Owner: La Gringa Mas Bella: Married to the Mexican URL:http://lagringa.blogspot.com Join Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2007 20:31:10 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: A blog written by a white American woman married to the best Mexican on the planet! This blog is about what's on our minds and day to day happenings. Site statistics:Click here
Anyone Hiring a Bilingual Chick in SC? 2007-07-10 18:15:00 OMG! I am so embarrassed. I didn't go to work today for personal reasons that only women over the age of 30 can understand, which was not a problem but there's more to the story...I'm not supposed to report to work until 9:00 a.m., well I got up at 7:30 this morning and decided I'm not going to work. A few months ago our office had an answering machine so I was basically able to call anytime if I wasn't going to work, now we don't have an answering machine anymore and I don't know why.Anyway...I went back to bed and woke up at 9:30 so I knew I had to call in. I tried but my cell phone had little signal. Option #2: I text messaged a coworker because most of the time if I don't have a signal to make a call, I can still text. She texts back saying, "You need to call ____ (the boss)So apparently she's at work, I think, and has probably told the boss that she got a text from me saying I'm not coming in. My boss is okay most of the time but there is a communcation problem because s Read more:Anyone
, Bilingual
, Hiring
My First Day Back to Work Sucked with a Capitol S 2007-07-09 16:42:00 Ohhhhh my aching feet! Yeah, it was that bad. I got up early this morning thinking my first day back was gonna be pretty easy. Boy oh boy was I wrong. Now I knew that the boss lady had ordered a LOT of stuff the week before vacation but it was way more than I expected.Box after box two coworkers and I unpacked boxes filled with office supplies, paint brushes, beads, pipe cleaners, games ... it sorta felt like Christmas!At lunch I came home to change clothes because I had already broken a good sweat. A quick peanut butter sandwich, a gulp of coke, my 100 bill bandanna tied around my head and zap I was back, hard at work.Why must I work? My hubby (the Mexican-nickname) laughs at me constantly because I tell him that my life has turned out a fluke. I'm not supposed to work! Lots of people say that but I know it. I was supposed to marry an extremely rich man and live my life sitting on my ass getting my nails done every other week, shopping every day, traveling a couple of times a month, Read more:Capitol
, First
, First Day
It's Fun Quiz Time! 2007-07-08 06:57:00 I was browsing around over at LaGringa's Blogicito and saw the results from a couple of quizzes that she had taken, so naturally, I took a few too! It was fun but let me tell ya, these quizzes were pretty hard.First off I decided to take the blog addiction quiz to see if I'm addicted to blogging or not. It's not 100% positive, but close ....82%How Addicted to Blogging Are You? Mingle2 - Online DatingThen I decided to check my spelling smarts, not bad ...I Scored a 73%!Mingle2 - Free Online DatingI tried and tried. Never could get my score up any higher .... shhhh!Then I found this really neat one that will tell ya just how likely you are to survive zombie attacks. Ya never know.42% Mingle2 - Free Online DatingI might live!Then I thought this was neat. If I died and my family wanted to sell my body to science, this is probably the fortune my body would bring:$4340.00The Cadaver Calculator - Find out how much your body is worth. From Mingle2 - Free Online Dating Mingle2 - Free Online
Wah, Wah, Wah ... I'm Griping a Li'l 2007-07-08 02:02:00 I can't load any pics or post a title to my post but my week long vacation is just about over and today I'm just a bit depressed. I didn't do much of anything today but my hubby took off this morning to finish helping his brother work on the rat house he's been cleaning.We had a couple of guests over, Mandy and Santiago. We watched a movie called 'Fun with Dick and Jane'. That was nice. After they left we went over to my friend, Onesima's, for some homemade tamales. They were good! Then we came home and I wanted to check over at Immigrate2US.Net to see what's going on over there. I was really upset to see that a lot of information they had on the site has been lost. I re-registered and hope that they can find the lost info because that site is such a resource for anyone going through the immigration process.Reading all the questions and answers over there just reminded me of our dilemma though.My husband and I sent our application to U.S.C.I.S more than 2 years ago, soon be 3 y
