This Is Mexico: Tales of Culture and Other Complications

by Carol M. Merchasin

Overview

This Is Mexico is a collection of essays on the often magical and mysterious—and sometimes heartrending—workings of everyday life in Mexico, written from the perspective of an American expatriate. By turns humorous and poignant, Merchasin provides an informed look at Mexican culture and history, exploring everything from healthcare, Mexican-style, to religious rituals; from the educational role of the telenovela to the cultural subtleties of the Spanish language. Written with a clear eye for details, a warm heart for Mexico, and a lively sense of humor, This Is Mexico is an insider's look at the joys, sorrows, and challenges of life in this complex country.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781631529627
Publisher:	She Writes Press
Publication date:	03/03/2015
Pages:	254
Sales rank:	316,593
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Carol M. Merchasin is a lawyer, a former partner at a large law firm, and an author involved in a longtime love affair with Mexico. She fell in love with the country’s language, people, and culture during her first trip south in 1983, and she moved to San Miguel de Allende in 2005. She is a keen observer, an experienced researcher, and an enthusiastic student of Mexican culture.

Table of Contents

Preface 1

Section 1 One Wild and Precious Life

Where We Wake Up to the Revolution and Meet El Circo Más Grande y Muy Famoso 7

Every Country Has Its Cold Remedies 16

Section 2 There Is Welcome Here

"Let Us Be Joyous, Friends…" 27

Learning to Love Imperfection 33

Where La Patrona Gets a Cook and Gives Up Her Fantasy of Domestic Bliss 41

Saving My Breath 51

Where the Doctor Looks Like Antonio Banderas and Comes to Your House When You Are Sick 56

Risk Is Relative 65

Announcing the Winner of My Personal Travel Contest, Called "The Best Undiscovered Beach Spot Ever" 72

Where We Purchase Diego's Freedom for 140 Pesos 79

Semana Santa 83

Section 3 The Face of Poverty

The Face of Poverty 95

Small Things Make Big Differences, or How Juan Pablo Got Hot Water 101

Change We Don't Want 111

Hard Work 120

Where the Bank Meets the Tanda 129

We Need Burros and Bricks 131

Section 4 Culture and Other Complications

We Are Not the World? 147

There Are Rules That State… 157

A Conversational Fugue in Three Parts, No Harmony 167

Ser, Estar, and the Charms of Living in Spanish 178

Protection Against Colds and Flu 186

The Rhythm of Religion 191

How I Learned to Love Fiestas 202

The Envelopes Are Made with Love but Have No Glue 211

Section 5 Deeper into Mexico

How Some Things Make No Difference, or How La Señora Got Hot Water 225

Editorial Reviews

In her touching memoir, Carol Merchasin has captured the colors and chaos, the tastes and the trials that make up life in the city of San Miguel de Allende. In a refreshingly honest voice, Merchasin shows how weapons became fireworks and dangers morphed into kindness. She isn’t afraid to show her naivety at the culture she finds, nor her surprise at how it comes to seduce her. Indeed, her candor is what makes this memoir unique. In her beguiling way, Merchasin draws us into a country open to life, and a people who opened to her, as she did to them.”
—Mary Morris, author of Nothing to Declare

“Carol Merchasin's essays about Mexico nail the people, the culture, the experience of living here, the tender relationships. Some essays are poignant, some are very funny, all of them are beautifully written and carefully crafted. I want to give this book to all my friends who wonder why I live in Mexico. The essays are accurate, nuanced, entertaining, enlightening. The writing is elegant and ranges from touching to hilarious. If you have any interest in Mexico, don't miss this book.”
—Susan Page, Director, San Miguel Writers' Conference and Literary Festival

"Carol Merchasin writes about San Miguel de Allende with affection and self-effacing wit, even as she mulls the contradictions and imperfections of her adopted country. This Is Mexico is wise and funny and true.”
—Gerard Helferich, author of Theodore Roosevelt and the Assassin

“A warm, witty and lively recounting of settling into life in San Miguel.”
—Tony Cohan, author of On Mexican Time: A New Life in San Miguel and Mexican Days: Journeys into the Heart of Mexico

“With writing that’s as persuasive as a legal brief and as funny as your favorite relative’s best stories, Carol Merchasin captures the daily confusion of living in Mexico, a country filled with local characters reminiscent of Peter Mayle’s rustic French neighbors. Smart. Witty. Warm. Engaging and enlightening, this is a brilliant gem of a memoir.”
—Mark Saunders, author of Nobody Knows the Spanish I Speak

“In the good-hearted tradition of Jack Smith's classic of the gringo-in-Mexico memoir, God and Mr. Gómez, Carol Merchasin's This Is Mexico recounts a 'recovering lawyer's' adventures and many lessons in learning to live south of the border.”
—C.M. Mayo, author of Metaphysical Odyssey into the Mexican Revolution

“I am enchanted with Carol Merchasin´s description of Mexico. I have lived seventy of my ninety-four years in Mexico and still wonder whether the plumber's reply to, 'When can you fix it?' ("Mañana") means day after tomorrow, next week, or call another plumber. She captures the chaos, the music, the pure joy of living here.”
—Kathryn Blair, author, In the Shadow of the Angel

“This is Mexico: Tales of Culture and Other Complications is one more thing to celebrate about living south of the border. Written with wit and humor, rich with insight and incident, it tells the story of one couple’s journey into expat life, with all its accommodations. It is at once authoritative, yet intimate and personal, and blessed with humanity throughout. A valuable addition to the expat literature, it is dependably interesting from start to finish.”
—John Scherber, author of Living in San Miguel: The Heart of the Matter

“This is a delightful book. It made me ponder, smile, laugh out loud. Merchasin's droll take on the unfamiliar and unlikely is a tonic, and she loves Mexico, and its people, as I do.”
—Alice Walker

From the Publisher