta. You’re shoulder will end up pretty sore.

  2. Saying “buenos dias” is just plain old common courtesy. Whether we were entering a store, the elevator, or passing someone on a small street, everyone said “Buenos Dias.”

  3. Locals eat really early. If you want a good local meal for dinner, plan to eat around 5pm because most restaurants close at 6pm.

  4. Salsa is not just for dipping chips. We had some incredible local breakfast foods all served with salsa.

  5. Jaliscienes value their salsa variety. Even at the tiniest taco shop, three types of salsa were served.

  6. Horses are still a common mode of transportation in the country.

  7. They people of PV have so much more patience than the average American. They patiently wait until the customer is done to bring them their bill. They patiently assist foreigners as they linguistically stumble with their 8th grade Spanish. And when it comes to the arts, their patience is absolutely astounding.

Travel Buddy Compatibility

2 Replies

As Hubby and I prepare for our first international trip together, I’ve been contemplating the desirable qualities of a travel buddy. How important is travel companion compatibility? Do you need one to be the leader and the other the follower? One a planner and the other spontaneous? Or do both need to take the same approach for a successful trip?

According to the Myers-Briggs there are 16 personality types that are determined by the following four different preferences.

Favorite world: Do you prefer to focus on the outer world or on your own inner world? This is called Extraversion (E) or Introversion (I).

Information: Do you prefer to focus on the basic information you take in or do you prefer to interpret and add meaning? This is called Sensing (S) or Intuition (N).

Decisions: When making decisions, do you prefer to first look at logic and consistency or first look at the people and special circumstances? This is called Thinking (T) or Feeling (F).

Structure: In dealing with the outside world, do you prefer to get things decided or do you prefer to stay open to new information and options? This is called Judging (J) or Perceiving (P).

Your Personality Type: When you decide on your preference in each category, you have your own personality type, which can be expressed as a code with four letters.

I am an ENFJ – extraversion, intuition, feeling, judging. While Hubby has never taken the MBTI, I’m pretty sure he is an ESTP…almost my exact opposite.  You know the saying! In general, I would say this adds spice and depth to our marriage. We each see things from different angles and help each other make the best decision. But other than our honeymoon to Puerto Rico and weekend trips here in the States, we just don’t have much travel experience together.

In all my previous international adventures, I’ve noticed that I tend to pick travel buddies who are like me: organized, planned, and decisive. My friend who I visited in Argentina is a super planner. When I went to Paris with a sorority sister, we had the entire trip mapped out and saw every hot spot in the city in 4 short days. When I traveled with study abroad programs in Japan and Peru, we were extremely planned out. This will be my first time traveling abroad with someone who is not a decisive planner like me.

Fortunately, I’m pretty crazy about Hubby so in the end, just spending time with him will be wonderful. But I’m curious to hear from anyone who has gone overseas with their travel opposite. Please share your tips for a successful vacation!

My International Community

Leave a reply

I was a reading a great blog post on Strange Days a few days ago about President Obama using the term of “International Community” several times while at the G20 Summit. The blogger discussed how our view of community has changed from “a place in which you lived” to “a mental state of identity or entitlement or power or preference or brand worship.” Personally, I feel that social media has a lot to do with this change, but Friday night as I was writing up my list of Versatile blogs it made me think about my own international community in the blogosphere.

I am a new blogger. In fact it was just 39 days ago that I posted for the first time with the goal of exploring the world from home. Simultaneously I began following a series of blogs and have picked up more along the way.  There are some that I  browse through and others that I feel really invested in. For example, I have never met Michael from Travel Thayer, but I eagerly read his blog about teaching in Korea. I have never met Amit of Healing Pilgrim but I am fascinated by her life in Bali. I have never met any study abroad students I follow, like Hayley from Turkish Musing, but I view them just like they were students at my university.

Maybe I am fooling myself, but I feel that through blogging, I am expanding my own international community. Perhaps I’m naive, but I honesty believe that if I ever found myself in Pescara, I could message Bee from If you find yourself in…and she would give me great travel advice. While I have never been a big fan of time-sucking social media, I have to admit that through blogging I feel that my international circle has grown. I certainly don’t believe that being a part of this virtual community gives me permission to disengage from my physical one, but I do feel that it can supplement and enhance our community at home.   In the end, my international blogging community may not be one where I live (although Hubby may disagree sometimes!), but is one in which I feel engaged, invested, and inspired. Personally, I think that is enough for me to call it community.

Can You Love Two Women?

2 Replies

This morning I went to our local grocery store to pick up the rest of my needed items for our Friday Lunch.  While waiting for my freshly made sushi rolls, I decided to treat myself to a cup of coffee. I went up to the counter and was warmly greeted by a pleasant gentleman with an accent I couldn’t place.  After some niceties, I finally asked where he was from.  He responded that he was Iranian but had come to the States a long time ago.  Having just read Prisoner of Tehran, I actually felt somewhat competent to ask if he moved before or after the revolution and he responded that he moved to New York right after the revolution started in 1979. He then immediately said that Iran is a beautiful country and has a lot to offer as long as you could stay out of the political aspects.  He told me that he had gone back several times since he left.  I asked him how it was to return and his response really got me thinking.  “Someone once told me that you can only love one woman.  While it was good to go back, I am an American now. I left Iran behind.” 

Having always been an American, his words got me thinking. Is it possible to belong to more than one country? Is it possible to love two “women”? Last night when I was reading Bringing Up Bebe, Druckerman said that American kids brought up in France usually felt American in France, and French in America.  In essence, they never really felt at home; they never really belonged anywhere. Does this mean if you don’t belong to one country, you don’t belong to any? Unfortunately I don’t know the answer but it something I’d like to explore more. I welcome opinions and comments.