Let'cha Hair Down at South of the Border 2007-07-06 06:02:00 If you're ever traveling north or south bound on interstate 95 anywhere near the North Carolina/South
Carolina state line, you've seen all of Pedro's signs. If you haven't, you must be blind because they start, it seems, 100 or more miles before you get there. (Unless you're traveling with a couple of clowns like we do ... then I could understand if you may have missed it.) That's okay, I fixed 'em! lolAnd if you're traveling at night you'll see all of the bright lights around the small border town known as South of the Border
. (Photo Below)That is probably the tallest dude wearing a sombrero you'll ever see! If you look really hard you can see the face between where it says South of the Border and the big sombrero. (He don't look happy.) And you'll find lots of Mexican things there too but beware because a lot of it is just overpriced souvenirs.And take a look at this baby below ... it's another big sombrero but this one is different. You can take an elevator all the way
Mexican Witches: Fransisca Zetina Chavez 2007-07-06 01:00:00 My hubby has told me lots of stories about witches and I just posted some stories about Mexican
ghosts, I'm thinking about gathering Mexican witch stories too. Anway, this struck my attention.I heard about this story about four years after it all went down (happened in the late 90's) but the point is that Mexico is filled with witches, said both white magic and black magic. Here are a few excerpts from an article written by Joel Simon which can be read in its entirity here.Excerpt #1"Zetina fingers the double eagle claw she wears around her neck, leans back in her kitchen chair and announces that she is the most misunderstood witch in Mexico."No joke! Aren't we all. I don't know a single witch that's not.Excerpt #2"The authorities are convinced that Francisca Zetina Chavez
has more to tell them about the body recently found on the property of Raul Salinas, brother of Carlos Salinas, former president of Mexico. Zetina was the spiritual advisor to Raul Salinas. They met regularly, s
Mexican Ghosts: Don Ernesto 2007-07-06 00:38:00 When I went to Mexico my sister-in-law told me the story of Don Ernesto
, otherwise known as La Calle del Truco.She said that no one knows for sure when it happened but a rich man gambled away everything he had and one night, even though he had hardly anything left, he ventured out into the night to try to gamble his way back into wealth.Don Ernesto desperately entered a gambling house in Guanajuato where he managed to get himself into a card game with relatively low stakes. One man seated at the table eyed Don Ernesto and began wagering higher amounts.Don Ernesto was losing and lost his last hand. The high wagering stranger at the table told Don Ernesto he could win and convinced him to play one last hand; Don Ernesto bet his wife. Some people say that Don Ernesto collapsed and died on the spot. Others say that Don Ernesto's wife went on to live a happy life but Don Ernesto walked the streets for years looking for the man that took his wife in the card game. Who knows?No one denies th Read more:Mexican
Mexican Ghosts: La Llorona 2007-07-06 00:04:00 Every Mexican
that I know believes all the stories about La Llorona! Here's another story I found over at AmericanFolklore.NetOne quick question first, why does Susan Smith come to mind in this story? Hmmm...(retold by S. E. Schlosser)They say that the Llorona was once a poor young girl who loved a rich nobleman, and together they had three children. The girl wished to marry the nobleman, but he refused her. He told her that he might have considered marrying her if she had not born the three out-of-wedlock children, which he considered a disgrace. The girl was determined to have the nobleman for her own, so she drowned her children to prove her love to him. But still he would have none of her and married another. Mad with grief, the girl walked along the river, weeping and calling for her children. But they were gone. So she drowned herself. For her crime, her spirit was condemned to wander the waterways, weeping and searching for her children until the end of time. It was said that w
Mexican Ghosts: Joaquin Murietta 2007-07-05 23:53:00 There's no doubt that I am fascinated by history and folklore, especially ghost stories! Here's a good story I found over at AmericanFolklore.NetThe site is filled with all sorts of stories but this one is listed because it happened in California, nonetheless, it's about three Mexican
s.(retold by S. E. Schlosser)Joaquin
Murietta and wife Rosita lived with his older brother Carlos in California. The three Mexican immigrants were living on a small, successful farm and the men were also working a claim near Hangtown. However, the other miners living nearby tried to run them off, telling them that it was illegal for Mexicans to pan for gold or hold a claim. The Murietta brother's ignored their threats and continued to live peacefully on their farm and work in the gold-fields. Enraged by this flagrant disregard for the American laws, a drunken mob attacked the little family late one night, shooting Carlos, and then ravishing and murdering Rosita while Joaquin was forced to watch. The mo
La Quinceañera: What is it? 2007-07-05 22:06:00 Some people know about them, some people don't but yes Mexicans do practice a special 15th birthday for girls only called a quinceañera. And I'm gonna try to explain it:It's really common for a girl turning 15 years old to have a quinceañera. The party/ceremony acknowledges the girl's transition from child to young woman. On this special day the birthday girl also takes a special vow to remain a virgin until marriage.Mexican girls look forward to their quinceañera because it's almost like a graduation!Some Mexican girls are able to wear a lil make-up, leave the house for once, and for a few ... they are able to start dating.(My sister-in-law is seventeen years old and her Dad still doesn't allow her to go to the store without a family member! My father-in-law is a bit strict when it comes to having his daughters out in the street.)La quinceañeras that I attended were really nice. The girls came out wearing princess-like dresses, everyone went to the church first for the relig
A List of Beer Made in Mexico 2007-07-05 21:54:00 I’ve attempted to populate a list of Mexican beer. Below is a list that I’ve come up with doing research on my own, help from my hubby and a couple of friends; my short stint as a bartender also attributed a lil. If you know of any Mexican beer that is not on the list, please contact me to let me know so I can add it. Thanks!1. Corona2. Corona Light3. Negra Modelo4. Modelo Light5. Modelo Especial6. Sol7. Noche Buena8. Indio9. Tecate10. Dos Equis11. Casta Morena12. Casta Milenia13. Casta Unica14. Casta Dorada15. Superior16. Carta Blanca17. Bohemia18. Pacifico19. Victoria20. Leon21. Montejo22. Estrella23. Caballero Aguila24. Cerveza PotroThe same company owns more than half of those beers listed above … and Anheuser-Busch owns 49% of it! Nothing amazes me anymore. Read more:Mexico
Quinceañera Lighting 2007-07-05 21:25:00 Because most quinceañeras last well into the night, lighting is a good idea. One of the quinceañeras I attended had decorative lighting and decorative balloons, I'm the type that likes a good combo!I found these ...They are called 'Balloon Brites' and I think they are really cute, plus they can provide soft nightime light. If I was going to have a quinceañera here in the U.S., I'm not because I don't have any girls, but if I did I would choose red, white, and green; Mexican flag colors. Then again if I wanted the party to be elegant, I would stick with white.Either way, lighting is something to plan for and it's a good idea to start planning weeks before the day arrives or you'll be stuck out in the dark.Anyone who wants to check out these Balloon Brites can go to the official website for more infomation on them: Balloon Brites Read more:Lighting
Daddy, They're Gonna Send You Back to Mexico 2007-07-05 17:48:00 Everyone who knows me knows exactly how I feel about current U.S. immigration policy as it relates to illegal Mexicans, I hate it. My husband watches news in Spanish, I watch news in English and apparently our youngest son has been paying a lot of attention to immigration issues too.The other day our 6 year old, Jordan, looks at his Daddy
and says, "Daddy, they're gonna send you back to Mexico
. All your brothers and friends too."My hubby didn't know what to say so he replies, "And what about you?"Jordan says, "They're gonna send me too cause I speak Spanish."So we had to explain a few things about people who are born here, people who are not born here and some of the reasons why people argue about people who come to the U.S.Let me rewind a few years back before I married my husband for a minute too. Caleb is eight years old so about ten years ago I met his Daddy, a Mexican. We didn't get married because I was fresh out of a divorce and didn't want to jump in head first. A few mont
Just Part of the Mexican Family 2007-07-05 17:25:00 I can't believe that I really didn't touch base on this when I posted about what it's really like to be married to a Mexican
.In my experiences family is something extremely important to Mexicans and my husband has 5 brothers over here in the U.S. too, the rest are in Mexico. Most people wouldn't believe what I go through with these 5 brothers.One of them needs to take his ass back to Mexico, not because he's illegal, but because he just don't know how to act. Where do I start?he drinks like a fisha former girlfriend told me that he did drugshe can't stay out of jailhe's been arrested for hitting a girlfriend, driving with no license, and DUI (I think DUI)BUT ... this story is not about him, it's about the brother that just got married in January. He and his wife went to Mexico to have their big wedding, now the wife is a little more than 6 months pregnant. (Had to be a honeymoon baby!) The couple has decided to make their home him instead of Florida where the wife is from and Read more:Family
What’s it Like Being Married to a Mexican? 2007-06-30 15:30:00 After I’ve been around new people for a while, they eventually feel comfortable enough to ask the question and I get it a lot!I think what they really mean is how do we live with different influences in our lives from language to culture and in between. I can answer the question because I dated a lot of American guys and married one before I started dating Mexican
guys and married my Mexican husband.The truth is men are men.All guys have particular qualities or not so attractive habits and so on. The only difference I can really see is that all the Mexican guys I dated tended to be more jealous than American guys and very territorial. I mean it’s okay if a man speaks to me but he better not make it a habit or put his hands on me!That’s in my own experience though. My husband is jealous but not aggressively jealous. He wouldn’t like it if I talked on the phone all day and all night or went shopping every weekend with girlfriends. He’s just as jealous over women as he is of men
Day One of My One Week Vacation 2007-06-30 11:20:00 It's 12:21 p.m. and I've been up for nearly two hours now. Sleeping in late is so fun! I woke up 2 or 3 times but chose to go back to sleep. My year has been so hectic juggling school, the kid's sport schedule, work, etc. My hubby works every Saturday, bless his heart, but it's only until 12 o'clock. I called him up to ask where he was at 12:06 because we went (correction) 'we want' to eat Chinese food!We really don't have many good restaurants around here and I've gotten to where I absolutely hate fast food restaurants just because of the bad service. Our Mexican restaurants is good and we know the owner really well, sometimes we get discounts or the kids get a little something extra.I'm starving ... wish he would hurry up already!I don't know what I'm gonna do today. I feel like because it is my 'vacation' I should do something or go somewhere. I don't wanna travel because we've been on the road a lot this year. First we went to Orlando for Christmas, then Kentucky, t Read more:Day One
, One Week
, Vacation
Black Activists Applaud Defeat of Amnesty Bill 2007-06-30 02:07:00 Members of the Project 21 black leadership network applaud the defeat of legislation in the U.S. Senate earlier today that would have created a path to legalization for millions of foreigners residing illegally in the United States without solid guarantees regarding border security and the enforcement of current immigration law. "The defeat of the Bush-Kennedy immigration bill shows the American people can still have their say in the legislative process if they are loud enough," said Project 21 member Kevin Martin. "When it appeared that so many of our elected officials were going to turn their backs on the overwhelming desires of their constituents and vote for a bad bill, it was the unswerving determination of grassroots activists and the national forum of talk radio that made these lawmakers remember to dance with them what brung them." (More) Read more:Activists
, Amnesty
, Black
Blogs of Mention 2007-06-30 01:00:00 I've been beboppin around the net tonight and have found lots of really cool blogs worth mentioning. I don't know if anyone remembers a blog called 'Livin la Vida Lopez' but it followed the journey of a white American woman living in Mexico while pregnant. I think their names were Emily and Sergio, maybe, but I don't know what happened to them.Here's another interesting couple: Nancy and Paul!You can follow them on their journey as they plan their move to Mexico. I love the name of their blog too, check it out: Countdown to MexicoAnd if banana plantations in Honduras tickle your fancy, check out this one: LaGringasBlogicitoBoth of these blogs have a huge list of related blogs on their site so do check those out. I haven't had a good chance to check out everything on LaGringasBlogicito yet because it truly is extensive. I know that she's an American living in Honduras since 2001 and it should be good.Since my hubby is from Mexico and I don't know if I could live over there or n Read more:Blogs
LATINOPeopleMeet: Dating for Mexicans? 2007-06-29 22:35:00 I just have to talk about this because it's pretty funny to me. First off, I don't know lots of Mexicans in particular that either have a computer, internet access or even know how to surf the internet anyway. LATINOPeopleMeet is for anyone though, not just Mexicans.I know about this site because my lonely brother in law, who is 20 years old, needs a girlfriend.Maybe he don't NEED one but he was dating this one girl for about five years off and on, now that's over. I think he's at an age now where he can really date and have a meaningful relationship now that he's coming into his own. Window shop so to speak.He's not bad looking, he works really hard and only has one day off a week. He doesn't have a lot of time on his hands so I thought I would post a profile for him over at LATINOPeopleMeet.His profile has been up for a couple of weeks and he has gotten only 1 profile view. I didn't post a picture because I wanted time to kinda look around. All of the girls on there that are Read more:Dating
Mexicans Should Chide the U.S. 2007-06-29 18:48:00 The story starts off ....MEXICO CITY - Opinion makers and migrant advocates in Mexico said Friday that the collapse of U.S. immigration reform plans hurts Mexican workers, U.S. employers and anti-terrorism efforts.President Bush's plan to legalize as many as 12 million unlawful immigrants from around the world while fortifying the border failed in the U.S. Senate on Thursday."This is very bad news for Mexican migrants in the U.S.," said Jorge Bustamante, special rapporteur to the U.N. human rights commission for migrants. "It means the continuation and probably a worsening of the migrants' vulnerable conditions."The Rev. Luis Kendziersky, director of a shelter for migrants in the border city of Tijuana, said it appeared senators "are focused more on the political game than on the real needs of the people."(To read the complete article follow this link: Yahoo News Story )C'mon, this is horrible. It really is. I mean how much longer are we supposed to wait for some type of a real immi
La Fea Mas Bella is Over 2007-06-28 19:02:00 I don't really get into Spanish soap operas much but I did get into La Fea Mas Bella. Each night at 8 o'clock my butt was parked in front of the tube or my DVR was set to record. And who couldn't get into something so hilarious?I mean, c'mon, how many hot guys could really want a ugly chick like Lety!The finale was the bomb. My husband's mom had already told me that Lety would end up marrying Fernando but I kept thinking in the back of my mind that maybe she was toying with me.Just like she said, Aldo found Fernando's diary and gave Lety the choice. After the finale it showed clips of where they taped the finale pary in Monterrey and I wanted to cry. I asked my hubby, "How come you didn't send me over there to see all that?"He just laughed at me.Right now we're beginning to watch Destilando Amor again. God knows I hate that new one called Yo Amo Don Quier ... whatever it is. It sucks.Now I feel lost everynight at 8 o'clock. Maybe that's why it's 8:07 and here I am typing aw
Online English to Spanish Dictionary 2007-06-28 16:09:00 Although I speak Spanish
, I wasn't raised in Mexico and I don't know it all. My husband speaks English
but the same things goes for him. There have been plenty of times when we both were confused over what a word meant and had to look it up.Don't rely on just your paper dictionaries to solve disputes! Here's one online:http://www.wordreference.com/es/Translation.aspIf you know someone who needs this, pass it on! Read more:Dictionary
Tips to Learn How to Speak Spanish 2007-06-28 15:57:00 When I first began learning Spanish
there was method to the madness; I learned what made sense to me. I started out with groups of words like the months of the year, the days of the week, numbers, colors, seasons of the year, and words that were similar in English and Spanish.Some words may look similar but the meanings are very different. You can pretty much bet that emergency and emergencia mean the same thing, others are quite tricky.Recently I found this neat resource that covers everything from rules to pronounciacion ... did I spell that right? Anyway if anyone is looking for a really good resource jam packed with info for free ... here it is: http://spanish.about.com/od/spanishvocabulary/Learn_Spanish_Vocabulary.htmAnd if you know anyone who needs it, pass it on!
My Meeting w/the Boss: Not So Bad Afterall 2007-07-11 15:41:00 Here's an update on the job/boss situation. It just so turns out that my boss was trying to call me to let me know that our scheduled meeting (1pm-5pm) was changed to 12-4 instead.A co-worker sent me an email. Go figure.Then another co-worker sent me a text message to let me know that our office floors are still being waxed and our meeting would be at my favorite restaurant ... aren't we moving up in the world!Over lunch my boss did bring up my kids playing on the phone with her, uh-oh! She kinda giggled over it. (Thank God) And we discussed important program changes, etc.Near the end of the meeting she reminded us that summer is just about over and if anyone wants to take some time off, we should say so now. I've had enough stress this year so I took off a whole month! I'll report back to work on the 15th of August but it doesn't take effect until next Tuesday. So I guess I'll be depending on my Google Adsense revenue to keep me afloat ... that's a joke.My hubby the Mexican is
Catching Up a Bit 2007-07-18 15:31:00 I haven't posted anything on here for nearly six days I think but that doesn't mean that nothing is happening my way. Let's see ...Over the weekend my hubby, the Mexican, spent lots of time working on the his brother's house, my new sister-in-law came in on Saturday from Florida, I'm in the preliminary stages of planning a baby shower for her and then the other sister-in-law is in jail on a $25,000.00 bond.It's been really hectic!Yeah, I said my sister-in-law is in jail on a $25 thousand dollar bond and it made front page news in Tuesday's addition of the local Press and Standard.My hubby's brother, the black sheep, married this girl about a three years ago I guess and I bet they lived together for about three months. The rest of the time they have been seperated and just get together when they get a wild streak in 'em. (very complicated relationship)Late Saturday night/early Sunday morning at 1:00 a.m. my sister-in-law was traveling North on Interstate 95. She somehow crossed
Enjoying Time at Home 2007-07-31 15:08:00 Usually time seems to just fly by but August the 15th seems so far away! I'm supposed to go back to work on the 15th and I really thought I would be dreading it, but I kinda miss it. Wierd huh?As far as I know my sister-in-law is still sitting in the county jail and I've occupied my time with other things, like shopping.Last weekend me and my hubby, the Mexican, loaded up with the kids on a mission to shop for new school clothes. There's no better place to start than Citadel Mall in Charleston.We went to Sears, The Children's Place, Target, Belk's and countless other stores. It was an all day thing.Don't get me wrong ... I love to spend money but at the time being, money isn't exactly flowing like water around this house especially since I took a month off from work. I'm always able to make do with what I have and I set my budget at a total of $426.00 for new school clothes.I'm proud of myself because I was able to hit the clearance racks and find some pretty damn good sales!
Teens Should Not Get Pregnant! 2007-08-13 03:56:00 The title of this post says it all; teens should not get pregnant. I mean, babies just shouldn't have babies. I've had a really bad week thanks to a teen mother.It all started when a friend of mine, a Mexican woman, called me up and asked if I could translate for a young mother who spoke no English ... and of course I said, "no problema". Sometimes I just don't ask for all the info!It turns out that this girl is slightly 17 years old, has a one month old baby (beautiful baby!), no car, no place to live and her boyfriend works out of state. Automatically I turn into a taxi.I pick her and the baby up, that's when my problems started. This girl straps the car seat into my car but she doesn't buckle the baby into the car seat. I tell her to strap the baby in and she says it's alright to ride that way. Uh ... not in my car! I take her to look at a few places to rent. She picks out the most expensive place and tells me to tell the landlord that she'll be back with the money the follow Read more:Teens
Answering La Gringa Mas Bella's Email 2007-09-01 22:50:00 This is the first time that I've ever answered reader email here on the blog, I guess because most questions haven't exactly been broad enough to include lots of people. I had some good ones this time though and decided to blog about them and give other people the opportunity to take a glimpse into the life of someone else and their issues, to share an experience or simply add their two cents ... so here goes!My first email question comes from a really sweet lady on the west coast who asked: I was wondering too what kindof prejudices you ran across? (Concerning dating a Mexican)I've had two really bad experiences, one in a restaurant when a man approached me out of the blue to ask me "What color are you?" and to tell me I should "be ashamed", and the other was about the same at a park.Oh! And then there was this guy at another restaurant shouting off his opinions about immigration and Mexicans with his friends. He was just being extremely loud about it and kept looking our way.I end Read more:Email
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